Character:
Heracles: Heracles was one of the Greatest Heroes in Greek Mythology . His parents were Zeus and Alcmene. (The Greek Gods of Mythology n.d) It was said that as an act of hatred in which Hera had for Heracles , she drove him mad, and caused him to slaughter his wife and kids. (The Greek Gods of Mythology n.d) As a result, his punishment was to complete the 12 labors given to the Greek Hero by his cousin Eurystheus. (The Greek Gods of Mythology n.d)
Gaia : Gaia was known as the Goddess of the Earth and was usually seen as a maternal figure. (Myths encyclopedia 2011) She was the child of Chaos. (Myths encyclopedia 2011) Gaia was also responsible for giving birth to the god Uranus (Myths encyclopedia 2011)
Nymph . Nymphs were usually described as spirits of nature that were usually disguised as beautiful women. (Urban Dictionary 2011) Their habitats included forest, fields, caves, mountains , lakes and even seas. (Urban Dictionary 2011)
Cynus : Son of Apollo
Apollo : Apollo was known as the god of the sun, arts, medicine, protector of herdsmen and their flocks, prophecy. (Myths Encyclopedia n.d )The god’s parents were Zeus and Leto. (Myths Encyclopedia n.d ) Lastly he was the twin sibling of the goddess Artemis. (Myths Encyclopedia n.d)
Nereus : Nereus was known as a sea deity. (Roman Colosseum 2008) According to Apollodorus his parents were Oceanus and Terra. (Roman Colosseum 2008) He was the sea deity that gave the direction to the location of the golden apples of Hesperides to the Greek hero Heracles. (Roman Colosseum 2008)
Antaeus : Antaeus was a monstrous and cruel giant that resides in Libya. (Atsma 2000) He was known to force travellers into a game of wrestling. In which he would easily have defeated them and used their skulls as a roof of a temple that is dedicated to his father and sea god Poseidon. (Atsma 2000)
Busiris. He was known as the king of Egypt and was also known to sacrifice foreigners to the gods. (Atsma 2000)
Emathion . Emathion was known as the king of Arabia . (Greek Myth Index 2007) He was the brother of Memnon and his parents were Tithonus and Eos. (Greek Myth Index 2007)
Prometheus : Prometheus was known as creator of man kind. (Base n.d) Zeus later punished him for stealing the fire back and giving it to the men. (Base n.d) He was punished by being chained up and having an eagle feasting on his liver. (Base n.d,) Every time his liver grew back the eagle will come back and feast again. (Base n.d,)
Eurystheus: Eurystheus was the cousin of Hercacles, as well as the person responsible for assigning the 12 labors for the Greek Hero. (Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology n.d) Although Heracles was suppose to be older than Eurystheus, because of the knowledge that the first child born would eventually rule the kingdoms in the future. (Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology n.d) Hera decided to delay the birth of Heracles and sped up the birth of Eurystheus. . (Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology n.d) Thus making Heracles younger than Eurystheus. (Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology n.d)
Hera: Hera was known as the greatest goddess compared to the rest of the Olympian goddess. (Grimal 1996)Her parents were Cronus and Rhea. (Grimal 1996) Her husband was the mighty Zeus. (Grimal 1996 ) It was stated after having being swallowed by her father, she was then revived by the help of Metis and Zeus.( Grimal 1996)
(Labors)
The eleventh labor that Heracles has to complete was to retrieve the golden apples of Hesperides.(Griimal 1996) The apples were a wedding gift for Hera , given to her by Gaia. (Grimal 1996) In order to protect the apples Hera planted the apples on Mount atlas, which were protected by an immortal dragons and three nymphs.(Grimal 1996) During his journey to collect the golden apples, Heracles first traveled north through Macedonia where he was challenged by Cynus the son of Ares. (Grimal 1996) After defeating Cynus and upon reaching the river of Eridanus , he questioned the river nymphs (who were daughters of Zeus and themis) on the whereabouts of the country that held the golden apples . (Grimal 1996) They led him to a sea god named Nereus, in which he tied up, in order to get the location of the apples. (Grimal 1996) After receiving the location he traveled through Libya defeating Antaeus and escaping the Buiris in Egypt. (Grimal 1996) Furthermore while his journey through Asia to Arabia he slayed Emathion. (Grimal 1996) Lastly after having reached the mountain of Caucaus, he freed the chained up Prometheus and killed the eagle which was feeding on the liver of Prometheus .( Perseus Project n.d) As an act of gratitude , Prometheus told Heracles that only Atlas can retrieve the golden apples. (Perseus Project n.d) After having found Atlas in the country of Hyperboreans , he promised Atlas to help hold the sky if he would collect the Golden apples for him.(Grimal 1996) . Atlas joyfully agreed, however after gathering the apples Atlas told Heracles that he would take the apples back to Eurytheus himself. However Heracles pretended to agree on one condition that Atlas holds the sky while Heracles gets in a comfortable position. (Grimal 1996) While Atlas was holding the sky, Heracles took the apple and ran. (Grimal 1996) Lastly after arriving at Mycenan, Eurystheus realized that he could not keep the apples as they belonged to the gods, as a result the apples were returned to the goddess Athena who brought them back to the garden (Perseus Project n.d)
Referencing
Atsma , A 2000, Antaios, Available from: < http://www.theoi.com/Gigante/GiganteAntaios.html >. [ 22 September 2011]
Atsma , A 2000 , Bousiris , Available from: < http://www.theoi.com/Heros/Bousiris.html >. [ 22 September 2011]
Base, S n.d, The Prometheus Myth, Available from: < http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/giftfire/prometheus.html >. [ 22 September 2011]
Greek Myth Index 2007, Emathion, Available from: http://www.mythindex.com/greek-mythology/E/Emathion.html >. [ 22 September 2011]
Grimal, P 1996, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, , Blackwell Publishing , Oxford
Myths Encylopeida n.d, Apollo, Available from: < http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Am Ar/Apollo.html>. [ 22 September 2011]
Myths Encylopeida n.d, Apollo, Available from: < http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Am Ar/Apollo.html>. [ 22 September 2011]
Myths encyclopedia 2011, Gaia , Available from: < http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Fi-Go/Gaia.html>. [ 22 september 2011]
Perseus Project n.d, The apples of Hesperides , Available from: < http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/apples.html >. [ 22 September 2011]
Roman Colosseum 2008, Myths about the Roman God Nereus, Available from : < http://www.roman colosseum.info/roman-gods/myths-about-the-roman-god-nereus.htm >. [ 22 September 2011]
Urban Dictionary 2011, Nymph, Available from: < http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nymph>. [ 22 September 2011]
The Greek Gods of Mythology n.d , Heracles, Available from: < http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~baheintz/heroes.html >. [ 22 september 2011]
No comments:
Post a Comment