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

of her victims
Lay strewn across the mountainside
The creature allegedly reared
By Ambassados plagued Lycia
And many an heroic figure
Tried to rid that land of Chimaera
Then King Iobates sent
The gallant Corinthian hero Bellerophon
Mounted upon winged Pegasus
To do battle with the Drakon
He rained arrows down
With the help of the goddess Athena
And with his lead tipped lance
Bellerophon killed Chimera


THE NINE MUSES OF THE ARTS – CLIO (MUSE OF HISTORY)

The nine muses
Daughters of Zeus
Inspiring of mortals
And nurturers of the arts
The second was,
The divine Clio
The maker of fame,
Was the muse of history
A parchment scroll in her hands
Clio was the proclaimer


CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – CHIMAERA

Prince Bellerophon traveled to distant Lycia
At King Proetus’s request to perform an errand
Arriving on his winged steed Pegasus he found
A pall had been cast over the once-joyful land

Each night, the Chimaera, a three headed monster
A combination of a lion, a goat and a serpent
Swept down and carried off terrified victims
Men, women, children, and livestock all went

The bones of the beasts many victims lay strewn
Along the valley and across the mountainside
The population were living in constant fear
And at night when possible they stayed inside

The errand for King Proetus was a letter delivery
And the letter was for Iobates of Lycia, the King
When he had read the letter the hero had delivered
He found that Proteus wished Bellerophon’s killing

Iobates was the father in law of King Proetus
And he accused Bellerophon of his wife’s seduction
In truth Proetus’ wife was in fact the guilty party
She falsely accused him after suffering rejection

Though he wanted to please his son-in-law,
He knew that he dare not risk an outright execution
As this would lead to war with the Corinthians
So he slyly set a challenge for young Bellerophon

Iobates set him the task of slaying the Chimaera
Almost certain that he would never return alive
Bellerophon had always longed for excitement
Fearless he rose to a challenge he may not survive

Iobates told him the monster was related to Cerberus
Watchdog of Hades and the many-headed Hydra
Even though the King described the beast in detail
He was not at all frightened of facing the Chimaera

So mounted upon his faithful winged Pegasus
Bellerophon set off to find the Chimeras lair
Believing a head on attack was too dangerous
He thought his only chance was from the air


Once they had the location of the hideous beast
Armed with his bow he rained arrows down below
The had the effect of unnerving the creature greatly
Pegasus just kept them out of reach of its fiery glow

Then Armed with a lance he charged the Chimaera
And the beast exhaled a plume of its horrible fire
Pegasus darted backward to evade the burning breath
Then they had to strike before Pegasus began to tire

So they repeated the tactic for just one more time
This time before the Chimaera could breathe again,
Pegasus renewed its charge towards the great beast
And Bellerophon speared Chimaera's heart and brain

The next morning Pegasus and Bellerophon flew
Out of the dawn holding aloft the Chimaera’s head
There was great rejoicing though out the kingdom
And soon the news traveled that the beast was dead


With Chimaera dead Iobates knew he was unable
To fulfill King Proetus’s request to take the boys life
King Iobates embraced the young hero and then
Gave his willing daughter to Bellerophon as a wife


HEROIC BATTLES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – THE CALYDONIAN BOAR HUNT
There was a custom in Calydon as there was in many lands
That the first fruits of the harvest be sacrificed to the goddess
Unfortunately one summer King Oeneus made the mistake
Albeit accidentally of omitting to make a sacrifice to Artemis

Artemis, furious at Oeneus's negligence reeked vengeance
And sent down the most enormous wild boar to Calydon
The Boar ravaged Calydon, destroying everything in its path
Oeneus called in Atalanta and the noblest men to take it on

The kings own brothers and his son Meleager joined the hunt
The Boars skin was offered as trophy to the one who killed it
Many of the men were unhappy fighting alongside a woman
Atalanta was a great huntress and she fought where she saw fit

Despite his being married Meleager was in love with Atalanta
And he convinced his uncles and the others they should follow
Atalanta was the first to see the beast, and quickest to shoot
Amphiaraus followed suit hitting the beast’s eye with an arrow
Meleager, was a fearless young dare-devil and took his chance
An excellent hunter he took his spear and gorged the Boar
But the great boar was big enough that it kept charging at him
And would have killed him but for the quick action of Atalanta

Meleager won the Boars skin and the credit for the beasts kill
But such was his infatuation with Atalanta he gave it to her
But the other hunters didn't like the idea of a mere woman
Getting the prize instead of a man no matter how good a hunter

The loudest of the protesters were Meleager's own uncles
And they declared that if he didn't want the great boar skin
That was quite acceptable but it could not go to Atalanta
And by the right of blood it should go to one of his own kin

Meleager in his anger fought and killed all of his uncles
And then he presented the prized boars skin to Atalanta
His mother Althea unable to forgive him for his actions
Was so distraught in her grief she killed her son Meleager


CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – PEGASUS

Born from Medusa's neck when she was beheaded by Perseus
Pegasus the immortal winged horse that was sired by Poseidon
It was a wild shining white horse until one night it was captured
While drinking at the spring of Peirene by the hero Bellerophon

Pegasus was captured with the aid of a magical Golden Bridle
That would tame even the wildest horse and given him by Athena
Then prince Bellerophon rode brave Pegasus in the land of Lycia
And victorious into battle against the three headed Chimaera

Then Bellerophon, so happy with himself for killing the monster
Decided to try and ride Pegasus to the top of Mount Olympus
Zeus was so enraged he struck down and crippled Bellerophon
And as a carrier of thunderbolts Zeus used the immortal Pegasus

THE NINE MUSES OF THE ARTS – ERATO (MUSE OF EROTIC POETRY)

The nine muses
Daughters of Zeus
Inspiring of mortals
And nurturers of the arts
The third was,
The divine Erato,
Desired and lovely,
Was the muse of the lyric poets
A golden arrow in her hand
Muse of love verse
And of Erotic poetry
Erato the muse who charms the sight
And inspires love in everybody

HERO’S OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – MELEAGER

Meleager was the Son of King Oeneus of Calydon and Althea
Seven days after his birth the Fates appeared foretelling his future
Clotho and Lachesis predicted he would be both noble and brave
However the prediction of the fate Atropos was a little more grave
He warned he would die as soon as a stick in the fire burned away
So Althea pulled the stick from the fire, put it out, and hid it away
While he was still a young man he became regarded as second only
To the mighty Heracles in his speed strength skill and overall ability
He was the youngest to sail with Jason’s Argonauts and subsequently
He went on to kill King Aeetes of Colchis the Argonauts chief enemy
He returned from his time with the Argonauts and married Cleopatra
And they lived happily in Calydon and they had a daughter Polydora
His domestic tranquility was brought to a tragic and abrupt end
When Artemis unleashed the fearsome giant boar in his homeland
Meleager naturally took a leading role in the hunt from the start
The Calydonian Boar Hunt ended with his spear in the beast’s heart
As Atalanta had drawn first blood Meleager awarded her the hide
Awarding the prize to a woman injured the some of the party’s pride
His uncles felt that his generous action had made them look small
A quarrel broke out between them and Meleager then killed them all
Althea On hearing of her brother’s death’s by her own son’s hands
She was so distraught at the news that some instant revenge she plans
Remembering the words of Atropos about the stick on the fates visit
Althea took the stick from its place of safety and then she burned it
As predicted Meleager died and then in remorse took her own life
This is followed by the suicide from grief of Cleopatra his wife


CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – MEDUSA

Medusa was one of the daughters of Phorkys and Keto
Sea monsters who spawned many monsters and drakon's
Who were the children of the gods Gaia and Okeanos
And She was one of the three sisters known as the Gorgons

Medusa of the three was by far the most beautiful gorgon
Unlike her sisters Sthenno and Euryale she was mortal
And she loved the god Poseidon and when they met one day
Together they desecrated the goddess Athena’s temple

She was punished by having her hair turned into snakes
And made so ugly that any mortal who looked at Medusa
Would be turned instantly to stone even after her death
Perseus cut off her head as she slept and gave it to Athena


HERO’S OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY - PERSEUS

King Acrisius of Argos was warned by an oracle of Apollo one-day
That he would be killed in time by a son born to his daughter Danae
Fearful He locked her up in a bronze tower and threw away the key
And thus prevented her from having children or being able to marry

The bronze tower had no doors but it had one very small window
Then one night Danae who was very sad saw a strange sort of glow
The god Zeus entered disguised as a golden shower bright as dawn
He joined in union with the girl and as a result Perseus was born


Acrisius learned of this and when entered the tower he was furious
Danae sat with a baby on her lap, smiled and said, "this is Perseus"
Acrisius put Danae and baby into a brazen chest and cast it out to sea
Perhaps the King expected it to sink like a stone but it was not to be

Instead of sinking the chest floated away from the shores of Argos
Eventually fetching up on a lonely beach on the island of Seriphos
Dictys the king’s brother found the chest while he was out fishing
And he took its contents under his protection without questioning

One-day king Polydectes, Dictys's brother took a fancy to Danae
And he pressed his attentions upon her, which she turned him away
Perseus who had grown up to become a very strong young man
Made his own objections to Polydectes as only a young man can

And the king angry but outwardly amenably agreed he would desist
He would have married her