ORACLE OF DIONE AND ZEUS

 

Oracle of Dione and Zeus

At Dodona in Epirus

Apollo’s temple at Didyma

On the coast of Asia Minor,

Or at Corinth and Bassae

In the Peloponnese,

And Delos and Aegina

In the Aegean Sea

THE PYTHIA

 

The Pythia, oracle

Of Greek antiquity,

Oracular high Priestess

To Apollo at Delphi

THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES

 

The Sibylline Oracles,

Oracular utterances scribed

In Greek hexameters

Ascribed to the Sibyls,

Prophetesses who uttered

The divine revelations

In a state of frenzy

THE ORACLES OF ANTIQUITY

 

The Oracles of antiquity,

Were portals to the Olympians

So, the Gods could speak

Directly to those in their dominions

ORACLES

 

Inspired by the Gods

In Classical Antiquity,

Oracles gave wise counsel

Prophetic predictions

Or precognition of the future

As they performed their Oracular

Form of divination

In temples to the Gods

POLYHYMNIA

 

Versatile Polyhymnia

Muse of singing

Muse of mime

And of sacred dancing

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – ORTHRUS

 

There was a dreadful union between the giant immortal Typhon

And the black fearful eyed Echidne, Half serpent, half woman

The terrible result of this unnatural union was the dog Orthrus

A two headed dog almost as vicious as his brother Cerberus

The Drakon Chimaera was in love With Orthrus her own brother

And spawned the deadly Sphinx and the Nemean Lion together

Used by the giant Geryon to guard his fabulous herds of cattle

Who at the hands of Heracles, was stuck with a club dying in battle

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – GERYON

 

Geryon was a triple-bodied giant who dwelt in the land of Erytheia at the ends of the earth

As one of his labors Heracles who was sent to fetch Geryon's herds of cattle of great worth

His parents were the powerful-minded Khrysaor and Kallirhoe daughter of glorious Okeanos

While he guarded his fabulous cattle herds Geryon was accompanied by the hound Orthrus

With a single blow from his mighty club Heracles dispatched Orthrus the two-headed hound

And then with one poisoned arrow the giant three bodied Geryon fell dead to the ground.

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – THE CRETAN BULL

 

As a punishment for not making a promised sacrifice to the Olympian god

The Cretan Bull a majestic creature was sent up to Crete by Poseidon

It impregnated Pasiphae the wife of King Minos producing the Minotaur

After it was captured by Heracles it was slain by Theseus at Marathon

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY - STYMPHALIAN BIRDS

 

The Ornithes Stymphalides were birds of a fierce and man-eating breed

Who used as arrows their metallic feathers, which were sharp indeed

The sixth Labor of Heracles was to drive these birds out of Arcadia

But because of their deadly metal arrowed feathers could not get near

But to scare the birds of lake Stymphalus he used a rattle that was brazen

Once in the air he brought them down in a hail of his arrows by the dozen

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – THE CERYNITIAN HIND

 

The Cerynitian hinds were five golden-horned immortal deer

Sacred to the goddess Artemis whose golden horns shone clear

Larger than bulls four of them pulled Artemis in her chariot

Hera helped the fifth one to escape as part of a devious plot

And it crossed the river Kelodon into the mountains of arcadia

Heracles was tasked as a labor to capture the golden hind later

And without shedding a drop of its blood Heracles did this 

Afterwards he set the hind free to placate the goddess Artemis

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – THE NEMEAN LION

There was a dreadful union between the giant immortal Typhon

And the black fearful eyed Echidne, Half serpent, half woman

The terrifying result of this unnatural union was a huge Lion

No ordinary Lion but a supernatural monster called the Nemean

Its skin was impenetrable to the arrows or spear of Heracles

Who had been sent to kill it so he then adopted other strategies

Finally strangling it with his bare hands and then skinning it

Ever after wearing the hide as a cloak and its jaws as a helmet 

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – CERBERUS

There was a dreadful union between the giant immortal Typhon

And the black fearful eyed Echidne, Half serpent, half woman

The result of this unnatural union was a huge hound of hell

Three headed with a serpent’s tail and snakes as a main as well

The vicious Cerberus with razor teeth and lion claws on its feet   

Laid in wait at the gates of the underworld for people to eat

Heracles brought Cerberus up on his twelfth labor for his sins

He choked it into submission and dragged it home to Tiryns

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – LADON

 

There was a dreadful union between the giant immortal Typhon

And the black fearful eyed Echidne, Half serpent, half woman

The terrifying result of this unnatural union was a huge Drakon

A great multi headed creature with hot fiery breath called Ladon

It was appointed to guard the golden apples of the Hesperides

But with just a single flaming arrow it was slain by Heracles

HERO’S OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY - THESEUS

 

Once there was a heroic young boy named Theseus

Who was the only son of the king of Athens Aegeus

But was raised by the king of Troezen his grandfather

And also, by the princess Aethra his devoted mother

Just before Theseus was born king Aegeus left Troezen

But before he left, he placed beneath a boulder a token

Aegeus told Aethra that she must keep his identity secret

Until his son Theseus was old enough to understand it

His sword and sandals he had buried he told Aethra

Which his son must first lift off when he was older

 

Theseus grew into a strong and intelligent young man

And when he was sixteen, Aethra followed the plan

She took Theseus to the boulder and told him to lift it

Which if he did, she would tell him his father’s secret

Theseus wrapped his mighty arms around the boulder

And he lifted it and threw it away as if it were paper

Neath the stone he found the tokens left by his father

He was told to take the sword and sandals by Aethra

Then Aethra could reveal the truth to young Theseus

That he was the son of the King of Athens Aegeus

Theseus was prompted by a sense of his heroic destiny

And to meet his father he set out forthwith on a journey

 

Aethra and her father begged Theseus to go to by sea

To avoid bandits who frequented the road habitually

But Theseus was young and bold so went by overland

After a few miles he met a man with a club in his hand

He was a giant of a man and His name was Periphetes

And his club was bronze and would have suited Heracles

Periphetes was going to kill him that was quite clear

But Theseus stood before him and showed him no fear

He managed to persuade him to let him see the weapon

Once in his hands he hit Periphetes with the bludgeon

 

After killing Periphetes he went down the road further

And he met another giant called Sinis the pine bender

Sinis tricked passersby to help him with tree bending

Then he’d tie them between the trees before releasing

As the pines snapped upright it caused decapitation    

Spreading them over the landscape in every direction

When he tried to do the same thing to Theseus our hero

He tied Sinis between two bent pines and then let go

Then, not far from Athens, Theseus encountered Sciron

On the road along tall cliffs the brigand stood upon

To cross the cliffs, He demanded a toll from travelers

And he would kill with his axe any attempted defaulters

The toll he demanded seemed to be reasonably fair

And was simply to wash his feet in the tub he had there

Then while they were busy washing his feet thoroughly

He would kick the unsuspecting traveler into the sea

And down below the tall cliffs in watery isolation

A huge man-eating sea turtle waited in anticipation

So, Theseus sat down and started to wash Sciron's feet

He looked over the cliff and saw the turtle not replete

When Sciron's foot came at him, Theseus jerked aside

And hurled Sciron into the foaming sea off the cliff side

 

The next challenge for Theseus our intrepid adventurer

Came in the form of a man called Procrustes an evildoer

Procrustes kept a house by the roadside where he offers

Hospitality in the form of a hot meal to passing strangers

Then they were invited to take a night's rest it was said

What Procrustes called a night in his very special bed

If a guest inquired of him what was so special about it

They were told whoever slept in it the bed adjusted to fit

Once in bed the guest was either stretched if to small

Or had limbs hacked off if they were too long or tall

Theseus once again turned the tables on his adversary

Just By adjusting Procrustes to fit his own bed fatally

 

When he reached Athens, he was hailed by the Athenians

For he’d rid the highway of its highwaymen and brigands 

In his honor he was invited to the palace for a banquet

Theseus decided not to reveal his true identity just yet 

Serving as hostess was the Kings new wife queen Medea

Medea was a sorceress from Colchis who was very bitter

She had once loved Jason and helped him steal Golden Fleece

But Jason had spurned her when they returned to Greece

Her magic had already disclosed the identity of Theseus

But she kept this information from her husband Aegeus

She decided her personnel ambition Theseus was threatening

And her own son’s chances of ruling Athens as the king

So, Medea cleverly played on king Aegeus's insecurity

At the same time carefully concealing his true identity

She convinced the king Theseus hadn’t just come to dine

Medea persuaded Aegeus to serve him poisoned wine

Theseus paused just before drinking to carve his meat

As soon as Aegeus saw the sword, he was on his feet

The king knocked over the wine cup spilling the poison

Theseus and Aegeus were filled with joy at the reunion

Medea spat words at them as venomous as her poisons

Storming out she escaped in a chariot pulled by dragons

Theseus was now true heir to the kingdom of Athens

And Theseus and Aegeus were happy like old friends

But when the spring equinox came all Athens mourned

As a ship approached Athens with a black sail adorned

He begged Aegeus to tell him why Athenians were sad

Theseus went to the harbor fearing something very bad

He spoke to a sailor and asked him what was happening

Reluctantly the sailor spoke about the annual sacrificing

One day King Minos of Crete's eldest son Androgeus

Was accidentally been killed in Athens he told Theseus

Minos was very angry he attacked and defeated Athens

And demanded that the Athenians pay a yearly recompense

Seven young men and seven young women to even the score

Must each year be fed to the terrible monster the Minotaur

The Minotaur was a monster of half-bull and half-man

That lived in the center of a vast maze quite Labyrinthian

The beast had been born to king Minos's wife Pasiphae

As a punishment from Poseidon the great god of the sea

Theseus volunteered to go as one of the fourteen to Crete

To enter the Labyrinth and fight the Minotaur to defeat

King Aegeus was reluctant to let his only son Theseus go

But Theseus insisted he must prove to Athens he was a hero

He pledged when he’d faced Minotaur and won the fight

He would return turning the black sails to a brilliant white

 

As well as being the heir of king Aegeus and his only son

Theseus also believed himself to be the son of Poseidon

When the black sailed ship landed the captives at Crete

King Minos stood on the dock there to meet and greet

Minos demanded introductions from all the Athenians

When it came to Theseus to give his name to the Cretan

He announced he was prince of Athens and son of Poseidon

Minos said “If you’re prince of Athens you’re Aegeus’s son”

“To prove you are son of Poseidon fetch my golden ring"

Minos threw his ring into the sea as Theseus was praying

After his prayer to the god Poseidon he dived into the sea

Below the surface he was found by Thetis a Watery deity

The nymph Thetis gave him the ring and a golden crown

Theseus surfaced holding both items aloft before the town

It was shortly after Theseus had climbed out of the water

When he met Princess Ariadne King Minos’s daughter

And princess Ariadne fell in love with him at first sight

So much that she gave him a clue for his impending fight

 

The Labyrinth was a complex maze that awaited Theseus

Cleverly and intricately contrived by its builder Daedalus

Once thrown inside, a victim could never find the way back

Eventually meeting death after a savage Minotaur attack

The clew Ariadne gave Theseus was a ball of silk thread

To tie at the entrance and unwind it as he went ahead

Then once Theseus had fought and killed the Minotaur

He could follow it back to where it was tied to the door

Theseus was dropped into the maze with his companions

He tied the string off and told them follow his directions

He led them to the Labyrinth’s center to find the Minotaur

When they got there a sleeping monster was what they saw

Theseus jumped on it and ripped of one of its huge horns

Then he poked at the Minotaur pricking it hide like thorns

Theseus then ran back, and he threw the horn like a javelin

The horn ripped into the great monster’s neck and stuck in

The Minotaur charged at Theseus but halfway fell dead

Everyone cheered and he led them back using the thread

 

After sinking Minos’s ships Theseus eloped with Ariadne

With fellow Athenians on black-sailed ship the went to sea

One night on the black-sailed ship came the god Dionysus

He wanted princess Ariadne for himself he told Theseus

Dionysus ordered Theseus to abandon her on Naxos Island

Theseus had little choice but to obey the god’s command

He reluctantly obeyed the god Dionysus and abandoned her 

Sailing away from Naxos he was so sad to leave her there

He forgot to change the ships sails from black to white 

Which was to be the signal to say they had won the fight

King Aegeus sat watching and waiting on a promontory

But when he saw the black sails, he jumped into the sea

That fatal stretch of sea is forever named after the Athenian

And to this very day the sea is still known as the Aegean

 

After his father’s death Theseus became king of Athens

But this did not mean that his days of adventuring ends

He could not be contented with hunting the dear or boars

So, he accompanied Heracles on one of his twelve labors

To steal the girdle from the Amazon queen Hippolyte

Which in the end they didn’t give up without a fight

A great battle ensued between the amazons and heroes

Many amazons lay dead amongst the spears and arrows

Heracles made off with Hippoytes belt for Eurystheus

And the Amazon princess Antiope was taken by Theseus

 

During The ancient times of Theseus it was customary

Around the Aegean for Greek nobles to embark in piracy

Theseus received word that one pirate had set the eyes on

The royal Athenian herds on the seaside plain at Marathon

When he apprehended the pirate, he was about to strike

But as King and pirate eyed each other they were too alike

The two men had taken an instant liking to one another

And although they were strangers, they felt like brothers

The pirate was of the royal house of the Thessalian Lapiths

And conceding defeat he said his name was Peirithous

He named a punishment for the Thessalians’s misdeed

His plan was to take Helen of Sparta, Peirithous agreed

 

The planned abduction both men were bound to enjoy

Helen of Sparta would one day become Helen of Troy

At the time of the abduction Helen was only thirteen

So, he decided until she was old enough to be his queen

She would be left in the safekeeping of his mother Aethra

But her hero twin brothers Castor and Pollux rescued her

In return for his help with Helen he had to assist Peirithous

With a very perilous adventure which worried king Theseus

Peirithous wanted to abduct Persephone, the wife of Hades

He was king of the underworld and capable of great fury

So, they set off to the underworld to steal Persephone away

And went straight to the throne of Hades without delay

Peirithous boldly stated his intent to the king of the dead

Claiming Persephone would be happier with him instead

Hades immediately feigned consent and tricked the two

Into sitting at a bench where they became stuck like glue

Hades then loosed upon the two heroes a flock of torments

They came in the form of furies and venomous serpents

As well as the slavering fangs of the hellhound Cerberus

Not to mention the infamous tantalizing water of Tartarus

When Heracles was on his twelfth labor he found Theseus

And he released him be he would not release Peirithous

 

Theseus had all the qualities of a great Athenian hero

Strength and courage but intelligence and wisdom also

His early adventures benefited the Athens and region

And he forged the feuding warlords into a federation

He led Athens's army on victorious campaigns of war

He gained a reputation for helping the oppressed and poor

Escaped slaves who took refuge at his altar in that age

Could not under any circumstance be returned to bondage

In middle age wisdom deserted him making bad decisions

Theseus began to go on ever more foolish expeditions

His efforts to produce an heir led to even more problems

Athenians grew tired and he died exiled from Athens's

 

His body did not come home such was the consensus

Generations past with little thought given to Theseus

Until the Persian wars Athenian soldiers began to see

Theseus and believed him the reason for their victories

Athenian general Cimon was told by the Oracle at Delphi

To find Theseus's bones and build a tomb and sanctuary

So finally, they returned to Athens the great Athenian hero

In a magnificent tomb and sanctuary for the people to go

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – THE ERYMANTIAN BOAR

 

There was a dreadful union between the giant immortal Typhon

And the black fearful eyed Echidne, Half serpent, half woman

The terrifying result of this unnatural union was a huge boar

A great strong beast whose capture was Heracles fourth labor

The gigantic boar ravished farmland in the west of Arcadia 

And Heracles had to capture it alive, or he would fail his labor

So, he had to force it into a snowdrift on mount Erymanthus

And snared it with a noose and took it to his cousin Eurystheus

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – HYDRA

 

There was a dreadful union between the giant immortal Typhon

And the black fearful eyed Echidne, half serpent, half woman

The terrifying end result of this unnatural union was the hydra

A great many headed Drakon who inhabited the swamps of Lerna

It was the second labor of Heracles to kill the water Drakon

And the hero drew the great creature out to fight in the open

Then with his bronze sword he hacked off heads from the hydra

But for every head he severed two grew in place of the other

If that wasn’t bad enough the Hydra's breath was itself lethal

And even to smell its footprints was enough to kill any mortal

Very Soon the beast’s heads tangled around him like serpents

Iolaus his nephew comes to his aid and his death he prevents

As Heracles cut off its heads and to prevent new ones sprouting 

Iolaus with a flaming torch sealed the wounds by cauterizing

Finally, Heracles lopped off the last one and Hydra was dead

He buried deep below a boulder the Hydras one immortal head

THE LABORS OF HERACLES # 12: THE CAPTURE OF CERBERUS

 

Heracles when driven mad by the goddess Hera

Murdered his three children and his wife Megara

The Delphic oracle punished him for the murders

By ordering him to perform the Twelve Labors

The labors were set by his cousin king Eurystheus

Heracles final labor was the capture of Cerberus

He was instructed to bring the up the hellhound

From Hades the kingdom of the dead underground

You must first cross the river Styx to reach Hades

Which for the first problem for our hero Heracles

In order to cross the river, you must first be dead

If not, have a bribe for Charon the boatman instead

Heracles met neither condition aggravating Charon

But He simply glowered fiercely at the ferryman

And Charon meekly conveyed him across the river

The greater challenge was yet to come however

Cerberus had three heads, and all had razor teeth  

Covered with snakes on its back and underneath

It also had another great venomous snake for a tail

And over this hellhound Heracles had to prevail

The venomous snakes lashed out at Heracles wildly

While Cerberus lunged at the heroes’ throat directly

Fortunately, he was wearing his lion's skin cape

The impenetrable hide and helmet with jaws agape

He eventually choked Cerberus into submission

And dragged it to Tiryns for his due recognition

THE LABORS OF HERACLES # 11: THE APPLES OF THE HESPERIDES

 

Heracles when driven mad by the goddess Hera

Murdered his three children and his wife Megara

The Delphic oracle punished him for the murders

By ordering him to perform the Twelve Labors

The labors were set by king Eurystheus his cousin

Get the apples of the Hesperides was labor eleven

The Hesperides or even the Daughters of Evening

Were nymphs assigned by Hera to do the guarding

They were a special type of apples that’s evident

Which the goddess received as a wedding present

They were kept in a grove in the Far Western lands

In the mountains named after Atlas of the Titans

The grove was guarded by a many-headed dragon

A most fearsome babbling creature named Ladon

Each head had its own tongue making no sense at all

And finally, the grove was surrounded by a high wall

In order for his eleventh labor to be of any success

Heracles was told he would need help from Atlas

Atlas the Titan was brother to Zeus’s father Cronus

But in the war against Zeus backed the wrong horse

And so for all time Atlas must support the heavens

By means of a pillar on his shoulders as a penance 

So, he asked Atlas to get the apples from the garden

The Titan agreed, as it relieved him of his burden

He told Heracles to hold the pillar while he went

Into the grove to retrieve Hera’s wedding present

Heracles first needed to deal with the dragon, Ladon

This he did with an arrow over the wall to the garden

Then Heracles took the pillar while Atlas was gone

He returned with the apples and the job was done

But atlas had forgotten how pleasant life could be

Without keeping heaven and earth apart for eternity

So, he told Heracles he would have to fill in for him

For an indeterminate period of time just on a whim

Heracles feigned agreement to the Titans suggestion

But said that he needed for his shoulder a cushion

So, he asked if Atlas would take back the burden

While he went to fetch one and come back again

The Titan graciously obliged him without concern

And Heracles then strolled away never to return

THE LABORS OF HERACLES # 10: THE CATTLE OF GERYON

 

Heracles when driven mad by the goddess Hera

Murdered his three children and his wife Megara

The Delphic oracle punished him for the murders

By ordering him to perform the Twelve Labors

The labors were set by king Eurystheus his cousin

His tenth labor was stealing the cattle of Geryon

The three headed Geryon owned the herd of cattle

It was he and two headed Orthrus he had to battle

After clubbing the hound with just a single blow

Heracles stole the cattle dispatching Geryon also