Edward Ferrie Tales from theGreek LEgends Gods and Titans · Perseus · The Labours of Heracles The Adventures of Theseus · Jason and the Argonauts The great myths of Ancient Greece have inspired mankind forcenturies. The heroes have to battle against impossible odds and a host ofmonsters to prove their valor. Perseus faces Medusa the Gorgon, an evil womanwhose hair is a mass of writhing serpents, and whose very appearance turns mento stone. Heracles is forced to undergo twelve labours, including killing theNemean Lion and the Many-Headed Hydra, cleaning the Augean Stables andcapturing Cerberus, the Hound of Hades. After many noble exploits on the way toAthens, Theseus has his famous encounter with the Minotaur of Crete — then winsand loses his beloved Ariadne. Jason leads a band of heroes on the Argosy, ajourney to gain the Golden Fleece, surviving many challenges and obstacles onthe way. And all the while, the gods watch, encourage and sometimesinterfere and hinder. The gods of Greece are like super humans — powerful, withspecial talents, but capable of anger, jealousy and desires like all mankind.Zeus, Lord of all the Gods, rules with his wife Hera on Mount Olympus. Onebrother, Poseidon, rules the seas while another, Hades, rules the shadowland ofthe Underworld — peopled by the dead. And other gods and goddesses appear, using their differentspecial gifts and displaying their particular qualities, good and bad. Atheneis goddess of wisdom and the arts — she sprang, fully-grown, from the brain ofher father, Zeus. Apollo is the sun god and also the god of music and poetry.Hermes is the winged messenger — fast, light, mercurial. He lent his winged sandals to Perseus. Aphroditeis the goddess of love, said to be beautiful beyond compare. Artemis is thevirgin goddess of the hunt, swift and accurate with her arrows. Ares is the godof war — huge, muscled, and indomitable. Hephaestus is the blacksmith of thegods. He built Olympus and, though lame, was married to Aphrodite. Hestia isgoddess of fire, and goddess of the hearth, the heart of the home. Demeter isgoddess of the earth, whose daughter, Persephone, visits for six months of theyear (summer) and returns to her husband, Hades, for six months (winter).Dionysus is the god of wine, which loosens the brain of man, and then there arethe monsters and the evil men and women, constantly working to cause despair,pain and death in the world. There are a host of other characters in Greek mythology —half-men half-beasts like Chieron, the wise old centaur who plays the harp andtaught Orpheus, the wonder-musician and Jason; nymphs like Thetis, who takeparticular care of gods and men. Immortals like Prometheus, son of a titan, whoso loved Man that he stole fire from the gods. Their lives and their stories, their hopes and ambitions andsadness are the myths of Greece and are as powerful and meaningful in our day,as they were when Homer sang of the Tales of Troy and Alexander the Greatconquered the known world. Notes by Heather Godwin