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When one looks up into the vast night sky of the northern hemisphere, it is likely they will see the constellations of Perseus, Andromeda, Cassiopeia. As like most other constellations, these figurations of stars tell a story of heroism and myth. In ancient society, the myth taught people to tame their egos, lest they be punished by the gods. The legend was Greek, however, a Roman poet named Publius Ovidius Naso (or Ovid) mentioned the tale in his poem, “Metamorphoses”. The history, the story, and the astronomy all make for an interesting tale. In Ethiopia, way back when there lived a king and queen named Cepheus and Cassiopeia. They had a daughter named Andromeda, who was beautiful like her mother. Her mother, though, had a very enlarged …show more content…
Some have stated that he used Medusa’s head and turned Cetus to stone, others have him slaying the monster with his sword. While battling the monster, it is said that a few drops of the Gorgon’s blood fell into the thrashing waves hence creating the coral reefs. In exchange for defeating the creature, like in most myths, Perseus sought for Andromeda’s hand in marriage. She willingly agreed, and reluctantly her parents did as well, for Andromeda was previously betrothed to her uncle, Phineas. The scheming queen Cassiopeia went behind Andromeda’s back and told Andromeda’s previously betrothed about Perseus. Phineas appeared at the happy couple’s wedding with a few of his friends and attack Perseus, but Perseus anticipated this and drew the Gorgon head turning Phineas’ men to stone. Andromeda and Perseus returned to his kingdom which he had been banished from when he was just a babe because of a prophecy. Perseus ended up accidentally killing his father and he became king. In a few places, It is mentioned that the famed demigod Heracles is a descendant of Andromeda and Perseus. When they died, Athena put them in the stars next to each other. In Astronomy, occasionally the constellation of Cassiopeia will be upside down and the cause of this is said to be Athena punishing
One of the myths was, Polyphemus was in love with a sea nymph named Galateia, a sicilian nereid who had cheated on him with a man named Acis. When Polyphemus discovered this he crushed Acis under a rock. Another myth was the story of Odysseus. This story was when Polyphemus had captured Odysseus one of victorious greek leaders and twelve of his crew members when they were sailing for home from the trojan war. They became captured when they arrived to an unknown island of cyclopes. Odysseus and his men came upon the cave of Polyphemus, and went inside in hopes to steal food while Polyphemus was away tending his flock. Curiosity got the best of Odysseus as he wanted to see what a cyclops looked like. Odysseus and his men hid in the cave waiting for Polyphemus to come back.
As one of the most well known ancient Roman love poets, Ovid has demonstrated bountiful talents within his writing. When reading myths from his book titled Metamorphoses, you gain an enlightening insight of how he viewed mythology. To Ovid, love was the origin of everything. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that most of his poems relate to the theme of love. However, not all poets are the same and every re-telling of a myth has its own unique perspective. In this paper I will compare and contrast the myth of Medea in Euripides Medea and Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 7. I will then explain how Ovid’s approach to love and loss correlate to his general approach to myth as a whole. I will support my belief with evidence from Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 14.
First, he is called to an adventure in which he is assigned to complete an impossible task. Then he is mentored by Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and assisted by the magical gifts given by the nymphs to overcome a monster. Using the advice and tools he has received on his journey, Perseus kills the monster with his wits by using the reflection of his shield instead of relying on brute force. On his road back home, Perseus commits a good deed by saving a damsel in distress by slaying another monster. Finally, Perseus arrives home and is arguably the only Greek hero with a happy ending.
Perseus as well as saving his mother, married Andromeda and sailed off with her after saving her
Perseus defends his mother’s honor, but in the process aggravates the King. The King plans to remove Perseus from his mother’s side. In order to do this, however, the King must use a fake engagement to Hippodameia and demand horses as engagement presents. Since Perseus cannot afford a horse, the King asks him instead to bring the head of Gorgon Medusa to him. Unfortunately, Medusa was a challenging target for Perseus. After Poseidon fancied Medusa, Athena gave Medusa snakes for hair so that she would have to live an ugly life. In addition to having snakes for hair, Medusa’s glare could also turn intruders into stone. But an engagement present is worth the risk, right? And so the journey begins. Clad with Athena’s bronze shield, Hephaestus’s sword of diamond, Hades’s invisibility helmet, and Hermes’s winged sandals, Perseus embarks to decapitate Medusa (“Perseus
in his shield. He killed her by cutting her hideous head off . He was able to defeat her with the help of some of the gods. Minerva gave him a bronze shield and warned him that he would be turned to stone if he looked at her directly in the face. Mercury gave him the sword that he used to decapitate her.
“Perseus” Mythology and You. Ed. Donna Rosenberg and Sorelle Baker. Columbus: Glencoe McGraw – Hill, 2006. 198 - 208. Print.
Aphrodite is one of the most famous figures of Greek mythology, because Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexual rapture. She was desired by nearly all of the Greek gods. Aphrodite was one of the twelve main gods on Mt. Olympus, and she was the most powerful goddess when it came to members of the opposite sex. There are many origins to Aphrodite's birth. Some of them are: She arose full-grown out of the foam of the sea, She is the daughter of Zeus and Dionne, She is the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, which would make her a Titaness, or She is the daughter of Titans Oceanus and Tethys, making her an Oceanid. (Dittus 34-35) “The most common origin of her birth is her being foam-born, which is what her name means” (Parin 45). This origin says that Aphrodite arose nude and full-grown out of the foam of the sea and riding into the shore of Cythera on a scallop shell. She found Cythera to be too small of an island, so she went to live in Paphos, in Cyprus, which is still the principal seat of her worship.
The depiction of the Greek and roman myths are given unique insights from different authors. The Hymn to Demeter and Ovid's Metamorphosis provide and insight to Demeter's love for her daughter, Persephone, and explores its affect on the surrounding environments. The theme of separation and isolation is present in both of these myths, however, in Ovid's Metamorphosis, he symbolizes the environment in important events, has characters playing different roles, and empowers female deities.
In the 1981 clash of the Titans movie the King Acrisius of Argo imprisons his daughter Danei *Danaë because he is jealous of her beauty. The god Zeus visits her and makes her pregnant. King Acrisius in a fit of rage puts Danae and the baby, Perseus, to sea in a wood coffin. Angry, Zeus kills Acrisius and orders the god Poseidon to release the giant sea monster the Kraken to destroy Argos. Perseus survives, but his mother doesn’t, his journey by floating to the island of Seriphos where he grows up.
His own grandfather put him and Danae, his mom, in a box and threw him into the sea when he was a baby! He accidentally killed his grandfather, Acrisius, when a he threw a flying discuss and the wind took it. He was participating in athletic games. The disc knocked directly into his head, but since he was older this just killed him. However, by killing Acrisius, Perseus was fulfilling a prophecy given before he was born. Everyone knows you can not interfere with a prophecy. According to http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/perseus/p/Perseus.htm since Perseus had killed his grandfather, he felt bad about reigning in his place. So, he went to the Tiryns where he found the ruler, Megapenthes was willing to exchange kingdoms. Megapenthes took Argos, and Perseus, Tiryns. Eventually Perseus was killed by Megapenthes(son of Proteus, Perseus’ half-brother). He didn’t have an unusual death like most heroes do, but that’s not what makes a hero. He was placed in the stars as a constellation. Now hopefully you understand why Perseus would be considered one of the best greek heroes.
Ancient Greek gods created some of the things we use today, like how Zeus used to be able to change people and animals into stone and put them in the sky of the things we use today like our constellations. Hundreds of years ago the ancient Greeks believed in Ancient Greek mythology. People still study constellations, what they mean, and how they connect to each other. Many beliefs of gods and goddesses exist along with mythical creatures and constellations.
One Greek myth story based on the stars is The Pleiades. This story is about Atlas’ 7 daughters; Electra, Maia, Taygete, Alcyone, Merope, Celaeno, and Sterope. Orion was always chasing after them and they were always running away. Zeus put them in the stars, in an attempt to save them from Orion, “But it was said that even there orion continued his pursuit , always unsuccessful, yet persistent,” (Mythology 439). This story refers to the origin of a particular constellation. It also explains why the stars move across the sky in a specific direction. Another story that helps explain something in the stars is Callisto. In this tail, Zeus sees a wolf lady and he falls in love with her. Hera gets upset and turns her into a bear so her son will kill her, “But Zeus snatched the bear away and placed her among the stars, where she is called Great Bear,” (Mythology 429). This was also used to explain where the, “Great Bear,” constellation came from. These and many other beautiful constellations with really interesting stories can still be seen
Uranus tried to block any successors from taking over his supreme position by forcing back into Gaea the children she bore. But the youngest child, Cronus, thwarted his father, cutting off his genitals and tossing them into the sea. From the bloody foam in the sea Aphrodite, goddess of sexual love was born.
Hades shows himself to Perseus and with the rage of what Hades has done to Perseus, Perseus grabs a lighnting bolt from his sword and throws it at Hades sending him back to the underworld. Saving Andromeda and she offered to make him king and he had refused. Zeus asked if he wanted to join him in Olympus but refused and requested to stay a demi-god but Zeus granted him Io as a companion. In the story according to the Greeks Danae is the daughter of King Acrisius. When he had them put in a box and thrown into the ocean and saved by the fisherman named Dictys they both were still alive and Danae ended up falling in love with Dictys and they were married. Dictys’ brother King Polydectes wanted to take Danae as his wife, Perseus hearing the news he offered to pay any price for his mother not to marry King Polydectes. Sense Polydectes was afraid of Perseus he quickly made an offer that he will allow his mother to stay married to Dictys, only if he brings back the head of Medusa. Bravely, Perseus accepted his