Typhon, or Typhoeus, was a monstrous, serpentine creature with a hundred heads that could shoot fire from his eyes. He spoke with a myriad of sounds and voices, sometimes bellowing like a bull, barking like a dog, or roaring like a lion. He was the greatest and final challenger of Zeus for the throne of Mount Olympus and dominance of the world. His eventual defeat culminated in Zeus being crowned king of the gods and dividing the domains of power among the Olympians.

The Origins of Typhon

The earliest mention of Typhon comes from Hesiod’s Theogony, written in the 8th century BC. In it, the poet wrote that Typhon was the child of Gaia and Tartarus. He was the youngest son of Gaia, born after Zeus defeated and imprisoned the Titans and the Giants in Tartarus. It is a common misconception that Gaia was angry with Zeus over his treatment of her elder children and, therefore, gave birth to Typhon specifically so he could seek vengeance. However, there is no textual evidence for this story.

The birth of Typhon rather falls into the broader succession myth, which foretold Ouranos being overthrown by his son Cronos, and Cronos by his son Zeus. Zeus was also told that he would have a child by Metis, who would overthrow him and become the lord of heaven. To prevent this, he swallowed Metis while she was pregnant with their child, resulting in the goddess Athena being born from his head. Metis then lived inside Zeus, unable to give birth to a male child, breaking the cycle. With the cycle broken, Zeus’ triumph over Typhon was definitive and cemented his rule as eternal, unlike his predecessors.

Another version of Typhon’s origin came from the Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo. In the poem, it wasn’t Gaia who birthed the monster but Hera. She gave birth to Typhon through parthenogenesis, virgin birth, because she was angry at Zeus for giving birth to Athena on his own. She struck the ground with the flat of her hand and prayed to Gaia, Ouranos, and all the Titans sealed away in Tartarus that she might bear a son stronger than Zeus. Gaia heard her prayer and fulfilled it, and for a year, Hera did not share Zeus’ bed. When the year was done, Hera gave birth to Typhon. She then brought Typhon to Delphi, where he was raised by the she-dragon Echidna.

In both versions, Typhon was born with the express purpose of challenging Zeus, and he proved to be Zeus’ greatest challenger.

How Typhon Caused the Flight of the Gods

When Typhon attacked Olympus, the force of his assault filled the gods with a terror they had never known before. Luckily, they received advanced warning from Pan. They all fled to Egypt and the banks of the Nile River, where they hid disguised as animals. This is an aetiological myth that explains why the Egyptians practiced animal worship. Apollo became a hawk, like the god Horus; Hermes became an Ibis, like the god Thoth; Artemis became a cat, like Bastet; Hephaestus became an ox, like Ptah; and Dionysus became a goat, like Osiris.

To the Egyptians, Typhon was equated with their god Seth, the god of destruction. The 5th-century BC historian Herodotus reported that the Egyptians had a myth that Typhon was once the supreme king of the cosmos but was deposed by Apollo, Egyptian Horus, who became the last divine king of Egypt. While this is not part of Greek tradition, it is noteworthy that the Greeks found no conflict between their own cosmogony and that of their neighbors and were easily able to reconcile the two.

How Typhon Challenged Zeus

The main purpose of Typhon’s existence was to be a challenger to Zeus for supremacy of the cosmos. This plays into the larger theme of the succession myth and also parallels the succession myths of the Near Eastern Hurro-Hittite culture, where the Greek version was thought to have originated. Hesiod’s version is brief, emphasizing the cosmic implications of Typhon’s potential victory, while later authors provide more detail.

In Apollodorus’ Library of Greek Mythology, Typhon stormed Olympus, throwing red-hot rocks at the heavens. They were warned of the danger by Pan, and when the gods saw Typhon approaching, they all fled to Egypt and hid by transforming into animals. Only Zeus, and sometimes Athena, remained to fend off the monster, hurling down lightning bolts at him. As Typhon drew nearer, Zeus attempted to attack him with an adamantine sickle, similar to the one used to castrate Ouranos, but Typhon fled to Mount Casium.

Zeus followed, hoping to finish the job, but Typhon captured him in his serpentine coils. The monster took the sickle and cut out the sinews from Zeus’ hands and feet, immobilizing him. He then took Zeus to Cilicia and left him in the Corycian cave, hiding the sinews and leaving a dragon to guard him.

Hermes stole back the sinews and implanted them back into Zeus. Regaining his strength, the king of the gods pursued Typhon, hurling lightning at him as he fled to Mount Nysa. There, Typhon was said to have been deceived by the Fates into eating the fruits of Dionysus (i.e., wine grapes). They told him that they would give him strength, but what they actually did was unclear.

Typhon fought Zeus desperately, throwing entire mountains at him, but the god blasted them apart with his thunderbolt. As Typhon fled to Sicily, Zeus cornered him and dropped Mount Etna on top of him, imprisoning him beneath.

Imprisonment of Typhon

Tradition holds that Typhon was imprisoned beneath Mount Etna in Sicily, guarded by Hephaestus. From his prison below, Typhon was said to send up flames out of the mountain, which Hephaestus used when smithing his many divine armaments.

Another account further connected Typhon with Egypt, stating that he was buried beneath the Serbonian Marshes, an area east of the Nile Delta between Mt. Casius, the Isthmus of Suez, and the Mediterranean Sea. This account also linked Typhon with Seth.

Typhon as Father of Monsters

Typhon was said to have fathered many of the strange and dangerous creatures that inhabited Greek mythology. His monstrous brood terrorized the mortal world, most of which were eventually dispatched by the generation of heroes. Some, like the three-headed hound Cerberus, who guarded the gates of the underworld, were incorporated into Zeus’ cosmic order. In Hesiod, the author named Typhoeus and Typhaon (both names for Typhon) as two distinct entities, though later authors often conflated the two.

Typhoeus was the last son of Gaia, who tried to overthrow Zeus and was imprisoned under Mount Etna. Typhaon was the consort of Echidna, a half-maiden, half-serpent nymph, and fathered by her a race of monsters. These monsters posed a similar threat to the order of the world as Typhon himself since they represent the same aspects of chaos. Once the last of Typhon’s brood were killed, the world took on its modern shape.

Typhon sired Orthos, the Lernaean Hydra, the Nemean Lion, the eagle that flew to the Caucasus mountains and ate Prometheus’ liver every day, and the dragon that guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides. All were killed by Heracles during his 12 labors. Typhon was also the father of the Chimera, which was killed by Bellerophon, and the dragon that guarded the golden fleece in Colchis, which was killed by Jason.

The Ordering of Sound

Hesiod’s Theogony explained the ordering of the world and how things came to be as they are, culminating in Zeus’ kingship. With each new succession of gods, the world took a more familiar, delineated shape as gods were born and given names and powers. The episode with Typhon explained the ordering of sound and methods of communication in the cosmos, with emphasis on mortal and divine voices. Hesiod made the threat of Typhon less of a physical threat than a sonic one. The poet spent many lines describing the chaotic and terrible sounds made by Typhon.

With Typhon’s chaotic and boundless voices, his challenge to Zeus represented an ordering of the cosmos where sounds are not delineated, and therefore there can be no communication between the gods and mortals. When Zeus battled the monster, the action again focused on sounds as Zeus overwhelmed Typhon with his lightning.

“[…]he thundered mightily
and fiercely, and the earth rang terribly,
broad heaven above, the sea, and Ocean’s streams
and Tartarus resounded.”

---

(839-841)

The death of Typhon was described as a necessary precursor for the birth of the Muses, who imparted ordered song and knowledge to Hesiod so that he could transmit it to others. In the poem, several words are used to describe the voices of Typhon. All are found elsewhere in epic poetry, used to describe the utterances of gods or the sounds of battle. The glaring omission is the word αυδε. This word is only used in epic poetry when describing communication between gods and mortals. In the Theogony, this is the word used to relate the utterances of the Muses to Hesiod. Only when they have converted their divine voice into αυδε is Hesiod able to understand them.

Αυδε is the singular voice not possessed by Typhon, but it seems that his many voices interfere with αυδε and, therefore, block the creation of the Muses and communication between the divine and mortal. He, therefore, poses a threat to the hierarchy Zeus sought to establish. Zeus’ victory over Typhon enabled the birth of the Muses and clear communication between gods and mortals.

References

• Clay, J. S. (1993). “The Generation of Monsters in Hesiod,” Classical Philology 88(2), 105–116
• Goslin, O. (2010). “Hesiod’s Typhonomachy and the Ordering of Sound,” Transactions of the American Philological Association 140(2), 351–373
• Griffiths, J. G. (1960). “The Flight of the Gods Before Typhon: An Unrecognized Myth,” Hermes 88(3), 374–376
• Hesiod, (8th century BC) Theogony and Works and Days (D. Wender, trans), Penguin Group, 1973

Odysseus, king of Ithaca, made a name for himself for his quick mind, trickiness, and guile. It earned him the nickname metis (wise). During the Trojan War, he was known by both his Greek allies and Trojan foes for his cunning intelligence. Across the Epic Cycle, several stories show off how Odysseus was the smartest guy in the room, helping his friends, tricking his enemies, and even challenging the gods.

1. Odysseus and the Oath of Tyndareus

King Tyndareus of Sparta had a beautiful daughter named Helen. When Helen came of age, King Tyndareus needed to find her a husband. If we combine the ancient sources — Hesiod, Hyginus, and Apollodorus — there were at least 45 named suitors all vying for the beautiful Helen’s hand. Odysseus was one of them.

Due to Helen’s popularity, King Tyndareus was worried that whomever he chose, the rest would feel vitriolic anger and develop inflexible grudges, resulting in vengeful bloodshed. Odysseus had an idea that would solve the king’s dilemma, but he wanted something from the king.

While in Tyndareus’ kingdom, Odysseus had fallen in love with Helen’s cousin, Penelope. Odysseus promised Tyndareus a solution to his problem in return for Penelope’s hand in marriage. Tyndareus agreed, and Odysseus recommended a particular oath be exacted from all the suitors, recorded by Apollodorus:

“All the suitors [pledged] that they would defend the favoured bridegroom against any wrong that might be done him in respect of his marriage.”

---

Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.10.9

Thus, all the suitors were bound by their word to defend and protect the chosen husband of Helen against any threat to the marriage. Odysseus married Penelope, Helen married Menelaus, and there was peace among the Greeks.

2. Recruiting Achilles 

Despite this oath of protection, war soon came to the Greeks. Whilst on a trip to Sparta, the young Trojan Prince Paris fell deeply in love with Helen. Paris rashly acted on his desire. He either abducted or convinced Helen (depending on the myth) to desert her husband and become his wife in Troy.

To retrieve his wife and get revenge for the insult against his house, Menelaus invoked the Oath of Tyndareus. Greek’s greatest warriors were obliged to help him in a great army led by his brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. There was one problem with his summons. Greece’s best warrior, Achilles, had not sworn the oath, as he had been too young at the time. It had been prophesied that the Trojan War could not be won without Achilles, so Menelaus sent Odysseus to recruit him.

Odysseus soon discovered that the prince was not home. Achilles had been warned that he would not return home from the war alive. Therefore, his mother, the goddess Thetis, had hidden him in the court of Scyros, disguised as a woman. Once Odysseus learned of this, he devised a plan to reveal Achilles’ identity.

In one version of the story, Odysseus feigns an attack on Scyros, and in the ensuing panic, only Achilles does not flee, revealing himself. In another version of the story, Odysseus disguises himself as a salesperson, selling women’s clothes and accessories. When presenting the items to the women of the court, Odysseus hides a sword among the goods. Achilles reveals himself by showing keen interest in the sword alone. Once revealed, Odysseus persuades the young prince to fight in the Trojan War, tantalizing him with the promise of undying fame and glory.

3. Stealing the Palladium

The Trojans had a sacred wooden image called the Palladium, carved in the form of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, war, and craft. This wooden figure was immensely important to the Trojans as a symbol of Athena’s protection of the city and Troy’s heritage.

When a Trojan seer named Helenus left the city walls, he was captured by Odysseus. During his interrogation, Helenus reveals to Odysseus the prophecy that Troy would not fall while the Palladium was safely behind its walls.

Odysseus, dressed as a beggar, slipped into Troy through a secret passage. Once inside, he came across Helen, who told Odysseus where to find the Palladium. According to this version of the myth, Helen was not happy about being abducted by Paris and was happy to help Odysseus break into the city. With Helen’s advice, Odysseus was able to return with his companion Diomedes to steal the Palladium.

4. Devising the Trojan Horse 

Odysseus’ most famous innovative plan was the Trojan Horse. The Greeks and Trojans were at an impasse. For ten years, their armies had been battling on the plains outside Troy’s walls. Legend had it that the walls of Troy were built by the gods Poseidon and Apollo, and that they were impenetrable. As ever, Odysseus had a plan. He came up with the idea to create a giant wooden horse that could hide soldiers inside.

“[The Greeks] build a horse of mountainous size, through Pallas’s divine art,
and weave planks of fir over its ribs:
they pretend it’s a votive offering: this rumour spreads.
They secretly hide a picked body of men, chosen by lot,
there, in the dark body, filling the belly and the huge
cavernous insides with armed warriors.”

---

Virgil, Aeneid 2

The Greek army feigned a retreat, harboring their ships at Tenedos, a nearby island. A Greek soldier named Sinon was left behind to sell the ruse. He pretended to have been deserted by the Greeks and told the Trojans that the wooden horse was left as a sacrifice to Athena. When the Trojans saw that the Greeks had retreated, they rejoiced! Just as Odysseus anticipated, the Trojans decided to take the wooden horse into the city.

Once darkness had fallen and the city was sleeping, a group of selected Greek soldiers emerged from the horse. Now inside the city, they could open the gates, allowing the Greek army to enter. A massacre ensued, and the great city of Troy finally fell.

5. “Nobody” and Polyphemus 

While traveling home from the Trojan War, Odysseus had many adventures. His journey home, or nostos, became one of the most memorable stories in Greek myth. His adventures are recorded in the Odyssey, composed by Homer.

In one adventure, Odysseus was captured with his crew by the Cyclops Polyphemus, in a cave with an enormous boulder over the entrance. This cave stored the food and produce of the Cyclopes, including cheese, wine, and goats. Right away, Polyphemus ate two of the crew members, but he saved the rest for later.

One night, Odysseus plied the Cyclops with the wine. Once drunk, Odysseus deceptively told the Cyclops that his name was “Outis” which means “Nobody” in ancient Greek. Later, when the Cyclops was heavily inebriated, Odysseus struck. He stabbed Polyphemus in his one eye with a stake, leaving him blinded.

Yelling for help, Polyphemus cried out to the other Cyclopes on the island. When they asked what was wrong, Polyphemus cried that Outis was hurting him. Hearing this, the other Cyclopes left, thinking that nobody was harming Polyphemus.

When Polyphemus went to leave the cave, Odysseus and his crew members hung onto the hairy underbellies of the rams stored there, escaping when the sheep were herded out to pasture. Unseen by the other inhabitants of the island, they fled back to their ship.

6. The Siren Song

According to legend, any sailor who heard the Sirens’ song would lose all rational thought and be lured to their death, drowned or eaten by the Sirens. However, to hear the Sirens’ song and survive would allegedly give the listener secret knowledge. The Sirens were ancient beasts who had gathered knowledge for eons. For a pursuer of knowledge like Odysseus, the risk was worth it.

Odysseus helped the crew to make wax molds for their ears so that they could not be harmed by the lure of the Sirens’ song. Odysseus himself wore no earplugs but instead commanded his crew to bind him to the mast of the ship. This way, when the ship sailed past the island of the Sirens, he would be able to hear the song without being tempted to jump ship. The following passage from the Odyssey captures the spell of the sirens:

“So [the sirens] spoke, sending forth their beautiful voice, and my heart was fain to listen, and I bade my comrades loose me, nodding to them with my brows; but they fell to their oars and rowed on… But when they had rowed past the Sirens, and we could no more hear their voice or their song, then straightway my trusty comrades took away the wax with which I had anointed their ears and loosed me from my bonds.”

---

Homer, Odyssey 12.192

Odysseus was able to successfully listen to the song of the Sirens, although the process required enduring temporary madness. The ship safely sailed past the dangerous, enchanted island successfully.

7. Arrival Home: Odysseus’ Disguise

When Odysseus finally reached Ithaca, alone, he had been away from home for twenty long years. Ten years for the Trojan War, and ten years on his return journey. He was unsure what home would be like. Would his family still be loyal to him? Would they have moved on? Presumed he was dead? With such uncertainty, Odysseus disguised himself as an old beggar with the aid of the goddess Athena’s magic to gauge the state of home life.

What Odysseus found on his return was an overrun house. In his absence, his wife Penelope had been swamped with suitors who had taken up residence in and around Odysseus’ home. Before revealing himself, Odysseus happened to meet his now-grown son, Telemachus, in a swineherd’s hut at the edge of the island. In a happy reunion, Odysseus revealed himself to his son, and then together they plotted the overthrow of the suitors.

8. Warnings and Revenge

Odysseus resumed his disguise to travel to the palace so as not to arouse suspicion. The suitors were also plotting Telemachus’ death, so it was vital that they evade attention. Telemachus snuck into the palace to retrieve his weapons and then hid them from the suitors.

When meeting the suitors, Odysseus was treated insultingly, ignoring the Greek rules of xenia (hospitality). The suitors reluctantly shared food with the “beggar” and pushed and kicked him around. Odysseus was immensely angered at the rudeness of the suitors, but he maintained his concealment until the time was right. One of the suitors behaved more cordially to Odysseus, and in response, Odysseus gave him a warning to leave, but the suitor did not listen. Odysseus’ foreboding words were, in part, a warning of the suitors’ impending doom, and a humble recognition of his own past mistakes:

“Of all that breathes and crawls across the earth,
our mother earth breeds nothing feebler than a man.
So long as the gods grant him power, spring in his knees,
he thinks he will never suffer affliction down the years.
But then, when the happy gods bring on the long hard times,
bear them he must, against his will, and steel his heart.
Our lives, our mood and mind as we pass across the earth,
turn as the days turn . . .”

---

Homer, Odyssey 18.150-157

Blessed by the Goddess Athena, Odysseus and Telemachus were close to ridding themselves of the proud and brutish suitors. The final step required Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, to set the elimination of the suitors in motion.

Bonus: Penelope’s Cleverness

Just like her husband, Penelope was blessed with discerning cleverness and great intelligence. Prior to Odysseus’ return, Penelope had been hounded with offers of marriage from a great host of suitors. However, Penelope was uninterested in their offers, as she was hopeful that Odysseus would return.

Facing increasing harassment from the men, she offered them a deal. She would choose a new husband when she had finished her weaving. She was making a burial shroud for the eventual death of her father-in-law. However, Penelope cleverly delayed the suitors:

“So by day she’d weave at her great and growing web—
by night, by the light of torches set beside her,
she would unravel all she’d done. Three whole years
she deceived [the suitors] blind, seduced us with this scheme.”

---

Homer, Odyssey 2.116-119

Eventually, Odysseus arrived on the island, disguised as a beggar. At this time, Penelope had another clever idea. She demanded that any decent suitor would give her lots of gifts as a wedding present. In this way, she managed to replenish the depleted stock of the palace, which the suitors had been exploiting for the past twenty years.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus appears to be very impressed by Penelope’s ruse, and Homer implies that their shared intelligence made them a perfect match. Her delaying ploys also proved to Odysseus her loyalty, so he was more confident in his planned surprise.

Penelope and Odysseus: A Clever Match 

Another of Penelope’s methods for delaying her remarriage was to challenge the suitors to a competition. Whoever could use her husband’s bow to shoot an arrow through twelve ax heads would win her hand. This feat had previously only ever been managed by Odysseus. When the suitors tried, each one of them failed the task. Finally, Odysseus, still in beggar form, stepped up and pulled off the task perfectly, shocking all.

He then proceeded to kill all the suitors with the help of Athena and his son Telemachus. Penelope immediately became suspicious of Odysseus’ true identity, but before getting her hopes up, she had one last test.

When building the palace many years ago, Odysseus had carved their marriage bed out of the olive tree that was central to the house. The bed was, therefore, immovable. This was only known to Odysseus, Penelope, and one servant. Penelope tested Odysseus by commanding her old nurse to move the bed:

“Come, Eurycleia,
move the sturdy bedstead out of our bridal chamber —
that room the master built with his own hands,
Take it out now, sturdy bed that it is.”

---

Homer, Odyssey 23

Overhearing this, Odysseus became angry and demanded to know why Penelope had replaced his wonderfully carved bed with a movable one. With the truth and his identity revealed, the house of Odysseus was happily reunited after many, many years.

Beliefs surrounding life and death for Greeks of the Ancient and Classical eras were not simple. Beyond an immensely complex pantheon of gods, filled with fantastical stories, there were mythic places that mortals could only imagine. Many of these places were reserved for the dead.

For the Greeks of antiquity, there were several possible destinations. Some were islands of paradise, while others were hellish nightmares. Here are 7 realms of the dead in Greek mythology.

1. Hades, the Primary Realm of the Dead

Certainly, the most recognizable name when discussing the Greek realms of the dead, Hades remains the most prominent example of the ancient Greek afterlife. Sharing a name with its patron god, Hades was the first realm of the dead written about in ancient Greek literature. It was thought to be either somewhere at the edge of the world or under the earth.

During the time of Homer, all the dead ended up in the gloomy fields of Hades, where spirits flitted about in a state of semi-consciousness. Homer, in the Iliad, describes it as a damp place accessed through gates guarded by the “hound,” after which the spirits must present themselves before the realm’s rulers, Hades and Persephone.

In the Odyssey, written around the late 8th or first half of the 7th century BC, Homer situates Hades at the edge of the world, beyond the Okeanos, the river which encircles the earthly realm. He notes that the dead are guided to Hades by Hermes and judged by Minos, a demigod who decides the eternal fate of the souls that pass into the afterlife.

There are several places within Hades where a soul can end up. The caveat is that not all Greek mythology was standardized, and this included its geography. Some ancient authors put certain realms of the dead outside of Hades, and other authors put those same realms within it.

Certain features, however, were always ascribed to Hades, and several rivers are of particular note. The Styx is the most prominent and serves as an entrance to Hades. The dead are ferried across by Charon, the ferryman.

The river Acheron is associated with misery and woe, while the Pyriphlegethon burns with fire, and according to Plato, leads into the realm of Tartarus. Also mentioned by Plato as emptying into Tartarus is the Cocytus (or Kokytos), the river of wailing, associated with the punishment for murderers. The fifth river, the Lethe, is the river of forgetfulness, which shares its name with the goddess of forgetfulness and oblivion, and was either situated within Hades or the Elysian Fields.

2. The Elysian Fields, a Paradise for Heroes

In contrast to the rest of the gloomy realm of Hades, the Elysian Fields (or Elysium) was a place where it never snowed or rained, and where life was easy for those who were chosen to reside there. This was according to Homer, who wrote of Elysium in his Odyssey. Over the centuries, poets and writers expanded on Homer’s ideas, adding their own descriptions to this place of paradise.

Initially, only mortals related to the gods could enter Elysium, but over time, concepts surrounding Elysium evolved, and those permitted to enter included heroes, the righteous, and those chosen by the gods. Those fortunate enough to be granted entrance to this paradise could live out eternity in blessed happiness, indulging in whatever they found joyful in life.

By the 5th century BC, Elysium had been conflated with the Isles of the Blessed.

3. The Isles of the Blessed

Introduced by Hesiod in the late 8th and early 7th centuries BC, the Isles of the Blessed were treated as a realm distinct from the Elysian Fields. In his Works and Days, Hesiod locates the Island of the Blessed as being on the banks of the “deep-swirling” Okeanos, and describes it as a place with life-giving land that produces honey-sweet harvest three times a year, feeding its inhabitants, untouched by sorrow.

The Theban poet Pindar (ca. 518 BC to 438 BC) does not use the names “Elysium” and the “Elysian Fields,” but ascribes their paradisal qualities to the Islands of the Blessed, thus merging the two conceptual places as one afterlife for heroes and those of righteous virtue.

Originally conceived as a number of islands, Pindar reduced the number of islands to one, and described it as being a place of shady parklands where residents indulged in music and athletic pursuits—ideal pastimes in ancient Greece.

In an attempt to rationalize the myth, writers of later eras tried to situate the Isle(s). Plutarch (ca. AD 50 to AD 120) states there are two islands and that they are located 1,250 miles west of Africa. He claims these islands constitute the Elysian Fields that Homer mentioned.

Pliny the Elder notes Snake Island at the mouth of the Dnieper as being called the Isle of the Blessed; however, this island is too small and unappealing to be conceived as being an eternal realm of paradise.

4. Tartarus, a Prison for the Damned

From eternal paradise to eternal suffering, Tartarus is a place of torment in Greek myth. A dark abyss, Tartarus was both a place and the concept of a being. As one of the primordial gods, Tartarus was one of the first generation of divine entities detailed in Hesiod’s Theogony.

Tartarus became the prison of the Titans after they were overthrown by Zeus and the Olympians, and is thought of as a place of abyssal depth, far beneath the Underworld.

It is also the home of King Sisyphus, who is forced to roll a boulder up a hill for all eternity, only for it to roll back down on every attempt. Zeus’ punishment for Sisyphus demonstrates the futility of challenging the gods, for Sisyphus considered himself cleverer than Zeus.

This realm is the polar opposite of Elysium and, according to Plato, exists as a place of punishment for the wicked after their souls are judged. While the damned spend eternity there, those with sins that can be atoned for spend a limited time in Tartarus as penitence.

Not confined to Greek mythology, Tartarus also makes an appearance in the Bible.

For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment; 

— 2 Peter 2:4

5. Asphodel Meadows, an Afterlife for the Ordinary

There is nothing spectacular nor terrifying about Asphodel Meadow, for it is where those who led neither good nor bad lives go after they die. Those who live ordinary lives are also sent here.

The most common theory is that this afterlife is named after the asphodel flower, and while the plant is not particularly unusual as far as flowers go, the American classicist Edith Hamilton suggested that the asphodels in this realm were “pallid, ghostly flowers,” and not the usual flowers of reality. The ghostly color of these flowers is appropriate for this part of the Underworld.

The first mention of Asphodel Meadows comes from Homer, who ascribes to it little more than a neutral existence rather than a place of judgment. It sees little mention by later authors, and those mentions are derivative rather than foundational. The ordinary condition of the dead, as can be safely assumed to be in the Asphodel Meadows, is one of meaningless existence where the shades of people wander and float around without direction or purpose.

6. The Mourning Fields, a Misery of Earthly Grief

Mentioned by Virgil in the Aeneid, the Mourning Fields or Fields of Sorrow is a place of gloomy paths and myrtle groves, located near the waters of the Styx. Here, souls recall their earthly grief and unfulfilled love.

It is a place for those who died in sorrow, tied to tragic love. Among the people who dwell there are Dido, who fell in love with Aeneas and committed suicide after he left her, and Eriphyle, who convinced her husband to join a doomed expedition. Eriphyle was killed by her own son in vengeance.

Another soul who wanders the Mourning Fields is Phaedra. In Euripides’ tragedy Hippolytus, Phaedra falls in love with Hippolytus and her love is revealed, but Hippolytus reacts with such revulsion that Phaedra, consumed with embarrassment and misery, kills herself.

7. Erebus, a Place of Primordial Darkness

A place of transition rather than any permanent residence, Erebus is the gloomy place that is a part of the Underworld. It can also be interpreted as a place through which souls pass on their way to Hades. Like Hades, Erebus is also a being, but he is one of the primordial cosmic forces before the Titans and the Olympians. Homer references Erebus as a place in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, but does not go into any detail other than inferring that it is a location where the dead dwell.

Apart from being beneath the earth, descriptions of Erebus are scant in the ancient texts, and it is only mentioned as a place of the dead.

From the depths of Tartarus to the bliss of Elysium, the afterlife was a concept rich in layered thought. For the ancient Greeks, the afterlife mirrored the complexity of life itself. It was shaped by morality, heroism, and fate—things that were of primary importance in ancient Greek culture.

Throughout European history, legends tell of a grim cavalcade of spectral riders, chasing prey across the night sky in an eternal procession of ghostly horror. Found in cultures from the Germanic peoples to the Slavs and the Celts, this phenomenon was, and still is, a portent of doom, preceding war, plague, and death.

Striking fear into the hearts of all those who witnessed it, this is the Wild Hunt.

What Was the Wild Hunt?

Found across many cultures of Europe, including Slavic, Germanic, and Celtic societies, the Wild Hunt was a motif that involved the common idea of a procession of ghostly hunters making their way across the night sky. While the details may have varied from culture to culture, and indeed, from person to person, the theme remained the same, and it was always ominous.

It was believed to precede great catastrophes, and those who saw it feared for their lives. Their spirits could be whisked away to join in the eternal procession, or they could be abducted and taken away to some horrific fate in unearthly realms.

Tied into regional myth, the Hunt could be led by a wide variety of figures, from gods to legendary heroes and the spirits of people who actually lived. Accompanying them were a host of spirits that were equally diverse across cultures.

The Origins of the Wild Hunt

The term “Wild Hunt” existed for many centuries, but was popularized in modern literature by Jacob Grimm, who documented tales relating to it in his Deutsche Mythologie of 1835. Variations on the theme saw it being referred to as a  “Wilde Jagd ” (Wild Hunt), a “Wütendes Heer” (Raging Host), and a “Wildes Heer” (Wild Army) in different parts of Germany.

Grimm researched medieval and modern texts, as well as oral narratives surrounding the myth, noting how these stories changed over time. He traced the tale back to ancient times before Christianity spread through Germany, and suggested that the leader of the Hunt was actually the god, Wodan (or the Norse version “Odin”), or a female counterpart named Holda or Berchta. The Hunt could also be led by Wodan’s wife, whom Grimm called “frau Gaude.”

He further suggested that the Hunt was not always ominous tidings. It was, in fact, quite the opposite and represented good fortune. It was thought that the Hunt visited the mortal realm during Yule and other special occasions, accepting offerings and blessing the land and its people. With the adoption of Christianity, the old ways were recast in an unflattering light, demonized to discredit their support within communities.

Grimm’s theories, however, have been challenged in modern times. Historian Claude Leconteux noted that there is no evidence of Odin’s association with the Wild Hunt prior to the early modern period. This is unsurprising given that early Germanic religion was one of oral tradition.

Much of what is believed is based on Grimm’s assumptions rather than rigorous academic research. There is no evidence that associates the Wild Hunt with similar beliefs across pre-Christian Europe, although certain pre-Christian figures were later incorporated into the myth. A perfect example of this was the god Wodan, also known as Odin in Germanic mythology.

The Re-Interpretation of Odin in the Wild Hunt

Germanic (including Norse) myths lent themselves to the Wild Hunt myth, and Odin was particularly well-suited to guide it in Christian interpretation over the ages. Odin was the leader of the Æsir and was immensely powerful, invoked for strength, courage, and wisdom by his worshipers and as an instrument of terror to his foes.

In Germanic mythology, Odin was also the god of war and death, who, along with his Valkyries, oversaw the recruitment of fallen warriors into his army. His domain fitted the Christian interpretation of the Wild Hunt, as it struck down mortals and took their spirits to join in its unholy cavalcade.

The caveat is that in pre-Christian beliefs, Odin oversaw only those who died in battle, and he did not ride around causing doom and destruction and mass killings of people who were not warriors. As such, Odin and his motives were reinterpreted rather than lifted from ancient beliefs.

Other Cultures, Gods, and Legendary Figures

The Wild Hunt is not limited to German tales, and it is found in cultures throughout Europe, from Germanic people to the Latin European countries, the Celtic peoples, and in Slavic culture.

In Old English, one of the leaders of the Hunt was “Herla,” who has been suggested as being a form of Wodan or Odin. The Hunt was referred to as “Herlaþing” (Herle’s assembly). Another major figure associated with the Hunt in England is Herne the Hunter, a Shakespearean character influenced by folktales around the county of Berkshire.

The Hunt has many other names in England, including Herod’s Hunt, likely referencing the biblical King Herod who murdered infants, as Herod makes an appearance in certain French tales of the Hunt as well.

Unsurprisingly, Odin appears in the Scandinavian myths, and the Hunt has many names, including “Åsgårdsrei” (Asgard’s Ride) or “Oskoreia” (also tentatively translated as Asgard’s Ride) in Norway, and “Odens Jakt” (Odin’s Hunt) and “Vilda Jakten” (Wild Hunt) in Sweden.

In Wales, the myth appeared in the Middle Ages, and is led by either Arawn, who is the king of the Otherworld, or Gwyn ap Nudd, who, according to the tales, ruled the realm in Arawn’s stead for some time. The Hunt is accompanied by Arawn’s red-eared hounds and can be found in the tale of “Cŵn Annwn” (Hounds of Annwn).

In Slavic cultures, the myth is also present, although it is usually considered to have been imported from Germanic culture. In Polish, it is known as “Dziki Łów” (Wild Hunt), in Czech, “divoký hon” or “štvaní” (Wild Hunt or Pursuit), and in Belarus, it is known as “Дзікае Паляванне” (Dzikaje Paliavannie—Wild Hunt).

In Spain, the myth is first mentioned in literature in 1260 by a deacon named Gonzalo de Berceo, who described the event as a “hueste antigua” (ancient host), led by the Devil. The Hunt has many references and variations of names, the most imaginative of which are “Cortejo de Gente de Muerte” (Deadly Retinue) in Extremadura, and “Hueste de Ánimas” (Troop of Ghosts) in León.

In the Northwest of Spain and in parts of Portugal, the Wild Hunt is manifested as the Santa Compaña (Holy Company) and involves tormented souls in hooded white cloaks being led through the parish by a cursed, entranced living person who has no recollection of the event.

Italy, too, has many variations. Some stories involve the Hunt being led by King Theodoric the Great, who ruled over vast areas of the former Roman Empire. This is in contrast to the  Germanic legend of Theodoric as a heroic figure with apocryphal stories. It is said he encountered the Wild Hunt while trying to rescue the maiden Babehilt from a giant named Fasolt.

In the Lunigiana region of Italy, the Wild Hunt (Caccia Selvaggia) is known as the “Caccia Infernale” (Infernal Hunt), and is preceded by icy gusts of wind and involves packs of ferocious hounds and violent spirits.

The Wild Hunt in Modern Times

The symbolic representation of the Wild Hunt is poignant in that it is malleable and can be interpreted to fit certain traditions. It has found a home in the modern rebirth of paganism, the Wiccan religion. Some Wiccan groups have used the Wild Hunt to inspire their own rituals. Such an example was noted by anthropologist Susan Greenwood, who provided an account of a Halloween ceremony in Norfolk involving a race through a forest.

So popular was the idea of the Wild Hunt that it became a widespread trope that endures to the present, if not as a believable phenomenon, then as a form of entertainment. Adapted for fantasy fiction, it forms a central plot of The Witcher books, video games, and television series, created by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. One of the biggest-selling video games, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, follows the story of Geralt of Rivia as he attempts to find his ward, Ciri, who is pursued by the Wild Hunt, a group of powerful elves.

Despite the immense popularity of the Witcher series, there is a possible derivative of the Wild Hunt that is even more famous—that of Santa Claus. In pre-Christian times, Yuletide was associated with Odin, and when Europe underwent a transition to Christianity, many of Yule’s traditions were adopted into the tradition of Christmas.

A common image of Odin is that of an old fatherly figure with a long white beard, riding his eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, across the night sky through the last days of December. It is easy to see how this would influence popular imagery of Santa Claus, and it is theorized that Odin was a direct inspiration for Santa Claus. Thus, Santa Claus may be connected to the Wild Hunt. The similarities between the Wild Hunt motifs and a reindeer-pulled sleigh riding across the night sky in midwinter are not easy to dismiss.

The Wild Hunt is a case in how mythology evolves, and elements of beliefs are preserved through the traditions of others. To this day, it persists in many forms, reflecting the human fascination with explaining death and the unknown.

The Greek afterlife wasn’t simply a shadowy realm of nothingness. Over time, from Homer to Hesiod, Plato, and Virgil, through stories and poetry, it developed features of its own, with forests, mountains, cities, and lakes being considered as part of its geography. Of great importance were the five rivers that were traditionally believed to run through the Underworld. Each had its own character, representing a particular aspect of death or suffering. And some were mythical representations of particular rivers in the real world.

Long after the ancient Greeks wrote their stories, Dante appropriated themes and wrote of the rivers of Hades as being in Hell, merging two very different belief systems. In his Divine Comedy, the source of each of the rivers is the same. They are formed from the tears of a statue named the Old Man of Crete. These tears represent the sins of humanity, and the rivers represent the wages of these sins.

The Styx, the Most Famous of the Rivers of Hades

The Styx is undeniably the most well-known of all the rivers that run through Hades. Like many geographical features (and concepts) in ancient Greek mythology, the Styx is also a being. In this case, she is an Oceanid whose parents were the Titans, Okeanos and Tethys. She supported Zeus in his war against the Titans, and for her service, Zeus designated the river as the place upon which gods took solemn oaths.

Ancient Greek and Roman authors, as well as more modern authors such as Dante, mention the Styx as forming a boundary around Hades, or at least an obstacle that has to be crossed to access the realm of the dead. Hesiod describes its source as a rock or a rugged place, and in its entirety it is a tenth of the waters of Okeanos. In the Aeneid, Virgil describes how the “dreary water” of the Styx circles around Hades nine times, and is perilous to gods who swear falsely by it.

Closely associated with the Styx is Charon, who ferries souls across the Styx into Hades, although some sources connect Charon with one of Hades’ other rivers, the Acheron.

Virgil’s (70 BC to 19 BC) depiction of Charon is unflattering, and he describes the boatman as having a long, unwashed beard and greasy attire, while his eyes burn like “hollow furnaces.” Similarly described by Roman philosopher and statesman, Seneca, Charon is depicted as a villain, obstructing Hercules, who overpowers him.

Burial traditions were important in ancient Greek culture, and literary sources speak of burying bodies with a coin to pay Charon to ferry them across into Hades. Archaeological evidence, however, paints a different picture, and only a comparatively small number of graves actually exhibit this practice. Nevertheless, Virgil writes in his Aeneid that those who were not buried properly have to wait on the shores of the Styx for a hundred years before Charon would take them across.

The Acheron, the River of Woe

While the Styx was described as the entrance to the underworld, the Acheron also held this title in several works, and as such, it was also depicted as being associated with Charon.

The Acheron is actually a river in the real world, existing in the Epirus region in northwest Greece, where it flows into the Ionian Sea. It was seen as an earthly manifestation of the mythological Acheron or an entrance point to the Underworld. Near its mouth is the Necromanteion, an ancient Greek temple devoted to Hades and Persephone, the rulers of the Underworld.

The only mention of the Acheron in Homer’s works comes from the Odyssey when Odysseus must travel to Hades. Circe tells the hero that he must travel to where the Pyriphlegethon and the Kokytos (a branch of the Styx) flow into the Acheron.

While death in Homeric and early Greek writings is permanent, Plato believed in reincarnation. In his Phaedo, the Acheron takes the dead under the earth and through desert places to the Acherusian Lake, where they await judgment and the reincarnation of the soul based on their deeds in life.

The Pyriphlegethon, a River of Fire

One of the two rivers that drain into the Acheron, the Pyriphlegethon (also known as the Phlegethon), is first mentioned by Homer and later described by Plato as being a stream of fire and boiling mud which flows into the depths of Tartarus. This fiery, hellish description certainly fits the idea of an underworld of pain and suffering encapsulated by eternal punishment.

The most vivid description of the Pyriphlegethon comes from Virgil’s Aeneid, where he writes:

“Suddenly Aeneas looks back, and under a cliff on the left sees a broad castle, girt with triple wall and encircled with a rushing flood of torrent flames – Tartarean Phlegethon, that rolls along thundering rocks.”

The powerfully ominous nature of the Pyriphlegethon lends itself to Christian depictions of Hell, if not named, then as the common theme of a river filled with fire. In Dante’s Inferno, however, the Pyriphlegethon is not burning with fire, but filled with boiling blood; a concept even more horrific than mere fire!

The Kokytos, the River of Lamentation

Flowing into the Acheron, the Kokytos is the river of lamentation and wailing. Homer first mentions this river as a branch of the Styx but does not go into any symbolic detail. Virgil describes it as containing a whirlpool “thick with mire and of fathomless flood,” which “seethes and belches into Kokytos all its sand.” In the very next line of the Aeneid, Charon makes an appearance as the grim ferryman guarding these waters.

For Plato, the river forms an exit route from Tartarus for those guilty of non-familial murder, where, after a year of punishment, they travel through the Kokytos to be deposited in the Acherusian Lake, where they beseech their victims for forgiveness.

Long after the time of the ancient Greeks, the Kokytos makes a grand reappearance in the works of Dante, who transforms it into a frozen river, trapping the damned who suffer in its icy embrace. Here, the Kokytos is in the ninth and lowest part of Hell and is associated with treachery. The Kokytos here is depicted more as a lake of several concentric levels than an actual river. Nevertheless, buried in its ice are traitors and those who committed various acts of fraud. At the center is Lucifer, who is buried up to his waist, and represents the center of the Earth.

The Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness

Not mentioned in the works of Homer, the Lethe is a later addition to the Underworld and is mentioned by Plato as an important part of the cycle of reincarnation and rebirth. He does not give the name “Lethe” explicitly, but calls the waters the River of Heedlessness, where souls must drink to forget their past before they are reborn. Like the Styx, the Lethe is also seen as a being. Lethe, in Greek mythology, is also the goddess or personification of forgetfulness and oblivion. Hesiod mentions that she is the daughter of Eris, the goddess of strife and discord.

In the Republic, Plato describes the river as running through the Plain of Forgetfulness, a barren wilderness “destitute of trees and verdure.” In the Aeneid, Virgil gives a contrasting description of the Lethe, echoing Plato’s usage of the Lethe as a part of the cycle of rebirth, but in a much more amenable setting. Unlike the other rivers of Hades, the Lethe’s surroundings are relaxing and pleasant. It runs through groves and forest thickets, past peaceful homes in meadows where bees alight on colorful blooms.

Roman poet Ovid places the Lethe in the land of the Cimmerians, where it runs by the cave of Hypnos, inducing sleep, while Statius (ca. AD 45 to ca. AD 96) situates the Lethe as bordering Elysium. Much later, Dante follows this theme, and has the Lethe in the Earthly Paradise (possibly the Garden of Eden), where humanity originally lived in innocence. Here, the waters of the Lethe flow, but unlike his Greek and Roman forebears, Dante’s Lethe does not wash away all memory. It only removes the memory of sin.

Other Rivers

The Styx, the Pyriphlegethon, the Kokytos, the Lethe, and the Acheron are generally considered the five rivers of Hades; however, there are other rivers that are associated with the realm of the dead. The Okeanos is the river that encircles the world and forms the boundary over which Odysseus must cross to reach Hades.

The Alpheus and the Arethusa are also mentioned by several of the ancient writers as having connections in the Underworld, and are major parts of the story between Alpheus and Arethusa in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The huntress and nymph, Arethusa, fleeing the river god Alpheus, is turned into a stream (or a spring in some texts) by Diana (Artemis), and she recounts her story, mentioning that she flows close to the Styx.

Rivers were powerful elements in ancient Greek myth, filled with concepts and ideas that explained the concerns of ancient Greek society. The rivers of Hades are a testament to this, as they represent justice, mortality, memory, and the limits of the living and the dead.

The maritime civilization of Carthage in North Africa was always looking for ways to expand its influence through trade and the establishment of colonies in new lands to secure access to luxury goods. Well before its clash with Rome, one such expedition was mounted under a man called Hanno, sailing from Carthage beyond the Pillars of Herakles (Straits of Gibraltar) and south along the western coast of Africa. The account of this wondrous voyage contains incredible information about these strange lands and the people inhabiting them in antiquity.

Setting the Stage

Before the grand voyages of exploration by the Portuguese and the Spanish in the Early Modern Period, the corners of the map, beyond the Mediterranean, were shrouded in mystery. Sea monstrosities indicating danger represented them, and for centuries after the end of antiquity, these warnings were very much heeded by mariners. While Arabs, Persians, and Indians traded by sea, across the Indian Ocean, for the Europeans, their only way out of the Mediterranean was the Atlantic, a seemingly endless stretch of water beyond the Pillars of Herakles (the Straits of Gibraltar), perceived as the domain of monsters, a place of oddities, and the bane of foolish captains.

Yet, more than a millennium before Columbus, a seafaring civilization braved the uncharted waters for much the same reasons: for trade and for the establishment of colonies in new lands. Anyone familiar with the various cultures straddling the ancient Mediterranean will not be surprised to find the Carthaginians behind this incredible feat.

With their seat in Carthage (in modern-day Tunisia), founded by Phoenicians from the Levant, the Carthaginians expanded their dominion across the coasts of the Western Mediterranean and North Africa, by establishing trade stations which soon developed into proper colonies. They grew rich and powerful by procuring and trading faraway commodities and luxuries, linking East and West with their ships. Indeed, the further away and the more difficult a product was to acquire, the more lucrative the profits for the merchant.

It is no wonder, then, that at some point, in the 5th century BC, they decided to explore even more distant trade opportunities, this time beyond the Pillars of Herakles! Enterprising, daring, and with a keen eye for profit, these were the Carthaginians who would one day be the greatest rival of the fledgling Roman Republic.

Hanno and His Account

The account of the voyage—the longest text we have from the Carthaginian civilization—comes down to us through several intermediaries. It was initially put up in the temple of Kronos (the Hellenized version of Baal Hammon) in Carthage, by Hanno himself after his voyage. Greek writers in the 5th century BC translated and recorded the text, references to which appear in the work of Herodotus and Arrian. Afterwards, the text was copied at different points by the Romans, the later Byzantines, and early modern scholars, and thus much of the information might have been lost or altered. It nonetheless makes for an incredibly interesting read, and its title, the Periplus of Hanno, already tells us that it was a voyage along the coast, in the ancient Greek manner.

The eponymous Hanno was chosen to lead the voyage, and not much more is known about him beyond this. He is referred to as “basileus,” king, in the Greek translation, and thus might have belonged to one of Carthage’s noble families and been a high-ranking official, also known as a “suffette.” Regardless, as the account suggests, his mission was to found a number of colonies along modern-day Morocco’s Atlantic coast.

For this, he was given “sixty fifty-oared ships” and “about thirty thousand men and women” along with the necessary supplies and equipment. The numbers, as is often the case with such accounts, are highly suspect, but what is conveyed without a doubt is the importance of this expedition to the Carthaginians. It was a substantial investment.

The Founding of the New Cities

The Pillars were reached uneventfully from Carthage, and after two days of sailing, the first city was founded, Thymiaterion. In Greek, “thymiaterion” means incense-altar, but this may be a misinterpretation of the Phoenician word “dumathir,” which means flatland or city-on-the-plain, and in fact, the account mentions that “below it was a large plain.” Scholars have placed it in the location of the modern-day Mehdya, relatively close to Morocco’s Rabat.

At a place called Soloeis, nearby, a temple to “Poseidon” was dedicated, and then, a slew of other cities were founded: Karikon Teichos, Gytte, Akra, Melitta, and Arambys. Karikon Teichos may, again, be a Greek interpretation of “Kir Chares,” meaning “Castle of the Sun,” and at its associated location, at Azzemour, Carthaginian-style tombs have been found. At the purported site of Gytte, in El-Jadida, a Carthaginian necropolis has been discovered. Akra may be the Greek rendition of “Hakra,” meaning castle in Phoenician, indicating a fortified colony. Melitta still retains its ancient name as Oualiddia, and Arambys might have been “Har Anbin” in Phoenician, meaning “Grape Mountain.” Its location has been identified with the islet of Mogador, across from Essaouira, and Carthaginian-style pottery has been recovered there.

Indeed, Arambys may be the city with the most long-term importance, as very soon it was turned into a site for the extraction of purpura from shellfish, the fabled Tyrian purple, which would one day become the color of imperial Rome’s senatorial elite and of the emperor himself. Under Augustus, a Roman presence may have been established on the island, where coinage and even the foundations of a Roman-style house have been found, no doubt to secure the supply of the precious dye.

The Lixites and Kerne

Soon after, they reached the Lixos River, whose location is disputed among scholars, but might have been the Draa River, across from the Canary Islands. There, favorable diplomatic contacts were made with a tribe of local pastoralists, the Lixites. Nearby, hostile tribes of “Ethiopians” dwelled, occupying a land full of wild animals. “Ethiopian” was what the ancient Greeks called native Africans, especially those of darker complexion, as opposed to the “Libyans” of North Africa. On a mountain range close to them, according to the Lixites, a “strange people” lived in caves, able to run faster than horses. These mountains might have been the Rif Mountains, but it is uncertain.

As a result of the positive relations with the Lixites, interpreters from their tribe accompanied the Carthaginian expedition as they sailed south along the desert coast. They then reached an island they called “Kerne,” from the Carthaginian “Chernah,” meaning “last habitation.” This island may have been Herne Island, in the bay of Rio de Oro (Dakhla, Morocco), or one of the islands in the Bay of Arguin, across the coast of Mauritania.

Hanno claims that this island lies at the opposite end of Carthage, as it took them the same time to sail from Carthage to the Pillars of Herakles, as it did from the Pillars to Kerne. The name “Chernah” was given to it because, as the account itself suggests, this was where they settled the last of their colonists. The rest of the voyage would be one of pure exploration.

After crossing a river called “Chretes,” possibly from the Phoenician word “Cheremat” for river, they reached a bay containing three islands, all of them larger than Kerne. At the end of the bay, and three days sailing later, they encountered “savages clad in animal skins” who threw stones at them and prevented them from making landfall.

Into the Gulf of Guinea

The location of the River Chretes is uncertain, and we must keep in mind that 2,500 years later, many aspects of the landscape may have changed. The river they reached sometime afterward, however, broad and “teeming with crocodiles and hippopotamuses,” is very likely the Senegal River. From there, they briefly returned to Kerne before continuing their journey to unknown shores.

From the Senegal River, they sailed twelve days south, encountering yet more “Ethiopians” who fled from them as they approached and whose language was unintelligible to the Lixite interpreters. This was undoubtedly new terrain for all involved. If one assumes that the distance they covered in a day was equal to 100 kilometers (62 miles), then these new lands might have been Guinea, around modern-day Sierra Leone. These were ancient indigenous people of the coastal regions of Guinea, possibly with some connections to the Limba, before the migrations and demographic changes of the Medieval and Early Modern Periods.

At the end of the twelve-day journey, the Carthaginians anchored “by some big mountains,” which, as Hanno, ever the intrepid trader, noted, were covered by trees of an aromatic and colorful wood. Past these mountains, possibly close to the modern-day Ivory Coast, it is mentioned that the land gave way to a large stretch of water, which might indicate that the southernmost tip of the coast the Carthaginians had been straddling opened up into the Gulf of Guinea to the east. Inland, during the night, they observed “big and small fires everywhere flaming up at intervals.” 

Smoke on the Water, Fire in the Sky

Having replenished their freshwater supplies, the Carthaginians continued eastward along the coast for five days, until they reached a bay which the Lixite interpreters called “the Horn of the West.” There was a large island there, with a saltwater lagoon containing yet another island! There, the expedition disembarked, and while the day was uneventful, the night was to be one of terror. Distant fires glowed in the tropical darkness, and flutes, pipes, cymbals, and great drums echoed across the island.

The Carthaginians were overcome by fear, and their soothsayers wisely advised them to abandon the island then and there. Its identification remains uncertain. W. H. Schoff, on whose translation we are relying, places it among the Bissagos Islands off the coast of Guinea-Bissau.

The terrors would not end there, however. As they sailed away, “quickly and in fear,” for four days, they saw the coast engulfed by flames. Red streaks of the inferno ran everywhere, and one of them appeared to be rising to the stars. Only by day could they infer that this fire came from the top of a very tall mountain, which was called “the Chariot of the Gods.” This has been identified with Mt. Cameroon, one of the largest volcanoes in Africa, at 4,040 meters (13,254 feet). Even today, in the language of the native Bakweri people, it is called “Monga-ma Loba,” which translates to “seat of the gods” or “mountain of the gods.” The ancient Greek rendering of this should have been “theon oikema,” which could have easily been corrupted by a later scholar into “theon ochema,” meaning “vehicle” or “chariot of the gods.” Terrifyingly, it is also one of Africa’s most active volcanoes, erupting often in the 20th and 21st centuries—most recently in 2012!

Hanno was right to fear this intimidating mountain, whose prowess inspired awe for more than 2,500 years after his visit. Three days sailing along the coasts of fire, the Carthaginians arrived at “the Horn of the South,” another bay, identified with Corisco Bay, close to Gabon. This was the site of the most interesting encounter of the journey—and the last to be mentioned.

The Voyage’s Eventful Conclusion

Here, according to Hanno, was an island which was inhabited by savages, most of them women, “with hairy bodies,” whom the Carthaginians’ interpreters called “gorillas.” The crew of the expedition chased them down, but to no avail, as they were very good climbers and threw stones at them. Despite this, three of their women were caught, but refused to come in peace, biting and scratching their assailers, and therefore were killed and flayed. Their skins, or rather, furs, were taken back to Carthage and, according to Pliny the Elder (Natural History, 6. 36), were displayed in the Temple of Tanit until the city’s razing by the Romans.

As gorillas cannot cross large bodies of water, this might have taken place on the mainland instead, mistaken by Hanno for an island due to its proximity to the sea. Moreover, gorillas are not known for throwing rocks, whereas chimpanzees are, which might have been what the Carthaginians actually encountered. In the 19th century, American physician and missionary Thomas Staughton Savage and naturalist Jeffries Wyman classified gorillas as such, based on the descriptions of Hanno!

This was the end of the Carthaginians’ voyage, as their provisions were running low, and by this point, Hanno had not mentioned any more lucrative trade prospects; only hostile locals, animals, and fiery death. The account abruptly ends there, and we are left wondering if there were any more interesting episodes accompanying their homeward voyage.

Nonetheless, the voyage of Hanno was an incredible feat of ancient seamanship. The brave and enterprising Carthaginians, through the words of their leader, showed us that well before Columbus and the explorers that followed him, there was no shortage of men willing to dare to challenge the dangers of the unknown!

Bibliography 

Lipiński, E., Itineraria Phoenicia, (Leuven, 2004).

Mauny, R., “La navigation sur les côtes du Sahara pendant l’antiquité,” Revue des Études Anciennes, Année 1955, 57-1-2, (1955), pp. 92-101.

Roller, D. W., Through the Pillars of Herakles: Greco-Roman Exploration of the Atlantic, (United Kingdom, 2006).

Schoff, W. H., The Periplus of Hanno: A Voyage of Discovery down the African Coast, by a Carthaginian Admiral of the Fifth Century BC, (Philadelphia, 1912).

For the ancient Greeks, lineage was of prime importance. To a large extent, it determined one’s standing in society. It could be a badge of honor or a stain of ignominy beyond one’s control.

This dynamic was apparent in the mythologies as well, and ancestry meant as much to the gods as it did to the mortals in the real world. It defined successions, rivalries, and divine power.

From the Primordials to the Titans and the Olympians, lineage shaped the story of the Greek deities, defining their place in the cosmos.

The Primordials: The First Lineage in Greek Mythology

Before the Titans and the Olympians, there were the Primordials—immensely powerful forces rather than beings resembling stereotypical gods, and as such, they were never worshiped. These concepts were, however, personified with certain human characteristics in order for the Greeks to make sense of creation.

In the beginning, there was Chaos, the first “being” to exist, and from whom all others sprang. It was a formless mass that existed as the opposite of order, rendered as the idea of a yawning chasm or void. After the creation of Chaos, Gaia was formed. She was the personification of “Mother” Earth and parthenogenetically gave birth to the sky (Uranus/Ouranos), the sea, and the mountains. This method of reproduction is not understood as being in human terms, but rather as divine concepts far beyond the bounds of organic reproduction. Therefore, the fact that Uranus became Gaia’s husband is not considered an incestual taboo.

More Primordials were formed. Tartarus was the personification of a great abyss where night, darkness, sleep, and death made their home. Tartarus, as a deity and a place, later becomes the prison for the Titans. The other Primordials included Eros, the representation of love, and Erebus, the personification of darkness.

From these Primordials came all other life. Nyx, the personification of night, came from Chaos and was the mother of many deities listed by ancient authors such as Hesiod, Cicero, and Hyginus. Among them were Aether and Hemera, the personifications of air and day, respectively. She gave birth to a thousand daughters known as the Keres, who were the goddesses of cruel and violent deaths. She also had a thousand sons known as the Oneiroi, the gods of dreams who worked with Hypnos, the god of sleep.

Among her other children were Moirai—the Fates, Nemesis, the goddess of retribution, Geras, the god of old age, Thanatos, the god of death, and Philotes, the goddess of love, affection, friendship, and sex.

One of her daughters, Eris, the goddess of discord, went on to have many children of her own, each a deity representing an abstract concept.

The Titans

Representing the first godly dynasty in Greek myth were the Titans. They were 12 of the offspring of Gaia and Uranus, who also sired the Cyclopes. According to Hesiod, Uranus hid their giant offspring, the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires, in Tartarus, and in an act of revenge, Gaia sought the help of her Titan children, but only Cronus helped her. They planned an ambush, and Cronus castrated his father with a sickle. This act marked the end of the Primordial era and the beginning of the age of the Titans.

Where Uranus’ blood met the ground arose the Gigantes, Erinyes, and Meliae, and from the mixture of blood and semen, Aphrodite was created.

Not much was written about the Titans regarding their domains. Six of the Elder Titans were male. Oceanus was the eldest and was the embodiment of water, as he formed the ocean or river that encircled the world. His brother, Coeus, based on his name, which means “question,” has been linked to intelligence and the pursuit of knowledge.

Crios was associated with the constellation Aries, and may have been further associated with the stars, while Hyperion was also associated with cosmology, fathering Helios (the Sun) and Selene (the Moon). Iapetus was linked to mortality and human lifespan, and Cronus, the youngest, ruled over destructive time, but was also seen as a deity of the harvest.

Of the six sisters, Theia was associated with sight, brightness, and the brilliance of precious metals, while Rhea was labeled a “mother goddess” linked to fertility and fruitfulness. Associated with oracles and prophecies, Themis also ruled over justice and order, while Mnemosyne was the mother of the Muses and the goddess of memory.

Also associated with prophecy, Phoebe was the goddess of intellect, while Tethys was associated with water, being the wife and sister of Oceanos, with whom she bore the Oceanids and the river gods.

At this point, the genealogy becomes more inconsistent and confusing, as the offspring of some of the Titans are considered a younger generation of Titans, while the offspring of other Titans are not considered Titans at all. Titans of note were Atlas and Prometheus, both sons of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Clemene, whereas those not considered Titans were the Oceanids, the Muses, the Horae, the Moirai, and, fatefully, the first generation of Olympians, the children of Cronus and Rhea.

The designation of Titan here is malleable in certain cases due to the inconsistent and imaginative nature of the sources.

Zeus and the Olympians

Just as he had overthrown his father, Uranus, Cronus also feared being overthrown. He swallowed each of his children when they were born from his sister-wife, Rhea. However, Rhea managed to hide Zeus, and when her son was fully grown, she fed Cronus an emetic, which caused him to vomit forth his other children, now also fully grown. Zeus freed his siblings and led them in a war against the Titans.

Aided by the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires, Zeus, along with his Olympian brothers and sisters, and some of the Titans who turned against Cronus, spent ten years fighting until his final victory. As punishment, he threw the Titans into Tartarus and appointed the Hecatoncheires as the guards. The Olympians then split their conquered dominion three ways between Zeus, who controlled the sky, Poseidon, who controlled the sea, and Hades, who controlled the underworld.

Zeus’ rule was further challenged by Typhon, the monstrous serpentine offspring of Gaia and Tartarus, but he repelled this challenge and solidified his place as ruler of the cosmos.

The Legacy of Zeus

One of the primary features of Zeus in the mythological texts was his penchant for sexual relations. As a result, he fathered many deities that exist within the Greek pantheon. Zeus was certainly not interested in monogamy with his wife, Hera, and he spread his seed far and wide, creating a complex family tree.

Ares, the god of war, was the result of the union between Zeus and Hera, while Artemis, the goddess of hunting, and her brother, Apollo, were the children of Zeus and the Titaness, Leto. Athena was born directly from the head of Zeus after he swallowed a pregnant Titaness named Metis, and Dionysus was born to the union between Zeus and Semele, a mortal princess of Thebes.

Zeus also fathered many mortal children. Among them were the mighty Heracles, as well as Helen of Troy, whose mother, Leda, was seduced by Zeus, who took the form of a swan. Yet another of Zeus’ children was the hero Perseus, famed for slaying the gorgon, Medusa.

Naturally, Hera had a distaste for her husband’s infidelity, and her revenge was often guided towards Zeus’ mistresses and offspring. She drove Heracles mad, and in a state of frenzy, Heracles killed his own wife and son. And so began the twelve labors of Heracles, whereby he tried to atone for his sins, while Hera did her best to foil his efforts.

In another example of jealous plotting, when Hera discovered Leto’s pregnancy, she made all the earth promise that Leto could not give birth on solid ground. Thus, Artemis and Apollo were born on the floating island of Delos, which was believed not to be anchored to the ground.

Zeus even impersonated other gods, transforming himself into Artemis in order to seduce one of her chaste followers, Callisto. The sapphic episode ends with Callisto pregnant, giving birth to Arcas, the king of the Arcadians, and being transformed into a bear by Zeus’ angry wife. Callisto finally ascended to the heavens as the constellation Ursa Major.

Other Divine Relations

Of course, Zeus wasn’t the only Olympian to have children. Prominent and powerful deities were also born to the other gods.

While married to Hephaestus, Aphrodite (who is also considered an Olympian despite her lineage) had a passionate affair with Ares, and the result of their union was Harmonia, the goddess of harmony and concord. In some versions of the story, Aphrodite was also the mother of Eros, previously noted as a Primordial. This exemplifies the inconsistency of the myths. Harmonia marries the hero Cadmus, and one of their children is Semele, the mother of Dionysus.

Occupying a large portion of the Greek myths are the tales of Poseidon, who fathered many children. He had many lovers of both sexes, the most famous of which was Amphitrite, a sea-goddess and nymph.

With Amphitrite, Poseidon fathered the merman Triton, and with a mortal woman named Cleito, he fathered Atlas, who would become the first ruler of Atlantis. Poseidon is also said to have fathered the minotaur-slaying Theseus, as well as the cyclops Polyphemus.

Many of the ancient Greek myths were born out of issues with lineage, from fears of succession to tales of Hera’s jealousy. Territorial claims were also connected to belief in the divine lineages. Athens identified with Athena, who was believed to have fought Poseidon for patronage of the city, while the Spartan kings’ legitimacy was based on the claim of being the descendants of Heracles.

For the ancient Greeks, mythology and its genealogies were far more than entertainment. They were explanations and justifications of the world around them, as well as being instruments of authority and power.

The story of Medea traditionally begins with her betrayal of her father, family, and homeland to help Jason capture the Golden Fleece, and ends with the murder of their children after Jason abandons her for another woman. Over the centuries, writers, artists, and philosophers have turned to Medea as a symbol through which to explore powerful themes such as motherhood and monstrosity, exile and otherness, female anger and rage, and the boundaries between passion and reason. A contradictory and complex character, Medea’s story continues to both provoke and disturb.

Hesiod’s Theogony  

The first surviving reference to Medea appears in Hesiod’s Theogony, a poem estimated to have been composed between 730-700 BCE, that traces the genealogies of the Greek Gods. Hesiod claims that Helios, the sun God, produced two children with the Oceanid Perseis (otherwise known as Parse, Persea, or Perseide): first Circe, the famous nymph and enchantress that turned Odysseus’s men into pigs, and then Aeëtes who would go on to become the ruler of Aea and the protector of the famous Golden Fleece. Hesiod claims that Aeëtes fathered Medea with Idyia, the daughter of the titan Oceanus.

Hesiod provides no detailed narrative of Medea’s life, merely describing her as “godlike Medea,” who married Jason after he completed the trials set out for him by her father, and bore him a son. Despite its lack of detail, his account traces a very prestigious and storied origin for Medea, emphasizing the divinity of her parentage and establishing her as an otherworldly and powerful figure in Greek myth.

The Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes

The most extant and complete narrative of Medea and Jason in ancient Greek sources comes from the epic poem the Argonautica, written by Apollonius of Rhodes in the 3rd century BCE. The poem begins by describing a prophetic warning to Pelias, king of the city of Iolcus, in Thessaly and uncle of the mythological hero Jason, that his downfall will come at the hands of a man with only one sandal. Jason arrives in Iolcus, having lost his sandal in a stream, and on learning this, Pelias decides to send him on what he believes to be an impossible mission. He tells Jason that he must go to Colchis and bring back the Golden Fleece, a divine symbol of authority and kingship, and return it to him. Jason agrees and sets sail upon the Argo (a ship that lends its name to his famous crew, the Argonauts) to complete the task.

After a long and treacherous journey, Jason eventually arrives in Colchis. Aeëtes, Medea’s father and protector of the fleece, says he will give it to Jason if he completes a series of challenging tasks. Knowing the tasks to be nearly unbeatable, Hera and Athena, his supporters, decide to enlist the help of Aphrodite to ensure Jason’s success. Aphrodite encourages her son Eros to fire an arrow at Medea and make her fall madly in love with Jason so that she will assist him in outwitting her father.

Medea’s Despair

From the moment we are introduced to Medea, she is in near constant turmoil. She battles with the choice she must make between her family and homeland, and her overpowering passion for Jason. Apollonius describes her continually being beset by “shame and hateful fear.” She spends a sleepless night considering her options. She is horrified by the idea of betraying her father, but equally cannot bear to see Jason fail in his task. She sees no hope and no solution for her position, wishing that she had rather been slain by the arrows of Artemis than ever have set eyes on Jason.

She even contemplates suicide to avoid the choice at hand, but then considers how even in death she will be tormented by her decision, and become known as “the maid who disgraced her home and her parents, yielding to a mad passion.” 

She goes to the chest where she keeps her many drugs and potions, longing to choose one that will poison her, but in that moment, she is struck by an overwhelming fear of death. Seeing that she still yearns for life, she becomes set in her purpose and decides that she will give Jason the charms he needs to aid him in his quest—and face the consequences of her choice.

Jason Completes the Impossible Tasks

Jason and Medea meet in secret at the sacred grove of Hecate. Jason tells Medea he will make her famous all across Greece if she helps him, and Medea agrees. In return, Jason promises to marry her if she chooses to return with him to Greece after he wins the fleece.

Aeëtes’s first task is for Jason to plough the Plain of Ares with fire-breathing oxen that he must yoke himself. Medea gives him an unguent (a healing ointment) to protect him and his weapons against the fire, and he completes the task unharmed. Next, he is instructed to sow the teeth of a dragon, but Medea warns him that once he does so, the teeth will spring up as soldiers. She says that he must throw a rock amongst them in order to cause confusion, and the soldiers will turn on each other and spare him.

Jason does as she instructs and is successful in his tasks, however, at this moment of triumph Aeëtes goes back on his promise and refuses to give Jason the fleece, instead plotting to kill him and the Argonauts. Medea goes to Jason and tells him she will help lull to sleep the never-sleeping dragon that guards the fleece so that they can escape with it, and together they flee Colchis.

An Unholy Crime

The Argonauts are pursued by King Aeëtes, and Medea’s brother Apsyrtus packs the surrounding islands with Colchians to guard the exits to the sea. Medea herself became a point of dispute, for while Jason had completed the tasks, he had done so through trickery and with her assistance. The Argonauts discuss separating Medea from everyone else and allowing her fate to be decided by the local kings.

Medea, furious that she may be discarded after all she has done, rages against Jason for the position he has put her in. She tells him that because of him she has “poured deadly shame over all women,” and wishes that her fury could drive him from his homeland because of what she has suffered through his heartlessness.

Jason hatches an alternative plot to escape the Colchians that does not involve handing Medea over. He convinces Medea that in order to avoid a more bloody battle, they must trick her brother into meeting with them alone at the temple of Artemis. He asks Medea to lure Apsyrtus with splendid gifts of friendship on the pretense that they wish to negotiate with him. Apsyrtus agrees and, on his arrival, is ambushed and killed by Jason while Medea shields her eyes. Jason puts his hands in the blood and stains Medea’s veil with it, binding her with him in this act of violence.

There are other, usually later versions of this story that claim that Medea killed her brother herself, dismembering his body and scattering it across the island to delay her father, who she knew would stop to retrieve them for a proper burial. Regardless of whether she was an active murderer or reticent accomplice, Medea was complicit in her brother’s death and marked by her treachery.

Apollonius writes that in killing Apsyrtus, Jason and Medea had angered the Gods, and thus had to seek purification for this shameful act. They decide to travel to Aeaea, the island inhabited by Medea’s aunt Circe and ask for her help. Circe is horrified by their crime but due to her relation to Medea agrees to ritually cleanse them of it and they once more set sail upon the Argo.

A Long Journey Home

Medea, Jason, and the Argonauts encounter a number of further challenges as they continue their journey. When they land in Scheria, ruled by King Alcinous and Queen Arete, some of the Colchians arrive to try and retrieve Medea back to her homeland. Arete persuades her husband to protect Medea if she marries Jason. A wedding is quickly arranged and the King sends the Colchians away.

When they are nearing Iolcus, they encounter the bronze giant Talos who guards the island of Crete, throwing large stones at approaching ships. He has one vein which reaches down from his neck all the way to his ankle, and is bound shut by a singular bronze nail. Apollonius writes that Medea calls upon the “death spirits, devourers of life, the swift hounds of Hades” and bewitches the eyes of Talos, causing him to graze his ankle on a pointed crag and cut his vein. The ichor rushes forth and the mighty giant comes crashing to the ground, allowing them to safely pass. Soon after this story they finally arrive in Iolcus and the narrative comes to an abrupt end.

Apollonius’s Medea is clearly a woman beset by tragedy. She is portrayed largely as vulnerable and emotional, struggling against the fate that the gods have set out for her. Despite this, it is she who conquers many of Jason’s enemies. She is shown to be a powerful sorceress and a clever strategist, and there can be no doubt that Jason would never have accomplished his task without her assistance.

Euripides’s Medea

Although Apollonius provided us with the most complete surviving story of Medea from Greek sources, there were a number of representations of her before his writing. One of the most influential is Medea, by the Athenian playwright Euripides, first performed at the City Dionysia festival in Athens, in 431 BCE. The play continues to be read and staged today, and has become famous for its psychological depth and exploration of complex themes that still resonate with modern audiences.

Euripides’s narrative takes place after Apollonius’s narrative ends. The play begins with the Nurse of Medea’s children, wishing that Jason and the Argonauts had never made it to Colchis, that Medea never would have set sail for Iolcus driven mad with her love for Jason, and that they never would have come together to Corinth, where the play is set. We learn from the Nurse that Jason has now married Glauce, the daughter of Creon, King of Corinth, and that Medea and her children are to be banished.

This Medea is described often in natural imagery or animalistic terms. When looking at her children her eyes are described as “glinting at them like bulls,” and she has the “wild glance of a lioness with young.” She is often described using nautical terms, associating her with the tempestuous sea on which she was brought back by Jason. She is presented as an unstoppable force of nature, determined to wreak havoc, and destroy entirely the man who tore her from her homeland, used her for her skills and talents, and then abandoned her when he found a woman better suited for his purposes.

Unwilling to allow this humiliation, Medea hatches a plot to murder not only Jason’s new bride, but also the two children she shares with him. She instructs her children to go and supplicate Glauce, begging her favor so that she might request of her father, King Creon, that he revoke their banishment. She tells them that to endear themselves to her, they must give her a costly robe and golden coronet that she has secretly poisoned.

Glauce, unable to refuse the beauty of these items, agrees to the terms and accepts the gifts. Once she puts them on, they fuse to her body, and she becomes engulfed in flames, dying a horrible and painful death. On finding her, her father throws himself upon her body and becomes stuck to her dress, and in his attempt to save her, he suffers the same fate.

As her final act of vengeance, Medea steels herself to murder the two children she shares with Jason. Despite feeling conflicted and horrified by the task, she is overcome by her desire to punish Jason and commits the atrocity. In the final scene, her grandfather Helios sends a chariot drawn by dragons to help her escape, and she suffers no punishment for her crimes.

A Feminist Reading

Euripides’s characterization of Medea is remarkable for its time, and he is often cited as something of a proto-feminist for the way he portrays her and the words he has her speak. Medea is repeatedly referred to as intelligent, her power is regularly emphasized, and although her actions are unspeakably cruel, there is no denying that she has substantial agency.

Where in Apollonius Medea was presented as a young maiden, seemingly helpless in her love for Jason and beset by anxieties, in Euripides’s play she is committed to the single-minded purpose that she will not allow herself to be humiliated, mistreated, and discarded by the man whose life she not only saved, but was instrumental in securing and advancing. She rages against the injustices committed against her as a woman, and facing the loss of her dignity, her pride, and her life in Corinth, she chooses, instead of giving in, to destroy all in her path.

Her famous speech on the plight of womanhood has resonated through history, the rhetorical impact of it so strong it was even recited at suffragette meetings to rouse emotion for the cause. The full passage is worth quoting here:

“Surely, of all creatures that have life and will, we women 
Are the most wretched. When, for an extravagant sum, 
We have bought a husband, we must then accept him as 
Possessor of our body. That is to aggravate 
Wrong with worse wrong. Then the great question: will the man 
We get be bad or good? For women, divorce is not 
Respectable; to repel the man, not possible. 
Still more, a foreign woman, coming among new laws, 
New customs, needs the skill of magic to find out 
What her home could not teach her, how to treat the man 
Whose bed she shares. And if in this exacting toil 
We are successful, and our husband does not struggle 
Under the marriage yoke, our life is enviable. 
Otherwise, death is better. If a man grows tired 
Of the company at home, he can go out, and find 
A cure for tediousness. We wives are forced to look. 
To one man only. And, they tell us, we at home 
Live free from danger, they go out to battle: fools! 
I’d rather stand three times in the front line than bear 
One child.” 

Euripides’s Medea is part revenge fantasy, and part thoughtful exploration of the psychological impact of social isolation, betrayal, and trauma. No doubt the suffragettes found something cathartic in Medea’s unabashed violence against the systems that oppressed her, and it galvanized their own desires to take action.

Despite the supreme horror of her actions, it seems in history Medea has achieved the aim she sets out for herself in the play, asking, “Let no one think of me as weak and submissive, a cipher—but as a woman of a very different kind, dangerous to my enemies and good to my friends.” 

A Postcolonial Reading

In certain critical interpretations, Medea has come to represent the postcolonial story of a foreigner taken from their homeland and made an outsider in a new land. A number of adaptations have emphasized this reading, placing Medea in various migrant or colonial contexts and exploring how her rage and eventual violence is at least partially a consequence of her position as an oppressed minority.

Citizenship in Athens was a closely guarded privilege, and anxieties about foreign inclusion were substantial in Euripides’s time. The Athenian empire was at the height of its power, buttressed by an ideology of cultural and political superiority, with a clear division between Athenian citizens and those that they labelled “barbarians” on their periphery.

Euripides continually emphasizes Medea’s position as a barbarian, and how, despite her attempts to adapt to the customs and ways of Corinth, she has never been fully accepted.

Jason expects her to be grateful that he brought her to a civilized land instead of her barbarian home, but she regularly bemoans the loss of her fatherland and her treatment by the Corinthian people. She complains that her social isolation and final banishment from the only home she knows lead her to question what she has to gain from living, and with no final refuge she decides that the only place her power lies is in destruction.

It is not unusual for Greek protagonists to commit such horrific crimes, but it is unusual for them to escape punishment. This may suggest Euripides’s sympathy for his heroine and a subtle alignment with some of her words. Medea’s statement that, “Men do not judge justly with their eyes when, before they know for sure the true nature of a person’s heart, they hate on sight, though they have suffered no grievance,” could be particularly pointed to his 5th century Athenian audience and show that Euripides himself held a more progressive attitude to cultural integration.

Regardless of his intentions, Euripides’s Medea has become a symbol of the psychological impacts of displacement and marginalization, as well as the cycles of violence it can generate and sustain.

Roman Depictions of Medea

Beyond the Greek tradition, Medea also featured in a number of Roman sources, particularly around the early Imperial Period—the 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. The poet Ovid, writing during the reign of Augustus, provides one of the most detailed Roman accounts of her life in Book Seven of his 15-book epic Metamorphoses, within which he recounts the story of Jason’s quest and Medea’s pivotal role in his success.

Ovid also wrote The Heroides, which translates to “The Heroines,” a collection of letters written in elegiac couplets in which heroines from Greek and Roman mythology directly addressed lovers who in some way betrayed or mistreated them. Medea is the subject of the 12th letter, which begins with the line “Scorned Medea, the helpless exile, speaks to her recent husband.” Through Medea’s voice, Ovid explores the sacrifices she made for Jason, the betrayal of her family and homeland, and Jason’s ingratitude. It is both sorrowful and furious, emphasizing her emotional turmoil and the rage she feels that he should leave her after all she has given him.

The poet Valerius Flaccus wrote his own Argonautica in circa 70 CE. It is in part a translation of the Argonautica of Apollonius, and part his own piece, full of allusions to Virgil and other literary works. Within it, he stresses Medea’s conflict between her erotic desire for Jason and her filial duty to her father and portrays her ultimate betrayal as a tragic fate.

Seneca the Younger, a statesman and dramatist, wrote his own play about Medea around the year 50 CE. He presents an even darker and more intense version of the story, choosing to show the murder of one of her children on stage and in front of Jason, instead of offstage as it happened in Euripides. The play famously includes the line “Medea nuns sum,” which translates to “Now I am Medea,” suggesting she has openly embraced her destructive power and allowed herself to become fully consumed by her rage.

Seneca himself was a noted Stoic philosopher, and thus believed that the path to leading a fulfilling life was through practiced reason and restraint. In the play he highlights Medea’s rejection of reason and virtue in her deliberate choice to pursue vengeance, and shows how her passion leads to her own self-destruction, distancing herself further from her humanity.

It is not surprising that Medea became a prominent figure in Roman literature during this period. The transition from Republic to Empire brought significant social and political upheaval, prompting philosophers, poets, and playwrights to explore tensions important between order and chaos, reason and emotion, and the boundaries between Roman identity and foreignness. Medea, as a figure who embodies these extremes, became a powerful vehicle through which to examine such questions, as well as providing a gripping story to satiate the public’s appetite for a compelling tragedy.

Medea Beyond Classical Sources

Medea’s name still looms large today. She has been the subject of numerous films, operas, novels, plays, and poems, each offering its own interpretation of her elusive character. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries she became a figure in psychoanalytic readings, associated with the unconscious, hysteria, and the breaking of taboos. Her name is invoked in psychology with the term “Medea complex,” referring to a mother’s desire to harm or kill her children and she continues to appear in contemporary art as a complex figure of both motherhood and monstrosity.

She remains a staple of modern theatre and a powerful vehicle for exploring themes of gender, race, motherhood, and trauma—portrayed at times with deep sympathy and at others as a ruthless murderer and sorceress. Whatever the interpretation, the story of Medea has endured for centuries and continues to resonate today.

Greek mythology is full of fascinating stories about powerful gods with surprisingly human flaws, heroes who overcome the odds to defeat terrifying monsters, and mortals who suffer the consequences of their hubris as they try to rival the divine. Together, they form a rich tradition that has inspired many modern works of art, fiction, and fantasy.

There is no single compendium of Greek mythology. It is based on a rich oral tradition, with some stories and titbits recorded, often inconsistently, in various sources that survive from the Greek and Roman worlds. Nevertheless, hundreds of stories have survived to the modern day. With so many fascinating myths to explore, it can be hard to know where to start.

This article collects 35 of the most famous and important stories from Greek mythology that everyone should know. They have been chosen because they are among the most retold in the sources, suggesting that they were among the most popular in ancient times, or they form part of the main backbone of Greek myth from which other, less fundamental stories branch out. This article offers short summaries of each story, but you will find links to more in-depth analysis across our site.

Creation and the First Gods

As is the case with many mythologies, Greek myth starts with the question of the origin of all things, including the gods themselves. There is more than one version of the Greek creation myth, but Hesiod provides the most complete account in his Theogony, with other sources, such as Homer, providing additional or contradictory details.

1. The Greek Creation Myth and the Primordials

In the beginning, there was Chaos, the primordial water. From Chaos emerged primordial beings, including Gaia (Earth), Tartarus (the Underworld), Eros (Desire), Erebus (Darkness), and Nyx (Night). These primordial gods gave birth to other important primordial beings, including Hemera (Day), Uranus (Sky), and Pontus (Sea). As personifications of the natural elements, they formed the world as the Greeks knew it.

2. Rise of Monsters

While many primordial beings begat one another, the most prolific pairing was Gaia with her son Uranus. Together, they gave birth to the twelve Titans, six male and six female. Among the most prominent were Oceanus, the Titan of the sea and water, Rhea, the Titan of fertility, and Cronus, the Titan ruler of the universe. They are described as taller than the mountains they used as thrones.

Gaia and Uranus also gave birth to a group of monstrous children, three one-eyed Cyclopes and three monstrous Hecatoncheires, each with 50 heads and 100 arms. These children so disgusted Uranus that he threw them into Tartarus, an underworld prison.

3. Overthrow of Uranus

Gaia was upset by the treatment of her children, so she approached her Titan children to attack Uranus with a sickle, the first weapon ever created. Her youngest son, Cronos, took up the challenge, castrating his father. In some versions of the myth, his genitals fell into the sea, creating sea foam from which the goddess Aphrodite emerged (other myths make her a child of Zeus). Cronos then became the leader of the Titans, who took over their father’s place as rulers of the universe.

4. Reign of Cronus

Cronos married his sister Rhea, and the pair took on a serpent-like god called Ophion and a daughter of Oceanus, Eurynome, in a wrestling match to secure their divine rule, throwing the defeated pair into the ocean. Cronos then ruled over a Golden Age of peace, prosperity, and happiness in which the world was full of abundant resources, and people lived in harmony and without burdens.

However, Cronos feared that his children would overthrow him, so as Rhea gave birth to each of his children, he swallowed them, imprisoning them in his own body. He ate Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. But when Rhea gave birth to her last son, Zeus, she gave Cronos a stone wrapped in swaddling to devour, and hid Zeus away on the island of Crete to be raised in secret.

Rise of the Olympians

While the Greeks had many myths and stories about the primordial gods, they were not the gods they worshipped day to day. These were the 12 Olympian gods who ruled from Mount Olympus, along with younger deities that emerged after the rise of the Olympians.

5. Titanomachy

Raised in secret, Rhea helped Zeus save his siblings from his father’s belly, giving him a drink that forced him to vomit up his other children. Zeus and his siblings then freed Gaia’s other monstrous children from Tartarus, and together they battled the Titans for control of the heavens in what is known as the Titanomachy. Taking the standard ten years associated with most Greek mythological wars, Zeus and his allies won.

The three sons of Cronos divided responsibility for the universe between them, with Zeus as the leader and overall governor of the heavens and earth, Poseidon commanding the sea, and Hades ruling the underworld. The Titans who sided with Zeus and his siblings were rewarded and given places among the gods, and those who did not were thrown into Tartarus.

6. The Birth of Athena

Zeus’ overthrow of Cronos carried on the “Succession Myth,” with Zeus also fearing that he would be overthrown by his child with one of his many wives, Metis (Intellect). To avoid this outcome, when Metis fell pregnant, he tricked her into turning herself into a fly and then swallowed her. But Metis’ pregnancy continued inside Zeus, and she forged armor for her child. This caused Zeus such a terrible headache that he split his skull open, and the goddess Athena emerged fully grown and fully armored. Zeus adored his daughter, and she became one of the most important goddesses, associated with wisdom and war.

7. Birth of Apollo and Artemis

Athena was not the only Olympian god with a harrowing birth story. Zeus later married his sister Hera, but was well-known for his love affairs with other goddesses and mortals. One such affair was with the Titan Leto, who found herself pregnant with twins. Jealous, Hera vowed that she would not let Leto give birth on land, so when she was in labor, Leto had to travel far and wide to find a place where she would be allowed to give birth. After much searching, Poseidon took pity on her and created an island from the sea, Delos, that was not technically considered land, so she could give birth to her twins, Apollo and Artemis.

Hera eventually accepted the twins among the Olympians, and Apollo became a god of the sun associated with the civilized arts, such as music, poetry, and oracles, while Artemis was associated with the moon, the wilderness, and the hunt.

8. The Birth of Dionysus

Dionysus has a similar story. Zeus had an affair with Semele, a Theban princess, who ended up pregnant. Jealous, Hera tricked Semele into forcing Zeus to show her his true divine form. As a mortal, she could not handle the sight and burst into flames. The fetus survived, so Zeus sowed it into his thigh to mature. This is why Dionysus is often called “twice born.” He was placed in the care of nymphs and satyrs, wandering across the earth, learning about life’s pleasures and eventually discovering wine. When he returned, Hestia gave up her place on Olympus so that he could become one of the Olympian gods.

9. Hermes Steals Apollo’s Cattle

Hermes was another of Zeus’ many children, this time with Maia, a nymph, whom Zeus visited in the dead of night when Hera was asleep. As a baby, Hermes already possessed the ability to walk and talk, and he was a troublemaker. One day, the infant stole Apollo’s cattle, wiping away and reversing their footprints to trick the god. Apollo eventually caught up with Hermes, who denied the accusation, pointing out that he was just a baby. Zeus eventually commanded Hermes to return the cattle, and Hermes also gave Apollo the lyre that he had invented as a gift.

Hermes went on to be the messenger of the gods, easily moving between realms, which also made him the perfect candidate to guide souls into the afterlife.

10. The Abduction of Persephone

The goddess Persephone was another daughter of Zeus, this time with his sister Demeter. Together, Demeter and her daughter were the goddesses of spring and good harvests. But Hades wanted Persephone for his wife, so he kidnapped her and took her to the underworld. This devastated Demeter, who stopped caring for the earth, leading to famine. While Zeus tried to command her to restore life and fertility, nothing could overcome her grief. Zeus demanded that Hades return Persephone to her mother.

Hades agreed, but before Persephone left the underworld, she ate some of his pomegranate seeds. Once you eat the food of the underworld, you are tied to it, so Persephone could not completely leave the underworld. Instead, she splits her time between her mother and her husband, as queen of the underworld. This explained the changing of the seasons.

Hubris and Divine Punishment

Beyond creation and the origins of the gods, the idea of hubris – excessive pride that usually leads to defying the gods – and divine punishment, were common themes in Greek myth. While these stories also often explained how the world worked, they were myths with moral lessons, many of which informed Greek philosophical ideas.

11. The Deluge

Like so many traditions, Greece has its own version of the great flood myth. Reportedly, in ancient times, Zeus became irritated with the Arcadian king Lycaon, possibly because he killed his own son and served him to the god to see if he would recognize human flesh. Therefore, Zeus decided to send a great flood to kill everyone. The Titan Prometheus warned Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha, of the coming deluge. They survived in their boat for nine days before the water receded. The pair weren’t expected to repopulate the world the old-fashioned way. Instead, an oracle told them to cover their heads and throw rocks, “the bones of the earth,” behind them, with the rocks thrown by Deucalion becoming men and the rocks of Pyrrha becoming women.

12. Prometheus and the Theft of Fire

It was not just mortals who could be victims of hubris and suffer divine punishment. Prometheus was a child of the Titans who sided with the gods during the Titanomachy. Under the new Olympian regime, he is credited with the creation of one of the generations of humans who lived after the Golden Age of Cronos. He molded them out of clay, creating them in the likeness of the gods.

While Zeus does not seem to have been overly concerned about his mortal subjects, Prometheus became their patron. He tricked the gods into letting the humans keep the best part of animal sacrifices, leaving the gods with the unappealing parts. For this, Zeus took fire away from mankind and hid it on Mount Olympus, so Prometheus stole it back for his creations. In punishment for this defiance, Prometheus was chained to a peak where every day an eagle would set on him and eat his liver, and every night his liver would regenerate to suffer the same punishment the next day.

13. Pandora’s Box

In another version of the story of Prometheus, the gods decided to punish humans for repossessing fire by sending Pandora, the perfect woman, and a “pithos” or jar to Earth to Prometheus’ brother, Epimetheus. They were warned to always keep the pithos closed, but one day, Pandora’s curiosity got the best of her, and she opened the jar. This released many evils into the world, including diseases and old age. When she managed to close the lid, there was only one thing left inside: hope. This left humanity in a perpetual cycle of suffering and hoping for better times. The story is a warning against the sin of excessive curiosity.

14. Arachne and the Weaving Contest

Arachne was a talented mortal weaver whose hubris had her declare herself more talented at weaving than Athena, the goddess of the craft. Hearing of this disrespectful behavior, Athena took the form of a feeble old woman and visited Arachne. She suggested that Arachne ask Athena for forgiveness, but she refused, instead challenging the goddess to a weaving contest. Athena revealed herself, and the competition began. Arachne may have won the competition, but an angry Athena beat Arachne, until the woman could bear it no longer and hanged herself. Finally showing pity, Athena transformed Arachne into a spider so that she could spend eternity weaving.

15. King Midas and the Golden Touch

In a famous story, King Midas of Phrygia was granted one wish by the god Dionysus, and he asked for the ability to turn everything he touched into gold. While he dreamed of great wealth, this turned out to be a curse, as everything he tried to eat and drink also turned to gold. He prayed to Dionysus to take the gift away, and the god advised the king to wash himself in the river Pactolus. As he washed himself free of the curse, the river filled with gold, and it was known for its gold reserves in antiquity. This is a story that warns against excessive greed and being careful what you wish for.

16. Narcissus and Echo

When Narcissus was born, it was soon obvious that he was more beautiful than other mortals. Men and women tried to attract his attention, but he wasn’t interested. Eventually, he attracted the attention of the nymph Echo, but he rejected her. Devastated, she ran into the wilderness where her body withered away, leaving behind only her bones and voice.

Angered, Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, caused Narcissus to fall obsessively in love with his own reflection in a calm pool. He soon realized that he could not embrace himself and that if he left the water’s edge, he would lose sight of himself. He eventually died of despair. A warning against excessive self-love, the white and yellow Narcissus flowers reportedly started to grow where his body lay.

17. Icarus Flies Too Close to the Sun

Daedalus was a famous inventor who found himself imprisoned in a tower on the island of Crete with his son, Icarus. Planning their escape, Daedalus created mechanical wings made from wax and feathers that would allow the pair to fly away. Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun, but as he sailed through the air like a bird, Icarus could not resist approaching the heavens. The wax of his wings melted, and he plunged to his death.

18. Niobe and her Children

Following the birth of Artemis and Apollo, Leto became one of the most famous mothers in Greece. But a Phrygian princess called Niobe had 12 children, six sons and six daughters, and boasted that she was more blessed than Leto. The Titan was so insulted that her children decided to avenge her, with Artemis killing all six of Niobe’s daughters, and Apollo killing all six of her sons. Niobe was so distraught that she turned to stone and can, according to Pausanias, be seen on Mount Sipylus.

Love, Loss, and Transformation

Greek myth is full of love stories, though they often end in tragedy. Another common theme in love is transformation, with lovers often metamorphosing to secure an encounter, escape suffering, as a reward, or as punishment. This recurring theme also points to the transformative power of true love.

19. Eros and Psyche

One of the most famous love stories in Greek myth is that of Eros, the son of Aphrodite, and Psyche, a mortal princess. Psyche was so beautiful that people compared her to Aphrodite. Angry at the comparison, Aphrodite sent Eros to use his arrows to have Psyche fall in love with the most hideous beast known to man. But when Eros saw Psyche, he fell in love and decided to marry her. Psyche’s father had already received an oracle that his daughter would be carried off by a “winged beast,” so he placed her on the edge of a high cliff. Winged Eros swooped in and claimed her.

To keep his identity a secret, Eros only visited his wife and night and warned her not to look at him. She obeyed until her sisters came to visit and, envious of her good lifestyle, convinced her that she had to see her husband. That night, Psyche snuck an oil lamp into the room. For her betrayal, Eros vowed never to see her again.

Desolate, Psyche finally approached Aphrodite to help her regain Eros’ heart. In exchange for her help, Aphrodite demanded that Psyche perform some impossible tasks. She succeeded in the first few tasks with some divine help, but when her plight became hopeless, Psyche stole a beauty potion from Aphrodite, thinking that it would help her win back Eros’ heart. When she opened the box, Psyche realized that it was actually a potion of eternal sleep, and she fell into an enchanted slumber. When Eros found her in her death-like sleep, he was grief-stricken and used his magical arrows to restore Psyche to consciousness, and the pair reunited. Eros also asks Zeus to grant her immortality, and she becomes the goddess of the soul.

20. Orpheus and Eurydice

According to another story, Orpheus, the semi-divine figure connected with Orphism, learned to play the lyre with Apollo and surpassed his teacher. When his beloved wife Eurydice died, he descended to the underworld to retrieve her. He found the entrance to Hades and used his lyre to lull the three-headed guard dog Cerberus to sleep. When he came to the thrones of Hades and Persephone, he sang beautifully about his love for Eurydice and her tragic death.

The gods agreed to return her, but told Orpheus that he must lead her out without ever looking back until they are both fully clear of the underworld. As they approached the exit from the underworld and the sun hit Orpheus’ face, he could not resist and looked back at his wife. Instantly, he was standing in the world of the living, and she was gone, taken back to the underworld. The story is a warning about impulsiveness and self-control.

21. Apollo and Daphne

In another story, the god Apollo falls in love with a nymph called Daphne. But, devoted to the virgin goddess Artemis, she has sworn chastity, so rejects the god, who pursues her relentlessly. His passion was caused by one of Eros’ arrows, after the gods argued about which of the two was the better bowman. Eventually, Apollo caught Daphne, so she called on her father, the river god Peneus, for help. He transformed her into a laurel tree to save her from Apollo. The god’s love did not wither, and he adopted the tree as his own, and the god was forever associated with the laurel. The story reflects the tragedy of unrequited love, but also how easily the innocent can become caught up in the fickle lives of the gods.

22. Leda and the Swan

Zeus spied Leda, the lovely mortal wife of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and transformed himself into a swan to seduce her. Later that same night, she also slept with her husband. As a result, she became pregnant with two eggs, each containing two children. The first held Zeus’s children, Pollux and Helen (of Trojan fame), and the other her husband’s children, Castor and Clytaemnestra. Castor and Pollux, who sailed with the Argonauts, became known as Dioscuri and represented sibling loyalty and affection. When the mortal Castor died in battle, Pollux asked his father, Zeus, to save his brother. Zeus allowed the twins to share Pollux’s immortality, so they alternate their time between Olympus and the underworld.

Heroes, Monsters, and Impossible Quests

While tragedy certainly plays an important role in Greek myth, it is also characterized by stories of heroes who undertake epic quests for glory, often overcoming fearsome monsters in the process. While in many ways, these are timeless tales of good versus evil, our heroes are rarely purely good, with their strength and courage balanced by human flaws.

23. Perseus and Medusa

Perseus, a semi-divine son of Zeus, was tricked by King Polydectes of Seriphos into promising to bring him the head of Medusa, a monster with snakes for hair who can turn a man to stone with a look. Favored by both Athena and Hermes, they help him on his quest. Hermes gave Perseus his sword to behead the beast, and Athena gave him her polished shield, acting as a reflective surface, to allow him to track Medusa without suffering her deadly gaze. He successfully beheaded Medusa and then used her head to save Princess Andromeda from a sea monster by turning him to stone. He then gifted the head to Athena, who wore it on her Aegis as a prize. He is both a classic courageous hero and divinely favored.

24. Theseus and the Minotaur

According to the myth, for years, the Athenians had been forced to send youths to Crete to be sacrificed to their monstrous Minotaur, living in the labyrinth below the city. Theseus, a prince of Athens, volunteers to be one of the tributes with the intention of slaying the beast and ending the cycle. When he arrived in Crete, the Cretan princess Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and gave him a sword that would enable him to slay the bullish beast. Prepared, Theseus entered the labyrinth trailing a string behind him, so that he could retrace his steps back out. He successfully found the sleeping Minotaur and killed it in a mighty battle. He then followed the thread back and escaped with the other Athenians and Ariadne.

Before returning home, Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos. In karmic punishment for his betrayal, Theseus forgot to change the sails on his ships to signal his safe return, and his father, assuming the worst, leapt to his death before seeing his son.

25. Jason and the Argonauts

Another famous Greek hero was Jason. Typical in Greek myth, he was a prince whose kingdom was stolen from him while he was a baby by another family member. Jason was then raised in the wilderness by a centaur called Chiron, and prepared to return home and claim his birthright. To prove his claim to the throne, the usurper demanded that Jason traverse the Black Sea to retrieve the famous Golden Fleece, hoping that Jason would die on the journey.

But Jason assembled a crew of heroes known as the Argonauts, which included the likes of Heracles and Orpheus, and they sailed to Colchis to get the fleece. There, the princess and witch Medea fell in love with Jason and helped him successfully retrieve the fleece. Medea is accused of performing terrible magics to help Jason, only for him to abandon her for another woman, resulting in her killing her own children.

26. Heracles and the Twelve Labors

The semi-divine hero and son of Zeus, Heracles, better known by the Latin version of his name, Hercules, pops up in a variety of Greek myths. His most famous story is that of his 12 labors. Again, jealous due to her husband’s infidelity, Hera sent Heracles into a fit of madness, and he killed his wife, Megara, and children. Wanting to atone for this heinous crime, he went to the Oracle and Delphi, which instructed him to put himself in the service of his cousin, King Eurystheus. Devoted to Hera, the king devised the seemingly impossible labors to further punish Heracles.

Against all odds, Heracles completed the impossible task. For example, when charged with killing the Nemean lion with impenetrable gold fur, he strangled the beast with his bare hands and then skinned it to create a cloak. He sometimes had divine aid, such as when he stole three golden apples from the Hesperides. He temporarily held up the heavens for the Titan Atlas while he retrieved the apples. His successes made Heracles Greece’s most revered Hero, but it was only a small part of his legendary life.

27. The Gigantomachy

Closer to the end of his mortal life, Heracles would play a role in the Gigantomachy, the war in which the giants, monstrous beings who emerged from the blood of Uranus, tried to overthrow the Olympian gods. During the war, Zeus learned a prophecy that only a demigod had the power to vanquish the giants. Heracles was summoned, and he used an arrow dipped in the poisonous blood of the Hydra he vanquished during his labors to kill the giant Alcyoneus. He then fought alongside Zeus to defeat the rest of the giants.

It was this act that caused Hera to accept Heracles and give up her quest to torment him. This meant that when he returned to his mortal life, he remarried and found happiness again, only to suffer a tragic death. After death, he was accepted among the gods of Mount Olympus.

Cities, Kings, and Tragedies

The foundation myths of many cities also play a prominent role in Greek mythology, connecting them with their patron deities and legendary heroic founders.

28. How Athens Got Its Name

According to myth, in ancient times, the land that would become Athens was ruled by a king called Cecrops. He built a city so grand that even the gods noticed its greatness, especially Athena and Poseidon, both of whom wanted to claim the city and place it under their protection. To prevent conflict, Zeus created a competition, asking both gods to present the city with a gift, and Cecrops would choose which was best to determine the winner. Poseidon created a saltwater spring, which was met with little enthusiasm since the city was surrounded by the sea. Athena gave them an olive tree, with high-quality timber and nutritional fruit that could make olive oil. She was declared the winner, and the city was named after her.

29. Oedipus and the Theban Prophecy

The founding myth of Thebes was dramatically retold by Sophocles in his play Oedipus Rex. Born the son of a Theban king and queen, Laius and Jocasta, a prophecy said that the infant Oedipus would one day kill his father and marry his mother, so the boy was exposed on a mountain. He was discovered and raised by the royal family in Corinth, ignorant of his true identity. When he heard the prophecy about himself, Oedipus feared he would hurt his Corinthian family, so he left.

While on the road, Oedipus unwittingly kills his father, and then, arriving in Thebes, marries his widowed mother. When a plague grips Thebes, Oedipus vows to discover the cause, only to discover his own monstrous actions. This left Thebes subject to a long-standing curse.

30. Sisyphus and Death

Sisyphus was the founder and first king of Corinth. When his days were up and Thanatos, the god of death, came to fetch him, Sisyphus requested that the god show him how the manacles he carried worked. During the demonstration, Sisyphus chained Thanatos, saving all humanity from death. This enraged Zeus, who sent Ares, the god of violent war, to free Thanatos. Knowing that death would return for him, Sisyphus told his wife not to perform the normal funerary rituals, so that when he got to Hades, he could complain that he had not received a proper burial. Hades let him return to earth to punish his wife, but back in Corinth, he lived a full life again before dying many years later.

When he died again, Sisyphus was condemned to eternal punishment in Tartarus. He was forced to push an enormous boulder up to the top of a hill, but as soon as it reached the top, it would roll back down, and Sisyphus would have to start again, indefinitely bound to this fruitless task.

End of the Age of Heroes

The classical Greeks imagined that they lived after the Age of Heroes, described in Homer’s Iliad, during which the gods seem to have been much more involved in mortal life, siring semi-divine children and interfering in human affairs. The age culminates in the Trojan War and its aftermath, stories that were integral to the Greek self-identity.

The Age of Heroes was imagined to be during the Bronze Age, when the Myceneans dominated the Greek world, who disappeared as part of the Bronze Age Collapse.

31. Apple of Discord

Recorded mostly in Homer’s Iliad, the Trojan War was an infamous battle between the Greeks and the Trojans. While the Trojan prince Paris’ kidnapping of Helen of Sparta is usually considered the trigger for the war, mythology suggests that Zeus may have put this great war in motion to diminish the human population. This is why the gods are so interested in the war in the Iliad, interfering and supporting their favorites.

A key step in setting up the conflict was the wedding of Thetis to the mortal hero Peleus, a union that produced the hero Achilles. All the gods were invited except for Eris, the goddess of strife. Irritated, she took an apple from the garden of the Hesperides and wrote on it “for the fairest,” and threw it into the party. Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite claimed the apple. To settle the argument, Zeus invited the Trojan prince Paris to judge which was the fairest. Each goddess bribed him with a magnificent present, but he chose Aphrodite, who offered him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen.

32. The Trojan War

When Paris kidnapped Helen from her husband, Menaleus, the king of Sparta, the Greeks united to form a war party and attack Troy. The party, led by King Agamemnon, included many heroes. The most famous of these heroes was Achilles, who was also the protagonist of the Iliad, which relates the final days of the war after it had already been waging for ten years. The action revolves around Achilles withdrawing from the right after being insulted by Agamemnon, and then returning to the fight to avenge the death of his friend Patroclus, killing the Trojan prince Hector among others.

The story, of course, ends with the utter destruction of Troy at the hands of the Greeks due to the ruse of the Trojan Horse, though this part of the story does not appear in the Iliad.

33. The Odyssey

Throughout the Trojan War, the Greeks offended the gods on various occasions, and they responded by making it hard for them to go home. The most famous story about this is told in Homer’s Odyssey. The king of Ithaca, Odysseus, offended Poseidon by blinding his Cyclops son, so he is blown off course and takes ten years to get home, with many adventures along the way. When he finally arrives, he must reclaim his wife and his power from the many suitors who assumed that he was dead.

34. The Nostoi

While the nostos, or return, story of Odysseus is the most famous, many of the Greek warriors at Troy suffered a similar fate. King Menelaus was also blown off course and found himself in Egypt, but there, he found his wife Helen, implying that the Helen who was taken to Troy was a phantom. The pair returned to Sparta and were granted immortality. Agamemnon made it home right away, but he was promptly killed by his wife, Clytemnestra, in revenge for killing their daughter.

35. The Aeneid

The final myth on this list appeared in its most famous form only in Rome in the 1st century BCE, but it has older roots. Homer mentions the Trojan prince Aeneas, who survived the Trojan War and led the other Trojan survivors on a journey across the Mediterranean. They would eventually settle in Italy and become the forebears of the Romans. When Virgil wrote his Aeneid at the start of the Augustan Age, he was connecting Rome to the much older Greek mythological tradition, integrating Rome into their joint mythological identity.

Greek Myth FAQ

Still have questions about Greek mythology? Find answers to the most frequently asked questions below.

What is the most famous Greek myth?

It is hard to say which is the most famous Greek myth, but among the most well-known are the Titanomachy, the conflict between the Titans and the Olympians that saw Zeus enthroned as the chief god, the 12 labors of Heracles, and the story of the Trojan War.

How many Greek myths are there?

It is impossible to say how many Greek myths there are, because there is no definitive catalogue or chronicle. Hundreds or even thousands of stories were passed down through oral traditions, and then versions of those stories were recorded in epic poems, hymns, plays, histories, and other surviving written works. Different versions of the same myths are often told in different sources, again reflecting that there was no established canon.

Who were the most important Greek Gods?

The principal gods venerated by the Greeks were the 12 Olympian gods. These were Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, and Dionysus.

Are Greek myths based on real events?

While there were certainly skeptics among them, in general, the Greeks considered their myths to be real. They were thought to be historical stories belonging to an ancient age when the world was new and the divine actively interacted with mortals. That’s not to say that the stories reflect events that really happened; for example, there is no evidence that Heracles ever walked the earth.

Are Greek and Roman myths the same?

Greek and Roman mythology are difficult to separate. While clearly sharing cultural roots, the Greeks and Romans had separate pantheons of deities. When the Romans encountered Greek religion, they noted the similarities and identified their gods with Greek gods; thus, they believed that their chief god, Jupiter, was the same as the Greek god Zeus, and their goddess Minerva was Athena, even though we can see distinct differences between the goddesses. They embraced Greek mythology and applied it to their own gods, but often with a distinct Roman spin.

Caravaggio painted the God Bacchus twice; once as a sickly youth and again as a vibrant albeit rustic persona. Caravaggio didn’t just paint gods and monsters—his mythological portraits pulse with emotion. These are intimate, unsettling reflections of humanity, caught in moments of beauty, madness, and mortality.

1. Medusa (1599)

Medusa’s legend is known throughout the entire world; the story of a Gorgon (monster) that turns its victims into stone with one look. Like many ancient myths, Medusa has conflicting details. However, despite these differing details, the outcome remains the same: Medusa is beheaded.

In some interpretations, Medusa is a horrifying figure who is held prisoner by the goddess Athena because the god Poseidon impregnated her while she was in Athena’s temple. The hero Perseus comes to behead the terrifying Gorgon, uses her head as a weapon for his other tasks, and then gifts it to Athena, who attaches it to her cape to represent both protection and fear.

In other versions, Medusa was a beautiful maiden who served the Goddess Athena in her temple. Over time, Medusa attracted the attention of the god of the seas, Poseidon, who then violently raped her in Athena’s temple, resulting in a pregnancy.

Possibly to protect her from future attacks, Athena transformed Medusa’s beautiful hair into locks of snakes that turn whoever looks at Medusa into stone.

With a legend as dramatic as this, artists have drawn, sculpted, and painted what Medusa would have looked like throughout the centuries. The Baroque master, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, is just one of hundreds of artists to depict the unfortunate Gorgon.

Caravaggio’s Medusa depicts the moment following decapitation, and it is also a self-portrait of the artist. By blending the lines between male and female appearance, Caravaggio shows us that base emotions such as fear and shock, and mortality, know no gender; he seamlessly blends the male and female to depict genuine human sensations. What we, as the viewer, are witnesses to is a fleeting moment in time that, true to Caravaggio’s style, packs a plethora of emotions into one moment.

Set against a forest green background, Caravaggio’s Medusa is striking as the gorgon screams in terror. The snakes in her hair wiggle and squirm this way and that, perhaps attempting to run away from the blood violently cascading from the neck wound. Painted on a shield, the convex curve of the objects allows Medusa’s face to jut out to the viewer, enhancing the realism of the horror. Caravaggio painted Medusa on a shield, symbolizing her slayer, Perseus, who uses the shield to reflect Medusa’s image back at her. This gives Perseus the opportunity to cut off her head before she turns to stone due to her own curse. Medusa’s eyes are gazing downward as she looks at her reflection in the mirror, blood spouting everywhere, her eyebrows scrunched in a terrifying confusion as her fate slowly becomes clear.

2. Young Sick Bacchus (1593)

Bacchus (Dionysus) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruits, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theater. He is most often depicted as a joyous figure who brings happiness and frivolity to whatever setting he is in. However, if angered, he could also be a vengeful god capable of driving people to madness. Essentially, compared to other gods and goddesses, Bacchus was the one you wanted to be around most.

Caravaggio’s depiction of the god of wine is in contrast to other depictions because Caravaggio’s Bacchus is sick. Like many other paintings in Caravaggio’s oeuvre, the artist inserted a self-portrait of himself in this rendering of the drunken, raucous god. According to many art historians, Caravaggio painted this Young Sick Bacchus while recovering from a bout of malaria.

Caravaggio’s Bacchus is indeed sickly. His lips are blueish-green, and his eyes are engaging yet lifeless as he holds a bunch of grapes that range from ripe to rotten in his hand. The range of liveliness in the grapes is meant to represent the various stages of life, a reminder of mortality or, as it is classically called, memento mori. The grapes, in this way, echo the sickly body of Bacchus, suggesting the fleeting sensation and state of youth and beauty in humans.

Although this Bacchus appears muscular and youthful, his skin is yellow and pale, and his fingernails are dirty. This is distinctive of Caravaggio’s style as he would take his models, and even himself, and paint them as if they were, not idealizing their appearance to adhere to some standard of classical beauty.

3. Narcissus (1599)

Like many of the others on this list, the story of Narcissus is detailed in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Ovid tells us that Narcissus had rejected all advances from both men and women who approached him and instead fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water.

Because of this obsession with himself, Narcissus became the inspiration for the term narcissism, a self-centered personality or, at the extreme end of the spectrum, the basis of narcissistic personality disorder. This disorder is characterized by grandiosity, excessive need for attention and admiration, and an impaired ability to empathize with others. If anyone reading has been in a relationship with a narcissist, they’ll know that, much like the nymph Echo who longed for Narcissus’s love, it is a suffocating feeling in which the other feels they cannot compete with the narcissist themselves, and they are correct. That kind of love is toxic and detrimental to everyone around the narcissist.

Caravaggio’s Narcissus depicts a youthful boy on his hands and knees staring longingly into a pool of water, where his reflection stares back at him, yearning to reach out and touch each other. Instead of placing Narcissus in a field with nymphs, flowers, and bystanders surrounding him, like many early Renaissance painters, Caravaggio has placed him on a stark black background.

By doing so, Caravaggio forces the viewer to look only at Narcissus and his features: the musculature of his body, the shadows dancing around him, and the fabric of his clothes. The viewer can also grasp the intense psychological drama of this moment, where Narcissus falls in love with himself. Narcissus’s expression is not overtly enthusiastic or unhappy; instead, the viewer is presented with a tense and absolutely absorbed emotion that borders on obsession and madness. Some could describe it as love at first sight.

As Narcissus delicately bends over the shimmering water’s surface, reaching to touch his mesmerizing reflection, his tenderness is palpable. His fingertips skim the cool, liquid texture, revealing an almost reverent admiration for his own image. Yet, amidst this gentle interaction lies a sense of tragedy. Narcissus gazes longingly at the vivid likeness, feeling an overwhelming pull toward something that appears so intimately accessible yet remains agonizingly out of reach.

This poignant moment serves as a reminder of the complex relationship between love and despair, illustrating how the desire for beauty and connection can quickly transform into an encounter with doom, blurring the lines between admiration and obsession.

4. Bacchus (1596)

Compared to Caravaggio’s Young Sick Bacchus, this Bacchus from 1596 is a vibrant, though tangible representation of the god of wine. The young Bacchus teases the viewer by drawing us inward, only exposing one side of his body to the viewer. This Bacchus is directly facing the viewer, graciously offering us a glass of wine while seductively gazing at us.

While this Bacchus is more idealized than Caravaggio’s sick Bacchus, this depiction is still a long cry away from the beautiful images of gods and goddesses by Da Vinci or Titian. A closer look will reveal that this Bacchus has dirt under his nails and pale skin flushed at the extremities and face. This realistic depiction of Bacchus questions earlier ideas of divine beauty. This may be Caravaggio’s greatest talent: to make the sacred profane, or more simply, to make the divine mundane and thus bring these otherworldly ideals, personas, etc., to the everyday individual.

The fruit surrounding Bacchus consists of apples, grapes, pomegranates, and others that feature the varying stages of vitality in a fruit’s life cycle. These different stages of liveliness in the fruits represent life’s fleeting moments and how quickly life can slip by us mortals. It is easy to see here where and why the art of the Dutch Golden Age employed the theme of “vanitas,” with a clear nod to Caravaggio’s tenebrosity.

Bacchus represents pleasure, enjoyment, and the ways in which we humans escape our realities. However, unlike Bacchus, we have a time limit on the pleasures of life. Therefore, we must take our moments of pleasure seriously, and we must accept that offering of wine that Bacchus presents us.