Eros (Ch 9)

Etymology and Epithets:
     (g.)Eros, root of "erotic", "erotica, etc.
     (l.) Cupid
Domain: Athens.
Genealogy: Considered either a conceptual element to procreation, or the illegitimate love child of Ares and Aphrodite.
Claim to Fame: God of raw sexual energy, desire, and passion. Later became known as the god of homosexuality.
Iconography: Cupid's Bow, winged figures, arrows.
Literature: Hesiod's Theogony, Plato's Symposium, Speech of Socrates, Ovid's Metamorphosis

Myth

I. Birth: two traditions of his birth.
     1. Hesiod's Theogony: born from Chaos, one of the original elements to create life is lust.
     2. Eventually became known as the son of Aphrodite and Ares

II. Speech of Aristophanes (comedian): At Plato's Symposium, Aristophanes theorized there was originally 3 genders of humans (male, female, androgynous), and all were round in figure (ie. four hands, four legs, attached at the spine, etc.). The species grew so strong that they hubristically began to challenge the gods, so to weaken them Zeus cut them in two. From that day forward, each half-human walked the earth, longing for their other half. Those of androgynous sex became heterosexual, and those of a bisected same-sex became homosexual

III. Speech of Socrates: Socrates quotes a wise woman from Mantinea named Diotema, who claims that Eros, though he is not beautiful himself, is resourceful enough to obtain what he longs for but doesn't possess (ie. beauty, wisdom, goodness). He is an intermediary between human and divine, and though remarkably unremarkable, his pursuit of conceptual merit is what adds an intellectual aspect to love.
It is this example that inspires individuals to move beyond the appreciation of the physical realm of beauty, and more towards the beautiful soul, or beautiful concept, behind the outward representation.
Called "Platonic Love", this attraction may have its roots in sexuality, but is perpetuated by the desires of the mind and the soul to enrich the spirit.

IV. Psyche ("soul"): Once upon a time, Venus became envious of a Greek princess, named Psyche, and ordered Cupid to make her fall in love with the vilest of creatures. When he went to do his bidding, Cupid himself fell in love with her (ironic?). He abducted her and placed her in his palace, where the lovers visited each night but he departed before sunrise each morning. When her sisters came to visit, they tricked Psyche into thinking she was sleeping with a monster, so one fateful night she took a knife to bed along with her anonymous lover.
Before she was to slay the monster, Psyche lit a lamp to take one look at her lovers face. Upon realizing that it was Cupid Psyche starts, and a drop of wax spills on the sleeping God, waking him up.
Enraged, he takes flight, but not before Psyche grabs hold of his ankle. She ends up plummeting to the earth. In short, the only way Psyche could win back Cupid's love was to complete 4 impossible tasks set forth by Aphrodite, which she manages to complete with divine assistance.

Artemis (Ch 10)

Etymology and Epithets:
     (g.) Artemis
     (l.) Diana
     Potnia Theron, "mistress of the animals"
     Kourotrophos, "protector/destroyer of the young" (See Niobe)
     Phoebe, "bright", "shining" (alike to Phoebus, her brother)
     Identified with Selene ("cold/white/chaste") Hecate (Chthonian deity of crossroads, ghosts,
     and black magic) and the Magna Mater fertility goddess.
Domain: Ambiguous non-hellenic origin with significant Asia Minor connections to fertility deity.  
     Temple of Artemis at Ephesus once one of seven wonders of the world.
Genealogy: Zeus + Leto. Sister to Apollo.
Claim to Fame: Goddess of nature, animals, hunting, eternal virginity, childbirth, chase. Parthanos.
     Original femme fatal: hunts and destroys, then returns home to dance and flirt with the nymphs.
Iconography: the moon, small woodland animals, newborns, archers bow, constellations
Literature: Homeric Hymn to Apollo, Ovid's Metamorphosis, Euripedes' Hippolytus

Myth

I. Birth: Born on Ortygia/Delos "Quail Island" on Mt. Cynthia, then assists with the birth of her brother.
II. Tears of Niobe: Niobe, Queen of Thebes, boasts she is more deserving of honor than Leto because she has given birth to 14 Niobids (7 sons, 7 daughters). Leto hears this slander, and Zeus invokes the wrath of Apollo and Artemis who slay all 14 niobids mercilessly. Zeus manages to save Niobe, and transforms her into a rocky crag in Phrygia known for its streaming of tears down the rock face.
III. Actaeon: A wandering hunter, Actaeon, stumbles upon a glade on Mt. Cithaeron where Diana and her attendants are bathing unaware. Artemis transforms the peeping-tom into a stag and sics his own hounds on him, which tear him apart limb from limb.
III. Callisto: One of Diana's favourite attendents Callisto (from Calliste, "most beautiful") is seduced and impregnated by Jupiter. As a result she is exiled along with her newborn child, Arcas, but transformed into constellations: Callisto into a Ursa Major (bear), and Arcas/Arctophylax/Arcturus/Bootes into Ursa Minor.
IV. Orion (Sirius, "dog"): A hunter and worshipper of Artemis from the island of Chios, Orion persues Merope (daughter of Oenopion, King of Chios). Her father gets Orion drunk and blinds him when he is passed out, forcing him to wander East where Helius restores his site. He then tries to rape Artemis, who sics a scorpion (Scorpius) on him and stings him to death. The two are preserved as constellations in the heavens.
V. Hippolytus (chaste devotee of Artemis): Aphrodite causes his step mother, Phaedra, to fall in love with him. She reveals her secret only to a nurse, who forces her to come clean with her son-in-law. Hippolytus haughtily rejects Phaedra, who is so hurt she commits suicide and leaves a note falsely accusing Hippolytus of rape (Potiphar's Wife motif). His father, Theseus calls down a curse, whereby his son will be killed by a "bull from the sea". In his dying hour, Artemis appears to Hippolytus and promises a cult in his honor, whereby virgins will cut their hair and lament his death, then enact vengeance on Aphrodite's favourites.

Cybele (Ch 9)

Etymology and Epithets: Cibele, Magna Mater, "The Great Goddess", Earth Mother

Domain: Phrygia, Modern Day Turkey (Near East)

Genealogy: Sprung from Phrygian rock/earth.

Claim to Fame: Fertility Goddess, one of the original deities from more primitive times.

Iconography: Hermaphroditic status, polished cone, many breasts/heads/arms, almond tree. Often attended by orgiastic worshippers alike to Dionysus' contraband.

Literature: Linear B.

Myth

I. Birth: Sprung autonomously from the Phrygian earth, Cybele was originally hermaphroditic in nature, but castrated herself to attain female identity (indicates prevalence of ancient matriarchal societies). From her severed male genitalia, an almond tree sprouted.

II. Followers: Attended by the Corybantes ("whirlers"), who wield drums, cymbals, and horns, as well as Galli, eunuchs who took Cybele's castration as an example for them to follow. Also picked up by priests as justification for the castration of youth in ancient times.

III. Attis: One day Nana (water nymph, daughter of River Sangrios), picked a blossom from the almond tree, from which Attis was born 9 months later. He is abandoned however, only to be nursed by a billy goat in the wild. 

Cybele unknowingly falls for the youth, who is essentially a manifestation of her own severed genitalia (once again, theme of searching for what was lost/severed, ie. Aristophanes). Because Attis' affections lie with someone else, Cybele drives him insane due to to her jealousy. In his madness, Attis castrates himself and dies. A remorseful Cybele appeals to Zeus however, who decrees that Attis' body should never decay (quirk: only his little finger moves, and hair continues to grow).

Aphrodite (Ch 9)

Etymology and Epithets:
     (g.) Aphrodite
     (l.) Venus, ie. Venereal
     Cytherea (Island of Cythera), Cyprogenes (Island of Cyprus)
     Philommedes ("laughter loving") or Philomeides ("genital loving")
     Associated with Magna Mater (eastern fertility goddess), ie. Innana, Ishtar, Astarte, Cybele
Domain: See Epithets. Cyprus, Cythera, Near East
Genealogy:
     Aphrodite Urania ("celestial") Castration of Uranus by Cronos, genitals falling into the sea.
     Aphrodite Pendemos ("common"/"profane") Child of Zeus and Dione ("she-zeus")
Claim to Fame: Goddess of lust, romance, procreation of mammals, beauty and passion.
     A female Ares, passion without the bloodshed.
Iconography: Earliest depictions of her are of a polished cone. Attendants are Eros ("erotic"), the 3
     Gratiae/charites ("graces") personifications of femininity, and the 3 Horai ("hours"/"seasons")
     daughters of Zeus and Themis.
Literature: Hesiod's Theogony, Homer's Iliad, Ovid's Metamorphosis, Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite.

Myth

I. Priapus (bastard child of Aphrodite): A fertility daimon (demon, lesser god), Priapus is most often depicted as a small hunchbacked, ithyphallic ("erect penis") gnomelike figure. Used as an apotropaic bringer of luck commonly featured in gardens.

II. Pygmalion (King of Cyprus): Because the Cyprian women refuse to acknowledge her divnity, Venus drives them all to prostitution. Disgusted by their behaviour, Pygmalion carves an ivory statue of a nude women and subsequently falls in love with it. His prayer for it to become his wife is granted by Aphrodite, and the statue becomes flesh and blood (later versions named Galatea).

III. Myrrha: Child of Cinyras, the grandson of Pygmalion and Galatea, Myrrha is punished for her mothers hubristic claim that she is more beautiful than Venus, and falls in love with her own father. Suicidal, Myrrha's nurse arranges a secret meeting between father and child. Naturally, their identities are revealed to one another, and Cinyras attempts to strangle his own daughter, Myrrha is spared by the gods by being transformed into a Myrrh tree, whose resinous tears are collected as precious material.

IV. Adonis (adon, "lord"): The epitome of masculinity, symbol of a dying vegetative beloved.
      1. The incestuous child of Myrrha and her father, Adonis is stolen by Aphrodite at birth and given
      to Persephone to rear. When Persephone refuses to return him, Zeus interferes and arbitrates that
      Adonis shall receive 1/3 of the year with each goddess, and the last third wherever he wants.
      He decides to spend 2/3 of the year above ground, with 1/3 with Persephone, symbolic of the
      portion of the vegetative cycle reserved for fallow. He is later killed by a boar.
      2. Adonis is just another paramour of Aphrodite, who falls in love with him at first sight while he
      is out hunting. He chooses to ignore her warnings of injury, and he is gored in the groin by a wild
      boar. From the blood that drips on the earth, an Anemone ("wind" flower) sprouts, symbolizing
      the fragile beauty of moral human life.
Scenes of Adonis are often depicted on Sarcophagi, representing the idea of a rebirth within death and giving meaning to burial. The Ritual of Adonia honours the fertility goddess and a dying vegetation god through ritual wailing and singing, and effigies of dead youth, mourning those who die too young. The Gardens of Adonis, seeds planted in shallow soil that spring up quickly and die also carry this sentiment.

V. Anchises: Zeus attempts to shorten Aphrodite's leash by claiming that "no man can sleep with the divine and retain their manhood", so Aphrodite must disguise herself as a mortal to seduce her prey. Anchises unwittingly sleeps with her, only to wake up and realize his emasculation.
The Trojan hero and founder of Rome, Aeneas, is the result of their tryst.

Athena (Ch 8)

Etymology and Epithets:
     (g.) Athena
     (l.) Minerva, mens "mind"
     Tritogeneia ("daughter of Triton"), possibly a reference to Triton, god of River of Lake, birthplace?
     Panoply ("all armed")
     Glaukopis, "grey eyed"/"owl eyed"
     Pallas, "weapon brandishing" (See Myth.II)
     Parthanos, "virgin"/"maiden" (See Myth. III)
Domain: Athens. Panhellenic status.
Genealogy: Zeus + Metis. Delivered through Zeus' cracked skull.
Claim to Fame: Goddess of wisdom, strategic warfare, craftsmenship, spinning and weaving, protectorate of cities and heros. Symbolic of a union between indigenous matriarchal cultures and the import of an indo-european sky god (snaky, but born from Zeus. An androgynous figure = warrior princess).
Iconography: Snake, aegis, helmet, owl, olive sprig
Literature: Homeric Hymn to Athena, Hesiod's Theogony, Linear B, Ovid's Metamorphosis

Myth

I. Birth: Zeus impregnates Metis ("wisdom") and swallows her in fear that her son will overthrow him. Instead a daughter is born from his splitting headache (either fights her way out, with a mighty war cry, or is freed by the hammer of Hephestus). Depicted on the East Pediment of the Parthanon.
II. Pallas: Athena's childhood friend, Pallas (daughter of Triton), is accidentally killed as they are at play. In remorse, a wooden statue is fashioned in her honor, adorned with the aegis. Zeus abducts the Palladium and places it in Troy, where it becomes on of the preconditions of Trojan defeat later on.
III. Parthanon ("house of the virgin"): Rested atop the acropolis ("high city") in Athens, the Parthanon was built in mid 5th century BCE under Pericles. It was said that Athena and Poseidon battled for patronage of the city, with the citizens as the jury. While Poseidon produces an immense salt spring/stampede of horses (variant), Athena touches the earth with her spear and the first olive tree sprouts. While her birth is depicted on the East Pediment, her victory over Poseidon is depicted on the west.
IV. Arachne: A mortal spinster by the name of Arachne boasts that she is better than Minerva at weaving. Upon hearing this hubris, Minerva appears under the guise of an old woman, and warns Arachne of her arrogance and to "know thyself". Arachne pays no heed to this warning, and is thus challenged to a weaving contest which she is defeated. Not only does Minerva smash Arachne's own loop over her head, she prevents her from completing suicide by transforming her into a spider

Sea Monsters (Ch 7)

Origin

Pontus (element), son of Gaia, fathered hundreds of monsterous deities with his own mother, most of them a mixture of human and animal.

I. Nereus: The archetypal "wise old man" from the sea, Nereus is a shape-shifting seer who aided Heracles in finding the Hespereiades to complete his 11th labour. He fathers 50 Nereids with Doris that bear significant offspring in their days.

     - Thetis, wife of Peleus (who had to wrestle her to win her), mother of Achilles

     - Galatea, wife of Acis, object of desire of Polyphemus (unrequited love results in wrath 

       of Polyphemus, deification of Acis)

     - Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon

Often compared to/synonymous with Proteus ("variable", "taking on different forms") which accounts for the unpredictability of their natures.

II. Thaumas: Manages to father three supernatural daughters.

     - Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, messenger of Hera

     - Harpy ("snatcher"/"strong winds"), half women half bird vermin

     - Sphinx ("strangler"), the part woman/lion/bird riddler thwarted by Oedipus

III. Phorcys: Mated with his sister Ceto to have a bunch of monsterous kids daughters.

     - 3 Graeae, the "gray ones" from birth, personifications of old age, share 1 eye 1 tooth, thwarted 

       by Perseus on his quest for the head of Medusa, their sister.

     - Gorgans, two immortal, one mortal (Medusa). Said to turn people to stone with one glance.

     - Scylla, once the object of Poseidon's affection, forevermore a sailor's affliction.

Oceanus (titan), son of Uranus and Gaia, fathered over 3000 oceanids with his sister Tethys (One of them Doris, mother of the Nereids)

Literature: Ovid's Metamorphosis, Hesiod's Theogony

Poseidon (Ch 7)

Etymology and Epithets:
     (g.) Poseidon, Posis "husband" + don... da "of Da" (ie. Consort of Earth mother), or Posis "to drink"
     (l.) Neptune
     "Earth Shaker", "Earth Holder"
     Potamos ("river"), associated with the I.E. God of Freshwater, who attains domain over salt water
     as they migrated to the coast.
     Hippios, "horsey" another I.E. association with riding-cultures. Horses drowned in his honor.
Domain: The sea. Tectonic plates.
Genealogy: Cronus + Rhea. Brother of Zeus.
Claim to Fame: God of the sea, horse riding, earthquakes, irregular temperaments.
Iconography: trident, waves, fish, horses, ships
Literature: Ovid's Metamorphosis

Myth

I. Poseidon Erechtheum ("original soil"): Despite losing the contest for patronage for Athens (See Athena), Poseidon is appeased by the citizens (in fear or appreciation, we'll never know) and a temple is built in his honor on the grounds of the Parthanon. The Erechtheum is characterized by its Carytid statues, beautiful women holding various items of symbolic significance, which serve the same function as columns.

II. Hippios and Demeter: In Arcadia it was rumored that Poseidon pursued his own sister, Demeter, who sought to escape him by disguising herself as a mare. Poseidon transformed into a stallion, and the magical steed Arion is born.
Similar origins for the mythological creature Pegasus as well, as Poseidon entered another tryst with Medusa to the same outcome.

III. Amphitrite: Poseidon took Amphitrite as his wife and had a son Triton. While daddy acts up to bring storms to sink ships, Triton blows his conch shell to calm the seas.
Amphitrite herself works hard to keep her marriage monogamous, and Poseidon is kept on a short leash.
Scylla (daughter of Phorcys), an object of Poseidon's desire is transformed into a monster whose lower half is ringed by dogs. She flees to the straits of Messina, where her and Charybdis (daughter of Poseidon and Gaia), a vicious whirlpool that spews three times a day, work to make sailors lives miserable.

IV. Odysseus: See Odysseus for details on Poseidon's pursuit of this wily hero.