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Of Gods and Men: Trollheart's Journal of Mythology and Legend
"Heroes never die" - Bryan Josh, Mostly Autumn, 1998.
Even from a very young age, mythology and tales of folklore has been my first love. Once I learned to read (about age seven I think) I devoured all the books I could on Greek, Roman, Celtic, Native American and most especially Norse legends that I could, ranging further and further afield as I explored the vivid and colourful tales of lands long vanished and peoples long passed away. These stories spoke to me as no others did; sure, there were fairy tales and fantasy, and they were great. But these were things that people believed happened. Fanciful, yes. Interpreting natural phenomena as the will or actions of supreme deities, certainly. But they always entertained. And that's what I've loved about mythology. I'm not one of those who wants to explain or dig into WHY this race believed that, or why the other people worshipped a particular god or pantheon of gods, nor what these gods were meant to represent. I preferred, and prefer, to view them as wonderful tales passed down to us by our forefathers, speaking to us across the ages and reminding us of a time when everything could not be explained, and some things were just seen as being in the hands of all-powerful and inscrutable gods. Odysseus. Hercules. Thor. Beowulf. Sigurd. Zeus. These are the names that still have meaning for us now, thousands of years since their stories were first written. The battles they fought (real or imagined, or even embellished), the struggles they contended with, the things they saw and the things they did, all have gone to make up part of ourselves, the world we live in today, and even now, in our enlightened twenty-first century, digital online world, there is still room for them, if only in Hollywood blockbuster movies, comics and books. These are names that will never fade from human memory, and deeds that will be spoken of again and again. So, if you have any interest at all in mythology, or would like to learn about the legends of the past, then this could very well be the place for you. https://i1.wp.com/www.kalilily.net/w...48%2C307&ssl=1 When I began this journal back almost six years ago now, I really didn’t think it through. I had no idea of any sort of structure for it, no real clue how to organise it and as a result the approach was scattergun at best, confusing at worst. My initial design also meant that each post covered just one figure, giving anyone looking for actual information on, or researching, mythology a long time to wait before they could get any sort of useful data. Of course, it’s highly unlikely that any of you who were actually reading were also researching; chances are, you were all just reading for entertainment. Nevertheless, details were being leaked out a tiny amount at a time, and that must have seemed frustrating. It also doesn’t make people want to keep coming back, if the information is being doled out in dribs and drabs. So I therefore propose to begin again. Same journal, same pages, but several years on and a lot learned. This time the entries will be larger and more informative, and based upon some sort of loose structure. I’ll begin by going through each pantheon and giving a rough guide to each. Later on I’ll go into far more detail on the various gods, goddesses, heroes and battles, places and stories in each mythology, but I won’t be doing any scholarly analyses of what these gods represented, or how the ancient people who worshipped and sacrificed to them saw them. This will be a journal based exclusively on telling you about these deities as if they actually existed. As each god, hero or monster is given their own post(s) I’ll link them in the main narrative, the same with battles, epics, stories, lesson and all other aspects of the respective mythologies. Comment as always welcomed. Let’s begin then with a discussion on what mythology is. Well, put simply I guess, without reference to dictionaries and whatnot, mythology is a system of tales or stories, sometimes sagas of the exploits of people and even creatures who were once thought to exist by the people of the time. They are usually an attempt by those people to understand, without the benefit of science, the natural world. So thunder bangs and lightning flashes, therefore a god is angry. Crops grow plentiful, so a god is happy. Earthquakes, volcanoes, cyclones are all symbols of a god’s wrath and so on. They are also, of course, used by the prevalent religion to explain, reinforce and disseminate the powers, mercy or other qualities of the gods the priests, monks or whoever serve. At heart though, without going too deeply into the guts of things, they’re interesting and entertaining stories we can read now and laugh at, but quite often they have some sort of a moral, showing the people that by doing this they achieved that, or by resisting this they avoided that; how kindness and forbearance is smiled upon by the gods, and how resistance to them is punished, how if we live the lives the gods ask or demand of us, we will be rewarded, and of course, if we don’t, we had better watch out, because there is usually (though not always, as we will see) a downside; a dark, evil, hopeless place where we can all end up if we don’t follow the paths of righteousness. Most mythologies borrow from each other, and there are common strands to just about every belief. Unless we’re talking about a monotheistic society, there’s a pantheon, or collection or family of gods and goddesses, and they invariably all represent or have charge of something - weather, fertility, war, love, travel, beggars - you name it, there’s usually a god for it. The gods almost always live apart from the people they worship, keeping aloof and lordly, like kings watching over their subjects, and most often high up in the sky, up a mountain, on a cloud, making the rather heavy-handed point that they are, figuratively and literally, above us. Most gods and goddesses are brave, and perform extraordinary feats; some visit the mortals and mix with them, even reproduce with them, giving rise to a small race of demigods. Most gods are seen as capricious and quick to anger, jealous (either of each other or of some mortal who takes the attention off them) and vengeful. They are, not to put too fine a point on it, not to be ****ed with. They mostly don’t care too much about mortals, seeing them as playthings to amuse themselves with, though if one pays them an insult they’re quick to respond, usually with deadly force, occasionally with a sort of evil malice, an appropriate punishment. Look at Narcissus, or Echo, or… well, we’ll come to all of those in due course. Gods usually demand sacrifices, the best way to be sure that their mortals still worship and acknowledge them, and in return will grant good harvests, plentiful women and a top-rate fibre optic broadband signal. Well, maybe not the last. But they’re seen to respond to prayers, possibly in a way the Christian God usually does not. Maybe he hasn’t got the best broadband line like they do. Different religions, different mythologies treat their females in various ways. Some have them taking part in the adventures, being sometimes as powerful as the gods, or even more so, while some relegate them to just churning out babies and providing points of dispute that allow gods to go to war with each other. I think the Egyptians and the Babylonians have the most powerful goddesses, but again, we’ll get to that. Some gods are warlike, some are pastoral. Some like to instigate battles and glory in bloodshed, some like to sit among the flowers and read or write poetry. Some mythologies are completely self-contained, not touching the Earth at all, and told as a kind of history of another, far-off place, while some will intermingle with the mortals, though few if any ground their tales in the Earth. I think Native Americans would be a good example of a people who do. Creation myths tend to follow very similar lines. Usually an ancient race of powerful gods, often the fathers of the gods the people worship, battle against themselves or their children, or their children revolt, the end result almost always being the defeat of the elder gods, who are more often than not used to fashion the world. Fathers tend to eat their children, but these children usually manage to escape this fate, and in mythology, as in cartoons, being dead does not really hamper your career, as you can come back from the dead in many, many way, often without any explanation because, you know, you’re a god. Some mythologies leave everything to the gods. They fight the battles, they divine the secrets, they set the tone. Others need humans to do the heavy lifting, which is where heroes (sorry ladies; it’s almost always males) come in. These can be connected to gods - their mother having lain with a god, making them a demigod - or just devoted to one, or they can be ordinary mortals without any sort of divine lineage at all. They’re often princes or kings (or destined to be) but they can also be monks, simple farmers, anything at all. So you get the likes of Jason and Perseus in Greek myth, Sigurd and Siegfried in German, and Fionn MacCumhaill and Oisin in Irish, to name but a few. And then of course, these heroes need obstacles to overcome, usually guarded by a beast of some sort, bringing all kinds of monsters and creatures into the mythos. Mythology can cross over and intermix with fairy tales and folklore: returning to Irish myth, the sidhe are the fairy folk of Irish mythology, and trolls feature in Norwegian myth, as do giants and huge serpents. It’s not much of a stretch to see that the one bleeds into the other, and that fairy tales mostly look back to the beliefs of the people of those times and now couch their figures in softer, less powerful terms, though of course fairies, witches and goblins can all still have a great effect on an unwary mortal. But they’re not worshipped, though they may be still respected, even revered, and nobody sacrifices to them. By the time fairy tales come along, the old gods are dead and have been perhaps somewhat emasculated into elves and fairies and other characters destined to populate children’s literature, and fantasy fiction; something nobody believes in now, if they ever did. But similarities aside, every mythology has its own brand of interesting tales to tell, brave heroes and gods to introduce, and lessons to teach. Even if we take them (as I do) as nothing more than a collection of fantastic stories to delight and entertain, they’re worth reading and learning about. So I’d like to kick off then with an article about my all-time favourite mythology, the first one I learned about and took an interest in, and the one I’ll be describing in the next post. |
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Ah, change of plans. Again. I started running through a description of the Norse gods and got, well, really bored with it, and if I'm bored, imagine what effect that's going to have on anyone reading! So I played around with a few ideas, and this is what I came up with. After a few stalled efforts, I’ve decided to approach this in the way that hopefully will provide a decent update each post and also allow anyone reading to have the best chance of seeing something they may be interested in. So rather than focusing on one figure per post, this is my new plan. Each post (I should say each update, as they may take more than one post) will contain one major and one minor figure from both Greek and Norse mythology, as I both believe them to be the most popular and important mythologies, and happen to like them both best. Then there will be a record of an event, from any mythology, like a battle, quest, discovery, wedding, whatever, or possibly focusing on an item - magic ring, sword, helmet, something lost, regained, manufactured, stolen etc. Then a story from a mythology of my choice other than Greek or Norse, and finally something from the “grab bag”: a totally random story from a totally random mythology. Oh, and to ensure nobody thinks my own personal bias has gone anywhere, and to prove it’s alive and well and as active as ever, I’ll ensure each update contains a story from the mythology of my own heritage, Celtic. Not necessarily always Irish, but if not then Scottish or Welsh. That’s a fair bit to read, and will hopefully cover a lot of ground each update. |
Excellent thread idea TH :clap:
All this stuff was first brought to my attention with the Thor movies. I've followed the MCU since day one, but I don't really know enough about Norse mythology. I will be following, as this stuff is certainly interesting. |
Glad someone's enjoying it. I'll be veering from mythology to mythology, with say Norse then maybe British then Japanese then Native American and so on, but will eventually try to link each entry with others that refer to it, so that anyone interested in a particular mythos can easily find what they're looking for.
Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see first, as I have all this pre-written; used to be on my old website. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/achilles.png Pantheon: Greek Class: Hero Lineage: Mortal/Nymph Alignment: Good Linked with: Hercules, Hector, Paris, The Argonauts, Menelaus Son of Peleus, a mortal, and Thetis, a sea nymph, Achilles' mother was given a choice by the gods as to how his life should be: short but glorious, or long but obscure. Fearing for her son's safety, Thetis chose the latter, and to this end bargained with the gods to protect her son from harm. This they granted, by advising the nymph to immerse the child in the waters of the Styx, the dark river which was said to flow into the very underworld, Hades itself, which would immunise him from all harm. This Achilles' mother did, but having to hold on to her son by the ankle, that he would not be dragged away by the current, she was unable to ensure that every part of his body would receive the protection of the gods, and indeed this was to prove the death of Achilles. In Greek, as in other myths, the devil is quite often indeed in the details. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...%A9_-_Styx.jpg The River Styx, dark river of Greek myth across which the boatman of the dead, Charon, was said to ferry the spirits of the recently-deceased into the kingdom of Hades and the afterlife. Fearing further for the boy's safety, Thetis disguised Achilles as a girl, and sent him to the court of King Lykomedes, on the island of Skyros.There he was brought up as a girl, among the king's daughters, falling in love with one of them, Deidamia, who bore him a son, Neoptolemos, who later fought in the war against Troy. However, another Greek hero, Odysseus, was sent to Skyros, his mission to locate Achilles and enlist him in the coming Trojan War. Gaining admittance to the court of King Lykomedes under a false pretext, Odysseus recognised Achilles, and ordered a magnificent suit of armour to be brought before the boy. Seeing the breathtaking splendour of the suit, Achilles' head was turned, and he yielded to the call to arms that Odysseus sounded on his battle-horn. The boy offered his services to the war, and was enlisted. On the way to Troy, the Greek party mistakenly landed in Mysia, which was ruled by Telephos, a son of Hercules. Telephos fought the invasion of his country, and in the battle was wounded by Achilles' spear. Now Achilles had studied healing and medicine under the Centaur Cheiron, and this knowledge had stood him in good stead when he had had to heal a wound that his friend Patroklos suffered. Telephos found that his wound would not heal, and on consulting an oracle, was advised that it would only be healed by he who had caused it. With the Greek fleet beached at Aulis, Telephos made his way there, where he presented himself to King Agamemnon, in disguise. He then abducted Agamemnon's infant son, Orestes, and threatened to kill the child if his wound were not seen to. Thereupon Odysseus scraped some of the rust from the spear of Achilles, applied it to the wound, which then healed. Delighted with the results, Telephos offered to lead the Greeks to Troy, which was in fulfillment of another oracle. http://www.artclon.com/OtherFile/Bia...oden-Horse.jpg The famous Trojan Horse being pulled into the city by its inhabitants, little knowing their doom was upon them. Achilles then went on to distinguish himself in the long and hard-fought Trojan War, leading the Greeks to the brink of victory, and fulfilling the fate laid out for him by the gods, his mother's choice of which he had himself superseded, once having given in to the call of the warrior, there in Lykomedes' court. In the course of the Trojan War, Achilles gained great fame and respect, killing the Hero of Troy, Hector, as well as the Amazon Pentheselia, before finally being killed himself by Paris, instigator of the Trojan War by his stealing of the beautiful Helen from her husband Menalaus. Achilles fell when the spear of Paris punctured his heel, the only part of him not protected by the gods, and leading to the later phrase "achilles heel". |
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http://www.trollheart.com/shiva.png Pantheon: Hindu Class: God Level: Top Tier Alignment: Evil Lineage: Divine Linked with: Kali, Brahma, Vishnu The most violent and dangerous of the Hindu gods, Shiva was known as the Destroyer. He had four arms, four faces and three eyes. The third eye, in the center of his forehead, was lethally destructive. Shiva wore the skin of a tiger and a snake twined around his neck, trophies of the very animals he had defeated when they had been sent against him by jealous Rishis. Commanded by Indra to inflame the Destroyer with love for the goddess Parvati, Kama fired an arrow at the god, who, shaken from his meditation, lashed out and destroyed Kama. As Bhairava, Shiva haunts cemeteries and places of cremation, wearing serpents round his head and skulls for a necklace, attended by a host of demons and imps. In general representation, Shiva is shown as standing on one leg, standing upon a tiny figure, a dwarf which signifies human ignorance. In one of his four hands the god holds a drum, the second offers his blessing, the third contains a tongue of fire, while the fourth hand points downwards to the uplifted foot. One of the tales relating to Shiva speaks of his allowing the Ganges, which the sage Bhagiratha had induced to fall from heaven, to save the world from drought, to flow over his head, taking the brunt of its awesome force. Another, less complimentary myth speaks of his coming upon a sacrifice to Brahma, to which the gods had omitted to invite him. Enraged, Shiva went on a rampage, injuring many of the gods and Rishis. Shiva's vehicle is Nandi, a milk-white bull who is the protector of all four-legged creatures. |
I'm actually taking a class on Classical Mythology right now, so this journal is rather relevant to what I've been reading about for the past couple months. Maybe this thread can help me study :o
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http://www.trollheart.com/jc.png Mythos: Christian Class: God Level: Top tier (son of God) Alignment: Good Linked with: Holy Spirit, Virgin Mary, Apostles, Saint Joseph In Christian belief, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, one third of the Blessed Trinity which comprises himself, his Father, and the Holy Spirit. Sent to Earth to atone for the awful sins of mankind, Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, to mortal parents by virginal birth, known to Christians as 'the Immaculate Conception'. His mother on Earth was Mary, his father Joseph. Mary was elevated to the status of Queen of Heaven after Jesus' death, while Joseph was made a saint. Jesus preached for thirty years on the Earth, explaining to the large and ever-expanding following he attracted the mysteries of his kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven, and how people could attain that wonderful place, simply by treating each other better. He gathered to him twelve acolytes, or Apostles, whom he later sent out into the world on their own, to cast out demons and bring the true word of God to the masses. Jesus himself performed many miracles while on the Earth, among them the changing of water into wine at a wedding feast in Canaan, the healing of the blind, the crippled and the lame, the curing of lepers, and even the resurrection from the dead of his friend, Lazarus. But all of this attracted the attention of the occupying Roman forces, who finally decided that they had to step in when the crowds proclaimed Jesus as their king. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of his Apostles, Jesus was taken before the high priests of the Jews, tried before Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, and sentenced to be crucified on the cross. http://www.jesusmessiah.com/JesusOnCross.jpg However, according to Christian myth, the Saviour rose from the dead after three days, and was seen to walk the Earth for some time, visiting again his Apostles, before being finally accepted back into Heaven, into which he ascended in glorious triumph, the sin of man expiated, his job on Earth accomplished. He is said to sit there since, at the right hand of his Father. The cross on which he died is still revered by Christians as a symbol of great power and reverence. |
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Well just about 100% of the class is on Greek mythology so any entries about that will be great information. However dont worry about that, I think it's extremely cool how you're covering all these different cultures, so keep rolling with that. Great journal so far
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http://www.trollheart.com/quetz.png Pantheon: Mexican (Aztec/Maya) Class: God Level : Top Tier Lineage: Divine Alignment: Good Linked with: Tezcatlipoca The plumed serpent god of Central America, Quetzalcoatl was the giver of breath and the god of the winds. He was also a creator god, who descended into the land of the dead, Mictlan, where he fell like one dead. On his recovery, he gathered up the precious bones there, returned to earth and, sprinkling them with his own blood, turned them into human beings. Quetzalcoatl's enemy was Tezcatlipoca, a chief warrior who tricked the god into taking his form. Quetzalcoatl was then consumed by drunkenness and sensuality, and after a mock death in a stone box, he ordered the abandonment of the city of Tollan. He burned his palace, buried his treasures, and, putting on his insignia of feathers as well as his green mask, he departed in great sorrow. Reaching the seashore, he sailed away on a raft of serpents, declaring that some day he would return to reclaim his throne. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/coyote.png Pantheon: Native American (Navajo) Class: God Level: Top Tier Lineage: Divine Alignment: Good/Evil (he is a trickster god, but not as inherently dark as for instance Loki in the Norse myths) Linked with: Rattlesnake, Wonomi, Kuksu, Laidamlulum-kule The trickster god of southwestern North American mythology, Coyote and his dog Rattlesnake came up out of the ground, and Coyote watched Wonomi create Kuksu, the first man, and Laidamlulum-kule, his wife. But when Coyote tried to make people too, he laughed and his creations had glass eyes. Coyote watched the easy life that Wonomi had given man, and decided that it would be more interesting to add sickness, sorrow and death. The Trickster was even happy when the first fatality was his own son, bitten, by Rattlesnake. Coyote tried submerging the body in a lake, as Wonomi had instructed man to do, in order to shed years, but this failed to restore his son. In the end, Kuksu buried the body, declaring that to be the way things must be done, until the world was changed. Coyote eventually killed himself, and roamed the Earth as a spirit. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/hades.png Pantheon: Greek (Roman equivalent Pluto) Class: God Level: Top Tier Lineage: Divine Alignment: Evil Linked with: Demeter, Persephone, Zeus, Cerberus Also known as Aides, he was the dark, grim god of the underworld, and ruled supreme there. He was a son of Rhea, and like his brothers Zeus and Poseidon, demanded a share of the Earth following the overthrow of Kronos. The three siblings cast lots, and to Hades fell the world below. His domain was a bleak one: the rivers running along its environs were named Styx, Acheron (the river of eternal woe), Pyriplegethon (the stream of fire), Kokytos (the river of weeping and wailing) and Lethe (the river of forgetfulness). Once someone had passed over into the realm of Hades, there was no return (except in the case of Orpheus). Charon, the aged boatman of the dead, ferried the souls of the departed across the river Styx, which flowed into Hades, and once there they were received by Hades and his wife, Persephone. http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/...20131226050832 (Persephone and Hades at their wedding) The lord of the dead had carried off Persephone from the world above, smitten with her beauty and deaf to the cries of her mother, Demeter. Indeed, when Demeter finally found her daughter, Persephone explained that she had eaten of a pomegranate that Hades had given her, and could never return to the upper world. http://eogreekmyths.weebly.com/uploa...20/8019650.png (Cerberus, the terrible triple-headed guardian to the Underworld) The entrance to Hades was guarded by the triple-headed dog Cerberus, and for those who had led reasonably righteous lives, the afterlife in the underworld was a sort of shadow of their former life, where they could continue to perform the labours and carry on the occupations they had in life. Occasionally, a shade might be allowed to return temporarily to the world above, as a ghost, to their friends, or even summoned by the sacrifice of blood which, when drank by the shade, restored to them partial speech and consciousness, so that they could discourse with the living. But for those who had led wicked lives --- or who angered the gods --- there was the realm of Tartaros, where all the sins and evils the departed had practiced in the world above were punished, usually in a manner symbolic of their crime. Cases in point here were Tantalos, Ixion, Sisyphos, Tityos and the Danaides, all of whom will be written of and linked to later, so we will not go into their specific punishments here. There also existed in Tartaros Elysion, where the happy and the blessed were received, and which approximates as closely to the Christian ideal of Heaven as is possible, showing that Hades, though dark and forbidding, was not all doom and gloom, punishment and revenge. Hades and Persephone were also seen to be judges of the dead, and in this capacity they were assisted by three heroes whose earthly deeds had identified them as great in wisdom and justice. They were called Minos, Rhadamanthys and Aeakos, the last also being the gatekeeper of the lower region of Hades. |
Nice to see you writing about your contemporaries.
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http://www.trollheart.com/trojan.png Pantheon: Greek Class: War Featured: Achilles, Paris, Priam, Hector, Helen, Agamemnon, Menelaus It was the abduction of Helen, the wife of King Menalaus of Sparta, by Paris, prince of Troy, that began the war that lasted ten years, and took so many lives, resulting in the total destruction of the city of Troy, and the surrounding countryside, and the end of its dynasty.Paris, promised by Aphrodite the most beautiful woman on Earth as his wife, was told by the goddess to go to Sparta, where he met Helen, with whom he soon formed a strong bond of friendship, and then something more intimate, culminating in the eloping of Helen and Paris. The fugitive couple fled to Troy, where Helen married Paris. http://media.vam.ac.uk/media/thira/c...2006AF5946.jpg Meanwhile, Menalaus sought the advice of the wise Nestor, who told him that the only way to regain his and Helen's honour was to mount a war-party to attack Troy, and endeavour to take his wife from them by force. Acting on this advice, Menalaus set about forcing the other suitors for Helen's hand before him to make good on the oath they had sworn, that they would all rise to Menalaus' aid, should he need it, and mounting a great warfleet, sailed for Troy. Agamemnon, Menalaus' brother, was elected to command the fleet, and they assembled at Aulis, over one thousand ships in all, the largest fleet ever mounted. While at anchor in Aulis, they observed a strange phenomenon:a serpent coiled itself around a plane tree, on which was a sparrow's nest with nine young birds therein. The snake devoured the young birds, but on attacking the mother, was instantly turned to stone. Kalchas, the high priest, divined this omen as proof that they must fight nine years around Ilium--or Troy--and on the tenth take the city. The Greek fleet then set sail, but landed by mistake in Mysia, where the king, Telephos, resisted the invaders fiercely. There he received a wound from Achilles, which would not heal. The Greeks returned to Aulis, and Telephos, following them and being cured of the wound by Achilles, offered to lead the fleet to Troy, an offer the invaders gratefully accepted. Finally reaching Troy, the Greeks met the defending forces, led by Priam's eldest son, Hector. They beat back the Trojans, but suffered considerable losses, and Agamemnon, seeing that the Trojans would not willingly hand over Helen, prepared to lay siege to the town. During the many raids that the Greeks mounted on the surrounding territories, they captured in particular Chryseis, a daughter of Chryses, a priestess of Apollo, who appealed to the god for assistance. Apollo sent a plague to ravage the Greek forces, and Agamemnon, enquiring of Kalchas how the god could be appeased, was told that the beautiful Chryseis must be released. The Greek commander, however, accused Kalchas of being in league with Achilles, to which the Greek hero responded by withdrawing all of his forces from the Greek camp. http://cache2.allpostersimages.com/p...ek-leaders.jpg Thetis, the mother of Achilles, begged Zeus to decree that as long as her son remained at odds with his allies, the Greeks would be defeated in every encounter, and so it came to be. The Trojans, emboldened by the retreat of Achilles and their repeated successes, sallied forth from their city walls, and succeeded in driving the invaders back to their ships, where the Greeks took refuge. Agamemnon, realising that he needed Achilles, sent emissaries to the hero's pavilion, imploring him to reconsider and rejoin the siege, promising that Achilles should have his own daughter's hand, and seven towns as a dowry. But Achilles would not relent, and the tide of battle continued to turn against Greece. The end seemed in sight when the Trojans, under Hector, had stormed the Greek camp and set some of their ships on fire, but Patroklos begged Achilles to loan him his famous armour, and thus clad he went against the Trojans, pushing them back from the camp, back to the walls of Troy. But not satisfied with this, Patroklos pursued Hector himself until, in single combat with the Trojan prince, he fell. This was the spur to action that Achilles needed. Reconciling himself to his countrymen, the Greek hero strode forth, bringing his forces back to the battle. Under Achilles' sword Hector fell, and the Trojan ranks fled in disarray, but unappeased by the death of the hero of Troy, Achilles bound the corpse to his chariot and dragged it around the walls of the city three times, before casting it face down in the dirt, in the Greek camp. The gods were not happy with such dishonourable conduct, and they took care of the body of Hector, also softening the heart of Achilles, so that when King Priam came to respectfully beg the body of his son, Achilles gave it willingly and with great reverence. Patroklos was buried with all due honours. As the Greeks and Trojans mourned each their fallen heroes, an army of Amazons arrived to fight on the side of the defenders, and their leader, the beautiful Penthisilea, met Achilles in single combat, and by his hand was slain.He, however, practiced none of the indignity on her body that he had on that of Hector, praising her valour and strength, and handing over her body for decent burial to her people. There was one in the Greek camp however who felt no such kinship with the Amazon. He was called Thersites, and he stabbed Penthisilea through the eye as she lay on the ground. For this act Achilles killed him on the spot. http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/lo...40/M840317.jpg Diomedes, however, a relation of Thersites, was aggrieved at this treatment of his brother, and demanded of Achilles the usual sum of money, in reparation for the killing. Achilles, incensed at this, took umbrage and once again abandoned the Greek cause, taking ship to Lesbos, to which Odysseus had to be sent to bring him back. On Achilles' return, a new hero entered the Trojan camp, Memnon, son of Eos. He met and fought in single combat with the Greek hero, and as the two fought on Earth, their respective mothers on Olympus each petitioned Zeus for victory for her son. Zeus, weighing the fate of each in the balance of Moera, found that Memnon was fated to die. Flying to the battlefield, Eos found her son already dead. But it was not long before Achilles himself died, shot by an arrow drawn by Paris.The body of the great hero was carried back to the Greek camp by Ajax and Odysseus, fighting all the way, and buried with great pomp and splendour. Achilles' armour was offered to one of the two heroes who had brought back his body, and it was Odysseus who received it, Ajax, thinking himself unworthy, fell on his own sword and died. Meanwhile Helenos, the son of King Priam, was captured by the Greeks and forced to tell of the manner in which the city might be taken. Helenos, like his sister Cassandra, had been endowed with the power of prophecy, and he told under duress that three things would be needed to compass victory for the Greeks. These were the bow and arrows of Hercules, at present held by Philoktetes, the assistance of Achilles' son, Neoptolemos, and the possession of the Palladium, the image of Pallas-Athene, which stood in the citadel of Troy. The help of Achilles' boy was no problem:the youth was willing and eager to take part in the war and prove his manhood. The bow and arrows of Hercules, on the other hand, meant that Odysseus had to travel to Lemnos, and convince Philoktetes to return with him, where the first of the defenders to fall to the Greek hero's arrows was Paris. The Trojans, afraid now to come out and face the fearsome arrows of Philoktetes, shut themselves up inside the walls of Troy. Then Odysseus stole into the city, and daringly stole the Palladium from under the noses of the Trojans. Victory now within their grasp, the Greeks had now to devise a method of entering the city, and for this they turned to Odysseus, who in turn consulted Athene. The goddess suggested that Epeios, a famous sculptor, should construct a fabulous horse of wood, which would be hollowed inside, with room for a complement of Greek soldiers. This model was built, and the Greeks left Sinon bound in the attitude of a sacrifice, the horse standing outside the gates of the city, and pretended to sail away in defeat. https://www.papermasters.com/images/trojan-war.jpg Although warned by Laokoon not to accept the gift, Priam had the Wooden Horse brought into the city, and also Sinon, whom he freed, and the Trojans spent the night celebrating and toasting their victory over the superior force. Sinon it was who, when all of the Trojans had fallen into a drunken sleep, released the catch on the side of the horse and welcomed his countrymen into the city. The Greek soldiers (Odysseus and Diomedes among them) then silently opened the city gates, signalled to the ships lying off the coast, which returned. The full Greek force entered the city, descending savagely on the surprised and bleary Trojans, and slew most of them, King Priam himself falling to Neoptolemos, the Greeks torching the city and carrying off the women and riches. https://web.stanford.edu/~plomio/BurningofTroy.JPG Menalaus, reconciled to his now contrite wife, took Helen back with him, the other Greek heroes taking the more beautiful or noble Trojan women, and the fleet returned to Sparta. Thus ended the ten-year Trojan War, and so came to pass the prophecy made by Cassandra at the birth of Paris. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/cu.png Pantheon: Irish Class: Hero Level: Top tier Lineage: Human Alignment: Good Linked with: Ferdia, Maebh, The Morrigan Son of Lug, Cuchulainn began life with the name Setanta, but after he had killed Conchobair Mac Neasa's favourite guard dog, as it had attacked him, he vowed to take the place of the dog, guarding the pass into Ulster, and thus became known as the Hound of Cualainn. (Cu is Irish for hound) Cuchulainn's great heroic strength was mostly due to his 'warp spasm', a violent, unnatural occurrence that channeled the power of Danu, the earth goddess, through his body, twisting and contorting his body into impossible shapes:his heels and calves stood out in front, one eye receded into his head, the other hung huge and red on his cheek. His hair bristled like spikes, with a drop of blood on the tip of each hair-spike, and from the top of his head arose a thick column of dark blood, that spouted like a geyser. http://anchorhousedublin.com/wp-cont...Cuchulainn.jpg (The statue of Cuchulainn that stands in the GPO (General Post Office) in Dublin, depicting the death of the great hero. The war goddess, the Morrigan, is represented by the crow on his shoulder). While the Men of Ulster were 'in their pangs', Cuchulainn held the pass into Ulster against hundreds of fighters, with the condition that only one man per day should come against him. All who fought him he slew, but he almost met his match in his brother Ferdia, and the two heroes fought for days before Ferdia was finally defeated, Cuchulainn himself the worse for the wear. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/buddha.png Pantheon: Indian Class: God Level: Top Tier Lineage: Mortal/Divine Alignment: Good Linked with: Gautama Siddartha, Vishnu, Mara, Yasodhara Devi, Chandaka, Ananda The founder and father of the Buddhist religion, Buddha was said to have been an Avatar of the great god Vishnu. Gautama Siddartha, who became the Buddha, urged his followers to isolate themselves from worldly life. In order to attain Nirvana, the highest possible and most desirable state in the religion, adherents of Buddha were required to completely extinguish their ego, free themselves from avarice and desire. Before he was incarnated as Gautama Siddartha, the Buddha resided in heaven, and told his followers that he had been Indra thirty-six times, and many hundred times ruler of the world. As the time approached for his birth, earthquakes and miracles occurred on the Earth. In Kapilavastu, on the Indo-Nepalese border, his earthly mother, Queen Maya, experienced a vision in which she beheld the Buddha come down into her womb as a white elephant. This was interpreted as the birth of a world saviour, and when the time came for Maya to give birth, she went to a grove, where the child was born, emerging from her right side without causing her the slightest pain. The child was almost instantly endowed with the power of speech, and every time he took a step there appeared on the ground before him a lotus. Instantaneously was born his wife, Yasodhara Devi, his horse Kantaka, his charioteeer Chandaka, Ananda, his chief disciple, and the Bo Tree, under which he received Enlightenment. Maya, however, died seven days after the Buddha was born, and he, having attained to supreme knowledge, ascended to the Trayastrimsa heaven and preached there to his mother for three months. Although his father, King Suddhodana, did his best to insulate the young Siddartha from the outside world (for fear that the youth would become a great sage, rather than a great ruler, should he become mindful of the injustices of the world), Siddartha encountered a corpse being carried to the cremation ground and, seeing the evil things of the world come to life before his eyes, he abandoned throne , family and offspring, and became a wanderer, a hermit, seeking enlightenment. This did not come until six years later, however, when Siddartha paused for rest under a Bo Tree, received Enlightenment, and became the Buddha. Neither the attack of the demon Mara, nor the attraction of his daughters, nor the rush of an army of hideous devils could sway Buddha from his meditations, and when Mara used his final weapon, a fiery discus, and flung it at the monk's head, it turned into a canopy of flowers. For five weeks Buddha remained under the tree, while all his previous lives were revealed to him, and then the mighty tempest occurred, but Muchalinda, king of the Nagas, protected the monk by wrapping his serpentine body around the youth. Having attained Enlightenment, the Buddha was now faced with a choice:he could either enter Nirvana, or forsake this, and instead travel the world preaching the law. Mara urged the former course, but the Buddha chose the latter, on the advice of Brahma. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/nergal.png Pantheon: Babylonian/Sumerian Class: God Level: Top Tier Lineage: Divine Alignment: Evil Linked with: Ereshkigal, Laz Babylonian god of the dead, Nergal gained this position by the use of an escort of fourteen demons which followed him around; he descended to the netherworld and forced its mistress Ereshkigal to agree to be his consort, and give him dominion over not only her, but her realm also. Nergal was represented as wearing a crown and waited upon by the fourteen demons through which he had gained admittance to the underworld. He was the god of plague, pestilence, fire, battle and the desert. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/themis.png Pantheon: Greek Class: Goddess Level: Top Tier Lineage: Divine Alignment: Good Linked with: Uranos, Gaea, Zeus, Apollo A daughter of Uranos and Gaea, she was the personification of that divine law of right which ought to control all human affairs, of that highest and noblest sense of right which is subject to no human influences. She was also viewed as the goddess of the rights of hospitality. She gave the power of prophecy to Apollo, having held the post at Delphi before him. Zeus wooed her for a long time before she consented to become his wife, and to him she bore the Horae, Moerae and Astraea, the goddess of justice. Because of her great integrity and sense of justice, all the gods consulted Themis when seeking advice. Even Zeus sought her counsel, being warned by her that he should not marry Thetis, as the son who would spring from the marriage would grow up to overthrow his father. Taking her advice, Zeus gave Thetis to the mortal Peleus as his wife. Themis was represented as a woman of mature age, with large, open eyes, holding a sword and chain in one hand, with a balance in the other, to indicate the severity and the accuracy with which justice is to be meted out and administered. |
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Very interesting thread, Trollheart! I don't know how I missed it until now. I especially liked reading about the ones I was unfamiliar with, like Cuchulainn and Nergal. And it's always nice to see the coolest of the cool, Quetzalcoatl, get a shoutout. Are you doing lesser mythical beings too? It would be cool to see some djinn in here.
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http://www.trollheart.com/beller.png Pantheon: Greek Class: Hero Level: Top Tier Lineage: Mortal Alignment: Good Linked with: Pegasus, Zeus, Athene, Poseidon, The Chimera A hero of ancient Corinth, Bellerophon caught sight of the winged horse Pegasus, as it alighted near the citadel of Corinth, and tried in vain to catch it. Thwarted, he appealed to the seer Polyidos for help, and was told to lay down to sleep at night beside the altar of Athene. Doing so, Bellerophon dreamed that the goddess herself came to him, and presented him with a golden bridle, bidding him show it to his father, Poseidon, and at the same time sacrifice a white ox to him. On waking, he found he held the bridle in his hand, sacrificed the ox as instructed, and further dedicated an altar to Athene. Pegasus proved susceptible to the bridle, and Bellerophon became his master. Having accidentally slain a Corinth noble, the hero went to Argos, where he was kindly received by the king, Proetos. However, the king's wife, Stheneboea, took a fancy to Bellerophon, and when the young man rejected her advances, she dragged him before her husband, accusing the hero of trying to violate her. Shocked by this claim, Proetos sent Bellerophon to the court at Lycia, to King Iobates, giving the youth a letter in which, unbeknownst to him, were orders to kill the bearer. Arriving at the Lycian court, Bellerophon was entertained hospitably for nine days, and on the tenth the king asked the youth what his business was, received the letter Bellerophon bore, and dispatched the youth to slay the Chimera, a monster with a lion's front half, a serpent's rear and a goat in the middle. This monster infested the mountains, and slaughtered all who attacked it. But riding Pegasus, far out of the reach of the monster, Bellerophon killed the Chimera with his spear, and returned to Iobates triumphant. Next the king sent the hero to fight against the Solymi, a hostile neighbouring tribe, and again Bellerophon returned victorious. A third time the Lycian ruler sent his guest into danger, this time against the fierce warrior-women, the Amazons, and again he defeated them. When the final attempt to slay him failed (an ambush comprised of all Iobates' finest knights), the king realised that Bellerophon must be the son of a god, and gave the hero the hand of his daughter in marriage, plus half of his kingdom. But the gods, fickle and cruel as ever, decided that joy should not be Bellerophon's lot. His son Isandros was slain by Ares, his daughter Laodaemia by Artemis, and Bellerophon himself wandered the world, insane, sad and alone, avoiding the company of his fellow men, till in an attempt to climb Mount Olympus itself on the back of his mighty horse Pegasus, he was struck by one of Zeus' thunderbolts, fell to earth and died. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/beowulf.png Pantheon: Swedish/Scandinavian Class: Hero Level: Top Tier Lineage: Mortal Alignment: Good Linked with: Hrothgar, Grendel, Wiglaf For years now, the great hall of Heorot had bustled by day but been deserted by night. Hrothgar, king of the Danes, had been forced to abandon his mighty castle once darkness fell, as the inhuman monster Grendel, who lived in the nearby swamps, had made it his feeding and hunting ground. Champions from all over the land had come to do battle with the creature, and their bones littered his lair, testament to his invulnerability, and his cruelty. Word of the king's plight reached as far as Sweden, where a young man who was beginning to make a name for himself set sail and arrived on the shores of Denmark, requesting leave from Hrothgar to be the one to destroy Grendel. Although he was young, Beowulf had a certain determination in his eyes, and the king, knowing him as he was the son of one of his friends, and certainly desperate to rid his land of this evil, readily agreed, though he held little hope that this young Swede would prevail where all his greatest knights and heroes from Denmark had failed. What is more, Beowulf swore that he would use no weapon against the creature, that he would face him on his own terms, without armour. He knew, as did all, that Grendel's scaly skin was able to deflect even the sharpest blade, and that no armour could stand against his marauding claws. As he and his men settled down for the night in the otherwise deserted hall, Grendel came calling as was his wont. Seizing one of Beowulf's men he tore him apart and ate him, but when he reached for Beowulf he encountered that for which the young man was famed in his own land: it was said that Beowulf's grip was so strong that not thirty men could unfasten it, and it was this that secured around Grendel's arm as they danced and fought and struggled through the night. Unable to break his grip, and realising he had been bested and was to die, Grendel frantically tried to pull away but only succeeded in escaping by leaving behind in the grip of his enemy his arm to the shoulder. With such a grievous wound, it was agreed when Hrothgar and his retinue returned in the morning, the creature could not survive and must surely die. And die he did. But unbeknownst to anyone, Grendel was not alone in the swamp fastness in which he lurked and lived. His mother, almost as terrible as he, set out to avenge her son and fell upon the men of Denmark who, having celebrated long into the next morning, were drunk and drowsy and unprepared for a further attack, believing their enemy vanquished. Beowulf had by this time departed, laden down with gifts from the king, his quest over, his mission complete. But when King Hrothgar sent for him, and told him that his wisest counsellor and dearest friend had been taken by the fiend's mother, Beowulf swore to track her to her lair and put an end to her forever. Accompanied by the king and his men, they made their way to the dread swamp where Beowulf dove into the boiling, noxious lake under which Grendel's mother made her home. As he swam down he was attacked by various marsh creatures, but fought them off until something huge gripped him and pulled him down, down towards the very seabed itself. There he was released and came face to face with the hideous Grendel mother. He fought her to the death, eventually taking her head off with a mighty sword he found there, but when the blood from the Grendel hit the metal of the sword it dissolved it entirely, leaving only the hilt. Returning to Hrothgar, Beowulf was again hailed as a hero and a friend, an ally and all but a son to the old king. He decided then that he must return to Sweden, and Hrothgar bade him farewell. Beowulf performed many other acts of heroism during his life, ascending eventually to the throne of his people, but his life ended in one more magnificent feat of glory, courage and self-sacrifice. He had been ruling for fifty years by now, when the land was afflicted by the scourge of a terrible dragon. Enraged that its hoard of gold and jewels had been robbed, the dragon set out to punish all who lived in the surrounding area, and every day the land was laid further waste by his terrible fiery breath. Beowulf travelled to his lair with eleven handpicked men, and knowing that he could not defeat this enemy with his famous handgrip, he had a shield of iron made, that would stand against the dragon's breath. He knew though, being an old man at this point, that this would be his last battle. And so it proved. Though he defeated and killed the dragon with the aid of his friend Wiglaf, the monster managed to seize him in its jaws and mortally wounded him. A short time later, relieved that he had once again saved his country from a predatory monster, Beowulf passed beyond the veil, but the tales of his deeds would live forever. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/sirens.png Pantheon: Greek Class: Minor Goddesses Level: Mid Tier Lineage: Divine Alignment: Evil Linked with: Odysseus, Acheloos, Demeter, Persephone, Phorkys The daughters of Phorkys and Acheloos, the Sirens had been nymphs and playmates of Persephone, and as punishment for their not trying to prevent the carrying off of her daughter by Hades, Demeter transformed them into beings half woman and half bird, then changed her mind later and gave them the lower half of fish. There were three whose names are known, and they are Parthenope, Ligeia and Leukosia. During the time when they were half bird in form, the Sirens challenged the Muses to a competition in singing, but they lost, and the Muses plucked their feathers from the Sirens, bedecking themselves with them. When they had been further transformed into marine beings, the Sirens inhabited the cliffs of the islands between Sicily and Italy, the sweetness of their singing luring unwary travellers on the seas to their deaths. The song of the Sirens would compel them to land on the islands, where they would be torn apart and eaten by the daughters of Phorkys. The first to successfully pass by the Sirens was Orpheus, who, in company with the Argonauts, kept the attention of the crew fixed on his own beautiful and haunting music, and then came Odysseus, who had his crew stop their ears, while he himself, bound to the mast but having given strict instructions that he was not to be released for any reason until they were safely by, heard their ghostly music and survived. This feat was sufficient to break the power of the Sirens forever, and they hurled themselves into the sea, where they became cliffs. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/enki.png Pantheon: Sumerian/Mesopotamian Class: God Level: Top Tier Lineage: Divine Alignment: Good Linked with: Ninhursag, Ninsikil, Utu The water god of Eridu, Enki was a creator deity, who provided Dilmun, the garden of Paradise wherein all dwelt in harmony, and sickness and death was unknown. The only thing lacking was sweet water, which Enki provided by his union with the earth mother. A quarrel arose, however, when Enki devoured eight plants grown by Ninhursaga. She pronounced on him the curse of death, which took its toll, sickness attacking eight parts of his body. The other gods were aghast, and Enlil was powerless to arrest the disease. All seemed lost, until the fox offered to bring Ninhursanaga back to Dilmun, providing there was suitable reward. This happened and the earth mother created eight deities to heal her consort's afflictions. Another legend concerning Enki relates how the gods, grumbling at how hard it was to get food, woke Enki from his slumbers, and he created for them servants out of clay. But the gods, having tired of their mortal servants, decided to drown the Earth, and Enki warned Ziusudra, the king of Sippar of the impending deluge. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/rama.png Pantheon: Hindu Class: God Level: Top tier Lineage: Mortal Alignment: Good Linked with: Das-Ratha, Brahma, Vishnu, Ravana, Kausala, others One of the incarnations of Vishnu, Rama was born in response to the threat of the demon Ravana, who had attained extreme power due to severe penances and austere devotion to Brahma. Appearing to Das-ratha within the sacrificial fire, Vishnu gave the king a pot of nectar, directing that his wives should drink it. Das-ratha's wife Kausalya drank half of it, then gave birth to Rama. The young Rama was approached by the sage Viswamitra, pleading his help against the folk of Ravana, and Rama, overcoming his aversion to fighting a woman, slew the female demon Taraka. Later the sage brought Rama and his brothers to the court of King Janaka of Videha, where Rama met and married the king's daughter, Sita, in response to the king's challenge to bend the bow of Shiva. Rama not only bent the bow, but broke it. When the time came for him to become the successor to his father, Bharata's mother prevailed upon Das-ratha to install her son as king for fourteen years, and send Rama into exile. Although Bharata declined the throne, and asked Rama to return, the god asked him to remain as regent, while he completed his exile. Taking his wife and his brother, Lakshmana, Rama travelled extensively, rebuffing the advances of the female demon Surpanakha, who in revenge had her brother Ravana carry off Sita. In their pursuit, Rama and Lakshmana slew Kabandha, a headless monster, whose spirit advised them to seek the aid of the monkey king, Sugriva. Assisted by he and Hanuman, they invaded Ravana's stronghold, slew the demon, and reclaimed Sita. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/wayland.png Pantheon: Germanic, then later English (when the Vikings settled England) Class: God Level: Top Tier Lineage: Divine Alignment: Good Linked with:Sigmund, Arthur, Merlin, Hervör, Nidud, others The smith god of the Anglo-Saxons, originally a Germanic god whose legend the Norsemen brought with them when they invaded and later settled in England, Wayland and his two brothers married swan princesses, and lived in peace until one day Wayland's wife left him, and Nidud, the king, captured Wayland and set him to work on his island kingdom, fashioning wonderful items for him and his family. To ensure that the smith did not escape, the king had his men cut the sinews of Wayland's legs, thus crippling him. But Wayland had his revenge on the king, by slaying his sons, who came to visit the smith, and making of their skulls fine goblets, which he gave to the king, and fashioning their eyes into jewels, which he gave to the queen. He fell in love with the king's daughter, fathered a child on her and escaped from the island. Nidud's daughter had already extracted a promise from her father that he would not hurt her son, so the king could do nothing about Wayland's baby son. Among the fabulous swords Wayland is said to have fashioned are Gram, Sigmund's magic weapon, and the legendary Caliburn, also known as Excalibur. |
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http://www.trollheart.com/hercules.png Pantheon: Greek Class: DemiGod Level: Top Tier Lineage: Human/Divine (Human mother, divine father) Alignment: Good Linked with: Athena, Zeus, Hera, Artemis, Odysseus, Achilles, many others Technically, I should be calling him Heracles, as Hercules is the Roman name for him, but I've always called him Hercules and so I will continue. It's only semantics anyway. Hercules is perhaps one of the most well-known of the Greek heroes, and even those with only a passing knowledge of, or interest in, mythology will have heard his name. It has passed into common parlance, from being taken for the name of a dependable aircraft to providing television audiences with some harmless adventure fare to keep them amused, and has become identified with things strong and large, a Herculean task, and so on. Born as the result of one of the many liaisons of Zeus, king of the gods, with mortals, Hercules was hated by Hera, Zeus's wife, for obvious reasons, and she did all she could to make his life miserable, from actually trying to kill him as an infant by sending two snakes into his crib --- both of which he slew with his own hands, presaging what would become his legendary strength --- to causing a madness to fall upon him, which resulted in his killing of his wife and children. Visiting the temple of the Oracle at Delphi, he explained that since the deed he had been unable to sleep, and the Oracle advised him that he must make amends for his crime. This resulted in the famous Twelve Labours of Hercules, which we will come to in due course. The hatred Hera bore Hercules was also born out of the fact that she knew she had been tricked into allowing him to suckle at her teat, which gave him a god's powers; Athena, his half-sister and the protector of heroes, had found him left exposed on a hillside. His mother, Alkmene, fearing the wrath of the gods, had left her child to be taken by nature and the elements, but when taken by Athena to Hera, the mother of the gods did not recognise him and allowed him to suckle; he in fact bit hard and she pushed him away, enmity already growing between them. Hercules/Herakles had many adventures though, and some are recounted in Roman mythos only, while some are exclusive to his Greek heritage. In this article, I'm going to mix them and not clarify which is from which, as this is after all just a small article about the hero, and not a scholarly thesis. The first of the tales concerns Cacus, a fire-breathing giant. One of the sons of the smith god Vulcan, Cacus terrorised the countryside by capturing victims whom he would eat, nailing their skulls to the outside of the cave in which he lived. When Hercules passed by with a herd of cattle he had stolen, Cacus decided he would help himself and while the hero slept the giant appropriated a number of the cattle. On waking, Hercules was furious and made to enter the cave but Cacus, terrified of the mighty hero, blocked the entrance with a great rock, forcing Hercules to throw tree branches and large rocks at the cave while Cacus belched fire and smoke at him. At length though, Hercules's patience snapped and he leaped into the cave and strangled the giant. THE TWELVE LABOURS OF HERCULES Surely the best known and most celebrated of his adventures, this story concerns the penance Hercules had to perform in order to attain forgiveness for the earlier slaying, while in the throes of madness, of his family. He visited the Oracle at Delphi, asking how he might make amends, unaware that the Oracle swore her fealty to Hera, who was by now his arch-enemy and determined to destroy him. The Oracle counselled him to travel to Tiryns, to the court of his cousin Eurystheus, and to place himself in his servitude. She also prophesied that, once he had served out his indenture, he would be made fully immortal, a god himself. Again, Hercules was unaware that Eurystheus had been placed on the throne of Tiryns by trickery worked by Hera, and he was in that regard her pawn, a pawn she fully intended to use to the maximum. Eurystheus hated Hercules on sight. He was a slight, ineffectual man who, despite his power, had no bearing or charisma and standing beside Hercules seemed as an ant beside a lion. He decided to set the hero the most difficult, impossible tasks he could, and for twelve years Hercules worked to fulfil the whims of this weak king, whom he could, had he wished to or been allowed to, break like a twig. But he had sworn to serve him, and a man's oath was his bond. https://ferrebeekeeper.files.wordpre...dgefogg450.jpg The First Labour: The Nemean Lion A great lion was terrorising King Eurystheus's realm and he thought sending Hercules to deal with it would be a quick and easy way of getting rid of the hero. This lion was no ordinary one; it was huge, and the bones of its victims littered the ground outside its lair. Eurystheus tasked Hercules to kill the lion, and as proof to bring him its hide, said to be proof against any weapon. Imagine his terror then when Hercules reappeared some time later, quite alive and wearing the lion's skin as evidence of his victory! So scared was the king that he ran and hid inside a large jar, from which he refused to emerge. Later he declared that all of Hercules's future labours must be shown as completed outside the city, as he would no longer allow the hero in. It was said that Hercules had severe trouble killing the lion, whose hide, as I have mentioned, was impenetrable to all weapons. Of course, when dead it made a great suit of armour, but before it was stripped from the animal it provided it the perfect protection against Hercules's weapons. In the end, some accounts say that he shot his arrows into its soft mouth, and then strangled the beast in its lair. He had however difficulty removing the skin, which again resisted all weapons even to cut it, until Athena appeared and told Hercules to use the lion's own tooth, which allowed him to easily skin the beast and don its pelt. http://www.itsartmag.com/features/it.../hhydra-de.jpg The Second Labour: The Lernaean Hydra Realising that, fierce as it had been, the Nemean Lion had after all only been a wild beast and was therefore too easy a task for Hercules, and advising the hero that each labour would be more difficult than the last, Eurystheus pronounced the second of what were to have been originally ten labours, but which became twelve in the light of the result of this next one, and the king's pettiness and rage at Hercules's continued successes. The Lernaean Hydra was a huge water serpent, said to be immortal, and indeed Hera herself had raised it for the sole purpose of slaying Hercules. Realising he might need some assistance with this second Labour, as the Hydra had nine heads, Hercules accepted the help of his nephew, Iolaos. When they came to the Hydra's lair they found it hard to entice it to battle, as it stayed out in the middle of the swamp, but Hercules's arrows, though ineffectual against the monster, drew its ire and it moved towards shore. As it came within reach, Hercules swung his mighty club (which he had fashioned from a tree during the previous Labour) and struck off its heads, but to his horror and dismay, for each head lopped off, two more grew to take its place, so that defeating the beast seemed indeed an impossible task. Then Iolaos, inspired by Athena, hit upon the idea of cauterising the stumps, so that no new head could grow back once struck off. This worked well, and Hercules was finally able to drag the Hydra out of the swamp, lop off its middle head, which was the only one that was immortal, and so, its stump sealed with the fire from Iolaos's torch, the gruesome beast shuddered in its death throes and breathed its last. Hercules dipped his arrows in the creature's blood, thus turning them into deadly weapons against which no foe could stand. On their return to the city, Hercules and Iolaos were greeted not by the king, who had again taken to hiding in his jar at word of the approach of the two, but by his servants. Gathering courage, Eurystheus declared that this Labour was null and void, as Hercules had had help carrying it out, and the Twelve Labours were his to complete alone. Rather than push the point, the hero acceded and resigned himself to the fact that, though he had grappled with one of the fiercest beasts he had ever encountered, he had yet eleven Labours to perform. The Third Labour: The Augeian Stables King Augeias, whose realm was hard by, had stables that had not been cleaned out in, it seemed, ever. To Hercules fell the task of scrubbing them out. The stench was indeed strong and he encountered it long before he even came in sight of the stables. He went to the king and declared that he would clean out the stables if Augeias would give him one-tenth of the cattle therein as a reward. The king agreed, and Hercules set to work, cutting deep channels through the stables and then diverting two rivers to make them flow through the muck and grime, and in a short time they were clean again. Hercules redirected the rivers to their original course and rehoused the cattle in the now pristine stables. However, when he went to claim his reward he was refused by King Augeias (who had assumed the task was beyond any man and so had no real intention of honouring the bargain anyway), who told him that as Hercules had already been ordered to clean the stables by Eurystheus, he was not entitled to any reward. This did not deter his tormentor from also discounting this Labour, on the basis that he requested, although did not receive, a reward. The Fourth Labour: The Ceryneian Hind Having established that it was useless to try to have Hercules destroyed by monsters, as he had already bested the strongest she could put in his path, Hera ordered Eurystheus to decree that Hercules should have to catch the Ceryneian Hind, the most fleet-footed deer in the world, and more, an animal sacred to Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. This put the hero in a no-win situation: if he failed to catch the deer, the Twelve Labours would not be completed and he would be in disgrace, to say nothing of being unable to cleanse his soul and attain immortality, but if he succeeded, Artemis would be angry and would probably kill him. Either way, it looked bad for the hero. It took him a full year to catch the hind, pursuing it every day, never once stopping to catch breath, eat or sleep, and eventually he wore it down, trapping the great animal. But as Hera had planned, as he trudged back to Eurystheus with the deer over his back, Artemis appeared and swore to punish him for defiling her animal. Hercules fell to his knees and explained the compulsion he was under, and promised only to take the deer to Eurystheus, to show him that the Labour had been carried out, after which he would return it to its mistress. Relenting, Artemis agreed, but when Hercules got back to the city Eurystheus wanted to keep the hind in his zoo. Hercules agreed, on condition that the animal be surrendered to the king personally. But when Eurystheus approached, Hercules let the hind go and it ran off like the wind. Artemis had been satisfied, the bargain kept, and Eurystheus could do little but admit that the Labour had been completed. The Fifth Labour: The Erymanthian Boar Not so interesting for the actual capture of the animal, which was fairly basic: Hercules drove it into deep snow and wrestled it to the ground, thereafter bringing it to Tiryns. However this Labour takes in also a visit by Hercules to his friends the Centaurs, half man half horse, one of whom had taught him as a child. Thirsty from his journey, Hercules asked his friend Pholos for some of the wine the centaurs brewed up here in the mountains. Pholos knew that his people tended to go wild if they drank wine (so why they made it is unclear but anyway) but Hercules insisted until finally the centaur opened a jar. However the smell alerted the other centaurs who, being denied the wine, attacked Hercules. He drove them off with his poisoned arrows, but one accidentally fell on the foot of his friend, and Pholos died. Hercules buried him on the mountain before continuing on to his quest. http://www.talesbeyondbelief.com/ima...lian-birds.jpg The Sixth Labour: The Stymphalian Birds Next Hercules had to rid the land of the dread Stymphalian Birds, which were maneaters with beaks of bronze. They had taken the nearby jungle for their lair, and rested low on the branches of the trees therein. But the undergrowth was so dense that Hercules could not cut through it, and seemed resigned to fail in this latest of his Labours. Just then, the goddess Athena came to him, and using brass cymbals she clashed them together (another legend says she gave Hercules a rattle made by Hephaestos; there are differing accounts. This other version also states that the birds were on the shores of a lake. I don't know which is correct, and I suppose it doesn't really matter that very much) which startled the birds and like any of their species they took flight, enabling Hercules to shoot them with his arrows. Some escaped though, and would later attack the Argonauts, see next post. The Seventh Labour: The Cretan Bull Another somewhat uneventful Labour. Hercules was to capture the great bull and bring it back to Eurystheus, which he did, but when the king tried to sacrifice it to Hera, she refused the honour, as it was proof of her hated enemy's having completed another Labour, and being more than half the way towards claiming his position as a full god. http://www.theoi.com/image/img_diomedes.jpg The Eighth Labour: The Mares of Diomedes More man-eating beasts, the horses had been trained to eat human flesh by their savage owner, the king of Thrace. So when Hercules loosed them the king's men came after the hero. Leaving his companion Abderos in charge of the horses while he fought the king and his men, Hercules was dismayed to find on his triumphant return that the boy was dead, eaten by the horses. He bound their mouths so that they could be transported without trouble, but not before he fed Diomedes to them. Again, there are conflicting legends and stories as to what happened to them afterwards. http://junpierre.net/images_NEW/myth...hippolyte1.jpg The Ninth Labour: The Girdle of Hippolyte She was the Queen of the Amazons, tall, stately, fierce warrior women who had never bought a book online in their lives, and lived in service to no man. This is quite a tragic Labour, for Queen Hippolyte, impressed with Hercules and unwilling to make an enemy of him, offered to hand over the girdle, but Hera disguised herself as one of their kind and spread the rumour that Hercules was planning to ride off with their queen, whereupon the Amazons attacked. Thinking that it had been a trap, Hercules killed Hippolyte and took on the Amazons, routing them. The Tenth Labour: The Cattle of Geryon A monstrous giant with three bodies, Geryon was attended by the two-headed hound Orthos, whose brother Cerberus guarded the entrance to Hades. This dog leaped at him when it saw him approaching, but Hercules struck his two heads off with his mighty club. On the way, Hercules had had to cross the desert and in irritation at the blistering heat had shot an arrow at the sun. This had so impressed Helios, the sun god, that he gave Hercules his golden chariot in which to ride. This was the same chariot that he used to ride across the sky from day to night. Hercules fought Geryon, shooting him through the forehead with one of his poisoned arrows, and killing the beast. He then stole some of Geryon's cattle, which led to the incident with Cacus related earlier. In frustration at his having had, at this point, almost completed the Twelve Labours, Hera sent a gadfly to attack the cattle and bite them. He had to gather them back together when they ran off, and it took him a year. Then Hera flooded the river, so that Hercules could not cross with the cattle, but he piled massive stones into it to lower it and thus safely crossed, and made his way back to Tiryns. http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...ules/atlas.jpg The Eleventh Labour: The Apples of the Hesperides Nymphs of the evening, and daughters of the titan Atlas, the Hesperides guarded the golden apples Hercules had been tasked to retrieve. Knowing how dangerous the Labour was, Hercules sought out Atlas, and asked him if, in return for Hercules's shouldering his burden, the world, Atlas might ask his daughters for some of their apples. Atlas agreed, but when he returned with the apples he found that he preferred to remain at liberty and not take up his post again. Hercules, seeing that all he could do was trick the god, agreed but asked Atlas to take the world back for but a moment, while he adjusted his clothing. Of course, once Atlas had the world back on his shoulders Hercules legged it, and there was nothing the titan could do. http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumb...es-Of-Hell.jpg The Twelfth Labour: Cerberus, Hound of the Dead The final and Twelfth Labour was the most dangerous, and the most seemingly impossible. Hercules was to descend to Hades, the Underworld, and there bring the dread three-headed guardian back to the surface. He went down into Hades, where he encountered Persephone, consort of the Lord of the Underworld himself, for whom that realm is named. She told him that, provided he could subdue Cerberus himself without any help or weapons, she and her husband would allow Hercules to borrow the Hound of Hell, as long as he returned him. Grabbing Cerberus by his middle neck, Hercules made it impossible for the huge dog to bite him, and slung him over his back. On returning to the upper world he made his way to Tiryns, where Eurystheus, so in terror of Cerberus, advised Hercules his Labours were at an end, and Hercules triumphantly went to return the dog to its master and mistress. (To be continued...) |
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http://kevinwhiteman.com/wp-content/...85-d3kn1zl.jpg Pantheon: Christian Class: Angel Level: Top Tier Lineage: Divine Alignment: Evil Linked with: Jesus Christ, God In Hebrew, the word Satan means 'adversary', and indeed the myth built up by the Christian belief of Satan, the Evil One, is that in the beginning he was an angel - God's servants and messengers - who resided in Heaven with God, one of his more favoured ones. But attempting to seize the throne of Heaven for himself, Satan was defeated and he and his followers thrown out of Paradise, down into a specially-prepared domain where Satan ruled. The demesne was called Hell, and here the Adversary plotted and schemed how he might pay God back for the insult and the ignominy he had suffered. At last he saw his chance:having created Paradise on Earth, the Garden of Eden, God set the first two humans, Adam and Eve, as caretakers of this place, charging them to eat anything but the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Satan, sliding into Eden as a snake, convinced the woman Eve to taste the fruit of the tree, telling her that she and her husband would be as God himself if they did so. Eve gave in, tasted the fruit, and passed some to Adam. For breaking the only rule God had set them, the pair were cast out of Eden, and Satan had his revenge. But that was only the beginning. Ever since then, Satan has been seen in Christian belief as the antithesis of all things good, as the perpetual enemy of God and his children, and as the tempting force that would lure Christians from the path of goodness, dragging them down into the evil Satan represented. Indeed, Satan (whose other names are numerous, including Lucifer, Beelzebub, the Father of Lies, the Tempter, the Adversary, the Dark One, Prince of Darkness, the Devil, and so on) even tried to tempt God's son, Jesus Christ, when the Saviour was fasting in the desert. According to Christian belief, of course, Jesus resisted and cast Satan out. Ever since his Fall from Heaven, the Evil One has been all about perverting his former master's favourite creation, twisting and warping Man with his evil, whispering into his ear in the dead of night, curling up in his heart and leading him into wars, murder and all sorts of sin. Christian mythology has it that on the final day, when Jesus returns to Earth to gather all the loyal souls to him and take them to Heaven, there will be a climactic battle called Armageddon, and in this battle, the godless will take the side of Satan, who will then strive against the hosts of the holy for control of the destiny of men. In this guise, Satan will be known as the Antichrist, the opposite of everything Jesus is. Only the faithful will be saved; those who fall in league with Satan will be cast, with him, into the Pit for all eternity. |
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http://www.greek-mythology-pantheon....ess_Art_03.jpg Pantheon: Greek Class: Goddess Level: Top Tier Lineage: Divine Alignment: Good Linked with: Persephone, Hades The goddess of the Earth, in its capacity as a fruitful, growing thing, Demeter (also known as Ceres), was a daughter of Kronos and Rhea, and was looked upon by the Greeks as the all-nourishing mother of the Earth. The way life evolves from the seed which is cast into the ground and allowed to rot was the principle tenet of the belief in her. The seed was in the keeping of her daughter, Persephone, Queen of Hades, and the life that sprang forth from that seed was Demeter's. In this way the two goddesses were inseparable, and were styled as 'the two in one', or 'the great deities'. When Hades carried off Persephone, to make her his bride, Demeter, with a mother's grief, mounted her car drawn by winged snakes and travelled through all lands searching for her, leaving traces of her blessing, in the form of instruction in the art of agriculture, wherever she was kindly received. But the person who treated her with the utmost hospitality was Keleos, in the district of Attica, where she in return taught him the use of the plough, and on departing presented Keleos' son, Triptolemos with the seed of the barley, plus her snake-drawn car, so that the boy could travel the lands, spreading the knowledge of agriculture to all men. In Arcadia, in Crete, she bore to Jasion, the first sower of grain, a son, Plutos, while in Thessaly she battled Erysichton, 'the earth upturner', or 'the ploughman', and Aethon, the personification of famine. When Poseidon threatened to manhandle her, she turned herself into a horse and fled, but the sea god pursued her, turning also into a horse. He caught her, and together they produced the winged horse Arion. Horrified at this deed, Demeter hid for a long time in a cave, finally emerging to purify herself in the river Ladon, and rejoining the other gods and goddesses. Demeter's sigils were ears of corn and poppies, and her sacrifices were cows and pigs. |
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