Category Archives: Mythology

Homer is considered one of the greatest poets who ever lived. The literary and cultural influence of the Iliad and the Odyssey is incomparable. But who was Homer, exactly? The answer is a little bit complicated…

You see, for many centuries scholars have questioned not just the identity, but even the existence of Homer. The ‘Homeric Question’ seeks to understand if Homer actually wrote the works attributed to him, and if not, then who?

We’ll get to the more modern scholarship in a moment. But first, who did the ancients think Homer was?

Well, in antiquity, Homer was believed to have composed his great works in the Greek Dark Ages (9-8^th century). According to this tradition, he was born on the island of Chios and was blind from birth. It was believed that he was a wandering bard, and that he sung his epics to the public at festivals.  These poems were based on events and heroes from the Mycenaean Age (12^th-11^th century BC). His works were later written down, and though they had been changed and edited, it was still believed that the Iliad and Odyssey were ultimately the product of one mind: Homer’s. Even as far back as antiquity, however, there were those who questioned if Homer really did write the epics…

Now we’re going to jump forward in time quite a bit. Just a couple of millennia!

Beginning in the 17^th century, scholars began to develop textual criticism. Figures such as Isaac Causbon analysed the texts of Homer and found certain discrepancies. Critics began to suspect that the works of Homer were not actually written by just one person.

Rather, they believed that ‘Homer’ was the name given to a much larger oral tradition of storytelling. The reading public rejected this idea right down to the 19^th century, and maintained that the figure of Homer, the blind bard, was the author of the works.

Milman Parry (1902 – 1935), an American Classicist, later revolutionized the study of Homer.  You see, across the Iliad and the Odyssey, there are many formulaic expressions, such as the epithets ‘divine Odysseus’ and ‘swift-footed Achilles’. Parry showed that there was a reason for this consistent repetition. Their presence was no accident: they were in fact memory devices, which allowed the reciting bard to improvise during his public recitations. Parry was also influenced by the recordings of bards from the Balkans, who similarly used formulas to recite very long epic poems. Parry argued that the works of Homer were part of a long literary tradition. He and later scholars proved that “Homer” (as he was commonly understood) did not write the Iliad and Odyssey. Rather, they emerged from a very ancient tradition.

Based on archaeological finds, later scholars have found that the Homeric works displayed a knowledge of Mycenaean warfare and weaponry, which indicates that this oral tradition dated back to the 12^th and 11 century BC. Some elements of the poems, however, also came from later time periods. This confirmed that the epics evolved as part of a very dynamic oral tradition; the Homeric Question was resolved. The most famous epics in all of literature were not written by one man named Homer. It was, in fact, the creation of many minds.

It seems likely that itinerant bards sang of the heroics of the Greeks during the Trojan War during the Late Bronze Age. These were the instigators of the Homeric epics. Later bards developed their works and added to them. Scholars speculate that “Homer” may have been a name for groups of travelling bards who travelled the Greek world.  The stories told about Homer may reflect the fact that the bards had connections to the island of Chios. Yet mysteries still persist: there is no agreement on this particular theory.  

The Homeric tradition was then popularized by the rhapsodists who succeeded the traditional bards. These were professional singers who performed the works of others, and would have performed the poems attributed to Homer. It is possible that Homer was a famous rhapsodist, and the epics were mistakenly attributed to him. It’s also possible that the popular image of Homer as the blind bard was simply a creation of a similar oral tradition. All of these bards and rhapsodes contributed to the development of the Homeric works and helped to make them such great works of art.

It appears that the oral poems were written down sometime in the 8^th century after the development of the Greek alphabet. The various Homeric poems were compiled in Athens during the rule of the tyrant Peisistratus (c 520-540 BC), according to one source. Another tradition argues that the versions of the work that we have were the result of scholars who worked in the Library of Alexandria (c 2^nd century BC).

The Homeric Question has been largely solved. There was no single genius behind the works. The epics set during the Trojan War and its aftermath were the product of a very ancient tradition that dated back to the Bronze Age. This tradition was constantly evolving. Bards, rhapsodists, and scholars all contributed to the work in some small way.

Burgess, Jonathan S. (2003). The Tradition of the Trojan War in Homer and the Epic Cycle. JHU Press

The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of the greatest love stories in all of Greek myth, and possibly one of the greatest ever told. This story has been enormously influential from the classical world through to today. The story concerns the tragic love story of Orpheus, the archetypal artist, and his wife Eurydice.

Orpheus was widely believed to be of Thracian origin, but some claim he was of Arcadian origin. He is not mentioned in the works of Hesiod or Homer. From an early date, the singer was considered the archetypal poet and musician. It was believed that Orpheus perfected the art of the lyre, and that his singing could charm the birds from the trees. According to legend he was the son of the god Apollo and the muse Calliope. Another story claims that he was the son of a Thracian king. It was also claimed that Orpheus was one of the Argonauts under Jason who travelled to Colchis. His beautiful singing drowned out the Sirens’ song, which sought to lure the adventurers to their death. Orpheus was associated with lyric poetry, which was sung accompanied by the playing of the lyre, and he was considered to be a forbearer of Homer. Eurydice was a wood nymph, a spirit of the forest and very beautiful.

One beautiful day, Orpheus was alone in the forest playing his lyre. Eurydice heard the beautiful music, and when she saw Orpheus, she fell in love with him at first sight. When Orpheus saw the wood nymph he too fell in love. They soon got married, but the god of marriage who blessed their nuptials predicted that it was not to last long, despite their deep love for one another.

There are several versions of what happened next. According to one, a shepherd tried to abduct Eurydice, and as she tried to escape, she trod on a snake who bit her, and she died. Another account says that she was bit by a snake when dancing with the other nymphs or Naiads. Orpheus was grief-stricken and could not even play his lyre.

In his grief, he asked his father Apollo for help. The god beseeched Hades, the Lord of the Underworld, to let his son retrieve his beloved from the realm of the dead. Hades agreed after he heard Orpheus playing his lyre. The God of the Underworld told Orpheus that he could take Eurydice back to the world of the living, but could not look upon her in the Underworld.  If he did his wife would stay in the Underworld for all time. Orpheus found Eurydice but he did not look at her. He began to lead her out of the Underworld. As he neared the light and the land of the living, he become excited. When he left Underworld, he could not restrain himself and he looked upon his wife. She was still in the darkness of the Underworld. When he looked upon her and tried to embrace her, she was returned to the depths of the Underworld, for all eternity. Orpheus had lost his love for all time, and Eurydice was condemned to wander the realms of the dead.

The husband of Eurydice was only one of a few heroes who was able to return from the realm of Hades. The son of Apollo wandered the world forlorn, until he was torn to pieces by followers of Dionysus. In one account he was killed by women whose attentions he had spurned. Legend states that his head was thrown into a river, and it was singing as it floated away.

Like many myths, there was a moral to the story. Namely that the gods should be obeyed totally, and in every way. Because of his failure to fully obey Hades’ commands, Orpheus lost his beloved. Some believe that the story relates to the cult of Persephone. In another tradition, Orpheus was a religious reformer or prophet, and he was believed to be the founder of a mystery-religion. Several religious poems in hexameters attributed to Orpheus have been found. The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is regarded by some as being related to the teachings of the mystery-religion of Orphism.

Many great literary figures wrote about the myth, including Ovid and Vergil. Ovid’s version of the myth in his Metamorphoses is perhaps the best known version. The story remained popular in the Middle Ages, and is featured in several poems. Since the 17^th century there have been many operas based on the myth, the most popular being Orfeo and Euridice by Gluck (1762). Stravinsky wrote a ballet on the myth. Many poets have adapted the myth including the great modern German poet Rilke. In recent times, Neil Gaiman references the myth in the popular Sandman comics.

So, despite the antiquity of the tale, it clearly has resonated across the centuries, and moves us still. It has it all: poetry, gods, and heroism.

But really it comes down to one thing: there’s nothing like a love story…

Graves, Robert (1980). The Greek Myths. London: Pelican.

Ovid (2000). The Metamorphoses. Hamondsworth: Penguin.

He’s the greatest of the Greek heroes.

There’s probably no other Greek figure that has had more movies, TV shows, and other adaptations based on their tales. Although, in a lot of these cases, it’s not the character’s original Greek name, Herakles, that is used. Rather, we may know him better by his Latinized name of Hercules, as used by the Romans.

What’s in a name, though?

Quite a lot, actually.

In Greek mythology, a character’s name can have very resonant meanings. A brief example would be Antinous from the Odyssey, one of the leaders of the feckless and wasteful suitors. With Odysseus having left his home of Ithaca twenty years previously to fight at Troy, Antinous hopes to wed Odysseus’ wife Penelope in the Greek hero’s absence. His name is a compound of anti, meaning “opposed” (a meaning it still holds today), and nostos, the Greek word for homecoming.  Antinous’ name reflects the role he plays in the Odyssey – he opposes the homecoming of Odysseus. The French academic Nicole Loraux described such instances of Greek names as being ‘micro-narratives’.

Similarly, Herakles’ identity is encoded within his name. Herakles isn’t even his real name. He is born Alcaeus, and later took on the name Herakles himself. But why?

The name Herakles is a compound of the name of the goddesss Hera and the word kleos, an important concept in Greek society, meaning glory or fame. Herakles’ name, therefore, literally means “the glory of Hera”.

Yet this is deeply ironic. Hera is both Herakles’ stepmother and his aunt, but she is not loving towards her demigod relative. Rather, she is furiously antagonistic towards Herakles. Even as a child, she sent snakes to kill him, which he strangled in his cradle. This is because Herakles is one of many of Zeus’ illegitimate children, having been born of the mortal woman Alcmene, a granddaughter of Perseus. As a living symbol of Zeus’ infidelity, the Greek hero is an object of relentless scorn to Hera. The queen of the gods, therefore, dedicates many efforts to destroying Herakles.

Even before he was born, Hera sought to undermine him. Before the birth of Herakles, Zeus made a proclamation that the descendent of Perseus born the following day would become King of Mycenae. Hera then contrived to delay the birth of Herakles, so that her favoured figure, Eurystheus, could instead be born first, thus allowing him to become King, instead of Herakles. This established a dynamic which is invoked in the Iliad as a reflection of the distinctions between Achilles and Agamemnon. Achilles, like Herakles, is the figure of greater heroism, yet is socially inferior to the much less heroic figure of Agamemnon (or his counterpart, Eurystheus).

As an adult, it is Hera who caused madness to descend on Herakles, leading to him killing his children (and in some versions, his wife). This, in turn, led him to seek atonement by visiting the court of his cousin and champion of Hera, King Eurystheus, who then sends Herakles on his famous twelve labours.

It is on these labours that Herakles battles such enduring figures of myth as the Hydra, or Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades.  Yet, it is from these hardships that he gains his glory. Her attempts to destroy Herakles ultimately backfire, and inadvertently grant the hero greater and greater renown. Herakles, therefore, draws his glory (kleos) from Hera. Herakles chooses his name to reflect this.

The linguistics of the name Hera itself open up further layers. The name Hera is linguistically related to two other very relevant Greek words – the first of which is hōrā (plural hōrai), meaning ‘season’ or ‘the right time’. This is the word from which we get the modern word hour. The name Herakles, therefore, also carries this connotation within it. He is, in a sense, ‘the glory of the right time’. This again is ironic, as Herakles was born, seemingly, at the wrong time. Yet, just as Hera’s other attempts to destroy him backfired, so did this original attempt to undermine him. His late birth is ultimately what put on him on the path towards the glory gained in the twelve labours. Maybe he was born at the ‘right’ time after all.

These themes of time and ‘untimeliness’ with regards to the myths of Herakles are explored further in Euripides’ play Herakles, one of a number of Greek tragedies dealing with the demigod. It is somewhat similar to his play on Helen, in that it presents a notable departure from the more famous versions of the tale. Strangely, Herakles is presented as having returned from his labours before the frenzy of madness that causes him to kill his family takes place. Although this may seem unusual at first, it is part of a broader examination of the role of time and timing within the myths of Herakles.

Much like one of Euripides’ most famous plays Medea, Herakles deals with the horror of the violence of Homeric warfare entering the world of the oikos, or home. When Herakles is in the midst of his frenzy, he believes that he is fighting his enemy Eurystheus while committing these acts of violence. Within the Homeric code of Euripides’ own day, Herakles actions would be justified by being on a battlefield, yet they are, naturally, horrific when they occur within the home. According to the Homeric code, Herakles actions themselves weren’t wrong – the timing was simply wrong. Euripides, it seems, doesn’t find fault with Herakles himself, but with the prevailing moral code of his day, where the same actions can be rendered just or unjust by something as arbitrary as timing. This reinforces the irony of the hero’s name having the connotation of ‘the glory of the right time.’

Utimately, Euripides’ version of Herakles is granted a different sort of atonement, through the friendship of Theseus, and by implication, the city of Athens. To Euripides, it seems that it wasn’t violence on the battlefield or great deeds that made Herakles great, but rather his innermost character of nobility and decency, the qualities that ensure his friendship with Theseus.

Finally, Hera is also linguistically connected to the Greek word hērōs, meaning hero. This means that the name could be read as “the glory of the hero.” A fitting title, then, for the most enduring of Greek heroes.

It turns out, there’s a lot in a name!

Many mythologies have stories about divine food. In Greek myth, the mysterious foodstuffs of ambrosia and nectar were the food of the gods; they also played a deeper, more crucial role in the lives of the Olympians. They were much more than simple fodder for divine dinners…

Ambrosia and nectar were served to the Greek deities by their cupbearers, such as Ganymede, or by Hebe the daughter of Zeus. Vast quantities of both were consumed at the Olympians’ feasts. In general, it was understood that ambrosia was a food and that nectar was a drink, and that they were exceedingly sweet. There are some sources, however, that argue that nectar was a food and ambrosia was a drink. Nevertheless, it is widely believed that both were types of honey, although it was also said in ancient times that they were each derived from herbs. No one knows where ambrosia and nectar came from, but according to myths they were delivered by white doves every morning to Mount Olympus.

Consuming ambrosia and nectar was not just for pleasure. It was vital for the immortality of the Olympian deities. It was believed that when drank or eaten, they turned the blood of the Olympians into a substance known as ichor. This is shown in the myths to be a divine life force which made the deities deathless. The gods had to consume ambrosia and nectar regularly to ensure that their blood continued to turn into ichor. If they did not, they would weaken and no longer be immortal. For example, when Demeter was searching for her abducted daughter Persephone, she did not consume nectar and ambrosia, and her divine powers and immortality faded and then vanished.

Nectar and ambrosia was reserved for the gods. This was because it was presumed that if mortals consumed it they would become immortal. Tantalus was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman, and he tried to steal some ambrosia and nectar to make himself immortal. He was caught stealing the food and drink of the Olympians, and was banished to Tartarus in the Underworld for all eternity. There are, however, many instances where mortals were given the food of the Gods and did not become immortal. This is because a copious and regular amount of nectar and ambrosia had to be consumed for a mortal to become immortal. On occasion, the gods would give their foods to their favourites so that they too could become immortal. In one myth, the hero Tydeus was going to be given some ambrosia by Athena. She stopped, however, when she learned that Tydeus in a rage had eaten the brains of a defeated enemy – a hideous act, making him unworthy of immortality.

We can also understand ambrosia and nectar by looking at some of the great literary works of the Greeks. In Book V of the Iliad, for example, when Aphrodite, the Goddess of love, is wounded by the hero Diomedes, her injuries are treated by ambrosia. Later in the Iliad, we see another use of nectar and ambrosia: it was used to anoint the dead. After the death of Patroclus, his body was cleansed with ambrosia, so that it would not decompose

Elsewhere in Homer, there are several instances in the Odyssey where wine and food are compared to the food of the Gods. The Cyclops Polyphemus, for instance, compared wine given to him by Odysseus to Nectar. Furthermore, in Hesiod’s Theogony, after Zeus freed the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires (hundred handed), from Tartarus, he restored them to health by giving them Ambrosia. Even outside of the Greek world, there are many references to the food of the gods in Latin literature, as well as in later works, such as that of the poets of the Renaissance.

Some food people just can’t stop talking about.

Robert, Graves (1980). The Greek Myths. London: Penguin.

One of the most remarkable figures in all of Ancient Mythology is that of Memnon. He was a great hero, not Greek nor Roman, but an African. He was a king of the Ethiopians and he played a critical role in the Trojan War.

Memnon was the son of Tithonus, a prince of Troy, and Eos, the goddess of the Dawn. According to legend the goddess swept the Trojan Prince away and took him to the farthest reaches of the earth, known as Oceanus in Greek mythology. The goddess of the Dawn bore the Trojan a son. He was referred to as bronze-armed Memnon and he grew up to be a great warrior.

Memnon enjoyed the great favor of the gods and he retained it for all his life. At some point, Memnon became the king of the Ethiopians. This was an area due south of Egypt and it encompassed not only modern Ethiopia, but also what is now Northern Sudan. Memnon ruled a great kingdom and commanded a large army.

As a warrior, he was considered to be superior of all the Greek heroes, except for Achilles. Some stories claimed that he conquered great swathes of the east. He was considered to be a very handsome man and possessed all the masculine virtues. It appears that he maintained close ties with the home city of his father. At some point Memnon married a Trojan Queen, Troana Ilium.

Little is known about the early life of the great hero because the epic poems based on his life have sadly been lost.

When Achilles killed Hector, it appeared that Troy, without its great champion was doomed. Priam, the King of Troy implored the Gods to help him and his people in their darkest hour. The Gods heard his pleas and told Memnon to leave Ethiopia to fight the Achaeans. According to a post-Homeric account of the Trojan War, the Ethiopian king traveled to Troy with a huge army. This included specialist units and soldiers that all had ‘a terrifying warlike appearance’. He and his men were so numerous that they had to camp outside the walls of the city because it could not accommodate them all.

Memnon and the Trojans attacked the Greeks and a brutal battle ensued. The Ethiopian king was described as riding in a chariot and killing many Greeks. Then in many accounts, Memnon dueled with Antilochus, the son of Nestor. After single combat Memnon killed Antilochus, who was considered to be one of the greatest warriors in all of Greece.

After the death of Antilochus, the Greek army panicked and was driven back almost to their ships; it seemed that they were on the verge of a complete defeat. Then along came mighty Achilles and he challenged Memnon to single combat. The two great heroes were evenly matched. While the two were both the favorites of the Gods, the Olympians agreed not to help one or the other.

In the fight, Achilles was simply too quick and strong for Memnon. He was able to thrust his spear through the shield of the Ethiopian King, pierce his side and then he finish him off with a thrust of his sword to the throat. With the death of their leader, the mighty Ethiopian army fled in terror. According to legend, some stayed with their king to bury him and they were turned into birds that would remove the dust from their dead lord’s tomb.

One story relates that the Gods collected all the spilled blood of the hero and turned it into a mighty river. On the anniversary of his death, it would turn red.

According to another tradition, Zeus, the king of the gods, was so moved by the tears of the goddess of the Dawn that he raised Memnon from the dead and he became become immortal.

Both the Romans and the Greeks revered him. He was the subject of many works of art. Memnon’s image appeared on vases and there are many sculptures depicting the great Ethiopian. Tragically, a Greek epic poem on his death has been largely lost, and we only have fragments of the work.

There are many who believe that Memnon was possibly based on an Egyptian Pharaoh. Some academics argue that instead it was one of the Nubian kings from the Kushite Dynasty, that ruled Egypt for over a century. Others still think that he was based on the great Egyptian ruler, Amenhotep III.

When the Romans conquered Egypt, they believed that many of the statues of Pharaohs represented Memnon. The statues of Amenhotep III, of the 18th Dynasty, were called the Colossi of Memnon by the Romans. One of these statues was believed to have made sounds when struck by the light of dawn.

She’s one of the most famous and prominent of the Greek deities. Her symbol – the owl – still stands proudly, millennia later, as an emblem of wisdom.

Yet what do the ancient texts actually say about her? Who is she, and what does she do?

What do we know about the Goddess of Wisdom?

The Iliad and the Odyssey were both of central importance to ancient Greek society. Even today, it is many people’s first exposure to the world of the Classics. Athena’s role in both, while comparatively small in terms of ‘screentime’, is key to the action of the story.

Of the two Homeric poems, Athena plays a much larger role in the Odyssey. She essentially acts as the protector of Odysseus. At various points across Odysseus’ journey, it is Athena’s help and guidance that allow the cunning hero to escape to safety. Moreover, it is Athena’s request to Zeus that allows Odysseus to leave the island of Circe.

Some have taken this to diminish the role of Odysseus himself. The interaction between the human and the divine in Greek literature, however, is more complex than that. Odysseus own qualities of cunning and guile are what win him the approval of the goddess. It is his own resourcefulness that makes him worthy of having a god intervene on his behalf. Odysseus’ own personality is defined by cleverness and using his wits. That these are traits similar to those possessed by the goddess herself is significant.

A direct parallel is drawn between Odysseus and Athena in two incidents that bookend the epic. Early on in the Odyssey, Athena appears to Odysseus’ son Telemachus in disguise. Towards the end of the epic, it is Athena that allows Odysseus to take on the form of a beggar, which allows him to re-enter Ithaca disguised.

Athena’s presence in the Iliad is notably less prominent. Nevertheless, she also acts as something of a guide to Achilles at key moments throughout. For instance, she is present at the infamous quarrel of Agamemnon and Achille over Breseis which opens the epic. She helps stay the anger of Achilles, preventing him from killing Agamemnon outright!

Athena was, naturally enough, the patron of her namesake city, Athens. The Festival Dionysia, where Greek tragedies were staged, actually took place in Athens. So, the audience for Greek tragedies consisted primarily of Athenians. The characterisation of Athena in Greek tragedies is, unsurprisingly, consistently positive.

Perhaps Athena’s most important role in Greek Tragedy is in the Eumenides by Aeschylus. Athena appears in the third and final play of the Oresteia trilogy, where she effectively acts as a judge in the world’s first courtroom drama.

The deciding vote as to whether or not Orestes should be considered guilty of his crimes is granted to Athena. The ruling frees Orestes from punishment by the Furies, while also granting the Furies a place of honour in a new system of justice.

This ruling is seen as representing in dramatic form perhaps the greatest Athenian invention – democracy.

Athena also appears in a number of Euripides‘ plays, such as Iphigeneia Among the Taurians, The Suppliants and Ion. In each of these plays, she acts in the role of deus ex machina, a term that literally means ‘god from the machine’.

Although that term might conjure up the sort of imagery you’d see in a Marvel or Matrix movie, it’s real meaning is much more straightforward than it might sound.

The ‘machine’ is in fact the mechane, a sort of crane that formed part of the ancient Greek stage. It was a heightened platform, placed physically above the action of the rest of the scene, to signify to the audience that the actor was playing a god.

Whenever the drama has reached a point near the climax of the story, and all the play’s problems seem unsolvable, a god appeared on this stage. They then go on to very effectively resolve the conflict of the play, by telling each of the characters what they must do. It’s not always been a popular technique in tragedy – Aristotle was critical of the convention of the deus ex machina in his treatise on tragedy, the Poetics. Today, many would still agree with him. Yet it is a fitting role for Athena to fulfil. It’s consistent with how Athena is characterised throughout ancient literature, while also wrapping up the stories of the tragedies

There is, of course, an even more vast body of myths that surround Athena. Many of these belonged to the lost poems of the Epic Cycle. We still know many of these stories – for instance, that she was one of the three goddesses Paris had to choose between in the “Apple of Discord” story. Yet so much is also lost. Perhaps the real wisdom is found in the words of Socrates – “I know that I know nothing.”