Questions & Answers, Greek Mythology Link

Sword of Damocles. Could you please post some information regarding Damocles, or the myth of the "Sword of Damocles"?

This story does not belong to mythology. Damocles is said to have lived in the times of Dionysius I (430-367 BC), tyrant of Syracuse, and was invited to dinner under the known circumstances (with a sword suspended over his head).(Carlos Parada)

The number three. I was looking through your site and found it very informative. Presently I am researching the significance of the number "3" or "3 days" in Greek mythology. In Plato's "Crito" Socrates is told in a dream that he will arrive in Phthia oin 3 days. Can you provide any insight?

Unfortunately, I cannot say very much about it. As far as I know, the number three often occurs in Greek mythology (there are three Charites, three Moirai etc.), but so it does in other contexts where men's thoughts have structured the world around them. Possibly, man has an inborn tendency to structure the world around him in threesomes. This is why "three" is often considered to be a holy number. And the same tendency may explain why the number three appears in connexion with Socrates' death. I know that the commonness of the number three (and multiples of three) in Herodotus has attracted the attention of scholars; cf. Detlev Fehling, Herodotus and his "sources". Citation, invention and narrative art, Leeds 1989, who treats the subjects shortly in one of his last chapters and refers for more thorough treatments to W. Aly, Volksmarchen, Sage und Novelle bei Herodot und seinen Zeitgenossen, Gottingen 1921, and in particular J.W.S. Blom, De typischen Getallen bij Homeros en Herodotos. 1: Triaden, Hebdomaden en Enneaden, Nijmegen 1936. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

The significance is not apparent but here are some occurrences (2 x 7) of the number seven: 1) There are seven leaders that marched against Thebes, the city of the seven gates. 2) Their sons, called the EPIGONI are also counted as seven. 3) The PLEIADES are said to be seven sisters, but that may allow modification. 4) Tiresias was a woman during seven years and recovered his male sex in the eighth; he also received from Zeus seven lives to live. 5) Niobe 2, the daughter of Tantalus 1, had by King Amphion 1 of Thebes, seven sons and seven daughters (the NIOBIDS), but some have counted differently. 6) Eurystheus, became king of Tiryns & Mycenae because he was born a seven-month child. 7) Seven youths and seven damsels was the tribute that Athens had to pay every year to King Minos 2 of Crete. 8) Some say Odysseus stayed seven years with Calypso 3. 9) Philoctetes sailed against Troy with seven ships and so did the Arcadian Agapenor. 10) Menelaus wandered for seven years after the Trojan War. 11) Apollo's lyre is seven-stringed. 12) Among the gifts Agamemnon offered to Achilles in order to appease his wrath are found seven tripods not yet touched by fire, seven women skilled in handiwork, and seven cities. 13) Ajax 1's shield was of bronze with seven hides of bulls. 14) Some say the sons of Helius & Rhode 2 were seven in number but others count otherwise. (Carlos Parada)

Existence of Heracles. I would really like to know if Heracles or Hercules, as I know it, ever really existed? Or is he just a myth?

It seems it will never be complete agreement about the material existence of mythical characters. Heracles was long considered to be a real person and the Spartan kings claimed to be his descendants down to historical times (see page "HERACLIDES" linked from page GROUPS if you want to read about the descendants of Heracles). At the same time it may be argued (as in this case) that royal houses often have claimed to descend from a famous ancestor and that, for that purpose, they invented suitable genealogies. What sometimes is considered to be "just a myth" may have more influence in our lives and minds than material realities or historical characters. From this angle the matter of material existence is less relevant since the world of ideas in which we live often means more to us than material realities. (Carlos Parada)

Various questions:

How and why do you think mythological creatures were created?

Myths include and reveal things pertaining to several areas of knowledge including cosmology, philosophy, psychology, theology, history, ethics and aesthetics. This means that Myths are primarily about Life. Myths may repeat, represent, create or speculate. The method used in each case may vary and may be difficult to establish.

What do you think are the most common mythological creatures?

Probably the Nymphs are the most frequent.

Do you think there's really a point for children to learn about Greek gods in school, and why?

One reason is that the Greek Myths are at the dawn of our civilization. Following historian Arnold J. Toynbee we could say that the Minoan civilization is the mother of the Mycenaean civilization, which is the mother of the Greek-Roman civilization, which is the mother of our own Western civilization. There are cultural aspects which remain common to all these civilizations through time and they account for what we call our mentality. Homer, who lived probably about 750 B.C., is considered the author of the first work of literature we can count as our own. In addition large sections of Western culture and art, as music, painting and literature, refer to the Myths. Another reason is that the Myths are concerned with fundamental and imperishable life issues. Myths, and what they are about, are not necessary for survival but they add quality to it.

What do you think of when you're describing a creature (for example the centaur) do you really feel like you are in the story, or do you feel like you're just describing another animal?

If the line separating the physical world from the world of ideas and imagination is blurred, then Myths are better enjoyed and understood. The Myths cannot be said to be unreal; they are real in their own way.

Do you think people should be more involved with mythological animals because it enhances their imagination, or for another reason?

Mythological animals are just a part of the whole, but one should always start at the point of motivation. However even imagination needs to be founded; a mythological animal needs an intelligent context. (These answers by Carlos Parada)

Diogenes. I need help looking for a figure in Greek Myth. I can't remember his name, but there's a story of a guy who wandered the streets of Greece carrying a torch or a lamp, and looking for an honest or truthful man. I believe that the moral of the story was that he was the one who he was searching for. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The person is Diogenes from Sinope, who lived in Athens between 400 and 325 BC. He was a Greek philosopher and his followers were called Cynics. The anecdote is considered to be historical. It does not belong, then, to Greek Mythology. (Carlos Parada)

Mythology today. Hi- Well first of all you have a great page, with lots of information! :-) Second of all I was wondering if you could help me with something. I am a Sophomore in High School and we are studying mythology now in English. We have a semester project. The project is to find something in society that has been copied from Greek Gods. Example: Titan (a kind of horse trailer) which means its a really strong horse trailer and that ties in with the Greek God Titan. Or like Midas mufflars meaning strong, which is like the Greek God Midas. Get it? I was wondering if you might have any ideas on what I could do mine on. I was thinking like Atlas, you know like a world map? Or earthquakes, because there are gods underground and sometimes they argue and make an earthquake. Do you think those are any good? If not, have any ideas? Hope you can help!

The "Trojan Horse" is sometimes used as metaphor for infiltration. Someone's weakness may be called his/her "Achilles' heal". The subject or object of a conflict is called the "Apple of discord". To be "stentorian" is to shout as Stentor did. The adjectives "bacchic" or "dionysiac" describe great parties. A long and adventurous trip may be called an "Odyssey". Young people have at times a "Mentor" to give them good advice as the goddess Athena, assuming the form of Mentor (an inhabitant in Ithaca), did with Odysseus' son. Some people listen to "Sirens' song", which may stand for dangerous temptations. To fall from Scylla into Charybdis (the rocks in between facing each other in the strait of Messina, between Italy and Sicily) is used when going from some evil into something even worse. NASA's space program included several mythological names. Many stars, planets and the satellites of planets bear mythological names. There was once a famous ship called "Titanic" (named after the Titans, because of its size and power), which went under the waves in the Atlantic ocean (after Atlas) at the beginning of the 19 century. Some say that certain women behave as "Amazons"; and the word "panic" comes from the god Pan. But your example of "Atlas" is a well known one. (Carlos Parada)

Twelve gods. I have a research paper on Greek mythology and the "12 major gods and goddesses", but when I try to find out which of the gods and goddesses fall under that category, I get different names each time. Which ones are the "12 major gods and goddesses?" Please write back soon. Terri M.

As you have already noticed, there exists no absolutely authoritative list of the twelve gods. Among nowaday authorities (as distinct from the ancient Greek ones), I would recommend Walter Burkert, Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical. Translated by John Raffan, Oxford 1985, chapter III, page 125. Burkert's list includes he following names: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hermes, Demeter, Dionysus, Hephaestus, and Ares, although he points out that Hestia is often substituted for Dionysus and that other divergences also occur. Burkert does not refer to any ancient text that gives a complete list of the twelve gods. His authority for including precisely these gods in the list seems to be the Parthenon frieze, where these twelve are depicted. The question is treated at length in W.H. Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie, vol. 6, Leipzig & Berlin 1924-1937, pp. 764-848 (especially pp. 838-841, where concrete names are discussed). Cf. also, in particular with reference to Athens, Homer A. Thompson, The altar of pity in the Athenian Agora, Hesperia 21, 1952, pp. 47-82, and The Athenian Agora. Results of Excavations Conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Vol. 14: The Agora of Athens, by Homer A. Thompson and Richard Ernest Wycherly, Princeton, N. J. 1972. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Phasis. Seeking information on "Phasis". I know it is a river and ancient city. It is also a minor Greek god, the offspring of Apollo. Do you have more?

Phasis is the name of a river in Colchis. Phasis is, therefore, a River God. He is the offspring of Oceanus and Tethys, but Phasis is also called the son of Jove (Zeus). Phasis fell in love with a girl called Aea and Aea is also the name of a city in Colchis, in fact Medea's home town. According to one version Medea's father (Aeetes) was also the father of Circe, whom Odysseus met during his wanderings. Circe lived in an island of uncertain location called Aeaea. Another Phasis was a Trojan warrior killed by Neoptolemus. (Carlos Parada)

Pegasus and numbering of names. Did the Muses ever have posession of a pegasus or the Pegasus? Is there more than one Pegasus? Why are there numbers after so many of the names? Were there really that many gods and goddesses with the same name? Sorry if these questions are answered in your web site and I just overlooked them, but it's a big site! And quite good! I hope I get another mythology project in English just so I can use that site! Clio.

There is only one Pegasus. See: Medusa 1, BESTIARY, and use the SEARCH ENGINE to find other occurrences in other pages in this site. For an explanation of the numbers after the names see note at Biographies ("numbering of namesakes") (Carlos Parada)

Greek parallels to Norse Loki (1). I am attempting to find the names of the Roman and Greek equivalents to the Norse god Loki, who is the night god and god of mischief. I read most of your home page, but could not find an answer. If you could assist me it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. D.K.

Greek parallels to Norse Loki (2). I am looking for the name of the Greek god of mischief, the equivalent of Loki from Roman mythology. Can you help? I love your web site, but a search engine for my type of questions would be very helpful! A.F.

Generally speaking, it is mostly difficult to find one-to-one correspondences between figures of Norse and Greek mythology. A figure has many aspects; you can find equivalents of particular aspects in different figures but seldom of the sum of aspects that makes up the whole figure. That also applies to Loki; he has not one particular Greek figure as his figure, but he is composed of traits that appear in several different figures Loki is above all an example of what is generally called a trickster, and an evil-minded one at that. His equivalent in that capacity is a figure like Sisyphus (cf. Hermes the god, who is a *good-humoured* trickster). Loki also has some traits of a revolutionary, a person who defies the gods. That aspect of him has its equivalent in Prometheus. Both Loki and Prometheus are punished by the gods in a similar way: they are both tied to rocks, and a serpent's poison, dripping continuously, devours Loki's body, whereas Prometheus' liver is continuously eaten by a vulture. Loki has the ability to change his shape and become e.g. an animal. That ability occurs in Greek mythology too, in particular among divinities connected with the sea (Nereus, Proteus, Thetis). To appear in a different guise is a shamanistic feature; reflexes of shamanism appear frequently in Norse mythology, seldom in Greek. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Wolves raise children. I'm trying to locate any information about the "wolf" (wolves?) that raised two infants (in Greek Mythology). Can you help?

One story is that of Phylonome. She used to hunt with Artemis but Ares got her with child in the guise of a shepherd. As she was afraid of her father, she cast her twin children (Lycastus 3 and Parrhasius) into the river Erymanthus, but they found haven in the trunk of a tree. A wolf suckled the children and a shepherd, Gyliphus, reared them as his own. It may be noticed that Phylonome is the daughter of Nyctimus, son of Lycaon 2, an impious Arcadian king that was transformed into a wolf by Zeus. In the Roman extension of the myths there is the story of Romulus and Remus. Tarchetius, king of the Albans, was a lawless and cruel ruler. He was visited with a strange phantom in his house, namely a phallus rising out of the hearth and remaining there many days. An oracle said to Tarchetius that a virgin must have intercourse with this phantom, and she should bear a son most illustrious for his valour, good fortune and strength. Tarchetius bade one of his daughters to consort with the phantom, but she sent a handmaid in her stead. When the handmaid gave birth to twins, Tarchetius gave them to Teratius with orders to destroy them. But Teratius carried them to the river-side and laid them down there. Then a she-wolf visited the babes and gave them suck. Later Romulus founded Rome and gave his name to the entire nation. But even if there is general agreement about the wolf there are other versions regarding the parentage of these twins. (Carlos Parada)

Athenaeum. Dear Friendly Web page owner, I am kindly requesting that you add information about the word Athenaeum and the story behind it. Thank-You. I hope you see my request as informative and interesting. Sincerely, Christina Charland.

Athenaeum is called an institution for the promotion of learning. The name comes from Athena, a goddess of intelligence and learning. The first Athenaeum was founded by the Roman Emperor Hadrian, and was an institute for lectures and recitations by literary men. (Carlos Parada)

Organization. You have a very interesting site, but would it be possible to make a list of the different things in here, such as gods, demigods, monsters, heroes, etc.?

Gods and goddesses are classified in the different lists you can see in the Home Page under the title "Divinities". Monsters, animals and other strange creatures appear in the list "BESTIARY" linked from page "GROUPS". Collective entries may be seen in page GROUPS. Individual entries may be seen in page "Biographies" (and "Short Entries"). Demigods and heroes have not been classified for practical reasons. For example the whole Achaean army is said to be formed by "heroes". It should be noticed that the word "hero" has changed its meaning through time. If we consider demigods those who have mixed parentage (union of god/goddess with a mortal), then they will be counted by hundreds or more. Demigods and heroes may be said to be above the ordinary because of what they were able to do. Achilles is a demigod because his mother was a goddess whereas Odysseus, born from mortals, was a hero. Both were mortals and both were able to do extraordinary things. (Carlos Parada)

Opportunity. Who is the Greek god of opportunity? He has a long hair at the front and is bald at the back.

This is the young god that cannot be grasped when past because he is bald, but he can easily be seized by the hair when he is arriving, because his locks creep down over the eyebrows. So, once he has passed by, the moment of action is gone with his hair; if opportunity is neglected it cannot be recovered. He is said to be beautiful (beauty is always opportune) resembling Dionysus, and was represented with winged feet, suggesting his swiftness. Some say Opportunity (Caerus) is the youngest child of Zeus. Caerus is now linked (2006-01-03) (Carlos Parada)

Many breasts. In a discussion with my life partner, we tried to think of the name of the character in mythology who was female with an entire upper front body of breasts or whose chest was filled with breasts. If you can help us we would be grateful.

The case you describe is that of Artemis of Ephesus. These breasts has been understood as fecundity or fertility. It is accepted that there is evidence that this Artemis was associated with other divinities, east of the Egean sea. These associations were common as divinities passed from one country to another. A good example of these associations is the "Invocation of Lucius Apuleius", which you can read in page "Io-Isis" (linked from page Biographies), where several (known) names are given to the same deity. Artemis in myth, a virgin goddess of hunting, does not correspond to this conception and is described in other ways, both in literature and art. (Carlos Parada)

AMAZONS. Concerning the Amazons, what is the date of the earliest source to mention the Amazons and what sources mention the time and location of the Amazons' origin?

The AMAZONS are mentioned by Homer, who is considered to be the earliest source. The king of Troy, Priam 1, gives an account on how the AMAZONS fought against the Phrygians in his own time but before the Trojan War. The other mention in Homer occurs when Glaucus 3 (a Trojan ally, leader of the Lycians) tells the adventures of his grandfather Bellerophon to his enemy Diomedes 2, and there we learn how Bellerophon fought against the AMAZONS. According to other sources the AMAZONS sided with Troy during the war. It is also said that the AMAZONS of Libya were much earlier in point of time but this, in turn, is a later account. (Carlos Parada)

Caduceus. Your web site regarding Hermes was very informative. My theatre class is performing the play PERSEPHONE for our One-Act Play competition. The director's script tells me that Hermes needs to carry a sceptre that is short with the medical profession symbol (the exact name escapes me and I do not have my script here). Can you tell me WHY he carries this and if it would be absolutely necessary that he carry this in the play. Please respond soon because my first performance is just two weeks from now.

Hermes holding the caduceus

This, as you describe it, sceptre carried by Hermes is called Caduceus and it is, as you know, a winged staff entwined with two serpents. The medical emblem resembles this, but it should not be the same. The Caduceus represents better commerce and communications. Hermes (Mercury in Latin) was the herald of the gods, so he communicated messages. According to some Hermes received the Caduceus, which is a golden staff or wand, from Apollo who used it while he herded cattle, in exchange for a flute that Hermes had invented. The Caduceus is a splendid staff of riches and wealth, which keeps Hermes scatheless, and being like this, one understands why he carries it. For the public in a theatre or for those looking at a picture, the presence of the Caduceus is very practical because it helps them to identify the character. That is what we usually call the attribute of a person or character. So, for example, the attribute of a king is his crown; that is how we know he is the king without having to wait for someone to call him "Your Majesty", which will never happen in a painting as everybody in it is completely silent. Perhaps it is not absolutely necessary for Hermes to carry a Caduceus in a play; that may depend on the play and how the director wishes to see it. Hermes has also other attributes, which are well known; for example he has often been represented wearing a winged cap. (Carlos Parada)

Caduceus & Asclepius' staff. "Is it an error that most dictionaries say caduceus is the symbol of the medical profession? Does Asclepius have a similar staff? If not, how is that symbol related to Asclepius? Thanks for your help, Brian S.

If most dictionaries say that, then most dictionaries have confused the caduceus, which is the staff of the herald used by Hermes, with Asclepius' staff, which has a single snake and is the symbol of the medical profession. This confusion is common. You can see the staff and the serpent at Asclepius, but I agree that other images show it more clearly, that is, stylized like a symbol. (Carlos Parada)

Corycia. I'm trying to find out what or who Corycia was. I think she may have been one of the Muses but the information seems to contradict. Can you help?

Corycia is the Nymph, mother of Lycorus by Apollo. The Corycian cave in Phocis, not long from Delphi, was named after her. This cave was sacred to the NYMPHS and to Pan. Delphi was called after Delphus, a descendant of Lycorus. (Carlos Parada)

Meanders

Meander. I would like to know what the greek key or meandros symbolizes in Greek mythology. Somebody said that it shows the waves of the sea.

Meander is one of the river gods, offspring of Oceanus & Tethys. The river itself is in Caria, southwestern Asia Minor. The pattern seems to reproduce not waves but the path of the river Meander, which was famous for its winding course. In the words of the geographer Strabo (12.8.15):

But among the Meander patterns, there is one that clearly represents waves. (Carlos Parada)

Your comment about the victims of that catastrophe sounds fair and reasonable, but the myth says the people of Atlantis had become such a wicked race as I wrote, and that they were punished by the gods for that very reason. As you noticed I follow here, without correcting or interpreting, the account given by the only source I know from the period that concerns this site in the first place (800 BC - AD 600). Plato's opinion cannot be compared with other opinions because, as far as I know, there are no other accounts of this myth. That circumstance should not prevent anybody from having their own opinion both on the myth and on Plato's views, but it should not cause surprise that the myth is told according to its source. (Carlos Parada)

Atlantis (II). 1. What is your theory of Atlantis? 2. What evidence did you find about Atlantis? 3. How do you explain all of the different sightings of Atlantis? 4. Why do you suppose Atlantis wasn't found in the Atlantic Ocean? 5. What do you believe sunken Atlantis? 6. How do you think Atlantis Sank? 7. What was the Atlantean culture like? 8. What kind of tools do you think that other cultures have gotten from the Atlanteans? 9. What do you think about Plato's dialogue? 10. How do you think that Plato had such descriptive detail in his dialogue?

Plato is the only source for the story about Atlantis, and, in my view, what Plato tells us about Atlantis is entirely a figment of his imagination. The story is, in itself, not very plausible, and in Plato's text there are a number of hints to the reader to show that the whole story is fiction. This is not the only case where Plato tells a myth, sometimes of his own making, sometimes not, in order to make his point. This was a relatively common procedure in Greek literature. This does not mean that the story about Atlantis is a bad story. On the contrary, it is a very good story. At least, it has fascinated people in all times. Plato was a good writer, and he has furnished his story with a number of details that tend to lend a credibility to it that it actually does not have. This is the reason why so many people have taken the story, not as a fantasy, but as a reprot of something that really happened, and many people have discussed the location of Atlantis or identified it with some known locality. In my view such attempts are futile; they are based on the false supposition that Plato told of something that really had happened. I hope my sceptical attitude to the Atlantis story does not disappoint you too much. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Immortality of the gods:

1. Was not Uranus immortal? According to Graves, he was castrated and killed by Cronos. What is your interpretation of this paradox?

Jerker Blomqvist: Wasn't Uranus immortal? But of course he was, at least according to Hesiod (and you can still see him if you turn your eyes upwards (I mean: you cannot claim that heaven does not exist and expect people to believe you; no Greek would, anyway). He was castrated by Cronos but not killed, for at Hesiod, Theogony 470 he is still fit to help his daughter Rhea, when she is planning revenge on Cronos for what he has done to her father. I do not know what Graves means, but there exist several variants of almost every Greek myth.

2. Were not the Cyclopes immortal? If so, how did Apollo supposedly kill them, and if not, why were they not immortal since by some accounts, they were the offspring of Gaia and Uranus ?

JB: The Cyclopes are problematic, but cf. below (no. 4).

3. Could the 12 main Greek gods be killed? It seems that from Graves' account, Zeus had the power to kill the others with a thunderbolt.

JB: The gods were immortal, in principle, but there is need for some qualifications. Firstly, in literature, the gods are depicted as beings with human characteristics. It is a characteristic of humans to be mortal and to fear death. That characteristic is sometimes transferred to the anthropomorphistic gods as well. Too much logic or consistency is not to be expected when myths are used for literary purposes. Secondly, when the Greeks arrived in Greece, they brought with them a religion including the idea that gods were immortal (in principle). But the pre-Greek religion that existed in the area before that may have admitted that gods could die in special circumstances. There existed in the eastern Mediterraean area and in the Middle East a number of vegetation gods, one characteristic of whom was that they died and were resurrected every year. One example is Adonis, who was worshipped also by the Greeks. They idea of a dying and resurrecting god evidently influenced the myth of Kore/Persephone, who spends part of the year in the realm of the dead. Even genuinely Greek gods could be drawn into death-and-resurrection myths; in Crete, for example, the tomb of Zeus was shown (cf. Callimachus' humorous reference to this phenomenon (Hymn to Zeus vv. 8-9)). It is perhaps illustrative that such a phenomenon would occur in Crete where pre-Greek religion seems to have been practised longer than on the mainland.

4. I thought that the general rule was that the offspring of a mortal and an immortal was mortal (the notable exception being Dionysus, since he was sewn into Zeus' leg). If so, from what I have read, how could Helen and Pollux be immortal since they came from the egg from the union of Leda (a mortal) and Zeus?

JB: As for Helen and Pollux: gods work in mysterious ways.

In conclusion: It is important to remember that the Greeks had no Holy Scripture that dictated what was true about gods and heroes and what was not. Several variants of almost every myth existed; none was more authoritative than the other. So when you ask: what did god X do to god Y?, there is no single answer that is correct, but the correct answer is, e.g.: According to Hesiod he did this, according to Apollonius he did that, and some philophers claim that he did something else, and if we find a papyrus tomorrow the chances are that it will tell a completely different story. That applies also to immortality. And logic and consistency are not the prime characteristics of myths. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Supernatural. I'm currently trying to write an essay on Greek Tragedy. Unfortunately, I'm having a very hard time as I'm not quite sure where to start. I have reviewed the plays several times and have tried to pick out themes, but feel like I'm stuck in the middle of a vast field. My question is "Does the element of the supernatural have more of an effect in 'Oedipus the King' or in 'Medea'?"

I shall give you a few hints about how you could proceed. First, what do we mean by supernatural? Try to give some sort of definition. Then review the two plays and pick out those elements that conform to your view of what is supernatural. I think you will have to include also elements that do not actually appear in the two plays but belong to the background story, as e.g. the Sphinx. Now, when you defined "supernatural" you probably defined it from the modern view-point on what is natural or not. That viewpoint does not coincide with that of the ancient Greeks. For example, the magical skills of Medea and their effects, do you not think of that as supernatural? Did the ancient Greeks think about it in the same way? I do not think they did, but they were prone to regard magic as something that belonged to our world, although few people could use it. This is, I think, a question that you must discuss in your essay, and before you can answer your question "Does the element of the supernatural have more of an effect in 'Oedipus the King' or in 'Medea'?" you must decide whether you discuss the supernatural from modern or ancient view-point. Your question "Does the element of the supernatural have more of an effect in 'Oedipus the King' or in 'Medea'?" can be answered in terms of quantity or in terms of quality. If you are content with a quantitative answer, you can just count the number of supernatural phenomena, or the number of verses speaking about supernatural phenomena, in the two plays and then make a comparison. But it would be better to look at the quality side. In that case you ask yourself about every supernatural phenomenon whether it forms an integral part of the plot or not but only serves as some sort of an embellishment. I would say, e.g. that the plague is a necessary ingredient of the plot in the Oedipus, whereas the fiery chariot at the end of the Medea is not. I hope you will have some help from these hints. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Helios or Helius? The reference you have placed at Helius indicates the spelling is Helius. Most references (including Greek Mythology TECHNI S.A. 1998 Athens) the spelling is Helios. Could you please clarify as to the "correct" spelling or the significance of the difference. On a lighter note, I am most impressed with the Greek Mythology Link site. It is certainly extensive and one of the more informative on the Internet.

Helios is the original, classical Greek form of the name (to be precise, the -e- is a long, the other vowels are short). Helius is the Latin form of the same name. In nowaday English texts, the Latin forms of ancient Greek names are often used instead of the Greek ones, and, after consulting me, Mr. Parada decided to follow that convention for his Greek Mythology Link. This is the common procedure, although there are writers who use the Greek forms in English texts; that explains the discrepancies you have noted. In German and Swedish texts the Greek forms are regularly used. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Damon and Phintias. Please post the story of Damon and Phintias concerning their friendship and Damon staying as a hostage to die of Phintias did not return. Also, since they were part of Greek mythology, does that mean they were gay?

The story of the Pythagorean Damon and Phintias belongs to historical times (probably contemporary with Plato), not to mythical times. It took place in Syracuse where Phintias was sentenced to death but, being reprieved, Damon was held in ransom in his place. Phintias returned in time to save the life of the man who had trusted him. There is no report saying that these two were lovers, and as friendship and loyalty may perform remarkable things by themselves, it seems that the matter of sexual relationship in this story would be of secondary importance, or just a detail in the anecdote. Being part of Greek Mythology does not automatically mean being what today is called "gay". Also, contemporary definitions differ from those of the ancient world (Iamblichos, Vita Pythagorae 233 ff.; Diodoros Siculus 10.4.3-6; Cicero, De officiis 3.45, Tusculanae disputationes 5.63, De finibus 2.79). (Carlos Parada)

Direct address of a character. I recently completed Homer's Odyssey for the second time. The first time I didn't notice this, but during my second reading, I noticed that the author/narrator refers to Eumaeus directly with lines such as "You, Eumaeus, said... ". Why is this the case? I have been searching for the answer, but to no avail. I hope that you can help me where my own research has failed.

The direct address of a character in the poem is a technique used not infrequently by epic poets of both ancient and later times. It is denoted by a particular technical term; it is called "apostrophe". In the Odyssey, the swineherd Eumaios is addressed no less that fifteen times in that way; in the Iliad there are such addresses to Menelaos, Apollo, Achilles, Patroklos and Melanippos. For scholarly discussions on the device cf. M.W. Edwards, Homer: Poet of the Iliad, Baltimore 1987, pp. 37-41; N. Yamagato, in Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies (London) 36, 1989, pp. 91-103; G.S. Kirk (ed.), The Iliad: A Commentary, Cambridge University Press (six volumes), notes on 7.104 and 17.689 plus vol. V, p. 3. I suppose there are discussions also in the latest scholarly standard edition of the Odyssey (by Alfred Heubeck and others, Oxford University Press, in three volumes), but I have not been able to check them. Edwards concludes that the technique is used "in order to bring (the characters) vividly face to face with the narrator, and hence with the audience too." (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Name of scientist. Could you please tell me the name of the British Scientist who discovered the area of Ancient Olympia in 1766, before it was laid open between 1875-1881? I have searched the Net, to no avail.

The scholar in question was Richard Chandler (1738-1810, born in Hampshire), who identified the ruins of the Zeus temple in 1766. Chandler had travelled in Greece and Asia Minor in the mid 1760s with the architect Nicholas Revett and the artist William Pars. They published a report on their discoveries in 1769 after returning to England, and Chandler later on published the journal of their travels (1775, 1776); the last volume covers the travels in Greece. This information comes from An Encyclopedia of the History of Classical Archaeology, ed. by Nancy Thomson de Grummond, Westport CT (Greenwood Press) 1996. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Translation and Transcription. I would like to translate the word "pride" into Greek. For instance the Greek word for "fish" is I X O Y E. If you could help me I would really appreciate it.

Greek words for "pride" are PHRONEMA and KAUCHESIS. (as for the word for "fish" it is generally trascribed as ICHTHYS or ICHTHUS). (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Symbols of the gods. Do Greek gods have symbols to represent them? Maybe not all, but some? I know that the gods have items to represent them, such as Zeus with the lightning bolt, among other things...but are there symbols, like a special letter or shape, designated to symbolize certain gods?

The only symbols of that sort that I know are the symbols of the planets, which are widely used even today (look in any astronomical almanac). I do not know how old they are, but if my memory does not fail there are in astronomical and astrological texts symbols used for the five planets known to the ancients (+ sun and moon) and also for the signs of the zodiac. These are of course primarily symbols of celestial bodies and constellations, but since the planets were named after gods, the symbols could represent the gods as well. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Death imputed? When somebody dies in Greek mythology is it called (as in we call it an "act of God") an "act of Fate" or is it called an "act of Zeus? And what were the names of Medea and Jason's children in Medea by Euripides?

1. Periphrases for "death" in the form of "act of X" do not, to my knowledge exist in classical Greek, the reason probably being, that a person's dying was not generally imputed to an omnipotent, superhuman power, as those meant today by "God" or "Fate". However, a person's death sometimes is ascribed to the goddess/personification Moira, which is conceived as something abstract and omnipotent, but the precise phrase "act of Moira", to my knowledge, never appears.

2. The names of Medea's and Jason's children are not mentioned in the tragedy Medea. Various other sources give the names as Mermerus, Pheres, Medeus/Medus, Eriopis, and Alcimenes. See Medea. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Cyphus. I was always told that my middle name was of Greek history. The only Greek history I can find is the city of Cyphus. My name is Cyphaeus but I was call Cyphus when I was little. Do you have any history on a person or Greek God with either name?

A city with the name Kyphos or Cyphus was mentioned by Homer in Iliad 2.748. It is said there that the city took part with twenty-two warships in the Trojan war, under the leadership of a certain Gouneus. Later ancient geographers and commentators on Homer add that there was also a mountain and a river called Kyphos/Cyphus but seem to have been rather perplexed when it comes to the precise location of both city, mountain and river. It is clear from Homer that Kyphos/Cyphus was situated in Thessaly, probably in the northern part of it that was called Perrhaibia. Some modern scholars have thought that the name of the Cyphaean leader Gouneus has something to do with Gonnos, which was the name of a city in the area in the classical period, but this is mere guess-work. The Greek name of the city can be transcribed either as Kyphos (which comes more closely to the original Greek name) or as Cyphus (which is a Latinized form, often preferred in Anglophone countries). Kyphaios or Cyphaeus is an adjective derived from Kyphos/Cyphus; it relates to Kyphos/Cyphaeus in the same way as "Italian" to "Italy" or "American" to "America". When applied to a person it means "(the) man from Kyphos/Cyphus". So your middle name really is of Greek origin. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

1-2. The questions regarding etymology and original meanings are not easy to answer. One reason is that etymology is, on the whole, a difficult branch of linguistic science and relatively seldom comes up with absolutely reliable answers. Another reason, especially relevant in this case, is that names of characters in Greek mythology often are not made up from Greek words but belong to a language, or languages, unknown to us. When the Greeks arrived in Greece some four thousand years ago, another people already lived in the country, and the Greeks evidently took over much of their religion and mythology, together with the names of the gods and the mythological characters. What language, or languages, the pre-Greek population of Greece spoke we do not know; therefore we do not know the etymology or meaning of names taken over from that language. In many cases the Greeks themselves tried to interpret such pre-Greek names by associating elements in them with Greek words; this is what is called folk etymology. E.g., Oidipous (as is the proper tranliteration), was associated with the Greek words oideo "swell", "be swollen", and pous "foot", but, morphologically, Oidipous does not look like a Greek compound, so it is most probably a pre-Greek name. Its first element can also be associated with the Greek word oida "to know". This is done by Sophocles in his drama, thereby, ironically, underlining the fact that Oidipous is the one who does *not* know what he ought to know. Iokaste could well be one of those pre-Greek names. One characteristic of pre-Greek names is that they occur in different forms (e.g. Odysseus/Ulysses), and that applies to Iokaste as well (Homer, e.g., calls her Epikaste). On the other hand, its elements could be Greek. Io- may be derived from a number of different Greek words meaning either "arrow", "poison" or "violet" (and perhaps other things, too), and -kaste could be a form of the verb kainumai "to excel", "surpass". So Iokaste could mean "the one who excels in respect of arrow/poison/violet", but since at least three different alternative meanings present themselves we are not much helped, if we are looking for the original meaning. Laios, if not pre-Greek, could be derived either from laos "people" or laas "stone", but neither explanation is convincing.

3. Chorus: I assume that by this is meant the word meaning "choir", which I would transliterate as choros. This is most probably derived from an Indo-European root ghor- "grasp", "enclose", and choros denotes something enclosed or delimited; a choir consists of a limited number of members, and a performing choir is delimited from other people, e.g.the audience. (There is another Greek word which is also tranliterated as choros but has a long -o- in the first syllable and means "space"; for that word there is no known etymology.)

4. I assume that KUR represents the Greek letters kappa-upsilon-rho. No such word exists in classical Greek. There is, in classical Greek, a word kurios, meaning "master", "lord". In *Modern* Greek that word appears also in the abbreviated form kur as a title (=approximately = "Mr", "Sir") before personal names.

5. "Blind" is tuphlos in classical Greek, "blindness" tuphlotes. In poetic texts also the unusual word alaos is used for "blind". (These answers by Prof. Jerker Blomqvist, University of Lund.)

Meaning of names. Many of the names seem to be derived from Greek words. Oedipus is everyone's favorite example. But what about the others? Aga-memnon? Tele-machus? Hector=100? Clytem-nestra? If there is a connection between the names and their roles, it surely would be helpful to us in teaching high school students!! But if there is no connection, I'd appreciate being told, so that I can stop looking. And thank you for this site.

There is normally no connection between names and roles in Greek mythology. Etymologies are in many cases uncertain (this includes the popular etymology of Oedipus as "swollen-foot"), since many names in Greek myths are not Greek but stem from one or more pre-Greek languages, unknown to us. Another thing is that poets and writers, both in antiquity and later, have tried to *construct* etymologies that suit the stories, but such constructions, although in some cases aesthetically impressive, seldom have any linguistic basis (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist).

The interpretation of Greek mythological names most often is a very difficult matter. Many of them are not originally Greek but derived from languages which existed in Greece or Asia Minor before the arrival of the Greeks but which are now extinct. However, precisely inte the case of Nestor there exists a reasonably reliable - though not uncontested - interpretation: the word is connected with the Greek verb neomai, which means approximately 'arrive', 'reach one's goal'. So Nestor would mean ' the one who reaches his goal'. There exist two extensive, rather up-to-date Greek etymological dictionaries: Hjalmar Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (3 volumes), Heidelberg 1954-1972 and Pierre Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (4 volumes), Paris 1968-1980. There is also a dictionary of Greek proper names that reflects the ideas of 19-century linguistic science and gives translations - many of them phantastic - of practically every Greek name: Wilhelm Pape, Wörterbuch der griechischen Eigennahmen. 3. Aufl. neu bearbeitet von Gustav Eduard Heuseler (2 volumes), Braunschweig 1884 (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist).

Theos. I was trying to ascertain the meaning of theos in greek and its etymology. Is it traceable to Zeus? What is its real meaning? I know it is translated "god" in our english language, but that does not prove that was its original meaning. Also, is theos ever a proper noun? Are there any deities that have carried the name "theo" or theos". Or is it both used as a proper noun and a common noun?

Theos is not etymologically related to Zeus (nor to Latin deus 'god'). The Indo-European root of theos is most probably *dhes-. The same root becomes fes- in Latin and appears there in words like festus 'festival', 'solemn', and feriae (from *fesiae) 'holiday'. The original meaning of the root seems to have been approximately 'holy'. As far as I know, the word theos is never used as a proper noun, neither for a god nor for a human (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist).

The Greeks made fire either by rubbing pieces of dry wood against each other or by hitting suitable stones against each other, so that sparks were produced. References to wooden fire-sticks used for this purpose are e.g. Homeric hymn to Hermes 111, Theophrastus, Historia plantarum 5.3.4, Plato, Republic 435a, Theocritus, Idyll 22.33. Sometimes one of the pieces was in the form of a drill: Theophrastus, De igne 64. However, these were tedious and not always efficient procedures. Therefore the Greeks tried to keep their fire burning or glowing overnight, e.g., by covering a burning log or some charcoals with ashes or by leaving an oil-lamp burning. If the fire went out, the normal procedure was to procure fire from your neigbour, not to start rubbing fire-sticks or hitting stones. See, e.g., Odyssey 5.487-490, Homeric hymn to Hermes 237, Hesiod, Theogony 567, Lysias 1.14, Xenophon, Memorabilia 2.1.12. Also a Latin text (Virgil, Aeneid 1.174-176) describes the operation:

First, Achates struck a spark from flint, caught the fire in leaves, laid dry fuel about it, and waved the flame amid the tinder (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist).

Tiresias. Tiresias went blind when he saw 2 snakes copulating. Cadmus and Harmonia were turned into snakes after fleeing Thebes, so did Tiresias see Cadmus and Harmonia copulating? Harmonia was a minor goddess her parents were Aries and Aphroditie so it does seem possible right?

The two snakes that Tiresias saw are not likely to have been Cadmus and Harmonia. They were turned into snakes after had left Thebes and, at least according to Apollodorus (3.5.4), transported to the Elysian Fields immediately after their transformation, whereas Tiresias, presumably blind, was active as seer in Thebes also when Cadmus was king there. Conflicting stories are told about the cause of Tiresias' blindness; see Apollodorus 3.6.7. See also: Tiresias and Cadmus (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist).

Aphrodite's Belt. I'm a student of Art Academy from Poland and I'm working on some difficult homework: I have to analyse a painting, and I chose "Mars and Venus united by love" by Veronese. On that painting Venus has some kind of belt on her shoulder. I'm wondering what is it. Maybe it belongs to Mars (because of the lion on it), but I want to be sure. And one more thing - If you would have some time and be so nice, could you write for me something else about this painting - everything what's on your mind. Yours sincerely - Michael P.

The object is probably intended to depict something that is described by Homer in the Iliad 14.214. There it is described as a "colourful embroidered belt" ("keston himanta poikilon" in Greek). It belongs to Aphrodite and is normally worn by her on her chest, it seems. It is said to contain all sorts of (magic) charms, "love, yearning, and sweet talk, an allurement that could beguile even the minds of sound-thinking people". In the scene in the Iliad, Hera borrows this object from Aphrodite, for she is intending to turn her husband Zeus' attention away from the Trojan war for a while. The object is sometimes called "Aphrodite's girdle" (but a girdle is placed around somebody's waist, and in the Iliad it is said that Aphrodite takes this object from her chest) or "Aphrodite's cestus" (by a misunderstanding of the Greek word keston, which means "embroidered"?). If you do not know Greek, I suppose there is a Polish translation of the Iliad that you could consult. Also check out Mythical Objects. Best of luck with your analysis! Yours sincerely, Jerker Blomqvist.

Astrology. I would like to know what Ancient Greeks used astrology for in every day life.

The answer is that the Greeks, after the introduction of astrology in the second century B.C., used astrology for the same purposes as those who believe in astrology do today. The three most frequently asked questions were:

It seems that question 1 was more commonly asked than the others (and the astrologers and their opponents most eagerly discussed the abiblity of astrology to answer that question. Question 3 seems to have been more frequent than 2 (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist).

Helios or Apollo is the sun? In one of my books it says that Helios is the sun god who pulls his chariot across the sky each and every day, and that Apollo is the god of light, poetry, healing, music and prophecy. Yet in a number of other books it states that Apollo is the sun god and there is no mention of Helios anywhere in their pages. Who exactly is the sun god of Greek mythology?

Even though Apollo, being "the bright one", may be considered as a sun-god (following W. Burkert, Greek Religion, from the 5th century onwards), Helius, "whose eye is everywhere" (Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 869) remains the sun "that brings light to mortals", (Pindar, Oly.7.39) and keeps its position as such, as shown in the myth of Phaethon or in the important cult of Helius at Rhodes, where other myths are attached to him. Before that his role is clear: "If they do not repay me in full for my slaughtered cows I will go down to Hades and shine among the dead" (Helius to Zeus. Homer, Odyssey 12.381).

Hyperion, son of Uranus (Sky) and father of Helius, has also been regarded as a sun-god, walking on high or being a bringer of light above. But we know what happened to the Titans. One explanation of the association of Apollo with Helius, and that of Artemis with Selene has been given by the geographer Strabo (14.1.6):

These gods or personifications may undergo modification through history, because the constituent parts of any given phenomenon may be differently emphasized at different periods; for example, there is the sun, but then there is light, and there is brightness. Still there is the distance whence light comes, originating form and other things. And Apollo, some have pointed out, is associated with distance, being the god that "strikes from afar".

The place of Helius in the myths is clearly established, and later conceptions have not altered that. Some have said that Apollo "usurped" Helius' place. Yet gods cannot be classified in too meticulous ways; and by renouncing such an attempt, we may also elude "dementia rationalis", a sickness of the mind with symptoms that include an unbridled love of accuracy. (Carlos Parada)

Demosthenes. I am a first year medical student and my gross anatomy professor asked a question regarding mythology today. I was hoping that you might be able to help me out. He was trying to recall the story of a character in mythology who went down to the water's edge and gathered stones or marbles to put in his mouth in order to help him articulate his speech better. He wanted to know who this character was and what the story was. If you could help me with the answer it would be greatly appreciated. More importantly, you have a great site, but with my little knowledge of mythology I was not able to find the answer.

This is told of the Athenian orator and statesman Demosthenes (384-322 BC). The story could be apocryphal, and he is a historical, not a mythological, character. (Carlos Parada)

Reasons for maiming Oedipus. In the story of Oedipus, Laius has baby Oedipus' feet pierced when he gives him to the shepherds to abandon. Why did he do that? Some of my students wanted to know, and the only thing I could come up with was that maybe wild animals would be attracted to the scent of blood and devour the hapless baby. Any other possibilities?

This is an alternative answer: Exposed babies were sometimes "saved" by slave-dealers, who reared them and then sold them with a profit. By maiming Oedipus, Laios wanted to make sure that no one would keep the baby alive for such a purpose. No one would want a slave that was not in a proper physical shape. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Customs varied greatly in the Greek area, depending om what period, what region and what social context we are speaking of. First of all, we may observe that statues of women, whether goddesses or the young girls from the Athenian Akropolis (the "korai"), do not have a veil. Vase paintings of the classical era and later, just as figurines (e.g., Tanagra stuettes) of the Hellenistic period, indicate that women, when outdoors, normally wore a veil that covered their hair. It could be pulled forward to conceal the face or part of it, if the woman wanted to avoid being looked at too closely. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Etymology of the word 'hero'. What is the etymology of the word "hero"? Is there any connection between "hero" and Hera, Hero, Eros, Heracles?

The English word "hero" is a loan-word from Greek "hêrôs" (ê and ô represent long e- and o-sounds). The etymology of Greek "hêrôs" is unknown. Conceivably, there is a connection between "hêrôs" and Hêra (the goddess's name), but it is more safe to say that the etymology of both words is unknown; none of them is probably Greek from the beginning but have been borrowed by the Greeks from another language; we do not know which. Hêrô is a woman's name derived from Hêra. I guess that by "Heracles" is meant Hercules. This is the Latin form of the Greek name Hêraklês, which has been formed by compounding the name Hêra with the noun "kleos", which means 'fame', 'renown'. Eros has nothing to do with any or the other words, for the e of Eros is short and there is no initial h-sound. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

About Oedipus. I've trusted the Greek Mythology Link website for a long time. I have a question though, that is a little more steered toward the play, Oedipus Rex. I am hoping that you can help me, but if not, could you direct me to someone who could? My teacher at school has declared that all Greek plays were completely devoid of any other meanings other than the actions of the plot. She seems to believe that at no time are any of the plays not based on violent and bloody actions. I personally, believe that with plays like Oedipus Rex, Sophocles was looking at the human self and human reaction, rather than Oedipus just simply murdering his father. It doesn't seem logical to me that such a intelligent group of people like the ancient Greeks would only be interested in blood shedding plays and slapstick comedies. Do I have any ground to stand on? What was the main focus on the ancient Greek plays, tragedies especially? Thank you so much for your time and assistance ...

This is a big question, and there are probably several possible answers. My personal view is more like yours than your teacher's (as you report it). There are more dimensions than mere story-telling in the Greek tragedies. I would not regard the Oedipus Rex only as a thrilling or horrifying story about parricide, incest, suicide and self-mutilation. On one level, of course, it is just such a story, but on another level (a more general one) it is also an image of the conditions under which human beings exist: human life is precisely as precarious as the life of Oedipus turns out to have been. I think that especially the comments and reactions of the chorus are manifestations of that general level of content of the tragedy. This is also what makes the Greek tragedies worth reading today, nearly 2,500 years after they were performed for the first time: they tell you something about human existence in general, as it was then, as it is today and probably will be in the future. Perhaps this is what Aristotle is thinking of when he says that one function of tragedy is "the cleaning away of fear and pity": a Greek tragedy is a sort of story that penetrates into the mind of the reader and influences his/her view of life. I would say that all good literature may have that effect, whereas the ordinary thrillers or horror stories, e.g. those shown by the dozens on TV today, do not have that effect. I hope that will be of some help to you. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Name Aethalia. Hi, my name is Aethalia, and I was wondering where on the internet would I'd be able to find the origin of my name.

There are two different words in ancient Greek texts that may be the origin of your name:

1. aithaleia: This is the name of the island of Elba in ancient Greek texts. The Greeks derived it from the Greek word aithalê, which means 'soot' or 'smoke', but probably the name of the island was not Greek at all originally, but the Greeks took it over from language spoken by the inhabitants of Elba. There was also a locality in Attica (outside Athens) that was mostly called Aithalidai, but in one source it is called Aithalia.

2. aeithalês: This means 'ever-blossoming', 'evergreen'. In Modern Greek this word is the technical term for evergreen plants. The word was actually used as a man's name (often with the spelling Aithalês) in the second to fifth centuries A.D., though not very often.

This is what you can find out from ancient Greek sources. But the correct explanation may be a totally different one. (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Fennel stalk. Why was a fennel stalk used to steal fire? Any relationship between the stalk used to steal fire and the stalk used by Silenus or by the mad women of Dionysus?

In a note to Apollodorus 1.7.1, Frazer writes: "The plant ... in which Prometheus is said to have carried the stolen fire is commonly identified with the giant fennel (Ferula communis) ... Tournefort found the plant growing abundantly in Skinosa, the ancient Schinussa, a small deserted island south of Naxos (Pliny, Nat. Hist. iv.68). He describes the stalk as about five feet high and three inches thick, with knots and branches at intervals of about ten inches, the whole being covered with a tolerably hard rind. 'This stalk is filled with a white pith, which, being very dry, catches fire just like a wick; the fire keeps alight perfectly in the stalk and consumes the pith only gradually, without damaging the rind; hence people use this plant to carry fire from one place to another; our sailors laid in a supply of it. This custom is of great antiquity, and may serve to explain a passage in Hesiod, who, speaking of the fire which Prometheus stole from heaven, says that he carried it away in a stalk of fennel.'" ( ...) There is a description of the plant at: http://www.gardenbed.com/f/1602.cfm. The Maenads' 'stalk' was the thyrsos, a staff crowned with ivy. (Carlos Parada)

Adamantine sickle. During the Castration of Uranos, when Cronos 'acquired the adamantine sickle," is there any evidence that the metal utilized by the Telchines was created from the metal lead? ... Cronos with the sickle represents lead in alchemical cryptic symbolism.

As far as I know, there is nothing that connects the admantine sickle with lead. "Adamant" is of course a "mythical" metal. One of its characteristics is that it is very hard and may be sharpened. Those are characteristics not generally associated with lead. Commentators on the myth normally associate it with steel. Best regards, (Prof. Jerker Blomqvist)

Corn. 1) I think that Europeans and Americans use "corn" for different grains. What we call corn, you call maize. I don't know what European corn is (wheat?). 2) I have been reading a book by Robert Graves on Greek Mythology in which he discusses corn dolls and corn cult etc. From what I believe, corn would not have been available to the ancient Greeks. So I was wondering what grain it was (wheat, barley ??).

What is usually meant by 'corn' is grain of any kind available. Maize was unknown. Barley seems to have been more important in Greece and wheat in Italy. But it is said that naked wheat came to be known as 'corn' in the ancient world. Book on the subject: N. Jasny, The Wheats of Classical Antiquity (1944).(Carlos Parada)

Homeric literature. My name is Luisa, I come from the UK and I am currently studying for my A-Level in Classical Civilisation and have been studying Homeric literature for about three years. I have some queries regarding Homer's texts which I have been pondering for some time now, and I would be delighted if you had any answers to the questions I have.

1: Is there any Historical truth to 'The Illiad' or 'The Odyssey', or any historical accounts of any of the characters or Heroes from these poems?

2(a): In your opinion, does 'The Odyssey' finish in the middle of book 23, shortly after Penelope has recognised Odysseus With: "And blissfully they lay down on their own familiar bed" or at the end of book 24 with "Then Pallas Athene, Daughter of Aegis-bearing Zeus, still using Mentor's form and voice for her disguise, established peace between the two sides" ?

2(b): I have been told that many believe that the remainding text is not by Homer but by later and lesser hands. Is there any proof that this is true or untrue?

If you could contact me back with any answers you have or post them onto the Q&A section of the Greek Mythology Link homepage, I would be delighted. Many Thanks,

1. Iliad and Osyssey are literary works, i.e. the events told in them are fiction. If Homer lived c. 700 B.C., how could he know any details about a Trojan war that was fought 500 years earlier? Homer himself claims to know the truth, because he has been inspired by the Muse. For us, rational beings of the 21th century, that claim inspires no confidence at all.

On the other hand, the excavations on the location known as Troy or Ilium in antiquity has shown that there existed an important city on the spot during the Bronze Age and that it was destroyed on a number of occasions by fire, earthquake or conquering enimies. That is sometimes taken as a proof that the Iliad tells a true story. But there is absolutely no archaeological evidence to show that those who destroyed that city came from what we now call Greece, let alone that some of those conquerers had names as Agamamnon, Menelaos, Achilles or Odysseus. Thus, a city that may have been named Troy did exist in the Bronze Age and one of its destructions possibly took place about 1200 B.C. But we do not know who destroyed it (possibly, it was the so-called "sea Peoples"; cf., e.g., Robert Drews, The End of the Bronze Age, Princeton University Press 1993).

Also, what is the Iliad actaually about? Its theme is not the conquering of Troy by the Greeks. Its theme is the fate of an individual, Achilles, the decisions he takes in a conflict with his fellow Greeks, his revenge when his comrade is killed and the eventual reconciliation with his own fate and the conditions of human life. That is what the Iliad is about: Achilles' desperate attempts to liberate himself from the restrictions imposed on him by the fact that he is a human being. The poet has chosen to stage that story within the frame of the Trojan war. The Trojan war only provides the setting; the important thing for the poet is the story of Achilles--you might be tempted to call it "the tragedy of Achilles". For the poet, the war is secondary matter. His primary aim was not to give a truthful account of that war.

2a. The Odyssey, as we have it, is a unit, in my opinion. It was conceived by a poet who, from the beginning, had decided that the poem should end with a reconciliation (as the Iliad does). There may have existed other Odysseys that ended in a different way, but "our" Odyssey would not be complete without the 24th song.

2b. My opinion is that the Odyssey as a whole was composed c. 700 B.C., a little later that the Iliad and a little earlier than Hesiod's poems. In my view, there are linguistic details to show that the Iliad and the Odyssey cannot have been composed at the same date. Those who advocate a later date of composition, mostly claim that both the Iliad and the Odyssey were composed in Athens c. 530 B.C., i.e., both poems are supposed to have been composed at the same date, and much later than Hesiod's life-time. The linguistic evidence is against that supposition, and I regard the linguistic evidence as reliable.

Kronos and Chronos. Whilst researching The Greek deities I came unstuck when trying to discover the origins of the nomenclature of the Gods. I did get a hint from the GML that some God names came from languages that preceded Greek but would this pertain to all deity names? For instance 'Chronus' is reflected in the English language as a base for the word Chronology. However, I wonder which came first, the Greek word for time or the name of the God?

As I assume you know, there were two Greek gods with similar names, Kronos (with Greek kappa as the first letter) and Chronos (with chi).

Kronos was always a god's name, never an ordinary substantive. It is also an old name, appearing already in the earliest texts, such as Homer and Hesiod. The meaning of the name is unknown. Probably, it was not Greek originally but the god and some of the myths about him had been taken over by the Greeks from some people who lived in the country before the Greeks arrived. This is in fact the case with most names of the so-called Greek gods.

Chronos is different. It was originally used as an ordinary substantive with the meaning 'time'. Only at a later date the concept of time was personified and Chronos became a god. The etymology of the word is unknown, but it seems to be an Indo-European word. The earliest attestations for a more or less personified 'time' appear in poems by Solon, Simonides and Pindar, but these poems seem to refer to an abstract force rather than a personal god. From the Hellenistic period onwards there are examples of a personified and deified 'Time', even in the form of pictorial representations.

Kronos and Chronos were often confused in antiquity. Since Kronos definitely was a god and the word chronos was very similar to that name, the creation of Chronos as a god of time was a natural process. Best regards, Jerker Blomqvist

Hyperion. I've recently developed an interest in Hyperion and his surrounding stories. However, I'm having a tough time really finding anything on him. I was wondering if you could shed some light on him, and possibly explain why he's so hard to find information on.

Hyperion is a tough one. For being a sun-god, he is a remarkably shadowy character. That was about all I knew about him when I got your question. OK, he is a Titan, I suppose I knew that, too. However, he is very often identified with the sun or with the sun-god, Helios. Homer, e.g., uses his name only with reference to the sun (with one possible exception). Hesiod, on the other hand, and a number of later writers (probably dependent on Hesiod) classify him as a Titan, son of Ouranos and Gaia, and himself father of Sun, Moon and Dawn (Eos) (thus not identical with the sun). To my knowledge there are no myths told about him, except by Diodorus of Sicily, book 5, chapter 57, where Hyperion is said to have been murdered by his brothers, since they envied him his noble off-spring (Sun and Moon) and feared that he would alone seize the power the shared with him; and chapter 67, where the myth about Hyperion being the father of Sun and Moon is explained, by euhemeristic method, as a tale about a human being who was the first among men to study astronomy.

In Hesiod Hyperion's mate and mother of his children is called Theia, I Diodorus 5.57, Basileia.

I have made a search for mentions of Hyperion in the Greek and Latin text data bases available to me. There are a few hundred occurrences of the name, but a great majority of them refer to the sun or occur in phrases like "Hyperion's son" which of course also refer to the sun. There is very little about the Titan Hyperion per se in the ancient texts. The investigation I have had time to make was perfunctory in the extreme, and there may be some more information to get from the texts if you study them properly, but certainly not much more.

One important thing: Hyperion does not occur in any ancient inscription with religious content, nor are there any references to a cult of Hyperion the Titan in the literary texts. He was probably a shadowy character already in antiquity.

Artemis. Why is Artemis, a strict virgin, also considered guardian-goddess of nature and childbirth?

Artemis protects the sacredness or untouchability of boundaries--for example the boundary between the city and the domain of the wild (where she hunts). That sacredness is her virginity. She has the role of rearing the young girls, and, in time, take them over the boundary represented by their passage into adulthood (from girls to women and mothers). Their children are similar to the wild animals since they at birth do not belong to culture but to nature. Therefore they belong to her, and she will rear them. She educates them and guides them (as she presides over the hunters, who must cross the frontier between civilized culture and wild nature). She presides over all that and more, as described, for example, by J.-P. Vernant in his attractive "The Figure and Functions of Artemis in Myth and Cult", in Mortals and Immortals (Princeton University Press 1991).

The myths of course might not allow applying the same pattern to each anecdote or tale. In the Iliad, Artemis is reviled as "a lion to women", killing them as she pleases, but she also is the birth goddess, their protector and guide. There is certainly no contradiction in that. Her brother Apollo leaves cities and armies desolate by plague because he is the god of healing--precisely. (See also Walter Burkert, Greek Religion, Harvard University Press, 1985.) (Carlos Parada)

Pandora and hope. In some versions of the Pandora myth, it is said that the all-gifted first woman released all of the plagues of the world, including Hope. The moral is quite obvious that there is always hope in a world full of problems. But in other versions, Pandora actually traps Hope in the jar/box after all else have been let out. What is the meaning of this? Is this a kind of pessimistic message for the world? Or does the trapping of Hope allude to the human subconscious that, deep down, we all want something better even if all looks grim?

Not few have reproached Hesiod for his pessimism. He was not optimistic about men. He was certainly not optimistic about Pandora. She is an inextricable trap. A gift that was supposed to be rejected. For the race of iron, the gifts of the gods are traps in which good and evil are blended. Pandora is the "price for fire". She could be a sort of fire herself, consuming man from within. Pandora is a result of the chain of events that started at the banquet of Mecone. She came down to earth soon after the end of the Golden Age. The dispersed evils are invisible and silent. They are in contrast with the visible but deceptive beauty of Pandora. With her, sexual intercourse and marriage are introduced between the races of men and women. She is an evil that looks good. Pandora appears thus as the incarnation of ambiguity.

The world becomes ambiguous after the Golden Age. Pandora is one aspect in this ambiguity, as is hope. Hope has a meaning if there are evils, and is not needed without them. With the iron race, ambiguity is introduced in all dealings. Evils intermingle with good things. Since we cannot distinguish between them, or know how anything could turn out, we must hope for the best. Foreknowledge is the privilege of the gods. They don't need hope.

Hope appears as an imaginary bridge between good and evil. It is an awareness of the transient nature of evils as anxiety could sometimes be an awareness of the transient nature of good things. "Evil might subside," that's what hope tells us. Hope is in the jar. The jar is in the house. Perhaps with the woman. From that angle Pandora herself -the beautiful evil- appears as hope. Perhaps the best hope that the wretched race of iron can hope for.

See also the analysis by J.-P. Vernant 'The Myth of Prometheus in Hesiod', in Myth and Society in Ancient Greece (Zone Books 1990).

Orphic Hymns. I discovered Thomas Taylor's translation of the Orphic Hymns at : http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hoo/index.htm (section of the Internet Sacred Text Archive). Is this edition still considered authoritative and legitimate? In other words, if I quote from Taylor's translations, am I quoting from a poetic retelling, or an authentic translation? It seems to me that these Orphic Hymns are a very important source on pagan ideas about the gods. What do you know about these hymns and their provenance? How are they considered in the literature these days? Is Taylor a good source? If he is not, can you recommend to me an affordable translation that you believe is?

Thomas Taylor's is a complete translation of the Orphic Hymns and, as far as I know, scholars have regarded it as 'authoritative and legitimate', as you put it. So you would be quoting, not from a retelling, but from a complete translation.

Orphism has puzzled many through time, but there is no evidence to support the attribution of the 'Orphic' works to Orpheus, who could have lived about 1250 BC (if we accepted some of the traditional chronologies). Although the Orphic Derveni Papyrus is dated to the 4C BC, scholars generally agree that Orphism flourished (or even had its origin) in late Imperial times, when the universal Roman state had become the host of innumerable cults and philosophical ideas. Still we can be pretty sure that the last word on this subject has not been uttered yet. The Orphic Hymns and the Argonautica Orphica are probably from the fourth century AD.