I recently worked on
a blog-post for the Kosmos
Society discussing the reader’s favorite stories from Ancient Greece. The piece was long enough as is, that I
didn’t have to share my favorite myth to fill the page. May I will share them in the forums, but when
I pondered the question what popped to mind surprised me.
The
Countless Tribes of Men
"There was a time when the countless tribes of men, though wide-dispersed, oppressed the surface of the deep-bosomed earth, and Zeus saw it and had pity and in his wise heart resolved to relieve the all-nurturing earth of men by causing the great struggle of the Ilion war, that the load of death might empty the world. And so the heroes were slain in Troy, and the plan of Zeus came to pass." [i] “so that the blessed gods ... as before, may have their way of life and their accustomed places apart from men” [ii]
Often the Theban Wars are added to the story
above. The story explains why there is
war in the world, the logic of the “Will of Zeus” and the underlying theme of the
mythological timeline and of the Ancient Greek past. The story below shows us the future of heroes
(and all mankind) after the point that the gods pulled the veil between us and
them.
The
Man turned God, Diomedes
"[During
the War of the Seven Against Thebes:] Melanippos, the remaining one of the sons
of Astakos, wounded Tydeus (father of Diomedes) in the belly. As he lay half
dead, Athena brought a medicine which she had begged of Zeus, and by which she
intended to make him immortal. But Amphiaraus hated Tydeus for thwarting him by
persuading the Argives to march to Thebes; so when he perceived the intention
of the goddess he cut off the head of Melanippos and gave it to Tydeus, who,
wounded though he was, had killed him. And Tydeus split open the head and
gulped up the brains. But when Athena saw that, in disgust she grudged and
withheld the intended benefit."[iii]
I like the story above, for what it doesn’t say, the
elixir destined for Tydeus, the cup of nectar, life-immortal was passed along
to his son Diomedes when the time came, because once the gods make a decision it’s
once and for always! So, “the golden-haired, gray-eyed goddess
(Athena) made Diomedes an immortal god“[iv] And if Diomedes had a
shot at divinity we all do.
Friendship
of Helios and Hephaestus
The Sun once landed on Earth. Helios is probably most
famous for rashly allowing his mortal son Phaethon to drive the solar chariot.
The boy lost control. The horses ran towards earth, scorching the land and
setting the forests ablaze. Zeus threw a lightning bolt at the boy. The steeds
of the solar chariot, like good post horses everywhere, found their own way
home. However, there was a time when Helios landed his chariot on the earth. It
was during the Gigantomachy when all the gods and goddess of Olympus battled
the earth-born giants. Hephaestus the smithy-god was taking on three giants at
once and not doing well. “Helios who
had taken him up (Hephaestus) in his chariot when he sank exhausted on the
battlefield of Phlegra.” (Apollodorus
Rhodius, Argonautica 3.211) I like this story because it is about
friendship, something rare among the gods.
Birth
of the Mighty Aphrodite
One of my favorite stories is the birth of Mighty
Aphrodite. This probably the sort of
story expect me to share. Here it is, as
told by various primary sources at www.theoi.com. It happen when; "Cronus cut off his father's male “plowshare” and sowed the teeming deep
with seed on the unsown back (surface) of the daughter-begetting Sea."
(Nonnus, Dionysiaca 12. 43) I don’t know
if the “Sea” here is Pontus, Nereus or the obscure Thalassa but, the sea bore
Aphrodite. "Aphrodite delighted to be with Nerites (son of Nereus) in the sea (when
she was born) and loved him. And when the fated time arrived, at which, at the
bidding of [Zeus] the Father of the gods, Aphrodite also had to be enrolled
among the Olympians, I have heard that she ascended and wished to bring her
companion and play-fellow. But the story goes that he refused." (Aelian, On Animals 14. 28)
Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_Venus#/media/File:Sandro_Botticelli_-La_nascita_di_Venere_-_Google_Art_Project_-_edited.jpg
PS
PS
Socrates Favorites
" In
a conversation with the rhapsode Ion, who specializes in the performance of
Homeric poetry, Plato’s Socrates is making a mental list of what he considers
to be the greatest Homeric scenes. First place in the list goes to the moment
that we see here at the beginning of Rhapsody 22, where Odysseus stands at the
threshold and pours the arrows from his quiver. This moment in the Odyssey, as we see in the order of
mention by Plato’s Socrates, outranks even the greatest moment in the Iliad, which gets only second place." (A sampling of comments on Odyssey 22 by Gregory Nagy)
Really Socrates? The
end of Book VI is the famous good-bye scene between Hector and Andromache and
their infant son, Astyanax. That is pretty incredible.
Or "The
men did not see great Priam as he entered.He came up to Achilles,
then with his fingers clasped his knees and kissed his hands, those dreadful
hands,
man-killers, which had slain so many of his sons." (Iliad 24.586-589) It just occurred to me that Achilles probably hadn’t washed his hands since…. Ugh!
man-killers, which had slain so many of his sons." (Iliad 24.586-589) It just occurred to me that Achilles probably hadn’t washed his hands since…. Ugh!
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