Heros of Greek Myth

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Theseus / ˈ θ iː s iː ə s / ( Ancient Greek : Θησεύς Greek: [tʰɛːsěu̯s] ) was the mythical [ 1 ] founder-king of Athens , son of Aegeus and Poseidon , both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus , Cadmus , or Heracles , all of whom battled and overcame foes that were identified with an archaic religious and social order. [ 2 ] As Heracles was the Dorian hero, Theseus was the Athenian founding hero, considered by them as their own great reformer: his name comes from the same root as θεσμός ("thesmos"), Greek for "institution". He was responsible for the synoikismos ("dwelling together")—the political unification of Attica under Athens, represented emblematically in his journey of labours, subduing highly localized ogres and monstrous beasts. Because he was the unifying king, Theseus built and occupied a palace on the fortress of the Acropolis that may have been similar to the palace that was excavated in Mycenae .

Theseus

In Greek mythology , the Minotaur ( Ancient Greek : Μῑνώταυρος [miːnɔ̌ːtau̯ros] , Latin : Minotaurus , Etruscan Θevrumineś ), was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man [ 1 ] or, as described by Roman poet Ovid , "part man and part bull". [ 2 ] He dwelt at the center of the Cretan Labyrinth , which was an elaborate maze -like construction [ 3 ] designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus , on the command of King Minos of Crete . The Minotaur was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus . The term Minotaur derives from the Ancient Greek Μῑνώταυρος , a compound of the name Μίνως ( Minos ) and the noun ταύρος "bull", translated as "(the) Bull of Minos". In Crete, the Minotaur was known by its proper name, Asterion , [ 4 ] a name shared with Minos' foster-father. [ 5 ] "Minotaur" was originally a proper noun in reference to this mythical figure.

Minotaur

Oedipus

Oedipus ( US pron.: / ˈ ɛ d ɨ p ə s / or UK / ˈ iː d ɨ p ə s / ; Ancient Greek : Οἰδίπους Oidípous meaning "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes . A tragic hero in Greek mythology , Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thereby brought disaster on his city and family. The story of Oedipus is the subject of Sophocles 's tragedy Oedipus the King , which was followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone . Together, these plays make up Sophocles's three Theban plays . Oedipus represents two enduring themes of Greek myth and drama: the flawed nature of humanity and an individual's powerlessness against the course of destiny in a harsh universe.

The Seven against Thebes ( Ancient Greek : Ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας , Hepta epi Thēbas ; Latin : Septem contra Thebas ) is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. The trilogy is sometimes referred to as the Oedipodea . [ 1 ] It concerns the battle between an Argive army led by Polynices and the army of Thebes led by Eteocles and his supporters. The trilogy won the first prize at the City Dionysia .

Seven Against Thebes

Perseus

Perseus ( Greek : Περσεύς ), the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty of Danaans there, was the first of the heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths of the Twelve Olympians . Perseus was a demi-god, the Greek hero who killed the Gorgon Medusa , and claimed Andromeda , having rescued her from a sea monster sent by Poseidon in retribution for Queen Cassiopeia declaring that her daughter, Andromeda, was more beautiful than the Nereids . [ edit ] Etymology

In Greek mythology Medusa ( Greek : Μέδουσα (Médousa ), "guardian, protectress") [ 1 ] was a monster , a Gorgon , generally described as having the face of a hideous human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone. Most sources describe her as the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto , [ 2 ] though the author Hyginus ( Fabulae , 151) interposes a generation and gives Medusa another chthonic pair as parents. [ 3 ] Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus , who thereafter used her head as a weapon [ 4 ] until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield . In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion .

Medusa

Jason

Jason landing in Colchis - as depicted in a 17th century painting. Jason ( Ancient Greek : Ἰάσων , Iásōn ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero who was famous for his role as the leader of the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece . He was the son of Aeson , the rightful king of Iolcos . He was married to the sorceress Medea .

The Argonauts ( Ancient Greek : Ἀργοναῦται , Argonautai ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology , who in the years before the Trojan War , accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece . Their name comes from their ship, the Argo , named after its builder, Argus . "Argonauts" literally means " Argo sailors". They were sometimes called Minyans , after a prehistoric tribe in the area. [ edit ] Story

Argonauts

Trojan War

In Greek mythology , the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans ( Greeks ) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus king of Sparta . The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature , most notably through Homer 's Iliad and the Odyssey . The Iliad relates a part of the last year of the siege of Troy; the Odyssey describes Odysseus 's journey home. Other parts of the war are contained in a cycle of epic poems , which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid .

In Greek mythology , Achilles ( Ancient Greek : Ἀχιλλεύς , Akhilleus , pronounced [akʰillěws] ) was a Greek hero of the Trojan War and the central character and greatest warrior of Homer 's Iliad . Achilles was a demigod ; his mother was the nymph Thetis , and his father, Peleus , was the king of the Myrmidons . Achilles’ most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan hero Hector outside the gates of Troy .

Achilles

Head of Odysseus from a Greek 2nd century BC marble group representing Odysseus blinding Polyphemus , found at the villa of Tiberius at Sperlonga Detail of an ancient Roman mosaic of Ulysses in Tunisia Odysseus ( pron.: / oʊ ˈ d ɪ s i ə s / or / oʊ ˈ d ɪ s juː s / ; Greek : Ὀδυσσεύς , [odysˈsews] ), also known by the Roman name Ulysses ( / juː ˈ l ɪ s iː z / ; Latin : Ulyssēs , Ulixēs ), was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and a hero of Homer 's epic poem the Odyssey .

Odysseus

Heracles

Heracles ( pron.: / ˈ h ɛr ə k l iː z / HERR -ə-kleez ; Ancient Greek : Ἡρακλῆς , Hēraklēs , from Hēra , " Hera ", and kleos , "glory" [ 1 ] ), born Alcaeus [ 2 ] ( Ἀλκαῖος , Alkaios ) or Alcides [ 3 ] ( Ἀλκείδης , Alkeidēs ), was a divine hero in Greek mythology , the son of Zeus and Alcmene , foster son of Amphitryon [ 4 ] and great-grandson (and half-brother) of Perseus . He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae ( Ἡρακλεῖδαι ) and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Rome and the modern West , he is known as Hercules , with whom the later Roman Emperors , in particular Commodus and Maximian , often identified themselves. The Romans adopted the Greek version of his life and works essentially unchanged, but added anecdotal detail of their own, some of it linking the hero with the geography of the Central Mediterranean.

Labors of Hercules