[Guide] Greek Mythology

[stephy-gurl]

lesson 1
assignment 1

Zeus and Demeter (who is his sister right?) have a child called Persephone. Zeus' mom Rhea
tells them that they can't be together so Zeus and his mother turn into snakes and then he
rapes her. he also transforms into a snake when he has sex with his daughter.

http://www.themystica.org/mythical-folk/articles/demeter.html  

[zabazor]

Feeling pity for Io, Zeus often visited her in the shape of a bull. Finally, he promised Hera that he would pay no more attention to Io, and Hera agreed to transform her back into a woman.

Read more: Hera - Myth Encyclopedia - mythology, Greek, god, story, names, ancient, famous, animal, war, world, Roman, life, hero, king, trojan, children, fire, monster, strength http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Go-Hi/Hera.html#ixzz0kewERC9Q  

[oceantail]

I have read the classwork, and in response
@Stephy, yes Demeter is Zeus's sister, and congrats on finding a myth that even I didn't know about smile
@Zabazor, this seems like the end of a myth rather than the whole thing, it might be beneficial to summarize the whole myth for the people who don't know it.
@Elletnah, you seem to have not turned in any work this time, it is possible that life through a curve-ball at you or something causing this to be no fault of your own, but I would appreciate you turning in the work as soon as you can and either include or pm me with what happened, it should be no problem, and I hope that you wish to continue this course

(I am posting this time so that you all can learn from the first project mistakes(I did this because they were all common mistakes and would be good learning experiences for the class) in the future I will pm with comments unless you ask a question relevant to mythology that I think would be wise to tell the class)
~Oceantail  

[too2sweet]

Quote:

Extra-credit/ fun stuff write either a charm or a ritual, using Zeus, to either attract love, or make yourself open to love. (not to get a specific person mind you)

I'm going to apologize in advance, because I'm sure I'm annoying you (especially since I'm not actually in your class), but why would someone 1) petition a God that they have no working relationship with, and 2) petition Zeus for matters relating to Love?

I mean even recognizing that "rape" in the ancient Hellenic world, didn't quite mean the same thing that it does now - do you really want to ask a guy who forces/tricks many of his women into his bed for assistance in Love. Especially when traditionally that would be something that Aphrodite (if you were just looking for a bit of fun), or even Hera (for more long term relationships) would be more appropriate to call on for.  

[ElletNah_Sword]

Zeus had and incestuos affair with his daught Persephone after turning into a serpent. Those producing the god Dionysus.
At least that is one of the story associated with the Greek Orphic mystery cult. Another one states that his mother was human and that Hera killed her, but that story is for another day.

http://www.themystica.org/mythical-folk/articles/dionysus.html

((Sorry cant get to a computer as much as I would like to thats why this is late.))  

[oceantail]

too2sweet

Quote:

Extra-credit/ fun stuff write either a charm or a ritual, using Zeus, to either attract love, or make yourself open to love. (not to get a specific person mind you)

I'm going to apologize in advance, because I'm sure I'm annoying you (especially since I'm not actually in your class), but why would someone 1) petition a God that they have no working relationship with, and 2) petition Zeus for matters relating to Love?

I mean even recognizing that "rape" in the ancient Hellenic world, didn't quite mean the same thing that it does now - do you really want to ask a guy who forces/tricks many of his women into his bed for assistance in Love. Especially when traditionally that would be something that Aphrodite (if you were just looking for a bit of fun), or even Hera (for more long term relationships) would be more appropriate to call on for.

to answer that I was thinking of a book that I read in the Greek mythology series in which a king who thought himself Zeus's heir asked the god to turn him into a wolf in order to... well in retrospect it was not for nice reasons and had nothing to do with love, but it gave me the idea that maybe Zeus who transformed a good many times would serve as an inspiration in autotransformative (I may have made that word up) magick, especially, to change ones self to be a better at attracting love, this was never meant as an outright petition of Zeus, though I am new at teaching so sometimes my words may get confusing, In the future I think I will just have the extra-credit be write a relevant spell or prayer or what ever the person so chooses to do that is inspired by either a myth or the deity them-self. though I shall never make this the mandatory work, as I am well familiar with times the muses fail to strike.
in the case that it matters the spell in the book, which was not a wiccan text, but rather a mythological story is as follows:
Zeus, king of the gods, who took the form of a bull to win the love of Europa, now grant me the form of a wolf to win my love.
But ultimately this was for insidious purposes in the book so it is kinda just for the idea that you could use the myth in a spell sweatdrop

Post scripta,
Please remember that this is my first time teaching to others, so if I am doing things that don't nessasarily make sense, just ask, either here or in a pm, I will try to answer all questions to my motivations, or I might realize a flaw that I didn't see so, feel free to ask questions, just don't be rude or mean-spirited (not saying that anyone was)  

[captains bootie]

Personally, I feel as if choice B is much part of choice A, because the myths are a lot to do with who the Deities are, as they explain much about their character.
I would love anything tying into rituals that you can find.

I I guess choice A & C.


Lesson I
Assignment i

Zeus has his sights set on Nemesis, (whose name translates to "dispenser of dues") the Goddess of retribution, or divine vengeance. When Zeus came after, she tool the form of fish among other things to escape him, but when she turned herself into a goose, he took the form of a swan and "consorted with her."
The offspring produced from Nemesis were born on the same day, of an egg- Polydeuces and Helen of Troy were immortal and the children of Zeus, and Castor and Clytaemnestra were mortal children of King Tyndareus of Sparta.

Source 1
Source 2

 

[Chaos Blue]

Lesson 1
assignment 1:

There's more than one account of this.
Zeus wanted Hera, but Hera wasn't accepting of his advances.
So, Zeus turned to trickery and transformed into an injured bird. Hera finds the bird and comforts it, Zeus tricks Hera by changing back and raping her, thus, she marries him in a secret ceremony becoming Queen of Olympians.
Source.

Another account, which makes more sense to me, personally, is that he does transform into the bird, (Which is a cuckoo in both stories, I believe) Hera finds it and adores it. She wanted the bird to be hers, so when she claims such (seduced), she is fooled when Zeus transforms back. Afterward, they get married.
Besides the Peacock, the Cuckoo is also Hera's bird.
Source.  

[oceantail]

Lesson II
We will be continuing our learning of the major 12 and this week the goddess is none other than Hera


The Roman name for Hera is Juno, I don't have a story as to the origins of this one...
Hera is considered one of the most vengeful of the Greek deities, but then with a husband like Zeus can you really blame her? She tends to be a supporting deity in myths, by that I mean that she will appear in the story but she wont be the main deity of the myth. Though I am sure there are some exceptions.

Hera is one of the two goddesses that govern matrimony (the other being her sister Demeter) The peacock and the goose (and apparently the cuckoo) were sacred to her.

She is the wife of Zeus, The Mother of Ares, Hephaestus,Eileithyia, and ********* (The last two of which I should do more research on.

any questions so far should be posted or PMed to me

--edit--
********* is the goddess/personification of youth
Eileithyia is a Cretan goddess adopted by the Greeks as the goddess of childbirth and midwifery  

[captains bootie]

Since I'm a bit of an over achiever, and you mentioned no known origin of her name, I took it upon myself to find out.

One source stated that

Quote:

HÊRÂ (Ήρα): Greek myth name of the wife of Zeus. Of unknown meaning. Her name is not Greek or Indo-European. She may have originally been a deity of the Minoan pantheon or of some other unidentifiable pre-Greek people. Her Roman name is Juno, meaning "vital force."

but I'm not sure how trust worthy the site is.

 

[oceantail]

I was wondering, I found a Hellenic pagan site that looks pretty reputable but since this is officially a mythology class not a Hellenic paganism class. I leave the discision to you all if I should include it or not.

Edit: I posted it in the Hellenic pagan thread on the main page, if you want it there it is (no rudeness intended)  

[captains bootie]

I say go ahead and include it, it it's not too much trouble.

 

[Chaos Blue]

I agree, do add it. It could be supplementary to the lessons.