The Whole Greek Mythology Explained

Over two thousand years ago in ancient  Greece, a blind poet known as Homer,   along with the most famous authors, playwrights  and historians of their day would record the tales   known to us as “Greek Mythology”. They would speak  of the great heroes of the land, the mighty gods   of Olympus and the mortal men and women who  were unfortunate enough to get in their way. But who was Zeus and why did he  wage a war against his own father,   and send a great flood to wipe out humanity? How was mankind created by Prometheus and why   were the horrors of the world  unleashed from Pandora’s box? What awaited the souls of the dead in the realm  of Hades and how were monsters such as the Hydra,   the Cyclops and Medusa slain by famous heroes? From the 12 labours of Hercules to the Trojan  War, this is the Entire Story of Greek Mythology. In the beginning, there was only chaos,   a great void of emptiness. But from the chaos  sprung Gaia, Earth, as well as Eros, Love.

They were then joined by Night and Day,  who would put an end to the reign of   Erebus, Darkness, with the eternal  cycle of dusk and dawn emerging. Lastly would come Tartarus, the  deepest depths of the world,   where condemned souls would  be sent for punishment. But these would not be the only  primordial beings to emerge,   for Gaia would birth one more. Uranus, the Sky. The two would then unite and produce 12  children; 6 sons and 6 daughters. These   children would be known as the Titans. Among them was Oceanus, a great river   that encircled the world. He would be joined by  his brother Hyperion, the Sun, who would ride   his great chariot across the sky, shining light  down upon the Earth. But when day became night,   his daughter Selene, the Moon, would  emerge, shining her light into the darkness. But Uranus was a cruel father to the Titans,   locking his children deep within the Earth. To  escape, they would look to their mother Gaia,   who fashioned an indestructible sickle that she  gifted to her youngest and strongest son Cronus.  

Cronus would patiently wait, and when  Uranus next came to lie with his mother,   he would jump out and slice off his  father’s genitals which fell into the sea.   From them would spawn Aphrodite, the goddess of  love and beauty and the first of a new generation. Having defeated his father Uranus with the sickle,  Cronus would take his place as ruler of the world,   but his reign was not to last as Cronus would  have 3 sons and 3 daughters with his sister Rhea,   with these children becoming known as the Gods. Cronus, however, was just as cruel as  his own father and having recently been   informed that one of his children  was prophesied to overthrow him,   would swallow each of them  whole as they were born. Only one would escape this  horrible fate, with Zeus,   the youngest of his children,  being saved by his mother Rhea.   Not wanting to lose her last child, Rhea would  hide Zeus on Mount Ida in Crete and instead feed   her husband a rock dressed in infant’s clothing,  with the Titan consuming it none the wiser. Zeus would be raised by his  Grandmother Gaia on the island,   being hidden away until he reached manhood  and was strong enough to challenge his father. When the time came Zeus would return, striking  down Cronus and releasing his siblings from his   father’s stomach. With his brothers and sisters  now at his side, Zeus would wage war for 10 long   years against the Titans, releasing from the  depths of the earth the hundred-handed giants,   as well as the Cyclops, legendary craftsmen  who would forge Zeus a mighty thunderbolt,   Poseidon a trident and Hades a hat of  Invisibility, turning the tide of the war. With the Titans defeated, Zeus would imprison  them in Tartarus, deep within the earth,   where they would remain in torment for  eternity. Having led the Titans in battle, a   special punishment was reserved for Atlas, who was  cursed to hold the sky on his shoulders forever. Only a few Titans would escape punishment,  with Themis, the Titan of law and order,   and her son Prometheus, who had allied  with Zeus at the start of the conflict,   being pardoned and allowed to  live their lives amongst the Gods. With the world now free of the Titan’s rule, the  three brothers Zeus, Poseidon and Hades would  decide what realm each would  claim, with Zeus receiving the sky,   Poseidon the sea and Hades the Underworld  where the spirits of the dead would reside. Taking up home on Mount Olympus,  Zeus and his fellow gods would become   known as the 12 Olympians, ruling  over mortals and monsters alike. While the Gods now ruled Earth, Prometheus,   one of the only titans spared, was  not satisfied with its inhabitants,   he saw only beasts, mindless creatures that were  barely worthy of attention. And so Prometheus   would fashion man from clay, sculpting  his new creation in the image of the Gods. But Prometheus was not content with his  new creation as man dwelled in the caves   just like other beasts. And so he gave  them fire, a great primordial flame,   that would allow them to emerge from the cave,  to fashion tools and rise from the darkness.   Man would soon come to rule over all  other creatures, but Zeus was not happy.   He wanted them to show gratitude to the gods  and so demanded that an animal sacrifice be   made at each meal, but left it to Prometheus to  decide what part of the animal would be offered. But Prometheus’ loyalty lay with man rather than  the Gods. Wanting to give them an advantage,   he would kill a bull and divide it into  two parts, presenting both to Zeus.   On one side lay the tender and juicy meat, hidden  under the unappealing stomach of the beast. On the   other side, lay the bare bones of the animal,  concealed by a thick layer of delicious fat. Zeus would choose the parcel covered in fat to  be offered to the gods, but when he stripped   away the top layer to discover that only the  bones remained, he would become enraged and so   decided to punish man by taking away the fire  Prometheus had gifted them. But without fire,   man went back to darkness, retreating into  the caves. Wanting to save his creation,   Prometheus would scale Mount Olympus to steal the  fire of the gods. With his great torch in hand, he   would return to earth, gifting his creation fire  and allowing civilisation to start once again. When Zeus looked down to see fire on earth  yet again, he was furious, taking Prometheus   and chaining him to the side of a mountain.  Each day Prometheus would lay in torment,   as Zeus sent an eagle to feast on his  liver. But as Prometheus was immortal,   each night, the liver would grow back, only  to be consumed once again the following day.   On and on the punishment would go with  his suffering continuing for millennia. But Zeus was not done and wished to punish  humanity further, asking Hephaestus to craft   a being capable of inflicting great suffering  upon man. And so taking up clay from the earth,   Hephaestus would shape the first woman. From  Aphrodite she gained her emotions and beauty and   from Zeus an insatiable curiosity. Hermes would  give her the gift of speech but also grant her   her name, Pandora, meaning ‘all gifts’, as she  had received an offering from each of the gods. Pandora was then given a final gift by the gods,  a sealed box that she was told contained special   gifts, but was forbidden from ever opening.  Zeus would then instruct Hermes to deliver   Pandora to Earth, where she would soon marry  the Titan Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus.   Prometheus had advised his brother  not to take anything from the gods,   but he was so struck by Pandora’s beauty  that he accepted her without thought. For a time the two would live happily together,   exploring nature and having a daughter  named Pyrrha who brought them great joy,   but in all her curiosity, Pandora’s mind  would always wander back to the box.   As days turned to weeks, and weeks to months,  her curiosity turned into a burning desire. Finally, she could resist no more, peeking into  the box to see what was inside. But the moment   she did, a great cloud filled the air. Out sprung  all the evils Prometheus had kept away from man,   with greed and envy, as well as old age  and disease, all escaping into the world. By the time Pandora managed to close the lid,  there was only one thing remaining inside, hope.   It was to be Zeus’ greatest punishment, for with  hope, men would cling on to their lives through   all adversity, ensuring they endured the hardships  that now burdened them for the rest of time. And so ended the Golden Age of Man, a perfect  time, where humanity lived without care or worry.   Never growing old, they would live off the wild  fruits of the land, enjoying all that nature had   to offer. But with old age escaping from Pandora’s  box, their time on earth had come to an end. Next would come the Age of Silver and then the  Age of Bronze, where man would become arrogant,   failing to worship the gods and forging weapons  to wage war on each other. Vicious and cruel,   man would draw the anger of Zeus, who was so  appalled by man’s lust for war, would decide   that humanity deserved nothing more than to be  completely wiped from the earth. The only feasible   option he saw to do this was to unleash a great  flood upon the world. And so he asked his brother   Poseidon to gather all his strength and strike  his trident upon the deepest depths of the ocean. The wave created was so powerful that  it would eclipse the tallest mountains,   crashing down upon the cities of man below.  Rains would pour from the heavens and winds   would strike the water until it consumed  all the eye could see. Those who survived   would soon succumb to starvation, until  finally, all dry land had disappeared. There would be only two survivors, Pyrrha, the  daughter of Pandora, and Deucalion, the son of   Prometheus. They had been forewarned by Prometheus  that a great flood was coming and so had built a   ship to survive the coming destruction. Their  little boat would survive the ravages of   Poseidon’s great storm, drifting alone in the vast  oceans, while they mourned for their fallen kin. They would soon drift towards Mount Parnassus,   the peak of which remained the only  place the oceans had not consumed. Believing his job was done Zeus  would command the rains to cease,   and for the waters to recede, with  the Earth becoming calm once again. But although the earth was now still,  it was devoid of human life. Deucalion   and Pyrrha would ask the gods how they could  rebuild humanity, with the Titan Themis being   sent to answer their prayers. To bring back  their fellow man, Themis instructed that they   each travel along the mountain, throwing  stones behind their backs as they went.   Day after day and night after night they  would each throw stones behind them,   with those thrown by Deucalion growing  into men and those by Pyrrha into women. And so it was that humanity was born once again.  With the crimes of their ancestors washed away,   they were granted a second chance, able to  choose a path of their own making. Only time   would tell if they would be as brutal and  destructive as those that had preceded them. But this time humanity would be protected, for  on Mount Parnassus, Deucalion had found a gift,   a tool so secure that not even the  Gods of Olympus could breach it,   something that would keep humanity safe for the  rest of time: Nord’s Ultimate Security Package. You too can reclaim control over your  digital privacy and gain access to: Malware protection that warns you  about unsafe sites and scans and   deletes any files that could harm your device. A data breach scanner to check if your passwords,   email address, or credit card  details have been leaked. An ad blocker that prevents all those  annoying pop-up ads and banners,   allowing for a smoother online experience. 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If you have any device connected to the internet,   you need NordVPNs ultimate security  package. Protect yourself online,   click the link in the description or pinned  comment and go to NordVPN.com/TheLifeGuide Once there make sure you click “grab deal”, this  will give you access to the best prices available.   What’s even better, is that if  you select their 2-year plan,   you can get everything we just mentioned  for just £3 a month. It helps support   the channel and is completely risk-free  with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! Zeus, the king of the Gods ruled  from his throne on Mount Olympus,   with his symbols of the thunderbolt  and eagle becoming omens to humanity.   Zeus was responsible for all weather changes, from  thunderstorms to raging blizzards depending on his   mood. The Greeks considered Zeus the greatest  of the gods, with those who bowed before him   receiving good fortune and those who dared to  defy him subjected to terrible punishments. Having now taken control of the  world, Zeus would look for a wife   to rule by his side. But the King of  the Gods was famous for his infidelity,   with him having no less than  seven wives during his reign. The first to marry Zeus would be the nymph  Metis, the goddess of wisdom, with her soon   falling pregnant with his child. But Zeus had  been warned by his grandparents, Gaia and Uranus,   that Metis was destined to bear him a treacherous  son, who would one day take his throne. Seeing no   other choice, Zeus would swallow Metis before she  gave birth, in the hopes of avoiding the prophecy.   But after he did so, Zeus would begin to suffer  a terrible headache, with the pain becoming so   intense that he would ask for his head to be  split open with an axe. From the gap in his   forehead would spring the child Metis had been  carrying inside her, a daughter named Athena,   the goddess of war and wisdom, fully grown and  ready to take her place as one of the Olympians. Zeus’ second wife would be his aunt  Themis, the Titan of justice and law,   who had betrayed her own kind, to side with  the gods during their war with the Titans. The pair would have only three  children together, however,   they would come to garner great power over  the mortal world. Known as The Three Fates,   these sisters would become  the goddesses of destiny,   spinning a thread of life that would determine  the road each individual soul would take. The youngest sister would be known as Clotho, “The  Spinner”, as she was responsible for spinning the   thread of each human life as they were born.  Controlling if and when a soul was created,   it was only through Clotho’s great  power that a new life would come to be. Her older sister, Lachesis, “The Alotter”, would  determine the fate of each person. Using her rod,   Lachesis would measure the length and nature  of every thread spun upon Clotho’s spindle,   and in doing so would plot out the duration, as  well as every major event of each human life. And finally, the eldest and most feared sister  would be known as Atropos, “The Unturning”.  When a mortal’s allotted time  on earth had come to an end,   Atropos would take her great shears and end  their life by cutting through the thread. Zeus would go on to have many more wives,  fathering numerous gods and goddesses alike,   but for his seventh and final wife,  he would take his older sister Hera,   the goddess of women and marriage, with Zeus  having finally found a queen to rule by his side. But even after his marriage to  Hera, Zeus’ lustful eye would   extend beyond the heavens with the king of  the gods continuing to pursue other women. Fathering countless children, Zeus would  be related to nearly every god and hero,   with him often disguising himself to gain  the affection of women who drew his eye. One such woman, Europa, was the  princess of the city of Tyre,   and sister to the famous hero Cadmus. One day, as she was picking flowers  by the coast, Europa would draw the   attention of Zeus, with the king of the  gods deciding to claim her as his own. To hide his infidelity from Hera, Zeus decided  to transform himself into a magnificent white   bull before travelling down to Earth. Upon  seeing the bull, Europa would be mesmerised   by its beauty and so decided to climb upon  its back. The moment she mounted him, however,   Zeus would set out at full speed, sprinting  straight into the sea. Screaming in terror,   Europa would grip desperately to the bull’s  horns as it ran across the vast ocean.   To reassure the terrified princess, Zeus  would decide to reveal his true identity,   telling her he was not merely a beast but instead  the King of the Gods. The two would eventually   arrive at Crete, the island on which Zeus was  hidden as a child, where she would bear him   many children. Their offspring would eventually  become some of the most renowned men of Greece,   with Minos, the king of Crete and owner of  the legendary Minotaur being amongst them. To commemorate his love for Europa, Zeus  would name the continent where they stood   “Europe” in her honour, and would recreate  the image of the white bull in the stars,   which would become known as  the constellation Taurus. Hera, wife of Zeus and Queen of the Gods,  was the protector of marriage and women,   being deeply respected in Greek  society. Although she was revered,   she was also one of the most vengeful and  spiteful Gods on Mount Olympus, making   her a poor match for her husband Zeus, whose  numerous affairs would constantly draw her anger. Despite being his queen, Hera would only  bear him two of the twelve olympians,   Ares and Hephaestus, with the other  gods coming from Zeus’ numerous affairs. One of Zeus’ most insulting acts of  infidelity would be with the princess Io,   one of Hera’s most devoted priestesses. When Hera came to investigate, in an attempt to  protect Io from his wife, Zeus would transform her   into a beautiful white cow. But the queen of the  gods was not fooled by the deception, and knowing   that she had caught Zeus red-handed, would demand  that he give her the white cow as a present.   Knowing that refusing the request  would only confirm Hera’s suspicions,   Zeus saw little choice but to accept,  with Hera locking Io in a cave,   where she would be guarded by the hundred eyed  monster known as Argus. The perfect guardsman,   Argus could sit with half his eyes asleep and  the other half awake, never breaking his watch. Zeus was too terrified of Hera to intervene  himself, but he would eventually send the   messenger god Hermes to free the miserable Io. A  master musician, Hermes decided to defeat Argus   not through strength, but through wit. Approaching  the monster as a friend, he began playing his   pipes and singing sweet lullabies until Argus  began to fall asleep. As the hundredth eye finally   shut, Hermes would take out his sword and slay  the beast, before releasing Io from her prison. To thank Argus for his service, Hera would take  his eyes and set them in the tail of the peacock,   her favourite bird, which would become a  symbol of her power. Not yet finished with Io,   she would send a gad-fly to torment her as she  made her escape, almost driving the woman insane. Io wandered long and far, with  the sea which she ran along being   named the Ionian Sea in her honour. The  Bosporus, which means Ford of the Cow,   would also be named to commemorate the  moment she passed by during her wanderings. Io would eventually arrive at the  Nile in Egypt, far away from Hera,   where Zeus would finally be able to restore her  human form. The two would have a child, Epaphus,   with Io becoming the ancestor to many of Greece’s  greatest heroes, including Perseus and Heracles. Leto, yet another of Zeus’ lovers,  would experience the full extent of   Hera’s jealous rage. After finding out Leto had  laid with Zeus and fallen pregnant with twins,   Hera would send the great serpent Python  to torment her, forcing Leto to flee across   Greece in a desperate search to find refuge  and a place to give birth to her children. But Hera would forbid any city  from providing her with shelter,   with Leto travelling from Athens  to Crete, from Lemnos to Samos,   with none willing to take her in for  fear of upsetting the queen of the gods. Only the island of Delos was willing  to offer Leto refuge, but she was still   unable to deliver her children, as Hera, still  scheming against her, had trapped Eileithyia,   the goddess of childbirth, on Mount Olympus,  preventing any births from taking place. After nine days and nights of agonising labour  the other goddesses would take pity on Leto,   retrieving Eileithyia from Olympus,  and finally allowing her to give birth. Leto would name one child Apollo and  the other Artemis, the god of Archery   and goddess of the hunt, who would grow up  to become fully fledged gods of Olympus. Upon the birth of the twins, towns and  cities across the known world would arrange   great parties in their honour, with the city of  Thebes hosting the greatest celebrations of all.   Yet of all the city’s inhabitants, one  would not take part in the festivities,   Queen Niobe, whose beauty was  matched only by her arrogance.   Boasting to all who would listen, Niobe mocked  Leto for having just two children, arguing   that as she had many more, seven sons and seven  daughters, she should receive the honours instead. Upon hearing the insult, Leto was furious that a  mortal queen would dare to disrespect her, and so   sent Apollo and Artemis to the city of Thebes to  enact her revenge. Raining down arrows from above,   Apollo would kill each of her sons and Artemis  every daughter, with Niobe left alone in despair. Distraught at the loss of her children,  Niobe would flee to her homeland of Sipylus,   crying uncontrollably and begging  the gods to put an end to her pain.   Taking pity on the queen, Zeus would transform her  into a great stone, forever ending her suffering.   Located in Western Turkey and known as the Weeping  Rock, Niobe can still be seen grieving to this   day, with tears flooding from her eyes wherever it  rains, as the water flows through the porous rock. Apollo, the youngest twin, was the  god of archery, light and music.   He was also closely linked with prophecy, with  him travelling to Mt Parnassus, where the great   snake Python, which had chased his mother across  the land, had made its home. Taking his revenge,   he would slay the beast with countless shots  from his golden bow, constructing a great   temple where its body fell, a site that would  become the home of the famous Oracle of Delphi. Known as the Pythia, the Oracle would become one  of the most influential figures in ancient Greece,   where anyone from great kings to common farmers  went for advice. Said to be the mouthpiece of   Apollo, she would inhale the vapours rising  from her chamber and go into a frenzied state,   delivering the god’s prophecies through  her psychotic and demented chanting. Following his great victory over Python, a beast  he had killed with over a thousand arrows, Apollo   was filled with pride, declaring himself the  greatest archer to have ever lived. So proud was   Apollo, that when he saw Eros, the youthful god  of love, holding his own bow and set of arrows,   Apollo would laugh at the child, declaring  that he was unfit to even wield such a weapon. Filled with rage, Eros would swear revenge  against Apollo, promising to show him the   full extent and true power of his bow.  Following Apollo to the River Peneus,   Eros would soon spot the River’s daughter,  the beautiful Daphne, sitting upon the shore.   Taking aim with his bow, Eros would  fire a gold-tipped arrow at Apollo,   causing him to fall madly in love with her.  Yet he would fire a second arrow at Daphne,   one tipped with lead, that would make her feel  nothing but disgust at the sight of Apollo. And so, as the God of Archery approached  Daphne overcome with desire, she would   flee at the very sight of him, running through  the forest in a desperate attempt to escape.   Consumed by Eros’ spell and longing to  confess his love, Apollo would chase   her through the woods, using his divine  powers to quickly catch up and reach her. Terrified of the god, Daphne would cry out to  her father, the River God Peneus, for help. He   would answer her call, with her soon beginning  to feel a great heaviness overcome her limbs.  

Slowing to a halt, her skin would  turn to bark and her hair to leaves,   until finally, Daphne’s  transformation was complete. Where a young and beautiful woman had once stood  was now, the first Laurel tree, with Apollo using   his powers of eternal youth and immortality  to make the Laurel tree’s leaves evergreen,   ensuring they kept their colour all year round.  Mourning his lost love, Apollo would carry a   laurel wreath wherever he went, making sure  that Daphne was always close to his heart. Apollo’s most important child would be Asclepius,  a famous physician who was so skilled that he   was able to bring the dead back to life. But  this would draw the wrath of Hades, as these   resurrections destroyed the balance of nature and  deprived the Underworld of new souls. To restore   the natural order, Zeus would kill Asclepius with  a thunderbolt, yet at the pleading of Apollo, Zeus   would later resurrect him, with Asclepius becoming  the god of healing and medicine. Asclepius   would later father Hygieia, the goddess of  cleanliness, from whom we derive the word Hygiene. Goddess of the hunt and twin sister of  Apollo, Artemis was a deadly archer,   watching over hunters and ensuring  that nature was kept in check.   A goddess of the moon and one of three virgin  goddesses alongside Athena and Hestia, Artemis   was quick to anger, protecting her chastity by  any means possible. When the hunter Actaeon,   a grandson of Cadmus, accidentally stumbled  upon her as she lay bathing in the forest,   the goddess was quick to punish him. Turning  Actaeon into a deer, she would set his 50   hunting dogs upon him, with the hunter suffering  a horrific and painful death for his mistake. Poseidon, brother of Zeus, ruled the seas  from his magnificent palace beneath the waves.   Known as the Earth Shaker, Poseidon would create  all earthquakes, travelling across the oceans in   his golden chariot, with him stirring and  calming the waters with his famous trident. One of his harshest punishments would be  inflicted upon Minos, the king of Crete.   After Minos refused to sacrifice  his best bull to Poseidon,   the god would curse Minos’ wife  to fall in love with the beast,   which eventually led to the birth of the half-man,  half-bull creature known as the Minotaur. But while he usually kept to  his own domain in the seas,   Poseidon would grow tired of Zeus’ rule on  Olympus. Alongside Athena, Hera and Apollo,   Poseidon would attempt to dethrone Zeus,  but the rebellion would ultimately fail.   Zeus would punish Poseidon and Apollo by  sending them to serve king Laomedon of Troy,   where they would spend an entire year building the  city’s giant and famous walls, walls that would   later have to withstand the force of Greece’s  mightiest armies during the Trojan War. Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom and  the child of Zeus and Metis, was known for   her love of strategists and cunning heroes,  helping many of them on their great quests. But she was also a proud goddess and to stake her  claim on the world, she decided to compete for   patronage of a great city in eastern Greece, which  was yet to be named. Competing against her Uncle   Poseidon, the two would attempt to give the city  the best gift. Poseidon would strike the ground   with his trident, making a stream of water rise  up for all to see, but as the water was salty,   it could not be used to tend the land,  with the city’s inhabitants unimpressed. But Athena, wanting to gift the city something  they had never seen before, would place the   palm of her hand on the earth, with the first  olive tree emerging. Not only would it feed the   people of the land, but it would also have many  uses, with the oil it produced used in cooking,   medicine, perfume, candles, and athletics,  bringing numerous benefits to the ancient world. With Poseidon hanging his head in shame,  the gods would deem Athena victorious,   with the city taking her name  and becoming known as Athens,   the capital of Greece and one of the  most important cities of its era. The inventor of mathematics, Athena  also had a fondness for music,   inventing the trumpet and flute, as well as  being the patron of artists and craftsmen.   She was particularly proud  of her skill in weaving,   although this would bring her into conflict  with a young girl from Libya named Arachne. Highly skilled in the craft, Arachne would  boast she was the greatest weaver to ever live,   challenging Athena to a competition. They  would each produce a tapestry of the gods,   with the person that demonstrated the  most skill being crowned victorious. The two would weave furiously for  hours until finally both pieces   were complete. But to Athena’s surprise,  Arachne’s was far better than her own.   Furious, she struck Arachne on the head again  and again until she dropped to the floor. But   rather than kill her, Athena transformed the  girl into the first spider, where she would use   her talents to weave beautiful webs, with the  creatures known as arachnids taking her name. If you, unlike Arachne, want to avoid Athena’s  wrath, make sure you subscribe and if you’re   feeling very generous, we’ve just launched  a new feature called super thanks, where   you can help support the channel and get your  message highlighted for us and others to see.   Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, was  born from the genitals of Uranus, making her   the oldest of the Olympians. A mischievous god,  she would use her powers for her own amusement,   making Zeus sleep with mortal women so  he would have to face the anger of Hera.   Responsible for sexual attraction in both  mortals and the gods alike, she would often   be accompanied by Eros, known to the Romans as  Cupid, whose arrows could charm any creature,   with the two striking love into the hearts  of unsuspecting mortals across the world. For one man in particular, Eros shot many  arrows into the hearts of potential lovers,   who found themselves attracted to a beautiful  young man who went by the name of Narcissus.   While he was blessed with great beauty, he  was also burdened by vanity and arrogance,   taking pleasure in cruelly rejecting the  advances of the many women who pursued him.   But soon, he would cross paths with the nymph  Echo. Cursed by Hera after she became the object   of Zeus’ affections, Echo was unable to use  her voice except to copy the words of others. Echo had been in love with Narcissus  for some time, but when she finally   found the courage to approach him, all  she could do was repeat what he said.   Unamused, Narcissus would cruelly reject her too,  and in doing so would crush her spirit. In her   grief, she would slowly waste away until only her  voice remained, a voice that can still be heard   today as Echo repeats our words back to us. But Echo would not go unavenged, as Nemesis,   the goddess of vengeance, had been watching. When  Narcissus next bent down to drink from a lake,   he would finally find the one he loved, yet it  was not a woman, but instead his own reflection. Mesmerised, he stared deeply into his own eyes,  unable to turn away. For weeks he stayed by the   pool, gazing at his own reflection, until finally,  he could endure it no more. Realising he would   never be with anyone as beautiful as himself, he  would take a dagger and plunge it into his heart.   From where his blood touched the  earth would bloom a beautiful flower,   the first Narcissus, with the word  narcissist stemming from his story. But while some, like Narcissus, would  become lost in the depths of love,   others would seek endlessly to find it. One such man, Pygmalion, was a great  artist from the island of Cyprus. But   after many years of unlucky love,  he had given up on women entirely,   resigning himself to a life of solitude and  instead focusing all his attention into his art. Beginning work on a new statue, Pygmalion would  labour day after day, until the figure of a woman   would begin to appear before him. Working  harder than he ever had before, Pygmalion   would spend hours chiselling the most intricate  of details into his woman of stone, shaping her   slender face and carving out each lock of hair,  until finally, his masterpiece was complete. As he stepped back to admire his work, Pygmalion  was struck by the beauty of his creation. Never   before had he seen a more perfect statue, nor even  a real woman, who could match what he saw before   him. Spending hours holding the statue’s stone  hands and kissing its cold and lifeless lips,   Pygmalion would grow ever sadder and more lonely,  as he realised that he would never find a woman   he loved more than the one he had carved from  stone. Spending night after night in the workshop,   Pygmalion would pray to the gods to bless  him with a woman as perfect as his statue. But as he prayed, the stone figure  behind him would begin to transform.   Its cold and lifeless hair would  turn into long and flowing locks   while its grey and cracked skin would  soften and become warm to the touch. Looking up in surprise, Pygmalion would be  shocked to see a face smiling back at him,   not one of stone, but one of flesh and blood. Always happy to help those seeking love,  Aphrodite had answered his prayers,   with the once lifeless statue introducing herself  as Galatea, before stepping down from her pedestal   and embracing Pygmalion with open arms, his  years of loneliness and isolation finally over. But while Aphrodite took joy in helping young  couples find love, she was also a vain and   jealous goddess, and would take revenge against  those who stole the spotlight away from her. Such was the case with the Greek princess Psyche,   a mortal woman who was so beautiful that it was  said she surpassed the goddess of love herself.   With men from every corner of the earth coming  to gaze upon Psyche, they would soon forget about   Aphrodite entirely, with her altars becoming  neglected and her temples falling to ruin. Furious that none were paying her attention,  Aphrodite would call upon her companion Eros,   demanding that he use his powers  to make Psyche fall in love with   the most vile and despicable  man on the face of the earth. But when Eros went to carry out her instructions,  he too would be struck by Psyche’s beauty,   falling deeply in love and for the first  time, refusing to follow Aphrodite’s commands. However, as Eros would now refuse to strike any  man with love for Psyche, she would grow sadder   and more lonely as the years went on, before  finally turning to the Oracle of Delphi for help. Following the Oracle’s instructions, Psyche  would travel to a magnificent palace where it   was said her husband would come to claim her. But  upon arriving, the palace’s servants would warn   Psyche that her new husband was a secretive man,  and would only visit her in the dark of night,   with her never allowed to ask for his  identity, nor seek to look upon his face. Overjoyed with her new life, Psyche would spend  every day in the palace’s beautiful gardens,   but one day, Psyche would be overcome  by her curiosity, taking an oil lamp and   lighting it in the early hours of the morning.  Looking down, she would be overcome with joy,   as her husband was none other than Eros,  the young and handsome god of love. However, in her excitement, Psyche  would lose her grip on the lamp,   with the hot oil falling down onto Eros’  shoulder, causing the god to wake up in fright.   Disappointed that Psyche had  failed to keep her trust in him,   Eros would tell her that the marriage was  over, before flying back to mount Olympus. Distraught at the loss of her husband,   Psyche would visit Aphrodite, begging the  goddess for a chance to see Eros once again. But Aphrodite had not forgotten her hatred  for the girl who had stolen the world’s   attention away from her. And so when Psyche  arrived to beg at the foot of her throne,   Aphrodite would laugh in delight,  setting the girl an impossible task.   If she wanted to see her husband again, Psyche  would have to travel to the underworld and ask   Persephone, the queen of the dead, to place  a fragment of her beauty within a golden box. Travelling to the underworld,  Psyche would come to the River Styx,   and after paying Charon’s fee, would be  ferried across its dark and haunting waters. Arriving in the throne room  of Hades and Persephone,   Psyche would approach the queen of the dead,   who was happy to give her assistance, placing  a fragment of her beauty within the golden box. But as Psyche began the trip back to Olympus, she  would become overwhelmed by curiosity once again,   lifting up the lid of the golden box  and taking a look at the fragment of   Persephone’s beauty contained within. But  such things were not meant for mortal eyes,   with Psyche falling to the ground and being  enveloped by a dark and endless sleep. It was at this moment that Eros, moved by  the lengths Psyche had gone to find him,   would fly down to earth and use one of his arrows  to save her from the grip of eternal sleep. Returning to Olympus, Zeus would  arrange for them a great wedding   celebration where he would grant  Psyche the gift of immortality. And so it was that Psyche, whose name  means soul, would become a goddess.   In her union with Eros, Love and Soul would  now be forever linked, with their child Hedone,   the goddess of pleasure, bringing  joy to mortals across the earth. The god of smithing, and the son of Zeus and Hera,  Hephaestus would have a difficult start to life.   He was born lame and so his mother Hera, after  seeing the deformity, decided to throw him off   Olympus into the sea to drown. Surviving  the fall, Hephaestus would later return   to the home of the Gods and take his revenge,  crafting a golden throne for Hera that would   not allow her to stand back up once she sat upon  it. It would only be through the intervention of   Zeus that Hera would escape, with the king of  the gods securing her release in exchange for   gifting Hephaestus the goddess Aphrodite,  the most beautiful Olympian, as his wife. Hephaestus would become a great inventor and  fashioned many of the palaces on Olympus,   as well as the equipment of the gods, with  Athena’s breastplate, Hermes winged helmet   and sandals as well as Helios’ Chariot  all being crafted in his legendary forge.   Some of his most famous work would be the bow and  arrow of Eros, as well as the magnificent armour   and shield of Achilles, with Hephaestus’ creations  aiding the greatest heroes of Greek Mythology. To the Romans he was known as Vulcan, the  god of fire, who would forge his creations   from a workshop beneath Sicily’s Mount  Etna, with it being said that the smoke   and lava emitted by the volcano came from  Vulcan’s great forge beneath the surface. Ares, the god of war, delighted in battle and  took pleasure in the slaughter of men and the   sacking of towns. He was hated by mortals and  gods alike as he represented unrestrained rage,   cruelty and bloodshed, with the gods playing  tricks on him for their own amusement. Ares had a long term affair with  Aphrodite, the wife of Hephaestus,   with the two sleeping together whenever her  husband was away. When Hephaestus found out he   was furious and decided to forge an invisible  net to hang over his bed. When Ares came to   lie with Aphrodite again, the two would be  trapped naked beneath the net, unable to move,   with all the gods of Olympus called out to see.  Laughter would ring out throughout the heavens   with the humiliation only coming to an end when  Poseidon took pity and decided to set them free. But Aphrodite was not the only lover of Ares,  with him also having an affair with Eos,   the goddess of the dawn, who would rise through  the sky each morning to clear the path for her   brother Helios, the sun, so that he could  make his daily journey across the earth. But upon finding out about the affair,  Aphrodite would jealousy put a curse upon Eos,   causing her to have an uncontrollable lust  for the young mortal men of the world. And so one day, just as the morning hours  were coming to an end, Eos would look down   upon the Earth, with her gaze settling upon  the great city of Troy. For in the city was a   young Trojan prince named Tithonus, so handsome  that Eos was unable to look away. Descending to   Earth, Eos would introduce herself to the  prince, with the two soon falling in love. At the end of each morning, when her duties  were complete, Eos would travel down to Troy   and meet with her beloved prince,  but the more she grew to love him,   the more she could not bear the thought of losing  him to old age or war, to starvation or disease,   or any of the other terrible ways  mortal lives come to an abrupt end. And so, on her return to Mount  Olympus, Eos would visit Zeus,   begging him to make Tithonus immortal,  a request he was happy to grant. But   Eos had made one fatal mistake, as she had not  asked for Tithonus to be given eternal youth. The two would live happily at first, but as  the years went on, and grey hairs began to   appear on the prince’s head, he would begin to  realise the terrible fate that lay before him. By the time a century had passed,  Tithonus would find himself crushed   under the unbearable weight of age, his limbs no  longer working and his mind having deteriorated,   but as much as he wished for  death, he knew it would never come. With sadness in her heart, Eos would  take Tithonus’ fragile body and lock   it away in a grand chamber where he  would be safe from the outside world.   After years had passed and the prince had  withered away until he was little more than   bones, Eos would transform Tithonus into the first  cicada, an insect known for its long lifespan, and   for making noise during the early hours of dawn,  when Eos carries out her duties in the sky above. Hermes, the messenger god and patron of thieves  was known as a trickster amongst the gods,   often teasing and annoying his fellow divinities. When he came of age, he  assumed the role of messenger,   travelling with a golden rod  as a mark of his authority.   Aided by his winged helmet and sandals, he would  use them to fly around and deliver messages,   frequently travelling between Olympus and the  Underworld. Here, he would help Hades, acting   as a shepherd for the souls of the dead, guiding  them as they made their way to the afterlife. Like the other gods, Hermes was known to  father many children with various women,   but one of his sons, Pan, the  god of nature and fertility,   would be born with the features of a satyr,  creatures that were part man and part goat. But when he was born, Pan’s mother, a nymph  named Dryope, was so horrified to see her   newborn baby with a pair of horns, a full  beard and hooves, that she would run away   screaming in terror at the very sight of  him. However Hermes would take his child   up to Mount Olympus and introduce him to the rest  of the gods, who were so intrigued by the boy’s   hideous appearance and charmed by his playful  attitude, that they would soon come to adore him.   None would love him more than Dionysus,  the god of wine and parties, who would   give him the name Pan, meaning ‘all’, as  he was beloved by all the gods of Olympus. But much like his father, Pan was known for his  many affairs with Nymphs, the nature deities   that inhabited streams and forests across the  world. But one nymph by the name of Syrinx, would   become the object of Pan’s affections, with him  pursuing her through the marshes where she lived.   Terrified of the god, Syrinx would  try desperately to escape him,   transforming herself into a bed of water  reeds when she neared the river’s edge. When Pan finally reached the river, he  would tear through the marsh trying to   uncover the terrified nymph. But as he did so,  a strong breeze would blow through the reeds,   producing a beautiful melody unlike any he  had heard before. Inspired by the sound,   Pan would uproot the reeds and bind them  together with wax, creating a set of pipes.   Sitting down, he would play a tune in the  memory of his lost love Syrinx, with the   instrument being named the panpipes after its  creator, and carried by the god wherever he went. God of wine and parties, Dionysus would have an  unusual birth, when his mother, Semele, asked   Zeus to appear before her in his true form, the  sight of which would cause her to die of terror.   Taking the infant that was growing  inside her, Zeus would place it in   his thigh until the baby was fully grown,  with Dionysus being born a few months later. Becoming one of the most loved gods in Greece,  Dionysus would be seen as a symbol of pleasure,   with his followers engaging in mass  drinking, crazed dancing and love making.   Known as the liberator, Dionysus  would create a new drink called wine,   which helped his followers stem their pain  while also bringing them joy and euphoria. While he spent much of his time partying,   Dionysus was also a generous god, willing  to grant mortals their deepest desires. After saving a close friend of Dionysus, King  Midas was granted a single wish in thanks.   Obsessed with wealth and fortune, Midas asked for  his deepest desire, the power to turn anything he   touched into gold. Dionysus would grant Midas his  wish, with him returning to his palace in joy,   touching everything the eye could see. Soon, the  floors, walls, and even his clothes were gold,   with Midas flaunting his wealth  to guests from across the Kingdom. After displaying his abilities for  hours, Midas would become parched,   ordering his servants to fetch him some water.  However, as the liquid touched his lips,   it too would turn to gold. Panicking, he would  reach out across the table, but the bread, wine,   meat and fruit would all turn into the precious  metal, nothing he touched could be consumed. Cursing his gift, Midas would begin to cry, with  the sound of his sobbing alerting his daughter,   who came to console him.  But as she touched his hand,   her fingers would begin to stiffen. Soon  her whole arm was gold and before long   all that remained was a statue of a little  girl, reaching out to comfort her father. Mourning for his lost child, Midas  would return to Dionysus, begging him   to revoke his gift. Pitying the man, Dionysus  instructed him to bathe in the river Pactolus,   with his golden touch being washed away in the  water. Becoming a normal man once again, the   story of King Midas would serve as a warning for  those who would prioritise wealth above all else. One of the 12 Olympians and the sister of  Zeus, Demeter was the goddess of farming,   ensuring that the harvest was rich  and the land remained fertile.   Under her watch, the fields knew no decay,  with the earth consumed in an endless spring. But there was one thing she prized above all else,  her daughter, Persephone. However, Persephone had   another admirer, with Hades taking a keen interest  in her. One day while she was strolling through a   meadow, a beautiful flower would bloom before her,  a Narcissus, something she had never seen before.   But when Persephone reached down to pluck it, the  earth would break open and swallow her, with Hades   dragging Persephone down to the Underworld,  where she would be forced to marry him. Distraught at her daughter’s disappearance,  Demeter would search for nine days and nights   until the sun god Helios revealed her captor’s  identity. Demeter would lock herself away for   an entire year, refusing to return until  Persephone was released. But without the   goddess of farming, the world entered into a  great famine, with the fields turning barren. It was only now, with humanity on the brink of  starvation, that Zeus was forced to intervene,   ordering Hades to return Persephone to  her mother. Although Hades would agree,   before she left he fed Persephone the food  of the dead, a single pomegranate seed,   binding her to the Underworld for eternity. In order to save humanity, Zeus was forced to  make a compromise. For nine months of each year,   Persephone would return to live with her mother  on Olympus, with Demeter’s joy causing nature   to bloom across the earth. However, for the final  three months, Persephone would return to Hades in   the Underworld, a period we now call winter, with  Demeter’s grief at the absence of her daughter   causing the plants to die and the world to freeze  over. And so it was that the seasons began. Of all the Gods of Ancient Greece,  there were few feared more than Hades.   The brother of Zeus and Poseidon,  Hades was lord of the Underworld,   an isolated place where the  souls of the dead would reside. But although he ruled the kingdom of  the dead along with his wife Persephone,   Hades would not command death itself,  instead, that power lay with Thanatos,   who would claim the souls  of mortals when they died,   with Hermes the messenger god, then guiding  the souls to the shores of the Underworld. Waiting at the shore would be  the eternal ferryman, Charon,   who was the only one able to guide the  deceased across the deadly River Styx,   a giant waterway that separated  the Earth from the Underworld. Only those who had coins placed under  their tongue when buried were able to   pay Charon’s fee, with those who  could not afford the journey,   destined to wander the shores of the River Styx  for 100 years before they were allowed to cross. Having travelled along the River Styx,  the souls would pass the white rock,   before arriving at the giant adamantine  gates of the Underworld, where Cerberus,   the three-headed dog, stood guard, ready to  devour intruders or those trying to escape.   Resuming their journey and coming ashore,  the souls would be directed towards the   court of the Underworld, where three  judges would decide their fate.   The judges would examine each soul, looking  through every action they had made while alive.   For those who had not angered the gods, a tranquil  place lay before them, but for those who had,   an eternity of misery and suffering awaited. After a judgement was reached, the souls would   be directed along one of three paths, either to  the Fields of Asphodel, the eternal paradise of   Elysium or to the deepest depths of Hades’  realm: Tartarus, a place of scalding fire. The Fields of Asphodel were a peaceful place  for those who did not achieve anything notable   in life, good or evil. It would be here that  most souls were sent and after 1,000 years   had passed and their time had finally come to an  end, each person would drink from the River Lethe,   whose waters would wipe away their memory. Born  anew, each soul having forgotten their previous   life would be reincarnated and returned to the  earth, starting the eternal cycle once more. The second path however would lead  to Elysium, a paradise of eternal   bliss where the souls of heroes, demi-gods  and especially good mortals would reside.   Those sent here were loved by the gods and could  experience all of life’s pleasures, with parties,   feasts and hunting consuming much of their time.  Each soul was given the option to return to earth,   but most would choose to stay and not have  to endure once again the hardships of life. Within Elysium but across the shore lay the Isle  of the Blessed, reserved only for the greatest   of heroes, with Helen of Troy, Achilles and  Odysseus all residing there for eternity. The third and last path would lead to Tartarus,   the deepest depths of the Underworld, reserved  only for the worst of criminals and those who   had offended the gods. It would be here that  Cronus and the other Titans would reside,   looking on for eternity as new souls  entered the realm of the damned. This would be the only place  Hades would become involved,   with the God himself designing and overseeing each  soul’s punishment based on their previous crimes. For the Danaides, 49 sisters who  had each killed their husbands,   Hades forced them to fill a tub with water  to cleanse them of their crimes. But as   the tub would always leak, they would  spend an eternity trying to fill it. Ixion, the first man to murder a family member  and who had grown lustful for Zeus’s wife,   would be bound to a wheel of fire that would  spin for the rest of time. Whereas, Tantalus,   a man who had killed his son and stolen from Zeus,  was cursed to eternal hunger and thirst. He would   stand in a pool of water, with the branches  of a fruit tree hanging above him. However,   as he went to quench his thirst the  water would recede and as he went to eat,   the branches would rise out of reach,  forever leaving him in a state of agony. But of all the punishments, the most famous  would be given to Sisyphus. Having cheated death   multiple times Sisyphus would pay the ultimate  price for tricking the gods. Every day he was   to roll a boulder up a steep hill, only to have  it slip from his grasp as he neared the peak.   Having to start over again and again, Sisyphus  would suffer his punishment for the rest of time. Although Hades would have complete control over  the underworld, his realm was so vast that he   had to enlist the help of the Furies to carry  out his punishments. But they would not only be   confined to the realm of the dead. The murder  of a family member was considered so terrible   in Greek society that even those still alive could  not escape Hades’ wrath. They would be hunted down   and tormented by the Furies, three sisters from  the Underworld, who would not stop until they had   avenged the dead and driven their target insane.  It would be the Underworld they called home,   resting here before their everlasting  torment of the human soul began once again. Travelling across the underworld would also lay  the Fields of Mourning, a resting place for those   who had spent their life pursuing love only to be  rejected. The anguish they felt would condemn them   to this dark and haunting forest, where they  would forever mourn the love they never had. In the far corner of the underworld  lay the land of dreams, an island   accessible only to the gods of Olympus.  Ruling over the island would be Morpheus,   the god of dreams, who each night when all  were asleep, would alongside his two brothers,   control the dreams of not only mortals, but  the gods too, either granting them pleasant   visions of the future or haunting  them with the worst of nightmares. So powerful was Morpheus over the unconscious  mind, that he would be used to name the drug   Morphine, a pain medication renowned  for sending its users to sleep. The true seat of power however did not rest  in the land of dreams, for the underworld had   only one ruler, the mighty Hades who lived  in a grand palace deep within the earth.   Hidden away on an island engulfed by fire,  those who searched for his home without an   invitation would become lost in the  dark and winding halls of the dead. But while the Underworld was filled  with punishments, Hades and Persephone   were not cruel rulers and would take pity on  mortals who found their way to their kingdom. Orpheus, a famed musician and poet, had fallen  in love with the beautiful Eurydice. But on   their wedding day, Eurydice would be killed by a  snake bite, with Orpheus left alone in despair.   Grieving and desperate to see his wife once again,   he would decide to travel to  the underworld to retrieve her. Arriving at the river Styx, he would take out  his lyre and play a beautiful song for Charon,   who was so moved that he ferried  Orpheus across the water for free.   Upon reaching the other side, he would be  confronted by Cerberus, with the tune he   played so sweet, that the three-headed  dog would be lulled into a deep sleep. Finally, he would reach the  palace of Hades and Persephone,   playing for them a song about his lost love  Eurydice. With tears welling in his eyes,   Hades would take pity on Orpheus, and agreed  to release her soul, but only on the condition   that Orpheus refrain from laying his eyes upon  her until they were both out of the Underworld. Overjoyed, Orpheus would agree and began  to lead his bride through the dark and   winding halls of the dead, but as he neared the  surface and the daylight shone upon his face,   he would be overcome by excitement,  turning around to look at his wife.   But Orpheus had not yet completed the  journey, and so, as his eyes fell upon her,   Eurydice would be dragged back down into  the realm of death, never to return. It was a lesson to all Greeks in the  virtues of patience and restraint,   for if Orpheus had resisted temptation  when his goal was so close, Eurydice,   the love of his life, would  have been with him once again. With the gods having established control  over the world and the realm of the dead,   The Heroic Age would soon begin,   with warriors from across the land embarking  on great adventures that would become legend. The first in this generation  of Heroes would be Cadmus. The brother of Europa, Cadmus would spend  many months searching the land for his sister,   but as she had been abducted by Zeus,  her location would be impossible to find.   Desperate for information, Cadmus would  make his way to the Oracle of Delphi,   but she would inform him that his sister  was lost forever, and not to dwell on her   absence. Instead, she would tell Cadmus  the gods had special plans for him,   and that he was to follow a sacred cow and found  a city upon the place where it came to rest. Following the Oracle’s instructions,  Cadmus would find the cow nearby,   following it for days into the region of  Boeotia, where it would finally lay down to   rest. Upon that very spot he would found the city  of Thebes, which would become one of the greatest   cities of Ancient Greece, rivalling the likes  of Athens and Sparta for power and influence. To sanctify the city and receive blessings  from the gods, Cadmus intended to sacrifice   the sacred cow to Athena, a ceremony that required  water from a nearby spring. But when Cadmus sent   his companions to collect the water, they would  find the spring guarded by a ferocious dragon,   who slew them as they tried desperately to escape.  Hearing screams, Cadmus would run to the spring,   only to find the dragon devouring his friends.  Taking a spear, he would lunge forward and impale   the beast, with the dragon unleashing a terrible  scream as it took its last and final breath. Little did Cadmus know that the dragon was  sacred to Ares, and that by killing it,   he had committed a crime against the  God of War. Ares would spare his life,   but would force Cadmus to serve him as a slave for  eight years before his actions could be forgiven. But for Ares, his troubles would not only  be confined to earth, for on Mount Olympus,   Hephaestus, the god of smithing, had  discovered one of Ares’s deepest secrets. Hephaestus was married to Aphrodite,  the goddess of love and beauty,   but Aphrodite had not been faithful,  having an affair with Ares.   The romance had lasted many years, with  Aphrodite secretly bearing Ares a child   called Harmonia. When she came of age and Cadmus  had finished his many years of service, Ares was   so impressed by his devotion that he would offer  his daughter Harmonia to Cadmus as a bride. Hosting a great wedding celebration in  Thebes, the two would wed, with all the   Gods of Olympus happy for their marriage bar  one. For Hephaestus, having just found out   his wife had had an illegitimate child, would  present Harmonia with a cursed wedding gift,   a beautiful necklace that would bring  misfortune to any family who possessed it. Unaware of the curse the necklace contained,  Cadmus and Harmonia would go on to rule the   City of Thebes for many years, enjoying a  long life and having 5 children together,   4 daughters and one son. Yet soon, the curse of Harmonia’s necklace  would bring ruin to the House of Cadmus. Their youngest daughter Seleme would be the first  to suffer tragedy. Having spent a night with Zeus,   Seleme would fall pregnant with the god  Dionysus, but the cursed necklace would soon   bring about misfortune, with Seleme bursting  into flames when she saw Zeus’s true form. Her sister Ino would also suffer misfortune,  with her husband Athamas going insane and killing   their children, with Ino herself jumping  to her death while trying to escape him. The third daughter of Cadmus, Agave, would give  birth to a son named Pentheus, who would become   the second King of Thebes after Cadmus decided to  retire in his old age. But Pentheus would make a   deadly mistake, deciding to ban the worship of his  divine cousin Dionysus in the city. In revenge,   Dionysus would drive all the women of Thebes into  a frenzy, who would tear Pentheus limb from limb,   with his own mother Agave, ripping off  his head while under Dionysus’ spell. And finally, Autonoë, the last  daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia,   would be mother to the hunter Actaeon, who would  be transformed into a deer and devoured by his   own hunting dogs after he accidentally saw  the goddess Artemis bathing in the forest. With the necklace of Harmonia being passed  from generation to generation, the curse of   the house of Cadmus would continue, with each  new descendant suffering misfortune. However,   the necklace’s curse would torment one man, in  particular, Oedipus, the seventh King of Thebes,   whose tragic story would bring tears  to the eyes of all who heard it. The son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta  of Thebes, Oedipus would face hardship   from the very beginning of his life. His father, Laius, the city’s sixth king, had   consulted the Oracle of Delphi about the future  of his lineage. But the prophecy he received   would not be to his liking, as it was foretold  that he would die at the hands of his son. And so when his first son was born, Laius  would bind his feet, hanging the boy on   the branch of a tree to die. But a shepherd  would soon stumble across the helpless child,   retrieving him from the tree and taking  him home to safety. As the child’s ankles   had been damaged, he would name the  infant Oedipus, meaning ‘swollen foot’. Wanting the best for the child, the  shepherd would deliver Oedipus to the   king and queen of Corinth, good people who  could not conceive a child of their own. Oedipus would experience a happy upbringing in  Corinth, but as he reached manhood, he would   begin to wonder about his true parentage.  Making his way to the Oracle of Delphi,   he would ask who his parents were. In reply,  the oracle only warned him to stay away from   his homeland, otherwise he was destined  to kill his father and marry his mother.   Horrified by the prophecy, and believing  that it referred to his foster parents,   the king and queen of Corinth, Oedipus vowed  to never again return to the city. Instead,   he would travel to Thebes which, unknown  to Oedipus, was the true land of his birth. On the road to Thebes, Oedipus  would come to a narrow junction,   where a large chariot blocked his way. But  the chariot’s passenger, an impatient man,   would speed past Oedipus, knocking him off the  road while hitting him on the head with a stick.   Furious, Oedipus would chase after the chariot,  killing all those on board including the elderly   man who had struck him. Unknown to Oedipus,  he had already begun to fulfil the prophecy,   as the old man lying dead at his feet was  none other than his true father, King Laius. Continuing his journey, Oedipus would reach  the gates of Thebes, only to discover that   the city was plagued by a monster, the Sphinx,  sent there by Hera to punish the city for the   crimes of its kings. With the head of a woman,  the body of a lion and the wings of a bird,   the Sphinx would ask anyone wishing to  enter or leave the city a simple riddle:   “What animal has four legs in the morning,  two at noon, and three in the evening?”   None had yet solved the riddle, and those who  failed would be killed and eaten by the Sphinx.   The rulers of Thebes were so desperate to  get rid of the creature that they offered   the throne to anyone who could kill it. Approaching the monster, Oedipus would be   asked the riddle, with the Sphinx eagerly waiting  for yet another kill. But after thinking long and   hard, Oedupus would finally give his answer:  Man. For in the morning, man is a child,   crawling around on all fours. Then, at noon, in  the prime of his life, man walks on just two legs.   And finally, in the evening of his life,  man walks with the aid of a third leg,   a walking stick, to help him keep balance. Shocked by her defeat, the Sphinx would jump   off a tall rock to her death, with Oedipus  entering the city of Thebes as a hero.   Being crowned King for ridding the city of the  Sphinx, he would also be gifted the recently   widowed Queen Jocasta as his wife, with  the two having several children together.   But unknown to Oedipus, he had just married  his own mother, with the prophecy now complete. The two would live together happily for a  time but it was not to last, with the gods   casting a plague upon Thebes as punishment  for the crimes of patricide and incest that   Oedipus was still unaware he had committed.  With the plague getting worse by the day,   the shepherd that had saved Oedipus as a child,  would finally reveal to him his true identity. Horrified by the revelation that she had married  her son, Queen Jocasta would hang herself,   with Oedipus soon finding her body. Overcome  by grief at the death of his mother and wife,   Oedipus would take the golden brooches from her  robe and blind himself with their sharp pins. Disgusted by the revelation of his identity,  the people of Thebes would exile Oedipus with   only his daughter Antigone choosing to accompany  him. Blind and poor, he would spend his remaining   years wandering the land as a beggar, with all  those he encountered hurling abuse at him for   his crimes. The only comfort he received  was knowing his daughter was by his side,   with Oedipus dying an old man having realised  that no mortal can outrun their fate.   His story would resonate throughout the ages,  inspiring the works of Sigmund Freud, whose   Oedipus Complex would propose that every young boy  would lust for their mother, while feeling resentment  towards their father, much as Oedipus had. But although the House of Cadmus  was the first great heroic family,   a new line of heroes would soon emerge.  For there was another kingdom that sat   between the great cities of Athens and  Sparta, Argos, ruled by king Acrisius. But Acrisius had been informed of a  terrible prophecy by the Oracle of Delphi,   warning him that his grandson, soon to  be born, was destined to murder him. It would not be long until Zeus, having  seen the king’s daughter Danae, would be   struck by her beauty, sneaking into her room as  a shower of gold. With the gold falling upon her,   Danae would fall pregnant, soon giving birth  to a son, a son she would name Perseus.   But King Acrisius, terrified that the  prophecy was coming true and not able   to kill his daughter and grandchild,  would banish them from his kingdom,   locking them in a chest and  letting it drift out to sea. Travelling for many days and nights  at sea, they would soon arrive upon   the shores of Serifos, where they would  be discovered by the fisherman Dictys. Dictys would raise the boy as his own, with  Perseus soon reaching manhood on the island.   But not all would be well, for the fisherman’s  brother, King Polydectes, had also noticed the   beauty of Danae, and desired her as his wife.  But she was always protected by her son Perseus,   who never left her side. Wanting to have  Danae to himself, King Polydectes would   look to find a way to get rid of Perseus,  with an opportunity soon presenting itself. Hosting a great feast, Polydectes would  invite guests from across the island,   with each man expected to bring a horse in  Tribute. But Perseus, having no money to his name,   and possessing great speed and strength,  instead boasted he could easily deliver the   King a greater gift, the Head of Medusa. It was  the opportunity Polydectes had been waiting for,   with him ordering Perseus to collect the head. Not  expecting the king to take up his offer, Perseus   would set out in despair, having only heard the  terrifying tales of the creature that awaited him. But Medusa had not always been a terrifying  creature. The daughter of the sea gods Phorcys   and Ceto, Medusa was one of three sisters,  renowned for their unrivalled beauty. The only mortal sister, Medusa would also be  the most beautiful, with any man that set eyes   on her immediately falling in love. But despite  this, Medusa would dedicate her life to Athena,   the goddess of war and wisdom, taking a vow of  celibacy so she could serve as her priestess.   However, one day while she was walking by the sea,  the god Poseidon would be struck by her beauty,   following her back to Athena’s temple  where he would force himself upon her. Furious at the act performed in her  sacred temple and not able to turn her   rage upon her powerful uncle Poseidon,  Athena would instead place the blame   upon Medusa for allowing herself to be  defiled and breaking her vow of celibacy. Wielding the power of the  gods, she would curse Medusa,   distorting her once beautiful features  into a hideous visage. Where her long   and flowing hair had once been was now  a tangled web of snakes, and where her   eyes had once seduced any man, would now  turn those who looked upon them to stone. But Medusa’s sisters, who came to her defence,  would not escape Athena’s wrath, with each of   them transforming into hideous creatures, with  the three sisters becoming known as the Gorgons. Exiled from their homeland, the three sisters  would find a new home in North Africa,   but their troubles would soon continue, as  warriors from across the world would come to   hunt them for sport. As the years went on and  their loneliness continued, the hate they felt   for the outside world would begin to grow, with  Medusa and her sisters killing any who came near. With Perseus having set out to slay Medusa,  both Athena and Hermes would soon approach him   offering aid, with Hermes gifting Perseus  an indestructible sword and Athena giving   him an exquisite shield, so polished  that he could see his own reflection. Knowing he would need more items to defeat Medusa,  Perseus would next seek the help of the Nymphs,   forest deities that tended to the garden  of the Hesperides. Soon finding the Nymphs,   Perseus would ask for their assistance, with  them gifting him a pair of winged sandals,   Hades’ hat of invisibility and an enchanted  bag which could safely contain Medusa’s head. Following the Nymphs’ directions, he would  use his winged sandals to fly to North Africa,   where Medusa’s cave was located. Sneaking into  the cave Perseus would soon come across Medusa,   sleeping amongst the stone corpses of her  victims. Using the reflection in his shield,   Perseus was careful not to look at her directly,  with her gaze able to turn any man to stone.   Seeing only her reflection, he would draw  his sword and swiftly cut off her head,   being careful not to look at her eyes as  he placed it inside the enchanted bag. But to Perseus’ surprise, from Medusa’s body  would spring Pegasus, a beautiful winged horse,   Poseidon’s child who had been growing  inside her all this time. Mounting Pegasus,   Perseus would fly out of the cave  and begin the journey home to Greece. Soaring across the ocean, Perseus  would look down at the waves below,   shocked to see a woman chained to a rock. The woman was the beautiful Andromeda,  Princess of the Kingdom of Aethiopia,   who had been placed there  as an offering to the gods,   in the hopes that her sacrifice would save the  kingdom from the terrifying sea creature Cetus,   who had been ravaging the shore,  killing all those it came across. Captivated by Andromeda’s beauty, Perseus  would approach her parents, the king and queen   of Aethiopia, offering to slay the creature  in return for Andromeda’s hand in marriage.   Relieved, they would quickly accept, with Perseus  flying over the monster with his winged sandals,   slashing it with his sword  until the beast was dead. Returning Andromeda to the shore,  the Queen would honour her word,   giving Perseus her blessing, with the two  soon marrying. With his new bride in hand,   the pair would mount Pegasus, flying back to the  island of Serifos, where Perseus’ mother awaited. But things were not as Perseus had left them. His  mother Danae had continued to reject the advances   of the king, but without Perseus there to  protect her, she was forced into hiding. Having seen that King Polydectes had turned  to violence to gain his mother as a bride,   Perseus would fly down to the palace in anger,  with the king’s guards drawing their swords. Taking Medusa’s head from his bag,  Perseus would hold it out before him,   turning the soldiers to stone. Panicking, the  king ran for his spear, but it was too late, with   Perseus holding Medusa’s head before him, forever  immortalising his terrified expression in stone. Finally reunited, Danae would embrace her son,  thankful that she would no longer have to live in   fear. Leaving the island behind them, Perseus,  Andromeda and Danae would decide to return to   Argos, the place of Perseus’ birth, where his  grandfather, Acrisius, still ruled as king.   But before he left, Perseus would  return his gifts to the gods,   with Athena taking Medusa’s severed head and  placing it on her shield, a final punishment   for her former priestess, with it remaining  as a symbol of Athena’s dominance and power. Returning to Argos, Perseus was  hailed as a hero for slaying Medusa,   with all the townspeople encouraging him  to join a local athletics tournament,   where he could compete against some  of the strongest men in Greece. With the event underway and Perseus dominating  the competition, it would soon be his turn   to throw the discus. Spinning with all his  might, Perseus would forget his own strength,   with the discus flying off into the crowd,  killing a member of the audience. Running   over to the body, he discovered that  it was none other than his grandfather,   King Acrisius laying dead on the floor,  the discus having struck him on the head. And so, just as the prophecy had predicted  so many years ago, King Acricius had died   at the hands of his grandson, a lesson  that no mortal can run from their fate. But having shed the blood of a family  member, something that was deeply   frowned upon and considered one of the  worst crimes in ancient greek society,   Perseus was no longer able to stay in Argos.  Instead, he would found his own kingdom, Mycenae,   north of Argos and west of Athens which would  soon become the most powerful city in Greece.   Its great walls were constructed with massive  boulders, too large for any man to lift alone,   with Perseus enlisting the help of the mighty  cyclops, whose craftsmanship was unrivalled. Ruling over the city, Perseus and Andromeda would  have many children together, with their family’s   reign lasting for generations to come. But unknown  to them, one of their descendants would become the   most famous hero of them all. For the son of Zeus  and Alcmene, would be the great hero Heracles,   whose famous 12 labours would echo  throughout every corner of the world. But for all his fame and glory,   Heracles’ beginnings hold some of the most  tragic and sad tales of all Greek myth. As Zeus sat on his throne on Mount  Olympus, he looked down upon the world,   with the beautiful Alcmena, the grandchild of  Perseus, catching his eye. Descending to earth   Zeus would lay with Alcmena, with her soon falling  pregnant with a son named Heracles, later known as   Hercules to the Romans, with Zeus planning to  make his son the next great king of Greece. But little did he know that his wife Hera, the  Queen of the Gods, had been watching these events   unfold. In the past she had sat idle, while  Zeus had fathered many illegitimate children,   but this time, she had finally had enough. When  Zeus swore an oath to give kingship to the next   descendant of Perseus, thinking it would be his  son Heracles, Hera saw an opportunity to get   revenge on her husband. When Heracles was about  to be born, she used her magic to delay the birth,   while also speeding up the birth of another  descendant of Perseus, a child called Eurystheus.   As Eurystheus had been born just mere  seconds before Heracles, he had become   the next descendant of Perseus, with Zeus  being forced to give him the kingship instead. While Zeus could do nothing about his son’s lost  kingdom, he did manage to get his own revenge   on Hera. After Heracles was born, Zeus brought  him up to Hera’s bed chamber on Olympus. As she   was sleeping, Zeus placed the infant on Hera’s  breast, where Heracles was able to feed on the   goddess’ milk, stealing some of her divine power  for himself. Startled, Hera woke up and threw the   baby off her chest, with her milk spraying across  the heavens. This milk would settle out in space,   becoming known as the milky way. Zeus chuckled to himself and brought   Heracles back to earth, placing him in a crib next  to his mother. Back on Olympus, Hera was furious.   This was too great an embarrassment for her to  ignore, and so in an attempt to kill Heracles,   she sent two snakes into his crib. To her  surprise, Heracles just giggled and grabbed   a snake in each hand, strangling them with  the strength he had just stolen from her.   Hera looked down at the scene in rage, vowing to  make Heracles’ life as difficult as possible. Growing up, Heracles received an education from  some of the most renowned masters of Greece,   in all things from archery to music. One  thing that became clear from a young age   was that Heracles had a very short temper.  This combined with his supernatural strength,   made him dangerous to both his friends and  enemies alike. Linus, his music teacher,   found this out the hard way when he was teaching  the young hero to play an instrument called the   lyre. Heracles lacked the finesse to play  the instrument and became infuriated by   the constant corrections of his teacher. After  some particularly harsh criticism, he ended up   smashing Linus on the back of the head with the  instrument, killing him instantly. While Heracles   only received a minor punishment, his temper would  go on to cause him many issues in his later life. Upon reaching manhood, Heracles would marry the  Theban princess Megara, with the pair having   three children together. However, Heracles’ good  fortune was not looked upon favourably by Hera,   who still harboured resentment for her  husband’s illegitimate son. Not only   was he now married but he was also in line to  become the next king of Thebes. Hera would now   act on the vow she had taken all those years  ago. Heracles’ happiness could not continue. Heracles, completely oblivious to the scheming of  Hera, came home one day to find his door broken   down. Running inside, he found that his family  were nowhere to be seen. When he cried out to   them, several hideous monsters appeared from the  back of the house and began to crawl towards him.   Finding himself overcome with an unnatural  rage, Heracles lashed out at the monsters,   killing one with a powerful strike to the head.  The other monsters began to run away in fear,   but Heracles, now in a blind rage, would not  allow any to escape, chasing them down one by   one before killing them with his bare hands. It was only then that Hera dispelled her magic,   lifting her illusion from Heracles’ eyes. The  hero watched in horror as the monsters transformed   back into their original form. His own family  now lay dead before him. He frantically shook   their bodies, trying to wake them up, tears  flooding from his eyes. But it was too late,   Hera’s magic had done its job and he  would now forever live with the guilt   of having murdered his own wife and children. As Heracles looked down at his blood-stained   hands, he realised that he would have  to atone for his crimes. The murder   of a family member was considered one of the  most serious crimes in Ancient Greece and if   Heracles did not atone for his crimes, then the  Furies would hunt him down and torture him for   eternity. The only person he knew that could give  him guidance was the famous Oracle of Delphi,   and so he exiled himself from his home in  Thebes and started his journey for redemption. The Oracle of Delphi was the mouthpiece  of Apollo, able to deliver prophecies and   guidance from the god. On this occasion, however,  Hera managed to use her magic to influence some   of the Oracles’ words. When Heracles asked  what he should do to atone for his crimes,   the Oracle responded that he had to serve King  Eurystheus of Mycenae for 10 years, who was the   descendent of Perseus that had been born just mere  seconds before Heracles. Understanding his task,   Heracles bowed to the Oracle, stood up,  and began his long voyage to Mycenae. King Eurystheus had known of Heracles  for some time and was deeply jealous   of him. The two were cousins as they  shared descent from Perseus, however,   they were nothing alike. Heracles was strong and  heroic whereas Eurystheus was cowardly and weak,   often sending others to fight his battles for him.  Arriving in servitude, Heracles bowed before his   cousin, Eurystheus, who could barely contain  his joy. Quickly accepting Heracles’ service,   the King instructed him to carry out  10 labours over a period of 10 years,   only after which would he be forgiven for his  crimes. There was only one caveat, however,   these labours would have to be completed  without any assistance or payment. Heracles hung his head in shame,  asking what his first labour would be.   King Eurystheus told him of a ferocious lion  that had been terrorising a village in the   northeast part of his Kingdom named Nemea. The  lion could not be stopped, its golden hide was   impervious to weapons and its claws were sharper  than any sword known to man. It had killed all   those sent against it and the task would now lay  with Heracles, who was sent to slay the beast. Aware that no sword or spear could penetrate the  lion’s hide, Heracles trained for several months,   uprooting trees and lifting boulders to  increase his strength. Stronger than ever,   he could now confront the beast with his  bare hands. Upon arriving at the lion’s den,   Heracles passed the bodies of warriors, their  swords and axes shattered on the floor. The   lion then appeared and began to charge toward  him, but just before it was about to pounce,   Heracles stepped to the side, catching its  neck in his arms. The two wrestled for hours,   but when Heracles managed to get a good grasp  on the lion’s throat, he squeezed with all his   might until he heard a crack. The dead beast fell  down to the floor. His first labour was complete. Realising the lion’s pelt would aid him in  his upcoming labours, he pulled out one of   its razor-sharp claws, using it to skin  the animal. He then threw the pelt around   his shoulders like a cloak, using the lion’s head  as a protective hood. As Heracles left the lair,   he found a giant oak tree, which he lifted  from the ground and stripped of its branches,   whittling it into a club. This would be his  new weapon and the lion skin his new armour,   symbols of his path to redemption. As Heracles  returned to Mycenae, draped in the pelt of   the Nemean Lion, Eurystheus was shocked, never  imagining his cousin would make it back alive. For his second labour, Heracles was sent to  kill the Lernaean Hydra. And so he travelled   to Lake Lerna, near the city of Argos, where  the fearsome water serpent had made its home.   Known as the ‘Hydra’, this beast had 9 heads,  one of which was immortal, with its blood the   most poisonous substance known to man. Upon  his journey to face the creature, however,   Hera wanted to make the challenge more difficult,  hiding a giant crab deep within the lake. When Heracles arrived, he charged at the Hydra  with his club, and with a massive swing took one   its heads clean off. But to his horror, where one  head had been, two new heads emerged in its place.   Confused, Heracles began to cut off more  heads, but this only made the situation worse,   as each time one head was removed two more  would spawn. As he was grappling with the beast,   Hera’s giant crab would jump out from the  water, pinning Heracles to the ground.   With the two monsters attacking him, Heracles  was sure that his death was close. But as the   hydra moved towards him, an arrow flew out of  the bushes and struck it in the side. Heracles   turned around to see his nephew, Iolaus, aiming  a bow at the monster. The boy had followed his   uncle to the lake, hoping to help in any way he  could. With the monsters distracted, Heracles   reached for his club, swinging it with such force  that he crushed the giant crab in a single blow. With his nephew now by his side, as Heracles  sliced off a head, Iolaus would then cauterise the   Hydra’s neck with a flaming torch, preventing any  more heads from growing. The pair worked together   for hours, slicing and cauterising until finally,  no more heads remained. Heracles then knelt beside   the Hydra’s body, dipping the tip of his arrows  in its poisonous blood. The slightest scratch from   one of these arrows would prove fatal, something  that would aid him in his upcoming labours. Despite defeating the Hydra, Eurystheus did  not count this labour, as Heracles had been   assisted by his nephew Iolaus, and therefore an  additional 11th labour would have to be completed.   As Heracles and Iolaus left the lake,  to thank the crab for its service,   Hera took its remains and cast its image up into  the heavens, creating the constellation Cancer. For his third labour, Heracles was  ordered to catch the Ceryneian Hind   and bring it back alive to Eurystheus.  The Hind was a beautiful creature,   much like a stag, with bronze like hooves  and a magnificent pair of golden antlers. Heracles then set off to Mount  Ceryneia where the creature lived,   but the Hind was extremely fast,  being nearly impossible to catch,   with Heracles chasing his prey for a full  year before he was able to capture it. Infuriated that his cousin had  completed the task so easily,   Eurystheus would quickly set Heracles his  fourth labour, to capture the Erymanthian Boar.   For his fourth labour, Eurystheus  sent Heracles to Mount Erymanthus, to capture alive a giant boar  that had been ravaging the area. Not thinking much of the task, Heracles set  off with enthusiasm, even deciding to visit   his friend, the centaur Pholus, along the way.  Centaurs were half men, half horse creatures,   renowned for acting more like beasts than humans.  Pholus was an exception however, being both   friendly and intelligent and had been friends with  Heracles since his youth. After Heracles arrived,   Pholus decided to host a dinner party to honour  his guest, inviting a few of the local centaurs,   one of whom was Heracles’ old, intelligent  and immortal archery teacher Chiron.   As the feast began everything was going well,  Heracles reminisced with his old teacher,   before deciding to take a walk. On the way out,  he came across a jar of wine on Pholus’ shelf,   which he decided to crack open and take a large  helping of. Little did he know that the wine was   communal property of all the centaurs, something  the God Dionysus had gifted them four generations   earlier. The wine also had a powerful odour  that the Centaurs could smell for miles around. As Heracles returned, he was confronted by a  huge crowd of Centaurs demanding to know why   he had drunk their sacred wine. His friends Pholus  and Chiron tried to calm down the other Centaurs,   but the situation soon got out of  hand as the whole tribe had arrived,   drawn by the wine’s odour. Enraged, the Centaurs  tried to kill Heracles, but despite their numbers,   they were unable to overpower him. In  defence, Heracles began shooting them   with his arrows coated in the poisonous Hydra  blood, killing many with the rest then fleeing. Unfortunately, In the chaos, Heracles had  accidentally shot his old teacher Chiron,   who fell down screaming in agony. As he  was immortal the wound did not kill him,   but with the Hydra’s poison coursing through  his veins, he would spend an eternity in pain.   Zeus however, had watched the events unfold  and decided to take pity on the old Centaur,   taking Chiron’s spirit and casting it up into the  heavens, creating the constellation Sagittarius.   Confused as to how such a small arrow had killed  the other Centaurs, Pholus picked an arrow up from   the ground. As he lifted it up to his face to take  a closer look, the arrow slipped from his fingers,   landing on his hoof, with the poison killing him  within seconds. After chasing the other Centaurs   away, Heracles returned, but when he found that  he had killed both his friend and his teacher,   he was overcome with shame and regret. But  unknown to Heracles, a centaur called Nessus   was able to survive the massacre, running far  into the mountains, where he would spend over   a decade planning his revenge on the hero. Heracles completed his actual labour with ease,   chasing the boar into deep snow, where he  bound it in chains to bring back to Eurystheus.   Upon seeing the giant monster, Eurystheus was  petrified, quickly jumping into a large storage   jar, refusing to come out until Heracles  removed the boar from the room. Heracles   could barely hide his amusement, but did as he  was told and set the boar free. King Eurystheus   then crawled out of the jar in embarrassment and  quickly sent Heracles off on his fifth labour. For his fifth labour, Heracles  was tasked to clean the Augean stables in a single day, using only  his hands and without any assistance. Eurystheus believed the task to be impossible,  sending Heracles on his way believing failure   was certain. The stables belonged to King Augeas  from the neighbouring kingdom of Elis. They housed   3,000 immortal cattle and had not  been cleaned for thirty years. The   stables were so overrun with animal dung  that in some places the filth had piled   several metres high, and no one dared  approach them due to the awful smell. Upon arriving in Elis, Heracles visited King  Augeas who promised the hero one tenth of the   immortal herd as a reward if he was able  to clean the stables before nightfall. As he made his way over to the stables,  Heracles was bombarded with a horrid smell.   It was even larger and more filthy than he had  imagined, spanning the length of a small city.   After taking a look around, Heracles himself  thought the task impossible to complete.   He instead headed to the nearby rivers Alpheus and  Peneus, which he hoped would do the job for him.   Obeying the restrictions Eurystheus  had given him, Heracles used no tools,   instead using his bare hands to dig a canal which  flowed from the rivers down into the stables.   Once completed, a great torrent of water  came flooding into the stables, washing   away years of filth in an instant. The water  continued to flow into the surrounding farmland,   fertilising the fields with an enormous amount  of manure. This caused celebration in Elis,   with the people cheering for Heracles as  their farms were to prosper for years to   come. Heracles would mark this occasion  by creating the famous Olympic Games,   which would occur every four years in Elis. But not all was well, as Eurystheus would   refuse to count this labour as one of the 10,  as he claimed the task had been accomplished   for payment in the form of a portion of  the immortal herd. An additional Labour   would therefore be added to his service,  bringing the new total now to 12 labours. For his sixth labour, Heracles was tasked  with driving away a flock of man-eating birds   from Lake Stymphalus. These birds were  sacred to Ares, and sported iron beaks,   capable of tearing through the toughest  of armour. The birds were the size of   Herons and excreted poisonous droppings,  rendering the surrounding area uninhabitable. Upon arriving, Heracles would find  a pair of giant bronze rattles,   that had been placed on the fallen  trunk of a willow tree, by Athena.   Thanking the goddess for her aid, Heracles would  begin to shake the rattles, with the noise they   produced causing the birds enormous pain,  with hundreds of them rising from the lake,   forming a great flock above. Heracles then took  his aim, shooting down as many as he could,   until finally, those that had survived fled  the lake, with his sixth labour now complete. When King Eurystheus saw his cousin  returning successfully yet again,   he realised that he had exhausted all of the  difficult tasks within his kingdom. Needing   more time to come up with one, he sent Heracles  to Crete, an island near the Greek mainland,   where King Minos would give him his next labour. King Minos had been gifted a beautiful white bull   from the sea god Poseidon, with the expectation  that he would sacrifice the bull in Poseidon’s   honour. Instead of doing this however, King  Minos decided to keep the bull for himself,   thinking it too beautiful to kill. In revenge,  Poseidon made the King’s wife fall in love with   the bull, with this union eventually  leading to the birth of the half-man,   half-bull creature known as the Minotaur, a  creature that King Minos kept in a Labyrinth   beneath his palace. After the bull impregnated  the King’s wife, Poseidon turned it mad,   with the bull running around Crete, destroying  everything in its path. While Heracles was not   destined to kill the minotaur beneath the palace,  that was a task destined for the hero Theseus,   King Minos did want Heracles to capture the mad  bull that was causing havoc in his kingdom. Accepting the challenge, Heracles went to confront  the bull, and when the beast charged at him,   Heracles would grab it by the horns and  wrestle its head into the ground. After   many hours had passed, the exhausted bull would  finally submit, with Heracles then jumping upon   its back. As the bull was a child of Poseidon,  it could walk on water, and so Heracles would   ride it across the seas to Mycenae, to  show Eurystheus proof of his achievement. With his task complete and not wanting  to kill an animal sacred to Poseidon,   Heracles released the bull outside of the  palace, where it went on to rampage the   Greek mainland until it was finally, many years  later, caught and killed by the hero Theseus. For his eighth labour, Heracles was tasked with  bringing Eurystheus the Mares of the Thracian King   Diomedes. These horses were fearsome creatures,  known to breathe fire, with their aggression   made worse by Diomedes feeding them the flesh of  unsuspecting guests and strangers to his kingdom. As Heracles made his way to Thrace, he would  be accompanied by his friend and lover Abderus,   the son of Hermes. As they arrived, the pair  made their way to the palace of Diomedes,   where they witnessed the fire-breathing horses  Heracles was tasked with collecting. The Mares   were bound to the palace wall with cast  iron chains, put on display for all to see,   thrashing around and foaming at the mouth. But as he entered the palace  to meet with king Diomedes,   a foul-looking man with a nauseous stench,  Heracles would hear a terrible scream   behind him. Rushing out to see what had  happened, Heracles would watch in horror,   as the horses ripped into the corpse  of his young lover Abderus, who had   gotten too close to them in his curiosity. Filled with rage, Heracles charged back into   the palace, killing the guards and grabbing  Diomedes by the hair, dragging him outside.   Giving the king a taste of his own medicine,  Heracles threw Diomedes to the monsters,   who began to devour their master. The flesh of  Diomedes was so foul however, that the horses   stopped eating him halfway through, forever put  off the taste of human flesh. With the horses now   docile, Heracles grabbed their chains and brought  them back to Eurystheus, his task now complete. For his 9th labour, Heracles was tasked  to retrieve the Girdle of Hippolyta,   a gold and leather belt that ensured victory in  battle. It belonged to Hippolyta, daughter of the   War God Ares and Queen of the Amazons, a race  of warrior women, who could fight better than   almost any man, with them routinely raiding  local tribes to assert their dominance. So Heracles set off east, bringing with him a  small band of warriors in case he had to fight   the Amazons. However, on arrival, Heracles  was surprised by the Amazons’ hospitality,   with Hippolyta herself taking a keen interest  in him. Having heard of his famous labours   and overcome by lust, Hippolyta would give  him her girdle as a sign of her interest. But Hera, watching from Mount Olympus, could not  believe her eyes. The task was going too well,   and so to make this labour more  difficult, she decided to intervene. Disguising herself as an Amazon,  she made her way into the camp,   walking amongst the women and sowing the  seeds of distrust. Slowly convincing the   entire tribe that Heracles had come to  enslave them, the Amazons became outraged,   mounting their horses and charging towards  the men they had let into their camp. Heracles heard the commotion and rushed outside,  where he saw the Amazons slaughtering his friends.   He turned around in rage, thinking that Hippolyta  had tricked him, keeping him away from his men so   they could be slaughtered. Before the Queen  could explain, Heracles lifted his club and   struck her dead, her girdle not protecting  her, as she had already gifted it to him.   Heracles then ran outside, striking down any  Amazon who challenged him. He managed to save   a small handful of his companions and the group  hastily left the camp heading home to Mycenae. Eurystheus had grown tired of Heracles  beating any task laid before him,   and so decided to send him to the farthest place  he could think of, the island of Erytheia. For his 10th labour, Heracles was sent to  Erytheia, to steal the cattle of a three   headed giant known as Geryon. Heading south  west, he travelled along the African coastline,   but It did not take long for Heracles, unused to  the intense and scorching heat of the continent,   to become annoyed with the Sun itself. Halfway  across the Libyan desert he took out his bow   and threatened to shoot the Sun with one of his  poisoned arrows if it continued to torment him.   Quite distressed at this, the Sun came  down in its human form, as the god Helios,   begging Heracles not to shoot him. He  promised to shine less intensely while   Heracles was on his journey, also offering  to give the hero his great golden ‘Cup’,   a vessel shaped like a water lily, that Helios  used to sail around the ocean at night.   Finally reaching the island of Erytheia,  Heracles was quick to see the herd of cattle   he had to steal, along with Geryon, their  giant three-headed owner. But wanting to   be done with his task quickly, Heracles  didn’t even bother to fight the giant,   instead shooting Geryon with a poisoned arrow,  killing him within seconds. Heracles then herded   the cattle into Helios’ Cup and sailed home to  Mycenae, where he delivered them to Eurystheus. For his eleventh labour, Heracles was tasked with  travelling to the garden of the Hesperides, the   daughters of the night, and collecting the golden  apples that grew on a tree there, which granted   immortality to anyone who ate them. Not only was  the location of the garden unknown, but Hera had   sent a hundred-headed dragon called Ladon, to  guard the tree from which the apples grew. As Heracles set off to find the mythical garden,  he first visited the titan Prometheus, who he   thought would know of its location. Prometheus,  the creator of mankind, had been chained to the   side of a mountain after stealing the fire of the  gods to give to humanity, and by the time Heracles   found him, this cycle of punishment had been  going on for centuries. Taking pity on Prometheus,   Heracles broke his chains and set the titan  free, finally bringing an end to the torment,   with Prometheus then happily sharing the Garden’s  location. However, he also warned Heracles that no   mortal could pick the golden apples from the tree.  Instead, he suggested that Heracles seek help from   the titan Atlas, as he lived near the garden. Following Prometheus’ advice, Heracles would seek   out Atlas, who was not difficult to find due to  the Titan’s immense size. Atlas had fought against   the Olympians in the war between the gods and the  titans, but as he was defeated, Zeus forced him   to hold up the sky for eternity as punishment.  Approaching the titan, Heracles explained his   situation and offered to make a trade: he  would temporarily hold up the sky and give   Atlas a much-needed break, and in exchange, Atlas  would collect the golden apples. Thankful to be   free of his burden, even for a short time, Atlas  accepted the deal and went to collect the apples,   transferring the weight of the heavens onto the  shoulders of Heracles. Though he had achieved the   impossible before, even Heracles struggled to  bear the immense weight he now had to hold. As   time went on, his muscles began to cramp, his body  began to shake and he contemplated whether this   would be the task that would finally break him. As the sun began to set, Atlas finally returned   with a basket full of golden apples. With a  grunt of relief, Heracles thanked the titan,   moving to give him back the sky. Not wanting to  take it back, Atlas offered to take the apples to   Eurystheus himself, promising he would return  and bear the weight of the sky once more. But   Heracles would not be fooled. He thanked the Titan  for his generous offer to deliver the apples,   and offered to hold the sky for a little longer,  but asked if Atlas would take the sky back,   just for a moment, so he could put on his pelt  to cushion his shoulders and head. Knowing the   pelt would make a great difference and none the  wiser, Atlas placed the apples on the ground and   took back the sky from Heracles. As soon as he was  free, Heracles picked up the apples and bid Atlas   farewell, quickly returning them to Eurystheus  to complete his labour. Atlas was enraged,   cursing at the hero as he left, with his  roars shaking the ground for miles around. As decades passed and then centuries, Atlas  would become a part of the world itself,   being transformed into stone, with  his giant remains becoming known as   the Atlas mountain range of North Africa.    For his twelfth and final labour, Heracles was tasked with capturing Cerberus, the three headed  dog that guarded the gates of the underworld. Descending to the Underworld and  approaching Hades and Persephone,   Heracles would explain that he had been tasked  with collecting Cerberus as his final labour. Knowing that helping Heracles would infuriate  Hera, who had always looked down on him,   Hades allowed Cerberus to be taken, but two  conditions had to be met. First, Heracles   must use no weapons to capture Cerberus,  and second, once his task was complete,   Cerberus must be returned. Agreeing to the terms,  Heracles set out to face the beast. Just as he   had done with the Nemean Lion and the Cretan  Bull before, Heracles grappled with the dog,   wrestling it for hours until the beast was utterly  exhausted. With his club in one hand and Cerberus   in the other, he dragged the dog by its chains  and made his way back to the realm of the living. Heracles then delivered  Cerberus to King Eurystheus,   who once again chose to cower in his jar, a  now permanent installation next to his throne.   The king poked his head out of the top of the  jar, and while shaking in fear, agreed to release   Heracles from his servitude, granting him pardon  for his past crimes. Heracles was filled with joy,   he had finally atoned for his crimes and was  to be a free man. But before embarking on his   next journey, he fulfilled his promise and  returned Cerberus to the land of the dead. Heracles took some time to celebrate when  he returned, enjoying all the pleasures of   a free life. He was now a well-renowned  hero and had admirers wherever he went.   He would go on several more adventures, even  joining the hero Jason and the Argonauts on   their quest for the golden fleece. Heracles soon found another lover,   taking the beautiful Deianira as his wife.  However, as the newlywed couple were making their   way to their home in the city of Tiryns, they came  across a rapid river that they had to pass. On the   other bank stood a centaur, who made his way over  and offered to carry Deianira across on his back.   Heracles accepted the offer, not recognising  the centaur as Nessus, the sole survivor of   the massacre Heracles had committed against the  centaur tribe on the way to his fourth labour.   Nessus had been plotting his revenge against  Heracles for over a decade, with him now seeing   the perfect opportunity to execute his plan. As soon as Nessus reached the other side of   the river, he threw Deianira to the floor and  attempted to violate her. Seeing this from the   other bank, Heracles pulled out his bow and shot  Nessus through the chest with a poisoned arrow,   sending the centaur to the ground in  agonising pain. In his last breaths,   Nessus apologised to Deianira, and offered her  a gift as a means of apology. He claimed that   his blood had magic love properties, telling  Deianira to discreetly collect it up in a vial,   in case Heracles ever fell in love with another  woman. As Nessus finally died, Deianira collected   up his blood, keeping it hidden in case she ever  needed to win Heracles back. Little did she know   that she had just begun the chain of events  that would lead to the death of her husband. The couple lived happily in Tiryns for a time  and had several children. However, after a few   years Heracles became tired of such a peaceful  life and craved some of the action of his youth.   Seeking some adventure, he left his family behind  and set out to the kingdom of Oechalia, where his   old archery tutor, Eurytus, ruled as king. Once he  arrived, it only took a few days for Heracles to   fall in love with the daughter of King Eurytus, a  woman named Iole. Winning her affections, Heracles   would take Iole home to the city of Tiryns, where  his children and wife Deianira, were living. While Deianira was initially happy to see  her husband return, she became worried when   she saw him arrive with another woman,  suspecting that he had been unfaithful.   In her desperation to win Heracles back, Deianira  retrieved the blood of the centaur Nessus that she   had been hiding, hoping that its love properties  would help her. She smeared the blood on a robe   which she then gifted to Heracles, asking  him to wear it to dinner that evening. When Heracles put the robe on later that evening,  he immediately knew that something was wrong.   Nessus’ blood began to stick to his skin, causing  a horrible burning sensation. Heracles began to   scream in agony and tried to rip off the robe,  tearing out large chunks of his flesh in the   process. The centaur Nessus had planned this  all along. He knew that Heracles would shoot   him with a poisoned arrow when he attempted  to attack Deianira. By convincing Deianira   to gather his blood that was tainted with the  hydra poison, Nessus had craftily ensured that   Heracles would suffer the same agonising death  that he had inflicted on the other centaurs. Heracles’ torment lasted for hours,  with his wife Deianira hanging herself,   upon realising that she had poisoned her  husband. Knowing his death was close,   Heracles frantically ran around his courtyard,  ripping up trees to construct a funeral pyre.   Once assembled, the hero lay down upon  it and asked one of his friends to set   it alight. As the fire seared through  his skin and his body went up in flames,   a smile appeared on Heracles’s face, as he  was finally released from the horrific pain. It was at this moment a great storm cloud  gathered around the funeral pyre. In the   cloud sat Zeus, who watched as the mortal part  of his son burnt away. The god then grabbed   Heracles’ spirit, taking his son up to Olympus,  where he transformed him into an immortal. From this point on, Heracles was  worshipped as a god by the Greeks,   with his labours becoming legend, with Zeus  eventually casting his son up into the stars,   where he can still be seen as  a constellation to this day. While some heroes like Heracles had to earn their  place on Olympus, others would become arrogant,   with many mortal men who assumed themselves  equal to the gods often meeting a tragic end.   Such was the case with Bellerophon, the  grandson of Sisyphus, the man cursed to roll   a boulder up a hill for eternity. Gifted the winged horse Pegasus by   Poseidon and learning to ride it with  the help of Athena, Bellerophon would   go on many adventures. His most famous exploit  would be his slaying of the fearsome Chimera,   a fire-breathing monster with the head of a  lion, the body of a goat and a snake for a tail. But as Bellerophon’s fame grew, so too did  his ego. Believing he had earned the right   to sit amongst the gods, he took Pegasus and began  flying up to Mount Olympus. But this would anger   Zeus – not only did Bellerophon think himself an  equal to the Olympians, but he was using Pegasus,   a gift from the gods, to get there. And so, as Bellerophon neared the heavens,   Zeus sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus,  causing the horse to kick Bellerophon   off his back. Although he would survive the  fall, Bellerophon would be blinded when he   landed in a thorn bush. Living the rest of his  life in misery, he would wander the earth alone,   serving as a warning to those who thought  to compare themselves to the gods. Pegasus would complete the journey to Olympus,  where he would be claimed by Zeus, with the   winged horse proudly carrying the god’s thunder  and lightning on his back for the rest of time. With the adventures of Cadmus, Perseus  and Heracles having come to an end,   the first age of heroes was drawing to a close.  But with the children they had inspired with   their stories now reaching manhood, a new  generation of heroes would soon emerge,   ready to forge their own legends  and make their mark on the world. Jason and The Argonauts quest for the Golden  Fleece would become one of these great legends,   with heroes from far and wide all  embarking on what would become one   of the greatest stories in all mythology. Jason, the heir to the city of Iolcus, had  been banished from his homeland as a child   by his uncle Pelias, a ruthless tyrant who  seized power and took the city by force,   claiming the throne of Iolcus for himself. Jason would be raised by Chiron, the  teacher of Heracles and other famous heroes,   spending 20 years under his tutelage,  learning the likes of Athletics,   speechcraft and warfare. But as Jason  reached manhood, and having learnt   everything Chiron had to offer, he would  set out to reclaim his stolen kingdom. Beginning the journey back to Iolcus, Jason  would soon come across a river, its harsh   current making it difficult to cross. On his side  of the stream sat an old woman unable to pass,   with Jason offering to carry her across on his  back. But as he did so the swift current would   remove one of his sandals, with him forced  to continue his journey with one foot bare. However, back in Iolcus, King Pelias,  having just asked an oracle the way in   which he would die, was advised to  be wary of a man with one sandal. It was at this moment that Jason arrived at the  palace, demanding that the kingdom be given to   him. Seeing Jason was wearing only one sandal  and hearing the townspeople cheer his return,   Pelias realised he could not simply have him  killed, so instead came up with a devious plan. He would challange Jason to retrieve the  famous Golden Fleece from Colchis, an item   said to be more valuable than anything else on  earth. If he was able to retrieve the fleece,   Pelias promised to forfeit the kingdom, being  certain that Jason would die along the way. With his honour on the line, Jason would  accept Pelias’s offer, but knowing of the   dangers that lay ahead, would begin to gather  the greatest heroes the world had ever seen. With word spreading of Jason’s great quest,   heroes from across the land soon flocked  to Iolcus to join him on the adventure. The first to arrive would be Heracles, the  greatest hero of the land, who offered his   incredible strength and skill, having  just completed his famous 12 labours. He would be joined by Zetes and  Calais, sons of the North Wind,   who each possessed a magnificent pair of  wings that granted them the power of flight. Following close behind would be  the warriors known as the Dioscuri,   Castor and Pollux, the twin  brothers of Helen of Troy. Also seeking adventure, Peleus, the father of  the great hero Achilles and king of Phthia,   would also join, with his elder brother Telamon,  the king of Salamis who had helped Heracles   fight the Amazons during his 9th labour,  accompanying his brother on the journey. The next to arrive would be the heroes of the  Calydonian Boar Hunt, an adventure still to come,   with Euphemus, Meleager and Idas all excited  to take part on their next adventure. And finally, the last to join would be  Orpheus, the famous poet whose beautiful   singing was known throughout the land.  It would only be after his journey with   the Argonauts that his most famous story, the  loss of his wife Eurydice, would come to pass. To transport these great heroes, Jason  would enlist the help of the legendary   shipbuilder Argus, who with the help of Athena,   would create the Argo, the swiftest  and most sturdy ship of its time. At its bow Athena would place  an enchanted piece of wood,   through which Jason could communicate with  the gods. As they set sail and their great   voyage began, Jason and his companions would  name themselves the Argonauts after the ship,   with the Greek translation of Argo  meaning swift and Nautes meaning sailor. Heading north, they would first  arrive at the island of Lemnos,   only to discover it was  inhabited entirely by women. Many years ago, the women of the island  had been devoted followers of Aphrodite,   the goddess of love and beauty, but their  devotion to the goddess had begun to wane,   with her temple falling into ruin.   Outraged, Aphrodite would curse the women, causing  them to emit a horrible stench, with each of their   husbands choosing to sleep with their female  slaves, rather than spend time with their wives. The women, neglected and feeling  betrayed by their husbands,   would decide to murder every  male inhabitant of the island,   including every boy, with them spending many  years alone until the Argonauts arrival. Seeing the heroes arrive, Aphrodite would lift  her curse, allowing the women to greet their new   visitors. With smell now gone, Aphrodite hoped  that the women would fall pregnant, ensuring   the survival of the island’s inhabitants, with a  new generation of children ready to worship her.   Her plan would be successful, and  after an entire year had passed,   the Argonauts had still not left the  island, with Heracles becoming enraged. Assembling his companions, Heracles would shame  them for forgetting their quest, reminding the   men that they would not become great and famed  heroes if they did not retrieve the golden fleece.   Hanging their heads in embarrassment,  the Argonauts would return to the ship,   with their journey soon resuming. Continuing East, the Argonauts would pass  Troy, soon arriving at Cios so Heracles   could replace his broken oar. However,  Heracles’ companion and servant Hylas,   having wandered into the wilderness, had  become lost in the depths of a vast forest.   Hylas would soon stumble across a beautiful  spring, stopping to quench his thirst and to wash   his body. However, the spring was home to a group  of water nymphs, who, upon seeing the young man,   the first man they had ever seen, would  fall in love. Grabbing him by the arm,   they would pull Hylas into the water, making him  immortal and trapping him there for eternity. Heracles, wondering where his servant had  gone, would go into the forest to look for him,   but no matter how hard he looked, Hylas could not  be found. After searching for days, Heracles would   return to the shore, only to find that Jason  and the Argonauts had set sail without him. They would next pass the kingdom of Thrace,  before travelling through the clashing rocks,   a waterway so dangerous that no ship had ever  passed through before. Entering the black sea,   Jason and his crew would finally lay their  eyes upon Colchis, their final destination   where the Golden Fleece, the most valuable  item known to man, was kept by King Aeetes. Arriving in his palace, Aeetes would show  hospitality to the Argonauts, but would   refuse to give up the fleece, knowing it was safe  as it was guarded by the fearsome Colchian Dragon. Knowing that defeating the dragon was impossible  even for Jason, Hera, queen of the gods, would now   give him her aid. For long ago, Jason had carried  an old woman across a river out of kindness,   not knowing that she was none other than  Hera, who had come down to earth in disguise. Hera would now repay the debt, making  Medea, the beautiful daughter of King   Aeetes, fall in love with Jason. Medea was a  powerful witch and would offer Jason her aid,   giving him a bundle of magical herbs  that he could use to subdue the dragon.   With the herbs in hand, Jason would put the  beast to sleep before grabbing the Golden Fleece.   Finally, with the fleece in his possession,  Jason and the Argonauts would hastily retreat   back to the ship, with Medea joining  them onboard as they made a quick escape. As morning came, King Aeetes awoke to discover  that the Golden Fleece had been taken,   with him quickly assembling a fleet  of ships to head out in pursuit. Leading the fleet would be Aeetes’ son  Apsyrtus, and it would not be long until   he was close on their tail. Medea, seeing  her brother Apsyrtus closing in on them,   and knowing that they could not outrun such a  large fleet, would ask for the Argo to be halted,   so she could bring her brother  on board to discuss peace talks. But as Apsyrtus’s ship came near, Medea would drag  him on board, taking a knife from her robe and   stabbing him in the chest. Dismembering the body,  she would throw the remains of her brother, piece   by piece into the sea, so that her grieving father  would have to stop the pursuit to collect them. With the time she had now bought, the  Argonauts would look for a way to escape.   Heading west they would enter the Istros  River, sailing for many weeks until they   reached the alps. Having come to a dead end,  the Argonauts would come ashore, lifting up   the ship to travel through the mountains by  foot. Finally reaching the Rhodanus River,   they would set sail once again, where this  time they would enter the Mediterranean sea. Setting sail, Jason and his men would  begin to hear a beautiful melody. For   his ship was passing the home of the Sirens,  irresistible creatures that enticed sailors to   their death with their bewitching songs. It was  at this moment that Orpheus, the famous poet,   would take out his lyre and begin to play his  beautiful songs, songs that would grow louder   and louder as they drowned out the siren’s call.  Only when they had passed by safely would Orpheus   put down his lyre, with all the men on board  cheering and thanking him for saving their lives. Heading back to Greece, their next stop would be  the island of Scheria, home to the Phaeacians,   a kind people who welcomed them with open arms.  After facing so many dangers, they would rest on   the island for a few weeks, with Jason and  Medea hosting a great wedding during their   time there. Now married, they would take to the  sea once again finally heading home to Greece. But as they neared close to home, the Argonautes  would decide to take one final rest on the island   of Crete. However, unknown to them, the island was  home to Talos, a bronze giant that patrolled the   shore three times each day, destroying any ship  that approached. Powerless against the giant,   the Argonauts would run in terror, with  there being nowhere to hide on the beach. But Medea, using her magic, would soon  be able to identify Talos’ one weakness,   a large bronze nail in the side of his ankle,  that prevented his divine blood from pouring out. Stopping the giant, Medea would tell  Talos that she was a powerful witch   and could make him immortal, the only thing  he had to do was follow her instructions.   Claiming that it was the nail in his foot that  kept him from becoming immortal and Talos,   never having talked to a human, would be easily  tricked, reaching down and pulling out the nail. With his blood pouring out, Talos would fall down  to the ground, never to torment travellers again. With the giant defeated, the Argonauts would board  their ship, soon reaching the kingdom of Iolcus.   After many years of travel and  with the Golden Fleece in hand,   Jason was finally ready to reclaim his homeland. Arriving back in the city, Jason  would learn that King Pelias had   put his father to death during his absence,  with revenge now the only thing on his mind. Approaching the king with the golden fleece,  Jason demanded that the kingdom be rightfully   transferred to him, but Pelias not honouring  his would would refuse, asking Jason to leave.   However, Medea, realising the king would never  give up his throne, came up with a cunning plan.   Inviting the king’s daughters to attend,  Medea would chop an old ram into pieces,   boiling it in a cauldron for  all to see. Using her magic,   the ram would come back to life, jumping  out of the cauldron with its youth restored. But Pelias’ daughters, having seen their  father grow old and weary just as the ram had,   desired him to be rejuvenated as well. And so,  when Medea told them she could perform the same   magic on the king, their faces lit up with joy.  Sneaking into Pelias’ room when all were asleep,   they would chop their father into pieces and  throw him in the cauldron, eagerly awaiting   Medea’s return the next morning. But upon  seeing the king butchered by his own daughters,   all Medea could do was laugh, her cunning  plan having worked exactly as foreseen. With Pelias now dead, Jason was ready to take  the throne, however the king’s son Acastus,   would discover Medea’s involvement in the gruesome  murder, driving her and Jason from the city. Travelling south,  they would find a new home in the city of  Corinth, with Jason taking the Golden Fleece   and hanging it in the temple of Zeus,  leaving his life of adventure behind. Creating a new family with Medea, the  two would have many children together,   but as the years went on, Jason’s eyes would  begin to wander. Craving the fame and fortune   of his youth, he would look for a wife that he  could use to rise through the ranks of society,   abandoning Medea and his family  to marry the Princess Creusa. Betrayed, and her heart broken, having  murdered her own brother to help Jason,   Medea would swear revenge, sending a magic robe  to Creusa as a wedding gift. As soon as the robe   touched her skin, Creusa’s flesh would begin to  burn, with her letting out a scream of agony.   Her elderly father would attempt to save her, but  upon touching the robe he too would begin to burn,   with the pair dying together in  front of Jason’s tearful eyes. Horrified at the death of his new wife,  Jason, knowing who had sent the cursed robe,   would draw his sword and rush to  confront Medea, but upon finding her,   he would discover the true extent of her rage. For  at her feet lay the dead bodies of their two sons,   Alcimenes and Tisander, with blood still dripping  from the dagger Medea had used to kill them. Dropping to his knees, Jason would begin to  weep, with Medea flying off in the chariot of   her grandfather, the sun god Helios,  her final act of revenge complete. Jason would go on to live the  rest of his life as a lonely man,   never finding love and producing no more children. Clinging onto the memories of his youth,  Jason would often visit the Argo, which had   been deserted on the shore. With many years having  passed and Jason now an old man, one day while he   was lying under the ship, its rotting stern would  collapse, crushing him below. The ship that had   once brought him fame and fortune, would now be  the very thing that brought his life to an end. As for Medea, she would  flee to the city of Athens,   gaining refuge and using her  beauty to seduce King Aegeus.   Becoming queen, she would bear him a son, but  her rise to power would soon be challenged,   when the city’s rightful heir, the great hero  Theseus, would return to claim the throne. Many years before Medea’s arrival to Athens,  King Aegeus had ruled the city alone, having   tried and failed many times to father an heir to  which he could leave his kingdom. Believing he   was incapable of having children, Aegeus would  travel to Delphi and ask the Oracle for help,   who would instruct him to travel  to the small kingdom of Troezen,   where the city’s princess,  Aethra, would bear him a son. Overjoyed, Aegeus would travel to Troezen  and meet with princess Aethra, with the two   conceiving a child that night. However, unknown  to Aegeus, Poseidon would also visit Aethra the   same evening, with the child that was born,  Theseus, being the offspring of the two men.   With Poseidon’s blood now running through his  veins, Theseus would be granted immense agility   and strength, something that would prove  useful in the many trials that lay ahead. But King Aegeus, knowing that it was his duty  to return to Athens, would leave the princess   to raise the boy alone. Only when Theseus was old  and strong enough to lift a heavy stone, under   which Aegeus hid his sword and sandals, would  he be worthy of travelling to Athens to claim   his birthright, with the items he retrieved being  symbols by which Aegeus could recognise his son.   When the day finally came, Theseus, having  reached manhood, would lift up the rock and   claim his father’s possessions, soon  setting out on the road to Athens. But when Theseus arrived in Athens,  Medea, his father’s new queen,   had already bore the king a son named Medus,  who was next in line to the throne. And so,   when Medea saw that Theseus had  arrived to claim his birthright,   she feared that her own son would be deprived of  the throne, and so began to scheme against him. When Theseus entered the palace, Medea  would inform him that the only way   he would be granted an audience with the  king was to prove his skill as a warrior,   sending him to fight the Bull of  Marathon, the mad creature that   Heracles had wrestled with and brought  over to Greece during his seventh labour. But instead of dying as Medea had hoped,  Theseus would use his great strength to   kill the Bull with ease, soon returning to Athens  triumphant. Shocked at his success, Medea would   now attempt to kill Theseus, handing him a cup  of poisoned wine as he approached the king. But as Theseus went to drink it, Aegeus  would recognise the sword and sandals that   the young man was wearing as the same ones he  had hidden under the rock all those years ago,   knocking the cup from his son’s hand and  saving his life. Realising Medea’s deception,   Aegeus would banish her from the city, before  embracing Theseus as his rightful heir. Expelled from yet another city,  Medea would return home to Colchis,   where she would reconcile with her  father Aeetes, restoring him as the   king of Colchis and living out the rest of  her days at the edge of the known world.   After living in Athens for some time, Theseus  would learn that the city was in deep trouble.   Many years ago, Athens had fought  a war against King Minos of Crete,   a war they would lose. To save the city,  King Aegeus had signed a treaty with Minos,   binding him to send seven boys and seven girls to  Crete every nine years, so that they could be fed   to the Minotaur, a half man, half bull creature  that lived in a Labyrinth beneath Minos’ palace. Upon hearing of the treaty, Theseus was  appalled and would immediately volunteer   to be one of the next tributes, hoping to slay  the Minotaur and bring an end to the suffering   of his people. Aegeus begged him not to go, but  when he saw he could not change Theseus’ mind,   he would give his blessing, only  asking that if he returned successful,   he should change his black sails to white, with  the white sails signalling that he was alive.   And so began his long voyage to Crete,  where the infamous minotaur awaited.   But when he arrived on the island and was greeted  by Minos and his family, Theseus would attract   the eye of the king’s daughter, Ariadne, who  quickly found herself deeply in love with him.   Wanting to protect Theseus, Ariadne would approach  him as he was about to enter the Minotaur’s lair   offering him a ball of thread, with which he could  trace his path back to the labyrinth’s entrance.   All she asked in return was that  Theseus take her with him when   he left Crete for Athens, a  deal he was happy to accept. Entering the labyrinth, he tied the thread  to the entrance and began his descent,   following the dark winding paths of the  maze. He had been warned by Ariadne,   however, that the true threat he faced was not  the minotaur, but instead the labyrinth itself.   It was so vast and complex, that all those who  had entered had never made it out alive, with   most starving to death in the labyrinth’s endless  twists and turns as they tried to reach the exit. After travelling for hours, Theseus  would eventually reach the centre,   where the Minotaur lay in wait, with the  two beginning an intense and brutal fight.   It would be the most difficult  battle Theseus had ever fought,   but his speed and agility would prove triumphant.  Grabbing his sword he managed to stab the beast in   the throat. Never again would Athens have  to endure the sacrifice of its children. Theseus would then find the thread and  began tracing his way back to the entrance,   where he found Ariadne and the thirteen  other Athenian sacrifices waiting for   him. They greeted him with a cheer, with the  group soon escaping the island in their ship,   beginning the voyage back to Athens. But Theseus, caught up in his excitement  for having slain the legendary minotaur,   would begin to grow distant from Ariadne as he no  longer needed her help. Along the way they would   stop and rest on the island of Dia and when  Ariadne was sleeping, Theseus would board his   ship, stranding her on the island. Releasing she  had been used and that Theseus had no intention   of marrying her from the start, Ariadne would be  left crying on the island’s shores, until almost   at the brink of starvation, the god Dionysus would  find her, bringing her to Olympus as his wife. As Athens appeared on the horizon, Theseus could  think of nothing but the fame he would receive   upon telling his heroic story. Overcome  with excitement he would forget to change   his black sails to white as his father had  requested. And so, when King Aegeus saw the   ship sailing back with black sails, a sign that  his son was dead, he would throw himself from a   tall cliff into the waters below, which would  become known as the Aegean Sea in his honour. Having returned home, Theseus  would mourn his father,   after which he would be crowned the King of  Athens, with his rule being celebrated by   the Athenian people. He would go on to join  Heracles in his fight against the Amazons,   as well as helping Oedipus in his time of need,  becoming one of the greatest heroes of his age. A famous architect and inventor, Daedalus was  revered across all of Greece, and had been tasked   by King Minos with constructing a labyrinth  so complex that no one could ever escape it. However, after Theseus had left the labyrinth with  ease after following the string Ariadne had gifted   him, King Minos was furious, imprisoning Daedalus  and his son Icarus deep within their own creation. But the maze was so well constructed that  even Deadalus could not find his way out,   he would instead turn to his imagination, coming  to the conclusion that the only way out was up. Combining feathers with wax, he would  construct two great pairs of wings   for him and his son. Although the wings  would let them escape, he warned Icarus   that they were extremely delicate and that  flying too high would cause them to break. Flying side by side in the sky, Icarus was  soon overcome with excitement, ignoring his   father’s warning. Higher and higher he would  fly, soaring over the ocean below. But the   sun’s hot rays would begin to take a toll on the  wings, melting the wax that held them together. One by one the feathers fell out, until  finally Icarus himself plummeted into the sea. The story of Icarus would pass  down from generation to generation,   with the boy who flew too close to  the sun serving as an example of   the importance of knowing your own limits  and not being blinded by overconfidence. On the western edge of Greece lay the city of  Calydon, a city that would become the site of   the greatest gathering of heroes since  the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts. Ruling the city would be King Oeneus and  Queen Althea, who would have a son named   Meleager. Yet unknown to King Oeneus, Meleager  was actually the son of the war god Ares,   who had slept with his wife in secret, an  affair that would draw the attention of   the three fates, the goddesses who  decide the destiny of each mortal. Appearing at the moment of Meleager’s  birth, they would find the baby lying   on the floor next to a freshly lit fire.  Pointing to a large log amidst the flames,   they would sing a song of Meleager’s fate: “To you, O new-born child, we grant a gift, To live until this wood turns to ash.” Overhearing the prophecy, Meleager’s  mother Queen Althea would run to the fire,   quickly dousing it with water and  picking up the large log that now   controlled the life of her son. Wanting  to keep it safe, she would travel back to   her palace and secure the log in a chest, out  of reach from those wishing to harm her son. Almost two decades later, Meleager had  become an Argonaut, joining Jason on his   quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece, before  returning to Greece as a hero. But when he   travelled back to visit his family in Calydon,  he would find his homeland all but destroyed. For his father, King Oeneus, had been blessed  by the god Dionysus, with a fruitful harvest.   With so many crops to feed his  people, the King had become arrogant,   forgetting to worship the goddess  Artemis who oversaw all of nature. Furious, she would send a great and  powerful boar to ravage the countryside,   an enormous beast that would  destroy towns, trample crops   and kill any who were unfortunate  enough to be caught in its path. With the boar destroying his kingdom, King  Oeneus would send messenger birds to every   corner of Greece, inviting the greatest heroes of  the land to take part in a hunt to slay the beast. Leading the expedition would  be his own son Meleager,   with over 50 other warriors answering the call. The first to join would be  Meleager’s trusted companions,   the Argonauts, who had only just returned  to Greece, with Jason, Euphemus and Idas,   alongside Peleus, Telamon and the Dioscuri,  all travelling to Calydon to take part.   Next would come Theseus, the King of Athens  and slayer of the minotaur, as well as Iolaus,   the nephew of Heracles who had helped his uncle  slay the Lernean Hydra during his second Labour. They would be joined by Nestor, the  king of Pylos and wisest of the Greeks,   alongside Laertes, the father  of the famous hero Odysseus. With all assembled to begin the hunt,  one final member would choose to join,   but they would be unlike the rest, for Atalanta,  a woman had come to claim the boar as a prize. Born to a king wishing for a son, as a baby  Atalanta had been left in the wilderness to die,   yet she would be nursed and protected by a bear,   surviving long enough until she was  found and raised by a pair of hunters. Growing up in the wild, Atalanta would learn  to hunt, soon becoming a devoted follower of   the goddess Artemis. By the time she became  an adult, Atalanta was one of the greatest   archers in the land, able to fight, run  and shoot better than almost any man. After hearing of the expedition  gathering to slay the Calydonian Boar,   Atalanta would be keen to join, wishing to  win the glory and prove her worth as a hunter.   But upon her arrival to the gathering, she was  greeted by mockery and contempt, with every   warrior bursting out in uncontrollable laughter,  at the very thought of a woman wishing to hunt. Only one remained silent, for Meleager,   after setting his eyes upon her, had  fallen deeply in love with Atalanta,   and would argue with his companions until  they finally agreed to let her join. With all now prepared, the hunt  could finally begin. Setting out   into the countryside, the party would  have an easy time tracking the boar,   as it left an unmistakable trail of  destruction and carnage in its wake. Soon finding the boar stampeding through the  woods, the hunters would quickly surround it,   but just as they went to strike,  the beast would rush forward,   impaling one man on its tusks before  trampling another beneath its heavy hooves. Panicking, the men would begin to attack the  creature, but this would only add to the chaos,   with one man being killed when a stray javelin  impaled his chest. Amidst the madness, only one   would keep a level head, with Atalanta raising her  bow and letting fly an iron-tipped arrow, striking   the boar in the throat. The beast would squeal out  in pain, with Meleager taking the opportunity to   rush forward with his spear, finishing off  the beast with a strike through the heart. With the boar defeated, a great cheer would  erupt amongst the hunters, all praising   Meleager for delivering the killing blow. But  Meleager would refuse to take credit, instead   insisting that Atalanta take the boar’s hide as  a prize, as she had delivered the first blow. The suggestion would cause outrage amongst the  hunters, with Meleager’s uncles, Toxeus and   Plexippus, stepping forward to voice their disgust  at the thought of a woman taking home the prize,   instead insisting that if Meleager did not want  it, then the boar’s hide should belong to them. Enraged by the comments and  blinded by his love for Atalanta,   Meleager drew his sword and would strike  down both of his uncles where they stood.   Shocked at the bloodshed, the hunters would begin  their return to Calydon, with word soon reaching   Meleager’s mother, Queen Althea, that her two  brothers had died at the hands of her son. In a moment of grief and anger, Queen Althea  would rush to collect the chest that contained   the large log she had hidden all those years  ago. Throwing it into the fire, she would   watch on with tears in her eyes as the log that  kept her son alive was consumed by the flames. Instantly, Meleager would begin to scream,  twisting in agony and falling to the floor,   with him taking his last and final  breath as the log was reduced to ash. Realising what she had done, Queen Althea would  try desperately to remove the log from the fire,   but it was too late, for the log was no more,   with her taking her own life in the grief  of knowing she had killed her own son. With the Calydonian Boar  Hunt having ended in tragedy,   the Heroes would begin to disperse, yet  for Atalanta, more adventure lay ahead. After her role in slaying the Calydonian Boar,  Atalanta’s name would become known across Greece,   with suitors from far and wide coming to try  and claim her hand in marriage. But Atalanta,   wanting to continue her life of adventure, would  come up with an easy way of rejecting them all,   declaring that she would only marry the  man who could beat her in a footrace. Suitor after suitor would try  to win, but all would fail,   with Atalanta knowing that there was  no man alive who could match her.   But one day she would be challenged by a  suitor who was different from the rest,   a young man named Hippomenes, who knew full  well that he had no chance of beating her. Instead, he had visited the temple of  Aphrodite the night before to pray for   assistance, with the goddess gifting  him three golden apples in return,   so beautiful that no mortal could  resist the urge to take them. And so, when the race began and  Atalanta quickly took the lead,   Hippomenes would take an apple and throw  it onto the ground before them. Enchanted   by the sight of it, Atalanta would come to  a halt, reaching down to pick the apple up. But she would soon resume the race,   with Hippomenes forced to throw yet  another apple to slow Atalanta down. With the finish line in sight, and Hippomenes  barely managing to keep a lead, he was forced   to throw the third and final apple, this time  throwing it far across the track, forcing   Atalanta to veer off the path in pursuit. With  his plan having worked, Hippomenes would achieve   what no man had done before, finally beating  Atalanta and claiming her hand in marriage. The two would wed and have a son, with  Atalanta falling in love with her new husband.   But Hippomenes, in his excitement over  winning the race, had forgotten to   offer sacrifice to thank Aphrodite for  providing him with the golden apples.   In revenge, Aphrodite would make Atalanta and  Hippomenes lay together in a sacred temple of   Zeus, with the king of the gods punishing  the couple by transforming them into lions.   As the Ancient Greeks believed that  male and female lions could not mate,   and that lion cubs came exclusively from the union  of lions and leopards, the couple would be forever   doomed to wander the earth, always together but  unable to ever share the joys of intimacy again. With the Calydonian Boar hunt having come to  an end, a new generation of heroes would now   rise. But for Zeus, he thought too many demi-gods still roamed the earth and believed that   there should be a greater distinction between  gods and mortals. And so he would set in motion   a series of events that would lead to war,  the greatest war the world had ever seen,   that would finally, once and for all,  rid the earth of his many descendants. Across the sea from the great cities of Greece,  reigned the most powerful kingdom of them all:   Troy, whose famous walls were  said to be indestructible,   having been built by the gods themselves. The city was ruled by King Priam and  Queen Hecuba, who were deeply loved   and respected by their people, with Priam  having 50 sons and 50 daughters during his   reign. The most admired of them would be  Prince Hector, Troy’s greatest warrior. The eldest son of Priam, Hector  was a brave and honourable warrior.   Devoted to his homeland and committed to his  family, Hector loved none more than his wife,   Andromache, and his son, Astyanax, for whom  he would sacrifice anything to protect. The sister of Hector, Cassandra would be  the least fortunate of Priam’s children.   She would once catch the eye of the god  Apollo, who would give her the gift of   prophecy in his attempts to seduce  her. But when she rejected the god,   he would curse Cassandra in a jealous rage, making  it so none would ever believe her prophecies. Finally there would be Paris, the brother  of Hector and Cassandra, who would be raised   away from his family. Before his birth, Hecuba  received a prophecy revealing that her unborn   son was destined to bring destruction to Troy. But  unable to kill the child herself, she instructed a   local shepherd to complete the task, but just like  Hecuba, the shepherd could not harm the helpless   infant, and instead would raise Paris in secret, a  decision that would change the course of history. But the shepherd’s misguided generosity  would not bring about the prophecy alone,   as for Troy to fall, another child needed to  be born. Across the seas in the city of Sparta,   Zeus had fallen in love with Queen Leda.  Transforming himself into a magnificent swan,   Zeus would lie with the Queen, with  Leda soon giving birth to two eggs. Out of the eggs would hatch two sons,  Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri,   who would later join the famous Argonauts, as  well as two daughters, Clytemnestra and Helen,   with Helen growing up to become the  most beautiful woman in the world.   The first step in Zeus’ grand  plan had now been set in motion. When Helen came of age, almost every man  would attempt to win her hand in marriage,   with the greatest warriors, richest  warlords and even Greece’s princes   travelling great distances to reach  Sparta, with Odysseus of Ithaca,   Agamemnon of Mycenae and Ajax of  Salamis all putting themselves forward. Knowing her decision would lead to  the rejection of so many powerful men,   Helen was worried that bloodshed would likely  follow. And so, to try and prevent conflict,   Odysseus of Ithaca made each suitor swear  an oath to protect her chosen husband.   With the threat of violence now gone,  Helen would choose Prince Menelaus of   Mycenae, with the two soon marrying and  becoming the King and Queen of Sparta. Disappointed, her other suitors would peacefully  return home, but unknown to them, their oath to   defend her chosen husband, king Menelaus,  an oath they had made to prevent violence,   would be the very thing that would draw them into  one of the greatest wars the world had ever seen. But high on Mount Olympus, another marriage  was taking place. The parents of Achilles,   Thetis, the goddess of water, and Peleus,  a former Argonaut and King of Phthia,   had been invited to Olympus  to celebrate their marriage. Hosting a great feast, they would invite all  the Gods and heroes from across the land,   but they would make one exception. For amongst  all the gods, there was one who was universally   disliked, Eris, the goddess of discord and  strife, who brought chaos wherever she went. Hurt that she was not invited to the  wedding, Eris would decide to attend anyway,   bringing with her a gift that would sow  the seeds of conflict amongst the gods.   The gift was to be a golden apple, inscribed  with one simple phrase: “To the Most Beautiful”. She would then throw the apple  amongst the goddesses of Olympus,   knowing that their vanity would  lead to conflict. Soon Hera,   Athena and Aphrodite were all fighting, with each  claiming the apple should be awarded to them. Unable to decide they would all turn to  Zeus, who saw an opportunity to further   his great plan. Instead of deciding himself,  Zeus would give the responsibility to a mortal.   The man he chose would be a humble shepherd,  known for his fair judgement, a man that was   none other than Prince Paris of Troy, who  had been raised as a shepherd in his exile. And so the three goddesses would approach Paris,  with each offering him a different gift in return   for his vote. Hera offered to make him king  of Europe and Asia, Athena promised unrivalled   skill in war, but Aphrodite, knowing the young  man’s desires, would promise to give him the most   beautiful woman in the world, an offer he could  not refuse. With Paris then giving her the apple,   Aphrodite would tell him to travel to Sparta,  where she would use her magic to make Queen Helen,   whose beauty knew no equal, fall in love with  him. Following the Goddesses’ instructions,   Paris would travel to Sparta and meet  with Helen, with the two falling in love. Taking Helen’s hand, Paris and his men would  fight through the ranks of the Spartan guards,   who had been sent to stop her abduction.   But it was to no avail, with the two boarding his  ship, before making the long voyage back to Troy. Arriving home, Paris would  be recognised by his father,   King Priam, who welcomed him with  open arms. Awed by Helen’s beauty,   the entire palace would try to catch a glimpse of  her, overjoyed to see the new princess of Troy. However, amidst the excitement, there remained  two who were concerned with her arrival.   Prince Hector was furious with his brother,   warning that his naive and lustful actions  would bring war to the shores of Troy. But while Hector’s words were harsh,  it would be his sister Cassandra who   would have the worst reaction. Shrieking  in despair, she would prophesise that   Helen’s arrival would lead to the fall of Troy  itself. But as she had been cursed by Apollo,   no one would heed her warning, with the royal  guards dismissing her prophecies as mad ravings. Arriving back in Sparta from a funeral in  Crete, Menelaus was informed that his wife   Helen had been abducted, with the ship she  was on heading in the direction of Troy.   Enraged, he would raise his armies to attack the  Trojans, calling upon all of Helen’s suitors to   honour their oaths and join him in the conflict.  Men of their words, they would answer his call,   and soon the greatest warriors from across Greece  were assembling to return Helen home to Sparta. The first to join Menelaus  would be his brother, Agamemnon.   The most powerful Greek King, Agamemnon  would rule over Mycenae, an ally of Sparta,   with his kingdom having the  most wealth and largest army.   And so when the time of war came, it would be  Agamemnon who would command Greece’s mighty fleet. Next to join would be the suitors of Helen, who  had pledged their allegiance to defend Menelaus,   with the kings Nestor, Diomedes and Odysseus, the  wisest of the Greeks, all honouring their word. Joining these powerful kings would be the best  warriors Greece had to offer, with Achilles,   Patroclus, as well as Ajax the Greater and  Ajax the lesser all answering the call. Prince of Phthia, Achilles was the  greatest warrior to have ever lived,   with his support ensuring victory in any  conflict. Achilles was invulnerable to attacks,   and without his assistance the  conquest of Troy was unthinkable. After his birth, his mother, the water goddess  Thetis, would take Achilles to the Underworld,   submerging him into the River Styx,  whose waters granted immortality.   But as she had held him by the foot,  the waters would not cover his heel,   which would remain the only  vulnerable part of his body. Lusting for war, Achilles would join  the greatest warriors of his age,   with his lifelong friend Patroclus  accompanying him on the journey. With the greatest fighters from across Greece now  assembled, Agamemnon would command a mighty fleet   of hundreds of ships. But as they set sail for  Troy, they would find themselves unable to move,   with the waters having calmed and  the ocean’s winds having ceased. For Agamemnon, having killed a sacred  deer, had offended the goddess Artemis,   who had stolen the winds so he could not set sail. Anxious to reach Troy, Agamemnon would  consult a prophet on how to restore the   winds once again. But to restore them,  the prophet revealed that Agamemnon would   have to sacrifice the one who was dearest  to him, his eldest daughter, Iphigenia. With thousands of men waiting idle in their ships,  Agamemnon’s pride could not stand for such a   delay. Claiming that Achilles wanted her hand in  marriage, Agamemnon would lure his daughter to his   camp, with Iphigenia arriving in excitement. With  her father waiting for her at the altar, she would   begin to walk towards him. However, as she got  closer, she realised it was not a wedding altar   at all, but rather a sacrificial shrine, with her  father plunging his dagger into her broken heart. With his daughter now laying dead at his feet,   Agamemnon had appeased Artemis, who  would release the winds from her grasp. Now setting sail, it would not be long until  they reached their enemy’s mighty city,   but awaiting them would be the  greatest army Troy had to offer.   The son of Aphrodite and  cousin to the Royal Family,   Aeneas would join the fight  to protect his homeland. But Troy would not fight alone,  with Priam calling upon his allies,   the Lycians and the Amazons,  who would come to his aid. Lycia would be led by Sarpedon, the son of Zeus  and grandson of Bellerophon as well as Glaucus,   a legendary warrior, who would  lead the Lycian armies into battle. They would fight alongside the  Amazons, fierce warrior women,   led by Penthesilea, a daughter of Ares,  who could fight better than almost any man. But while both sides possessed the  best warriors and leaders of their age,   the gods too would be divided by the war. Still furious they had not  been given the apple by Paris,   Hera and Athena would choose  to support the Greeks. While Aphrodite, having gifted Helen to the  Trojans, would decide to give them her support. The patron of Troy, Apollo would  come to the defence of his city,   with Poseidon, jealous that the Trojans  worshipped Apollo and not him after they   had both built the city’s walls,  would decide to join the Greeks. And finally Ares, lured by the promise of  battle, and wanting to best his sister Athena,   would join the side of the Trojans, to  cause as much bloodshed as possible. For 9 years, the Achaeans would  attack Troy, with wave after wave,   failing to break the city’s impenetrable walls. But with resources running short,   Achilles would lead Greece’s armies south,  searching for supplies, gold and women.   They would first take the island of Lesbos,  before landing on the shores of Asia Minor,   pillaging all the towns and cities they came  across as they made their way back up to Troy. From the cities of Lyrnessus and Hypoplacia, the  Greeks would take many beautiful women as slaves,   with Brisies being awarded to Achilles  and Chryseis given to Agamemnon,   two women that would change the course of the war. Having taken Chryseis as a concubine, Agamenon  would fall deeply in love with her. However,   her father, a priest of Apollo, was not happy  with his daughter being taken as a slave, and   so travelled to Agamemnon’s camp. He offered the  king gold and silver in exchange for his daughter,   but Agamemnon refused the offer, taunting the old  man by pointing at Chryseis chained to his bed. Apollo, disgusted at the way his priest had  been treated, would send a plague of arrows   upon the Greek armies, refusing to relent  until Chryseis was returned home. Agamemnon,   having no other choice, would agree to let her go,  with Odysseus reuniting Chryseis with her father. But with his concubine now gone, Agamemnon would  look to satisfy his desires, turning to Brisies,   the slave girl of Achilles. If he  would have to go without his prize,   then so too would his greatest  warrior. Stealing her from his tent,   Agamemnon would declare Brisies his  own, with Achilles becoming enraged. Demanding her return, Achilles would only be  laughed at by the king, causing him to draw   his sword in frustration. But as he did so, the  goddess Athena would descend from the heavens,   holding his arm in place and warning  against such an impulsive action.   Heeding the god’s advice, Achilles would  put down his sword, refusing to serve a   king that had treated him with such  disrespect. Returning to his tent,   the Greek armies would have to  fight on without his assistance. For a time, the Greeks would manage  to fight on without Achilles,   although the losses on both sides  would begin to take their toll. But with Achilles now out of action,  Hector would realise that this was his   only opportunity to win the war, and  so decided to bid his family farewell.   With his wife and son crying in his arms,  he knew this could be the last time he would   ever see them, but he had no choice, for  Troy to survive, he would have to fight. Emerging from Troy’s mighty walls, Hector  would rally his men, pushing the Greeks all   the way back to their ships, who were no match  for him without Achilles’ assistance. But even   on the verge of defeat, with his men dying around  him, Achilles would refuse to rejoin the fight. Taking matters into his own hands, his best  friend, Patroclus would put on Achilles’ iconic   armour, before charging into battle. With it  appearing that Achilles had rejoined the fight,   fear swept through the Trojan forces, who began  to flee back to the safety of the city’s walls. Seeing his army crumbling before him,  Hector would decide to make a final stand,   turning to face Patroclus to save as many  of his men as possible. Charging towards   him, with his sword in hand, he would take  one swift blow, striking Patroclus dead. Shocked at the ease with which Greece’s  finest warrior had been defeated,   Hector would crouch down to remove Achilles’  helmet. But when Patroclus’ face was uncovered,   he realised that he had not  defeated Achilles at all. Seeing the death of Patroclus, the Greek  armies would rush to claim his body,   fighting off the Trojans as they  went. Bringing him back to their camp,   Achilles would be distraught when he saw  his best friend laying dead before him. Contemplating ending his own life, Achilles could  not hold back his anguish, with his mother Thetis   coming to comfort him. Seeing her son in such  distress, Thetis would go to Olympus and retrieve   a new set of armour from the forge of Hephaestus,  placing it on Achilles when she returned.   With his new armour equipped, the grief  Achilles had felt would now turn to revenge,   with the destruction of Hector and  Troy the only things on his mind. Seeing the real Achilles now charging towards  him, Hector would begin to run in fear,   with him being chased around Troy’s walls  three times before he was eventually caught.   Unable to run any further, Hector decided to  make a final stand and fight Achilles with   honour. Charging at him, Hector would draw  his sword, but as he took his final swing,   it would miss, with him falling down to  the floor. Realising the end was near,   Hector would refuse to beg for his life  and instead would only request one thing,   that Achilles treat his body with respect so  his family could properly mourn his passing. But still enraged at the death of Patroclus,   Achilles would plunge his spear into Hector’s  neck, bringing a swift end to his life.   Tying Hector’s legs to the back of his chariot,  Achilles would drag his corpse around the city,   parading his body for all to see, while Hector’s  entire family watched from the walls above. It was a sight too much for  Hector’s father, King Priam to bear.   As nightfall came, Priam would approach  Achilles in his camp, begging at his feet,   for his son’s body to be returned. Moved by the  king’s words that reminded him of his own grief   after the death of Patroclus, Achilles would  give in, and allow Priam to take Hector’s body. Arriving back in Troy, the entire city would  gather to see Priam’s son, mourning for the loss   of their great hero. But none would feel the pain  more than Hector’s wife, Andromache and his son,   Astyanax, who clung onto his body as it  passed through Troy’s sombre streets. With Hector now gone, all hope was lost within the  city, and with Achilles closing in, it looked like   the end was near. Slaughtering the Trojans one by  one, he would make his way to the gates of Troy.   But as he went to scale the city walls, he would  feel a sharp and excruciating pain in his heel. For Paris, guided by the god Apollo, had  shot Achilles with a poisoned arrow in the   only mortal part of his body. Dropping to the  floor and poison coursing through his veins,   Achilles’ skin would turn white as snow,  with him taking his last and final breath. But Paris would not live long enough  to enjoy his victory, for the Greeks,   who had seen him shoot Achilles, would  hunt him down and take their revenge. With their greatest heroes now gone, each side  would fall into despair, especially the Greeks,   who saw no way to penetrate Troy’s great  walls without the strength of Achilles.   But there would be one Greek who did not give  up hope, with Odysseus devising a cunning plan,   a plan so genius that its story  would echo throughout the ages. Constructing a giant wooden horse,  Odysseus would hollow out the inside,   making enough room for himself and a handful  of Greece’s best warriors to be hidden within.   And so, when the next day dawned, the Trojans  awoke to find a great horse outside their walls.   Seeing the Greek camp dismantled and  their ships sailing off into the horizon,   a great cheer erupted throughout the city,  celebrating that the war had come to an end. Mesmerised by its beauty and believing the horse  to be a peace offering, the Trojans would decide   to bring it within their walls. But there  was one who was not fooled by the gift.   Cassandra, claiming it was a trap, would  urge the Trojans to burn the Horse,   but once again she was ignored, with the entire  city laughing and ridiculing her. But that night, when all were asleep,  Odysseus, Menelaus, Diomedes and Ajax   would begin to pour out of the horse. Killing the  guards, they would open Troy’s gates from within,   before signalling with fire for the  rest of the Greek fleet to return. The Trojans would awake to their city  ablaze, with Greek warriors flooding   through the streets, looting homes and  slaughtering any remaining defenders. With his entire city burning before his eyes,  Priam, the king of Troy would meet his end,   with Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, plunging  his dagger into the old man’s defenceless body. Leaving the king’s body amongst his fallen  men, Pyrrhus would head to the royal chambers   where he would find Hector’s wife and son.  Taking Astyanax from his mother’s arms,   he would throw the infant to its death from  the city walls, before taking his mother,   Andromache, into slavery, where  she would serve as his concubine. After 10 long years of war, Troy’s famous  walls had finally been breached. With its   king now gone and its great heroes defeated,  Troy would now lay at the mercy of the Greeks. Fleeing from the streets of Troy, Cassandra  would find refuge in the temple of Athena,   watching in fear as her fellow citizens  were slaughtered before her eyes.   But unfortunately, the Greek warrior Ajax  the lesser had spotted Cassandra hiding,   soon entering the temple himself and violating her  in front of Athena’s statue. Disgusted at the act   performed in her sacred temple, as Ajax boarded  his ship, Athena would strike it with a bolt   of lightning, causing him to fall into the sea,  where Poseidon would drag him to a watery grave. But for Cassandra things would only get worse,  with Ajax now gone, Agamemnon would claim her as   his concubine, with a terrible fate soon awaiting  them as they travelled to his home in Mycenae. Of the few Trojans to escape, the most  significant would be Aeneas. Leading a   small group of survivors out of the burning  city, they would cross the Mediterranean,   eventually landing on the shores of Italy.  Beginning a new life, Aeneas and his followers   would populate the land, with his descendants  Romulus and Remus founding a new city called Rome. Finally reunited with Helen, Menelaus would  return home to Sparta, where the two would   rule as king and queen once again. When their  time came they would pass onto the next world,   where they would spend eternity  on the Isle of the Blessed.   Out of all the heroes to return from Troy, Agamemnon would face one of the worst fates of all, with his son, Orestes, suffering the terrible consequences of his father’s actions. Returning home to Mycenae, Agamemnon would receive  a hero’s welcome as he entered the city, parading   the wealth and women he had taken from Troy. He  was most fond of Cassandra, the Trojan princess   who was now his unwilling captive, keeping her  at the front of the procession for all to see.   However, Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, was not  pleased with her husband lying with another woman,   with her grabbing an axe and butchering  Cassandra, that evening, in a jealous rage. But Cassandra would not be the only one  to feel Clytemnestra’s wrath. Having never   forgiven Agamemnon for sacrificing their  daughter, Iphiginea, to restore the winds,   Clytemnestra would now take her revenge.  Waiting until Agamemnon had fallen asleep,   she would sneak into his bed chamber,  plunging her dagger into his heart,   with the king facing the same gruesome  death he had inflicted upon their daughter. With her husband now dead, Clytemnestra would  take the throne of Mycenae, but Agamemnon’s murder   would not be forgotten. For his son, Orestes,  was keen to avenge the death of his father. Storming into the palace, Orestes would  take his sword and thrust its blade into   his mother’s chest, with Clytemnestra  taking her last and final breath. But as soon as he did so, Orestes would be  overcome with a deep sense of regret. He   had avenged his father, but in doing  so had committed an unspeakable act,   one that would live with him for the rest of  his life. Looking up with tears in his eyes,   Orestes would be shocked to see three  terrifying creatures flying towards him. For the Furies, the three sisters of vengeance,   had risen from the underworld to punish  him for the murder of his mother,   for it was their duty to haunt those who brought  violence and death against their own family. Haunting Orestes for many years, they would  drive him to the point of insanity, with it   only being through the intervention of Athena  that he would finally find peace once again. But there was one last hero who had not  made it home from Troy. For Odysseus,   the most cunning of the Greeks would have to  travel for 10 long years where he would face   the most terrifying creatures known  to man. The Odyssey had just begun. Odysseus ruled over the Greek island of Ithaca,  but had spent 10 long years fighting in Troy to   retrieve the Spartan Queen Helen. But with  his mission now complete, Odysseus looked to   travel back to his homeland, where his wife  Penelope and his son Telemachus awaited. Gathering his fleet of ships on the Trojan shores,   Odysseus would set sail, relieved  to be finally returning home. Heading south they would sail round shores of  Greece, before heading north towards Ithaca.   But as they neared home, a great storm  erupted, blowing them off course and   towards a large island, where they hoped  they could find refuge from the seas. Stopping on the island, they would soon  spot a shepherd’s camp in the distance,   with Odysseus handpicking a small  group of warriors to accompany him. Taking several cases of wine to trade,  the hungry crew were overjoyed when   they saw large supplies of cheese and meat  within a cave next to the shepherd’s flock.   The warriors would help themselves to the  supplies, but soon the cave’s owner would return,   the giant cyclops Polyphemus, a son of Poseidon,  who sealed the entrance with a giant boulder. Ignoring Odysseus’ cries that he was there to  trade, Polyphemus would grab two of the warriors,   crushing them each in his fists before eating  their remains. He would then leave the cave,   returning each morning and evening to feast  on what remained of the terrified crew. Knowing the odds were stacked  against him yet again,   Odysseus would devise a cunning plan to escape. Realising he couldn’t overpower Polyphemus,  he would offer the cyclops the wine he had   brought with him, to help wash  down the taste of his friends. With the cyclops soon falling down drunk  he would ask for Odysseus’ name so he   could thank him for the gift. But instead  of giving his true name, Odysseus would   instead insist that he was called ‘Nobody’. Thanking nobody, Polyphemus would soon fall   asleep, where Odysseus would begin to sharpen  a wooden stake he had found in the cave. Approaching the sleeping giant, he would  plunge the stake deep into his eye,   blinding the cyclops but making sure not to  kill him, as the boulder blocking the cave’s   entrance would still have to be moved.  Polyphemus would scream out in agony,   a scream so loud that cyclopes from  across the island would rush to the cave.   Calling out to Polyphemus, they would  ask, ‘What’s wrong, who’s killing you;’. But Polyphemus would shout back,  ‘Nobody is killing me, Nobody’. It was just as Odysseus had planned, with  the cyclopes’ soon leaving in confusion. But while Polyphemus was now blind, there  was still no way for the men to move the   giant boulder blocking the entrance, with  Odysseus coming up with yet another plan.   When Polyphemus went to move the boulder the next  morning to let his sheep out to graze, he would   feel each of the animals as they passed to check  it wasn’t one of the humans. But Odysseus and his   men would each tie themselves to the bottom of  the sheep, allowing them to pass by undetected.   Reaching their ships, they would manage to  escape the island, with Polyphemus hurling   boulders in their direction as they sailed  away. But Odysseus would make a costly mistake,   overcome by his achievement, he would reveal  to the giant that his name was not Nobody,   but instead Odysseus, the famous hero  of the Trojan War. Unknown to Odysseus,   this would allow Polyphemus to give the name of  his attacker to his father Poseidon, the god of   the sea, who in revenge for his son’s blinding  would curse Odysseus to lose all his crew in his   coming travels and wander the seas for 10 long  years before he could set foot on his homeland. Unaware of the curse Poseidon had placed upon him,   Odysseus and his crew would land on the floating  island of Aeolia. After dining with his guests,   King Aeolus, who ruled the island, would offer  Odysseus a parting gift, a leather bag containing   the power of the winds, which if used with  great precision could speed his journey home. Setting sail once more, Odysseus would make  use of the winds, with his homeland of Ithaca   soon in sight. But as he neared the island’s  shores, his crew, believing the bag Aeolus   had given him contained large sums of gold and  silver, decided to take some for themselves.   Opening the bag while Odysseus’ back was  turned, all the winds rushed out at once,   blowing their ships back into the ocean,  with all aboard holding on for their lives. They would arrive at the Island of Aeolia  once again, but this time, their arrival   would not be met with the same generosity  they had received before. For King Aeolus,   knowing that only a curse from the gods could  have brought Odysseus back to his island,   would refuse to aid him any further, expelling him  from the palace to avoid the wrath of the gods. Still unaware of Poseidon’s curse,  Odysseus would set sail once more,   but just like his previous attempts to reach his  homeland, this time would also hold misfortune. Arriving at the harbour of Laestrygonia,   Odysseus would send out 3 scouts to find food and  the people of the town. But the scouts would soon   realise they were not in a place of people at  all, being chased by giants back to their ships.   Bloodthirsty cannibals, the giant Lastregonians  would begin to devour the scouts with them soon   turning their attention to Odysseus’s ships  in their harbour. Pelting them with boulders,   the Laestrygonians would destroy every ship bar  one, with Odysseus barely making it out alive. Tired and depleted, Odysseus’ only remaining  ship would soon arrive at the island of Aeaea,   not knowing it was home to  the beautiful witch Circe,   daughter of the sun god Helios and  sister of the infamous witch Medea. Splitting his men into two groups, Odysseus  would stay by his ship and set up camp while   the others searched the island for food.  They would soon arrive at the house of Circe,   where docile wolves and lions quivered at  her feet. Inviting the men to dine with her,   she would serve them a large  cup of barley, cheese and wine,   but unknown to the men, there was  one secret ingredient placed within. Having eaten the meal, the men would begin to fall  asleep, but when they awoke, they were no longer   in human form, instead they took the body of pigs.  But one man, not having an appetite for food,   had seen the events unfold, quickly running to  Odysseus to tell him of the fate of his crew. Hearing the news, Odysseus immediately set off to  rescue his men, but along the way he was stopped   by the messenger god Hermes, who had come to aid  him. Giving Odysseus molly, a magic herb, Hermes   would tell him to place it in Circe’s potions so  as to not feel the effects of her enchantments. Taking the moly, Odysseus would approach Circe  and begin to dine with her, surprising the   witch when he remained in human form. Drawing  his sword, he stood up and threatened to kill   Circe unless she transformed his crew back  into humans. With the sword at her throat,   Circe would quickly agree, with the pigs  at her feet transforming back into men. So impressed by Odysseus’ heroics Circe would  invite him to her bed-chamber, with the two having   a son together named Telegonus. Remaining on the  island for a whole year, Odysseus decided it was   time to leave, but as he began to set sail, Circe  would advise him to visit the Underworld, where   the prophet Tiresias could advise him on how to  survive the many trials that awaited him at sea. Following Circe’s advice, Odysseus would  travel west, to the edge of the world,   where an entrance to the Underworld was located.  Completing a ritual sacrifice at the entrance,   Odysseus would summon the spirits of the dead  where the blind prophet Tiresias would appear. He   warned that Odysseus and his men would soon find  themselves on the island of the Sun God Helios and   that they should refrain from eating his cattle  if they wanted to make it home alive. If however,   they harmed the cattle in any way, then death  would follow. Thanking the prophet, Odysseus would   leave in his ship, determined that when the time  came, no man would touch the sun god’s cattle. But soon after setting sail, Odysseus and his  men would begin to hear a beautiful melody. For   just like Jason and the Argonauts had many years  ago, his ship was passing the home of the Sirens,   irresistible creatures that enticed sailors  to their death with their bewitching songs. However, this time Odysseus had come prepared.  Remembering the advice that Circe had given him,   he would instruct the crew to  plug their ears with beeswax,   so they could not be seduced by the Siren’s call. But Odysseus, wanting to be the first  man to hear the song and survive,   would not plug his ears with wax, instead  asking his crew to bind him to the ship’s mast. And so, as the ship passed the sirens home and  their songs grew louder and louder, Odysseus   would begin to struggle. Drawn to the sound with  every fibre of his being, he would plead with his   men to let him go, but no one would answer his  call, as the wax continued to block their ears. Eventually making it through  safely, Odysseus would be set free,   having been the first man to survive  the siren’s call. But unknown to him,   the sirens were fated to die if a mortal ever  heard their enchanting song and survived,   with each of them taking their own life  as his ship sailed into the horizon. As the next day dawned, Odysseus had a  difficult decision to make. For Circe,   using her magic had warned him of the dangers  that lay ahead when he came across a narrow pass. On each side would lay incredible danger, with  the right home to Scylla, a giant six-headed   sea monster, and the left home to Charybdis, a  whirlpool that consumed anything that came near.   Heeding Circe’s advice yet again, Odysseus would  head towards Scylla, for while the monster would   take six of his men, it was a price he was willing  to pay, as Charybdis would take his entire ship. And so, with a heavy heart, he would direct  his men towards the cliff face where Scylla   lay in wait. As the ship passed, six  heads would swoop down from above,   each taking a sailor, who screamed  as they were consumed by the beast. But with a great storm on the horizon,  they had no time to mourn their companions,   with them soon stopping on  the island of Thrinacia. Thrinacia was home to the cattle  of the sun god Helios, cattle that   Odysseus had been warned not to consume  by the prophet Terisias in the underworld.   But despite Odysseus instructing his men not  to touch the cattle, it would not be easy for   them to follow his orders, as the storm had kept  them stranded on the island for nearly a month. With their food supplies all but gone, the  crew, on the brink of starvation, would wait for   Odysseus to fall asleep, killing all the cattle  and roasting the meat to enjoy amongst themselves.   When Odysseus awoke the next morning,  he would fall to his knees in despair,   shaking his head in disbelief  at the foolishness of his crew. However, although the crew had ignored his orders,   the storm had now calmed, with  them setting off to sea once again. But their crime had not gone unnoticed,   with the sun god Helios complaining to  Zeus about the slaughter of his cattle. Furious, Zeus would strike Odysseus’ ship with a  great thunderbolt, tearing it in half, with all   the crew drowning bar one. For as fate predicted,  Poseidon’s curse had come to pass, with only   Odysseus having survived the carnage, with him  clinging to the broken remains of his ship. For 9 days and nights he would  drift across the vast ocean,   but on the tenth day, he would wash up  on the island of the goddess Calypso. Upon rescuing Odysseus from the shore,  Calypso, the daughter of the titan Atlas,   would fall in love with him, asking if  he’d stay on the island with her forever,   even offering to make him immortal. But Odysseus,  longing to see his wife, Penelope, and his son,   Telemachus, would reject her advances, insisting  that he wanted to leave. However, Calypso,   insulted by his rejection, would keep Odysseus  captive on the island for the next seven years.   Being forced to lie with the goddess, Odysseus  would spend every night crying on the shore,   wishing to see his wife and son once again. But high on Mount Olympus, the goddess Athena,   having supported Odysseus since the Trojan War,  would look down upon him with sadness in her eyes,   until one day she could not stand by any  longer. Begging Zeus to finally allow   Odysseus to return home, Athena would make her  case, with Zeus ordering Calypso to set him free. Reluctantly, Calypso would agree, helping  Odysseus to build a raft to sail home. But   as he was nearing his homeland, Poseidon would  hear of Odysseus’ escape, conjuring a storm to   destroy his raft. Barely surviving, Odysseus  would manage to swim to the island of Scheria,   where he would stumble onto the shore  completely naked before falling asleep. The island of Scheria was home to the Phaeacians,  ruled by King Alcinous and Queen Arete.   The day after Odysseus’ arrival, their  daughter, Nausicaa, would go down to the   sea with her maids to wash their clothes, only to  come across Odysseus, standing naked on the shore. Shocked by the sight of a naked man, her maids  would run away screaming in terror, but Nausicaa,   given courage and being prompted by Athena, would  stand her ground. Giving Odysseus some clothes,   Nausicaa would take him back to her palace,  where she would introduce him to her parents. Inviting the stranger inside, the King and  Queen would ask Odysseus to dine with them,   before enjoying entertainment  provided by Demodocus the poet,   who was known for his songs inspired by the gods. As the night unfolded, the King would ask  Odysseus to reveal his name and story, but   Odysseus, reluctant to give his name  after it had led to Poseidon’s curse,   would try to avoid the question, instead talking  of the great sights he had seen on his travels. After a great feast, Demodocus would  soon begin to play his beautiful tunes,   singing of the Gods of Olympus. But soon,  the poet’s attention would turn to the tale   of Troy. He would sing of its many heroes,  of Achilles and Agamemnon, and of the famous   Odysseus, the maker of the wooden horse,  and the most cunning of the Greeks. Awed by the tale of the Trojan Horse, of how a man  so intelligent had managed to outwit the Trojans,   the crowd would begin to cheer, but Odysseus,  thinking only of the many friends he had lost,   would grab his robe and begin to  weep, wiping the tears from his eyes.   However, the King, hearing Odysseus sobbing, would  become suspicious, asking for the man’s identity. Overwhelmed that his tale was being told across  the land and mesmerised by the poet’s beautiful   singing, he would reveal that his name was  Odysseus, the famous hero of the Trojan War.   But rather than returning home after the conflict,  Odysseus would explain that he had been wandering   the ocean for 10 long years, with every attempt  to reach his homeland having ended in tragedy. Amazed by the story and honoured to have such  a great hero in their midst, the king and queen   would do everything they could to help him.  The next morning, Odysseus would awake to   find a ship in the harbour, loaded with gold and  silver and a crew ready to help him return home. Setting sail, Odysseus would  thank the king and queen,   with his eyes now set firmly upon his homeland. 20 years after leaving home, Odysseus  would finally set foot on Ithaca,   ready to see his wife and son once again. But Athena, knowing that his homeland was not as  he left it, would warn Odysseus of the dangers   that waited in his palace. Transforming him  into an old beggar, Athena made sure that   Odysseus would enter his home in disguise. For his  wife Penelope, having been alone for twenty years,   was expected to remarry, with suitors  from far and wide coming to win her hand. Over 100 of them now infested Odysseus’ palace,   eating his food and wearing his clothes,  although throughout it all Penelope had   remained faithful, never giving up  hope that her husband would return. Devising a cunning plan to avoid marriage,  Penelope had stalled her many suitors for years,   weaving a burial garment for Odysseus’  father, promising that she would choose a   new husband when it was finished. But every  night, as the garment neared completion,   she would secretly undo all her work,  with the deception lasting for three   years before it was uncovered, with her  now being forced to choose a suitor. But unknown to Penelope, Odysseus would soon  be by her side. Making his way to the palace,   he would first stop at the house of his most  loyal servant, Eumaeus. Happy to see his king   once again, Eumaeus would offer Odysseus food and  wine, while pledging to help him reclaim his home. It would not be long before another would  join them. For Odysseus’ son Telemachus,   had just arrived home from his travels after  searching for his father for many months.   Making his way up to the palace, Telemachus  would see Eumaeus dining with a stranger,   and hungry after his long voyage, would  ask his friend if he could join for dinner. But Eumaeus, knowing the beggar’s true identity,  would seek to give the two some time together,   leaving to let Penelope know her son  had returned. With Eumaeus now gone,   Athena would use her magic to transform the  old beggar back into Odysseus in all his glory. Telemachus could not believe his  eyes and would begin to weep,   having been reunited with his  father after all this time.   Dropping to his knees, Telemachus would  embrace his father with open arms. But the reunion would have to wait, as for  now Odysseus would have to deal with the   suitors. Disguising himself as a beggar  once again, he would enter the palace,   only to discover that Penelope had set up  a competition to choose her next husband.   She had declared that she would marry the  man who could shoot an arrow through a row   of 12 axe heads, with every suitor in  the land having joined the competition.   But there would be one condition, that  each suitor must use Odysseus’ great bow,   that had been left behind at the palace. It  was another of Penelope’s cunning tricks,   as one after another, every suitor would take  their turn, each unable to even string the bow. After every man had failed, Odysseus,  still disguised as a beggar,   would ask for an attempt, with the  whole palace howling with laughter.   But they would soon fall quiet, for  Odysseus would string the bow with ease,   taking aim and shooting an arrow that sailed  through all twelve axes with perfect precision.   But having seen the damage done to his home,  Odysseus could not forgive the suitors. Turning   the bow upon them, Odysseus would begin  to fire, striking them down one by one.   Panicked, the suitors would go to grab their  weapons, but no matter how hard they looked   they could not be found, as Telemachus had hid  the weapons while the competition was underway. With Eumaeus then joining Telemachus and  Odysseus, they would begin to attack the suitors,   not stopping until they had all been killed. With the bodies of the suitors now laying dead   at his feet, Odysseus had completed his final  task. The only thing left to do was to reunite   with his wife, with his undying love for her being  the only thing that had fuelled his journey home. Recognising her husband and overwhelmed  with emotion, Penelope would embrace   Odysseus, a moment she had spent 20  long and faithful years waiting for. Letting out a sigh of relief, Odysseus  was finally at peace, but his wife would   have one question for him… asking where he had  been after all this time. With a smile on his   face and tears in his eyes, he would reply  with one simple line: ‘Where do I begin?’ As Odysseus’ story came to a close, so too would  the Age of Heroes. Zeus’ plan to separate the   realms of gods and men had been successful, and  no longer would mythical beasts roam the land,   nor would demi-gods walk among mortals. The tales of these great heroes would now   pass into myth and legend, their stories  preserved by great poets such as Homer,   stories that would be told again and again  by each generation that came to pass. Zeus, having tried and failed to populate the  world with humans of gold, silver and then   bronze, as well as his own descendants,  would now create a final race of men,   this time of Iron, the current age of man. Unlike those that came before them, this race   of Iron would be exposed to all the hardships of  the world. They would know old age and poverty,   starvation and war, with hard work needed to  survive the many dangers that faced them. But as much as they would struggle, with the gods  having retreated from the world, these men of iron   would now be truly in charge of their own destiny,  free to shape the land in any way they saw fit. They would found cities, learn to write  and would explore the world around them,   with philosophy, art and music  expressing their creativity. They would invent the printing press,  discover gravity, harness the power of   steam and create light from the energy  that now fuelled their civilisation. And one day, this race of Iron will use their  great talents to travel to the heavens themselves,   where, just for a moment, they could see the place  of their home from the perspective of the gods.