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It's quite impossible to offer an indepth webpage on all the tales that Greek and Roman Mythology have to offer. Following are three tales and then a brief overview of the Gods. To be honest, the three I've chosen may be somewhat bias towards love and femininity, so kiss me and say goodnight!
There was once a king who had three daughters, all lovely maidens, but the youngest. Psyche, excelled her sisters so greatly that besides them she seemed a very goddess consorting with mere mortals. The fame of her surpassing beauty spread across the Earth, and everywhere men journeyed to gaze upon her with wonder and adoration and do her homage as though she were in truth one of the immortals. They would even say that Venus herself could not equal her beauty. As they thronged in ever growing numbers to worship her loveliness no one anymore gave a thought to Venus. The Venus temples were neglected; her altars foul with cold ashes, her favorite towns deserted and falling to ruins. All the honors once hers were now given to a mere girl destined some day to die. It may be well believed that the goddess Venus would not put up with this treatment. As always when she was in trouble, she turned to her son, the beautiful winged youth some call Cupid, others called Love. Use your powerful arrows, she commanded, and make the hussy fall in love with the most despicable creature there is in the world. And no doubt he would have done so, if Venus hadn't shown him Psyche, never thinking in her jealous rage that such beauty might do even to the God of love himself. As he looked upon her it was as if he shot one of his arrows into his own heart ... He said nothing to his mother and Venus left him with confidence that he would swiftly bring about Psyche's ruin. But she didn't fall in love with a horrible creature, she did not fall in love at all. Still more strange, no one fell in love with her. Men were content to look and wonder and worship and then pass on to marry someone else. This of course was most disturbing to her parents. So her father traveled to an oracle of Apollo to ask his advice. The God answered but his words were terrible. Cupid had been there first and told him the whole story and had begged for his help. Accordingly Apollo said that Psyche, dressed in the deepest mourning must be set on the summit of a rocky hill and left alone, and that there her destined husband, a fearful winged serpent, stronger than the gods themselves would come to her and make her his wife.
On the high hilltop in the darkness Psyche sat waiting for she knew not what terror. As she wept in terror a soft breath of air came through the stillness to her, the gentle breathing of Zephyr, sweetest and mildest of winds. She felt it lift her up. She was floating away from the rocky hill and down until she lay upon a grassy meadow soft as a bed and fragrant with flowers. It was peaceful there, all her trouble left and she slept... She woke beside a bright river; and on its bank was a mansion stately and beautiful as though built by a god, with pillars of gold and walls of silver and floors inlaid with precious stones. She could see no one, and as she hesitated on the threshold, voices sounded in her ears saying the house was for her, and to enter and refresh herself and bath, then a banquet table would be spread for her, we are your servants ready to do whatever you desire. And that night her husband came to her when she felt him beside her.... She knew without seeing him that there was no monster or shape of terror. The time passes swiftly. One night he warned her of danger in the shape of her two sisters was approaching. He said they were coming to the hill where you disappeared, to weep for you. You must not let them see you or you will bring great sorrow upon me and ruin to yourself. Psyche had to see her sisters, so down the mountain they came on the Zephyr, happy and excited the sister were, but soon envy and curiosity took possession of them to who was this rich husband. But Psyche kept faith and told her sisters he was off on a hunting expedition. The sisters filled there hands with gold and jewels and left, but their hearts were full of fire of jealousy. All their own wealth and good fortune seemed to them as nothing compared with Psyche's, and their envious anger so worked in them that they came finally to plotting how to ruin her. And again her husband warned her not to let her sisters visit. Was she ever able to see him or have visitors? Yet he yielded as before and very soon the two wicked women arrived with their plot carefully worked out. They convinced Psyche to wait until he fell asleep at night, then get a candle lamp and hold it over him. The sisters convinced her it would be indeed the winged serpent and to stab it with a knife before it devoured her. Psyche's heart searched for the truth, back and forth she went, "I love him he is a man. I hate him, he is a beast" So one night she did her sister's bidding and when her husband was asleep, she got out of bed lit a candle and stood over him. At her surprise she saw the sweetest and fairest and most beautiful man ever. It was Cupid, the God of love, who warned her she could never look upon him. Of course she could not kill him, but as she stood over him, a hot drop of wax fell to his shoulder and he awoke. LOVE CANNOT LIVE WHERE THERE IS NO TRUST, Cupid said, and flew off never to return to her..... and Psyche spent a lifetime searching for LOVE.
Cupid went to his mother Venus and told her what had happened, but she would not heal his wounds. She left out in anger to find Psyche, who was searching for LOVE, and when Venus could not find Psyche, and Psyche could not find Cupid, Venus warned all that her vengeance would soon befall on Psyche, who was later told this. So she went to Venus the Goddess and told her she would be her slave, if only she could see Cupid once more. "But really!" Venus said . "Look at you, you are so plain and ill-favored a girl now, that you will never be able to get you a lover except by the most diligent and painful service. I will therefore show you my good will to you by training you in such ways to be a beautiful woman again. But first, you must do one thing." Venus took a great quantity of the smallest of seeds, wheat and poppy and millet and so on, and mixed them all together in a heap. "By nightfall these all must be sorted. See to it for your own sake" And with that Venus departed. Psyche, left alone, sat still and stared at the heap. Her mind was in a maze because of the cruelty of the command, and indeed, it was no use to start a task so manifestly impossible. But at this dire moment, she who had awakened no compassion in mortals or immortals was pitted by the tiniest creatures of the field. WE ALL KNOW AN ANT CAN'T MOVE A RUBBER TREE PLANT, but the ants cried to each other "Come on have mercy on this poor maid and help her quick!" At once the ants came and came and each worked separately to divide the seeds, until what had been a confusing mass lay all ordered, every seed with its own kind. This was what Venus found when she returned and very angry she was to see it. "Your work is by no means over." The next morning she gave Psyche another task. "Down there near the riverbank where the bushes grow thick, are sheep with fleeces of gold. Go fetch me some of their shinning wool." When the worn-out girl reached the gently flowing stream, a great longing seized her to throw herself into it and end all her pain and despair. But as she leaned over the water she heard a little voice, and looking down saw that the voice came from a green reed. "you must not drown yourself. Things aren't as bad as it seems." The reed said. "The sheep are indeed fierce, but if you wait until they come out of the bushes to rest beside the river, you could go into the thicket and find plenty of golden wool hanging on the sharp briars." Following the instructions she was able to carry back to her cruel mistress a quantity of shining fleece. Venus received it with an evil smile. "Someone helped you! Never did you do this by yourself. However I will give you the opportunity to prove that you really have the stout heart and singular prudence you make such a show of. Do you see that black water which falls from the hill yonder? It is the source of a terrible river which is called hateful the river Styx. That was the worst task yet, as Psyche saw when she approached the waterfall. Only a winged creature could reach it. So steep and slimy were the rocks on all sides and so fearful the onrush of the descending waters. By this time it must be evident to all the readers of this story (as deep in her heart it had become evident to poor Psyche herself) that although each of her trials seemed impossibly hard, an excellent way out would always be provided for her. This time her savior was an eagle,, who poised on his great wings beside her, seized the flask from her tiny hands with his beak and brought it back to her filled with the black water. But Venus kept on...She gave Psyche a box which she was to carry to the underworld and ask Proserpine to fill it with some of her beauty. She was to tell Proserpine that Venus needed it as she was worn out from nursing her sick son(Cupid's hot wax burn really did the little guy in). Obediently as always, Psyche went forth to look for the Hades. She found her guide in tower when she passed it. He directed her to a great hole in the earth, then down to the river of death where she must give the ferryman (Charon) a penny to take her across. From there the road led straight to the palace. Cereberus, the three headed dog, guarded the doors, but if she gave him a cake he would be friendly and let her pass. All happened, of course, as Proserpine was willing to do Venus a service, and she bore back the box only to receive another trial she brought upon herself through her curiosity and still more, her vanity. She felt that she must see what that beauty charm in the box was, and perhaps, use a little of it herself. She knew as well as Venus that her looks were not improved by what she had gone through, and always in her mind was the thought she might suddenly meet Cupid. If only she could make herself more lovely for him. She was unable to resist temptation; she opened the box and to her disappointment saw nothing there. It seemed to be empty, yet immediately a deadly languor took possession of her and she fell into a heavy sleep. Now The God of love, Cupid was healed from his wound and longing for Psyche. IT IS DIFFICULT TO KEEP LOVE IMPRISONED. Venus has locked his door, but all he had to do was fly out the window and start looking for his wife. He found her and at once wiped the sleep from her eyes and put it back in the box. With a prick of one of his arrows Psyche awoke. After a scolding from Cupid she was instructed to take the box to his mother Venus, and assured her all thereafter would be well. So like a giddy little girl Psyche joyfully hastened her errand to deliver the box, while Cupid flew off to Olympus. He wanted to make certain that Venus would give them no more trouble, so he went straight to Jupiter (Zeus) himself. Jupiter called a full assembly of the Gods, even Venus, and announced to them all that Cupid and Psyche were formally married and that he proposed to bestow immortality upon the bride. Mercury brought Psyche into the palace of the Gods and Jupiter himself gave her the ambrosia to taste which made her immortal. This of course changed the situation. Venus could not object to a goddess for her daughter-in-law who lived up in heaven with children to care for, could not be much on earth to turn men's head. All finally comes to a happy end. Love and the Soul(for that is what Psyche means) had sought and, after many trials, found each other, and that union could never ever be broken.... Now you ponder the moral to this story! Up Once upon a time the deep red berries of the mulberry tree were white as snow. The change in color came about sadly and strangely. The death of two young lovers was the cause..... Pyramus and Thisbe, he the most beautiful youth and she the loveliest maiden of all the east, lived in Babylon in houses that shared the same wall. Growing up side by side they learned to love each other. They longed to marry, but their parents forbade. LOVE, HOWEVER, CANNOT BE FORBIDDEN. FOR THE MORE THE FLAME IS COVERED UP, THE HOTTER IT BURNS. Also, LOVE CAN ALWAYS FIND A WAY. It was impossible that these two hearts, on fire, could be kept apart. In the wall was a little chink. No one before had noticed it. But, there is nothing a lover does not notice. The two people discovered it and through it they were able to whisper sweetly back and forth. The hateful wall that separated them had become their means of reaching each other. "But for you, oh evil wall, we could kiss," they would say. But at least you let us speak together. You give us passage for our loving words to reach loving ears. We are not ungrateful." So they would talk, and as night came on and they must part, each would press on the wall kisses that could not go through to the lips on the other side. Every morning when the dawn put out the stars and the sun's rays had dried the hoarfrost on the grass, they would steal to the wall, and standing there, now utter words of burning love and now lament their hard fate, but always in soft whispers. At last they could endure no longer and planned t meet in the country side at a well known place, the Tomb of Nimus, under a tree there, a tall mulberry full of snow white berries, near which a cool spring bubbled up. So later in the darkness Thisbe crept out and made her way in all secrecy to the tomb. Pyramus had not come, yet, still she waited for him, her love making her bold. But of a sudden she saw by the light of the moon, a lioness. The fierce beast had made a kill, her jaws were bloody and she was coming to slake her thirst in the spring. She was still far enough away for Thisbe to escape, but as she fled dropped her pretty soft white shawl. The lioness came upon it on her way back to her lair and she mouthed it and tore it before disappearing into the woods. That is what Pyramus saw when he appeared a few minutes later. Before him lay the bloodstained shreds of her pretty shawl and clear in the dust were the tracks of the lioness. The conclusion was inevitable. He never doubted that he knew all. Thisbe was dead. He had let his love, a tender maiden, come alone to a place full of danger, and was not there first to protect her. "It is I who killed you," he said. he lifted up from the trampled dust what was left of the shawl and kissing it again and again carried it to the mulberry tree. "Now," he said, "you shall drink not blood too." He drew his sword and plunged it into his side. The blood splashed up over the berries and dyed them a dark red. Thisbe ventured back to the tree with shining white fruit but could not find it. A tree was there, but not one gleam of white was on the branches. As she stared at it something moved on the ground. Peering through the shadows she saw what it was. It was Pyramus, bathed in blood and dying. She flew to him and threw her arms around him. She kissed his cold lips and begged him to look at her, to speak to her. "It is I, Thisbe, your dearest," she cried to him. At the sound of her name he opened his heavy eyes for one look. Then death closed them again. She saw his sword fallen from his hand beside her shawl stained and torn. She understood all. "Your own hand killed you," she said, "and your love for me. I too can be brave. I too can love. Only death would have had the power to separate us. It shall not have that power now." She plunged into her heart the sword that was still wet with his life's blood. The Gods were pitiful at the end, and the lover's parents too. The deep red fruit of the mulberry is the everlasting memorial of these true lovers, and one urn holds the ashes of the two whom not even death could part..... Up
Atalanta's father, whatever his name was, when a daughter was borne and not a son born to him, was of course, bitterly disappointed. He decided that she was not worth bringing up and had the tiny baby left in the wild mountainside to die of cold and hunger. But, as so often happens in stories, animals proved kinder than humans. A she-bear took charge of her, nursed her and kept her warm, and the baby grew up thus into an active, daring little girl. Kind hunters then found her and took her to live with them. She became in the end more than their equal in all the arduous feats of a hunter's life. Once two Centaur, swifter and stronger by far than any mortal, caught sight of her when she was alone and pursued her. She did not run from them, that would have been folly. She stood still and fitted an arrow to her bow and shot. A second arrow followed. Both Centaurs fell. mortally wounded. Then came the famous hunt of the Calydonian boar. This was a terrible creature sent to ravage the county by Calydon by Artemis in order to punish the King, Oeneus, because he forgot her when he was sacrificing the first fruits to the gods at the harvest - time. The brute devastated the land, destroyed the cattle, killed the men who tried to kill it. Finally, Oeneus called for help upon the bravest men of Greece, and a splendid band of young heroes assembled, many of whom sailed later on the Argo. With them came a mater of course, Atalanta, "the pride of the woods of Arcady." We have a description of how she looked when she walked in on that masculine gathering. 'A shinning buckled clasped her robe at the neck. Her hair was simply dressed, caught up in a knot behind.. An ivory quiver hung upon her left shoulder and in her hand was a bow. Thus was her attire. As for her face, it seemed too maidenly to be that of a boy, and too boyish to be that of a maiden. To one man there, however, she looked lovelier and more desirable than a maiden he had ever seen. Oeneus' son, Meleager, fell in love with her at first sight. But we maybe sure, Atalanta treated him a s a good comrade, not as a possible lover. She had no liking for me except as companions in the hunt and she determined never to marry. WAS THIS A MYTHOLOGICAL LESBIAN ROBIN HOOD? Some of the heroes resented her presence and felt it beneath them to go hunting with a woman, but Meleager insisted and they finally gave inn to him. It proved well for them that they did, because when they surrounded the boar, the brute rushed upon them so swiftly that it killed two men before the others could come to their help and what was equally common, a third man fell pierced by a misdirected javelin. In this confusion of dying men and wildly flying weapons Atalanta kept her head and wounded the boar. Her arrow was the first to strike it. Meleager then rushed on the wounded creature and stabbed it in the heart. Technically speaking it was he who killed it, but the honors of the hunt went to Atatlanta and Meleager insisted that they should give her the skin. Strangely enough, this was the cause of his own death. Meleager's uncles declared that Atalanta should not have the skin and told him he had no right to give it away. Whereupon Meleager killed them both, taking them completely off their guard. This news was brought to Althea. He beloved brothers had been slain by her son because he had made a fool of himself over a shameless hussy who went hunting with men. Althena's passion of rage took possession of her. She cast a spell on Meleager who fell to the ground dead. The next time we hear of her is after the Argonauts returned, when Medea had killed Jason's uncle Pelia under the pretext of restoring him to youth. At the funeral game held in his honor, Atalanta appeared among the contestants, and in the wrestling match conquered the young man who was to be the father of Achilles the great Peleus. It was after this that she discovered who her parents were and went to live with them, her father apparently being reconciled to having a daughter who really seemed almost, if not quite good as a son.... Up
The Elder Gods - The TITANS often called the ELDER Gods were for untold ages supreme in the universe. They were of enormous size and incredible strength. The most important was Cronus, in Latin, Saturn. He ruled over the other Titans until his son, Zeus dethroned him and seized power. Th The other notable Titans were OCEAN, the river that was supposed to encircle the earth; his wife Tethys; Hyperon the father of the sun and moon. Mnemosyne which means memory; Theme, usually translated by Justice; and Lappetus, important because of his sons Atlas, and Prometheus The 12 Olympian Gods - made up a divine family; 1) Zeus or Jupiter, 2) Poseidon or Neptune, 3) Hades also called PLuto, 4) Hesta or Vesta. 5) Hera or Juno, Zeus wife, 6) Ares or Mars the son of Zeus. 7) Athena or Minerva. 8) Apollo, 9) Aphrodite or Venus, 10) Hermes or Mercury. 11) Artemis or Diana, 12) Hera's son Hephaestus or Vulcan. The Lesser Olympian Gods - The Cupids (1 Eros or Love, often shown blindfolded, ummm, love is, sometimes blind. And 2) Anteros, the avenger of slighted love. 3) Himeros or Longing 4) Hymen, the God of the Wedding Feast. Non-cupids 5)Hebe the Goddess of Youth. 6) Iris Goddess of the Rainbow and a messenger. There were also two bands of very lovely and beautiful sisters; the Muses and Graces. The 9 Muses - daughters of Zeus and Mnemonsyne. 1) Clio Muse of History. 2) Urania of astronomy. 3) Melpomena of tragedy. 4) Thalia of comedy. 5) Terpsichore of dance. 6) Calliope of epic poetry 7) Erato of love poetry. 8) Polyhymnia of songs of the Gods. 9) Euterpe of lyric poetry. The 3 Graces - daughters of Zeus and Eurynome. 1) Aglaia Grace of Splendor. 2) Euphrosyne of Mirth. 3) Thalia of Good Cheer. The Gods Of the Waters - 1) Poseidon or Neptune was Lord and Ruler of the Mediterranean and Black sea, and underground rivers. 2) Ocean a Titan Lord of the Ocean, a great river encircling earth. 3) Pontus Lord of the Deep Sea. 4) Nebeus, called the Old Man of the Sea. His wife was Doris a daughter of Ocean. They had fifty cute daughters (one was really a boy that was always dressed as a girl) called the nymphs. 5) Triton, trumpeter of the sea, is instrument was a great shell. 6) Proteus Posiedons son and attendant phophet of the future. 7) The Naiads, also water nymphs in brooks, springs and fountains. Leucothea, and her spouses Palaemon and Glaucus, once mortals became divinities of the sea. The Underworld - Ruled by Hades called PLuto, the underworld was often called Hades after his name. Tartarus and Erebus are two divisions of the underworld. Tartarus was the deeper of the two help the prisons of the Sons of earth. Erebus said t be were the dead pass as soon as they die. Homer (not Bart) gives a vague description of this underwrold. Only the Greek writer Virgil gives a complete vision of its geography. The path down leads to Acheron, the river or woe which pours into Cocytus, the river of lamentation. An aged boatman named Charon ferries the souls of the dead across the water to the gate of Tartarus. The guard before this gate as mentioned in Psyche was Cereberus the three headed dog with a dragon tail. On arrival each soul is brought before three judge; Rhadamanthus, Minos and Aeacus who pass sentences and send the wicked to everlasting torment and the good to a place of blessedness called the Elysian Fields. And there were thrre other rivers that divide the underworld from the upper world; Phlegethon, the river of fire, Styx, the river of the unbreakable oath by which the Gods swear, and Lethe. the river of forgetfulness. Of course, there had to be someone to punish the evil doers. These three were the Furies or Erinyes. 1) Tisiphone. 2) Megaera. 3) Alecto. Lastly there was SLeep and Death masters of Dreams that passed through two gates into the minds of mortals. One gate of horn which true dreams went, and a gate of ivory for false dreams.
The Lesser Gods of Earth - EARTH herself was called the All-Mother, but she was not really a divinity. She was never seperated from the actual earth and personified. 1) The Goddess of Corn, Demeter or Ceres a daughter of Cronus and Rhea. 2) God of the Vine, Dionysus, also called Bacchus were the supreme deity of the earth. 3) Pan was the chief God of Earth, merry and noisy, son of Hermes. He was part animal two with goat's horns and hoofs. 4) Silendus, possibly the son or brother of Pan. He was a jovial fat old man who usually rode and ass. 5 & 6) The Twins Brothers Castor and Pollux, the protectors of sailors. 7) The Silent were creatures part man and part horse that walked on two legs not four. 8) The Satys, Pan-like with their domain in wild places. The Roman Gods - The Romans had deep spiritual feelings. but not allot of imagination. They adopted the Greek gods because they didn't have a definitely personified Gods. 1) Jupiter was Zeua. 2) Juno was Hera. 3) Neptune was Poseidon. Vesta was Hestia. 4) Mars was Ares. 5) Minerva was Athena. 6) Venus was Aphrodite. 7) Mercury was Hermes. 8) Diana was Artemis. 9) Vulcan or Mulciber was Hephaestus. 10) Ceres was Demeter. 11) Apollo was Apollo. 12) Pluto was Pluto. There was also many Numina 1) Lares, every family had a Lar who was the spirit of an ancestors. 2) Penates, God of the hearth and guardians of the storehouse. 3) Terminus, guardian of boundaries. 4) Phiapus, cause of fertility. 5) Pales, strenghener of cattle. 6) Saturn was once oneof the Numina, the protector of the Sowers of Seeds. 7) His wife Ops, the harvest helper. 8) Janus was once one of the Numina, the god of good beginnings. 9) Faunus, Saturn's grandson, Pan-like prophet. And there were 1) The Fauns. Roman satyrs. 2) Quirinus, deified Romulus the founder of Rome. 3) The Manes spirits of the good dead. 4) The Lemures or Larvae, spirits of the wicked dead. 5) The Camenae, goddesses of springs and wells, cured disease and foretold the future. 6) Lucina, goddess of childbirth. 7) Pomona, feminine powers protecting orchards. 8) Vertumnua, feminine powers protecting the gardens. Although gender was often undefined as later it was written that Pomona and Vertummua fell in love with each other.... what a sassy good time those Romans had.... Up
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Ah you say, that was the moral of the story.
Heed not my fair maidens and prince of peace, the story continues...
