Three Ancient Greek Tales | A Kick Of History

 Hi and welcome to A Kick Of History! I am sorry about the long absence! But I am back at it now and I hope you are all are happy and well! In today's post, we will talk about three Ancient Greek myths that I find spectacular! We will have so much fun diving into these, but I have a few things to say before we do. Please follow or subscribe to my blog if you haven't already! This way, you can receive a notification whenever I post and you won't miss another post like this one! Now, let's get into it! All my info is from this site: https://greektraveltellers.com/blog/30-of-the-most-famous-tales-from-greek-mythology

1. The Three Sisters Of Fate

In Greek mythology, the three goddesses of fate are called the Moirae. These goddesses are called, Clotho, Lachesis, and last but not least, Atropos. The three sisters constantly weave the fate of the humans and the gods alike. No human or god has the power to influence or question the judgment and actions of these three sisters! Clotho, who is the youngest, spins the thread of life. She is the very origin and the creation of life itself. Her thread is spun at the birth of the person.

Lachesis is the second sister. She is the one that finds out the fate of that certain person during their lives. Her name even comes from a Greek word meaning "to obtain lots." In this sense, someone can understand that their fate is chosen out of a plethora of possibilities. It is even said that she actually measures the thread of life with her rod. This then determines its length and nature. Finally, the last sister of fate is Atropos. She is the unturning. Atropos is the cutter of the thread of life. With her shears, she determines how one will die. 

2. Pandora's Box

After Prometheus had given fire to the humans, Zeus had decided to take revenge. He had ordered Hephaestus to make the first human woman out of the water and some soil. When the woman was created each god gave her a gift. Aphrodite gave beauty, Athena gave wisdom, Hermes gave cunning, etc... So the name of this woman was Pandora. This meant "many gifts" in Greek.  So, Zeus gave Pandora a jar. When he gave it to her, he warned her not to open it under any circumstances whatsoever. Then, Zeus sent her to Prometheus's brother Epimetheus. Prometheus had once warned his brother not to accept any gifts that came from Zeus, but his brother accepted Pandora. So, Pandora went with the box that she was never allowed to open. She tried, and tried, but couldn't resist the temptation of the box anymore. The moment she opened it she released all evils into the human world. Hatred, war, death, hunger, sickness, and all other disastrous things.

3. The Love Story Of Eros & Psyche 

In Greek mythology, love is known to have the highest praise. Psyche or "soul" in Greek, was a beautiful mortal girl whose beauty was said to surpass even that of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Psyche's beauty was so well known that men came from all over the land to see her beauty. This made Aphrodite extremely jealous of the girl, and she decided to punish her. Aphrodite soon sent her son, Eros to make Psyche fall in love with the most despicable creature on the face of the Earth. But, when Eros looked at the lovely Psyche, he fell in love with her himself. Therefore, he could not carry out the order he was once given and remained silent. Years and years went on, and Psyche could not bring herself to marry. All of mankind admired her beauty but then went on to marry someone else. This made her parents go to the city of Delphi and seek guidance from Apollo himself. The oracle then told the parents that Psyche had to be dressed in black, climb a very high mountain, and stay there. After that, a winged serpent would come to make her his wife. 

Every night, Eros would come and lay beside her and without seeing him Psyche could tell that he was not a monster. So the days passed and Psyche was filled with joy and happiness. But, she still wanted to see her family and felt very sorry for them. So, she asked Eros if she could go and see her family, and her wish was granted. But before it was, he warned Psyche not to be influenced by them. The next day Psyche's two sisters were brought to the palace. Upon seeing their sister live like a goddess they began to grow jealous. So they told their Psyche that her husband never showed his face because he was the horrible creature the oracle had mentioned. Such a thought overwhelmed Psyche and she devised a plan. 

She decided that when Eros fell asleep next to her, she would light a candle in order to see him. If he was a monster she would kill it with her knife, if not she would happily fall back to sleep. And so she carried out this plan. But, after seeing Eros's face, a drop of oil from the candle fell onto his face and woke him up. Eros left her immediately saying in a heartbroken voice: "Love cannot live without trust." After this endeavor Psyche could not find Eros anywhere. Desperate, she went to his mother Aphrodite for help. When meeting with Aphrodite, she said that in order for Psyche to reunite with her loved one she must complete three impossible tasks. And so, with the help of nature and others, Psyche completed the tasks and returned to Aphrodite. But despite her success, Aphrodite yelled at her and told Psyche she would never let her go. Witnessing all this, the gods went to Eros and told him of all that happened. Eros touched by Psyche's love for him, reunited with her. They lived their lives happily from then on. Zeus also let Psyche taste the drink of the gods and make her immortal. Aphrodite was also happy now that Psyche was immortal. The men would forget about her and again worship the true goddess of beauty. 

Well, that is it for today you all! I hope this satisfied your curiosity for knowledge today! I will see you all in the next post!