Clear Lake Social Studies



Apollo's Oracle at DelphiThe ancient Greeks believed that it was not wise to anger the gods. They built temples all over ancient Greece. Each temple, no matter how elaborate, honored only one god. The major gods had more than one temple built in their honor. Nearly everyone was fond of Apollo. He was the god of music, reason, and light. Apollo's chariot brought up the sun each day. Apollo had other powers. One was a very special skill - Apollo could see the future. He had the gift of prophecy. Many people in ancient Greece brought gifts to Apollo, and asked for advice in exchange. Apollo liked the attention and the gifts. It was all very nice, but it was also exhausting. One day, Apollo decided that what he needed was an oracle, a wise woman to speak for him. In ancient Greece, an oracle was a person who could predict and interpret the future. Apollo used some magic and established his oracle in a temple at Delphi. There were many oracles, or fortune tellers, in ancient Greece. Apollo's oracle at Delphi was the most famous. The predictions made by other oracles were rather vague. A normal oracle might answer, "Yes, the frost will be gone, and spring will come, if the gods decree it." Such an answer was not much help if your question was, "Should I plant my garden tomorrow?" People in ancient Greece had heard that Apollo had shared his special power with the oracle at Delphi - the power of prophecy. He did give her the power of prophecy. But Apollo had put a limit on her power. Apollo's oracle had to tell people the truth, but she could not answer yes or no. The oracle could only make a truthful statement. It was up to you, the listener, to figure out what she meant by it. Sometimes people misunderstood what she was telling them. That was the trouble with oracles, even the best of them.For example, legend says .... Once upon a time, a long time ago, a king traveled to Delphi to ask the oracle, "Who will win the battle tomorrow?" The oracle smiled at him, and answered, "A great king." The king was very happy to hear this. He left many gifts for the oracle, and went quickly away, quite pleased that he had come. What he had overlooked in his haste is that more than one king would lead his men to battle in the morning. An oracle's smile meant nothing. Pandora's BoxZeus ordered Hephaestus (Aphrodite's husband) to make him a daughter. It was the first woman made out of clay. Hephaestus made a beautiful woman and named her Pandora. Zeus sent his new daughter, Pandora, down to earth so that she could marry Epimetheus, who was a gentle but lonely man. Zeus was not being kind. He was getting even. Epimetheus and Prometheus were brothers. Zeus was mad at one of the brothers, Prometheus, for giving people fire without asking Zeus first. That was a very wrong thing to do. Fire was huge! Zeus had not planned to reward people with fire for a very long time yet. Zeus did not even get the credit for the invention of fire. That went to Prometheus. Zeus was furious. If the brothers wanted credit for new inventions, Zeus would be glad to help them get the credit they deserved. Zeus gave Pandora a little box with a big heavy lock on it. He made her promise never to open the box. He gave the key to Pandora’s husband and told him to never open the box. Zeus was sure that Epimetheus' curiosity would get the better of him, and that either Epimetheus or his brother would open the box. Pandora was very curious. She wanted to see what was inside the box, but Epimetheus said no. Better not. "You know your father," Epimetheus sighed, referring to Zeus. "He’s a tricky one."One day, when Epimetheus lay sleeping, Pandora stole the key and opened the box.Out flew every kind of disease and sickness, hate and envy, and all the bad things that people had never experienced before. Pandora slammed the lid closed, but it was too late. All the bad things were already out of the box. They flew away, out into the world.Epimetheus woke up at the sound of her sobbing. “I opened the box and all these ugly things flew out,” she cried. “I tried to catch them, but they all got out.” Pandora opened the box to show him how empty it was. But the box was not quite empty. One tiny bug flew quickly out before Pandora could slam the lid shut again. “Hello, Pandora,” said the bug, hovering just out of reach. “My name is Hope.” With a nod of thanks for being set free, Hope flew out into the world, a world that now held Envy, Crime, Hate, and Disease – and Hope.King MidasKing Midas was a very wealthy king. Collecting gold was his hobby, his joy and his life. One day as he sat counting his wealth he saw an old man asleep under a tree. He saw that it was Silenus from the court of Dionysus, God of wine. Midas was cunning and treated Silenus like a king for ten days before taking him back to Dionysus. Dionysus was grateful for the care lavished on his old servant and told King Midas that he would grant any wish that he made. Midas asked that anything he touched would be turned to gold. Dionysus granted his wish but warned him about his greed. Midas was very happy. He touched a tree and it turned to gold. He touched the walls of his palace and it turned to gold. He touched his horse, then his servant, his food and finally his children. Everything turned to gold. Midas began to feel very unhappy. He could not eat, sleep, drink or touch anything because everything turned to gold. He missed his children dreadfully. Finally Midas went back to find Dionysus and told him that he wanted to get rid of his golden touch. Dionysus laughed when he saw the change in the king. Eventually he decided to take pity on him and told him to go and bath in the river Pactolus. King Midas went to the river. He was afraid to get into the water in case it turned to gold and killed him. He got a jug and washed himself down. Little by little the gold washed away. King Midas was so relieved. He took jug after jug of water back to his palace to wash his children, his servants, his horse and the whole palace. He did not stop work until he had restored everything to its normal state.Jason and the Golden FleeceThis story starts a long time ago in the country called Thessaly. A king lived with his two beautiful children: Phrixus and Helle. The children's wicked stepmother didn't like them and plotted against them. Their special friends: The Messenger of the gods, Hermes tried to protect them. In that part of the world they had had no rain for a very long time. The children's stepmother made a plan, she asked the King to send to the Oracle at Delphi for advice. He did so, but she intercepted the messengers on the way back and told them what to say. The messengers told the King that in order for the rains to return an offering must be made to the gods: Phrixus and Helle must be sacrificed. The king was very upset but said that it must be done. The King led his children to the altar but just before they got there the golden ram which was a gift from Hermes flew to them, told them to get on his back and flew away with them. He was trying to get them to safety in a land far away. He flew and flew with the children on his back. The children got very tired and the ram told them to hang on. Phrixus held on but his sister was overcome with tiredness and fell asleep, loosing the wool and falling into the sea at a place which is still called Hellespont today. Eventually they landed near the Black sea with only Phrixus alive to tell the story. The poor ram died as soon as he landed. The people of Colchis were so proud of what the ram had done they stripped the golden fleece off it and hung that in a tree with a dragon to protect it. There it stayed for many years until a boy called Jason went to fetch it back home. Jason was a boy who should have been King but his Uncle took his throne. Jason was sent away for his own protection. As he grew into a man he decided to go back and face his uncle. Jason started the journey and when he got to the river he found an old woman on the bank. She asked him for help and he gladly carried her across. When he set the woman down on the other side he found that she was the goddess Hera who was testing Jason. She decided that from this time onwards the gods would protect him. The uncle was a very cunning man and said that Jason could only have his throne back when the golden fleece was restored to the country. He was sure that he was sending Jason to his death. People heard of Jason's task and many young men went to join him. He called this group of men the Argonauts and the ship which they had built the Argo. The men set sail. Shortly they put into an island to get supplies. They found an old blind king, Phineus living in fear of dreadful harpies who ate all of his food and terrorized him. The argonauts prepared a surprise for the harpies. A banquet was prepared and when the harpies came to pinch all of the food the argonauts met them with a hail of arrows. They were killed and Phineus was saved from the misery. To repay their kindness he told Jason the secret of the clashing rocks. He told them to let a white dove go just before they tried to pass between the rocks, if the rocks let the bird through then they would let the ship through. If not then they would all perish. As they approached the crashing rocks the men got frightened and pleaded with Jason to turn back. Jason told them to have faith in the old king and reminded them about the dove. They let the dove go and watched as it flew towards the crashing rocks. The rocks crashed together and the men looked away. Suddenly there was a shout and the men looked up. The rocks had opened and let the dove through. Hastily the ship pushed through and they got safely to the other side. After an adventurous journey they arrived at Colchis. King Aetes asked them what they wanted and he was very angry because he did not want Jason to take the golden fleece away. He set Jason another challenge that he thought he could not do. He told him to yoke the fire breathing bulls and sow the sacred field of Ares with dragon's teeth then kill the guardian serpent. Jason accepted King Aetes' challenge. The King thought that he had sent the young Jason to his death but he had not realized that his daughter Medea had fallen in love with him. Medea had given him special oil to rub on his body which would protect him from the fire breathing bulls. She warned him that when he had planted the dragon's teeth he must throw a stone into the middle of the field. The next morning the people from Colchis and the Greeks met to watch. Jason walked towards the bulls. They were convinced that he would die. As the flames licked around his body his soothing words calmed the bulls. They let Jason yoke them and plough the field. Next Jason took his bag of dragon's teeth and started to sow them. As he sow the lines a crop started to grow, it was not a green crop but an army, armed and ready to fight that was growing. They started to be threatening and Jason started to get frightened. Suddenly he remembered the stone. He picked up a big pebble and thre it to the middle of the field. It hit a soldier who thought that it was another soldier so threw a stone at him. Presently there was a full scale battle in the field and Jason was left unharmed when they had killed each other. King Aetes pretended to be pleased with Jason and told him that he could have the fleece the next day. In the night Medea told Jason that it was another trick. Jason told his men to get ready to sail, he and Medea went to get the fleece. They got to the tree and the dragon watched them warily. Medea used some of her magic, sprinkled some herbs and said a spell and the dragon went to sleep. They snatched the fleece and hurried away from Colchis to return home and claim the throne.The Face In The Pool The Story of Echo and NarcissusWhen Zeus came to the mountains, the wood nymphs rushed to embrace the jovial god. They played with him in icy waterfalls and laughed with him in lush green glades. Zeus’ wife, Hera, was very jealous, and often she searched the mountainside, trying to catch her husband with the nymphs. But whenever Hera came close to finding Zeus, a charming nymph named Echo stepped across her path. Echo chatted with Hera in a lively fashion and did whatever she could to stall the goddess until Zeus and the other nymphs had escaped. Eventually Hera discovered that Echo had been tricking her, and she flew into a rage. “Your tongue has made a fool of me!” she shouted at Echo. “Henceforth, your voice will be more brief, my dear! You will always have the last word - but never the first. From that day on, poor Echo could only repeat the last words of what others said. One day Echo spied a golden-haired youth hunting deer in the woods. The boy’s name was Narcissus, and he was the most beautiful young man in the forest. All who looked upon Narcissus fell in love with him immediately. But he would have nothing to do with anyone, for he was very conceited. When Echo first laid eyes upon Narcissus, her heart burned like the flame of a torch. She secretly followed him through the woods, loving him more with each step. She got closer and closer until finally Narcissus heard the leaves rustling. He whirled around and cried out, “Who’s here?” From behind a tree, Echo repeated his last word, “Here!” Narcissus looked about in wonder, “Who are you? Come to me!” he said. Narcissus searched the woods, but could not find the nymph. “Stop hiding! Let us meet!” he shouted. “Let us meet!” Echo cried. Then she stepped from behind the tree and rushed to embrace Narcissus. But the youth panicked when the nymph flung her arms around his neck. He pushed her away and shouted, “Leave me alone! I’d rather die than let you love me!” “Love me!” was all poor Echo could say as she watched Narcissus run from her through the woods. “Love me! Love me! Love me!” Humiliated and filled with sorrow, Echo wandered the mountains until she found a lonely cave to live in. Meanwhile Narcissus hunted in the woods, tending only to himself, until one day he discovered a hidden pool of water. The pool had a silvery-smooth surface. No shepherds ever disturbed its waters - no goats or cattle, no birds or fallen leaves. Only the sun danced upon the still pond. Tired from hunting and eager to quench his thirst, Narcissus lay on his stomach and leaned over the water. But when he looked at the glassy surface, he saw someone staring back at him. Narcissus was spellbound. Gazing up at him from the pool were eyes like twin stars, framed by hair as golden as Apollo’s and cheeks as smooth as ivory. But when he leaned down and tried to kiss the perfect lips, he kissed only spring water. When he reached out and tried to embrace this vision of beauty, he found no one there. “What love could be more cruel than this?” he cried. “When my lips kiss the beloved, they touch only water! When I reach for my beloved, I hold only water!” Narcissus began to weep. When he wiped away his tears, the person in the water also wiped away tears. “Oh, no,” sobbed Narcissus. “I see the truth now; It is myself I weep for! I yearn for my own reflection!” As Narcissus cried harder, the tears broke the glassy surface of the pool and caused his reflection to disappear. “Come back! Where did you go?” the youth cried. “I love you so much! At least stay and let me look upon you!” Day after day, Narcissus stared at the water, in love with his own reflection. He began to waste away from grief, until one sad morning, he felt himself dying. “Good-bye, my love!” he shouted to his reflection. “Good-bye, my love!” Echo cried to Narcissus from her cave deep in the woods. Then Narcissus took his last breath. After he died, the water nymphs and wood nymphs searched for his body. But all they found was a magnificently beautiful flower beside the hidden pool where the youth had once yearned for his own reflection. The flower had white petals and a yellow center, and from that time on, it was called Narcissus. And alas, poor Echo, desolate after Narcissus’s death, did not eat or sleep. AS she lay forlornly in her cave, all her beauty faded away, and she became very thin until her voice was all that was left. Thereafter, the lonely voice of Echo was heard in the mountains, repeating the last words anyone said. Orpheus and EurydiceOrpheus was a beautiful musician who loved a nymph called Eurydice. They married and were very happy. Eurydice spent hours wandering and playing in the fields and woodlands. One day she trod on a deadly snake and died. She went to the underworld. Orpheus was so unhappy, he would not eat or drink and his friends thought that he must die. He took his lyre and went to visit Hades the god of the underworld, to plead for her life. He played his lyre and charmed Charon the ferry man into crossing the river Styx. Orpheus played his lyre to charm Hades, and eventually Hades relented and told him that Eurydice could follow him out of Hades, but only if he did not look back and see her. Orpheus made his way carefully and slowly back to Charon, but then with only a tiny way to go he looked back. As he did so Eurydice faded, she was pulled back into Hades...gone forever. A very unhappy Orpheus journeyed back over the river to come out of Hades. He had lost his true love forever.Perseus and MedusaPolydectes (pol-ee-DECK-teez), evil king of the island of Seriphos (SERR-i-fos), fell madly in love with a beautiful woman named Danae (DAN-eye). He wanted to marry Danae, but wanted nothing to do with her adult son, Perseus. Hoping to get rid of Perseus, Polydectes ruthlessly tricked the young man into brashly undertaking a deadly mission - to bring him the head of a dreaded monster called Medusa.Medusa was one of three fearsome Gorgon sisters who lived far away in a secret hiding place. The sisters had brass claws, golden wings, boars' tusks, and masses of hissing snakes for hair. Anyone who looked into their frightful faces instantly turned into stone.Fortunately, the gods Athena (a-THEE-na) and Hermes (HER-meez), as well as three nymphs, offered to help Perseus. Athena gave him a shiny bronze shield and Hermes gave him a sword that could not be bent by the Gorgons' scales. The nymphs gave Perseus winged shoes so that he could fly, a cap that made him invisible, and a pouch in which to carry the Gorgon's head.Perseus flew first to the home of the aged ones. These three women, who were sisters to the Gorgons, were born with gray hair and shared a single eye and tooth between them. Wearing his cap of invisibility, Perseus snatched the eye as one sister passed it to another. Threatening to keep the eye, Perseus coerced them into revealing the Gorgon's secret hiding place.Perseus arrived at the cave of the Gorgons, where, by good fortune, they were all asleep. In order to see Medusa without turning to stone, Perseus located her grotesque face in a reflection on his shiny shield. He swiftly cut off her head, dropped it into his bag, and fled from Medusa's angry sisters. When Perseus returned to Seriphos, the evil Polydectes laughed at him and asked what was in his sack. Perseus pulled out the horrifying head of Medusa and turned Polydectes to stone.1Medusa's severed head retained its power to turn people into stone, so Perseus carried it on many adventures, using it to defeat his enemies. Eventually, in gratitude for her protection, Perseus gave Medusa's head to Athena, who placed it on her breastplate to ward off evil.1 From Medusa's bleeding neck sprang two horses: Pegasus (the immortal winged horse) and Chrysaor, father of the infamous Geyron (a monster with three bodies, later killed by Hercules). PERSEPHONE & DEMETERZeus had three sisters. Hera, his wife and sister, was the goddess of marriage and the queen of all the gods. Hestia, another of his sisters, was a much loved goddess by the woman of Greece - Hestia was the goddess of home and hearth. His third sister, Demeter, was in charge of the harvest. All the gods jobs were important. Demeter's job was very important. If she was upset, the crops could die. Everyone, gods and mortals, worked hard to keep Demeter happy. What made her happy was enjoying the company of her daughter, Persephone. Persephone had grown into a beautiful young woman, with a smile for everyone. One day, while picking flowers in the fields, Hades, her uncle, the god of the underworld, noticed her. Hades was normally a gloomy fellow. But Persephone’s beauty had dazzled him. He fell in love instantly. Quickly, before anyone could interfere, he kidnapped Persephone and hurled his chariot down into the darkest depths of the underworld, taking Persephone with him. Locked in a room in the Hall of Hades, Persephone cried and cried. She refused to speak to Hades. And she refused to eat. Legend said if you ate anything in Hades, you could never leave. She did not know if the legend was true, but she did not want to risk it in case someone came to rescue her. Nearly a week went by. Finally, unable to bear her hunger, Persephone ate six pomegranate seeds. It seemed her fate was sealed. She would have to live in the Underworld forever. Meanwhile, back on earth, Zeus was worried about the crops. The people would die if the crops failed. If that happened, who would worship Zeus? He had to do something. Zeus did what he often did. He sent Hermes, his youngest son, the messenger, to crack a deal, this time with Hades. Even as a baby, Hermes was great at making deals. Everyone knew that. But this deal might be the challenge of his life. His uncle Hades, king of the underworld, was really in love. This was no passing fancy. When Hermes heard that Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds, he had to think quickly. The deal he made with Hades was that if Persephone would marry Hades, she would live as queen of the underworld for six months out of the year. However, each spring, Persephone would return and live on earth for the other six months of the year. Hades agreed. Zeus agreed. Persephone agreed. And finally, Demeter agreed. Each spring, Demeter makes sure all the flowers bloom in welcome when her daughter, Queen of the Underworld, returns to her. Each fall, when Persephone returns to Hades, Demeter cries, and lets all the crops die until spring, when the cycle starts again.The River StyxThe ancient Greeks believed that people had a soul. Like the ancient Egyptians, they did believe in life after death. Unlike the ancient Egyptians, they did not spend very much time at all preparing for their life in the afterworld. Here’s why: The Greeks held elaborate funerals to help the soul of the departed find his or her way to the afterworld. The underworld was sometimes called Hades in honor of the god of the underworld – Hades. But it was not Hades who helped you reach the afterworld. They believed that the god Hermes - the messenger - acted rather like a host. Hermes led the soul to the shores of the mythical River Styx. The River Styx supposedly separated the world of the living from the world of the dead. The deal was you had to cross the River Styx to reach life after death. The Greeks, true to form, created many a story about the perils of crossing the River Styx. (The Greeks did so love a good story!) The ancient Greeks did not expect souls to swim across. Instead, they believed a ferryman named Charon would give you a ride on his boat. The ferry to the Underworld was not free. The ferry ride cost one Greek coin. The dead person’s family usually placed a coin on the corpse so that he or she would be able to pay for the trip. Sometimes they hid the coin under his tongue so that no one would steal it. Once souls arrived on the other side of the River Styx, they joined other souls, who were waiting around until they were reborn into a new body. While waiting for their turn to be reborn, a soul depended on his or her living family to take care of them by offering food and wine at special times of the year. Families were glad to do this. They wanted to make sure the deceased was comfortable during the wait to be reborn, just as they counted on their family someday to make them just as comfortable.And that's all there was to it. Unless they were punished by one of the gods to spend eternity in Hades, no one in ancient Greece expected to hang around Hades very long, only long enough to be reborn. So there was no sense in packing anything except a coin to pay for the ferry ride across the River Styx. Apollo & CassandraThe Temple at Delphi was the most famous of all Apollo's Temples. But it was not the only temple built for Apollo. There was a wonderful temple in Troy, built by the people of Troy in his honor, back when Troy and Greece were friends, before the Trojan War. Apollo enjoyed showing up now and then at the various temples around ancient Greece built in his honor. One day, Apollo swung by the temple in Troy. Cassandra, a young and beautiful priestess, worked at the temple. The minute Apollo saw Cassandra, he fell in love. (Love at first sight ran in the family. After all, Apollo was Zeus’ son.) Apollo offered Cassandra a deal. He would give her a very special gift, the gift of prophecy - the ability to see the future - if she would give him a kiss. Cassandra thought that was a great deal. With a laugh, Apollo gave her his gift. Instantly, Cassandra could see the future. She saw Apollo, in the future, helping the Greeks destroy Troy. When Apollo bent his head to gently kiss her, she angrily spit in his face. Apollo was furious. He could not take away his gift. That's not how it worked. But he could add to it. Although Cassandra could, forever after, see the future, no one would believe her. That was his added gift. And no one did. When Cassandra begged her people in Troy to watch out for the Trojan horse, not one person believed her. Creation of the WorldIn the beginning there was only chaos. Then out of the void appeared Erebus, the unknowable place where death dwells, and Night. All else was empty, silent, endless, darkness. Then somehow Love was born bringing a start of order. From Love came Light and Day. Once there was Light and Day, Gaea, the earth appeared. Then Erebus slept with Night, who gave birth to Ether, the heavenly light, and to Day the earthly light. Then Night alone produced Doom, Fate, Death, Sleep, Dreams, Nemesis, and others that come to man out of darkness. Meanwhile Gaea alone gave birth to Uranus, the heavens. Uranus became Gaea's mate covering her on all sides. Together they produced the three Cyclopes, the three Hecatoncheires, and twelve Titans. However, Uranus was a bad father and husband. He hated the Hecatoncheires. He imprisoned them by pushing them into the hidden places of the earth, Gaea's womb. This angered Gaea and she ploted against Uranus. She made a flint sickle and tried to get her children to attack Uranus. All were too afraid except, the youngest Titan, Cronus. Gaea and Cronus set up an ambush of Uranus as he lay with Gaea at night. Cronus grabbed his father and castrated him, with the stone sickle, throwing the severed genitals into the ocean. The fate of Uranus is not clear. He either died, withdrew from the earth, or exiled himself to Italy. As he departed he promised that Cronus and the Titans would be punished. From his spilt blood came the Giants, the Ash Tree Nymphs, and the Erinnyes. From the sea foam where his genitals fell came Aphrodite. Cronus became the next ruler. He imprisoned the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires in Tartarus. He married his sister Rhea, under his rule the Titans had many offspring. He ruled for many ages. However, Gaea and Uranus both had prophesied that he would be overthrown by a son. To avoid this Cronus swallowed each of his children as they were born. Rhea was angry at the treatment of the children and plotted against Cronus. When it came time to give birth to her sixth child, Rhea hid herself, and then she left the child to be raised by nymphs. To conceal her act she wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes and passed it off as the baby to Cronus, who swallowed it. This child was Zeus. He grew into a handsome youth on Crete. He consulted Metis on how to defeat Cronus. She prepared a drink for Cronus design to make him vomit up the other children. Rhea convinced Cronus to accept his son and Zeus was allowed to return to Mount Olympus as Cronus's cupbearer. This gave Zeus the opportunity to slip Cronus the specially prepared drink. This worked as planned and the other five children were vomited up. Being gods they were unharmed. They were thankful to Zeus and made him their leader. Cronus was yet to be defeated. He and the Titans, except Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Oceanus, fought to retain their power. Atlas became their leader in battle and it looked for some time as though they would win and put the young gods down. However, Zeus was cunning. He went down to Tartarus and freed the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires. Prometheus joined Zeus as well. He returned to battle with his new allies. The Cyclopes provided Zeus with lightning bolts for weapons. The Hecatoncheires he set in ambush armed with boulders. With the time right, Zeus retreated drawing the Titans into the Hecatoncheires's ambush. The Hecatoncheires rained down hundreds of boulders with such a fury the Titans thought the mountains were falling on them. They broke and ran giving Zeus victory. Zeus exiled the Titans who had fought against him into Tartarus. Except for Atlas, who was singled out for the special punishment of holding the world on his shoulders However, even after this victory Zeus was not safe. Gaea angry that her children had been imprisoned gave birth to a last offspring, Typhoeus. Typhoeus was so fearsome that most of the gods fled. However, Zeus faced the monster and flinging his lightning bolts was able to kill it. Typhoeus was buried under Mount Etna in Sicily. Much later a final challenge to Zeus rule was made by the Giants. They went so far as to attempt to invade Mount Olympus, piling mountain upon mountain in an effort to reach the top. But, the gods had grown strong and with the help of Heracles the Giants were subdued or killed.The Creation of Man by PrometheusPrometheus and Epimetheus were spared imprisonment in Tartarus because they had not fought with their fellow Titans during the war with the Olympians. They were given the task of creating man. Prometheus shaped man out of mud, and Athena breathed life into his clay figure. Prometheus had assigned Epimetheus the task of giving the creatures of the earth their various qualities, such as swiftness, cunning, strength, fur, wings. Unfortunately, by the time he got to man Epimetheus had given all the good qualities out and there were none left for man. So Prometheus decided to make man stand upright as the gods did and to give them fire. Prometheus loved man more than the Olympians, who had banished most of his family to Tartarus. So when Zeus decreed that man must present a portion of each animal they scarified to the gods Prometheus decided to trick Zeus. He created two piles, one with the bones wrapped in juicy fat, the other with the good meat hidden in the hide. He then bade Zeus to pick. Zeus picked the bones. Since he had given his word Zeus had to accept that as his share for future sacrifices. In his anger over the trick he took fire away from man. However, Prometheus lit a torch from the sun and brought it back again to man. Zeus was enraged that man again had fire. He decided to inflict a terrible punishment on both man and Prometheus.To punish man, Zeus had Hephaestus create a mortal of stunning beauty. The gods gave the mortal many gifts of wealth. He then had Hermes give the mortal a deceptive heart and a lying tongue. This creation was Pandora, the first women. A final gift was a jar which Pandora was forbidden to open. Thus, completed Zeus sent Pandora down to Epimetheus who was staying amongst the men. Prometheus had warned Epimetheus not to accept gifts from Zeus but, Pandora's beauty was too great and he allowed her to stay. Eventually, Pandora's curiosity about the jar she was forbidden to open became to great. She opened the jar and out flew all manner of evils, sorrows, plagues, and misfortunes. However, the bottom of the jar held one good thing - hope. Zeus was angry at Prometheus for three things: being tricked on sacrifices, stealing fire for man, and for refusing to tell Zeus which of Zeus's children would dethrone him. Zeus had his servants, Force and Violence, seizes Prometheus, take him to the Caucasus Mountains, and chain him to a rock with unbreakable adamantine chains. Here he was tormented day and night by a giant eagle tearing at his liver. Zeus gave Prometheus two ways out of this torment. He could tell Zeus who the mother of the child that would dethrone him was. Or meet two conditions: First that an immortal must volunteer to die for Prometheus. Second, that a mortal must kill the eagle and unchain him. Eventually, Chiron the Centaur agreed to die for him and Heracles killed the eagle and unbound him.The Wanderings of DionysusOnce he had grown to manhood Dionysus decided to wander far and wide, including areas outside of Greece. Where ever he went he taught men how to cultivate vines, and the mysteries of his cult. He was accepted until he returned to his own country of Thebes. As he journeyed back to Greece he was spotted by pirates. He appeared to them as a rich young man. He might even be the son of a king. He certainly looked like his parents would pay a rich ransom for his safe return. Happy at their good luck the pirates seized him and brought him aboard their ship. They then attempted to tie him to the ship but, the ropes refused to hold. Anyplace a rope touched him it just fell apart. Dionysus watched calmly, smiling. After some time the helmsman realized that only a god could be responsible. He called out that the crew should free Dionysus and beg his forgiveness. But, the captain mocked the helmsman as a fool and called for the crew to set sail. The crew raised the sail and caught the wind but, the ship did not move. Looking around they saw the ship quickly becoming overgrown with vines that held it fast. Dionysus then changed himself into a lion and began to chase the crewmen. To escape they leaped overboard but, as they did they were changed to dolphins. Only on the helmsman did Dionysus have mercy. As he passed through Thrance he was insulted by King Lycurgus, who bitterly opposed his new religion. Initially Dionysus retreated into the sea but, he returned, overpowered Lycurgus and imprisoned him in a rocky cave. Dionysus planned to let him reflect and learn from his mistakes. However, Zeus did not care to have the gods insulted, so he blinded then killed Lycurgus. He pressed on to Thebes, ruled by his cousin Pentheus. However, Pentheus did not know of Dionysus. Dionysus was with a group of his followers, who were naturally singing and dancing loudly, flushed with wine. Pentheus disliked the loud, strangers, and ordered his guards to imprison them all. He refered to their leader as a cheating sorcerer from Lydia. When he said this blind old prophet Teiresias, who had already dressed as one of Dionysus's followers gave Pentheus a warning: "The man you reject is a new god. He is Semele's child, whom Zeus rescued. He, along with Demeter, are the greatest upon earth for men." Pentheus, seeing the strange garb Teiresias had on, laughed at him and ordered his guards to continue. The guards soon found that ropes fell apart, latches fell open, and there they could not imprison Dionysus's followers. They took Dionysus to Pentheus. Dionysus tried to explain at length his worship but, Pentheus listened only to his own anger and insulted Dionysus. Finally, Dionysus gave up and left Pentheus to his doom. Pentheus persued Dionysus followers up into the hills where they had gone after walking away from his prison. Many of the local women including Pentheus's mother and sister had joined them there. Then Dionysus appeared to his followers in his most terrible aspect and drove them mad. To them Pentheus appeared to be a mountain lion. In a berserk rage they attacked him. Now Pentheus realized he had fought with a god and would die for it. His mother was the first to reach him, and ripped his head off, while the others tore off his limbs. ................
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