October 9, 2017

A fire rises… But the streaks of red and gold are not flames, they are feathers, and the blaze is a great bird taking flight. The fiery phoenix, the fabled bird of Greek mythology, appeared in many stories and inspired the name of Arizona’s capital and largest city. The mythological phoenix was a fascinating creature with some peculiar traits: Every phoenix was male; there was never more than one phoenix at a time; each phoenix lived exactly 500 years; and, most famously, at the end of its life cycle, the phoenix burned itself on a funeral pyre. Another phoenix then rose from the ashes with renewed youth and beauty.

This etching of the fiery phoenix appeared in Friedrich Justin Bertuch’s Kinderbuch (children’s book) of mythological creatures in 1806. Credit: Friedrich Justin Bertuch

According to legend, each young phoenix would carry the remains of its predecessor to the altar of the sun god Helios in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (City of the Sun). The bird’s rebirth and rising branded it a symbol of immortality, resembling the setting and rising of the sun each day. Phoenix feathers were brilliant reds, purples, and yellows, and the eagle-sized bird subsisted solely on dewdrops, if anything. Its song was so captivating that even Helios would stop his chariot to listen. The ancient Greeks likely based the phoenix on the stork-like Egyptian bennu, a sacred bird that represented the Egyptian sun god, Re.

The mythologies of other cultures also have versions of the fiery mythological bird. The Fèng Huáng is similar to the phoenix in China, where it is a sacred symbol of the royal empress. Also given dragon properties, the Fèng Huáng represents loyalty, justice, goodness, and honesty. The Native American thunderbird is a giant animal with massive wings that defends people from evil with supernatural power and strength. The thunderbird manipulates thunder, lightning, and rain. Slavic myth tells of the Russian firebird, a falcon protector blessed with strength and courage.

In literature, the phoenix is an extraordinary character named Fawkes in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Fawkes is a great red and gold songbird reborn from ashes. His tears have healing powers, he is strong enough to carry several people in flight, and he can teleport. Phoenix tail feathers are used as powerful cores of wizards’ wands. Fawkes is loyal to his companion, Dumbledore, and is a brave and fierce defender.

October 2, 2017

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. The cards were stacked against Perseus from birth, but with the help of a few gods, he did not let that stop him from making a name for himself and becoming one of the greatest heroes in ancient Greek mythology.

This statue shows Perseus holding aloft the severed head of the monster Medusa. Credit: Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy. (SCALA/Art Resource)

Perseus was born in a unique way. The king of Argos, King Acrisius, imprisoned his daughter and only child, Danaë, because the Oracle of Apollo told him that there would come a day when Danaë’s son would kill him. King Acrisius locked Danaë away in hopes that she would never marry or have children. One version of the myth tells how Danaë’s sadness grew and grew, until one day, a bright golden light came through the small window where she was imprisoned. A man appeared holding a thunderbolt in his hand and offered to make her happy. At the time, Danaë did not know which god had visited her, but eventually she learned it was Zeus.

One day, King Acrisius saw light coming from Danaë’s small prison window. After his servants tore down one of the prison walls, the king found Danaë smiling and holding a baby: Perseus. King Acrisius was enraged—and afraid for his life. Unable to kill them himself, he packed the mother and son in a chest and set them adrift at sea. Dictys, a fisherman, rescued them, and Danaë and young Perseus lived in Dictys’s home on the island of Seriphus. There, Perseus grew into a handsome and strong young man.

King Polydectes, Dictys’s brother, tried to force Danaë into marriage. To prevent that from happening, Perseus agreed to slay the snake-haired Gorgon Medusa. Medusa’s hideous face turned all who looked at her to stone. With the help of the goddess Athena and the god Hermes, Perseus beheaded Medusa. He killed her while gazing at her reflection in his polished shield. Unhappy with Polydectes, Perseus turned him to stone with Medusa’s severed head, which Perseus kept hidden in a magic bag. As a reward for ridding the world of Medusa, Perseus earned a constellation in the northern sky.

Perseus’s other adventures included the rescue of the princess Andromeda from the giant sea monster Cetus. Soon after, Perseus and Andromeda married. Among their descendants was Hercules, another great hero in Greek mythology. Perseus also fulfilled his destiny foretold by the oracle by accidentally killing his grandfather, King Acrisius, with a discus. Perseus refused to take his grandfather’s place on the throne in Argos, but he became a successful king in nearby Tiryns.

September 25, 2017

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superhorse! If you have ever stargazed in the Northern Hemisphere, you might have noticed Pegasus, a constellation resembling part of a horse. As commonly drawn, the constellation—named for Pegasus, the immortal winged horse of Greek mythology—appears to be galloping upside down across the heavens. Pegasus was among dozens of constellations cataloged by the ancient Greek mathematician Ptolemy about A.D. 150 in his great work Mathematike Syntaxis. Here on Earth, Pegasus the flying horse is one of the more interesting figures of mythological lore.

Statue of Pegasus. Credit: © Shutterstock

The Pegasus of mythology was the offspring of the Gorgon Medusa, a monstrous woman with snakes for hair, and Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea and earthquakes—and horses. The Gorgons were three sisters in Greek mythology whose ugliness could turn a viewer to stone. Pegasus was born when Perseus, a hero in Greek mythology, slew the pregnant Medusa by cutting off her head. Pegasus sprang fully grown from Medusa’s head—or from her neck or her blood or the soil fertilized by her blood, depending on the account. Pegasus was born along with a brother, Chrysaor, sometimes described as a giant and bearing a golden sword. Pegasus had a half-brother, Arion, who also was a magical horse and a son of Poseidon.

Mercury (a.k.a Hermes) rides Pegasus in the Jardin des Tuilieries Paris, France. Credit: © Zoran Karapancev, Shutterstock

The Greek legendary hero Bellerophon tamed Pegasus with help from the goddess Athena. One story tells that a prophet advised Bellerophon to sleep on Athena’s altar. There, Bellerophon dreamed that Athena gave him a golden bridle and ordered him to make a sacrifice to Poseidon. When he awoke, Bellerophon found a bridle on the altar. He sacrificed a bull to Poseidon and discovered Pegasus at a spring, waiting to be bridled.

Bellerophon and Pegasus had many adventures together. In one, the Lycian King Iobates sent Bellerophon to kill the Chimera, a fire-breathing monster that was part lion, part goat, and part serpent. Pegasus and Bellerophon flew over the Chimera, and Bellerophon slaughtered the monster with arrows. Pegasus also helped Bellerophon defeat the Amazons, a tribe of warrior women, and another tribe called the Solymoi. Bellerophon, a mortal human being, later tried to ride Pegasus up Mount Olympus, the home of the gods. Zeus, the ruler of the gods, became angry and sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus. The horse bucked, throwing Bellerophon down to Earth and crippling him. Pegasus then lived on Olympus, where he served Zeus by carrying the god’s thunderbolts.

Pegasus’s name may have come from the Greek word pêgê, meaning spring, and it is said that he created springs by striking the ground with a hoof. One of these springs, the Hippocrene spring on Mount Helicon, is associated with poetic inspiration. Some sources say that Zeus eventually turned Pegasus into the constellation that bears his name. If you would like to see the celestial superhorse for yourself, the constellation is best viewed in the northern sky from September through November.

September 18, 2017

The word horseman is simple enough: in common speech, it means a person who is skilled in riding or taking care of horses. The term may conjure strikingly different images, however, for readers of religious texts, popular fiction of yesteryear, or ancient myths. The Christian Bible’s Book of Revelation tells of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who represent hardships that humans must endure before the end of the world. The American author Washington Irving told of a ghostly headless horseman who so frightens the schoolteacher Ichabod Crane that Crane flees Sleepy Hollow forever. But an even older story—a legend of ancient Greek mythology—described perhaps an even stranger kind of horse-man: the quadrupedal centaur. (A quadruped is an animal with four feet.)

No back lawn is complete without a centaur statue. Credit: © Shutterstock

The centaurs were mythological half-man, half-horse creatures that lived in the mountainous Thessaly region of northern Greece. Most depictions of the centaurs show them with a human torso atop the body of a horse. The centaurs were not known for their good manners, and not just for wearing their shoes indoors and munching up all your sugar cubes. The centaurs—their powers of reason overwhelmed by animal instincts—highly valued strong drink, fighting with branches, and other boisterous passions. At the wedding feast of King Pirithous of the Lapiths (the peace-loving people of Thessaly) and his bride, Hippodameia, the centaurs became drunk and tried to kidnap the Lapith women. A great melee followed, and the Lapiths finally drove away the centaurs. Lapith grandmothers thus gained veto power over wedding guest lists for generations to come.

Not all centaurs were uncivilized brutes, however. Chiron, perhaps the most well-known centaur, was wise and just and famous for his skill in medicine. Chiron was also a valued educator who listed Ajax, Aeneas, Achilles, Jason, and Perseus among his pupils.

September 11, 2017

The ancient Egyptians told countless stories about their gods and goddesses, but one, called the Osiris myth, was the most popular of them all. In this story, the Earth god Geb retired to heaven and appointed his son Osiris, god of agriculture and fertility, as the new king of Egypt. Osiris took the fertility goddess Isis as his queen. Seth, god of chaos and the desert, grew jealous of Osiris’ new position of power and killed him. Seth chopped up Osiris’ body and stuffed the pieces into a box, which he sent floating down the Nile River. Isis was horrified and could not accept her husband’s death. With the help of other gods and goddesses, she found the box containing Osiris’ body and put the pieces back together, restoring him to life. Osiris then became god of the afterlife, ruling over the underworld.

A statue depicting Osiris stands at Hatshepsut Temple in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Credit: © Christophe Cappelli, Shutterstock

Ancient Egyptians believed that if Osiris could triumph over death, so could human beings. Early rulers were referred to as “Osiris” after they died and were considered to be immortal, carrying on their lives in the underworld. By around 2000 B.C., common people believed that they too could continue living in the afterlife. In order to achieve this, they had to perform mortuary rituals in preparation for a trial after death. Osiris oversaw this trial, in which the heart of the deceased was weighed against an ostrich feather, a symbol of truth and justice. The bearer of a light heart was allowed to become immortal. Mortuary rituals are described in a collection of ancient texts known as The Book of the Dead.

In art, Osiris is generally shown as a bearded human mummy with green or black flesh. In his hands he holds a shepherd’s crook and a whip, symbols that were often associated with pharaohs and other Egyptian state leaders. On his head, Osiris wears a conical white crown with ostrich feathers.

In addition to being ruler of the underworld, Osiris continued his role as the god of agriculture and fertility. Ancient Egyptians believed that the powerful Osiris had a cosmic influence over the cycles of the moon, allowing him to control the tides. Seasonal flooding of the Nile, which played a crucial role in Egypt’s yearly harvests, was thus attributed to Osiris. Farmers, common folk, and royalty all recognized the god’s importance, and the cult of Osiris became widespread, lasting many centuries.

September 4, 2017

An oracle was a priest or prophet in the ancient Greek world. People visited oracles to ask for advice about the future. People believed that oracles could consult the gods on their behalf and then interpret and pass along the gods’ answers. Visitors consulted oracles at a shrine, which was also called an oracle. The oracle’s answer to a question was called an oracle as well.

Delphi, Greece, was home to the famous Delphic oracle and a religious complex that included the Temple of Apollo and the Sanctuary of Athena, seen here. Credit: © Peter Lazzarino, Shutterstock

There were many oracles in ancient Greece. They enjoyed a reputation for always being right when they answered questions about the future. The reason they always appeared to be accurate is that their responses were generally ambiguous or obscure—they could be interpreted as correct, no matter what actually happened. People consulted an oracle both on personal and public matters. An oracle’s pronouncements often influenced affairs of state and were considered the final answer in matters of religion.

Oracles became famous throughout the Greek world in the 600’s and 500’s B.C. The most famous ancient oracle was the oracle of the god Apollo at Delphi on the slope of Mount Parnassus. It was built around a sacred spring. The Delphic oracle there was a woman known as the Pythia. She sat on a tripod (three-legged stool) in a dreamlike trance. Her responses were understood only by a priest, who interpreted them for visitors. People came from miles around to consult the Delphic oracle. Farmers wanted to know the best time to plant their seeds. Generals asked whether their military campaigns would succeed. It was not unusual for long lines of anxious questioners to form around her. Many people brought gifts to ensure favorable answers. Because of its importance, Delphi became known as the omphalos (belly button, or center) of the ancient world.

Although most oracles were dedicated to Apollo, some were dedicated to Zeus or another Greek deity. One famous oracle of Zeus was in a grove of oak trees in Dodona in northwestern Greece. The people believed that Zeus spoke through the rustling of the oak leaves. The priests interpreted these rustlings as messages from the god. Outside of Greece, important oracles were in Italy, Libya, and Syria.

August 28, 2017

Odysseus was a famous king of Ithaca and a brave and cunning hero in Greek mythology. His name is Odysseus in Greek and Ulysses in Latin. Odysseus was especially noted for his cleverness. In early Greek writings, he also was generous and noble. Odysseus lived through some hard times, however, and his travails liven the pages of two of the greatest works of ancient literature, the Iliad and the Odyssey.

This ancient Greek painting shows the bearded Odysseus giving the armor of Achilles to Achilles’s warrior son Neoptolemus. Credit: Red-figure painting on a cup (about 490 B.C.) by Douris; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Interfoto Pressebildagentur/Alamy Images)

The Iliad and the Odyssey, both by the Greek poet Homer, describe events during and after the Trojan War, a conflict between Greece and the city of Troy. The Iliad tells of the last year of the Trojan War. The Odyssey recounts Odysseus’s adventures as he returns home after the war.

During his trip home to Ithaca—the ten-year journey described in the Odyssey—Odysseus and his shipmates endured many trials and tribulations as they sailed from island to island. Relying on the resourcefulness and cunning of Odysseus, they navigated troubles with such legendary mythological figures as the daydreaming lotus-eaters, the one-eyed Cyclopes, the cannibalistic Laestrygones, beguiling Circe, the enchanting Sirens, the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis, and the sea nymph Calypso—all while dealing with the wrath of angry gods and stormy seas. There are many reasons why the Odyssey is such good reading!

Odysseus finally made it back to Ithaca, but he had been gone so long he was given up for dead. He found his long-suffering wife, Penelope, at the center of a competition for her hand in marriage. Furious, Odysseus entered the contest—a feat of strength and archery prowess—in disguise. Odysseus won the competition, revealed his identity, and slaughtered the other contestants. At long last reunited with his wife, an exhausted Odysseus resumed his rightful place on the throne of Ithaca.

August 21, 2017

Odin, the one-eyed Norse god of war and the battlefield was revered by Berserkers, frenzied Viking warriors who fought ferociously without armor and felt no wounds. But Odin was a complex character who also had domain over wisdom and poetry. Norse mythology, also called Teutonic mythology, consists of the myths and legends of Scandinavia and Germany. The foremost god in the Norse pantheon, Odin was father to many of the Aesir (Norse race of gods), including Thor and Balder, and a father-figure to others such as Loki. For this reason, Odin was often known as “Allfather.”

Odin the Allfather of Norse mythology. Credit: Victor Villalobos (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

The magnificent hall Valhalla was Odin’s home in Asgard, the domain of the Norse gods. There he feasted with the souls of heroes who had died in battle. A fearless fighter himself, Odin carried a spear as his weapon, and he rode an eight-legged horse called Sleipnir. Before battle, Odin would cast his spear over the forces of one side, choosing them as the victors. He then sent in the Valkyries, a group of warlike goddess-maidens, to choose which warriors lived and died and then to carry fallen heroes to Valhalla.

Odin was the wisest god; he had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Two ravens, Huginn and Muminn, sat by his side and told him all they saw throughout the world each day. Odin gained his greatest wisdom from Mimir, a mysterious and ancient being who guarded a well whose waters were the source of all knowledge in the universe. Visiting one day, Odin asked for a drink from this well of knowledge. Mimir refused unless the god offered something of value in return. Without hesitation, Odin plucked out one of his eyes and dropped it into the water. Seeing that Odin made the necessary sacrifice, Mimir reluctantly dipped his cup into the well and gave the one-eyed god a hearty drink.

Odin himself spoke only in verse, and poetry was a gift he granted only to select people to whom he offered a sip of his magical mead (honey wine). Odin stole this mead of poetry from the greedy giant Suttung, who hoarded the precious liquid in a huge vat. The mead gave anyone who drank it the ability to speak in beautiful prose. To steal the drink, Odin swallowed the entire vat and took the form of an eagle to escape the enraged giant. Weighed down by the mead held in his throat, and with Suttung in hot pursuit, Odin barely reached the safety of Asgard’s walls. He spat the mead into a huge container and has guarded it ever since. However, a few drops spilled and fell to Earth, where the precious liquid is the source of all bad poetry among humans today.

Wednesday, from the Anglo-Saxon word Wodensday (Odin’s day) is so-named to remind people of Odin’s all-seeing presence and to always be hospitable. Hospitality was an essential virtue for the people of northern Europe. Odin often wandered across the land wearing a wide-brimmed hat to shade his face, calling unannounced on homes and farms. The people of northern Europe knew never to turn away a weary traveler—it just might be the mighty Allfather in disguise.

August 14, 2017

Nymphs, in ancient Greek and Roman mythology, were minor goddesses or semidivine beings represented as lovely maidens. The word nymph comes from Greek and Latin words describing a young girl of marriageable age, or a young bride. In ancient stories, the nymphs inhabited and guarded the different realms of nature. For example, oreads watched over hills and mountains. Dryads and hamadryads took care of trees and forests. Nereids (daughters of the sea god Nereus) kept watch over the Mediterranean Sea, and the Oceanids (daughters of the Titan Oceanus) protected the oceans. Naiads were nymphs of brooks, rivers, and streams. Some nymphs were associated with a particular hill, tree, or other natural feature, to which their lives were linked. Nymphs lived for a long time but usually were not considered immortal.

Statues of dancing nymphs grace a fountain in the gardens of the Royal Palace of Caserta in southern Italy. Credit: © Antonio Gravante, Shutterstock

Nymphs often figured in stories about love, as the pursuer or the pursued. Some nymphs or groups of nymphs shied away from amorous affairs, but others were passionate—and sometimes vengeful—lovers. They became involved with both gods and humans. Nymphs often were represented as associating with satyrs and fauns, mischievous, playful, goatlike gods of the countryside and forest.

Metamorphoses, a collection of stories in verse by the ancient Roman poet Ovid, includes multiple tales of relentless lovers pursuing nymphs who transform to escape. The work’s title—Metapmorphoses—means transformations. In one story, the god Eros shot the god Apollo with an arrow that made him fall in love with the nymph Daphne. Eros shot Apollo in revenge for insulting his skill as an archer. He also shot Daphne with an arrow that made her flee Apollo. Daphne, pursued by Apollo, prayed for escape and was transformed into a laurel tree. Apollo made the laurel his sacred tree and wore a crown of laurel leaves on his head in her honor. In another tale, the god Pan tried to start an affair with the nymph Syrinx, but she ran away from him in terror and begged the gods to help her. The gods changed Syrinx into a bed of reeds, from which Pan made a musical instrument called a panpipe. He became famous for the beautiful music he played on the panpipe.

In some ancient tales, nymphs pursued young men and would not take “no” for an answer. Some nymphs were downright dangerous. In the story of the Argonauts, a group of heroes on a quest for the golden wool of a flying ram, the ship Argo stopped at a place called Mysia. There, the handsome young hero Hylas left the ship to find fresh water. Nymphs attracted by his beauty lured Hylas away and abducted him. In another story, a young Sicilian herdsman named Daphnis pledged his loyalty to a nymph. But a princess tricked Daphnis into becoming her own lover instead. The betrayed nymph then blinded or killed Daphnis in revenge. The Odyssey, a work by the Greek poet Homer, tells of the Sirens, sea nymphs whose sweet singing lured sailors to destruction on rocky shores. The hero Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin) put wax in his sailors’ ears so they could not hear the Sirens. Then Odysseus was tied to the mast so he could listen to the Sirens safely. The Argonauts also encountered the Sirens. They escaped because the hero Orpheus’s beautiful singing countered the Sirens’ song and saved his comrades. These and many other ancient stories describe the often perilous attraction of the nymphs.

August 7, 2017

The Muses were nine graceful goddesses of art and inspiration in the mythology of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Each goddess ruled over a different art or science. The people they inspired included artists, poets, and musicians—even politicians.

The ancient Roman marble sculpture Sarcophagus of the Muses (at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France) depicts the nine Muses. This photo shows Erato, left, the Muse of love poetry; Urania, center, the Muse of astronomy; and Melpomene, right, the Muse of tragedy. Credit: © G. Dagli Orti, De Agostini Picture Library/Bridgeman Images

In Greek mythology, the Muses were nine beautiful sisters. Their father was Zeus, the king of the gods, and their mother was Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. The Muses had melodic voices that made people forget their sorrows. The modern word music comes from their name. The sisters often sang as a chorus at Zeus’s royal court. They could see the past, the present, and the future. They could recall the truths of all events throughout all time, and their songs expressed those truths.

Each Muse governed and inspired a particular art or science. Greek and Roman artists often depicted them with symbols reflecting their specialties. They showed Calliope, the Muse of heroic poetry, with a writing tablet. Calliope was also the chief Muse. Clio, the Muse of history, often held a scroll. The Muse of astronomy, Urania, sometimes had a globe. Thalia, who inspired dramatic comedy, held a smiling mask, while Melpomene, who inspired tragedy, held a sad mask. The masks of comedy and tragedy remain symbols of the theater today. Artists often pictured Polyhymnia, the Muse of sacred song, looking thoughtful and meditative. They showed Euterpe (lyric poetry) with a flute, while Terpsichore (dance) and Erato (love poetry) each played a stringed instrument called a lyre. Ancient music and literature were closely interconnected. The Greek and Roman poets usually sang their poetry, and performers also danced and sang poetic verses in plays.

The ancient poets often began a poem or play with an appeal to the Muses for inspiration, hoping for divine help in composing works of timeless truth and beauty. It was said that the Muses, especially Clio, could help kings make eloquent speeches to settle conflicts and persuade people to live in peace. The Muses also helped scientists discover true knowledge. However, prideful people who thought they needed no help risked angering the Muses. Those people might wind up devoid of inspiration, singing untruths, or even mute—unable to speak or sing their songs at all.

Today, artists sometimes call a person who inspires them their “muse.” For a lack of good ideas, one might cry, ”I’ve lost my muse.” Sometimes, people call a new art form or type of writing the “Tenth Muse.”