|
Perseus
In Greek mythology, Perseus (, ; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. He beheaded the Gorgon Medusa for Polydectes and saved Andromeda (mythology), Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus (mythology), Cetus. He was the son of Zeus and the mortal Danaë, as well as the half-brother and great-grandfather of Heracles (as they were both children of Zeus, and Heracles's mother was Perseus' granddaughter). Etymology Because of the obscurity of the name "Perseus" and the legendary character of its bearer, most etymologists presume that it might be pre-Greek; however, the name of Perseus's native city was Greek and so were the names of his wife and relatives. There is some idea that it descended into Greek from the Proto-Indo-European language. In that regard Robert Graves, Grave ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andromeda (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Andromeda (; or ) is the daughter of Cepheus (father of Andromeda), Cepheus, the king of Aethiopia, and his wife, Cassiopeia (mother of Andromeda), Cassiopeia. When Cassiopeia boasts that she (or Andromeda) is more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon sends the sea monster Cetus (mythology), Cetus to ravage the coast of Aethiopia as divine punishment. Queen Cassiopeia (mother of Andromeda), Cassiopeia understands that chaining Andromeda to a rock as a human sacrifice is what will appease Poseidon. Perseus finds her as he is coming back from his quest to decapitate Medusa, and brings her back to Greece to marry her and let her reign as his queen. With the head of Medusa, Perseus Petrifaction in mythology and fiction, petrifies Cetus to stop it from terrorizing the coast any longer. As a subject, Andromeda has been popular in art since classical antiquity; rescued by a Greek hero cult, Greek hero, Andromeda's narration is considered the forerunner to the "pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gorgon
The Gorgons ( ; ), in Greek mythology, are three monstrous sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, said to be the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. They lived near their sisters the Graeae, and were able to turn anyone who looked at them to stone. Euryale and Stheno were immortal, but Medusa was not and was slain by the hero Perseus. Gorgons were dread monsters with terrifying eyes. A Gorgon head was displayed on Athena's aegis, giving it the power both to protect her from any weapon, and instill great fear in any enemy. Gorgon blood was said to have both the power to heal and harm. Representations of full-bodied Gorgons and the Gorgon face, called a gorgoneion (pl. gorgoneia), were popular subjects in Ancient Greek, Etruscan and Roman iconography. While Archaic Gorgons and gorgoneia are universally depicted as hideously ugly, over time they came to be portrayed as beautiful young women. Etymology The name 'Gorgon' is associated with the Ancient Greek adjective (), which, of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeus
Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea (mythology), Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronus's stomach. In most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe (mythology), Hebe, and Hephaestus.Hard 2004p. 79 At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione (Titaness/Oceanid), Dione, by whom the ''Iliad'' states that he fathered Aphrodite. According to the ''Theogony'', Zeus's first wife was Metis (mythology), Metis, by whom he had Athena.Hesiod, ''Theogony'886900 Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many divine and heroic offspring, including Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medusa
In Greek mythology, Medusa (; ), also called Gorgo () or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her was Petrifaction in mythology and fiction, turned to stone. Medusa and her Gorgon sisters Euryale and Stheno were usually described as daughters of Phorcys and Ceto; of the three, only Medusa was mortal. Medusa was beheaded by the Greek hero Perseus, who then used her head, which retained its ability to turn onlookers to stone, as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her Aegis, shield. In classical antiquity, the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the apotropaic magic, evil-averting device known as the ''Gorgoneion''. According to Hesiod and Aeschylus, she lived and died on Sarpedon, somewhere near Cisthene (Mysia), Cisthene. The 2nd-century BC novelist Dionysios Skytobrachion puts her somewhere in Ancient Libya, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perseus With The Head Of Medusa
''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'' is a bronze sculpture made by Benvenuto Cellini in the period 1545–1554. The sculpture stands on a square base which has bronze relief panels depicting the story of Perseus and Andromeda (mythology), Andromeda, similar to a predella on an altarpiece. It is located in the Loggia dei Lanzi in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. The second Florentine duke, Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de' Medici, commissioned the work with specific political connections to the other sculptural works in the piazza. When the piece was revealed to the public on 27 April 1554, Michelangelo's ''David (Michelangelo), David'', Bandinelli's ''Hercules and Cacus'', and Donatello's ''Judith and Holofernes (Donatello), Judith and Holofernes'' were already installed in the piazza.Shearman, p. 28. The subject matter of the work is the mythological story of Perseus beheading Medusa, a hideous woman-faced Gorgon whose hair had been turned to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancient Greek religion's view of the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, nature of the world; the lives and activities of List of Greek deities, deities, Greek hero cult, heroes, and List of Greek mythological creatures, mythological creatures; and the origins and significance of the ancient Greeks' cult (religious practice), cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars study the myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of ancient Greece, and to better understand the nature of mythmaking itself. The Greek myths were initially propagated in an oral tradition, oral-poetic tradition most likely by Minoan civilization, Minoan and Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean singers starting in the 18th century&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polydectes
In Greek mythology, King Polydectes () was the ruler of the island of Seriphos. Family Polydectes was the son of either Magnes and an unnamed naiad, or of Peristhenes and Androthoe, or of Poseidon and Cerebia. Tzetzes on Lycophron, ''Alexandra'' 838 His story is largely a part of the myth of Perseus, and runs as follows according to the '' Bibliotheca'' and John Tzetzes. He was the brother of the fisherman Dictys, who succeeded him on the throne. Mythology Polydectes fell in love with Danaë when she and her son Perseus were saved by his brother Dictys (see: Acrisius). Perseus, old enough by the time, was very protective of his mother and would not allow Polydectes near her. Therefore, Polydectes hatched a plot to get him out of the way. Under the pretense that he was going to marry Hippodamia, he ordered every man in Seriphos to supply him with suitable gifts. His friends were to provide horses but Perseus failed to bring any, so Polydectes announced that he wanted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcaeus (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Alcaeus or Alkaios (Ancient Greek: Ἀλκαῖος derived from ''alke'' "strength") was the name of a number of different people: *Alcaeus, was a Mycenaean prince. He was a son of Perseus and Andromeda and thus the brother of Perses, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus, Electryon, Cynurus, Gorgophone and Autochthe. Alcaeus was married either to Astydameia, the daughter of Pelops and Hippodamia, or Laonome, daughter of Guneus, or else Hipponome, daughter of Menoeceus, by whom he became the father of Amphitryon, Anaxo and Perimede. *Alcaeus, the original name of Heracles (according to Diodorus Siculus), which was given to him on account of his descent from Alcaeus, the son of Perseus mentioned above. *Alcaeus, a son of Heracles by a female slave of Iardanus, from whom the dynasty of the Heraclids in Lydia were believed to be descended. Diodorus Siculus writes that this son of Heracles is named " Cleolaus". *Alcaeus, a Cretan general of Rhadamanthus, accord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mycenae
Mycenae ( ; ; or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines, Greece, Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos; and south of Corinth. The site is inland from the Saronic Gulf and built upon a hill rising above sea level. In the second millennium BC, Mycenae was one of the major centres of Greek civilisation, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece, Crete, the Cyclades and parts of southwest Anatolia. The period of History of Greece, Greek history from about 1600 BC to about 1100 BC is called Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean in reference to Mycenae. At its peak in 1350 BC, the citadel and lower town had a population of 30,000 and an area of . The first correct identification of Mycenae in modern literature was in 1700, during a survey conducted by the Venetian engineer Francesco Vandeyk on behalf of Francesco Grimani, the Provveditore Ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electryon
In Greek mythology, Electryon (;Ancient Greek: Ἠλεκτρύων) was a king of Tiryns and Mycenae or Medea in Argolis. Family Electryon was the son of Perseus and Andromeda and thus brother of Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus, Cynurus, Gorgophone and Autochthe. He is most commonly married to Anaxo, daughter of his brother Alcaeus and sister of Amphitryon, but was instead married to Eurydice, daughter of Pelops, in some versions of the myth. His wife bore him a daughter Alcmena and many sons: Stratobates, Gorgophonus, Phylonomus, Celaeneus, Amphimachus, Lysinomus, Chirimachus, Anactor, and Archelaus. Electryon had an illegitimate son Licymnius by Midea, a Phrygian woman. Mythology The six sons of Pterelaus, King of the Taphians, descended from Electryon's brother Mestor came to Mycenae to claim a share of kingdom. When Electryon spurned their request, they drove off his cattle; Electryon's sons battled against them, and all but Licymnius (on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heracles
Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through Amphitryon, Heracles receives the epithet Alcides, as "of the line of Alcaeus (mythology), Alcaeus", father of Amphitryon. Amphitryon's own, mortal son was Iphicles. He was a descendant and half-brother (as they are both sired by the god Zeus) of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae (), and a champion of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Roman mythology, Rome and the modernity, modern western world, West, he is known as Hercules, with whom the later Roman emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximian, often identified themselves. Details of his cult (religion), cult were adapted to Rome as well. Origin Many popular stories were told ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heleus
In Greek mythology, Heleus or Heleius (Ancient Greek: Ἕλειος), also Helios (Ἕλιος), was a Mycenaean prince. Family According to the mythographer Apollodorus, Heleus was one of the sons of Perseus and Andromeda, and the brother of Perses, Alcaeus, Sthenelus, Electryon, Mestor, and Gorgophone. Mythology Heleus accompanied his nephew Amphitryon, son of Alcaeus, on the expedition to Taphos, and after the victory shared the sovereignty of their domain with Cephalus. The town Helos in Laconia was said to have been founded by and named after him.Grimal, Pierre. 1990. The Concise Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Basil Blackwell Ltd. - p. 174 Notes References * Apollodorus, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
