Monday, June 14, 2010

Gods and Goddesses Galore (Part 1)

Okay, so here's how we start...

We are going to have the gods and the goddesses at one shot, their names, characteristics, some of their strengths and weaknesses, even pictures i got from the net, because as we go along, we will be encountering their names most of the time. It's a good thing we have this as a reference. Mind you, sometimes their names will be very confusing...

Let me share the complete family tree of the gods provided by Ms. Hamilton, as an overview.


As what we can see, Heaven (Uranus) and Earth (Gaea) were the ancestors. The titans, namely: Cronus and Rhea; Coeus and Phoebe; and Ocean and Thetys were the parents of the gods. Do you see Zeus often in this family tree? This is because he married some of the goddesses in the family, even his sisters. (Weird, isn't it?!)

The twelve (12) Olympian gods and goddesses were as follows: (They were called Olympians because they lived in Mount Olympus.)

ZEUS (JUPITER)
He was the chief-god, the lord of the sky, the rain-god, and the cloud-gatherer who wielded the thunderbolt. His power was greater than that of all divinities together. Nevertheless, he is not omnipotent (all-powerful and all-mighty) and omniscient (all-knowing), unlike the Only God we know. He can be opposed and deceived. But still, he is the most glorious and the greatest of all gods.

Among the goddesses he married were, Here, Demeter, Leto, Maia and Dione. Check the family tree. Aside from the goddesses, there were a lot of mortals too. (We'll have them in our succeeding discussions.) He is represented by falling in love with one woman after another, resulted to numerous tricks to hide his infidelity to his wife. (Zeus' love affairs were so funny and exciting with his ever-jealous wife, Hera, along the way, always searching for him.)

His breastplate was the Aegis, his bird was the Eagle and his tree was the oak.


HERA (JUNO)
She was Zeus' wife and sister. She was the protector of marriage and married women were in her peculiar care. She was chiefly engaged with punishing the woman Zeus fell in love with even if they yielded only because he tricked them. It made no difference to her how reluctant and innocent any og them were. She treated them alike. Her implacable anger followed them and their children too.

She was also the protector of heroes and the inspirer of heroic deeds. The cow and peacock were sacred to her. Argos was her favorite city.

POSEIDON (NEPTUNE)
He was the ruler of the seas. Zeus' brother and second in eminence. His wife was Amphitrite, granddaughter of a titan, Ocean. He had a splendid palace beneath the sea but he was often found in Olympus.

Besides his being Lord of the Sea, he gave the first horse to men, and was honored as much. Storm and Calm were under his control. He was commonly called "earth-shaker" and was always shown carrying his trident, a three-pronged spear with which he would shake and shatter whatever he pleased. He had some connection with bulls as well as with horses.


HADES (PLUTO)
He was the third brother among the Olympians who drew for his share the underworld and the rule over the dead. He was also the god of Wealth, of the precious metals hidden in the earth. He had a far-famed cap or helmet which made whoever wore it invisible. It was rare that he left his dark realm to visit Olympus or the earth. He was not a welcomed visitor.

He was unpitying, inexorable, but just: a terrible, but not an evil god. His wife was Persephone. (Proserpine) who was carried away from the earth and made Queen of the Lower World.


ATHENA (MINERVA)
She was the daughter of Zeus alone. No mother bore her. Full-grown and in full Armour, she sprang from his head. She was a fierce, ruthless battle-goddess who defended the state and the home against the enemies. She was the goddess of the city, the protector of civilized life, handicrafts and architecture. She was the inventor of the bridle, who first tamed horsed for men to use,

She was Zeus' favorite child. He trusted her with his aegis, his buckler and his thunderbolt. She was described as "gray-eyed" and sometimes translated as "flashing-eyed". Of the three virgin goddesses, she was the chief. She was the embodiment of wisdom, reason and purity.

Athens was her city. Olice, created by her was her tree and the owl was her bird.


PHOEBUS APOLLO
He was the son of Zeus and Leto. Born in a little island of Delos. He was the Master Musician who delighted Olympus as he played on his golden lyre. He was also the lord of the silver bow, the archer-god, far shooting, and the healer as well who first taught men the healing art. He was also the god of light, to whom there was no darkness at all. His name Phoebus meant "brilliant" or "shining". He was also the god of truth. No false word ever fell from his lips.

He was the direct link between gods and men, guided men to know the divine will. Showed them how to made peace with gods. He was the purifier too. Able to cleanse even those stained with blood of their kindred.

The laurel was his tree. Many creatures were sacred for him: chief among them was the dolphin and the crow.

ARTEMIS (DIANA)
She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, Apollo's twin sister, She was one of the tree maiden/ virgin goddess of Olympus. She was the lady of wild things and the huntsman-in-chief to the gods. She was careful to preserve the young; she was the protectress of dewy youth everywhere.

As Phoebus was the Sun, she was the Moon. Also called Phoebe or Selene (Luna in Latin).

She is identified as "the goddess with three forms": Selene in the sky, making all things beautiful with her light; Artemis on earth, the lovely huntress; and Hecete in the lower world. Hecete was the goddess of the  dark of the moon, the black nights when the moon is hidden.

The cypress was sacred to her, and the wild animals especially the deer.

APHRODITE (VENUS)
She was the daughter of Zeus and Dione. She was the goddess of love and beauty, the Laughter-loving goddess and the irresistible goddess who stole away even the wits of the wise. The winds and the storm clouds flee before her. Without her there is no joy of loveliness everywhere.

She is the wife of Hephaestus (Vulcan), the lame and ugly god of the forge or fire.

The myrtle was her tree, the dove was her bird, sometimes the sparrow and the swan.

HERMES (MERCURY)
He was the son of Zeus and Maia. He was graceful and swift in motion, on his feet were winged sandals, wings were on his low-crowned hat and magic wand too. He was Zeus' messenger.

Of all the gods, he was the shrewdest and cunning, in fact he was the master thief who started upon his career before he was a day old. He stole away Apollo's herd. Zeus made him gave them back to Apollo and he won Apollo's forgiveness by presenting him with the lyre, which he had just invented.

He was also the god of commerce and market, the protectors of traders. He was also the solemn guide of the dead. The divine herald who led the souls down to their last home.


ARES (MARS)
He was the god of war, the son of Zeus and Hera. He was magnificent in his shining armor, redoubtable and invincible. He was known as the lover of Aphrodite and was held up to the contempt of the Olympians by Aphrodite's husband Hephaestus.

His bird was the vulture and the dog was his animal.


HEPHAESTUS (VULCAN/ MULCIBER)
He was the god of fire, son of Zeus and Hera, Ares' brother and Aphrodite's husband. Among the perfectly beautiful immortals, he only was the ugly and lame as well. There was a story told that when Hera saw that he was deformed, she cast him out of heaven. But that happened in a more distant past because he was honored as the workman of the immortal, their armorer and their smith who makes their dwellings and furnishings as well as their weapon. His forge is often said to be under a volcano.

He was a kindly peace-loving god, popular in earth and in heaven. With Athena, he was important in the life of the city. They were patrons of handicrafts: as he the protector of smiths and she , the weavers. When children are formally admitted to the city organization, the god of the ceremony was Hephaestus.


HESTIA (VESTA)
She was Zeus' sister, and like Athena and Artemis, a virgin goddess. She was the goddess of the hearth or fire. The symbol of the home, around which the newborn child will be carried before it could be received by the family. Every meal began and ended with and offering to her.

In Rome, her fire was cared for by six virgin priestesses, called Vestals.


The lesser gods and goddesses of Olympus, coming up next...






Saturday, June 12, 2010

The Creation and the Titans

"The Greeks did not believe that the gods created the universe. It is the other way about: the universe created the gods. Before there were gods, heaven and earth had been formed. They were the first parents, the titans were their children, and the gods were their grandchildren."

It really is the other way around. Imagine, how did the universe created the titans, their children? Does it mean that the universe was there all along? Well this is literature. As I've said, mythology was the science of the early people. Their way to explain everything that they saw around them.

Let's meet the titans...

Titans were the first people who ruled the earth, according to mythology. They were once the mightiest of them all. The word 'Titan' is somehow familiar to us. If you checked your thesaurus, titan was synonymous to the word 'giant'. Something huge, unmeasurable and heavyweight. Remember "Titanic", the biggest ship ever built?

Basically, Titans were big people. Some sort of a giant. They were the elder gods of enormous sizes and of incredible strengths. Notable titans were as follows: Cronus (the ruler of all the titans) and Rhea (his wife); Ocean (the river that was supposed to encircle the earth) and Thetys (his wife); Hyperion (father of the sun, the moon and the dawn); Mnemosyne (memory); Themis (justice); and Iapetus (father of atlas, who bore the world on his shoulders and Prometheus, who was the savior of mankind).

For better understanding of these titans, i would like to share a family tree provided by Ms. Hamilton:


I chopped the lower part of the family tree for the Olympian gods and goddesses, so we would know who the titans were and for a clearer picture of their hierarchy.

Next up, Olympian gods and goddesses...



Monday, May 31, 2010

Greek or Roman?

Ready for Mythology guys? I hope so...

First thing we need to know is the history. Why did people think of Mythology? Who were the first writers? How did the people come up with such bizarre stories and how did mythology evolve through time?

All these were answered by Edith Hamilton's Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes book.  Ms. Hamilton is a classical writer born on August 12, 1867(1867-08-12) and died on May 31, 1963 (aged 95). She published  that book in 1942. (See, even this book is a classic.) She retold the stories in a more comprehensive manner with brilliant clarity. This is one of a kind! We'll be using this book as an over-all-source for this entire odyssey.

So, here we go!

There were a lot of Mythology writers, lyricists and poets who lived to tell the stories from words of mouth to poems, songs, short stories, even novels whose works were compiled by Ms. Hamilton. Some of them, Homer, Hesiod, Pindar, Ovid, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Plato, Apolodorus, Catullus, Horace and a lot more. I'm sure You've heard some of those names. I'm not going to mention them anymore in the succeeding discussions because we might get confused with these names and the characters in Mythology. (Somehow, they sound alike, don't they?) But thanks to them, we now have the most marvelous of all the stories ever created. Agree?

Back then, Romans thought of their gods and goddesses as fearsome mighty and unexplainable. Something than no one had set eyes upon yet. Something different than what they usually saw with their naked eye. "Until then, gods had no resemblance of reality. They were unlike all living things. A representation of human shape deliberately made unhuman." Like a woman with cat's head, men with bird's head, lion with bull's head and eagle wings. These were created to produce something never seen and to connote great power and fearsome imagery. They we're never seen, touched, heard or mingled with by mortals.
Then Greek Mythology evolved. "With it's coming, the universe became rational. The invisible must be understood by visible." They humanized the world and freed men from "paralyzing fear and omnipotent unknown." They created the gods in their own image. (Sort of the opposite, right?) Only mightier, powerful, huge and most lovely than any human being or mortals ever known. (supernatural powers, included). Unlike the Roman gods, they can be seen, touched, heard or mingled with by mortals.

Characters in each and every story were also different. They have exact opposites. (e.g.: Zeus-Jupiter; Hera-Juno; Poseidon-Neptune; Athena-Minerva; Aphrodite-Venus; Hermes-Mercury and so on...)

People created and told these stories to explain their mere existence, the way of nature and all the things around them. To give meaning and sort of an origin of everything. Like how the universe and the human beings were created, why volcano erupts, why is there lightning, why do we have the seasons in a year and all that. Mythology was their science back then, when people have yet to grasp knowledge on everything.

There, origin all set!






Friday, May 28, 2010

A Headstart

I'm new in blogging. I don't know anything about this yet. Right now, everything i'm doing in this site is experimental, though, excitement tickles my senses right now. I have so much to write, so much to share, so much to talk about... So i said to myself, what the heck am I waiting for. It's a bit of a now-or-never for me.

One thing that inspires me to start blogging now, is my rediscovered passion for Mythology. "Rediscovered", coz i never knew i have it in me (the passion for it). I started learning about it when I was in college. It was one of our subjects then. An entire semester of gods and goddesses, their doings, their strengths and weaknesses, their love affairs. Basically, everything about them. Imagine discussing it in a very classroom setting manner, in an era with less knowledge on visuals and audio plays. All we did was purely, sleepy, head spinning, never ending discussions. (with matching manila papers with notes on it posted on the board) There were times we performed lame short skits or dramatization. One of my classmates did a diorama (characters and scenes in a box), others did picture plays and stick puppets just to be creative, which i appreciate wholeheartedly, don't get me wrong! (No offense to my professor and classmates) It was quite an effort there... but it did not strike me that much. I felt like it's just an ordinary subject i have to pass in order to graduate and have a degree. Well, that's college!

So, as i was saying, yeah, "rediscovered Mythology" indeed...

As most of us would notice,  a lot of stories, whether old or new (has little, if not fully) are inspired by Mythology. To wit: Troy; Lord of the Rings Trilogy; Harry Potter Series; Clash of the Titans; Percy Jackson Series; etc. There is no doubt, that Mythology is one great foundation for stories nowadays. Even our names are amazingly Mythology inspired too. Mine and my dad's came from a German Mythology called Nibelungelied (A German dragon-slayer named Siegfried). My students' namely: siblings Mercury(messenger of gods) and Venus (goddess of love and beauty), Athena and my half sister Minerva (battle goddess), my cousin Phoebe (a titan/ titan's wife) are among the few examples.

My life story, believe it or not, is comparable to Mythology. My dad being Zeus, having multiple wives, bearing several children and all that! You know the chaos it would bring... all the details and comparisons will be revealed on succeeding posts. My blog title has something to do with Mythology too. My dad being the Shining Armour and I being his son. Must i yield my dad's Shining Armour?Inherit all that he is and all that he has?

To set things straight, i just bought Edith Hamilton's Mythology book just the day before yesterday. Yeah! no kidding! You might think, "this guy is so passionate about Mythology, telling all these and all those, yet he just bought the book, not even read it yet!" YES, i am telling you with all honesty, i have not read it thoroughly. To date, i am just at Ms. Hamilton's foreword and introduction.

This is how we're gonna do it. I'll be reading it, then be blogging it, then be discussing it and be sharing ideas. then you'll be reading my blog, you'll be posting comments... Got it?! This way, we'll be understanding mythology, slowly but surely. The best thing about this is that we are re-learning, re-visiting Mythology all together and we're gonna be having so much fun. Right?!

I am the Shining Armour's son... This is my Odyssey... So who's with me?