Unsung Heroes and Forgotten Gods

[Akherontis]

I'm starting this forum to discuss and share some of the most obscure myths in Greek Mythology, those which slip through the cracks and are largely unremembered. I'll start with some transformation myths:

Galanthis
Galanthis was the midwife of Alkmene, who assisted her during the birth of Herakles. When Alkmene was in labor, she was having difficulty giving birth to a child so large. After seven days she called for assistance from Eilethyia, the goddess of childbirth. However, Eilethyia did not help her due to the wishes of her mother Hera. Instead, she clasped her hands and crossed her legs, preventing the child from being born. Alkmene struggled in pain, cursed the heavens, and became close to death. Galanthis noticed Eilethyia and deduced Hera's plans. She told the goddess that the baby was born; this so startled her that she jumped up and unclasped her hands. This freed Alkmene, and she was able to give birth. Galanthis laughed and ridiculed Eilethyia , and as a punishment was turned into a weasel. She continued to live with Alkmene after her transformation.

Askalaphos
Askalaphos was the daimon son of the Hadean river-god Akheron and the Avernalian nymph Orphne (or Gorgyra) who managed the orchards of Haides. When Demeter wished to return Persephone to the world above, Askalaphos confirmed that she had tasted of the pomegranate seeds from his orchard. The angry Demeter turned the orchardist into a screech-owl and buried him beneath a rock. Later, when Herakles descended into the Underworld on his twelth labour, seeking Kerberos, the hero released Askalaphos from the rock, and the owl-daimon went on to become the familiar of Hades. He later became an Argonaut during the Quest for the Golden Fleece (although it may just have been a different man with the same name).

Alektryon
Alektryon was a youth, abducted by Ares and charged to stand guard outside his door while the God of War indulged in illicit love with Aphrodite. During the night, he fell asleep at his post, and Helios, the sun, walked in on the couple. A vengeful Ares transformed poor Alektryon into a rooster, which henceforth never forgets to announce the arrival of the sun in the morning.

Hippolytos
Hippolytos was a son of Theseus and Hippolyte. He had scorned Aphrodite in order to become a worshiper of Artemis, devoting himself to a chaste life in pursuit of hunting. In retaliation, Aphrodite made his stepmother Phaedra fall in love with him. Hippolytos rejected her advances. Spurned, Phaedra convinced Theseus that Hippolytos had raped her. Infuriated, Theseus believed her and, using one of the three wishes he had received from Poseidon, cursed Hippolytos. Later, while he was driving his chariot along the beach, Hippolytus' horses were frightened by a sea monster and dragged their rider to his death. Phaedra committed suicide out of guilt for she had not intended for Hippolytos to die. The goddess Artemis then came to Theseus and told him the truth, that Phaedra had lied, and that Aphrodite was the cause of their misfortune. Artemis swore that she would avenge Hippolytos by killing one of Aphrodite's loves (Adonis).

Iphikles
Everybody knows about Herakles. But how many people know that he has a twin brother? Iphikles was fathered by Alkmene's husband Amphitryon, while Herakles was sired on her by Zeus in the same night. While Herakles (named Alkides when he was born) was a demigod with superhuman strength, poor Iphikles was an ordinary mortal. When they were children, Hera sent two serpents to kill Alkides in his crib. One snake threatened Iphikles, but baby Alkides grabbed both and throttled them with his little hands. It was after this that Alkmene and Amphitryon renamed their mighty son Herakles, in order to appease Hera. Iphikles went on to become the father of Iolaos, Herakles' charioteer and one of his eromenoi.

Triton
Poor Poseidon. These days, the misconception of him as a merman is virtually unanimous. But the greeks did not see it so. Poseidon inherited the rule of the sea, he was not born to it. He married the Nereid Amphitrite, and with her he fathered Triton. Now Tritan WAS a merman, with the lower half of a fish. He was the messenger of the sea, and his special attribute was a conch shell which he sounded to calm or raise the waves of the sea.

I will present more later.  

[Queen-of-the-Rogue]

Wow these are very very interesting. Thank you for sharing them. ^^  

[Akherontis]

Thanks for reading.

Alexiares and Aniketos
After his death and apotheosis, Herakles went on to become the Olympian god of heroics and glorious deeds. He was married to his half-sister *********, the goddess of youth. With her, he fathered twin sons, Alexiares and Aniketos. These young gods were the gatekeepers of Olympos, and they were revered as the gods of civic defense and sportsmanship.

Iris and Arke
Hermes's popularity tends to overshadow that of Iris. She shared with him the duty of being messenger among the gods. The goddess of the rainbow and the daugher of Thaumas (god of sea wonders), she had three sisters. Two were the Harpies, Aello and Okypete, twin goddesses of storms. But the other, rarely heard of sister was also a goddess of the rainbow; Arke. During the Titan war, Iris served as messenger for the Olympians, while Arke served the Titans. When the Titans lost, Arke was stripped of her wings and flung into Tartaros, while her sister was given a place of honour among the victorious gods. Later, Arke's wings were melted down and grafted by Hephaistos onto the boots of Akhilles, hence his epithet 'Podarkhes' the swift-footed.  

[Akherontis]

Leukothea and Palaimon
Leukothea and Palaimon were apotheosized mortals. Leukothea was once a mortal princess named Ino, a daughter of King Kadmos of Thebes. She and her husband Athamas incurred the wrath of Hera when they fostered the infant god Dionysos. As punishment Hera drove Athamas into a murderous rage and he slew his eldest child. Ino grapped the other child, Melikertes, and in her flight leapt off a cliff into the sea. The pair were welcomed into the company of the marine gods, due to the favour of Dionysos. Ino was renamed Leukothea (the White Goddess) and Melikertes became Palaimon (the Wrestler). The two deities assisted sailors who were in distress. Leukothea later came to the aid of Odysseus when his raft had been destroyed by Poseidon, and wrapped him in the safety of her buoyant shawl.

The Missing Erotes
Eros is very well known. But the other Erotes, not so much. People often leave out Anteros, Pothos, Hymenaios, Hedylogos and Hermaphroditos.

Anteros (also called Himeros) is Eros' playmate, emerging along with their mother Aphrodite from the sea foam. He represents both requited and unrequited love. His arrows are made of flint and they cause people to spurn the affections of lovers.

Pothos is the son of the west wind Zephyros and the rainbow goddess Iris. He is the personification of longing, yearning and carnal desire.

Hedylogos is the personification of sweet talk and flattery. His parentage is unknown, but he is perhaps merely another name for Pothos.

Hymenaios was the god of the wedding ceremony, and the honeymoon. His parents were said to be Apollon and one of the Muses; either Kleio, Terpsichore or Kalliope.

Hermaphroditos was the god of effeminacy, transsexuality and, obviously, hermaphrodites. The son of Hermes and Aphrodite, he was unwillingly merged with the spirit of a water nymph named Salmakis, becoming a hybrid of man and woman.  

[Herry Rockabore]

Galanthis seemed clever until she laughed at Eilethyia, that was not a smart move. I love the Alektryon story, mostly because my sister has a pet rooster at our house who does it at all the wrong times. rofl

I already heard about Triton (he's one of my favorites because of the way I've seen him drawn) and Iphikles since he plays a role in the story of Heracles.  

[HadesPluto]

Good ol' Askalaphos.... Even if he got me into a huge predicement with Demeter. But still. Great guy....owl...what would be the politically correct term?? confused  

[Akherontis]

HadesPluto

Good ol' Askalaphos.... Even if he got me into a huge predicement with Demeter. But still. Great guy....owl...what would be the politically correct term?? confused

Askalaphos. Which literally means 'screech owl'. But technically speaking, he's a daimon.  

[HadesPluto]

Akherontis

HadesPluto

Good ol' Askalaphos.... Even if he got me into a huge predicement with Demeter. But still. Great guy....owl...what would be the politically correct term?? confused

Askalaphos. Which literally means 'screech owl'. But technically speaking, he's a daimon.

Ahhhh I see.  

[Akherontis]

Judges of the Dead

Hades himself did not make judgments over the newly arrived dead in the underworld; he was far too busy for the day-to-day tedium of soul trafficking. So he had three former mortals - virtuous demigod kings in life - serve as his judges of the dead. These judges sat in eminence in the courtyard of Hades, and their decisions were enforced by the Erinyes (Furies).

Minos
Minos was the chiefest and sternest of the three judges. In life, he was the son of Zeus and Europa, but was fostered by King Asterion, and later inherited the island of Krete, after banishing his brothers Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys. Several myths concern King Minos, prominently that of Theseus and Minotauros, who was born from his wife Pasiphae. After death, he became the most influential of the Hadean judges, and he held the deciding vote over his two peers.

Aiakos
Aiakos was the son of Zeus and Aegina, a daughter of the river god Asopos. Aiakos ruled the land of Aegina, his mother's namesake. He was the father of Peleus and the grandfather of Akhilles. In the underworld, he became the judge of the dead who presided chiefly over Europeans. He also had in his keeping the golden keys of Hades.

Rhadamanthys
Rhadamanthys was the son of Zeus and the nymph Europa, and his brothers were Minos and Sarpedon. He ruled over Krete before Minos, but he was driven out by his young brother out of jealousy, and dwelled in Boiotia. As a judge of the dead, Rhadamanthys presided over all non-europeans, and he was the kindest of the three judges. He was entrusted with the supervision of Elysion, assisting the sleeping titan Kronos.  

[Queen-of-the-Rogue]

Again all of these were very interesting. I have to admit that I only knew a little about Iris and I knew of Anteros and Hermaphroditos but not any of the others at least that I can remember.  

[Dionysus or Bacchus]

Akherontis

Leukothea and Palaimon
Leukothea and Palaimon were apotheosized mortals. Leukothea was once a mortal princess named Ino, a daughter of King Kadmos of Thebes. She and her husband Athamas incurred the wrath of Hera when they fostered the infant god Dionysos. As punishment Hera drove Athamas into a murderous rage and he slew his eldest child. Ino grapped the other child, Melikertes, and in her flight leapt off a cliff into the sea. The pair were welcomed into the company of the marine gods, due to the favour of Dionysos. Ino was renamed Leukothea (the White Goddess) and Melikertes became Palaimon (the Wrestler). The two deities assisted sailors who were in distress. Leukothea later came to the aid of Odysseus when his raft had been destroyed by Poseidon, and wrapped him in the safety of her buoyant shawl.

neutral confused sad cry crying gonk  

[Philo_Clio]

How bout Eris? goddess of chaos and discord, she's only really mentioned in the illiad... do you know any other myths about her? ive also heard a theory that tartarus, had a keeper called tartarus (like hades ruling hades) can you find any evidence to prove these theories? Its all just so intersting! xd  

[GreenInkling]

I like Triton. As the prince of the Sea, I think he deserves a little more attention.

 

[Melios the Hoplite]

It's been a looong time since I read anything about greek mythology. And quite frankly, I havn't cared for a while because my teach is preaching crap about the Odessey. So, can anyone sum up the Odessey for me? It'll help me through so much. I just want to shove a nice bit of information in her face 3nodding  

[Dark-Hunteress Sage]

Akherontis

Askalaphos. Which literally means 'screech owl'. But technically speaking, he's a daimon.

Question isnt a daimon someone who eats the soals of humans? I read that somewhere but i cant actully be sure it thats true or just made up belony.

I also read somewhere that there is a goddess of memory but i cant find her any where and im trying to do resurch on her. Is she a real goddess or not?