Greek Myths

Eamon’s Book Of Greek Myths

By: Eamon Barkhordarian

Table of Contents Ares------------------------------------------------1-2 Hades----------------------------------------------3-4 Zeus------------------------------------------------5-6 Chiron----------------------------------------------7-8 Bellerophon---------------------------------------9-10 Apollo-----------------------------------------------11-12 Melampus-----------------------------------------13-14 Eos--------------------------------------------------15-16 Ascelpius------------------------------------------17-18 Meleager------------------------------------------19-20 Seating chart of the gods---------------------21 Job of gods---------------------------------------22 Zen Zhen (my own myth) --------------------23-24 Picture of Greek Gods------------------------25-44

Ares Ares, the god of war, was tall, handsome, but very cruel. His companion was Eris, the spirit of strife. Eris held the apple of discord. When she threw it among enemies, war broke out for the apple. Once the enemies clashed their swords, Ares would join the fight not on either side, not caring who won or lost, only caring for the people to die. Sometimes the wars were so vicious, Ares himself would become wounded. After he was wounded, he would run to Olympus, where Zeus treated him with the ointment of the gods. Ares was instantly healed, and immediately returned to war. Because Ares killed so many people, no one was fond of him, except for Aphrodite, who admired Ares for his handsome looks. This just shows that no matter how evil Ares behaved, there was at least one god in the world of myths that admired him, but some of those who didn’t, suffered with their lives.

Hades Hades, lord of the dead, was a god that people were too scared to talk about. Even though he was very scary, he still had a queen, named Persephone. Mortals feared Hades so much that they dared not speak his name, for he might send them to the underworld. The process of how the souls reached the underworld of Hades was that Hermes, the god of commerce, invention, and theft, would guide the souls of the dead to a river called Styx. There, Charon would send the souls over the river, to the underworld of Hades. There, the souls stayed in the dark, gloomy underworld forever. The three headed dogs of Hades would let the souls enter the underworld, but would never let them out. This shows that when people are no helpful to the world, their souls would be tortured somewhere like the underworld.

Zeus Zeus, the father of all Greek gods, grew rapidly, as all the gods did. He was taken care of by Nymphs, and nurtured by the fairy goat, Amalthia, even though Zeus’s real father was Cronos and his mother was Rhea. The young Zeus wanted to overthrow his child-devouring father Cronos. Though his wife, Metis, told him he needed strong allies. First, to do that, Metis tricked Cronos into eating a magical herb which Cronos thought would make him invincible, but actually made him vomit all his six children he devoured. Then, all the children joined Zeus and became his allies. The Cyclops, some other of Zeus’s allies, forged lightening bolts for Zeus which made him the mightiest god of all. Together, Zeus and his allies overthrew Cronos and justice was restored.

Chiron Chiron, was the only kind and wise centaur. The other centaurs were without law and order, stormed over fields, and trampled over crops. Chiron may have looked like other centaurs, but he wasn’t related to Ixion, the king of the Lapith people, whose offspring were the nasty centaurs. Chiron was actually related to Cronos, the titan. This was one of the reasons why Chiron wasn’t cruel like the other centaurs. He was so kind, that he cared for children at his cave in Mount Pelion. This was where he taught manly sports such as how to use healing herbs and how to read the stars. By teaching kids so many wonderful things the kids all exceeded their father’s courage and knowledge. The most important person Chiron cared for was Ascelpius, Apollo’s son, and grandson of Zeus. Apollo, the god of sky and health, asked Chiron to raise his son, Ascelpius, since Ascelpius’s mother, a Lapith princess, had died. Chiron raised the boy to a wonderful person. A person, ho would someday become the greatest healer, of all time. No other centaur would ever do such kind things as Chiron did. Instead, what they did was: kick and spank their children, wrestled, ate raw meat, and left their children to take car of themselves. All this leads up to one very important lesson: don’t let similar looks deceive you. This is because even though Chiron may have looked like other centaurs, he was the exact opposite.

Bellerophon Bellerophin, grandson of Sisyphus, was a great tamer of horses. He wanted, more than anything in the world, to ride the winged horse, Pegasus, who was born out of Medusa’s neck. One day, he used his golden bridle to tame Pegasus, and Pegasus became so tame that he let Bellerophon ride on him. They instantly became partners, and the two of them fought the three headed, fire breathing beast, Chimera, who was terrorizing a kingdom. Chimera was scarier than a nightmare, and had a lion in front head, serpent in back, and goat in middle. To defeat this beast, Bellerophon stuck some lead to the end of his spear. Then when Chimera breathed out her fire, the lead would melt, and Bellerophon would choke Chimera with it. He had saved the people of the kingdom that were held captive by the beast, and everyone thought of him as a hero. This shows that if you want to accomplish something, and you try your best, you will overcome all the obstacles, and reach your goal.

Apollo Apollo, the god of health and sky, grew rapidly. When he was fully grown, his father, Zeus, gave him a chariot drawn by swans to get himself the oracle of Delphi. Delphi was the most scared place in Greece at the time. The challenge to Apollo was that the oracle was guarded by the Python, the darksome dragon. Python was mean, and ill-tempered, and if Apollo wanted the oracle, he had to go through Python first. The oracle, who could tell of the future, warned Python that Apollo would someday kill him. And sure enough, Apollo came one day hen Apollo tried to eat his mother, Leto, and so Apollo shot python down with his thousand silver shafts. By killing Python, Apollo had won himself the oracle of Delphi. This story shows a very significant point: To overcome something difficult, like taking the oracle from Python, Apollo must have used all his strengths and abilities.

Melampus Melampus won glory, fame, and even one third of a kingdom, all by being kind to animals. When he was a child, he began to understand the language of the animals because he spent so much time with them. But one time he tried to steal some cows to prevent them from being slaughtered for meat, though Melampus was caught and got thrown in jail. The ruler of the kingdom told him that if he could cure the king’s ill son, Melampus could have the cows. Because Melampus was so close to animals, the animals taught him how to make a special brew for curing the prince. When the prince drank the brew, instantly he was cured, which helped Melampus win great fame throughout the kingdom. The king called Melampus again to cure his three daughters that had a weird disease that made them act like cows. Melampus this time said he would, in return for one third of the king’s kingdom. The king had no choice and accepted. The girls were cured, and Melampus won one third of the kingdom. This shows that even though it might be hard to imagine, animals can truly help when they are better cared for and understood.

Eos Eos, was the mother of the four winds. Whenever she awoke, nature awoke also, happy to see her. One morning, she saw a young prince whose name was Thithonus. He was so amazingly handsome, that Eos wanted the prince as her husband. But she wondered how she could marry a mortal, whose life span was so short, while she was immortal and lived forever. She immediately went to Zeus, to ask him to give the young prince eternal youth. Zeus granted her wish, but she hadn’t known she had made a terrible mistake. She forgot to ask Zeus to also grant the young prince eternal youth! They spent many wonderful years together. But after a while, the prince was losing his strength, he shrank, and his voice became a little squeak. He became so small and tiny; he turned into a grasshopper forever! This leads up to one very important point: a little carelessness could have big consequences. She was smart to go to Zeus for her wish to be granted, she asked for a reasonable wish, and Zeus accepted to do it, so she had an eternal living prince. But because she wasn’t very clear in asking for her wish, she got a grasshopper instead.

Ascelpius Ascelpius, the first doctor that cured many people was born in Chiron’s cave on Mount Pelion. He was the son of Apollo and grandson of Zeus, the father of all gods. When Ascelipus was fully grown, he left Chiron’s cave, and became the first great physician. He healed people near and far. People that came to him with crutches, left skipping happily away. He was so amazing that soon, the people thought of him as a god. They built temples for Ascelpius which became the first hospitals. He had a can that had two serpants on it, which often told Ascelpius the cure for diseases. He had a wife and seven children who all followed their father’s footsteps in curing people. His best accomplishment was to bring the dead back to life. However, he began to desire being paid when he started accepting gold from people for his work. Zeus did not tolerate this, and threw a thunderbolt at Ascelpius. Ascelipus perished and nothing was left of him but some ashes. The moral of this story is that even a super powerful person capable of healing and bringing the dead back to life, must not desire gold and money so much, unless he is willing to lose his gifted talent.

Meleager Melager was one of the heroes of Calydonia and had the spear throwing skill. One day, the king of Calydonia forgot to include the name of Artemis, the goddess of the moon and hunt, when he sacrificed to the gods. In revenge, Artemis sent the biggest killer boar ever seen to the kingdom. Everyone that came to hunt down the boar were men, except for one woman, named Atalanta, the fastest runner in Greece, and a great hunter. Many people died trying to kill the boar, but Atalanta took her time and accurately shot the boar with a single arrow followed by Melager who took the boar down with his powerful spear. After the fight, Melager gave the hide of the boar and its tusks to Atalanta, for she was the one who got the most credit for taking down the boar. Melager couldn’t take down the boar, without Atalanta, and Atalanta couldn’t have taken it down without Melager. This leads up to one very important point: teamwork between men and women can overcome the most challenging obstacles.

Zen Zhey One day, on a mountainous island, a boy named Zen Zhey was born. He was from the Lui Bao dynasty. He hadn’t known yet, but when he would become an adult, he would be the ruler of his father’s empire. When he was about 20 years old, he became the king and planned to take care of his kingdom during his rule. But his first priority was to make his empire into a strong military. His father had struggled to maintain the empire before Zen was ruler. This was because of Alexander the Great, ruler of Greece, Rome, and mighty Persia. Alexander owned all the land throughout Asia, except for Zen’s empire. On his 20th birthday, the first day Zen was ruler, he got enough courage to go fight Alexander the Great. This was the day of the fight, the fist week Zen was ruler. Zen would probably lose to the heavily armed soldiers of Alexander. But Zen wasn’t doing this for his empire, his people, or for mankind; he was doing this for his father. He grabbed his armor, his helmet, and his sword. He also took his Book of Knowledge; the only gift his father had left to him before his father went to war and never returned. The book contained all the tactics to defeating Alexander. Zen charged with his golden white horse, towards the army of Alexander, with his army following behind him. The spirit of Zen’s father was with him, as he held the Book of Knowledge in his hands. The armies clashed. Soon, no one was left standing. No one, except for Zen and Alexander, swords clashed, and teeth gritted. In the end, only one of them will be left standing. Slash! Clang! The two swords slammed at one another, each swing so powerful that it sliced through the air. They repeatedly did this for what seemed hours, until Zen grabbed Alexander’s sword with his empty hand. He grabbed Alexander’s sword so hard, Alexander couldn’t move it. But gripping on Alexander’s sword made Zen’s hand squirt out with blood. With Zen’s other hand gripping on his own sword, he put the blade next to Alexander’s neck. This would be the end. The only choice Alexander had been to fall to his knees. Suddenly Zen remembered the time his father told him about how horrible Alexander was. “Terrifying and filled with hatred,” Zen’s father had once told him. Then Zen’s memory switched to remembering the Book of Knowledge. It was then that he remembered reading the book. “If you take down your enemy, your problems will be gone,” the book read. Zen wanted to protect his kingdom, and had no other choice but to take Alexander down. Zen walked away not with a smile on his face, or a frown, but with a tear streaking down his cheek, for even though he had just protected his empire, to do that he had to kill someone. He had saved his kingdom in reality, but in his heart, he hadn’t saved himself.