HERA: Camila Gomez

Hi! my name is Hera, I am the goddess of marriage and the protector of women. I am the daughter of Cronus, the youngest of the first generation of titans and my mother is Rhea, sister of Cronus and mostly known for being the mother of the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus. I'm Zeus' sister and wife, he is the king of the gods. I am very jelous, but the reasons are my husband's multiple love affairs. I use to torture my step-daughters, step-sons and their mothers, I prank them without compassion because they need to pay for their mistakes. My first conflict with Zeus was when I refused to seduce him, he turn into a cuckoo in order for me to warm it in my breast because it was winter but when I took it Zeus returned into his normal shape and raped me. I hate Heracles, son of Zeus and Alcmena, sending him all kinds o difficulties. My wagon is pulled by peacocks, turning them into my symbol.

http://arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/papers/sosahera/hera.html

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/hera.html

http://www.mythweb.com/gods/Hera.html

Euridice- Orpheus by : alejandra Villamil

Hi, my name is Euridice, I was killed by a poisonous snake the day of my wedding. My boyfriend Orpheus, was so sad that he decided to come for me to the underworld. He decided to sang to the queen Persephone who was so happy because of his beautifull voice and his music that acceopted to convince Hedes the king of the underworld to let me go with him. Hedes accepted but with one condition: He should not look upon me, until we were back on the land of living . We were just right to arrive but my boyfriend didnt trust I was behind him and look toward were I was walking. Hermes inmediatly took me back to the underworld. So sad was Orpheus that he decided to life sometime on the wildlife until one day that the meanads came to hear his wonderfull voice sing, but happened that his sadness make his voice dissapear completely. So the meanads were son angry that they killed Orpheus and throw him through a river that took him to the island of Lesbos were there he came to the underworld to be again with me forever.....

http://www.theriverstyx.net/orpheus.shtml

http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/eurydice/eurydicemyth.html

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/o/orpheus.html

http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/eurydice.html

Alejandra V

APHRODITE

By: Guadalupe Vasquez

Hi! I am Aphrodite and I am the Goddess of love, lust, and beauty. My Greek name is φροδίτη and my Roman name is Venus. Actually, there are two stories about my birth. Some say that I am the daughter of Zeus and Dione, but in the other hand, it is thaught that after Cronus castrated Uranus, his testicles were thrown to the see and I arose from there. The most powerful ability I have is a very strong force of love. I can help you gain the love of whom ever you want but only if I consider it true love. I can also cause big trubles to those who disrupt or prevent the workships of love and sexuality. For instance, I can cause misfortune and lack of beauty in who ever I want. I was married with Hephastus, but due to my unhappines I had some affairs with Ares, but my main romance was with Adonis, who was a mortal. The judgement of Paris is a story that recognize me. When Peleus and Thetis were getting married, many gods, goddesses, and mortals were invited, except the goddess Eris. Nevertheless, she apeared with a golden apple that had the words “to the fairiest”. Aphrodite, Hera and Athena claimed to be the fairest, but the coise was in hands of Paris. Hera tried to bribe Paris with Asia Minor, while Athena offered wisdom, fame and glory in battle, but I whispered to Paris that if he were to choose her as the fairest he would have the most beautiful mortal woman in the world as a wife, and he accordingly chose her.

References:

* Micha F. Lindemans(1999). Aphrodite. 17 July 1999 from:http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/aphrodite.html

* Joel Skidmore. Aphrodite. 25 August 2007 from:http://www.mythweb.com/gods/Aphrodite.html

Persephone

By Laura Jaramillo

 My name is Persephone or just, “The Goddess of the Underworld”. You must have heard of my parents, Zeus and Demeter. My mother, the goddess of grain and fertility, was responsible for the growth of plants and crops and I usually helped her with her work. I’m known because of my beauty and something that happened when I was young and everybody loved and desired me, even Hades, the god of underworld. Because of my beauty, Pluto wanted to marry me.  He asked for Zeus’s permission to do so, but he refused Hades’ request because he knew Demeter would never agree. One day, while collecting flowers on the Plain of Enna, the earth suddenly opened and Hades emerged and abducted me.  Helios was the only one that saw how Hades kidnapped me. My mom, Demeter searched for me day and night but it was quite impossible. All the crops withered and died. She looked for me until Helios revealed what happened. Demeter had a depression while I was suffering Hades’ cruelty. Knowing this could not continue much longer, Zeus decided to send Hermes down to the underworld to look for me. Hades obviously disagreed and was reluctant to give back. Before I went back home, he gave me some seeds known as pomegranate. What I didn’t even noticed was that they were part of a plan. After eating them, I went back to the underworld forever. Sadly my life changed, one-third of the year was completely boring; I needed to stay down there, and then could psend the remaining months with my mother.  That was how winter was created, while I was with Hades, Demeter refused to let anything grow.  From that day on, I became the goddess of the earth and harvest. 

References: 

Clon, M. (2002). The Story of Persephone. http://www.Carlo s.emory.  edu/ODYSSEY/GREECE/perseph.html

Thisbe and Pyramus

Hi, my name is Thisbe, and my life is a little similar to Romeo and Juliet. Well I am a young girl, the most attractive maiden in Babylonia and my boy friend, Pyramus is the most pretty and splendid man I ever seen. We live in neighbor homes and through time we fell in love, but my parents don’t want me to be with him, I am not allowed to see him. We used to communicate by a whole or a crack in the wall that separates both houses.

One night before the break of sunrise, while everyone was sleeping, we decide to meet in the nearby fields close to a mulberry tree. I arrive first, and when I was waiting, I decide to sat under the tree, in a moment, I see something strange it was a lion! I decide to refuge behind the rocks and in the moment I jump, my veil fall down. When the lion turn on, after drinking the water, he saw the veil that has fail down and he start playing, eating and attacking, lefting it all covered of blood.
When Pyramus was arriving, he saw this lion and thinks it was eating me, desperately he suicide, with his sword. His blood falls on the roots of this tree, and immediately turns the white mulberries all red. I was wishing not to disappoint my lover, I stepped carefully, and looking for him, willing to tell him the danger I had escaped only for being with him. When I came and saw the changed color of the mulberries, I think if it was the same place. I recognized my lover; taking on his body, I said him to talk me; when he hear me, Pyramus opened his eyes, and told me that he thinks that the lion has kill me and instantly closed the eyes again. I saw my veil covered with blood and I decide to kill myself, so we will die together; I couldn’t die so I decide to left my life in Babylonia and start a new one, since that moment I don’t know anything of my family, and is for my wonderful love story that the origin of red berries is known, as it does today.

SOURCES:

• http://library.thinkquest.org/26264/myths/tales/other/site010.htm
• http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_pyramusthisbe.htm

Daniela Restrepo P.10B

The Great God Pan

Pan, son of Hades and a Nymph. He was a gos that looked out for the shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music. He walked around the hills and mountains of Arkadia. Pan always used to chase around Nymphs.

Arcadian god of fertility, half goat half human, god of lust and magic who seduces women with his pipes.

Pan is also the symbol of the libido in its sexual aspect.

He also was the ONLY god that died.

Pan used his scream to cause panic in those who heard it. This helped the gods in their fight against the titans.

Famous Story
Echo and Pan... Echo was a nymph that was a great singer and dancer. She could have the love of any man just by her charming songs and dances. Pan got very mad because of this and told all his followers to kill her. When Pan's followers found Echo they ripped her up into pieces that were spread all over earth. After this Gaia received the pieces of Echo.

http://www.lugodoc.demon.co.uk/PAN.HTM
http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/pan.htm
http://gogreece.about.com/cs/mythology/a/blmythpan.htm
http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Pan.html
http://pantheatre.free.fr/pages/pan_god.htm
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/p/Pan.htm
http://hunter.apana.org.au/~gallae/pantheon/myth/pan.htm
http://encyclopediaindex.com/b/ggpan10.htm
http://www.loggia.com/myth/pan.html













PABLO ANTONIO ESTRADA ARIAS

hi i`m Poseidon, the god of the seas and of the horses, and mostly known as the earth-shaker. i was venerated in the Bronze Age Greece, but i was one of the olympian gods. I am the brother of Zeus and Hades and i have lots of children. sailors prayed to me in order for them to have a good and safe voyage, sometimes sacrificing horses in my honor. when i was offended or ignored, i struck the ground with my trident and i caused chaotic earthquakes of waves. i was supposed to create islands and offering calm seas. i also caused certain forms of menthal disturbance. one hippocratic theory said that i was blamed for some types of epilepsy.

Isabela Londoño S. 10B

http://nowrunning.com/film/review.asp?movieNo=3103&mv=Poseidon

ACHILLES

Hi everyone I am Achilles and I am a famous hero and warrior from Greece. I am the son of Peleus and Thetis and one day when I was very little my mom Thetis made me immortal by bathing me in the river Styx, but the heel by which she held me remained vulnerable and this turn out to be a problem in the future. One of my most famous stories is the one about the Trojan War. Everything started when I leaded more than 50 ships to Troy and in there I fought to death, but first for revenged I killed Hector for killing my friend Patroclus which was a relief but unfortunately Paris inflicted a fatal wound in my heel which caused my death. But during the time I lived I was consider one of the greatest warriors and heroes in Greece and even after my death I was remembered for being an indestructible immortal who was able to defeat the empire of Troy.

Sources:
“Achilles” http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A080.html. November 26,2007.

By: Andrés Carvajal L.

Atalanta!

Hello I’m Atalanta daughter of King Iasus and Clymene. When I was born my parents left me in the forest alone, because they want a boy not a girl, but a bear found me and raised me. The time pass and I went to live with the hunters, there I learn all their techniques, abilities and star loving hunting. I was best known for being the fastest mortal, my shooting skills and for my participation on male games such as Calydonian Boar Hunt and Funeral games .The two of them I won and after I won the Calydonian Boar Hunt I reconciled with my father and became a princess. Also I was one of the Argonauts and had a son named Parthenopaeus.
When I become a princess my father decided to marry me, but I don’t want to do it and do the story began… Atalanta came up with a plan that would stop her from having to marry. She would race the males that want to marry her, the one who beat her in the foot race would be the lucky man to marry her, but if she won, she could kill the man. Atalanta made the plan knowing that no one could beat her. One day a racer, Melanion fell in love with Atalanta and wanted to marry her, but he knew he couldn’t beat her so he called on Aphrodite, the love goddess, for assistance. Aphrodite provided Melanion with three golden apples to cheat Atalanta. During the race, whenever Atalanta would get ahead of Melanion, he would roll one of the golden apples forward, forcing Atalanta for her curiosity to stop and pick the apple up. Atalanta's frequent stops gave Melanion the advantage he needed and he won the race and Atalanta has to marry him. Once married, it seems that Atalanta could not contain her inhibitions any longer, but one day she allowed Melanion to seduce her in the temple of Zeus. Zeus was so angered that he turned them into lions. This was a fitting punishment because lions can’t mate with each other.

"Atalanta" created on 03 March 1997; last modified on 11 March 2006. http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/atalanta.html. Retrivied 23/11/07.


Nataly Torres

Hi, my name is Arachne!

You might know me as a young lady, and sometimes said to be a princess who offended Athena. I am form Lydia. I was gifted in the art of weaving. My symbol is the spider. My works were so good that observers often said that I must have been trained by the goddess of weaving, Athena. I didn’t like to be known as worst than Athena so I told everyone that she could never do better than me.

One day an old lady came to me a told me to be careful not to offend the gods. I asked for a contest with Athena, and, if I lost, I would suffer whatever punishment Athena demands me. The contest began, Athena and I started weaving, each of us a different scene. Even Athena had to admit that my work was perfect. Athena was angered and she destroyed the tapestry. Then she touched my forehead in order for me to felt full guilt for my actions. After that, I was depressed and I hanged myself.

Athena brought me back to life but not as a human, as a spider.

You can see my picture on the top when i was weaving.

Silvia Uribe G.

LEE, Melissa. "Arachne". http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/arachne.html November 25, 2007.

Behold Polyphemus

by Sergio Londoño

Greetings, lesser creature, and behold.  I am the great Cyclops, Polyphemus, son of the grand Poseidon and the beautiful nymph, Thoosa. I am part of the second generation of Cyclopes, descendants from then lord of the seas. I have been unfairly judged and impugned for being a semi-human monster of astounding proportions, and for only having one eye instead of two. I lived in peace, amongst my other brothers, in the island of Sicily, where I inhabited a cave. There, I was a calm shepherd, who only ate a couple of sheep per day and was nourished from raw flesh. I was known for my strength, but also for my quietness. The only reason for which I was disliked was my habit of eating humans. The story that made me famous in history is related to the Hero Odysseus. He, in company of twelve of his men, entered my cave in Sicily and ate all my food supply. I intended to leave them inside my cave, and punish them for their disrespect. I killed and ate two of Odysseus men and easily went to sleep. They decided not to kill me, for they needed my strength to move the boulder I had placed on the entrance of my cave. The next morning, I had to kill two more men in order to have breakfast. I removed the boulder from the entrance in order to let my sheep and goats out of the cave. By night, when I was back with my sheep, Odysseus offered me wine, and told me his name was “Outis” (Greek name for “Nobody”). Of course, I accepted the wine, and fell drunk to the floor of my cave. By then, Odysseus and the remaining men used a pointy pole, and stuck it in the middle of my eye and made me blind. The pain woke me up, and I called and screamed for the neighboring Cyclopes to come. When they came and asked who had done such a thing, I said that “Outis” (nobody) had hurt me. My fellow Cyclopes, convinced that I was crazy, left me alone with my blindness. The next day, when I let  my sheep out of the cave, due to my blindness, I didn’t notice, that it was actually Odysseus and his men who were leaving the cave disguised as sheep. Since that day, I prayed to my father for vengeance. Obliging, Poseidon became Odysseus’ enemy from that day on. 

References: 

Leadbetter, R. (1997). Polyphemus. Retrieved November 26, 2007, from http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/polyphemus.html

Icarus and Daedalus

Icarus and Daedalus

Hi, my name is Icarus and my father is Daedalus. My father was a great inventor and architecture. My father and I were slaves at the castle King of Knossos, in Crete. There with my father I was condemned to make the Minotaur Knossos. Finally then of building the labyrinth to the king Pariphae he forgot about us. We where trapped on the labyrinth, my father preventing that the Minotaur kill us, he build wing so that we could fly away. These wings were made of string, wax and feather. He helps me put them on and before we take fly he prevent me not to get close to the sun. He tells me that it would melt the wax and damage the wings. I with great excitement to fly didn’t pay attention. Minutes after we take fly I go really close to the sun, and how my father told the wax melt and the wings damage. So I fell to the water and die drown. My father keeps flying and disappears.

By Juan Martin Echeverri

Sources:
http://thanasis.com/icarus.htm.
http://www.verticalpool.com/icarusmyth.html

EROS & PSYCHE

Psyche was a very beautiful girl, daughter of a king, and sister of two other very beautiful girls. As her two sisters married, no one dared to approach her and ask her to marry her thereby her parents went to the oracle of Delphi and decided with the consent of the oracle to sacrifice her. She was sent to a very high cliff where she was supposed to get married but she was abandoned. After some days of crying she was taken by a warm breeze to a beautiful place with a great castle. There, she slept on a bed in which her lover visited her all nights but with the lights off so she could not see him. One day, her sisters visited her with very envious looks and convinced her to turn on the lights when her love came at night, and she did so. And she found Eros, son of Aphrodite goddess of love, lying besides her. Feeling that she had betrayed him, he flies away. She looks after everywhere but she couldn’t find him. Her sisters heard about it and went on looking for his love, which ended in tragedy since both of them died at the cliff. At last, Psyche had to face the goddess Aphrodite herself. She is tested by Aphrodite, assigning her couple of impossible tasks, that with help she achieves. Showing her true love for Eros, Zeus converts her into an immortal and lives happily ever after with Eros.

SOURCES: http://library.thinkquest.org/26264/myths/tales/gods/site010.htm

http://ny.essortment.com/erospsyche_rvde.htm

Alejandra Ospina L.

Hello ugly People, I am the beautyful Narcissus

Hello ugly people, you must remember as the beautiful Narcissus. No matter I was not considered a god, for my magnific beauty I should. As you must know, my parents were Cephissus, the god of river, and the nymph Liriope . Unfortunatly, I was surrounded by stupid ugly nyphs, that got in love with me, without knowing that it was imposible that I married creatures that lack of beauty. Because of Echos, the worst of those nymphs, I was punished by the godness Nemesis. But that punishment was great. That I got in love with the only creature that had my same beauty: me, was the most wise desition that I had ever heared. And as all great histories, I died for love. When I was admirating my reflection in the water of the river, I felt down and died.

Source

"Narcissus", http://www.pantheon.org/articles/n/narcissus.html, November 26, 2007.

Pedro Arango

Hello, My Name is Perseus Slayer of the Medusa

Hi im Perseus, son of Zeus and the mortal Danae. The king of the island I lived fell in love with my mom and wished to remove me from the island so he sent me on the most dangerous task from which he knew I would not come back alive. He had given me the mission of killing the medusa, this beast with snake hairs and eyes that turned people into stone just by having eye contact lived on an island near my own, she and her sisters were called the gorgons. I used a mirror shield and tricked her turning her into stone with her own powers. I returned to my island and gave the king medusa´s head making me a hero and foiled his plans to marry my mother; later on I married Andromeda after saving her from the sea monster. this and many other quests around all grece made me famous.

Sourses:

cotilleando.com

http://mythweb.com/
http://youtube.com/
(Julian Pava A.)

Dionysus

Hello my name is Dionysus

Hello my name is Dionysus or Bacchus, most recognized for being the god of wine. I represent not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficial influences. I am mostly represented by grapes. I have a very dual nature. I’m the son of the ruler of the world, Zeus. After my death from the titans I have been wondering all around the world taking my cult every were. I am the only one who has achieved in bringing someone from the underworld to life. The fortunate one was Thanatos.
It was I who granted Midas the power to turn whatever he touched into gold, then was kind enough to take the power back when it proved inconvenient.

SOURCES

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/scaffold/GG/othergod.html#Dionysus
http://www.mythweb.com/gods/Dionysus.html

(Mateo Trujillo)

°°Sisyphus°°

Hi, my name is Sisyphus!

You must remember me, as the founder and king of Corinth, or Ephyra as it was called in those days. Also people didn’t like me because I used to trick them, kidnap them, and many other things that they didn’t like, but I had fun doing them. My greatest victory came at the end of my life when the god Hades came to claim me personally for the kingdom of the dead.
I didn’t have a very good reputation, because I was remembered as the king that kept Death locked up in a closet at my house for many a day. Finally, I released Death and I was ordered summarily to report to the Underworld zone of Tartarus for his eternal assignment. But I had another trick up my sleeve. I simply told my wife not to bury me and then I complained to Persephone, the Queen of the Dead, that I had not been accorded the proper funeral honors. Then she saw that I must be given leave to journey back topside and put things right. I came back to the earth and stayed for a long while. But later on, Hades came back and hauled me down for committing a crime against the gods. So I got punished for the rest of eternity. My job was to roll a great rock to the top of a hill, and every time I reached the top, the rock rolled back down again.
All though I thought I was very intelligent to trick Death, at the end I was caught and my punishment was worst than what I could imagine.

Sources:

"Sisyphus", http://www.mythweb.com/today/today02.html, November 25, 2007.

Isabel Echeverri A.

Hello, My name is Midas

MIDAS:

Hello, my name is Midas. I am a very kind king who ruled Anatolia, I helped an old satyr one day and Dionysus gave me one wish because it was his son. My wish was that everything I touched had to be turned into gold. So it happened, and I started to try it on my flowers. It happily worked, but then I started to have trouble eating and I turned my lovely daughter into a big statue of gold. I started to hate it and soon my whole kingdom was going to be turned into gold. Then, I knew I had to do something so I begged Dyonisus to change everything back and to take away my power. Dyonisus did it for pity but he turned me into a poor guy, however I felt rich for what I had, my family.





Hey, at the top there is a picture of me.



Sources:
http://www.hipark.austin.isd.tenet.edu/mythology/midas.html
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/kingmidas.htm

(Esteban Saavedra)

Hi, my name is Zeus!

You might know me as the powerful ruler of the sky, controller of rain and cloud, and master of lightning. I overthrew my father, Cronus, and took over everything, giving the sea to my brother Poseidon and the underworld to my brother Hades.

I have sort of a bad reputation as a womanizer. I mean, I love my wife, Hera, but there are just so many beautiful women on earth, that I can’t help being a little bit unfaithful from time to time.

I’m really a nice guy, but please, don’t make me angry unless you want to see a heck of a storm. I have a bit of a short temper, and I really hate to be tricked. No one is more powerful than me…. except maybe Fate. But until she catches up to me, I’ll keep living the life of the most famous Greek God ever to live on Mount Olympus!


This is me, last year after Hera tricked me and stole Io away!



Source: Strait, Marlyse. "The Greek Gods and Their Creation" Zeus. 1998.

(Ms. Yates)

Welcome!

This blog was created for English Language Arts students at Colegio Granadino in Manizales, Colombia! This blog will include student work during the Greek Mythology Unit.

Thanks for visiting!
-Ms. Yates