Greek Mythology is full of adulterous, incestuous and other such references, which are now legally and scientifically tabooed. Frankly, I expected some of these, yet I was left shocked and flummoxed by the stuff I read while wiki-ing Greek Mythology! Have a look:
1. The greatest of the Greek heroes, Heracles (whom we know as Hercules) was the great - grandson of Perseus (first of the Greek heroes). So, what's great about that, you may ask. Well, the two were half - brothers as well!
2. Oedipus, the mythical Greek King of Thebes fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother (unknowingly though), and thus brought disaster on his city and family. Sigmund Freud later used this myth to name his "Oedipus complex"
3. Alcmene was pregnant with two sons at the same time - Heracles (by Zeus) and Iphicles (by Amphitryon) : a case of heterosexual superfecundation.
4. Zeus and Hera, the King and Queen of Gods, respectively, were a couple as well as real brother - sister. Same was the case with Ares (The Roman Mars) and Aphrodite (The Roman Venus), and many others.
5. Of course ALL Greek Gods were adulterous, but one surely stands out - another Heracles story: "As a reward for killing the Lion of Cithaeron, Thepius king of Thespaie offered him the chance to make love to his daughters, all fifty of them, in one night. Heracles complied and they all became pregnant and all bore sons. Many of the kings of ancient Greece traced their lines to one or another of these, notably the kings of Sparta and Macedon."
6. Q: How did Milky Way come into existence?
A: According to Greek Mythology, baby Heracles suckled Hera (Greek Queen of Gods) so strongly that
her milk sprayed across the heavens and there formed the Milky Way.
(Information courtesy: Wikipedia)
Howdy? :P
A few comments by my batchmate, Avradeep Bhowmik (The paranthesised clarifications are mine)
1. Almost ALL Greek heroes were sons of Zeus, so basically that makes them all half-brothers.
(But the interesting fact that still remains is that Heracles was the great - grandson of Perseus although both were born of the same father, Zeus)
2.Oedipus blinded himself after he got to know Jocasta was his mother, and Jocasta committed suicide. (This is absolutely true - that was the reason why I wrote "unknowingly though". You can read about the very interesting legend from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus#Basics_of_the_myth
3. Much better than Mary who was pregnant without even having sex (Well, same was the case with our own Kunti :P)
4. Same was the case with all human race after Adam and Eve as well- they siblings had to marry each other simply because there was no one else! (Yes, of course, but Adam and eve existed about 2000 years before the Greeks)
5. (This indeed was called the 13th labour of Heracles)
So Greek Mythology is full of interesting and intriguing stories. In Avradeep's words, "the Greeks practically invented gossip and spicy literature." And yes, I have just fallen in love with it! This blog post is only meant to be an appetiser for a rather scrumptious meal! So if you are hungry, go and have a slice of the delicious Greek Mythology!
Cheers!
Alankar
1. The greatest of the Greek heroes, Heracles (whom we know as Hercules) was the great - grandson of Perseus (first of the Greek heroes). So, what's great about that, you may ask. Well, the two were half - brothers as well!
2. Oedipus, the mythical Greek King of Thebes fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother (unknowingly though), and thus brought disaster on his city and family. Sigmund Freud later used this myth to name his "Oedipus complex"
3. Alcmene was pregnant with two sons at the same time - Heracles (by Zeus) and Iphicles (by Amphitryon) : a case of heterosexual superfecundation.
4. Zeus and Hera, the King and Queen of Gods, respectively, were a couple as well as real brother - sister. Same was the case with Ares (The Roman Mars) and Aphrodite (The Roman Venus), and many others.
5. Of course ALL Greek Gods were adulterous, but one surely stands out - another Heracles story: "As a reward for killing the Lion of Cithaeron, Thepius king of Thespaie offered him the chance to make love to his daughters, all fifty of them, in one night. Heracles complied and they all became pregnant and all bore sons. Many of the kings of ancient Greece traced their lines to one or another of these, notably the kings of Sparta and Macedon."
6. Q: How did Milky Way come into existence?
A: According to Greek Mythology, baby Heracles suckled Hera (Greek Queen of Gods) so strongly that
her milk sprayed across the heavens and there formed the Milky Way.
(Information courtesy: Wikipedia)
Howdy? :P
1. Almost ALL Greek heroes were sons of Zeus, so basically that makes them all half-brothers.
(But the interesting fact that still remains is that Heracles was the great - grandson of Perseus although both were born of the same father, Zeus)
2.Oedipus blinded himself after he got to know Jocasta was his mother, and Jocasta committed suicide. (This is absolutely true - that was the reason why I wrote "unknowingly though". You can read about the very interesting legend from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus#Basics_of_the_myth
3. Much better than Mary who was pregnant without even having sex (Well, same was the case with our own Kunti :P)
4. Same was the case with all human race after Adam and Eve as well- they siblings had to marry each other simply because there was no one else! (Yes, of course, but Adam and eve existed about 2000 years before the Greeks)
5. (This indeed was called the 13th labour of Heracles)
So Greek Mythology is full of interesting and intriguing stories. In Avradeep's words, "the Greeks practically invented gossip and spicy literature." And yes, I have just fallen in love with it! This blog post is only meant to be an appetiser for a rather scrumptious meal! So if you are hungry, go and have a slice of the delicious Greek Mythology!
Cheers!
Alankar
Oh My Greek God!! :p
ReplyDeleteStud....
Give us the strength to become as stud as you were o Heracles in your last incident :P