HERO’S OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY

HERO’S OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY

BELLEROPHON

Bellerophon was born the son of Eurynome and the God Poseidon
And was raised by King Glaucus who thought he was his own son
Bred in Corinth as the son of the most skilled horseman of the day
He was taught by his father from a young age the equestrian way
And as an equestrian student young Bellerophon was quite precocious
And from a young boy he had yearned to ride the magic horse Pegasus
Pegasus was the immortal offspring of the Gorgon Medusa and Poseidon
The winged horse was born when Perseus cut the head off the Gorgon
Like everyone else he’d been unable to so much as approach Pegasus
But undeterred Bellerophon sought the advice of the seer Polyeidus
It was suggested that he spend the night in the temple by Athena's idol
And in a dream, the goddess came to him and gave him a golden bridle
On the next morning he found Pegasus drinking at the spring of Peirene
And slipped the bridle over his head and tamed him without difficulty

After his success he went to King Pittheus to seek the hand of Aethra
And Bellerophon received permission from Pittheus to marry his daughter
But before the marriage could take place he accidentally killed a man
His punishment was banishment from Corinth after his confession
The young Bellerophon traveled in order to be purified of his sins
And was in due course absolved by King Proetus in neighboring Tiryns
The King's wife made a pass at the young hero, and when he repulsed her
She told her husband that it was Bellerophon who had tried to seduce her
Greatly upset, King Proetus feigning goodwill cloaked his indignation
And not wishing to harm his guest and violate the sacred obligation
But he contrived his revenge by asking Bellerophon to deliver a letter
On King Proetus’s behalf to his father in law King Iobates of Lycia
Bellerophon agreed to deliver it while not knowing the letters content
The message urged King Iobates to kill the bearer of the document
But Iobates was bound by the same strictures of hospitality as Proetus
Unable to comply he had to feast the hero and the winged Pegasus

Iobates decided that the solution to getting rid of his guest was to ask
Bellerophon on Pegasus to undertake many an heroic and deadly task
However the young hero Bellerophon's courage and archery skill
Combined with the winged Pegasus as a mount allowed him to prevail
In addition to his immortal parentage and his persistent sacrifices
His many acts of honor brought him the favor of Gods and Goddesses
His first task was to kill the terrible three headed fiery Chimaera
After Succeeding here it was the Solymi tribe he was sent to conquer
The neighboring Solymi tribe were King Iobates traditional enemy
Victorious he was sent to fight the Amazons and had another victory
In desperation King Iobates laid an ambush against Bellerophon
Using his entire army and the hero again triumphed killing everyone
After this defeat Iobates realized that the Gods favored the Corinthian
And that the Gods would not show such favor to a dishonorable man
Iobates made peace with him giving him half of his kingdom of Lycia
Including the most fertile land and the hand of Philonoe his daughter

Queen Stheneboea the wife of King Proetus and the attempted seducer
Was appalled on hearing that Bellerophon had married her sister
Knowing this meant her slander would be reveled she chose suicide
It appeared that our hero would live happily ever after with his bride
They were happily married and had two sons, Hippolochus and Isander
And two daughters, Laodameia and Deidameia in the kingdom of Lycia
As King his subjects loved him and his glorious deeds were widely sung
But all this was not enough for our arrogant hero King Bellerophon
In his arrogance King Bellerophon decided that he could ride Pegasus
To visit with the Gods and Goddesses high upon Mount Olympus
But Zeus quickly put an end to his ordacity by sending the gadfly
And it stung Pegasus sending both of them tumbling down from the sky
Athena spared his life by causing him to land on a soft patch of weed
He survived the fall but was crippled and there was no sign of his steed
He wandered the earth the rest of his life alone searching for Pegasus
No man would help him because of his offense to the Gods on Olympus
After many years of searching, the magical Pegasus was never seen again
Bellerophon died with no one to record his fate in some foreign domain

ATALANTA

The birth of Atalanta daughter to King Iasus and Clymene begins our tale
But she was born into the world in the undesirable state of being female
Because of his yearning for a son and his disappointment with a daughter
He had her taken to the woods and left exposed somewhere in Arcadia

But for the fates intervention this could have been the end for her there
But they made it possible for the infant to be found by a passing mother bear
The gentle mother bear suckled young Atalanta until she became strong
Then the bear left her in a place where she knew hunters would come along

The hunters brought her up and as she grew older she hunted with them
She spent most of her time hunting and she was soon the best amongst them
As Atalanta grew in stature as a hunter she also grew up into a rare beauty
But she had no interest in men or marriage so she chose to keep her virginity

As well as skill and beauty, she could out wrestle men and was hard to catch
For example she beat Peleus who was to father Achilles in a wrestling match
And when two centaurs Rhoecus and Hylaeus attempted to rape Atalanta
She quickly killed them with her bow and arrows as she’d learned as a hunter

At the Calydonian Boar Hunt she drew first blood with an arrow from her bow
It was prince Meleager of Calydon however who delivered the mortal blow
He was so infatuated with her that he gave her the trophy of the boar’s skin
And such a row ensued it resulted in the death of Meleager and his mothers kin

She loved hunting and the outdoors and had no use for a man in her life
And she felt she had more to offer the world than she would as a wife
Her reputation grew as a great warrior and especially her skill with a bow
Atalanta was so well respected she even sailed with Jason aboard the Argo

She did enough in the world that her Father forgave her for not being a son
On returning home however her remaining a virgin was the only condition
Iasus agreed, but because of her great beauty suitors soon came knocking
And so the king soon changed his mind but Atalanta continued blocking

She finally consented to wed any man who could beat her at a foot race
Such was her fleetness that she was confident she’d finish in first place
As she was one of the fastest mortals her maidenhood this appeared to insure
As an additional deterrent the losing suitor would be beheaded by Atalanta

Atalanta laughed confidently because she knew no man would ever beat her
Also she knew the many executions would deter all but the most ardent suitor
The heads of the failed suitors stacked up and of course still they came to race
The vain, the arrogant, the brave but mostly the fool hardy lost the chase

Then one day a man came named Hippomenes and he was exceptionally smart
He knew he wasn’t fast enough but he fell in love with Atalanta from the start
Knowing he wasn’t fast enough to win he did what all frustrated lovers do
He prayed to the goddess of love Aphrodite for help with how he should woo

Aphrodite had a weakness for lovers and an intense dislike of virgins in general
So the goddess gladly gave him three Golden Apples which were irresistible
Along with the golden apples Aphrodite presented Hippomenes with a plan
In return Hippomenes was to sacrifice to Aphrodite when he was a married man

Hippomenes stood an the start next to the woman he loved holding the apples
Atalanta just sighed that such a good-looking man would die like the other fools
Pausing to give just one last prayer to Aphrodite and then the race had begun
He got off to a good start and apart from being intelligent he could also run

Soon Atalanta sped ahead of him so he threw the first of his golden apples
Slightly ahead of Atalanta and slightly off the track she found it irresistible
As soon as Atalanta saw it she desired it and had to stop to pick up the fruit
Hippomenes passed her with delight, praying to Aphrodite along the route

But Atalanta soon caught him and two-thirds of the way passed him again
This time Hippomenes through his Golden Apple deeper in the wooded terrain
As soon as Atalanta saw it she desired it and had to stop to pick up the fruit
Hippomenes passed her with delight again and still praying along the route

But Atalanta again caught him within sight of the finish line and passed by
This time Hippomenes through his Golden Apple ahead of her quite high
As soon as Atalanta saw it she desired it and had to stop to pick up the fruit
Hippomenes passed her with delight the crossed the finish line to win his suit

Despite her resistance once it was won marriage seemed to suit Atalanta.
And Hippomenes happiness and joy was so great he was devoted to her
Then one day he completely forgot his obligations to sacrifice to Aphrodite
When offending the gods the punishment was severe and vengeance mighty

Aphrodite waited until Hippomenes and Atalanta were passing Zeus’s temple
Aphrodite sent flaming desire coursing through the veins of the young couple
The pair then lay together in Zeus' holy temple and they spent their passions
Zeus was horrified at the profanation and turned the young couple into lions

JASON

Jason was born as the son of the rightful king of Iolcus
But his lawful throne was then usurped by his uncle Pelias
Pelias lived in constant fear of losing what he had taken
He kept his father imprisoned and planned to murder Jason

Jason's mother Polymede mourned as if her son had died
And Pelias was deceived and never knew she had lied
Jason was taken to the wilderness and raised by a centaur
Chiron the Centaur tutored him in the arts hunting and lore

When he came of age he set out to claim the throne of Iolcus
Not realizing he had a powerful ally on Mount Olympus
Hera, wife of Zeus nursed a rage against Pelias the usurper
Rashly he’d honored all the god’s except heavens queen Hera

Hera contrived a raging torrent to test the mettle of Jason
And beside the river’s bank sat a poor withered old woman
Would Jason ignore the old woman and cross over the river
Or would he take pity and offer to pick her up and ferry her

Without hesitation he put her on his back and entered the water
Halfway he staggered under the unexpected weight of Hera
Losing a sandal in the fast current was part of Hera’s plan
On the other side his burden was once again an old woman

King Pelias had been warned many years before by an oracle
"Beware Pelias a stranger who wears but a single sandal."
Arriving in Iolcus, Jason asserted his claim to the usurper
But Pelias was not going to give it to a one-shoed stranger

Pelias managed to persuade Jason to undergo a form of test
Seeking out the fabled Golden Fleece was to be Jason’s quest
Word soon went out across the length and breadth of Greece
That adventurer's were needed to search for the Golden Fleece

Pelias thought with the dangers of dragon’s roar and serpents hiss
His nephew Jason would never return from the land of Colchis
Among the many heroes were Heracles and the heroine Atalanta
And an impressive crew was soon assembled for the adventure

Jason chose from the best that Greece had to offer in his view
All that was needed was a magnificent vessel for them to crew
So Jason had a ship constructed by the worthy shipwright Argus
Who called it “Argo” after himself out of vanity more or less
The heavenly Hera enlisted the aid of her fellow goddess Athena
This patroness of crafts provided a prow in the form of a figure
It was crafted from timber hewn from Zeus’s own sacred grove
Giving it magical property to help the seekers of the special trove

And so one bright autumn morning the Argo set out to sea,
Her benches crewed by ranks of the heroic in her company
And it wasn't long before trouble found Jason and his men
Spending two weeks on an island populated only by women

After many weeks at sea the Argonauts again made land fall
It was at Salmydessus that they made their next port of call
The king welcomed them but was in no mood for festivities
Because he had offended the gods he was plagued by miseries

His tormentors had the heads of women with bird’s bodies
The creatures were razor-clawed scourges known as Harpies
These beasts were possessed of reprehensible table manners
Every evening they dropped down to defecate upon his dinners

They hung around the king's repast making such a racket
That had he been able to eat he didn’t have the stomach for it
As a result poor King Phineus just grew thinner by the hour
And the vicious harpies would then return to their tower

Two Argonauts were descended from the north wind directly
And this relationship gave them the power to fly limitlessly
The pair chased the Harpies far away without hesitating
So they would never bother him again while he was dining

In gratitude he informed Jason of a danger just across the seas
On route to the Fleece namely two rocks called Symplegades
These rocks had the disconcerting habit of crashing together
Upon any ship that tried to navigate through the channel there

Phineus warned Jason not to try and pass straight through
But suggested a method which might help Jason and his crew
Something passing between the Rocks would start them crashing
Then the Argo could follow in its wake and safely passing

The gods help was needed so an offering was made to Athena
And when the Argo approached she caused them to crash together
The Argo was able to pass between the rocks relatively safely
They negotiate through the Symplegades with minor damage only

When the clashing rocks were no more than a distant memory
They reached the shores of Colchis after many days at sea
In Colchis they had to face challenges in search of the trove
Before finding where the Golden Fleece hung in the grove

King Aeetes of Colchis was the barbarian kingdom's ruler
And it sat on the far edge of the heroic world’s perimeter
He and his people were not at all well disposed to strangers
And because of the fleece were suspicious of newcomers

King Aeetes had taken a disliking to Jason on first sight
And did not intend losing what Aeetes saw as his by right
And he was telling Jason this and that he should have known
That King Aeetes considered the Golden Fleece to be his own

Aeetes was about to eject Jason from Colchis unceremoniously
When his daughter Medea reminded Aeetes about hospitality
Medea was motivated by love thanks to the god’s intervention
Hera persuaded Aphrodite to intervene on the behalf of Jason

After the Goddess of Love had struck Medea with a passion
King Aeetes then calmed down considerably in regard to Jason
The moment she first saw him Medea was completely smitten
And the king suddenly became suspiciously reasonable then

Of course Jason could have the Fleece that was no trouble
Aeetes couldn't imagine why he had been so inhospitable
All he required of Jason just as a simple good faith token
Were a small number of farmyard chores to be undertaken

There were two bulls stood in the adjacent pasture grazing
Jason should catch them and harness them ready for plowing
Then plough the field, sow it and reap the harvest in a day
That done King Aeetes would give the Golden Fleece his way

The bulls were a bit unusual in that their feet were a hazard
Made of brass sharp enough to rip a man from gullet to gizzard
And then of course there was the matter of the Bulls bad breath
In point of fact it didn’t smell they just breathed flames of death

Medea was a famous sorceress and famed for magic potions
She gave Jason salves that he smeared on like body lotions
This protected him against the brazen hooves and fiery death
So he could approach the bulls with out fearing their breath

Disregarding the flames that danced all about his shoulders
And avoiding the hooves he managed to harness the creatures
This done he set quickly about the task of plowing the field
Then this was followed by sowing the seeds he had to yield

What Jason did not know, as he was Gaily sowing the seed
Was that the crop he was sowing was very strange indeed
Aeetes had given Jason dragon's teeth to scatter all about
As soon as they were planted in soil they began to sprout

Jason had sowed the field and turned to complete his test
And was shocked to discover what crop he must harvest
Each seed had produced a fearsome fully armed warrior
Jason must now reap what he sowed to complete his chore

As Jason prepared to do battle his discomfort was hard to hide
The king’s daughter Medea hurried across the field to his side
This time there were no magic potion's salves or embrocations
But Medea merely gave Jason a basic psychology suggestion

Jason was sensible enough to recognize a good piece advice
And used her suggestion by employing the simple device
Jason picked up a rock and threw it at the closest warrior
This warrior then turned to his left and accusing the soldier

Jason managed to get each seed man to turn on its brother
Until he had all the warriors in the army fighting each other
Jason had completed the harvest by means of the slaughter
With the assistance of Medea king Aeetes young daughter

So Jason With more than a little help from the forces divine
The strange harvest was brought in well before the deadline
Aeetes had to agree to let the Golden Fleece go to the Argo
But he confided in Medea he had no intention of doing so

And Medea, still entranced by the Goddess of Love Aphrodite
Confided in turn in Jason about he fathers intended treachery
Under cover of darkness to the temple grove she led Jason
Where the Fleece was nailed to a tree and guarded by a dragon

It was at midnight when they crept into Ares sacred precinct
And quickly drawing his sword was our hero’s first instinct
But Medea very wisely restrained the impetuous hero Jason
And she used her powers as a sorceress to distract the dragon

While Medea held the fearsome dragon completely spell bound
Jason crept to the tree and removed the fleece without a sound
Once he had the prize they made off together with the Fleece
Eluding pursuit they set sail at once for the journey back to Greece

So the hero Jason had succeeded in the great heroic quest and thus
He returned with his golden prize to reclaim the throne of Iolcus
But although Jason had actually sworn to love and honor Medea
Our fickle hero jilted and abandoned the lovely Medea for another

MELEAGER

Meleager was the Son of King Oeneus of Calydon and Althea
Seven days after his birth the Fates appeared foretelling his future
Clotho and Lachesis predicted he would be both noble and brave
However the prediction of the fate Atropos was a little more grave
He warned he would die as soon as a stick in the fire burned away
So Althea pulled the stick from the fire, put it out, and hid it away
While he was still a young man he became regarded as second only
To the mighty Heracles in his speed strength skill and overall ability
He was the youngest to sail with Jason’s Argonauts and subsequently
He went on to kill King Aeetes of Colchis the Argonauts chief enemy
He returned from his time with the Argonauts and married Cleopatra
And they lived happily in Calydon and they had a daughter Polydora
His domestic tranquility was brought to a tragic and abrupt end
When Artemis unleashed the fearsome giant boar in his homeland
Meleager naturally took a leading role in the hunt from the start
The Calydonian Boar Hunt ended with his spear in the beast’s heart
As Atalanta had drawn first blood Meleager awarded her the hide
Awarding the prize to a woman injured the some of the party’s pride
His uncles felt that his generous action had made them look small
A quarrel broke out between them and Meleager then killed them all
Althea On hearing of her brother’s death’s by her own son’s hands
She was so distraught at the news that some instant revenge she plans
Remembering the words of Atropos about the stick on the fates visit
Althea took the stick from its place of safety and then she burned it
As predicted Meleager died and then in remorse took her own life
This is followed by the suicide from grief of Cleopatra his wife

HERACLES

The son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene was Heracles
And his twin by Alcmene and Amphitryon was Iphicles
Hera, the wife of Zeus was jealous of his last mortal son
And she decided on a path to vent her hate and anger on
So while he was still an infant Hera, wanting him dead
Sent a pair of serpents to kill him as he slept in his bed
But to Hera’s disappointment things didn’t go as planned
Heracles was found with a strangled serpent in each hand

Heracles is known as the strongest by far of all mortals
Stronger then many of the gods and victorious in battles
But offsetting his strength was a lack not of intelligence
But he did lack wisdom and had very little common sense
And it was his quick temper that often left him undone
Once when he was too hot he threaten to shoot at the sun
His pride was easily offended and held grudges at length
And his appetites for life were as great as his strength

If he held grudges, he would still do anything for a friend
Once his anger passed he was his fiercest critic in the end
He was too strong for anyone to force on him at any time
Any kind of a punishment no matter how bad the crime
That he was willing to do the most severe penance shows
That he had a fundamental sense of justice that he chose
During his many punishments Heracles shows us at length
Patience, fortitude and endurance as heroic as his strength

Many of the great deeds of Heracles occurred more or less
While doing a penance for acts of anger or carelessness
As a man His first heroic deed was the killing of a lion
Which had been savaging the countryside from Cithaeron
And then he defeated Erginus, who was the one exacting
An unjustified annual tribute from Creon the Theban king
In gratitude Creon the Theban king offered to the victor
Heracles the hand in marriage his young daughter Megara

Lycus tried to seize the throne when Creon died years later
But Heracles soon put an end to that by killing the usurper
But in the rejoicing that follows, taking a hand again is Hera
Acting with anger and hatred that had never relented in her
She struck Heracles with a fit of madness at the celebration
And in a rage he killed both Megara and their three children
The Delphic oracle decided as punishment for these murders
Heracles is ordered to perform as penance Twelve Labors

So not for the first time that he had to atone for his crimes
Since he had come of age Heracles had proved many times
His unerring marksmanship with bow and arrow and spear
A possessor of superhuman strength and a champion wrestler
He needed all of these for the labors set by one of his family
His cousin Eurystheus, who was king of Tiryns and Mycenae
By rights, Heracles should have had the crown upon his head
But Hera had tricked Zeus into crowning Eurystheus instead

To begin his labors Heracles had to kill the Nemean lion firstly
This he did by strangling the beast with his bare hands only
Then His second labor was to kill the many-headed hydra
This he did with Iolaus his nephew in the swamps of Lerna
Then his task was to capture the fleet footed Cerynitian hind
It was in Arcadia he caught it after it took him a year to find
He then returned once more to Arcadia for his fourth labor
On mount Erymanthus he captured the huge Erymanthian boar

Next was cleaning the Augean stables a task meant to demean
But Heracles diverted two rivers to leave the stable yards clean
Once more he had to return to the stark wilderness of Arcadia
To find flesh eating Stymphalian birds and kills their number
The seventh labor involved a huge fire-breathing creature
The Cretan bull ravaging the countryside he had to capture
The mares of Diomedes then had to be brought to Eurystheus
This was achieved with the help of his young squire Abderus

He went to the land of the Amazons for the ninth of the labors
To steal the belt from Hippolyte the queen of the women warriors
For labor ten he was sent outside ancient Greece by Eurystheus
He captured the cattle of Geryon and killed Geryon and Orthrus
Stealing the apples of Hesperides was to be labor number eleven
This he did killing Ladon and securing help from Atlas the Titan
The twelfth and final labor for Heracles was to capture Cerberus
He dragged the hellhound from Hades and gave it to Eurystheus

Penance was done upon completion of the twelfth labor
Though could not bring back the victims of the murder
In the years after as well as in between his great Labors
Heracles had a great many other adventures and chores
He was one of the Argonaut sailing with the hero Jason
Wielding a massive club which was his favorite weapon
He wore as a cloak the skin he took from the Nemean lion
It was his usual garb and as a helmet he had its head on

Heracles accomplished some amazing feats for a mortal
He once forced the god Poseidon to give way in battle
In another encounter he wounded Ares the god of war
And he wrestled the great god Zeus himself to a draw
The hero could move mountains that hindered his way
He could and did toss boulders about like pebbles all day
Heracles even relieved the Titan Atlas of his eternal burden
He stood and on his back supported the weight of heaven

So strong he was the deciding factor in battle with the Titans
Defeating the Giants and winning victory for the Olympians
When the Titanic sons of Gaia tried to storm the godly citadel
When a hail of flaming oaks and rocks almost won the battle
The deities of mount Olympus would never have prevailed
Without Heracles and his bowmanship which never failed
His reward in recognition of his assistance in their victory
Was to become the only mortal born hero to become a deity

When Heracles allowed a centaur to ferry across a river
His wife Deianara on the other side the centaur attacked her
Heracles killed him with an arrow but before the Centaur died
He told her for a love potion to keep some blood he supplied
Deianara used some on Heracles' tunic to keep him faithful
But it contained Hydra poison from the arrow and was fatal
He used Hydra venom on the arrow, which Deianara didn’t see
And was poisoned when He donned the tunic dying in agony

On his funeral pyre lightning consumed his mortal remains
And he was apotheosized by Zeus and joined the Olympians
So he was given a home on Mount Olympus for eternity
And Heracles also married the lovely goddess of youth Hebe
But there was part of him had not come from Zeus his father
And that part had come from Alcmene his mortal mother
The mortal part of his soul went to the Underworld directly
And In Company of heroes roams the Elysian Fields eternally

PERSEUS

King Acrisius of Argos was warned by an oracle of Apollo one-day
That he would be killed in time by a son born to his daughter Danae
Fearful He locked her up in a bronze tower and threw away the key
And thus prevented her from having children or being able to marry

The bronze tower had no doors but it had one very small window
Then one night Danae who was very sad saw a strange sort of glow
The god Zeus entered disguised as a golden shower bright as dawn
He joined in union with the girl and as a result Perseus was born

Acrisius learned of this and when entered the tower he was furious
Danae sat with a baby on her lap, smiled and said, "this is Perseus"
Acrisius put Danae and baby into a brazen chest and cast it out to sea
Perhaps the King expected it to sink like a stone but it was not to be

Instead of sinking the chest floated away from the shores of Argos
Eventually fetching up on a lonely beach on the island of Seriphos
Dictys the king’s brother found the chest while he was out fishing
And he took its contents under his protection without questioning

One-day king Polydectes, Dictys's brother took a fancy to Danae
And he pressed his attentions upon her, which she turned him away
Perseus who had grown up to become a very strong young man
Made his own objections to Polydectes as only a young man can

And the king angry but outwardly amenably agreed he would desist
He would have married her by force if Perseus wasn't there to resist
So he grew more subtle in the pursuit of achieving his desire of her
And so decided on a plan to be rid of Perseus so he could not interfere

Polydectes pretended to be marrying Hippodameia a friend’s daughter
And everybody was required to bring a gift no matter who they were
Polydectes pretended to be furious when Perseus arrived empty-handed
“Why do you dishonor me and my bride in this way”? He demanded

Perseus though very strong and brave was also very poor in his defense
He explained to the king that he had no money and he meant no offence
He pledged to bring the king any gift in the world and he would cede
“Then bring me the head of the gorgon Medusa!" and Perseus agreed

The gorgons were horrible but Perseus set off to kill medusa as he said
Instead of hair the creatures had black serpents that writhed on their head
And they had brazen hands that could have crushed Perseus effortlessly
But worst of all if you looked a gorgon you were turned to stone instantly

For weeks he wandered on his perilous way in search of the gorgon’s lair
One night in an unknown country he was finally overcome by despair
Then suddenly appearing before him goddess of crafts and war Athena
She offered him help on how to find and defeat the gorgon Medusa

Go and seek out the kindly nymphs of the north she told him Firstly
Ask for the Cap of Darkness which renders the wearer total invisibility
Before he left Perseus was given her own mirrored shield by Athena
And the sickle of adamant and winged sandals from Hermes her brother

Seeking out the nymphs was not as simple as he had first thought
Perseus must first visit the Graeae sisters for the location he sought
And to find the graeae he had to go to the world’s western parameter
Find Atlas and ask him to direct him to the sister’s home in the vicinity

He traveled to the west and found Atlas one of the renegade Titans
Who was paying eternally for defying Zeus by holding up the heavens
Perseus politely asked atlas where he could find the three graeae sisters
This atlas duly did by nodding in the direction of the cave dwellers

The Graeae Sisters were strange hags with one eye between the three
Which they were constantly fighting over to have their chance to see
Perseus hid at the mouth of the cave and watched them very carefully
Then he picked his moment and snatched the eye so they couldn’t see

Then Perseus demanded they tell him the northern nymph’s location
If they did not then they would never get their precious eye back again
Eventually the old hags told Perseus what he need to know Reluctantly
He tossed the eye in a corner and on winged sandals flew across the sea

The northern nymphs were called naiads and were actually minor deities
They were mortal creatures who dwelt in pools and ponds in societies
The kindly Nymphs gave him the Cap of Darkness that he was seeking
As well as a special magic pouch to carry Medusa’s severed head in

They told him he must go still farther north to find the gorgons' lair
When Perseus found a large rocky island he would find medusa their
So with the cap of darkness and the magic pouch he set of north again
Where he found an island adorned with statues which used to be men

Before setting down on the island Perseus put on the Cap of Darkness
Then reflected in his shield he saw the gorgons asleep in the bleakness
Perseus then flew down safe in his invisibility to fine medusa prone
And He swung the sickle and felt it tearing through sinew and bone

Still using the shield he put the head in the magic bag without delay
And Before Medusa's sisters attacked him Perseus flew quickly away
On his way home first visited Atlas and because he pitied the titan
Using medusas head he turned him to stone and relieved his burden

As he traveled closer to Seriphos he saw a statue chained to a rock
When he flew down he saw that it was not a statue, but a young woman
Her name was Andromeda and her mother had boasted that her beauty
Was greater than that of the Nereid’s who were the nymphs of the sea

So Andromeda must be sacrificed to appease the god of the sea Poseidon
And a great sea monster would devour her from the rocks she stood upon
Even as she spoke a monster rose from the sea with the force of a cyclone
Perseus took the head from the pouch and the monster turned to stone

He cut her chains and took her to her father, King Cepheus of Phoenicia
Cepheus gladly agreed when Perseus asked for the hand of Andromeda
So once again for Seriphos Perseus set off and in his arms was Andromeda
There was one last stop so Perseus could compete in the games at Larisa

But when he threw a discus it hit an old man in the stands called Acrisius
So the prophecy came true he was killed by his daughter’s son Perseus
And after mourning briefly Perseus and Andromeda’s last journey began
When they arrived the first person they met was Dictys the fisherman

Dictys told them how the king hadn’t married and of his mothers burden
But Danae wouldn't marry him so he forced her to be his handmaiden
Perseus was furious leaving Andromeda with Dictys he went to the palace
After alerting his friends he showed Polydectes and his court Medusa’s face

When Polydectes and his supporters had been turned to stone forever
As rulers Perseus and Andromeda lived happily for many years together
And their descendants became great kings down through the generations
After death Perseus and Andromeda were put in the sky as constellations

THESEUS

Once there was an heroic young boy named Theseus
Who was the only son of the king of Athens Aegeus
But was raised by the king of Troezen his grandfather
And also by the princess Aethra his devoted mother
Just before Theseus was born king Aegeus left Troezen
But before he left he placed beneath a boulder a token
Aegeus told Aethra that she must keep his identity secret
Until his son Theseus was old enough to understand it
His sword and sandals he had buried he told Aethra
Which his son must first lift off when he was older

Theseus grew into a strong and intelligent young man
And when he was sixteen, Aethra followed the plan
She took Theseus to the boulder and told him to lift it
Which if he did she would tell him his fathers secret
Theseus wrapped his mighty arms around the boulder
And he lifted it and threw it away as if it were paper
Neath the stone he found the tokens left by his father
He was told to take the sword and sandals by Aethra
Then Aethra could reveal the truth to young Theseus
That he was the son of the King of Athens Aegeus
Theseus was prompted by a sense of his heroic destiny
And to meet his father he set out forthwith on a journey

Aethra and her father begged Theseus to go to by sea
To avoid bandits who frequented the road habitually
But Theseus was young and bold so went by overland
After a few miles he met a man with a club in his hand
He was a giant of a man and His name was Periphetes
And his club was bronze and would have suited Heracles
Periphetes was going to kill him that was quite clear
But Theseus stood before him and showed him no fear
He managed to persuade him to let him see the weapon
Once in his hands he hit Periphetes with the bludgeon

After killing Periphetes he went down the road further
And he met another giant called Sinis the pine bender
Sinis tricked passers by to help him with tree bending
Then he’d tie them between the trees before releasing
As the pines snapped upright it caused decapitation
Spreading them over the landscape in every direction
When he tried to do the same thing to Theseus our hero
He tied Sinis between two bent pines and then let go
Then, not far from Athens, Theseus encountered Sciron
On the road along tall cliffs the brigand stood upon
To cross the cliffs He demanded a toll from travelers
And he would kill with his axe any attempted defaulters
The toll he demanded seemed to be reasonably fair
And was simply to wash his feet in the tub he had there
Then while they were busy washing his feet thoroughly
He would kick the unsuspecting traveler into the sea
And down below the tall cliffs in watery isolation
A huge man eating sea turtle waited in anticipation
So Theseus sat down and started to wash Sciron's feet
He looked over the cliff and saw the turtle not replete
When Sciron's foot came at him, Theseus jerked aside
And hurled Sciron into the foaming sea off the cliff side

The next challenge for Theseus our intrepid adventurer
Came in the form of a man called Procrustes an evildoer
Procrustes kept a house by the roadside where he offers
Hospitality in the form of a hot meal to passing strangers
Then they were invited to take a night's rest it was said
What Procrustes called a night in his very special bed
If a guest inquired of him what was so special about it
They were told whoever slept in it the bed adjusted to fit
Once in bed the guest was either stretched if to small
Or had limbs hacked off if they were too long or tall
Theseus one again turned the tables on his adversary
Just By adjusting Procrustes to fit his own bed fatally

When he reached Athens he was hailed by the Athenians
For he’d rid the highway of its highwaymen and brigands
In his honor he was invited to the palace for a banquet
Theseus decided not to reveal his true identity just yet
Serving as hostess was the Kings new wife queen Medea
Medea was a sorceress from Colchis who was very bitter
She had once loved Jason and helped him steal Golden Fleece
But Jason had spurned her when they returned to Greece
Her magic had already disclosed the identity of Theseus
But she kept this information from her husband Aegeus
She decided her personnel ambition Theseus was threatening
And her own son’s chances of ruling Athens as the king
So Medea cleverly played on king Aegeus's insecurity
At the same time carefully concealing his true identity
She convinced the king Theseus hadn’t just come to dine
Medea persuaded Aegeus to serve him poisoned wine
Theseus paused just before drinking to carve his meat
As soon as Aegeus saw the sword he was on his feet
The king knocked over the wine cup spilling the poison
Theseus and Aegeus were filled with joy at the reunion
Medea spat words at them as venomous as her poisons
Storming out she escaped in a chariot pulled by dragons

Theseus was now true heir to the kingdom of Athens
And Theseus and Aegeus were happy like old friends
But when the spring equinox came all Athens mourned
As a ship approached Athens with a black sail adorned
He begged Aegeus to tell him why Athenians were sad
Theseus went to the harbor fearing something very bad
He spoke to a sailor and asked him what was happening
Reluctantly the sailor spoke about the annual sacrificing
One day King Minos of Crete's eldest son Androgeus
Was accidentally been killed in Athens he told Theseus
Minos was very angry he attacked and defeated Athens
And demanded that the Athenians pay a yearly recompense
Seven young men and seven young women to even the score
Must each year be fed to the terrible monster the Minotaur
The Minotaur was a monster of half-bull and half-man
That lived in the center of a vast maze quite Labyrinthian
The beast had been born to king Minos's wife Pasiphae
As a punishment from Poseidon the great god of the sea
Theseus volunteered to go as one of the fourteen to Crete
To enter the Labyrinth and fight the Minotaur to defeat
King Aegeus was reluctant to let his only son Theseus go
But Theseus insisted he must prove to Athens he was a hero
He pledged when he’d faced Minotaur and won the fight
He would return turning the black sails to a brilliant white

As well as being the heir of king Aegeus and his only son
Theseus also believed himself to be the son of Poseidon
When the black sailed ship landed the captives at Crete
King Minos stood on the dock there to meet and greet
Minos demanded introductions from all the Athenians
When it came to Theseus to give his name to the Cretan
He announced he was prince of Athens and son of Poseidon
Minos said “If you’re prince of Athens you’re Aegeus’s son”
“To prove you are son of Poseidon fetch my golden ring"
Minos threw his ring into the sea as Theseus was praying
After his prayer to the god Poseidon he dived into the sea
Below the surface he was found by Thetis a Watery deity
The nymph Thetis gave him the ring and a golden crown
Theseus surfaced holding both items aloft before the town
It was shortly after Theseus had climbed out of the water
When he met Princess Ariadne King Minos’s daughter
And princess Ariadne fell in love with him at first sight
So much that she gave him a clew for his impending fight

The Labyrinth was a complex maze that awaited Theseus
Cleverly and intricately contrived by its builder Daedalus
Once thrown inside, a victim could never find the way back
Eventually meeting death after a savage Minotaur attack
The clew Ariadne gave Theseus was a ball of silk thread
To tie at the entrance and unwind it as he went ahead
Then once Theseus had fought and killed the Minotaur
He could follow it back to were it was tied to the door
Theseus was dropped into the maze with his companions
He tied the string off and told them follow his directions
He led them to the Labyrinth’s center to find the Minotaur
When they got there a sleeping monster was what they saw
Theseus jumped on it and ripped of one of its huge horns
Then he poked at the Minotaur pricking it hide like thorns
Theseus then ran back and he threw the horn like a javelin
The horn ripped into the great monsters neck and stuck in
The Minotaur charged at Theseus but half way fell dead
Everyone cheered and he led them back using the thread

After sinking Minos’s ships Theseus eloped with Ariadne
With fellow Athenians On black-sailed ship the went to sea
One night on the black-sailed ship came the god Dionysus
He wanted princess Ariadne for himself he told Theseus
Dionysus ordered Theseus to abandon her on Naxos Island
Theseus had little choice but to obey the god’s command
He reluctantly obeyed the god Dionysus and abandoned her
Sailing away from Naxos he was so sad to leave her there
He forgot to change the ships sails from black to white
Which was to be the signal to say they had won the fight
King Aegeus sat watching and waiting on a promontory
But when he saw the black sails he jumped into the sea
That fatal stretch of sea is forever named after the Athenian
And to this very day the sea is still known as the Aegean

After his fathers death Theseus became king of Athens
But this did not mean that his days of adventuring ends
He could not be contented with hunting the dear or boars
So he accompanied Heracles on one of his twelve labors
To steal the girdle from the Amazon queen Hippolyte
Which in the end they didn’t give up without a fight
A great battle ensued between the amazons and heroes
Many amazons lay dead amongst the spears and arrows
Heracles made off with Hippoytes belt for Eurystheus
And the Amazon princess Antiope was taken by Theseus

During The ancient times of Theseus it was customary
Around the Aegean for Greek nobles to embark in piracy
Theseus received word that one pirate had set the eyes on
The royal Athenian herds on the seaside plain at Marathon
When he apprehended the pirate he was about to strike
But as King and pirate eyed each other they were too alike
The two men had taken an instant liking to one another
And although they were strangers they felt like brothers
The pirate was of the royal house of the Thessalian Lapiths
And conceding defeat he said his name was Peirithous
He named a punishment for the Thessalians’s misdeed
His plan was to take Helen of Sparta, Peirithous agreed

The planned abduction both men were bound to enjoy
Helen of Sparta would one day become Helen of Troy
At the time of the abduction Helen was only thirteen
So he decided until she was old enough to be his queen
She would be left in the safekeeping of his mother Aethra
But her hero twin brothers Castor and Pollux rescued her
In return for his help with Helen he had to assist Peirithous
With a very perilous adventure which worried king Theseus
Peirithous wanted to abduct Persephone, the wife of Hades
He was king of the underworld and capable of great fury
So they set off to the underworld to steal Persephone away
And went straight to the throne of Hades without delay
Peirithous boldly stated his intent to the king of the dead
Claiming Persephone would be happier with him instead
Hades immediately feigned consent and tricked the two
Into sitting at a bench where they became stuck like glue
Hades then loosed upon the two heroes a flock of torments
They came in the form of furies and venomous serpents
As well as the slavering fangs of the hellhound Cerberus
Not to mention the infamous tantalizing water of Tartarus
When Heracles was on his twelfth labor he found Theseus
And he released him be he would not release Peirithous

Theseus had all the qualities of a great Athenian hero
Strength and courage but intelligence and wisdom also
His early adventures benefited the Athens and region
And he forged the feuding warlords into a federation
He led Athens's army on victorious campaigns of war
He gained a reputation for helping the oppressed and poor
Escaped slaves who took refuge at his altar in that age
Could not under any circumstance be returned to bondage
In middle age wisdom deserted him making bad decisions
Theseus began to go on ever more foolish expeditions
His efforts to produce an heir led to even more problems
Athenians grew tired and he died exiled from Athens's

His body did not comet home such was the consensus
Generations past with little thought given to Theseus
Until the Persian wars Athenian soldiers began to see
Theseus and believed him the reason for their victories
Athenian general Cimon was told by the Oracle at Delphi
To find Theseus's bones and build a tomb and sanctuary
So finally they returned to Athens the great Athenian hero
In a magnificent tomb and sanctuary for the people to go