Persephone and Demeter

Zeus, the king of all the gods, had three sisters.

Hera was both his wife and his sister. Hera was the goddess of marriage and the queen of all the gods.

Hestia, another of his sisters, was a much loved goddess by the woman of Greece - Hestia was the
goddess of home and hearth.

His third sister, Demeter, was in charge of the harvest. All the gods jobs were important. But Demeter's
job was very important. If she was upset, the crops could die. Everyone, gods and mortals alike, worked
hard to keep Demeter happy. What made her happy was enjoying the company of her daughter,
Persephone.

Persephone had grown into a beautiful young woman, with a smile for everyone. One day, while picking
flowers in the fields, Hades, her uncle, the god of the underworld, noticed her.

Hades was normally a gloomy fellow. But Persephone’s beauty had dazzled him. He fell in love instantly.
Quickly, before anyone could interfere, he kidnapped Persephone and hurled his chariot down into the
darkest depths of the underworld, taking Persephone with him.

Locked in a room in the Hall of Hades, Persephone cried and cried. She refused to speak to Hades. And
she refused to eat. Legend said if you ate anything in Hades, you could never leave. She did not know if
the legend was true, but she did not want to risk it in case someone came to rescue her.

Nearly a week went by. Finally, unable to bear her hunger, Persephone ate six pomegranate seeds. It
seemed her fate was sealed. She would have to live in the Underworld forever.

Meanwhile, back on earth, Demeter was miserable. She missed her daughter. She was not able to care for
the crops. She was not able to do anything much except cry.

Zeus, king of all the gods, was worried about the crops. The people would die if the crops failed. If that
happened, who would worship Zeus? He had to do something. Zeus did what he often did. He sent
Hermes, his youngest son, the messenger, to crack a deal, this time with Hades.

Even as a baby, Hermes was great at making deals. Everyone knew that. But this deal might be the
challenge of his life. His uncle Hades, king of the underworld, was really in love. This was no passing
fancy.

When Hermes heard that Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds, he had to think quickly. The deal
he made with Hades was that if Persephone would marry Hades, she would live as queen of the
underworld for six months out of the year. However, each spring, Persephone would return and live on
earth for the other six months of the year. Hades agreed. Zeus agreed. Persephone agreed. And finally,
Demeter agreed.

Each spring, Demeter makes sure all the flowers bloom in welcome when her daughter, Queen of the
Underworld, returns to her. Each fall, when Persephone returns to Hades, Demeter cries, and lets all the
crops die until spring, when the cycle starts again.
 The Myth of Midas

Midas was a king of Phrygia, a region nowadays part of Turkey. One day some of his farmhands brought
him a satyr they had caught napping in the vineyard. This creature, part man, part goat, still groggy and
much the worse for wear, had been thoroughly trussed up to keep him from escaping. Midas immediately
recognized Silenus, right-hand satyr to the god Dionysus, and ordered him set free.

Silenus explained that he and his master had just returned from the East where they had been engaged in
spreading the cultivation of the grape. Dionysus had brought back a tiger or two, an ever-expanding flock
of followers and one very drunken satyr. Silenus had conked out in Midas's vineyard to sleep it off. Now
he was grateful to the king for treating him with dignity, and so was Dionysus. The god was so pleased, in
fact, that he offered to grant whatever Midas should wish for.

Now, you didn't get to rule a kingdom in those days without a pretty active grasp of what makes for a
successful economy. Midas didn't have to think twice. As the simplest plan for the constant replenishment
of the royal treasury, he asked that everything he touch be turned to gold.

Arching a godly eyebrow, Dionysus went so far as to ask if Midas were sure. To which the king instantly
replied, "Sure I'm sure." So Dionysus waved his pinebranch sceptre and conferred the boon.

And Midas rushed back home to try it out. Tentatively at first, he laid a trembling fingertip upon a bowl
of fruit and then a stool and then a wooly lambkin. And when each of these had been transmuted in a trice
into purest gold, the king began to caper about like the lambkin before its transformation.

"Just look at this!" he crowed, turning his chariot into a glittering mass of priceless-though-worthless
transportation. "Look what daddy can do!" he cried, taking his young daughter by the hand to lead her
into the garden for a lesson in making dewy nature gleam with a monotonous but more valuable sheen.

Encountering unexpected resistance, he swung about to see why his daughter was being such a slug.
Whereupon his eyes encountered, where late his child had been, a life-size golden statue that might have
been entitled "Innocence Surprised".

"Uh oh," said Midas, and from that point on the uh-oh's multiplied. He couldn't touch any useful object
without it losing in utility what it gained in monetary value, nor any food without it shedding all
nutritional potency on its leaden way down his gullet.

In short, Midas came to understand why Dionysus had looked askance when asked to grant the favor.
Fortunately, the god was a good sport about it. He allowed Midas to wash away his magic touch in the
river Pactolus, which ever after enjoyed renowned for its shimmering deposits of gold.
 Hercules

Hercules was half man and half god. His mother was a mortal. But his father was a king - a very special
king, the king of all the gods, the mighty Zeus. But Hercules did not know he was part god until he had
grown into a man.

Right from the beginning, Hera, Zeus' wife, was very jealous of Hercules. She tried all kinds of ways to
kill him, including sending a couple of big snakes into his crib. Hercules crushed those snakes in a flash!
Hercules was incredibly strong, even as a baby!

Zeus loved his little son. He figured that sooner or later Hera might actually find a way to kill little
Hercules. To keep his small son safe from attack, Zeus sent him to live with a mortal family on earth.
Hercules grew up loved and noble. But he didn't fit in on earth. He was too big and too strong. One day,
his earth father told him he was a god, well, part god anyway.

The rest of the story of Hercules is a bunch of little stories that together tell the tale of how Hercules
earned his way into the heavens, to take his place with the gods.

As the story goes .....

Hercules had a cousin named Eurystheus (Eury for short). Eury was the king of a little village in the city-
state of Argos. Eury was an evil man. He thought everyone wanted to steal his crown, especially
Hercules. One day, when Hera and Eury were chatting about their mutual hatred for Hercules, Hera came
up with a plan - a plan to kill Hercules! She was sure this one would work.

Hera helped Eury design 12 Labors (missions or tasks) that Hercules had to complete. Supposedly, when
Hercules had completed the 12 Labors, he would earn his immortality, or so Hera promised.

Hercules was no fool. He asked the Oracle at Delphi who agreed. Actually, the oracle had said, "If you
complete 12 Labors, immorality will be yours." Being an oracle, she never explained what she meant by
"immortality" - would he live forever in legend or for real? Hercules never asked. (She would not have
told him anyway.)

Hercules not only lived, he had great adventures, discovered true friends, and rid the world of some really
nasty critters. And that's the story of Hercules in a nutshell.
 Perseus and Medusa

On the island of Seriphos lived a young man called Perseus with this mother Danae. The King; Polydictes
wanted Danae to marry him. He was a cruel, wicked tyrant and she didn't want to. Polydictes was
convinced that it was Perseus' fault and if he could get rid of Perseus then there would not be a problem.

Polydictes invited all of the young men of Seriphos to a banquet. They all arrived with beautiful gifts,
except Perseus who had nothing to give. Perseus was upset and went away saying that he would bring a
better gift than all of the others. Polydictes set Perseus a task: to bring Medusa's head. Now Medusa had
hair made of serpents. Anyone who looked at her was turned to stone.

Athene realised what Polydictes had done and helped Perseus by giving him a very shiny shield. Hermes
helped him by giving him a very sharp sword. They told him to go to the home of the grey sisters.

When Perseus arrived at the home of the Grey Sisters he watched them for a while. He saw that they only
had one eye and one tooth between them. He crept up and as they passed the eye from one to the other he
snatched it from them. He threatened to keep it if they did not tell him where to find Medusa.

And so he learned the secret. As he approached the land the Nymphs who lived there gave him a cap
which hid him from Medusa's sisters, shoes of swiftness with which to escape and a special bag to put the
head in.

Perseus crept up to Medusa, looked at her reflection through his shield and cut her head off. He put her
head in the bag and took it back to the palace. As he pulled the head out of the bag he turned all of the
court to stone and freed his mother.