Incest and Infidelity in the House of the Gods

Incest and Infidelity in the House of the Gods

Principal Gods of Greek Mythology

Zeus the supreme god of the Olympian gods was one of the most famous of the Greek Gods and one of the most renowned for his adulterous behavior. There was no discrimination when it came to getting the woman he desired whether mortal or immortal he managed to leave a legacy of Gods, Goddesses and divine heroes. The number of children that Zeus sired is unknown and speculations about his progeny are still being debated but some of the more famous ones can be found within his own family tree.

Zeus and Maia

One of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, she was the daughter of Atlas and Pleione an Oceanid. The oldest of the Pleiades. They were sometimes called the Mountain Nymphs.

Zeus and Dione

A Titan with whom Zeus conceive Aphrodite. She had an Oracle at Dodone. She was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. She was one of four sisters the others being Mnemosyne, Phoebe and Themis. She was also said to have given birth to Dionysus by Zeus.

Zeus and Leto

A Titan born of Oceanus and Phoebe and the mother of the twin Gods Apollo and Diana. She is also said to be the protector of the young. While pregnant with the twins she was tormented by the wrath of Hera and destined to wander the Earth without rest. When it came time for the twins to be born the floating island of Delos granted her a place and she gave birth to Apollo and Diana.

Zeus and Demeter

Demeter was a Goddess of fertility and agriculture. She was a daughter of the Titans Cronus and his sister Rhea. She was the sister of Hestia, Hera and Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, who was also the father of her child Persephone. She and her daughter Persephone are associated with the Greek and Roman cult the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Zeus and Hera

Hera the Queen of the Gods was Zeus' sister they conceived a child called Hephaestus. Hephaestus was the God of the Blacksmiths fire and the patron of craftsmen. The volcanic fires of Mr Etna represented him. He was known as the lame god. Hera at his birth was disgusted by the sight of him and flung him from Mt Olympus and he fell landing in the sea where nymphs rescued him and brought him to Lemos where he was cared for. He created Zeus' thunderbolts. He was married to Aphrodite the Goddess of Love.

Zeus and Metis

Metis impregnated by Zeus was swallowed by Zeus when he was told by Gaia that Metis would have a daughter who would overthrow him. One day he experienced a roaring headache and commanded Hephaestus to strike him in the head with an axe Athena sprang forth fully armed in war gear she became a favorite of Zeus.

Not all of the women seduced by Zeus were immortal some of the most well nown of his mortal loves were:

Zeus and Danae

Zeus came to Danae in the guise of a golden shower after she had been imprisoned in a tower by her father their son was the hero Perseus

Zeus and Leda

One of the most famous offspring Helen of Troy Zeus visited Leda as a Swan it is said that Helen was born in an egg,

Zeus and Europa

Europa mothered 3 sons Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys with Zeus in the form of a bull

Zeus and Alkmene

The most famous bastard son is one of the children of Zeus and Aleme Hercules born of Zeus and his twin brother Likymnios by her husband Amphitryon

Zeus and Semele

The mother of Dionysis She requested at the instigation of Hera to see Zeus in his glory as a God. He consented and the sight burnt her but he saved the unborn child by sewing him in his thigh until he was born.

Egyptian Mythology

Among the greatest civilizations of the Earth, the Egyptian civilization has a rich diverse mythology all of their own. They are famous for the unique beliefs which have made the world call them a people with high moral values.

Atum has been credited to being the finisher of the world, and was called The Complete One which he wil lreturn to chaos at the end of the creative cycle. He was seen as all aspects of the world, the deities and all things being made of himself. One of the most prominent deities from the ancient times,he is portrayed as both a creator and father to the phraroh.

Atum was considered to be the first God, having created himself from the primordial waters Nu. Atum created the God Shu and the Goddess Tefnut.

The Egyptians believed that Atum lifted the dead pharoh's soul from his pyramid to the heavens. Known also a Solar God, with Sun God Ra, usually with the evening Sun.

Atum, the first being to emerge from the darkness and endless abyss of the world before creation., he created divine and human beings. He is sometimes he is shown as a serpent, or as a bull or lizard.

Ptah is the patron of construction, metalworking, and sculpture, carpenters and shipbuilders.The glory of the Pyramids attest to the high value this God had for this anceint prople. Ptah was one of five major Egyptian gods with Ra, Osiris, Isis and Amun.

Ptah is the creator God he existed before all things, and by him the world was first conceived by Thought, and realized by the Word. He is shown in many forms. He is sometimes represented as a dwarf , howener, is generally represente as a man with green skin, wearing the divine beard, and holding a sceptre.






The ancient Egyptians believed in the concept of life after death. The ancient Egyptians considered the humans to be the gift as children of the Gods. On the death of a person, the body would be preserved with at most care without any signs of decay even though the motion of the body has completely stopped. The dead person’s body was preserved for the manifestation of individual spirit. The body of the person would be mummified and placed in the coffin as if the person was asleep; they buried the utensils, ornaments, the toiletries and essentials required by the person in his journey after death. They even placed weapons for the protection of the person and food inside of the burial chambers.

Anubis the jackal headed God of ancient Egypt is associated with the mummification and the dead in the afterlife. He was depicted as half human, half jackal. Since the jackal was a scavenger which threatened to consume dead bodies it was associated with cemetaries. During embalming ceremonies the embalmer wore an Anubis costume. One of the decrees of Anubis was the Guardian of the Scales deciding by the weight of truth where with the weighing the Heart Anubis determined the fate of souls.

Anubis was known to be the son of Ra, but in later myths he was thought to be son of Osiris. Anubis' half-brother was Horus, son of Osiris and Isis. One myth says that Anubis is the son of Nephthys and Set, Osiris' brother and the god of the desert and darkness.

Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in the ancient Egyptian Religion. He was most often depicted as a falcon, or as a man with a falcon head.

Horus is the first known national god, the king who is a manifestation of Horus in life and Osiris in death. Horus is the son of the Goddess Isis and the God Osiris. Horus role emcompassed many functions but most commonly being the god of the sun, war and protection.

Horus was born to the goddess Isis after she had found all the dismembered body parts of her murdered husband Orisis except his penis which was thrown into the Nile and eaten by a catfish. She used her Goddess powers to resurrect Osiris and fashion a gold member to conceive. Once Isis knew she was pregnant with Horus, she fled to hide from her brother Set who had killed Osiris and would have wanted to kill their son. Isis bore a divine son, Horus.

The Pharaoh as Horus in life became the Pharaoh as Osiris in death, where he was united with the rest of the gods. New incarnations of Horusin later incarnations succeeded the deceased pharaoh on earth in the form of new Pharaohs.

Set born of the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. His twin sister and wife was Nepthys. Another set of twins of Nut and Geb who became husband and wife: were the divine Osiris and Isis and their son was Horus.

The myths concerning these characters portray Osiris as a wise king, and content with his sister, Isis. Set envious of his brother killed and dismembered Osiris. Isis gathered his dismembered body and embalmed him. Osiris reigned over the afterworld as a king of the spirits of the dead. Horus his son was conceived by Isis.

From the land of the Sphinx comes tales of Gods with the faults of humans combined with the wisdom of the Gods. Intriging in form as in the emotional turmoils that these myths show of a civilization that has endured through the centuries and lives on until today. Pure in its attempts to understand the world in which they lived and the world that has lived on because of them.

The Baal Myth

Baal was a God of ancient Canaan, there he was worshiped as a God of fertility and rain. He was the son of El, the supreme god of the Canaanites, and the husband of the Goddess Anat.

Because of the importance of rain in the dry lands of the Near East, their local gods were usually associated with fertility and the cycle of rain and drought seasons. Baal was called the Lord of the Earth and Lord of the Rain and Dew.

Myths about Baal relate to fertility and the cycle of the seasons. The story of the battle between Baal and Mot, the god of death and infertility shows how the rain holds so much importance in their culture. According the recorded tales, Yam, the sea god, attempted to make a slave out of Baal. He sent messengers to Baal, asking him to surrender, but Baal drove them away. Baal and Yam fought with Baal using two magic weapons, he defeated him and took control of the waters. Yam represents the destructive nature of flooding the land and ruining crops and killing animals. Baal represents water's positive powers: rain and dew providing the nourishment needed to make crops grow. Baal is the spring rains and Mot represents the drought of the summer months. By defeating Mot, the rains in this case Baal, the earth is reborn each year and life flourishes in the dry Near East.

Worship of Baal in other ancient cultures. was widespread in the ancient world. Baal was also prominent in Egypt from about 1400 to 1075 B . C .. Baal was known to the Babylonians and Assyrians, and he equated to the God Marduk. The Greeks called identified him with Zeus.

Mythical stories that attempted to explain the nature of the physical world supported this religious belief. The basic features the Ba‘al religion revolved around the cycles of nature necessary for prosperity which were primarily growing crops; raising livestock and the survival of humankind. The fertility of land and crops played a large role in the Canaanite world as well as the rest of the Near East. Water was a major element in the myth and in an environment where human existence was often precarious human fertility was an important concern.

The theme of a cosmic battle among the gods personifies the struggle for life. The annual renewal of the earth in springtime makes it a myth of the cycle of seasons. This cosmic battle may not have been a historical event of the past, but occurred anew each year and was reenacted in rituals.

Witches and Witchcraft

Witchcraft is the use of supernatural powers and magical spells. In Christian Europe witches were thought to be in worshipers of Satan and used their powers to harm people and property. The concept of witchcraft as good and bad is increasingly distinguished with good witches involving healing.

Beliefs in witchcraft have existed in many cultures worldwide and still exist in some today.. The witch was a respected in primitive times and they were valued, not feared, they helped ease pain and healed people and their animals. In primitive times religion and magic were virtually the same. Priests were magicians and magicians were priests.

These beliefs were prominant in Early Europe of the 14th to 18th century, where witchcraft came to be seen as diabolical and resulted in the Witch Hunts.

In the Christian and Islamic faiths, sorcery came to be associated with evil.

Many French healers were accused of witchcraft a majority of the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers.

Some of the healers and diviners accused of witchcraft should be considered as Shamans. These people had contacts with fairies, spirits and traveling through the Otherworld. These beliefs are found in the folklore of most of Europe, and were described by the accused witches in Europe.

The basic characteristics of a witch is that they poscess the ability to cast a spell. A spell could consist of a set of words, or a verse. Spells are cast by many methods, by the binding or pricking of a wax image of a person to affect them magically; with incantations; by performing physical rituals; and by the use of magical herbs, amulets or potions.Necromacy is the practice of conjuring the spirits of the dead for prophocy.

Today, it is thought that many witches and the possessed were those with dementia or other psychosis. In early times the medical and the psychological sciences to explore causes, other than possession, for the behavior of people was not as advanced as it is today; although Anceint Greece surpassed the European countries. A victim who was thought to be possessed because of their spastic jerkings and verbal utterances such as people with Tourette's syndrome were victims for the accusations of possessed. The involuntary profanities and barks, curses, tics, facial contortions were thought to be possessed by the Devil.

The name Witch conjures up Sabbaths and demonic activity to this day and the association of the Old Hag and her cat still crosses people's minds when it is uttered. Throughout time this reference has been made; and it has been proven that even when there is doubt there is still a grain or truth. Are witches a part of the imaginary world or is the imagined the truth buried in the seas of unknown.

The Journey from the Unknown bywena: The Allure of the World of Mythology

The Journey from the Unknown bywena: The Allure of the World of Mythology

The Allure of the World of Mythology

The Sea of mythology laps on the shore of truth.  A glimpse of the world beyond imagination.

Greece After the Trojan War

The Trojan War was a disaster for Greece eventually. Maybe because the war lasted for 10 years and during this time all the kings and armies of Greece were at the front. When the Greeks eventually conquered Troy and returned to their homes, they only found decaying societies.  Other speculation about the Greek decline after the war is that the Greeks wanted Troy because it probably reflected a real war  c.1200 B.C between the invading Greeks and the people of Troas, possibly over control of trade through the Dardanelles  and was not for Helen of Troy as it is written in the myth

 They spent much effort in the siege and when they finally conquered it, it without establishing their rule. This could be explained by historical citations of a  barbarian tribe which was invading and destroying the civilizations in the Middle East. Maybe the Greeks left Troy to prepare their defenses against them and since their economy was based on trading with the Middle Eastern countries, their civilization decayed because of the invasion.

Shortly after the Trojan War, there came a period known as the Dark Age.  Little is know about Greece in this time period. At the beginning of the 8th century B.C. there came an end to the Dark Age and the beginning of the Archaic Age. The literary work of the composer of the Iliad and the Odyssey, known as Homer,  were stories of creation told by Hesiod. These poets created what became the standard religious stories known and told about the ancestors of the Greeks. These were the gods and goddesses of Mt. Olympus.

During the Archaic Age,  communities came into contact with one another. Monarchy gave way to aristocracies. The foundations for democracy emerged, and some small farmers decided to move into the urban area and brought the beginning of the city-state.

While the city had marketplaces, business and trade were considered dishonest.  Exchange was necessary to fulfill need for family, friends, or community and was not simply for profit. Standards for proper behavior for citizens made some tasks demeaning. There were slaves to do the work that was beneath the dignity of a citizen. Despite resistance to money-making, by the end of the Archaic Age, the use of coins began, which helped promote trade.

During the Archaic Age there was expansion. Greeks from the mainland set out to settle the Ionian east. Certain colonists began to question the world around them, to look for a pattern in life and the cosmos, these in turn became the first philosophers.

When the Greeks  invented the lyre, they produced a new music to accompany it. At the beginning to the Archaic age, statues copying  the Egyptian style, and appeared stiff and lifeless, by the end of the period and the beginning of the Classical Age, statues were being created more lifelike.

Following the Archaic Age was the Classical Age. The Archaic Age ended  after the Persian Wars.

The Classical Age brought new ideas, philosophy, and new medical techniques to the Greeks and the Grecian world flourished to become the center of the Ancient world.

The Journey from the Unknown bywena: Nymphs and Nereids

The Journey from the Unknown bywena: Nymphs and NereidsLove to Hate bywena

Love to Hate: Natural Remedies for Depression and Bipolar Disorder

Love to Hate: Natural Remedies for Depression and Bipolar DisorderThe Mythological Truth

Nymphs and Nereids