#apollodorus

[whencyclopedia]

Typhon

Typhon (also Typheus) is the largest and most dreadful monster in Greek mythology. He was tall, with a brutish face, and had wings, countless snakeheads in place of hands, and a lower body made up of coiled serpents. His eyes flashed fire, and fiery rocks fell from his mouth.

Typhon was the son of Gaia (the Earth) and Tartarus (the Infernal Regions), although he is also mentioned as being the son of Hera in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. He joined in love with Echidna, a half-woman, half-snake creature, and together they had many fierce children. The most famous myth associated with Typhon is his battle with Zeus and the Olympian gods, as he sought to rule over gods and mortals. Typhon is also associated with Set from ancient Egyptian mythology and other Near Eastern myths.

Birth & Family

In revenge for the destruction of her children (the Giants), Gaia lay with Tartarus and gave birth to Typhon, the biggest monster in Greek mythology, in a cave in Cilicia. In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, the birth of Typhon is very different. He was the son of Hera, who was angry that Zeus had given birth to Athena without any involvement from her. Hera begged that Gaia, Uranus, and the Titans would give her a son who was mightier than Zeus. She became pregnant after she beat the Earth with her hand. She stayed in her temples and accepted offerings to her. After many months had passed, she gave birth to the cruel and dreaded Typhon. Hera gave Typhon to the dragon Python to be brought up, and they both wreaked havoc among the mortals.

Typhon fell in love with Echidna, a half-woman, half-snake creature, who was both beautiful and terrible to look at, and together they had some of the most fearsome monsters in Greek mythology.

First, Orthos the dog of Geryon, and next, Unspeakable Cerberus, who eats raw flesh, The bronze-voiced hound of Hades, shameless, strong With fifty heads. And then again she bore The Lernaean Hydra, skilled in wrong, the one The goddess white-armed Hera raised, who was Immensely angry with great Heracles.

(Hesiod, Theogony, 311-318).

Continue reading...

[tylermileslockett]

Herakles #3: A Fit of Rage

Now a young man, Herakles embarks on heroic adventures, hunting the lion of Cithaeron for King Thespius, and sleeping with his fifty princess daughters over fifty nights, before capturing the lion and wearing the hide and scalp as a helmet. Returning home, Herakles finds himself defending Thebes against the warring Minyans. Victorious, King Creon’s daughter Megara is given in marriage as a reward for his valor. By her they have three sons.

But Hera still plots vengeance against the descendent of Zeus. She curses Herakles with a fit of violent rage, and, thinking those around him are enemies, he brutally fells his own wife and children with bow and arrows. When he finally awakens from his madness, and realizes what he has done, he is inconsolable.

He exiles himself and finds refuge and purification with his ally, King Thespius, then journeys on to Delphi to consult the Pythia priestess of Apollo, who orders him to atone for his atrocity by serving his cousin, king Eurysthius for twelve years. If successful, he will attain immortality.

According to Apollodorus, the war between Thebes and the Minyans is a grim affair, with Herakles treating his enemies with cruelty when he “cut off their ears and noses and hands, and having fastened them by ropes from their necks” Apollodorus also mentions Herakles receiving divine weapons here: a sword from Hermes, Bow and arrows from Apollo, A golden breastplate from Hephaestus, and a cape from Athena.

When Herakles kills his family, he shatters his own Oikos (paternal line/household), a crucial building block for ancient Greek society. There are two major reasons Herakles is ordered to serve his cousin; first, to atone for the murders of his wife and sons, and thus attain redemption and second, to prove his worth and attain great Kleos (glory/renown), and achieve his highest Arete (potential for human excellence)

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[katerinaaqu]

Shoutout to Diomedes fans; Diomedes and Thersites (yeah that unpleasant fellow who got beaten up by Odysseus in Iliad) were cousins

His grandfather Oeneus and Thersites's father Agrius were brothers. Thersites and his five brothers apparently overthrew Oeneus and placed their father Agrius to the throne. They also imprisoned and tormented Oeneus (Apollodorous, Library). Diomedes arrived in secret from Argos and not only did he restored his grandfather but also killed all the brothers of Thersites except for himself and Onchestus. The brothers fled from Diomedes's wrath in Peloponese. Later they killed Oenus in Peloponese in an ambush. It seems that Diomedes does not chase them any further but takes the dead body for burial. Instead he establishes the city Oenoe in his grandfather's name.

So yeah...Diomedes has absolutely no reason to like Thersites despite that he is family and yet he faced the wrath of Achilles to defend his honor after death. Even if it was just a family tribute...what a guy!

[literaryvein-reblogs]

The 12 Labours of Heracles

Excerpted from "The Library of Greek Mythology" by Apollodorus of Athens

Writing Prompt: Rewrite the Greek Myths

[dilutedh2so4]

Paris’ Early Life*

When the babe was born Priam gave it to a servant to take and expose on Ida; now the servant was named Agelaus. Exposed by him, the infant was nursed for five days by a bear; and, when he found it safe, he took it up, carried it away, brought it up as his own son on his farm, and named him Paris. When he grew to be a young man, Paris excelled many in beauty and strength, and was afterwards surnamed Alexander, because he repelled robbers and defended the flocks. 

-> Apollodorus’ Library 3.12.5

*According to Apollodorus

[mythinart]

the apotheosis of hercules by françois lemoyne (1733-1736)

[sarafangirlart]

In Apollodorus Deianira was described as a warrior who drove chariots

Takes it from her great great great grandfather Ares probably

[adriles]

my mother is constantly on the look out for signs of my doom that i can easily prevent and therefore survive this war (i kill tenes with my sword and therefore doom myself to die by apollos hand) oops

[assassinscreedbracket]

[feyndothur]

- apollodorus -

it's sucks that we didnt get to have his outfit / a variation of it, it looks so cool

[peridot-tears]

Apollodorus went from sus guy who treats you questionably to a welcoming bro. It's a shame he has to die.

[tylermileslockett]

Heracles labor 11: "Steal the Apples of the Hesperides:

After saving Prometheus from the eagle which pecked at his liver, Appollodorus tells us that, "...Prometheus had told Hercules not to go himself after the apples but to send Atlas, first relieving him of the burden of the sphere; so when he was come to Atlas in the land of the Hyperboreans, he took the advice and relieved Atlas. But when Atlas had received three apples from the Hesperides, he came to Hercules, and not wishing to support the sphere he said that he would himself carry the apples to Eurystheus, and bade Hercules hold up the sky in his stead. Hercules promised to do so, but succeeded by craft in putting it on Atlas instead. For at the advice of Prometheus he begged Atlas to hold up the sky till he should put a pad on his head. When Atlas heard that, he laid the apples down on the ground and took the sphere from Hercules. And so Hercules picked up the apples and departed.

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[katerinaaqu]

Helloo I hope you're doing well :) I was reading about Hector and realised I've never seen him outside of the Iliad. Does he appear in other texts ?

Hello and thank you very much for your sweet words and your ask! Oh yes of course. Hector appears in a plethora of ancient Greek and Roman texts but the real test is to see him outside the context of the Trojan war! Hahaha!

For example Hector appears in plenty of texts by Apollodorous in various contexts and he even mentions how Hector was the one to kill Protesilaus and that is mentioned in several sources more I believe Hyginus included as well as a writer called Philostratus mentions the death of Protesilaus by the hands of Hector. Pausanias mentions Hector in one painting or image sitting in a mourning manner next to the Ethipian king Memnon after the Thracian Thamyris. Plutarch also mentions Hector in various of his texts in the context of Trojan War. Eurypedes mentions Hector in many of his tragedies. Strabo makes mentions to Hector during his geographical expeditions. Plato mentions Hector a lot in his work (even in Apology), Pindar as well as Diodorus Siculus. Last but not least we have Aristotle who mentions Hector in various of his works.

For other roman sources we have of course the Aenead by Virgil and Ovid. Even Pliny the Elder makes mentions to Hector and of course P. Virgilius Maro as he makes commentary on Virgils' Aenead. P. Ovidius Naso also mentions him in his work among other written roman sources including Horace

For his physical description we again have the classic cases of Malalas and Dares the Phrygian. And of course again we have kinda contradictory accounts on him:

Dares the Phrygian: Hector spoke with a slight lisp. His complexion was fair, his hair curly. His eyes would blink attractively. His movements were swift. His face, with its beard, was noble. He was handsome, fierce, and high-spirited, merciful to the citizens, and deserving of love. Malalas: dark-skinned, tall, very stoutly built, strong, good nose, wooly-haired, good beard, squinting, speech defect, noble, fearsome warrior, deep-voiced.

To name a few writers who mention him! Happy to provide the passages you want in the future. Most of the contexts in which Hector is being mentioned is around the trojan war and the epic cycle or used as an example for rethorics. ^_^

And of course do not forget how Hector's name is being mentioned to Linear B tablets! ;)

I hope this helps!

[literaryvein-reblogs]

An excerpt from "The Library of Greek Mythology" by Apollodorus of Athens

Writing Prompt: Rewrite the Greek Myths

[dilutedh2so4]

What makes it even more tragic is that, even if he had made the supposed "correct" decision (if there ever was one in the first place), destruction would still have come to the world in one way or another. Zeus could've just reverted back to his Plan A (natural disasters).

-> D Scholia on Homer's Iliad, "and Zeus' plan was being fulfilled"*

For they say that Earth, being weighed down by the multitude of people, there being no piety among humankind, asked Zeus to be relieved of the burden.

Zeus firstly and at once brought about the Theban War, by means of which he destroyed very large numbers, and afterwards the Trojan one, with Cavil as his adviser.

[Zeus] was capable of destroying everyone with thunder bolts or floods. Cavil prevented this, and proposed two ideas to him, the marriage of Thetis to a mortal and the birth of a beautiful daughter. From these two events war came about between Greeks and barbarians, resulting in the lightening of the earth as many were killed.

-> Epitome of Apollodorus' Library**

3.1 “Later, Alexander (Paris) abducted Helen, some say by Zeus’ will so that Europe and Asia would go to war and his daughter would become famous, or as others have said, so that the race of demigods might be ended.”

3.2 "For one of these reasons, then, Eris threw in an apple as a beauty prize for Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Zeus ordered Hermes to take them to Alexander (Paris) on Mount Ida so that they could be judged by him."

-> Fragment of Hesiod's Catalogue of Women***

For high-thundering Zeus was devising wondrous deeds then, to stir up trouble on the boundless earth; for he was already eager to annihilate most of the race of human beings, a pretext to destroy the lives of the demigods.

This isn't to deny personal responsibility, however it is important to keep it in mind when people lump all the blame onto Paris alone: "Oh, if only Troy had killed him," "If only he had chosen another goddess," "If only he wasn't a coward."

My guy was raised as a shepherd, of course he's going to be afraid to fight against kings and princes who have been training their entire lives! Yet Hector still cares for him. And Helen did love him! Even after almost 10 years of war and bloodshed in her name!

Also if you want to learn more about Paris, I will always defer to littlesparklight (literal human encyclopaedia I swear) -> Sources for the quotes: * Greek Epic Fragments, page 81 ** Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae, page 77 *** Hesiod Vol. 2: The Shield, Catalogue of Women, and Other Fragments, page 233 I have more quotes and sources, but this post is long enough already haha (yapping is my fav hobby)

I have to restrain myself from thinking too much about Paris or else I get way too sad.

Imagine you're just a shepherd, some nobody,

And one day the gods offer you a choice. You know that in this very instant, you are the most important mortal in the world. It's a doom. You know there is no good answer, so you choose what feels the most human : love.

And then suddenly everything changes. You were a shepherd, now you are a prince. You were happy and satisfied taking care of cows and sleeping next to your wife, but now you are in a palace with another man's wife.

And then there is your brother. The eldest and greatest of all of Priam's sons. You admire him, everyone loves him. He hates you, everyone hates you. You don't blame them.

Only once you try to actually stand up for your city (duel against Menelaus), and even there you can't do anything. A god has to save you. You know everyone in your city wishes you would've died there. You can't blame them.

You didn't learn how to fight or lead an army. The best you can ever do is to shoot someone in the foot. To you it is awesome, it's the greatest you've done so far- but next to what anyone else has done since the beginning of this war, your "exploit" is ridiculous to celebrate.

I'm sorry but I just cannot hate him. I feel so bad for him. He never asked for any of that. He will forever be blamed for the choice he had no control over and no possible good answer to give.

(I KNOW he's not a poor little victim who must be protected. Ik he's annoying and a bad person- but so is everyone else. I don't think he's a worse person than most other characters (maybe more annoying yes but it's not his fault he's blond (/nsrs)

[mythinart]

hercules and omphale by françois boucher (1735)