Brick Greek Myths Page 3

  As the goddess of the harvest withdrew her spiritual blessings, crops stopped growing and plants withered in the field. The land was struck with famine, and many people starved and died.

  Seeing the destruction Demeter had caused, Zeus relented and sent Hermes to bring Persephone back from the Underworld.

  Persephone still missed her mother, but in this time apart, she had grown quite fond of her husband Hades and her role as Queen of the Underworld.

  She was a very good and kind queen, and she took her responsibilities seriously.

  And so, before she was to leave, Hades offered her a pomegranate to eat.

  Persephone knew that if she were to eat in the Underworld, she would not be allowed to leave, so she opened the fruit and ate seven of the tart little seeds inside.

  Now Persephone was bound to the Underworld. But clever Hermes soon came up with a compromise.

  Since she had only eaten a small portion of the pomegranate, she would be allowed to return to the surface for most of the year. When she was with Demeter, the goddess of the harvest was joyful and content, and the earth was warm and fertile.

  But for four months of the year, Persephone rejoined her husband in the Underworld and again took up her responsibilities as queen.

  Demeter mourned the loss of her daughter again each year. Now, as the months grow closer to Persephone’s absence, Demeter grows wary and the leaves begin to fall, signaling autumn. And for those four months when Persephone lives in the Underworld, the earth is barren and cold, and nothing grows. We call this season winter.

  But when winter is over, and Persephone visits her mother, we celebrate spring, as the world blooms with joy that the goddess’s daughter has returned.

  Eurydice and Orpheus

  Once there was a very talented young man named Orpheus. He was the son of Apollo, god of the stringed instrument, and he was gifted with great musical skill.

  He was so talented that when he played his lute and sang, no mortal could resist his song. Even the animals and rocks and trees were drawn to his music.

  One day as he was playing, a beautiful wood nymph named Eurydice sat down beside him to listen.

  She was bewitched by his song, and he by her beauty, and as she listened they both fell deeply in love with one another.

  They decided right away that they should be married.

  The very next day, they came together under the trees, and Hymenaios, the god of marriage himself, blessed their union.

  Then they celebrated with a huge feast that lasted all day. There was plenty of food and wine and many friends to join in their joy.

  But not everyone was happy. As they celebrated, a man named Aristaeus looked on angrily. He was a local shepherd who desired beautiful Eurydice and hated Orpheus. As the new couple feasted, he plotted a way to separate them.

  He decided that he would kill Orpheus so he could steal Eurydice away.

  After the celebration, the couple went for a walk through the woods together.

  Aristaeus slunk along close behind them, armed and ready to carry out his plan.

  The lovers spied him just in time and fled in a panic, narrowly avoiding the shepherd’s attack.

  But still he continued to pursue them, chasing them through fields and forests, on and on until they were exhausted.

  Eurydice tripped and stumbled over her weary feet, until, trailing behind Orpheus, she fell to the ground.

  He turned to help her to her feet,

  but to his horror he found that she had fallen right into a nest of snakes and had been bitten by one of the poisonous creatures.

  Aristaeus realized she was dying and gave up his chase.

  Orpheus had no way to save his love, but he wept and embraced her as she died in his arms.

  Lost and alone, Orpheus was consumed with grief. He decided to seek his bride in the Underworld and bring her back. Armed with his lute, Orpheus passed through a cave to the gates of the Underworld.

  As he made his way through the Underworld, he played the lute to charm Cerberus, the great three-headed dog that he encountered.

  In this way he passed through the dangerous lands of the dead safely.

  Finally he reached the throne of the Underworld, where Hades and his queen Persephone sat in state.

  He played beautiful music for the couple, picking out the most lovely, mournful songs he could think of.

  The beautiful songs reminded Hades of how he had fallen in love with his own bride, and he was greatly troubled by the thought of being separated from his cherished Persephone. The god and Queen of the Underworld were touched by Orpheus’s music, and they decided to help him.

  Hades declared that they would let Eurydice follow him out of the Underworld.

  But Orpheus must abide by one rule: he could not turn to look at his love until they had made it safely out of the cave and into the light of day. If he looked on her, she must return to the Underworld forever.

  So Orpheus set out for the surface, with Eurydice following behind him. They traveled back through the dangerous lands Orpheus had explored before, and he kept his lute ready in case of trouble.

  At last they reached the door of the cave, and Orpheus rejoiced to feel the warm sun on his face.

  He happily turned to embrace his beloved Eurydice and rejoice at their reunion. But she was still in darkness, and as Orpheus set his eyes on her, she disappeared back into the void.

  Orpheus was seized with overwhelming despair.

  He tried to follow her into the Underworld again, but Charon, the ferryman for the river Styx, would not let him through.

  Heartsick, Orpheus wandered the earth, sad and hopeless.

  Now his songs were sad, though they were still as beautiful as ever.

  Many women fell in love with him for his beautiful music, but he would love no one other than Eurydice.

  One group of women was particularly angry that he had rejected them, and they went to confront Orpheus.

  They attacked him, throwing sharp sticks and heavy rocks.

  But Orpheus played his music, and the rocks and sticks were so enchanted they refused to strike him.

  Frustrated and furious, the women tore Orpheus to pieces, pulling him limb from limb.

  They threw his body and his lute into the river and left him.

  Orpheus floated in pieces down the river until he reached the island where the muses lived.

  The muses pulled him from the river and gave him a proper burial, putting his lute over his grave to mark the place.

  Once buried, Orpheus was able to return to the Underworld, where at long last he was reunited with his beloved Eurydice.

  Athena and Poseidon’s Contest for Athens

  Once, far in the past of Athens’ history, the city was ruled by a king named Cecrops.

  At this time, Athens had no patron deity, so King Cecrops set out to find one.

  The king spoke to the gods Poseidon and Athena, who both wished to be the patron of the prosperous city.

  The rivalry was fierce, with both gods determined to call Athens their own. The fight became so intense that it almost started a war.

  The people of the city did not want to have to choose between the two gods, because they feared they would be punished by whoever lost.

  Athena suggested that they solve the problem by holding a contest between the two deities.

  She proposed that they both choose a gift to give the people of Athens. Whoever could give the best gift would be the official deity of the city.

  King Cecrops would be the judge of the gifts and decide which god was victorious.

  When it was time to present their gifts, the gods went up to the Acropolis, the huge ancient fortress that still sits on the rocky cliffs high above the city.

  Poseidon presented his gift first. He lifted his trident and struck the earth. A spring called the Erekhtheis instantly burst from the spot where the trident had touched.

  The people of Athens were delighted: a spring would help them
keep their crops irrigated and growing strong despite the stony Greek soil. However when they realized the spring was salt water, they were dismayed, because it would be of no use to them.

  Then it was Athena’s turn to present her gift. She showed the Athenians an olive seed.

  She planted it, and the seed grew into a big strong olive tree. At first the Athenians did not know why she had given them such a humble plant as their gift.

  Then Athena explained that olives were useful not only to eat, but for their oil, which was used for lamps, cooking, and as a way to stay clean.

  Athena was declared the winner, and her gift of the olive tree is still connected to the city that bears her name.

  Poseidon was a sore loser and did not like this outcome. Just as the Athenians suspected, he decided to punish them for rejecting him, so he called the sea to him and flooded the lands around the city, and they remain flooded to this day.

  Arachne’s Web

  There once was a beautiful young woman named Arachne, who lived in the small town of Ledia.

  Arachne was blessed with a wonderful skill: she could weave so beautifully that people would come from all around to see her creations. Even the nymphs would come out to watch her work.

  Her visitors were amazed with her intricate work, and many would ask if she had learned her craft from Athena, the goddess of weaving and wisdom herself.

  Arachne, cursed with vanity, scoffed at the question. It annoyed her that her fans would think her less talented than anyone, even a goddess. She proudly declared that she could weave even better than Athena herself.

  Athena, listening nearby, was furious to overhear Arachne’s boast. Still, she decided to give the prideful girl a second chance to atone for her great offense.

  Athena disguised herself as an old woman and made a visit to Arachne. She advised the young woman to take back her boast and warned her not to offend the gods.

  Arachne haughtily rejected the old woman, telling her she had no need for her advice.

  She boldly continued that she would welcome a contest of skill with the goddess Athena, and if she were to lose she would take the punishment.

  At that moment, Athena threw off her disguise and revealed who she really was. Arachne was aghast at seeing the goddess before her but remained stubborn and refused to bow to her.

  Athena, taking Arachne at her word, challenged the young weaver to a direct contest of skill.

  Arachne, intent on proving her skill, accepted the goddess’s challenge.

  Athena began weaving a tapestry depicting her contest fighting against Poseidon to be the goddess of Athens.

  Arachne, meanwhile, created a tapestry criticizing the gods, showing scenes of them tricking and abusing mortals and depicting their worst traits and weaknesses.

  When the tapestries were finished and removed from the loom, even Athena was forced to admit that Arachne’s work was higher quality than her own.

  Enraged by the outcome of the contest and by Arachne’s open ridicule of the gods, Athena tore Arachne’s tapestry to shreds and pulled her loom to pieces.

  Then she put her hands on Arachne and filled her with feelings of fear and guilt for having offended the gods.

  Arachne was filled with grief.

  Overwhelmed with the emotions, she quietly died of heartbreak.

  Athena regretted driving the young woman to her death.

  She decided to bring Arachne back to life, but not as a human. She sprinkled Hecate’s potion over Arachne’s body,

  and transformed the girl into a spider, cursing the girl and her descendants to weave and spin forever.

  Perseus’s Quest

  There was once a king named Acrisius who had a beautiful daughter named Danae.

  Acrisius spoke to an oracle, who told him that Danae’s son would one day overthrow him as ruler.

  Fearful that his throne would be usurped, Acrisius locked Danae in a high tower so that she could never marry and have children. The tower was without doors and offered only one window for Danae to look out onto the earth.

  One day, as she was sitting in her tower, a golden light suddenly shined into the window, and Zeus appeared before her.

  Zeus told Danae how much he admired her. He offered her gifts and beautiful flowers to make her tower less gloomy, and he requested that she marry him.

  Beneath the tower, Acrisius noticed the light coming from Danae’s window and became suspicious. He tore down the tower walls to reach her.

  When he arrived at the top of the tower, he found Danae holding a newborn baby boy in her arms, whom she named Perseus. She looked cheerful and was surrounded by the flowers Zeus had given her.

  Acrisius was infuriated. For fear of the prophecy being fulfilled, he locked Danae and baby Perseus in a chest and cast them out to sea.

  Zeus witnessed this and guided the chest to safety on the island of Seriphus.

  Just offshore, King Polydectes’s brother, Dictys, sat in his boat fishing. He saw the chest floating and caught it in his net.

  He discovered the mother and child and brought them back to shore.

  Both Dictys and Polydectes took care of Danae and Perseus over the next several years.

  They raised Perseus to be brave, strong, and noble.

  Over time, Polydectes fell in love with Danae and asked her to marry him.

  Danae was not interested in marrying him and said no. Enraged at this rejection, Polydectes tried to force Danae into the marriage.

  Perseus saw Polydectes attack his mother and immediately intervened. He stood by her to make sure she was not forced into a marriage she did not want.

  Feeling rejected and humiliated at Danae’s refusal, Polydectes thought carefully about how to seek his revenge.

  He came up with a clever plan and announced that he would marry the daughter of one of his friends.

  He invited everyone to the wedding and asked that they all bring gifts.

  As the wedding commenced, Perseus watched all the guests bring gifts to Polydectes and his new bride. Not having any money, he could not offer a wedding gift to the couple.

  Perseus addressed Polydectes and his new wife and announced that, instead of buying them a gift, he would win anything they desired on their behalf.

  His plan unfolding just as he had suspected, Polydectes told Perseus which gift he wanted, and it was the most perilous gift of all. He sent Perseus on a dangerous quest for the head of Medusa.

  Perseus and Medusa

  There once lived a beautiful mortal named Medusa whose name meant “protectress.” She was known for her long and lovely flowing hair.

  Medusa had two sisters, Sthenno and Euryale, who did not share her beautiful features. They were hideous gorgons, and unlike Medusa, they were immortal.

  Medusa was a devoted and innocent priestess of Athena. She was committed to serve Athena for the rest of her life and to never marry.

  One day, Medusa caught the attention of Poseidon, the god of the sea.

  He approached her, finding her irresistible. Devoted to keeping her vows to Athena, Medusa brushed Poseidon off.

  The powerful god persisted, and Medusa retreated to the temple of Athena to deflect his advances.

  Poseidon followed her to the temple and, in continuing his attempts to woo her, embraced her.

  Athena, knowing the goings-on of her temple, became outraged that Medusa had violated her vows as a priestess, especially in such a sacred place.

  The wrath of Athena was great and mighty, and she decided to curse Medusa and take away her beauty.

  She turned Medusa’s lovely flowing hair into a mane of slithering, venomous snakes. Medusa became as ugly as her gorgon sisters, and from then on, anyone who dared look on her face was turned to stone.

  Medusa looked upon her visage in horror; she was a monster, and her serpent locks made her all the more terrifying. She fled her home, devastated and terrified of hurting those she loved.

  In her travels, Medusa’s dreadful appearance caused
her great misery. Everywhere she went, fearful townspeople clamored for their weapons to ward her off or shunned her if she asked for help. The more Medusa was spurned, the more embittered she became.

  As time passed, Medusa slowly became the monster she appeared to be. Many tried to kill her, but the power of her deathly stare was indefensible. Heavily armed brutes and even the most skilled warriors were all frozen in their tracks, perfectly preserved as stone sculptures of their previous forms.