Theseus & the Minotaur
As for Poseidon’s white bull, which was now rampaging free, Heracles abducted it as one of his labours to mainland Greece, where it settled at Marathon, near Athens. When …
Category: Greek Mythology
Athene & Poseidon Contest for Attica
The natural beauty and resources of Athens and its territory, Attica, attracted the attentions of both Athene and Poseidon. Each claimed them as their own. So they raced in …
The Adventures of Theseus
Aegeus, Father of Theseus The greatest Athenian hero was Theseus. For many years childless, his father, Aegeus, son of Pandion, had tried everything, even introducing into Athens the worship …
The Birth & Early Life of Minos
Bulls were in Minos’ blood. As the Tyrian princess Europa walked wide-eyed by the shore, she saw among her father’s herds a handsome bull. The second-century bc poet Moschus …
Iolcus & Mount Pelion: Centaurs, Weddings & the Voyage for the Golden Fleece
You would never grow bored of Pelion or of its way of life. You would never weary of its ash trees, grown strong in the breeze, which make straight …
Knossos: King Minos & the Labyrinth
There is a land called Crete, midpoint in the wine-dark sea, a beautiful land and fertile, gushing with flowing water. Many people live there – too many men to …
Aeson, Pelias & the One-Sandalled Man
As the son of its founder Cretheus, Aeson was Iolcus’ rightful king. However, Pelias, Aeson’s stepbrother by their mother, Tyro, enjoyed an even higher pedigree. As a young girl …
Bellerophon & Pegasus
Sisyphus left several sons, both legitimate and bastard. Among the latter, some said, was Odysseus; among the former, Glaucus, father of Bellerophon. The many contradictory versions of Bellerophon’s story …
Knossos in History & Today
Archaeology confirms Knossos’ wealth – though interpretation of much of the accumulated evidence is problematic. By around 1400 bc the palace complex at Knossos was probably the largest and …
Phrixus & Helle a Brief Digression
Phrixus had close ties with Iolcus’ royal family. He and his sister Helle were the children of King Athamas of Boeotia (brother of Salmoneus) and the cloud-goddess Nephele. But, …