![]() The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of tragedy, meant to teach patience and the importance of keeping faith. Abiding by her vow, for six months of autumn and winter while Persephone is gone, Demeter makes the earth cold and lifeless to match her empty heart, and over the six months of spring and summer while Persephone is returned to her mother, the earth springs to life once again.Īnd that (according to the ancient Greeks) is where the seasons come from. When Zeus and Demeter came to collect their daughter, Hades announced that Persephone could not leave for she had eaten the food of the dead.ĭesperate not to make matters worse, Zeus and Hades came to a compromise – for half the year Persephone would stay with Hades in the underworld, and for the other half she would return to her mother on earth. Consumed with hunger, Persephone ate six pomegranate seeds from the platter. Hades reluctantly agreed, offering the now-ravenous girl a platter before she left. In her rage, Demeter vowed to neglect her duties until her daughter was returned, covering the earth with snow and leaving nature to wither and die so that the world would be as barren as her heart.įearing the loss of earth to Demeter’s pain, Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone. Realising that her daughter had been taken, Demeter searched frantically, destroying crops, livestock, and anything else that got in her way. Hades fell so instantly in love that he decided to kidnap Persephone and make her his wife. In mythology, it is said that on one of the rare times Hades traveled out from the underworld, he laid eyes on Persephone gathering flowers in the field. Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of nature. Unable to fly without his wings, Icarus fell into the sea and drowned. As the heat from the sun melted the wax, his feathers fell and Icarus soon realised that he was flapping bear arms. But being overwhelmed by the feeling of flying, Icarus soared into the sky coming too close to the sun. Daedalus went first, warning Icarus to follow his path, not flying too close to the sun or sea. To escape their imprisonment on the island Crete, Daedalus fashioned two pairs of wings from wax and feathers for himself and his son. ![]() King Minos (who had ordered the labyrinth to trap the half-man half-bull Minotaur that had been born to his wife and a Cretan bull) ordered the imprisonment of Daedalus and Icarus, as punishment for Daedalus giving Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, a ball of string to help Theseus (an enemy of Minos) to survive the labyrinth and defeat the Minotaur. In Greek mythology, Icarus was imprisoned with his father Daedalus, the master creator of the labyrinth which trapped the Minotaur. ![]() There is a lot of backstory and the beginning of the tale is a little convoluted, but it goes something like this… The cautionary tale of Icarus often manifests itself in the warning not to fly too close to the sun – a warning against the dangers of hubris. To help you delve a little deeper into the weird and wondrous world of this ancient Greek folklore, here are five interesting Greek myths. Still, not everyone knows the name of the guy who had roll a stone up a hill for eternity (Sisyphus), or that kid who flew too close to the sun (we’ll get to him, don’t worry). Over the course of history, these myths have often become a source of inspiration for a lot of Western entertainment and pop-culture.Įven if you think you know nothing about Greek mythology, you’re probably heard of Pandora’s box and King Midas’ golden touch, or are at least vaguely familiar with the much modified Disney version of Heracles (fun fact: ‘Hercules’ is actually his Roman name). These stories of the triumphs and tragedies of gods and goddesses (and some mortals in the mix), started out as ways of explaining how the world was or teaching moral lessons. Greek mythology is expansive and ancient.
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