CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: The Value of Myths

ARGUS

CERBERUS

CHIMERA

CYCLOPS

LERNAEAN HYDRA

LION NEMEAN

MEDUSA

MINOTAUR

INTRODUCTION:

Most of us formed our first impressions of Greek myths as children from the summaries and

illustrated handbooks, movies, and cartoons that simplified and sanitized the doings of the gods

and heroes. The stories were fun, and they impressed us as something uncomplicated, or

frivolous. How, after all, could anyone take seriously such fantasy as Zeus's turning himself into a

bull or Kronos' swallowing his children? In time, youthful skepticism was reinforced by the

common opinion that myths are false and misleading. Commercial advertisements and political

speeches abound with claims of exploding the "myth" of this or that by telling the truth. In the way

of language, the word has become confused with the thing, and the meaningful place of Greek

myths in the society that created them has become distorted, if not lost, through our own culture's

estimation of myths. The Greek word mythos denoted "anything said by the mouth" and thereby

simply opposed the spoken word to the physical deed. In Homer, mythos also means a story or

tale— without any implication of truth or falsity. And Plato (c. 429-347), the first to employ the

term mythologia, meant by it only the telling of stories. As narratives, myths consist of words that

relate events and actions. The narrative begins with one situation, passes through a middle in

which the situation is elaborated upon or altered, then ends in quite another situation. The myth of

Daphne, for example, tells how Daphne, daughter of the river god Peneus, was pursued by

Apollo; she fled his embrace, praying for aid, and was changed into a laurel tree. Those stories

which we know today as Greek myths were a vital, working, and formative medium in Greek

society. For that reason, the study of Greek mythmaking, no less than the study of Greek history

or philosophy, provides insights into a civilization which has value for itself and for our own.

.

ARGUS PANOPTES or ARGOS (Ἄργος Πανόπτης)

PARENTS: ARGOS & ISMENE

ENCYCLOPEDIA: Argus (Argos), surnamed Panoptes. His parentage is stated differently, and his father is called

Agenor, Arestor, Inachus, or Argus. He derived his surname, Panoptes, the all-seeing, from his

possessing a hundred eyes, some of which were always awake. He was of superhuman strength,

and after he had slain a fierce bull which ravaged Arcadia, a Satyr who robbed and violated

persons, the serpent Echidna, which rendered the roads unsafe, and the murderers of Apis. In a

classical case of mythological inconsistency, some say he had four eyes - two in the standard

placement and two in the back of his head - while others claim he had up to a hundred eyes all

over his body. This excess ocular equipment made Argus an excellent watchman, a talent which

the goddess Hera used to good effect in the case of Io. Io was a young priestess with whom

Hera's husband Zeus had fallen in love. Needless to say, Hera was jealous and angry, so she

changed Io into a cow. Or maybe Zeus himself brought about the transformation to hide the

object of his passion from Hera. In any case, once Io had become a heifer, Hera asked Argus to

keep an eye on her and let Hera know if Zeus came near. Argus was able to perform this watch

around the clock since he could always keep a lid or two peeled while the rest caught a little shut

eye. But Zeus told Hermes, god of thieves, to snatch Io away, and Hermes resorted to a clever

ruse. Disguising himself as a shepherd, he bored Argus with long-winded stories, beguiled him

with song and eventually lulled him to sleep by playing tunes on a shepherd's pipe, recently

invented by Pan. Or so, at least, goes one version of the tale. In another, Hermes killed Argus

with the cast of a stone.

MYTH:

There was once a maiden named Io, a priestess of Hera, who had disturbing dreams. Through

them she learned Zeus wished to deprive her of her virginity. She was the daughter of Inachus,

one of the River Gods and king of Argos. In time, Io told her father, Inachus, who consulted the

oracle. Told by the oracle that the king of the gods would show his wrath if not satisfied, Inachus

forced his daughter Io to leave his protection. One day, great god Zeus saw her and fell madly in

love with this maiden. Io was constantly avoiding his amorous attempts, until Zeus took the form

of clouds, surrounded her and made love to her.

Zeus in his seduction of Io had fore-sensed his spouse’s [Hera's] visit and transformed

poor Io into a sleek white cow, lovely still although a cow. Hera against her will, admired the

creature and asked whose she was, and whence she came and to what herd belonged,

pretending not to know the truth. He lied--`The earth had brought her forth’--so to deflect

questions about her birth. Then Hera begged the cow as a gift. What should he do? Too cruel to

give his darling! Not to give--suspicious; shame persuades but love dissuades. Love would have

won; but then--if he refused his wife so slight a gift, a cow, it well might seem no cow at all! The

goddess won her rival, but distrust lingered and still she feared her husband’s tricks, till, for safe-

keeping, she had given the cow to Argos of the hundred eyes, all watching and on duty round his

head, save two which took in turn their sleep and rest.

Whichever way he stood he looked at Io, Io before his eyes behind his back! By day he

let her graze, but when the sun sank down beneath the earth he stabled her and tied--for shame!-

-a halter round her neck. She browsed on leaves of trees and bitter weeds, and for her bed, poor

thing, lay on the ground, not always grassy, and drank the muddy streams; and when, to plead

with Argus, she would try to stretch her arms, she had no arms to stretch. When she complained,

a moo came from her throat, a startling sound. She nevertheless managed to reveal herself to her

father and sisters but as they thus grieved, Argus, star-eyed, drove off daughter from father,

hurrying her away to distant pastures. Then himself, afar, high on a mountain he sat up high to

keep his scrutiny on every side. But now heaven’s master Zeus could no more endure Io’s

distress, and summoned his son Hermes, whom the bright shining Maia bore, and charged him to

accomplish Argus’ death. Promptly he fastened on his ankle-wings, grasped in his fist the wand

that charms to sleep, put on his magic cap, and thus arrayed Zeus’ son Hermes sprang from his

father’s citadel down to earth. There he removed his cap, laid by his wings; only his wand he

kept. A herdsman now, he drove a flock of goats through the green byways, gathered as he went,

and played his pipes of reed. The strange sweet skill charmed Hera’s guardian. `My friend’, he

called, `whoever you are, well might you sit with me here on this rock, and see how cool the

shade extends congenial for a shepherd’s seat.’ So Hermes joined him, and with many a tale he

stayed the passing hours and on his reeds played soft refrains to lull the watching eyes. But

Argus fought to keep at bay the charms of slumber and, though many of his eyes were closed in

sleep, still many kept their guard. He asked too by what means this new design (for new it was),

the pipe of reeds, was found. Then the god told this story of Pan and his pursuit of the Nymphe

Syrinx . . . The tale remained untold; for Hermes saw all Argus’ eyelids closed and every eye

vanquished in sleep. He stopped and with his wand, his magic wand, soothed the tired resting

eyes and sealed their slumber; quick then with his sword he struck off the nodding head and from

the rock threw it all bloody, spattering the cliff with gore. Argus lay dead; so many eyes, so bright

quenched, and all hundred shrouded in one night. Hera retrieved those eyes to set in place

among the feathers of her bird, the peacock and filled his tail with starry jewels.

CERBERUS or KERBERUS (Κέρβερος) PARENTS: TYPHOEUS & EKHIDNA

ENCYCLOPEDIA: Cerberus was the gigantic hound which guarded the gates of Haides. He was posted to prevent

ghosts of the dead from leaving the underworld. Cerberus was described as a three-headed dog

with a serpent's tail, a mane of snakes, and a lion's claws. Some say he had fifty heads, though

this number might have included the heads of his serpentine mane. Hercules was sent to fetch

Cerberus forth from the underworld as one of his twelve labours, a task which he accomplished

through the grace of Persephone. Cerberus also appears in the story of Orpheus, who managed

to make him sleep by playing his music. This way, Orpeus was able to get into the underworld, in

order to look for Eurydice.

CE′RBERUS (Kerberos), the many-headed dog that guarded the entrance of Hades, is

mentioned as early as the Homeric poems, but simply as "the dog," and without the name of

Cerberus. (Il. viii. 368, Od. xi. 623.) Hesiod, who is the first that gives his name and origin, calls

him (Theog. 311) fifty-headed and a son of Typhaon and Echidna. Later writers describe him as a

monster with only three heads, with the tail of a serpent and a mane consisting of the heads of

various snakes. (Apollod. ii. 5. § 12; Eurip. Here. fur. 24, 611; Virg. Aen. vi. 417; Ov. Met. iv. 449.)

Some poets again call him many-headed or hundred-headed. (Horat. Carm. ii. 13. 34; Tzetz. ad

Lycoph. 678; Senec. Here. fur. 784.) The place where Cerberus kept watch was according to

some at the mouth of the Acheron, and according to others at the gates of Hades, into which he

admitted the shades, but never let them out again.

MYTH: The most dangerous labor of all was the twelfth and final one. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to go

to the Underworld and kidnap the beast called Cerberus (or Kerberos). Eurystheus must have

been sure Hercules would never succeed at this impossible task! The ancient Greeks believed

that after a person died, his or her spirit went to the world below and dwelled for eternity in the

depths of the earth. The Underworld was the kingdom of Hades, also called Pluto, and his wife,

Persephone. Depending on how a person lived his or her life, they might or might not experience

never-ending punishment in Hades. All souls, whether good or bad, were destined for the

kingdom of Hades. Cerberus' parents were the monster Echinda (half-woman, half-serpent) and

Typhon (a fire-breathing giant covered with dragons and serpents). Even the gods of Olympus

were afraid of Typhon.

Among the children attributed to this awful couple were Orthus (or Othros), the Hydra of

Lerna, and the Chimaera. Orthus was a two-headed hound which guarded the cattle of Geryon.

With the Chimaera, Orthus fathered the Nemean Lion and the Sphinx. The Chimaera was a

three-headed fire-breathing monster, part lion, part snake, and part goat. Hercules seemed to

have a lot of experience dealing with this family: he killed Orthus, when he stole the cattle of

Geryon, and strangled the Nemean Lion. Compared to these unfortunate family members,

Cerberus was actually rather lucky.

Before making the trip to the Underworld, Hercules decided that he should take some

extra precautions. This was, after all, a journey from which no mortal had ever returned. Hercules

knew that once in the kingdom of Hades, he might not be allowed to leave and rejoin the living.

The hero went to Eleusis and saw Eumolpus, a priest who began what were known as the

Eleusinian Mysteries. The mysteries were sacred religious rites which celebrated the myth of

Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The ancients believed that those who learned the

secrets of the mysteries would have happiness in the Underworld. After the hero met a few

conditions of membership, Eumolpus initiated Hercules into the mysteries.

Hercules went to a place called Taenarum in Laconia. Through a deep, rocky cave,

Hercules made his way down to the Underworld. He encountered monsters, heroes, and ghosts

as he made his way through Hades. He even engaged in a wrestling contest! Then, finally, he

found Hades and asked the god for Cerberus. The lord of the Underworld replied that Hercules

could indeed take Cerberus with him, but only if he overpowered the beast with nothing more

than his own brute strength.

A weaponless Hercules set off to find Cerberus. Near the gates of Acheron, one of the

five rivers of the Underworld, Hercules encountered Cerberus. Undaunted, the hero threw his

strong arms around the beast, perhaps grasping all three heads at once, and wrestled Cerberus

into submission. The dragon in the tail of the fierce flesh-eating guard dog bit Hercules, but that

did not stop him. Cerberus had to submit to the force of the hero, and Hercules brought Cerberus

to Eurystheus. Unlike other monsters that crossed the path of the legendary hero, Cerberus was

returned safely to Hades, where he resumed guarding the gateway to the Underworld.

Presumably, Hercules inflicted no lasting damage on Cerberus, except, of course, the wound to

his pride!

Hercules returning to earth with Kerberos tells of his journey to the Underworld :

`Whoever of the gods from on high looks down on things of earth, and would not be defiled by a

strange, new sight, let him turn away his gaze, lift his eyes to heaven, and shun the warning. Let

only two look on this monster [Cerberus]--him who brought and her who ordered it. To appoint me

penalties and tasks earth is not broad enough for Hera's hate. I have seen places unapproached

by any, unknown to Phoebus [the sun], those gloomy spaces which the baser pole hath yielded to

infernal Haides; and if the regions of the third estate pleased me, I might have reigned. The chaos

of everlasting night, and something worse than night, and the grim gods and the fates--all these I

saw and, having flouted death, I have come back. What else remains? I have seen and revealed

the lower world. If aught is left to do, give it to me, O Hera; too long already dost thou let my

hands lie idle. What dost thou bid me conquer? Here the savage Stygian dog frightens the

shades; tossing back and forth his triple heads, with huge bayings he guards the realm. Around

his head, foul with corruption, serpents lap, his shaggy man bristles with vipers, and in his twisted

tail a long snake hisses. His rage matches his shape. Soon as he feels the stir of feet he raises

his head, rough with darting snakes, and with ears erect catches at the onsped sound, he is to

hear even the shades. When Hercules stood closer, within his cave the dog crouches hesitant

and feels a touch of fear. Then suddenly, with deep bayings, he terrifies the silent places; the

snakes hiss threateningly along all his shoulders. The clamour of his dreadful voice, issuing from

triple throats, fills even the blessed shades with dread.

Then from his left arm the hero looses the fierce-grinning jaws, thrusts out before him the

Cleonaean head and, beneath that huge shield crouching, plies his mighty club with victorious

right hand. Now here, now there, with unremitting blows he whirls it, redoubling the strokes. At

last the dog, vanquished ceases his threatenings and, spent with struggle, lowers all his heads

and yields all wardship of his cavern. Both rulers [Haides and Persephone] shiver on their throne,

and bid lead the dog away. Me also Theseus trapped in Haides they give as boon to Alcides’

prayer. Then, stroking the monster’s sullen necks, he binds him with chains of adamant. Forgetful

of himself, the watchful guardian of the dusky realm droops his ears, trembling and willing to be

led, owns his master, and with muzzle lowered follows after, beating both his sides with snaky

tail. But when he came to the Taenarian borders, and the strange gleam of unknown light smote

on his eyes, though conquered he regained his courage and in frenzy shook his ponderous

chains. Almost he bore his conqueror away, back dragging him, forward bent, and forced him to

give ground. Then even to my aid Alcides looked, and with our twofold strength we drew the dog

along, mad with rage and attempting fruitless war, and brought him out to earth. But when he saw

the bright light of day and viewed the clear spaces of the shining sky, black night rose over him

and he turned his gaze to ground, closed tight his eyes and shut out the hated light; backward he

turned his face and with all his necks sought the earth; then in the shadow of Hercules he hid his

head."

OTHER VERSION ( may incorporate a bit of both) The descent of Heracles to the underworld is his twelfth and ultimate labor. Like most other

heroes of the descent, he must struggle with the forces of death, and, also like the others, he

rescues a fellow human being, Theseus, from these forces. 5 10 15 20 25 30 Now had come the

time for the twelfth and last of the labours that Hercules did for his master Eurystheus. This labour

would seem to anyone by far the hardest; for the hero was commanded to descend into the lower

world, and bring back with him from the kingdom of Proserpine the terrible three-headed watch-

dog Cerberus. Hercules took the dark path which before him had been trodden only by Orpheus

and Theseus and Pirithous. Orpheus had returned. Theseus and Pirithous, for their wicked

attempt, were still imprisoned. Hercules passed the Furies, undaunted by the frightful eyes

beneath the writhing serpents of their hair. He passed the great criminals, Sisyphus, Tantalus and

the rest. He passed by his friend, the unhappy Theseus, who was sitting immovably fixed to a

rock, and he came at last into the terrible presence of black Pluto himself, who sat on his dark

throne with his young wife Proserpine beside him. To the King and Queen of the Dead Hercules

explained the reason of his coming. "Go," said Pluto, "and, so long as you use no weapon, but

only your bare hands, you may take my watch-dog Cerberus to the upper air." Hercules thanked

the dreadful king for giving him the-permission which he had asked. Then he made one more

request which was that Theseus, who had sinned only by keeping his promise to his friend, might

be allowed to return again to life. This, too, was granted him. Theseus rose to his feet again and

accompanied the hero to the entrance of hell, where the huge dog Cerberus, with his three heads

and his three deep baying voices, glared savagely at the intruders. Even this tremendous animal

proved no match for Hercules, who with his vice-like grip stifled the breath in two of the shaggy

throats, then lifted the beast upon his shoulders and began to ascend again, Theseus following

close behind, the path that leads to the world of men. They say that when he carried Cerberus to

Mycenae, Eurystheus fled in terror to another city and was now actually glad that Hercules had

completed what might seem to have been twelve impossible labours. Cerberus was restored to

his place in Hell and never again visited the upper world. Nor did Hercules ever go down to the

place of the dead, since, after further trials, he was destined to live among the gods above. (Rex

Warner, The Stories of the Greeks, pp. 101-102.)

CHIMERA or KHIMAIRA (Χίµαιρα)

PARENTS: TYPHOEUS & EKHIDNA

ENCYCLOPEDIA: THE KHIMAIRA (or Chimera) was a monstrous beast which ravaged the countryside of Lykia in

Anatolia. It was a composite creature, with the body and maned head of a lion, a goat's head

rising from its back, a set of goat-udders, and a serpentine tail.

The hero Bellerophon was commanded to slay it by King Iobates. He rode into battle against the

beast on the back of the winged horse Pegasos and, driving a lead-tipped lance down the

Khimaira's flaming throat, suffocated it. The Khimaira may have once been identified with the

winter-rising Constellation Capricorn (the serpent-tailed goat). The constellation Pegasos appears

to drive her from the heavens in spring. Late classical writers represent the beast as a metaphor

for a Lycian volcano.

CHIMAERA (Chimaira), a fire-breathing monster, which, according to the Homeric

poems, was of divine origin. She was brought up by Amisodarus, king of Caria, and afterwards

made great havoc in all the country around and among men. The fore part of her body was that of

a lion, and the hind part that of a dragon, while the middle was that of a goat. (Hom. Il. vi. 180,

xvi. 328 ; comp. Ov. Met. ix. 646.) According to Hesiod (Theog. 319, &c.), she was a daughter of

Typhaon and Echidna, and had three heads, one of each of the three animals before mentioned,

whence she is called trikephalos or trisômatos. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 634; Eurip. Ion, 203, &c.;

Apollod. i. 9. § 3, ii. 3. § 1.) She was killed by Bellerophon, and Virgil (Aen. vi. 288) places her

together with other monsters at the entrance of Orcus. The origin of the notion of this fire-

breathing monster must probably be sought for in the volcano of the name of Chimaera near

Phaselis, in Lycia (Plin. H. N. ii. 106, v. 27; Mela. i. 15), or in the volcanic valley near the Cragus

(Strab. xiv. p. 665, &c.), which is described as the scene of the events connected with the

Chimaera. In the works of art recently discovered in Lycia, we find several representations of the

Chimaera in the simple form of a species of lion still occurring in that country.

MYTH:

Glaucus was an excellent horseman and taught his son all he knew about horses (we shouldn’t

forget that Bellerophon had in his genes, too, a passion for horses, from his real father, god

Poseidon).

His life was more or less normal, until he killed by accident another man (whose name differs,

according to different authors. Sometimes the man who was killed is called Bellerus, which also

explains the origin of the name Bellerophon - to me it looks more like a nickname - that is,

"Bellerus' killer". Another explanation for his name is “bearing darts”.)

At that time, when someone comitted murder, he had to leave his city and find someone who

would purify his sin. That’s why Bellerophon left his city, Corynth, and went to Tyrins, where king

Proetus purified him (I found his name also spelled Proteus). Our hero was young and valiant,

that’s why Proetus’ wife, Stheneboea, fell in love with him. She made a pass at him, but he

refused, so she got very angry and told her husband that Bellerophon had tried to seduce her.

The king should have killed him, in order to wash away the offence, but the laws of hospitality

forbade killing a person you ate with, or else it would be a horrible offence to the gods. (The laws

of hospitality were finally something nice in those cruel times).

So Proetus asked Bellerophon to deliver a letter to his father-in-law, Iobates, king of

Lycia, in which he asked a big favour: to put the bearer to death. Our hero was not as shrewd as

Hamlet (who, in a similar situation, read the letter and replaced it with a forged one), so he never

thought of reading it. When he arrived at king Iobates’ court, he was well received and invited to

dinner. This created a problem for the king, when he read the letter: now he was in the same

position as his son-in law, he couldn’t kill his guest because they had eaten together. To say

nothing about this absurd situation: having in front of you someone who brings a letter which

requests his own death.

But soon he had a brilliant idea: his country was devastated by a horrible fire-breathing

monster, the Chimera. He [ordered Bellerophon to slay the Chimera, assuming that he would

instead be destroyed himself by the beast, since not even a quantity of men could subdue it with

ease, let alone one. For it was a single being that had the force of three beasts, the front part of a

lion, the tail of a dragon, and the third (middle) head was that of a goat, through which it breathed

out fire. It despoiled the countryside and ravaged the herds. This way, Iobates could do what his

son-in-law-asked, without getting his hands dirty.

Bellerophon was pleased to show what a valiant hero he was... but he needed a special

horse for such a special enterprise. He thought the most appropriate one was Pegasus, the

winged horse. A wise man and a seer, Polyeidus (or Polyidus), told him to bring gifts to Athena’s

temple and sleep there for one night. In his dream, Bellerophon saw goddess Athena who

brought him a golden bridle. When he woke up in the morning, he found the golden bridle next to

him. He took it and went to the well Pirene, where Pegasus would come and drink.

The hero managed to harness the horse and to get on his back, and ever since Bellerophon and

Pegasus were inseparable. So off they went to kill the Chimera. But each time the hero

would shoot his arrows, the fire breath would just melt them and transform them into match sticks.

So how did Bellerophon slay the Chimera? He had a brilliant idea: he attached a lump of lead to

his spear and threw it into the monster’s mouth. Chimera’s fire made the lead melt, and it went

down its throat, killing it. You can imagine Iobates disappointment when he saw Bellerophon and

Pegasus come back. He still wanted to do what he had been asked, so he sent the hero to fight

against the enemy tribe of the Solymi. Bellerophon managed to kill them all and to come back, so

Iobates sent him to fight against the Amazons. Needless to say, he came back successful again.

When the king saw that nothing worked, he gathered an army of Lycians and told them to

ambush Bellerophon. Guess what? The hero killed them all (sort of Van Damme). At his point,

Iobates had to acknowledge the fact that Bellerophon was protected by the gods, so maybe he

wasn’t guilty of the accusations after all. That’s why the king gave up his attempts of killing the

hero and gave him in marriage his daughter, Philonoe. Later, he also showed him the

incriminating letter.

The hero decided to go back to Tyrins and prove his innocence. When Stheneboea saw

Bellerophon and Pegasus arrive, she knew she was in trouble. Some say Bellerophon took her

for a ride on Pegasus and pushed her from the horse, into the sea (but this is not a nice thing to

do for a hero). Some others say she stole the winged horse and tried to flee, but Pegasus threw

her into the sea. Others yet say she committed suicide when she found out that her sister was

going to marry Bellerophon (this time, Pegasus and Bellerophon had nothing to do with her

death). You can imagine Iobates disappointment when he saw Bellerophon and Pegasus come

back. He still wanted to do what he had been asked, so he sent the hero to fight against the

enemy tribe of the Solymi. Bellerophon managed to kill them all and to come back, so Iobates

sent him to fight against the Amazons. Needless to say, he came back successful again.

When the king saw that nothing worked, he gathered an army of Lycians and told them to

ambush Bellerophon. Guess what? The hero killed them all (sort of Van Damme). At his point,

Iobates had to acknowledge the fact that Bellerophon was protected by the gods, so maybe he

wasn’t guilty of the accusations after all. That’s why the king gave up his attempts of killing the

hero and gave him in marriage his daughter, Philonoe. Later, he also showed him the

incriminating letter. The hero decided to go back to Tyrins and prove his innocence. When

Stheneboea saw Bellerophon and Pegasus arrive, she knew she was in trouble. Some say

Bellerophon took her for a ride on Pegasus and pushed her from the horse, into the sea (but this

is not a nice thing to do for a hero). Some others say she stole the winged horse and tried to flee,

but Pegasus threw her into the sea. Others yet say she committed suicide when she found out

that her sister was going to marry Bellerophon (this time, Pegasus and Bellerophon had nothing

to do with her death).

CYCLOPS (Κύκλωψ) PARENTS: OURANOS & GAIA

ENCYCLOPEDIA:

THE ELDER KYKLOPES (or Cyclopes) were the three, orb-eyed, immortal giants who forged the

lightning-bolts of Zeus. As soon as they were born, their father Ouranos (the Sky) locked them

away inside the belly of Earth, along with their stormy brothers, the Hekatonkheires. When the

Titanes overthrew him, they then drove the giants into the pit of Tartaros. Zeus and his brothers

eventually released them and in return they provided the god with his thunderbolt, Poseidon with

his storm-raising trident, and Haides with a helm of invisibility. Some say there were a total of

seven forging Kyklopes. The additional four, sons of the first, were slain by Apollon to avenge the

death of his son Asklepios, who was struck down by lightning. The tribe of younger Kyklopes

which Odysseus encountered on his travels were a different breed altogether, probably born from

the blood of the castrated sky-god Ouranos.

CYCLO′PES (Kuklôpes), that is, creatures with round or circular eyes. The tradition about

these beings has undergone several changes and modifications in its development in Greek

mythology, though some traces of their identity remain visible throughout. According to the

ancient cosmogonies, the Cyclopes were the sons of Uranus and Ge; they belonged to the

Titans, and were three in number, whose names were Arges, Steropes, and Brontes, and each of

them had only one eye on his forehead. Together with the other Titans, they were cast by their

father into Tartarus, but, instigated by their mother, they assisted Cronus in usurping the

government. But Cronus again threw them into Tartarus, and as Zeus released them in his war

against Cronus and the Titans, the Cyclopes provided Zeus with thunderbolts and lightning, Pluto

with a helmet, and Poseidon with a trident. (Apollod. i. 1; Hes. Theog. 503.) Henceforth they

remained the ministers of Zeus, but were afterwards killed by Apollo for having furnished Zeus

with the thunderbolts to kill Asclepius. (Apollod. iii. 10. § 4.) According to others, however, it was

not the Cyclopes themselves that were killed, but their sons. (Schol. ad Eurip. Alcest. 1.)

In the Homeric poems the Cyclopes are a gigantic, insolent, and lawless race of

shepherds, who lived in the south-western part of Sicily, and devoured human beings. They

neglected agriculture, and the fruits of the field were reaped by them without labour. They had no

laws or political institutions, and each lived with his wives and children in a cave of a mountain,

and ruled over them with arbitrary power. (Hom. Od. vi. 5, ix. 106, &c., 190, &c., 240, &c., x. 200.)

Homer does not distinctly state that all of the Cyclopes were one-eyed, but Polyphemus, the

principal among them, is described as having only one eye on his forehead. (Od. i. 69, ix. 383,

&c.; comp. Polyphemus.) The Homeric Cyclopes are no longer the servants of Zeus, but they

disregard him. (Od. ix. 275; comp. Virg. Aen. vi. 636 ; Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 53.)

A still later tradition regarded the Cyclopes as the assistants of Hephaestus. Volcanoes were the

workshops of that god, and mount Aetna in Sicily and the neighbouring isles were accordingly

considered as their abodes. As the assistants of Hephaestus they are no longer shepherds, but

make the metal armour and ornaments for gods and heroes; they work with such might that Sicily

and all the neighbouring islands resound with their hammering. Their number is, like that in the

Homeric poems, no longer confined to three, but their residence is removed from the south-

western to the eastern part of Sicily (Virg. Georg. iv. 170, Aen. viii. 433; Callim. Hymn. in Dian.

56, &c.; Eurip. Cycl. 599; Val. Flacc. ii. 420.) Two of their names are the same as in the

cosmogonic tradition, but new names also were invented, for we find one Cyclops bearing the

name of Pyracmon, and another that of Acamas. (Calim. Hymn. in Dian. 68; Virg. Aen. viii. 425;

Val. Place. i. 583.)

The Cyclopes, who were regarded as skilful architects in later accounts, were a race of

men who appear to be different from the Cyclopes whom we have considered hitherto, for they

are described as a Thracian tribe, which derived its name from a king Cyclops. They were

expelled from their homes in Thrace, and went to the Curetes (Crete) and to Lycia. Thence they

followed Proetus to protect him, by the gigantic walls which they constructed, against Acrisius.

The grand fortifications of Argos, Tiryns, and Mycenae, were in later times regarded as their

works. (Apollod. ii. 1. § 2; Strab. viii. p. 373; Paus. ii. 16. § 4; Schol.ad Eurip. Orest. 953.) Such

walls, commonly known by the name of Cyclopean walls, still exist in various parts of ancient

Greece and Italy, and consist of unhewn polygones, which are sometimes 20 or 30 feet in

breadth. The story of the Cyclopes having built them seems to be a mere invention, and admits

neither of an historical nor geographical explanation. Homer, for instance, knows nothing of

Cyclopean walls, and he calls Tiryns merely a polis teichioessa. (Il. ii. 559.) The Cyclopean walls

were probably constructed by an ancient race of men--perhaps the Pelasgians--who occupied the

countries in which they occur before the nations of which we have historical records; and later

generations, being struck by their grandeur as much as ourselves, ascribed their building to a

fabulous race of Cyclopes.

In works of art the Cyclopes are represented as sturdy men with one eye on their forehead, and

the place which in other human beings is occupied by the eyes, is marked in figures of the

Cyclopes by a line. According to the explanation of Plato (ap. Strab. xiii. p. 592), the Cyclopes

were beings typical of the original condition of uncivilized men ; but this explanation is not

satisfactory, and the cosmogonic Cyclopes at least must be regarded as personifications of

certain powers manifested in nature, which is sufficiently indicated by their names.

MYTH:

Ouranos (Sky) was the first to rule over the entire world. He married Ge (Earth) and sired first the

Hekatonkheires, who were names Briareos, Gyes and Kottos . . . After these he sired the

Kyklopes, by name Arges (Flash), Steropes (Lightning), and Brontes (Thunder), each of whom

had one eye in his forehead. For of all the children that were born of Gaia and Ouranos, these

were the most terrible and they were hated by their own father from the first. And he used to hide

them all away in a secret place of Gaia (Earth) so soon as each was born, and would not suffer

them to come up into the light: and Ouranos rejoiced in his evil doing. Ouranos (Sky) bound these

and threw them into Tartaros, a place in Haides’ realm as dark as Erebos, and as far away from

the earth as the earth is from the sky. Now Ge (Earth), distressed by the loss of her children into

Tartaros, persuaded the Titanes to attack their father, and she gave Kronos a sickle made of

adamant. But vast Gaia (Earth) groaned within, being straitened, and she made the element of

grey flint and shaped a great sickle, and told her plan to her dear sons the Titans. And she spoke,

cheering them, while she was vexed in her dear heart : `My children, gotten of a sinful father, if

you will obey me, we should punish the vile outrage of your father; for he first thought of doing

shameful things.' So she said; but fear seized them all, and none of them uttered a word. But

great Kronos the wily took courage and answered his dear mother : `Mother, I will undertake to do

this deed, for I reverence not our father of evil name, for he first thought of doing shameful things.'

So he said : and vast Gaia rejoiced greatly in spirit, and set and hid him in an ambush,

and put in his hands a jagged sickle, and revealed to him the whole plot " So all of them except

Okeanos set upon Ouranos (Sky), and Kronos cut off his genitals, tossing them into the sea . . .

Thus having overthrown Ouranos’ rule the Titanes retrieved their brothers from Tartaros and gave

the power to Kronos. But Kronos once again bound the Kyklopes and confined them in Tartaros."

Cronus then placed them back in Tartarus, where they remained, guarded by the female dragon

Campe, until freed by Zeus. They fashioned thunderbolts for Zeus to use as weapons, and

helped him overthrow Cronus and the other Titans. The thunderbolts, which became Zeus' main

weapons, were forged by all three Cyclopes, in that Arges added brightness, Brontes added

thunder, and Steropes added lightning. These Cyclopes also created Poseidon's trident, Artemis'

bow and arrows of moonlight, Apollo's bow and arrows of sun rays, and the helmet of darkness

that Hades gave to Perseus on his quest to kill Medusa. According to a hymn of Callimachus,

they were Hephaestus' helpers at the forge. The Cyclopes were said to have built the "cyclopean"

fortifications at Tiryns and Mycenae in the Peloponnese. The noises proceeding from the heart of

volcanoes were attributed to their operations.

Apollo slew the Cyclopes in revenge when Zeus killed his son, Asclepius, with a

Cyclopes-forged thunderbolt.

LERNAEAN HYDRA (Λερναία Ὕδρα)

PARENTS: TYPHOEUS & EKHIDNA

ENCYCLOPEDIA:

HYDRA LERNAIA was a gigantic, nine-headed water-serpent, which haunted the swamps of

Lerna. Herakles was sent to destroy her as one of his twelve labours, but for each of her heads

that he decapitated, two more sprang forth. So with the help of Iolaos, he applied burning brands

to the severed stumps, cauterizing the wounds and preventing regeneration. In the battle he also

crushed a giant crab beneath his heel which had come to assist Hydra. The Hydra and the Crab

were afterwards placed amongst the stars by Hera as the Constellations Hydra and Cancer. This

monster, like the lion, was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, and was brought up by Hera. It

ravaged the country of Lernae near Argos, and dwelt in a swamp near the well of Amymone: it

was formidable by its nine heads, the middle of which was immortal. Heracles, with burning

arrows, hunted up the monster, and with his club or a sickle he cut off its heads; but in the place

of the head he cut off, two new ones grew forth each time, and a gigantic crab came to the

assistance of the hydra, and wounded Heracles. However, with the assistance of his faithful

servant Iolaus, he burned away the heads of the hydra, and buried the ninth or immortal one

under a huge rock. Having thus conquered the monster, he poisoned his arrows with its bile,

whence the wounds inflicted by them became incurable. Eurystheus declared the victory

unlawful, as Heracles had won it with the aid of Iolaus. (Hes. Theog. 313, &c.; Apollod. ii. 5. § 2;

Diod. iv. 11; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 419, 1188, Ion, 192; Ov. Met. ix. 70; Virg. Aen. viii. 300; Paus. ii. 36.

§ 6, 37. § 4, v. 5. § 5; Hygin. Fab. 30.)

THE NEMEAN LION (Λέων της Νεµέας) PARENTS: ORTHROS & KHIMAIRA

ENCYCLOPEDIA: THE LEON NEMEIOS (or Nemean lion) was a large lion, whose hide was impervious to

weapons, which plagued the district of Nemea in the Argolis. King Eurystheus commanded

Herakles to destroy the beast as the first of his twelve Labours. The hero cornered the lion in its

cave and seizing it by the neck wrestled it to death. He then skinned its hide to make a lion-skin

cape, one of his most distinctive attributes. Hera afterwards placed the lion amongst the stars as

the constellation Leo. NEMEAN LION. The mountain valley of Nemea, between Cleonae and

Phlius, was inhabited by a lion, the offspring of Typhon (or Orthrus) and Echidna. (Hes. Theog.

327; Apollod. ii. 5. § 1; comp. Aelian, H. A. xii. 7, Serv. ad Aen. viii. 295.) Eurystheus ordered

Heracles to bring him the skin of this monster. When Heracles arrived at Cleonae, he was

hospitably received by a poor man called Molorchus. This man was on the point of offering up a

sacrifice, but Heracles persuaded him to delay it for thirty days until he should return from his fight

with the lion, in order that then they might together offer sacrifices to Zeus Soter; but Heracles

added, that if he himself should not return, the man should offer a sacrifice to him as a hero. The

thirty days passed away, and as Heracles did not return, Molorchus made preparations for the

heroic sacrifice; but at that moment Heracles arrived in triumph over the monster, which was

slain, and both sacrificed to Zeus Soter. Heracles, after having in vain used his club and arrows

against the lion, had blocked up one of the entrances to the den, and entering by the other, he

strangled the animal with his own hands. According to Theocritus (xxv. 251, &c.), the contest did

not take place in the den, but in the open air, and Heracles is said to have lost a finger in the

tru=ggle. (Ptolem. Heph. 2.) He returned to Eurystheus carrying the dead lion on his shoulders;

and Eurystheus, frightened at tile gigantic strength of the hero, took to flight, and ordered him in

future to deliver the account of his exploits outside the gates of the town. (Diod. iv. 11; Apollod.,

Theocrit. ll. cc..)

MYTH: The story of the twelve labors of Heracles is one of the world's most famous symbolic records of

the trials and glories of adult life. Here the hero travels to all corners of the earth in search of the

tasks which will "make his name." Before he was eighteen he had done many famous deeds in

the country of Thebes, and Creon, the king, gave him his daughter in marriage. But he could not

long escape the anger of Juno, who afflicted him with a sudden madness, so that he did not know

what he was doing and in a fit of frenzy killed both his wife and his children. When he came to his

senses, in horror and shame at what he had done, he visited the great cliffs of Delphi, where the

eagles circle all day and where Apollo's oracle is. There he asked how he could be purified of his

sin and he was told by the oracle that he must go to Mycenae and for twelve years obey all the

commands of the cowardly king Eurystheus, his kinsman. It seemed a hard and cruel sentence,

but the oracle told him also, that at the end of many labours he would be received among the

gods. Hercules therefore departed to the rocky citadel of Mycenae that looks down upon the blue

water of the bay of Argos. He was skilled in the use of every weapon, having been educated, like

Jason was, by the wise centaur Chiron. He was tall and immensely powerful. When Eurystheus

saw him he was both terrified of him and jealous of his great powers. He began to devise labours

that would seem impossible, yet Hercules accomplished them all. First he was ordered to destroy

and to bring back to Mycenae the lion of Nemea which for long had ravaged all the countryside to

the north. Hercules took his bow and arrows, and, in the forest of Nemea, cut himself a great

club, so heavy that a man nowadays could hardly lift it. This club he carried ever afterwards as

his chief weapon. He found that his arrows had no effect on the tough skin of the lion, but, as the

beast sprang at him, he half-stunned it with his club, then closing in with it, he seized it by the

throat and killed it with his bare hands. They say that when he carried back on his shoulders to

Mycenae the body of the huge beast, Eurystheus fled in terror and ordered Hercules never again

to enter the gates of the city, but to wait outside until he was told to come in. Eurystheus also built

for himself a special strong room of brass into which he would retire if he was ever again

frightened by the power and valiance of Hercules.

Hercules himself took the skin of the lion and made it into a cloak which he wore ever

afterwards, sometimes with the lion's head covering his own head like a cap, sometimes with it

slung backwards over his shoulders. The next task given to Hercules by Eurystheus was to

destroy a huge water snake, called the Hydra, which lived in the marshes of Argos, was filled with

poison and had fifty venomous heads. Hercules, with his friend and companion, the young Iolaus,

set out from Mycenae and came to the great cavern, sacred to Pan, which is a holy place in the

hills near Argos. Below this cavern a river gushes out of the rock. Willows and plane-trees

surround the source and the brilliant green of grass. It is the freshest and most delightful place.

But, as the river flows downwards to the sea, it becomes wide and shallow, extending into

pestilential marshes, the home of stinging flies and mosquitoes. In these marshes they found the

Hydra, and Hercules, with his great club, began to crush the beast's heads, afterwards cutting

them off with his sword. Yet the more he laboured, the more difficult his task became. From the

stump of each head that he cut off two other heads, with forked and hissing tongues, immediately

sprang. Faced with an endless and increasing effort, Hercules was at a loss what to do. It

seemed to him that heat might prove more powerful than cold steel, and he commanded Iolaus to

burn the root of each head with a red-hot iron immediately it was severed from the neck. This

plan was successful. The heads no longer sprouted up again, and soon the dangerous and

destructive animal lay dead, though still writhing in the black marsh water among the reeds.

Hercules cut its body open and dipped his arrows in the blood. Henceforward these arrows would

bring certain death, even if they only grazed the skin, so powerful was the Hydra's poison.

Eurystheus next ordered Hercules to capture and bring back alive a stag, sacred to Diana and

famous for its great fleetness of foot, which lived in the waste mountains and forests, and never

yet had been approached in the chase. For a whole year Hercules pursued this animal, resting for

the hours of darkness and pressing on next day in its tracks. For many months he was wholly

outdistanced; valleys and forests divided him from his prey. But at the end of the year the stag,

weary of the long hunt, could run no longer. Hercules seized it in his strong hands, tied first its

forelegs and then its hind legs together, put the body of the beast, with its drooping antlered

head, over his neck, and proceeded to return to the palace of King Eurystheus. However, as he

was on his way through the woods, he was suddenly aware of a bright light in front of him, and in

the middle of the light he saw standing a tall woman or, as he immediately recognized, a

goddess, grasping in her hands a bow and staring at him angrily with her shining eyes. He knew

at once that this was the archer goddess Diana, she who had once turned Actaeon into a stag

and who now was enraged at the loss of this other stag which was sacred to her. Hercules put his

prey on the ground and knelt before the goddess. "It was through no desire of my own," he said,

"that I have captured this noble animal. What I do is done at the command of my father Jupiter

and of the oracle of your brother Apollo at Delphi." The goddess listened to his explanation,

smiled kindly on him and allowed him to go on his way, when he had promised that, once the stag

had been carried to Eurystheus, it would be set free again in the forests that it loved.

So Hercules accomplished this third labour. He was not, however, to be allowed to rest.

Eurystheus now commanded him to go out to the mountains of Erymanthus and bring back the

great wild boar that for long had terrorized all the neighbourhood. So Hercules set out once more

and on his way he passed the country where the centaurs had settled after they had been driven

down from the north in the battle that had taken place with the Lapiths at the wedding of Pirithous.

In this battle they had already had experience of the hero's strength, but still their manners were

rude and rough. When the centaur Pholus offered Hercules some of the best wine to drink, the

other centaurs became jealous. Angry words led to blows, and soon Hercules was forced to

defend himself with his club and with his arrows, the poison of which not only caused death, but

also the most extreme pain. Soon he scattered his enemies in all directions, driving them over the

plains and rocks. Some he dashed to the ground with his club; others, wounded by the poisoned,

arrows, lay writhing in agony, or kicking their hooves in the air. Some took refuge in the house of

the famous centaur Chiron, who had been schoolmaster to Hercules and who, alone among the

centaurs, was immortal. As he pursued his enemies to this good centaur's house, shooting

arrows at them as he went, Hercules, by an unhappy accident, wounded Chiron himself. Whether

it was because of grief that his old pupil had so injured him, or whether it was because of the

great pain of the wound, Chiron prayed to Jupiter that his immortality should be taken away from

him. Jupiter granted his prayer. The good centaur died, but he was set in Heaven in a

constellation of stars which is still called either Sagittarius or else The Centaur. Hercules mourned

the sad death of his old master. Then he went on to Erymanthus. It was winter and he chased the

great boar up to the deep snow in the passes of the mountains. The animal's short legs soon

grew weary of ploughing through the stiff snow and Hercules caught it up when it was exhausted

and panting in a snowdrift. He bound it firmly and slung the great body over his back. They say

that when he brought it to Mycenae, Eurystheus was so frightened at the sight of the huge tusks

and flashing eyes that he hid for two days in the brass hiding place that he had had built for him.

The next task that Hercules was ordered to do would have seemed to anyone impossible. There

was a king of Elis called Augeas, very rich in herds of goats and cattle. His stables, they say, held

three thousand oxen and for ten years these stables had never been cleaned. The dung and

muck stood higher than a house, hardened and caked together. The smell was such that even

the herdsmen, who were used to it, could scarcely bear to go near. Hercules was now ordered to

clean these stables, and, going to Elis, he first asked the king to promise him the tenth part of his

herds if he was successful in his task. The king readily agreed, and Hercules made the great river

Alpheus change his course and come foaming and roaring through the filthy stables. In less than

a day all the dirt was cleared and rolled away to the sea. The river then went back to its former

course and, for the first time in ten years, the stone floors and walls of the enormous stables

shone white and clean. Hercules then asked for his reward, but King Augeas, claiming that he

had performed the task not with his own hands, but by a trick, refused to give it to him. He even

banished his own son who took the side of Hercules. and reproached his father for not keeping

his promise. Hercules then made war on the kingdom of Elis, drove King Augeas out and put his

son on the throne. Then, with his rich reward, he returned to Mycenae, ready to undertake

whatever new task was given him by Eurystheus. Again he was ordered to destroy creatures that

were harmful to men. This time they were great birds, like cranes or storks, but much more

powerful, which devoured human flesh and lived around the black waters of the Stymphalian lake.

In the reeds and rocky crags they lived in huge numbers and Hercules was at a loss how to draw

them from their hiding places. It was the goddess Minerva who helped him by giving him a great

rattle of brass. The noise of this rattle drove the great birds into the air in throngs. Hercules

pursued them with his arrows, which rang upon their horny beaks and legs but stuck firm in the

bodies that tumbled one after the other into the lake. The whole brood of these monsters was

entirely destroyed and now only ducks and harmless water-fowl nest along the reedy shores.

Hercules had now accomplished six of his labours. Six more remained. After the killing of the

Stymphalian birds he was commanded to go to Crete and bring back from there alive a huge bull

which was laying the whole island waste. Bare-handed and alone he grappled with this bull, and,

once again, when he brought the animal back into the streets of Mycenae, Eurystheus fled in

terror at the sight both of the hero and of the great beast which he had captured. From the

southern sea Hercules was sent to the north to Thrace, over which ruled King Diomedes, a strong

and warlike prince who savagely fed his famous mares on human flesh. Hercules conquered the

king in battle and gave his body to the very mares which had so often fed upon the bodies of the

king's enemies. He brought the mares back to King Eurystheus, who again was terrified at the

sight of such fierce and spirited animals. He ordered them to be taken to the heights of Mount

Olympus and there be consecrated to Jupiter. But Jupiter had no love for these unnatural

creatures, and, on the rocky hillsides, they were devoured by lions, wolves, and bears. Next

Hercules was commanded to go to the country of the Amazons, the fierce warrior women, and

bring back the girdle of their queen Hippolyte. Seas and mountains had to be crossed, battles to

be fought; but Hercules in the end accomplished the long journey and the dangerous task. Later,

as is well known, Hippolyte became the wife of Theseus of Athens and bore him an ill-fated son,

Hippolytus. Hercules had now travelled in the south, the north and the east. His tenth labour was

to be in the far west, beyond the country of Spain, in an island called Erythia. Here lived the giant

Geryon, a great monster with three bodies and three heads. With his herdsman, and his two-

headed dog, called Orthrus, he looked after huge flocks of oxen, and, at the command of

Eurystheus, Hercules came into his land to lift the cattle and to destroy the giant. On his way, at

the very entrance to the Atlantic he set up two great marks, ever afterwards to be known by

sailors and called the Pillars of Hercules. Later, as he wandered through rocks and over desert

land, he turned his anger against the Sun itself, shooting his arrows at the great god Phoebus

Apollo. But Phoebus pitied him in his thirst and weariness. He sent him a golden boat, and in this

boat Hercules crossed over to the island of Erythia. Here he easily destroyed both watchdog and

herdsman, but fought for long with the great three-bodied giant before he slew him, body after

body. Then he began to drive the cattle over rivers and mountains and deserts from Spain to

Greece.

As he was passing through Italy he came near the cave where Cacus, a son of Vulcan,

who breathed fire out of his mouth, lived solitary and cruel, since he killed all strangers and nailed

their heads, dripping with blood, to the posts at the entrance of his rocky dwelling. While Hercules

was resting, with the herds all round him, Cacus came out of his cave and stole eight of the best

animals of the whole herd. He dragged them backwards by their tails, so that Hercules should not

be able to track them down. When Hercules awoke from his rest, he searched far and wide for

the missing animals, but, since they had been driven into the deep recesses of Cacus's cave, he

was unable to find them. In the end he began to go on his way with the rest of the herd, and, as

the stolen animals heard the lowing of the other cattle, they too began to low and bellow in their

rocky prison. Hercules stopped still, and soon out of the cave came the fire-breathing giant,

prepared to defend the fruits of his robbery and anxious to hang the head of Hercules among his

other disgusting trophies. This, however, was not to be. The huge limbs and terrible breath of

Cacus were of no avail against the hero's strength and fortitude. Soon, with a tremendous blow of

his club, he stretched out Cacus dead on the ground. Then he drove the great herd on over

mountains and plains, through forests and rivers to Mycenae. Hercules' next labour again took

him to the far west. He was commanded by Eurystheus to fetch him some of the golden apples of

the Hesperides. These apples grew in a garden west even of the land of Atlas. Here the sun

shines continually, but always cool well-watered trees of every kind give shade. All flowers and

fruits that grow on earth grow here, and fruit and flowers are always on the boughs together. In

the centre of the garden is the orchard where golden apples gleam among the shining green

leaves and the flushed blossom. Three nymphs, the Hesperides, look after this orchard, which

was given by Jupiter to Juno as a wedding present. It is guarded also by a great dragon that

never sleeps, and coils its huge folds around the trees. No one except the gods knows exactly

where this beautiful and remote garden is, and it was to this unknown place that Hercules was

sent. He was helped by Minerva and by the nymphs of the broad river Po in Italy. These nymphs

told Hercules where to find Nereus, the ancient god of the sea, who knew the past, the present

and the future. "Wait for him," they said, "until you find him asleep on the rocky shore, surrounded

by his fifty daughters. Seize hold of him tightly and do not let go until he answers your question.

He will, in trying to escape you, put on all kinds of shapes. He will turn to fire, to water, to a wild

beast or to a serpent. You must not lose your courage, but hold him all the tighter, and, in the

end, he will come back to his own shape and will tell you what you want to know." Hercules

followed their advice. As he watched along the sea god's shore god Phoebus Apollo. But

Phoebus pitied him in his thirst and weariness. He sent him a golden boat, and in this boat

Hercules crossed over to the island of Erythia. Here he easily destroyed both watchdog and

herdsman, but fought for long with the great three-bodied giant before he slew him, body after

body. Then he began to drive the cattle over rivers and mountains and deserts from Spain to

Greece. As he was passing through Italy he came near the cave where Cacus, a son of Vulcan,

who breathed fire out of his mouth, lived solitary and cruel, since he killed all strangers and nailed

their heads, dripping with blood, to the posts at the entrance of his rocky dwelling. While Hercules

was resting, with the herds all round him, Cacus came out of his cave and stole eight of the best

animals of the whole herd. He dragged them backwards by their tails, so that Hercules should not

be able to track them down. When Hercules awoke from his rest, he searched far and wide for

the missing animals, but, since they had been driven into the deep recesses of Cacus's cave, he

was unable to find them. In the end he began to go on his way with the rest of the herd, and, as

the stolen animals heard the lowing of the other cattle, they too began to low and bellow in their

rocky prison. Hercules stopped still, and soon out of the cave came the fire-breathing giant,

prepared to defend the fruits of his robbery and anxious to hang the head of Hercules among his

other disgusting trophies. This, however, was not to be. The huge limbs and terrible breath of

Cacus were of no avail against the hero's strength and fortitude. Soon, with a tremendous blow of

his club, he stretched out Cacus dead on the ground. Then he drove the great herd on over

mountains and plains, through forests and rivers to Mycenae. Hercules' next labour again took

him to the far west. He was commanded by Eurystheus to fetch him some of the golden apples of

the Hesperides. These apples grew in a garden west even of the land of Atlas. Here the sun

shines continually, but always cool well-watered trees of every kind give shade. All flowers and

fruits that grow on earth grow here, and fruit and flowers are always on the boughs together. In

the centre of the garden is the orchard where golden apples gleam among the shining green

leaves and the flushed blossom. Three nymphs, the Hesperides, look after this orchard, which

was given by Jupiter to Juno as a wedding present. It is guarded also by a great dragon that

never sleeps, and coils its huge folds around the trees. No one except the gods knows exactly

where this beautiful and remote garden is, and it was to this unknown place that Hercules was

sent. He was helped by Minerva and by the nymphs of the broad river Po in Italy. These nymphs

told Hercules where to find Nereus, the ancient god of the sea, who knew the past, the present

and the future. "Wait for him," they said, "until you find him asleep on the rocky shore, surrounded

by his fifty daughters. Seize hold of him tightly and do not let go until he answers your question.

He will, in trying to escape you, put on all kinds of shapes. He will turn to fire, to water, to a wild

beast or to a serpent. You must not lose your courage, but hold him all the tighter, and, in the

end, he will come back to his own shape and will tell you what you want to know." Hercules

followed their advice. As he watched along the sea god's shore.

MEDUSA (Μέδουσα) PARENTS: PHORKYS & KETO

ENCYCLOPEDIA:

GORGO and GO′RGONES (Gorgô and Gorgones). Homer knows only one Gorgo, who,

according to the Odyssey (xi. 633), was one of the frightful phantoms in Hades: in the Iliad (v.

741, viii. 349, xi. 36; comp. Virg. Aen. vi. 289), the Aegis of Athena contains the head of Gorgo,

the terror of her enemies. Euripides (Ion, 989) still speaks of only one Gorgo, although Hesiod

(Theog. 278) had mentioned three Gorgones, the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto, whence they

are sometimes called Phorcydes or Phorcides. (Aeschyl. Prom. 793, 797; Pind. Pyth. xii. 24; Ov.

Met. v. 230.) The names of the three Gorgones are Stheino (Stheno or Stenusa), Euryale, and

Medusa (Hes. l. c.; Apollod. ii. 4. § 2), and they are conceived by Hesiod to live in the Western

Ocean, in the neighbourhood of Night and the Hesperides. But later traditions place them in

Libya. (Herod. ii. 91; Paus. ii. 21. § 6.) They are described (Scut. Here. 233) as girded with

serpents, raising their heads, vibrating their tongues, and gnashing their teeth; Aeschylus (Prom.

794. &c., Choëph. 1050) adds that they had wings and brazen claws, and enormous teeth. On

the chest of Cypselus they were likewise represented with wings. (Paus. v. 18. § 1.) Medusa, who

alone of her sisters was mortal, was, according to some legends, at first a beautiful maiden, but

her hair was changed into serpents by Athena, in consequence of her having become by

Poseidon the mother of Chrysaor and Pegasus, in one of Athena's temples. (Hes. Theog. 287,

&c.; Apollod. ii. 4. § 3; Ov. Met. iv. 792; comp. Perseus.) Her head was now of so fearful an

appearance, that every one who looked at it was changed into stone. Hence the great difficulty

which Perseus had in killing her; and Athena afterwards placed the head in the centre of her

shield or breastplate. There was a tradition at Athens that the head of Medusa was buried under

a mound in the Agora. (Paus. ii. 21. § 6, v. 12. § 2.) Athena gave to Heracles a lock of Medusa

(concealed in an urn), for it had a similar effect upon the beholder as the head itself. When

Heracles went out against Lacedaemon he gave the lock of hair to Sterope, the daughter of

Cepheus, as a protection of the town of Tegea, as the sight of it would put the enemy to fight.

(Paus. viii. 47. § 4; Apollod. ii. 7. § 3.)

The mythus respecting the family of Phorcys, to which also the Graeae, Hesperides, Scylla, and

other fabulous beings belonged, has been interpreted in various ways by the ancients

themselves. Some believed that the Gorgones were formidable animals with long hair, whose

aspect was so frightful, that men were paralysed or killed by it, and some of the soldiers of Marius

were believed to have thus met with their death (Athen. v. 64). Pliny (H. N. iv. 31) thought that

they were a race of savage, swift, and hair-covered women; and Diodorus (iii. 55) regards them

as a race of women inhabiting the western parts of Libya, who had been extirpated by Heracles in

traversing Libya.

MYTH: The three Gorgon sisters were daughters of ancient Sea Gods, Ceto and Phorcys. Two, Stheno

and Eluryah were immortal, but the third, Medusa was not. She had been a female of absolute

beauty, mostly her long, silky hair. She bragged at being more beautiful than the Goddess

Athena, and one day, while in her temple, she was ravished by the Sea God Poseidon. Athena

was outraged by this and turned Medusa into the Gorgon she became famous for being. She

turned her beautiful hair into snakes and let it be that she could no longer see the handsome men

who came to court her, as they would instantly be turned to stone if they looked into her eyes.

PERSEUS AND MEDUSA

Argos, the oldest city in Greece, was founded by Danaus, who came from Egypt. The inhabitants,

his descendants, were called the Danaids. The next ruler was his nephew and son-in-law,

Lynceus, followed by Lynceus's son Abas. Abas, in turn, had twin sons, Acrisius and Proetus.

These two, like the biblical brothers Jacob and Esau, quarreled with each other while still in the

womb. When they grew up, they fought each other for the kingdom of Argos, and in the course of

this war they invented shields. Acrisius ultimately won, driving Proetus from the city. Proetus later

became king of Tiryns, and the two brothers divided the Argolid plain between them. Acrisius had

a daughter named Danae (the name probably means "woman of the Danaans"), but he wanted

sons to continue his royal line. He asked an oracle how he could get sons, but he was given the

unexpected message that his daughter would beget a son who would in time kill him. As always

in such myths, Acrisius strove against this grim fate. His first attempt was to see that Danae never

had a son. He shut her up in an underground bronze chamber, so that she would not even

encounter any men. This plan did not, of course, succeed. According to some, Proetus somehow

managed to seduce her. According to the more fanciful and popular form of the story, Zeus came

to her in the form of a shower of gold, slipping easily through the gaps in her bronze cell. Finding

his daughter with child, but not wishing to kill her directly, Acrisius shut her and her newborn child

into a chest and cast it into the sea. A surviving fragment from a poem by Simonides of Keos

(556-467 B.C.E.), usually called "The Lament of Danae," has the chest-borne Danae speaking to

the infant Perseus and asking Zeus for help. Danae and Perseus drifted out of the Bay of Argos

and into the open Mediterranean. They were driven toward the island of Seriphos, one of the

westernmost of the scattered islands called the Cyclades, about a hundred miles to the southeast

of Argos. None of the Cyclades is large. Seriphos itself encompasses only about thirty square

miles and today has a population of eleven hundred people, a third of whom live in the main city,

also named Seriphos. The name means "denuded,". which is appropriate, since, like the rest of

the Cyclades, it is a bare and barren rock. The inhabitants today live by the tourist industry. In

classical times they lived by fishing, or by scratching out iron ore from the veins in the island. The

chest was pulled from the sea by Diktys, a fisherman whose name appropriately means "net."

Danae and Diktys discovered that they were distantly related, and so Perseus and Danae stayed

with the fisherman, and Perseus grew up in his house. Now Diktys was brother to the king,

Polydektes. This might seem like one of those fortuitous and unlikely coincidences that pop up in

legend, but on an island as small as Seriphos it is probable that the relatives of the king were

indeed fishermen. In this case the relationship was to prove a problem, because the king saw

Danae and fell in love with her. One assumes that this affection was not returned (perhaps

because the family ties between them made it inappropriate), but Polydektes was determined to

have Danae. What stood in his way was Perseus, who had now grown to manhood and

apparently opposed Polydektes (although this is nowhere stated). Polydektes called together

many friends, including Perseus. Everyone was to bring a gift. "What sort of gift?" asked Perseus.

"A horse," replied Polydektes. "The Gorgon's head," retorted Perseus. It was a fateful reply,

because Polydektes saw in it his chance to eliminate Perseus. When all the guests (including

Perseus) brought horses, Polydektes would not accept those of Perseus. Instead he held the

young man to his word and insisted upon the head of the Gorgon. There never seems to have

been any question that Perseus could substitute something else for the head, or not appear at the

gathering at all. This, apparently, was a matter of honor, and Perseus would have to succeed in

bringing back the head of the Gorgon or die in the attempt. 1 Perseus now lamented his fate,

because the Gorgon was a deadly creature, and he would likely die in an expedition to separate

one from its head. He went off by himself to the far side of the island. Here the god Hermes

appeared to him and asked why he was so sad. After hearing the story, he told Perseus not to

worry. Under the direction of Hermes and the goddess Athena, Perseus began his quest by first

making an expedition to visit the Graiae. The Graiae were three sisters named Enyo, Pemphredo,

and Dino. They were the daughters of Ketos the sea monster and Phorkys, the Old Man of the

Sea (and were therefore called the Phorkides). They had the forms of old women (although the

poet Pindar calls them "swanlike") and had only one eye and one tooth among them. They

passed these around from one to another, so that each could use them in turn. Perseus managed

to sneak into their midst, where he waited until one removed the eye and the tooth, then

intercepted them as they were to pass from one hand to another. As soon as the Graiae realized

what had happened, they cried aloud and begged for him to return the precious objects. Perseus

said that he would on condition that the Graiae direct him to the Nymphs. The Graiae, over a

metaphorical barrel, told Perseus what he wanted to know. In some later sources, he still doesn't

return the eye and tooth but throws them down into Lake Tritonis, an African lake near the

Mediterranean. The Nymphs had the magical devices he would need to defeat the Gorgon. From

them he received winged sandals that enabled him to fly. They also gave him the cap of Hades,

the ruler of the underworld, which would make him invisible. Finally, there was the kibisis. This

last gift was apparently a bag of some kind, into which Perseus was to place the Gorgon's head.

2 The word is not Greek and must have puzzled readers. In Apollodorus there is a note that looks

suspiciously like one of those marginal scholia, explaining the word as derived from KeioGai and

eoOfji;, since food and clothes were kept in the bag. It's a bad case of guessing at etymology,

and the origin of the word is still not known. In translations, kibisis is almost always rendered as

"wallet," a translation I find unacceptable. Whatever meanings "wallet" may have had for Sir

James George Frazier (who translated Apollodorus in 1921), to a late-twentieth-century American

it conjures up an image of Perseus cramming Medusa's head in among his tens and twenties. In

Apollodorus we find Hermes also contributing a gift of a harpe, a sickleshaped sword. This is the

traditional weapon of Perseus, and he is more often shown using a curved weapon than he is a

straight sword to decapitate the monster. Thus formidably armed (or overarmed), Perseus sought

out the Gorgons. These monsters lived on the shore of Ocean, which was seen as the great,

world-encircling salt stream. This means that their actual location is somewhat hazily defined.

Other writers have placed them to the north, the east, or the west. One said they lived on an

island called Sarpedon. Pherekydes did not describe the Gorgons, but Apollodorus did, taking his

information from the very old fragment of "The Shield of Hercules." There were three Gorgons,

named Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. They were the daughters of Ketos and Phorkys, as were

the Graiae, making the two sets of monstrous triplets sisters. Of the Gorgons, only Medusa was

mortal. No reason is ever given for this odd fact. The Gorgons had scaly heads, boar's tusks,

brazen hands, and wings. They had protruding tongues, glaring eyes, and serpents wrapped

around their waists as belts. All of this agrees with depictions of the Gorgon in Greek art (see the

next chapter). Note that the description does not include snakes in the hair, or snakes in place of

hair. What we take as the defining feature of Medusa's appearance didn't enter the story until

much later, making its literary debut in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The appearance of the Gorgons

was so awful that anyone who looked on them was turned into stone, so Perseus was warned by

the gods to look at them only in a mirror (Apollodorus states quite definitely that the mirror

Perseus used was his highly polished shield). For some reason, viewing a Gorgon in the mirror

attenuated her petrifying power. Fighting three monsters while looking in a mirror would be a

daunting task, indeed. Fortunately, all the Gorgons were asleep when Perseus flew down toward

them. Somehow he identified Medusa among the three and used his mirror to view her head as

he swiped it off with his harpe. Apollodorus says that, even so, Athena guided his hand. When

Perseus cut off the head a peculiar thing happened: Medusa's two children were born from her

neck. These were Chrysaor, the warrior with the golden sword, and Pegasus, the flying horse.

The incident appears in the ancient and venerable Theogeny of Hesiod, so Apollodorus dutifully

included it in his own account, but almost no one else recounts the scene. It is rarely depicted in

art, probably because it is so clumsy an image. According to Hesiod, the father of Medusa's

children was "the dark-haired one" (Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes). Pegasus went on

to roles as the bearer of Zeus's lightning and as the steed who bore Bellerophon in his adventure

with the Chimera. Chrysaor, however, played no large part in mythology. He married Callirhoe,

Ocean's daughter, and by her had the monstrous Geryones, who had three heads each. (Triplets

apparently ran in the family.) According to another, no doubt very confused, account, Geryones

had one head and three bodies. Awakened by the noise and commotion of Medusa's death,

Stheno and Euryale, the surviving Gorgon sisters, attacked Perseus. But he put on the cap of

Hades and, becoming invisible, was able to escape. The next part of the story is not in the

surviving portion of Pherekydes (or in the works of some who copy him) but is referred to in many

old sources, including the Histories of Herodotus. As usual, Apollodorus gathered the important

parts into his narrative. Perseus was flying back to Seriphos on his magical sandals and was

passing over Ethiopia (the part of Africa along the coast of the Red Sea south of Egypt, not

necessarily the modern country of that name; later accounts set the following events in Joppa, on

the coast of present-day Israel) when he saw Andromeda chained to a rock as a sacrifice to the

sea monster, Ketos. Andromeda was the daughter of Kepheos, the king of Ethiopia, and

Cassiepeia (or Cassiopeia), the queen. Cassiepeia had insulted Poseidon by boasting that her

beauty was greater than that of the Nereids, the daughters of the sea god. In his wrath, Poseidon

threatened to send a flood to devastate the city and to follow this with a visit from the sea

monster. Ammon, a priest, announced that the disaster could be avoided if the princess

Andromeda were chained to a rock as a sacrifice to the monster. This her parents reluctantly did.

Perseus fell in love with Andromeda as soon as he saw her. He promised Cepheos that he would

kill the sea monster, if he could have Andromeda as his wife. Cepheos agreed, and Perseus

promptly killed Ketos. One would think that the obvious way to do this would be to expose the

Gorgon's head to the sea monster, since Perseus had it with him in the kibisis. In later versions of

the story, that is just what he does, and the petrified monster becomes a rock in the harbor. But in

older versions he kills the monster in more mundane fashion (if killing a monster can ever be said

to be mundane). In the oldest surviving depiction, for instance, he is shown throwing rocks at

Ketos. Now, however, a new crisis developed. Phineus, to whom Andromeda had originally been

betrothed, opposed her engagement to Perseus and raised an army against his rival. In some

accounts, Cepheos and Cassiepeia support Phineus against Perseus. (In Hyginus, the competing

suitor is named Agenor.) This time, Perseus did defeat his attackers by using the Gorgon's head,

petrifying the lot. Perseus returned to Seriphos with Andromeda. There he found Danae and

Diktys at the temple, where they had taken sanctuary against the advances of Polydektes and his

forces. Once again, Perseus used the head of Medusa against his enemies, and Polydektes and

his men were turned to stone. Afterward, Perseus left Diktys as king of Seriphos and returned to

Argos with Danae and Andromeda. Acrisius fled when he learned of Perseus's return. He came

to Larissa, an important city in Thessaly, lying near the bases of Mount Olympus and Mount

Ossa. (Larissa was also the name of the acropolis at Corinth, which might be the site intended.)

The old king there had died, and his son, the new king Teutamides, was holding the athletic

funeral games. Perseus, who came to attend and to take part in the games, came upon Acrisius

there. As Perseus was participating in the pentathlon, his thrown discus struck Acrisius on the

foot, killing him. Perseus was shamed by the death and did not wish to rule over a city because

he had killed the former ruler. He arranged to trade dominions with Megapenthes, his cousin and

the ruler of Tiryns. And thus Perseus became ruler of the fortified city of Tiryns. He and

Andromeda had the sons Alcaeus, Sthenelus, Heleus, Mestor, and Electryon and a daughter

named Gorgonphone. An earlier son, Perses, remained with Kepheos and eventually became the

eponymous founder of Persia (according to Herodotus). The name of Perseus's daughter is

interesting, because Gorgophone means "Gorgon-slayer." It is also the name of Perseus's aunt,

the mother of Megapenthes (and a peculiar name it is since, by this canonical myth, no Gorgon

had yet been slain when that grand old lady was named). Perseus returned his magical gifts of

cap, sandals, and kibisis to the gods, who returned them to the Nymphs. He gave the head of

Medusa to Athena, who placed it on her shield. This is the basic myth of Perseus, Medusa, and

Andromeda. There are minor variations among many of the versions, but this form agrees in most

particulars with references to the story in other places and with depictions of the story in vase

paintings, wall paintings, and sculpture. Before we go further, I'd like to make a few observations

here. Apollodorus's version is the work of a compulsive completist trying to set down all the facts

he has at hand. It is likely that this version is actually too complete. Hesiod, for example, tells the

story of the birth of Chrysaor and Pegasus from Medusa's severed neck, but nothing of the rest of

the tale. Pherekydes tells the bulk of the story, but omits this monstrous birth. It is probable that

Apollodorus joined the accounts together himself, creating a version that contained all the strands

from past accounts but that had not previously existed as a single story. Similarly, our existing

fragments of Pherekydes make no mention of Andromeda. It could just be that we lack the portion

of the story in which she appears, but Andromeda is also missing from Pherekydes's later ac

count of Perseus's return to Argos. The side trip to rescue the chained maiden interrupts the story

of Perseus and Polydektes, and it is likely that in the oldest versions such an adventure did not

occur at that point in the story, or perhaps it did not even happen to this Perseus. Apollodorus's

version— which, by virtue of its appearing in what we now consider the standard reference on

myths, became the canonical version of the story— represents only one snapshot of time in the

history of this myth. Apollodorus's and Ovid's versions became the standards upon which later

writers based their own tellings and effectively froze the myth in that form, as Mallory's Le Morte

d'Arthur crystallized the story of King Arthur. Nevertheless, there existed both competing earlier

versions and later, noncanonical variations. In the oldest, most revered source, there is no

mention of the story as we have it above. Homer knows of Perseus as a son of Danae and Zeus

but says nothing further of him or his adventures. He describes the Gorgon only as a monster of

the underworld. When Odysseus speaks to the spirits of the dead, he is threatened with the

prospect of meeting with the head of the Gorgon, and the mere threat frightens him. The monster

does not have a body, nor does it turn anyone to stone. No history of the frightening head is

given. In The Iliad, Homer says that the Gorgon's likeness appears on the aegis of Athena and

the shield of Agamemnon. This variant history of the Gorgon was also repeated by Apollodorus.

How did he reconcile this nonpetrifying monster of hell with the petrifying sister in the story of

Perseus? He dealt with the question in the myth of Hercules. When that hero, in the course of his

famous twelve labors, went down to Hades to fetch back Cerberus, the guardian hound of the

underworld, most souls fled from him. One of the few exceptions was Medusa. Hermes (the

helper of Hercules, as he had been of Perseus) told Hercules that the Gorgon he saw in Hades

was the soul of the dead Gorgon, implying that after death Medusa had lost her power of

petrification. Virgil placed plural Gorgons in the underworld in his Aeneid. The tradition seems to

have drifted into obscurity after that— no medieval visions of hell feature Gorgons. But the

classically minded poets of the Enlightenment brought the image to life again. Milton, drawing on

Virgil, places Gorgons in hell again. The tradition also seems to have invaded the British stage,

because Pope, in his Dunciad, refers disparagingly to the Gorgons represented in theatrical hells.

But after this brief revival, the tradition died out again. No modern writer or artist pictures Gorgons

in hell, although they'd be perfect inhabitants. Gorgons have a longer and more hellish pedigree,

in fact, than horned demons or burning fires. But all that's left today is a dim echo of the tradition

first preserved in Horner.

ANOTHER VARIANT OF the myth presents Medusa not as one monstrous sister of three, but as

a cursed beauty who, like Cassiepeia, unwisely compared herself to the Nereids in beauty. In

retaliation, she was first made ugly, then beheaded. Apollodorus briefly alludes to this variant, but

Ovid tells it at slightly greater length. In Ovid's version, however, Athena is angered because

Medusa is raped in Athena's temple by Poseidon (perhaps inspired by Hesiod's claim that

Medusa had children by Poseidon), and changes her beauty to ugliness. The playwright

Sophocles and the Roman writer Hyginus both conflate events from the longer story, having

Perseus kill Acrisius at funeral games for Polydektes on the island of Seriphos. Sophocles, at

least, probably altered the story for the sake of dramatic cohesion. Euripides, in his play Ion, says

that Athena, rather than Perseus, killed the Gorgon. The monster in this instance seems to be an

unnamed creation of Gaia, but Hyginus notes the same tradition and cites Euhemerus as his

authority. Yet another tradition hints that Zeus himself may have done the deed. Perhaps the

oddest tradition is one cited by that archrationalist, Pausanias. Not for him the fancies of myth. In

his guidebook, he points out that there is an earthen mound near the market square in Argos, and

here the head of Medusa was supposed to be buried. Pausanias is determined to give his

readers what he considers to be the real story. "Leaving aside the myth," he says, "this is what

has been said about her." He goes on to relate that she was a queen of her people, who lived

near Lake Tritonis in Africa; she ruled after the death of her father, King Phorkys. She lead the

Libyans in battle and in hunting. She stood up to Perseus, who had invaded her country with a

force of men from Greece. She died, not honorably in battle, but treacherously murdered by night.

Nevertheless, Perseus was struck by the beauty of the dead queen and had her head removed

and preserved so that he could display it in Greece. Pausanias undoubtedly took his account

from the work of Dionysius Skytobrachion, a novelist living in the second century B.C.E. in

Alexandria. Skytobrachion, whose name means "leather arm," constructed his works by linking

together originally unrelated bits of mythology. He is therefore about as trustworthy a source for

myth as E. L. Doctorow's novels are reliable accounts of modern history. Skytobrachion's works

are no longer extant, but they have been cited at length by other writers. Diodorus Siculus, a

Sicilian historian of the first century B.C.E., cribbed extensively from Skytobrachion. Among the

stories he derived was a fanciful one of Amazons living in Africa (previous accounts located them

near the Black Sea), where they battled a tribe called the Gorgons. Skytobrachion's tales, as

funneled to posterity through Pausanias and Diodorus Siculus, would form the basis for

occasional attempts to prove that the myth of Medusa was a distorted account of Greek conflicts

with a matriarchal society. Pausanias also cites the work of an otherwise unknown writer named

Prokles, who lived in Carthage. Prokles had seen what he called "human savages" who had been

captured and exhibited in Rome. He imagined it was possible that one such savage woman was

responsible for wreaking havoc around Lake Tritonis, until Perseus killed her. It is interesting to

note that Pausanias still credits Athena with helping the hero in this undertaking; there were limits

to even his rationalizations.

MINOTOUR (Μῑνώταυρος)

PARENTS: THE KRETAN BULL & PASIPHAE

ENCYCLOPEDIA: THE MINOTAUROS (or Minotaur) was a bull-headed monster born to Queen

Pasiphae of Krete after she had coupled with a bull.

The creature resided in the twisting maze of the labyrinth, where he was offfered a regular

sacrifice of youths and maids to satisfy his cannibalistic hunger. He was eventually destroyed by

the hero Theseus. The Minotauros' proper name Asterion, "the starry one," suggests he was

associated with the constellation Tauros. MINOTAURUS (Minôtauros), a monster with a human

body and a bull's head, or, according to others, with the body of an ox and a human head; is said

to have been the offspring of the intercourse of Pasiphaë with the bull sent from the sea to Minos,

who shut him up in the Cnossian labyrinth, and fed him with the bodies of the youths and

maidens whom the Athenians at fixed times were obliged to send to Minos as tribute. The

monster was slain by Theseus. It was often represented by ancient artists either alone in the

labyrinth, or engaged in the struggle with Theseus. (Paus. i. 24. § 2, 27, in fin. iii. 18. § 7; Apollod.

iii. 1. § 4, 15. § 8.)

MYTH: NEED TO FIND.

INTRODUCTION

Tyrrell, William B.; Brown, Frieda S.. Athenian Myths and Institutions : Words in Action. Cary, NC,

USA: Oxford University Press, 1991. p 16.

http://site.ebrary.com/lib/oculyork/Doc?id=10086839&ppg=16

Copyright © 1991. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

ARGUS

http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/argus_%282%29.html

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/myths/a/seductionofio.htm

CERBERUS

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/cerberus.html

Leeming, David A.. Mythology : The Voyage of the Hero. Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University

Press, 1998. p 196. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/oculyork/Doc?id=10279375&ppg=213 Copyright ©

1998. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

CHIMERA

http://www.greek-gods-and-goddesses.com/bellerophon.html

MEDUSA Wilk, Stephen R.. Medusa : Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon. Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University

Press, 2000. p 38. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/oculyork/Doc?id=10273223&ppg=38

Copyright © 2000. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.