Beware Of Greeks by Paul Curtis (english novels for students TXT) 📕

HERO’S OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – BELLEROPHON

Bellerophon was born the son of Eurynome and the God Poseidon
And was raised by King Glaucus who thought he was his own son
Bred in Corinth as the son of the most skilled horseman of the day
He was taught by his father from a young age the equestrian way
And as an equestrian student young Bellerophon was quite precocious
And from a young boy he had yearned to ride the magic horse Pegasus
Pegasus was the immortal offspring of the Gorgon Medusa and Poseidon
The winged horse was born when Perseus cut the head off the Gorgon
Like everyone else he’d been unable to so much as approach Pegasus
But undeterred Bellerophon sought the advice of the seer Polyeidus
It was suggested that he spend the night in the temple by Athena's idol
And in a dream, the goddess came to him and gave him a golden bridle
On the next morning he found Pegasus drinking at the spring of Peirene
And slipped the bridle over his head and tamed him without difficulty

After his success he went to King Pittheus to seek the hand of Aethra
And Bellerophon received permission from Pittheus to marry his daughter
But before the marriage could take place he accidentally killed a man
His punishment was banishment from Corinth after his confession
The young Bellerophon traveled in order to be purified of his sins
And was in due course absolved by King Proetus in neighboring Tiryns
The King's wife made a pass at the young hero, and when he repulsed her
She told her husband that it was Bellerophon who had tried to seduce her
Greatly upset, King Proetus feigning goodwill cloaked his indignation
And not wishing to harm his guest and violate the sacred obligation
But he contrived his revenge by asking Bellerophon to deliver a letter
On King Proetus’s behalf to his father in law King Iobates of Lycia
Bellerophon agreed to deliver it while not knowing the letters content
The message urged King Iobates to kill the bearer of the document
But Iobates was bound by the same strictures of hospitality as Proetus
Unable to comply he had to feast the hero and the winged Pegasus

Iobates decided that the solution to getting rid of his guest was to ask
Bellerophon on Pegasus to undertake many an heroic and deadly task
However the young hero Bellerophon's courage and archery skill
Combined with the winged Pegasus as a mount allowed him to prevail
In addition to his immortal parentage and his persistent sacrifices
His many acts of honor brought him the favor of Gods and Goddesses
His first task was to kill the terrible three headed fiery Chimaera
After Succeeding here it was the Solymi tribe he was sent to conquer
The neighboring Solymi tribe were King Iobates traditional enemy
Victorious he was sent to fight the Amazons and had another victory
In desperation King Iobates laid an ambush against Bellerophon
Using his entire army and the hero again triumphed killing everyone
After this defeat Iobates realized that the Gods favored the Corinthian
And that the Gods would not show such favor to a dishonorable man
Iobates made peace with him giving him half of his kingdom of Lycia
Including the most fertile land and the hand of Philonoe his daughter

Queen Stheneboea the wife of King Proetus and the attempted seducer
Was appalled on hearing that Bellerophon had married her sister
Knowing this meant her slander would be reveled she chose suicide
It appeared that our hero would live happily ever after with his bride
They were happily married and had two sons, Hippolochus and Isander
And two daughters, Laodameia and Deidameia in the kingdom of Lycia
As King his subjects loved him and his glorious deeds were widely sung
But all this was not enough for our arrogant hero King Bellerophon
In his arrogance King Bellerophon decided that he could ride Pegasus
To visit with the Gods and Goddesses high upon Mount Olympus
But Zeus quickly put an end to his ordacity by sending the gadfly
And it stung Pegasus sending both of them tumbling down from the sky
Athena spared his life by causing him to land on a soft patch of weed
He survived the fall but was crippled and there was no sign of his steed
He wandered the earth the rest of his life alone searching for Pegasus
No man would help him because of his offense to the Gods on Olympus
After many years of searching, the magical Pegasus was never seen again
Bellerophon died with no one to record his fate in some foreign domain

THE NINE MUSES OF THE ARTS – CALLIOPE (MUSE OF EPIC POETRY)

The nine muses
Daughters of Zeus
Inspiring of mortals
And nurturers of the arts
The first was,
The divine Calliope,
Beautiful-voiced,
Was the muse of the epic poets
A writing tablet in her hand
Calliope was Homer's muse
Inspiration for the Iliad
Divine influence of the Odyssey


HERO’S OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – ATALANTA

The birth of Atalanta daughter to King Iasus and Clymene begins our tale
But she was born into the world in the undesirable state of being female
Because of his yearning for a son and his disappointment with a daughter
He had her taken to the woods and left exposed somewhere in Arcadia

But for the fates intervention this could have been the end for her there
But they made it possible for the infant to be found by a passing mother bear
The gentle mother bear suckled young Atalanta until she became strong
Then the bear left her in a place where she knew hunters would come along

The hunters brought her up and as she grew older she hunted with them
She spent most of her time hunting and she was soon the best amongst them
As Atalanta grew in stature as a hunter she also grew up into a rare beauty
But she had no interest in men or marriage so she chose to keep her virginity

As well as skill and beauty, she could out wrestle men and was hard to catch
For example she beat Peleus who was to father Achilles in a wrestling match
And when two centaurs Rhoecus and Hylaeus attempted to rape Atalanta
She quickly killed them with her bow and arrows as she’d learned as a hunter

At the Calydonian Boar Hunt she drew first blood with an arrow from her bow
It was prince Meleager of Calydon however who delivered the mortal blow
He was so infatuated with her that he gave her the trophy of the boar’s skin
And such a row ensued it resulted in the death of Meleager and his mothers kin

She loved hunting and the outdoors and had no use for a man in her life
And she felt she had more to offer the world than she would as a wife
Her reputation grew as a great warrior and especially her skill with a bow
Atalanta was so well respected she even sailed with Jason aboard the Argo

She did enough in the world that her Father forgave her for not being a son
On returning home however her remaining a virgin was the only condition
Iasus agreed, but because of her great beauty suitors soon came knocking
And so the king soon changed his mind but Atalanta continued blocking

She finally consented to wed any man who could beat her at a foot race
Such was her fleetness that she was confident she’d finish in first place
As she was one of the fastest mortals her maidenhood this appeared to insure
As an additional deterrent the losing suitor would be beheaded by Atalanta

Atalanta laughed confidently because she knew no man would ever beat her
Also she knew the many executions would deter all but the most ardent suitor
The heads of the failed suitors stacked up and of course still they came to race
The vain, the arrogant, the brave but mostly the fool hardy lost the chase

Then one day a man came named Hippomenes and he was exceptionally smart
He knew he wasn’t fast enough but he fell in love with Atalanta from the start
Knowing he wasn’t fast enough to win he did what all frustrated lovers do
He prayed to the goddess of love Aphrodite for help with how he should woo

Aphrodite had a weakness for lovers and an intense dislike of virgins in general
So the goddess gladly gave him three Golden Apples which were irresistible
Along with the golden apples Aphrodite presented Hippomenes with a plan
In return Hippomenes was to sacrifice to Aphrodite when he was a married man

Hippomenes stood an the start next to the woman he loved holding the apples
Atalanta just sighed that such a good-looking man would die like the other fools
Pausing to give just one last prayer to Aphrodite and then the race had begun
He got off to a good start and apart from being intelligent he could also run

Soon Atalanta sped ahead of him so he threw the first of his golden apples
Slightly ahead of Atalanta and slightly off the track she found it irresistible
As soon as Atalanta saw it she desired it and had to stop to pick up the fruit
Hippomenes passed her with delight, praying to Aphrodite along the route

But Atalanta soon caught him and two-thirds of the way passed him again
This time Hippomenes through his Golden Apple deeper in the wooded terrain
As soon as Atalanta saw it she desired it and had to stop to pick up the fruit
Hippomenes passed her with delight again and still praying along the route

But Atalanta again caught him within sight of the finish line and passed by
This time Hippomenes through his Golden Apple ahead of her quite high
As soon as Atalanta saw it she desired it and had to stop to pick up the fruit
Hippomenes passed her with delight the crossed the finish line to win his suit

Despite her resistance once it was won marriage seemed to suit Atalanta.
And Hippomenes happiness and joy was so great he was devoted to her
Then one day he completely forgot his obligations to sacrifice to Aphrodite
When offending the gods the punishment was severe and vengeance mighty

Aphrodite waited until Hippomenes and Atalanta were passing Zeus’s temple
Aphrodite sent flaming desire coursing through the veins of the young couple
The pair then lay together in Zeus' holy temple and they spent their passions
Zeus was horrified at the profanation and turned the young couple into lions


HEROIC BATTLES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY - CHIMAERA THE DRAKON

There was a dreadful union
Between the giant immortal Typhon
And the black fearful eyed Echidne,
Half serpent, half woman
The terrifying result of this
Unnatural union was the Chimaera
A great beast strong and swift footed
Who snorted raging fire
The creature’s front
Was that of a lion with tooth claw and nail
The hindquarters and middle
Of a goat and a serpent for a tail
Her heads numbered three,
One of a lion, a goat and a snake
A fire breathing powerful drakon
She left death in her wake
The Drakon Chimaera was in love
With Orthrus her own brother
And spawned the deadly Sphinx
And the Nemean Lion together
She ravaged the herds
And despoiled the Lycian countryside
The bones