Greek and Roman Myths
Posts in The Copybook tagged ‘Greek and Roman Myths’
A reminder that those with extreme wealth and power have everything but the peace to enjoy it.
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) is the only classical writer to have passed onto us this memorable tale about the paradox of political power: that those who possess it have everything but the peace to enjoy it.
Eurystheus sends his cousin on another labour, this time hoping the task is too delicate for the big man.
Heracles has now performed two labours for his cousin and rival Eurystheus, slaying the fearsome Lion of Nemea and the many-headed, venomous Hydra of Lerna. From the safety of his palace, however, Eurystheus is disputing the validity of the second.
Zeus employs a little psychology to effect a reunion with his offended wife.
Pausanias explains why every fourteen years, the people of Platea in Boeotia (central Greece) celebrated the festival of the Greater Daedala, in which a female figure carved from oak and dressed in a bridal gown was taken by cart to the River Asopos, and sacrifices were offered on Mt Cithaeron.
Thetis snubs Eris, goddess of Discord, and sets off a series of events leading to the Trojan War.
The god Ares took the form of a bull and won a contest of strength against a majestic beast belonging to Paris, son of the King of Troy. The mortal’s grace in defeat impressed Zeus, but Paris (and many others) came to regret his new-found reputation on Olympus for sporting behaviour.
The legend of how Rome was settled gave rise to the March festival of Roman motherhood.
Romans began March, the month of the war-god Mars, by celebrating the ‘Matronalia’, a kind of mothers’ day with presents for the ladies and a day off for slaves. The strange juxtaposition of war and love was said to go back to the legend of how Romulus’s Rome was settled.
Paris, prince of Troy, takes the not unwilling Queen of Sparta back home with him, and sparks ten years of diplomatic tension and ten of war.
The Siege of Troy is the heart of two of the greatest works of classical literature, Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid. The details, especially the squabbles, sulks and strategems of the gods, are pure myth of course, but the strife between the Greeks of Achaia and the city of Troy may be rooted in fact; if so, a date around 1200-1180 BC is possible — just after the Exodus, in fact.