Deep Ties

  iStock Sisyphus, son of Aeolus of Thessaly and Enarete, was the founder and the first ruler of Ephyra. He and his brother, Salmoneus, hated each other. Sisyphus asked for the Oracle of Delphi to aid him to kill his brother with out having to incur the consequences. Thus, from the beginning, he was a man imbued with craftiness. He lived a life of guile, and had to suffer for it in the end. Sisyphus’ sin was that he would beguile and kill travellers who stayed with him, a sin that went against Zeus’ code of hospitality. He went even further when he betrayed Zeus’ secret by revealing the whereabouts of Aegina, the Asopid, to her father Asopus, the river god, in return for a permanent flowing spring in the Corinth area. Zeus, who was in love with Aegina, was enraged and ordered Thanatos, the God of Death, to imprison Sisyphus in Tartarus. Sisyphus proved his craftiness further. He instructed his wife, Merope, to throw his corpse in the middle of the street without any ceremony. When ...

                                                                      Rhadine and Leontichus - Created by AI Rhadine was an exceptionally beautiful noble lady from the island of Samos, so beautiful that she caught the eye of a tyrant from Corinth. He was the typical jealous looming villain so common in Greek mythology, despotic and possessive. Rhadine, however, was in love with her cousin, Leontichus. The lovers kept their love a secret from the world, aware that their union would be frowned on due to their close family ties, causing an uproar amongst the noble families in Samos, Triphylia. Rhadine’s brother was a chief at Delphi, who took his civic and social duties very seriously. His high position made it possible for his sister to get betrothed to a man of such an elevated standing. Rhadine and her brother set ...

                                                                           Goddess Hera - Shutterstock Here, the wife of Zeus, is considered the Queen of Mount Olympus. She is the goddess of wedlock, women and family.  Hera was the daughter of the Titans, Cronus and Rhea, which also makes her the sister of  Zeus. Her siblings were, thus, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia and Zeus himself.  Hera was the watchful and possessive wife of a husband prone to myriad adulterous affairs and illegitimate children. She could be vindictive and dangerous. According to Pausanias, Zeus fell in love with Hera. When she left him and set out on her own, he created a mighty storm, turned himself into a cuckoo and sat on her lap. Hera shielded him with her cloak and kept him as a pet. Once the storm abated...

  Instagram Zeus was incensed when Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. He ordered Hephaestus, the divine blacksmith, to create the first woman, the bringer of all evil into the world. Once Hephaestus had done so, all the gods granted Pandora, for that was her name, various gifts. Athena dressed her up in an ornate veil, garlands and a silver crown, Aphrodite granted her grace and wiles and Hermes presented her with the gift of speech, naming her Pandora. Pandora has been reviled in mythology for possessing a deceitful nature. Prometheus rejected her, but his brother Epimetheus accepted her as his wife, despite his brother’s warning not to accept any gift from Zeus. TikTok Epimetheus, Pandora's husband - Greek Mythology As a wedding gift, Zeus gave Pandora a jar or a box which contained ‘countless plagues.’ Pandora’s curiosity made her willfully open the box, which was exactly what Zeus wanted for he considered her ‘an unnatural abomination’. The moment s...

  Orion - Paleothea Orion was the grandson of the Cretan king, Minos, the creator of the labyrinth, and the son of Euryale, the Gorgon and Poseidon, the god of the sea. This also made him the nephew of Zeus, the king of the gods. Orion was a tall, well-built demigod who stood head and shoulders over any man. He was also the greatest hunter who could beat anyone with his club or sword. It is also believed that he represented strength, good luck and spiritual intuition. The myth goes that Artemis, the goddess of the Moon, hunting and virginity, was attracted to the strong and handsome Orion. She fell in love with him, but since she had taken a vow of virginity, she remained chaste. Her brother, the sun god, Apollo, was wary of the relationship as he did not want her to break her vow. There are two versions of the way he got rid of Orion.                                           ...

                                                                                                      YouTube Narcissus, a hunter from Thespine, is known in Greek mythology for his remarkable beauty, the son of a river god and a nymph. It is believed that Cephissus took advantage of Liriope and as a result was born this boy, “beautiful even as a child”. After the baby was born, Liriope consulted the blind prophet, Tiresias, as she was concerned about his future. Tiresias told her gravely that the boy would enjoy a long life only if he never “came to know himself”, an enigmatic utterance which tragically came true. Narcissus was aware of his striking looks. However, he rejected advances from men and women. When Narcissus was sixteen,...