greek

The Music Contests of Apollo

Tue, 19 Nov 2013 14:54:22 +0100

Apollo – Taken from Parnassus or Apollo and the Muses (c.1640) by
Simon Vouet (Source – Wikipedia)

Amongst other things, the Olympian Apollo was the god of music who had a particular flair for playing the lyre. The son of Zeus and Leto, Apollo had acquired his instrument from his paternal half-brother Hermes, who before they met stole his oxen. However his deed was uncovered and when Apollo went to retrieve his cattle, he happened to hear his brother play a little. So taken was he with the sound that he allowed Hermes to keep his ill-gotten gains in return for the musical instrument, on which he learned to play the most beautiful music ever heard by man or god.

The Music Contest of Apollo and Pan

Pan, the god of shepherds and nature, was also a great musician who invented and played the Pan Pipes. So arrogant was he about his own talents, that he challenged Apollo to a musical duel. They chose the mountain Tmolus to decide the winner of the contest as, the two agreed, nobody was as old and wise as the hills.

The followers of the two gods came to witness the contest including a particularly devout mortal follower of Pan named Midas. Pan got the contest underway and the music he made had a wild quality about it that was so endearing that birds flew from their tree top perches to get closer, squirrels left their holes and even the trees themselves swayed as if dancing to the sounds.

Next was Apollo’s turn, when he touched his golden lyre the music he produced was his finest yet. Everything in the surrounding area, the wild creatures, the babbling brook, the plant life and even the air stopped moving, not wanting to make a sound lest they miss out on the heavenly music they bore witness to. When the music finally stooped, all listeners had a feeling of grief, as though they had just said goodbye forever to their own mothers and fathers.

Competition between Apollo and Pan (C. 1677) by Jacob Jordaens (Source – Wikipedia)

Tmolus immediately declared Apollo the winner and all who were present fell at his feet, all except Midas, whose loyalty to Pan was so strong he could not admit that he had lost the contest. Apollo was bemused by this and told him, “If your ears are so dull mortal, they shall take the shape that best suits them”. He them touched Midas and his ears transformed into those of an ass.

The Music Contest of Apollo and Marsyas

Marsyas was a satyr, a forest god with the face and body of a man, and the legs, ears and a tail of a goat. One day while out walking, he found a flute that had been discarded by the goddess Athena who disliked playing the instrument because it made her cheeks go puffy and red. As the flute had touched the lips of such a powerful goddess, Marsyas found that when he played it, he could produce the most beautiful music he had ever heard.

So good was the sound he created, he believed that he could even outplay the great musician Apollo so he promptly challenged the superior god to a music contest. Apollo was angered that such a minor deity would have the impudence to challenge him so agreed to the contest and declared that the winner could choose any forfeit he liked for the loser. It was also decided that the Muses, being goddesses of music, song and dance would make the best judges for the contest as their knowledge and fair-mindedness were well known.

The competition lasted several rounds with both making music so beautiful that it was imposable to decide the winner. Eventually, Apollo came up with a winning tactic and added the tones of his sweet singing voice to his heavenly melody. As he needed his mouth to play the flute, the Satyr couldn’t match this and so the Muses declared the victory was Apollo’s.

Apollo and Marsyas (17th century) by Giulio Carpioni (Source – Wikipedia)

Still unhappy that his opponent had had the audacity to challenge him, Apollo came up with a dreadful forfeit for him and had the Satyr flayed alive there and then. So well-loved was the unfortunate musician by his companions, that upon witnessing his terrible fate, their tears joined together to form a river that is still known to this day by his name, Marsyas.

References

Bishop, D. [Internet]. 2013. The Musical Duel of Pan and Apollo. Panflutejedi.com. Available from: http://www.panflutejedi.com/pan-apollo.html [Accessed November 19, 2013].

Goldberger, K. [Internet]. 2011. Phoebus-Apollo. Rochester Institute of Technology. Available from: http://people.rit.edu/asg1478/iweb/turbo/apollo.html [Accessed November 19, 2013].

Kern, D. [Internet]. 2013. A Brief History of Apollo. Penn State University. Available from: http://www.personal.psu.edu/djk189/apollo.htm [Accessed November 19, 2013].

Demeter and Persephone

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 09:15:40 +0100

The Rape of Proserpenie, (c. 1684) by Luca Giordano (Source - Wikipedia)

Demeter, Greek goddess of grain and agriculture, was one of the twelve Olympians who had a daughter with her brother, Zeus. The child’s name was Persephone and one day, while she was out picking flowers with nymphs and naiads of the ocean, she spotted a pretty flower known as the narcissus. She joyfully went over to it to pick it when all of a sudden the earth opened up and out of it came Hades, king of the underworld, who swiftly carried her away to his kingdom where he forced himself upon her.

Demeter was distraught and after nine days of wandering and searching for her beloved teenage daughter, she spoke to Helios the god of the sun. He had observed what had happened and told her that Zeus had given Hades permission to marry his daughter so she was doomed to live in his underworld kingdom, known as Tartarus, forever.

Demeter and Demophon

As Demeter wandered full of sorrow at the loss of her daughter, she came across the city of Elusis. She disguised herself as an old woman and while drinking at a well she met the four daughters of the city’s king and queen, Keleos and Metaneira. They offered to give her food and shelter if she would agree to nurse their baby brother Demophon, an offer which she gladly accepted.

Demeter Mourning Persephone (1906) by Evelyn de Morgan
(Source - Wikipedia)

Demeter however had an agenda of her own and in a bid to replace her lost child, attempted to make the boy an immortal by putting him in the fireplace each night (protecting him from death by covering him with ambrosia). One night, Queen Metaneira walked in on the process and was horrified at what she saw.

This angered the goddess who chastised the queen as now that her plan had been discovered, Demophon could no longer become immortal. She threw the baby to the ground and stormed out of the royal palace, after which the young boy was inconsolable. He was no longer willing to be nurtured by his mother or sisters as he was used to an immortal nurse; soon after, the only son of the king and queen of Elusis died.

The Compromise of Demeter

When her attempt to replace Persephone with Demophon had failed, Demeter turned her attention back to finding her daughter and in her renewed sorrow, stopped all crops from growing. This caused a great famine that threatened to wipe out all of mankind which would have deprived the gods of the honour of sacrifice that humans bestowed upon them.

A 5th century clay relief of Hades and Persephone in Tartarus
(Source - UTexas.edu)

In a bid to prevent this, Zeus ordered Hades to release Persephone from Tartarus and return her to her mother immediately. However in accordance with the rules of the underworld, this was not possible as during her stay there, she had eaten one seed from a pomegranate and once a soul had eaten in Tartarus, they were never allowed to leave.

The three Olympians knew a compromise had to be made so it was decided that Persephone would spend two thirds of the year on earth with her mother, but had to return to the underworld to be with her husband for the remaining third of the year.

While she agreed to the compromise, Demeter did not like it one bit so she vowed that when her daughter was away from her side, the world would be plunged into winter. Because of her sorrow, all of mankind would have to endure a season when no crops would grow and the winds would blow cold; only when her daughter was returned to her in the spring, would she again bestow her gifts to the world.

The Return of Persephone (1891) by Frederic Leighton
(Source - Wikipedia)

References

Hunt, J.M. [Internet]. 2013. Greek Mythology - Other Gods. San Diego State University. Available from: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/scaffold/gg/othergod.html#Asclepius [Accessed September 27, 2013].

Vandiver, E. [Video Lecture]. 2002. TTC - Classical Mythology. Whitman College

Zabel, G. [Internet]. 2006. Demeter and Persephone. University of Massachusetts, Boston. Available from: http://www.faculty.umb.edu/gary_zabel/Courses/Phil%20281b/Philosophy%20of%20Magic/Pythagoras,%20Empedocles,%20Plato/Demeter%20and%20Persephone.htm [Accessed September 27, 2013].

The Greek Creation Myth – The Rise of Zeus, King of the Gods

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 09:30:15 +0100

Uranus (1610) by Tycho Brahe (Source Wikimedia)

In the beginning, all that existed was the vast empty universe, devoid of life and creation except for a black winged bird named Nyx. She laid a golden egg and sat upon it until eventually it hatched, given birth to Eros, the god of love. The egg had been split in two pieces and one half rose up and became the sky, Uranus, and the other half became mother earth, Gaia.

The Rule of the Greek God Uranus

Uranus and Gaia instantly fell in love and they mated, producing a number of childran including the twelve Titans, three Cyclopes and the three Hecatoncheires (giants with fifty heads and one hundred arms). However it soon emerged that Gaia’s love for her husband was misplaced as he mistreated both her and their offspring. He imprisoned the Hecatoncheires in Gaia’s womb, infuriating his wife who began a plot against him.

She fashioned a sickle from flint and told her children that they must attack their father, however one by one they refused. They all believed Uranus to be too powerful to be removed from his position of authority, all that is except the youngest of the Titans, Cronus, who agreed to do the deed despite his fear.

The Mutiliation of Uranus by Saturn (Cronus) (c. 1560) by Giorgio Vasari (Source Wikipedia)

The Titan and his mother hatched a plan and while Uranus lay with Gaia one night, Cronus took hold of his father and castrated him with the sickle. This forced him to withdraw from the earth for good but before he did, he swore to his son that all the Titans would be punished for this act of defiance. From the sky god’s spilt blood the Giants, the Ash Tree Nymphs, and the Erinyes (goddesses who avenged crimes against the natural order) were born and from the sea foam where his genitals fell after Cronus threw them into the ocean came Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, love, pleasure and procreation.

The Rule of Cronus the Titan

Cronus was now the most powerful of the gods and became ruler of the Titans, imprisoning the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires in Tartarus, a dungeon of torment and suffering in the underworld. He married his sister Rhea and over the ages of his rule, they and the other Titans had many children.

However as both his mother and his father had prophesised that one day he would be overthrown by his son as he had once usurped his father’s position of power, this was not a good thing for Cronus. In a bid to avoid this fate, as each of his children was born he swallowed them; though as they were immortals this did not kill them. Instead they lived inside him, growing and reaching maturity trapped in their intestinal prison seemingly without hope of ever escaping.

Cronus devouring Poseidon (1630s) by Peter Paul
Rubens (Source Wikipedia)

The Rise of Zeus – King of the Gods

Like her mother before her, Rhea became infuriated at the treatment of her children and sought to protect them. After seeing her husband digest her first five children, she concealed the birth of her sixth and sent the baby of to be raised by nymphs on Crete. When Cronus inquired after the child, she wrapped a stone in a blanket and gave it to him, tricking him into swallowing that instead. The child was named Zeus and as he grew, he looked for ways in which he would be able to defeat his father. Metis, a wise, cunning Titan goddess concocted a drink for him to give to Cronus that would make him throw up so violently, Zeus’s siblings would be freed.

He returned to the home of his father disguised as a cup bearer and delivered the drink to the unsuspecting Cronus, who promptly regurgitated his unharmed children. The three male gods then drew lots to decide who would lead them; Hades lost and became the god of the underworld, Poseidon became the god of the sea and Zeus became king of the gods and would rule over the sky, thunder & lightning, law, order and justice.

The Battle of the Titans and Gods

In a bid for revenge for the treatment they endured at the hands of Cronus, the younger gods waged war on the older generation of deities. The battle of the Titans and gods lasted for a decade and it seem as if the Titans, led in combat by the great warrior Atlas, would destroy the young upstart army. Zeus realised that they needed help so he took himself off to the underworld and freed the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires, all of whom were more than willing to help their nephew to gain vengeance for their imprisonment in Tartarus, orchestrated by Cronus himself.

The battle between the gods and the Titans,(1600) by Joachim Wtewael (Source Wikimedia)

The Cyclopes provided Zeus with lightning bolts, which proved to be formidable weapons and the Hecatoncheires were charged with lying in ambush. Zeus then lured his enemy into his trap at which time the three one-hundred armed monsters rained boulders down on the Titan army with such ferocity that they thought the mountains were falling on them, causing them to break and given Zeus and his siblings the victory.

The Titans who had fought against the younger gods were exiled to Tartarus, all except Atlas who had so fiercely led them in battle. For him, Zeus devised a special punishment and made him hold the world on his shoulders for all eternity. However the new ruling deities could not relax just yet as Gaia, furious that her offspring had been challenged and defeated, gave birth one last time to Typhoeus, a storm god who was so fearsome that most of the gods fled in his wake. Zeus however, was undeterred and defeated his enemy using the lightning bolts that he had earlier received from his uncles, the Cyclopes.

Prometheus and the Creation of Man

Though they were Titans, Prometheus and Epimetheus had not fought against the gods so were spared the fate of their brothers and sisters and were tasked with creating man and the animals. Prometheus fashioned man out of mud and Athena breathed life into him while Epimetheus was assigned the duty of giving the creatures of the earth their various abilities and talents. He dished out swiftness, cunning, strength, fur and wings but unfortunately by the time he got around to man, all the best qualities were gone. In a bid to address this inequality, Prometheus decided to make man stand upright just as the gods did, got Athena to bestow reason on him and against the wishes of Zeus, he gave them fire.

Prometheus watches as Athena bestows reason and understanding on Man (c.1887) by Christian
Griepenkerl (Source Wikipedia)

Prometheus, who loved his new creation, decided to trick Zeus after he declared that man must give a part of each animal they kill as a sacrifice to the gods. The Titan presented two piles of meat to the king of gods; one was bones wrapped in juicy fat and the other had the good meat hidden away in the hide. Zeus picked the bones and as he had given his word of honour, had to accept that part of the animal as sacrificial from then on.

However, though he had to keep his word, it did not mean that he appreciated being tricked and as punishment, he took fire away from Prometheus’ beloved man. The Titan travelled to the sun and lit a touch, giving fire back to man on his return, infuriating Zeus in the process. Now livid, Zeus decided to punish man for their creator’s crime so he had Hephaestus create a new mortal being of stunning beauty and bade Hermes to give the new mortal a deceptive heart and a lying tongue.

The creation was the first woman, Pandora, who arrived on earth with a jar which she had been forbidden to open. Soon however, her curiosity got the better of her and out of the jar came a range of evils, misfortunes, plagues and sorrows but right at the bottom of the jar, she found hope. With man suitably punished for Prometheus’ crimes, Zeus turned to the Titan himself. He had him bound to a rock with unbreakable chains and had him tortured by a giant eagle, which would tear out his liver by night, only for it to be regenerated by his immortal flesh in the day so that it could be torn out repeatedly, over and over again.

Prometheus Bound (c.1640) by Jacob Jordaens (Source Wikipedia)

References

Atsma, A.J. [Internet]. 2011. Theoi Greek Mythology. The Theoi Project. Available from: http://www.theoi.com [Accessed July 29, 22013].

Hunt, J. M. [Internet]. 2013. The Creation of Man by Prometheus. San Diego State University. Available from: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/scaffold/gg/creationMan.html [Accessed July 29, 2013].

Murtagh, L. [Internet]. 2013. Greek Creation Myth. Williams Collage. Available from: http://dept.cs.williams.edu/~lindsey/myths/myths_16.html [Accessed July 29, 2013].

Wudka, J. [Internet]. 1998. Mythology. University of California Riverside. Available from: http://physics.ucr.edu/~wudka/Physics7/Notes_www/node30.html [Accessed July 29, 2013].