The Mermaid's Legends

Once upon a time there was an old fisherman living with his grandson in a small village near the sea. The grandson liked to play on the beach and his dream was to become a sailor and travel through the sea. However the fisherman was afraid about the boy’s dream and wanted to protect him from sailing because he knew that a mermaid was living somewhere in the ocean. So he decided to tell the young boy a story that happened to him.

“When I was young I also wanted to travel on the sea. When I had some money I bought a ship and went to the ocean. I was happy traveling around the world. One day there was no wind or storm and we were traveling with no problem. The water was clear and calm. But suddenly something started shaking the ship. I was so afraid and thought that it was a sea monster but I was wrong. I saw a woman rising from the sea. She was half-human and half-fish. She was a mermaid a beautiful young lady. She was smiling at me and said that she wanted to ask me a question and if I gave the correct answer I was free to continue my journey. So she asked me:

“Does king Alexander live?”

I thought that it was an easy question because everybody knows that he is dead so I answered .

"No he does not live. He is dead."

I thought that I gave the correct answer and that she will let me go. But instead of that she became so angry and she hit my boat with her tail so hard that the ship broke into small pieces. I was so lucky that I survived after this happened. I managed to swim to the closest beach. After this I told everyone about the incident but nobody believed me.

Now I know that the answer to her question was “yes” because we must not forget our past. King Alexander still lives in our memory and we must not forget that. This is why I am so afraid of you going to the sea. Because when you travel in the large and beautiful sea you forget everything else. So you must be very careful not to forget. If you manage that then you will be ready to do anything you want.

The legend of Violet - the flower

Few flowers have symbolized the renewal of spring, and the triumphs and tribulations of love, as much as the violet. Blooming in the shade, these beautiful innocent bystanders of nature’s woodland paths hold a history of their own for their uses in medicine and popular culture.

Scientific name: Viola odorata
Family: Violaceae
Common Names: Hearts Ease~ ~Bird's Eye~ ~Bullweed~ ~Pink-eyed John~ ~Pink-of-my-Joan~ ~Godfathers~ ~Godmothers~ ~Wild Pansy~ ~Love-lies-bleeding~ ~Love-in idleness~ ~Love Idol~ ~Cuddle Me~ ~Call-me-to-you~ ~Meet-me-in-the-entry~ ~Kit-run-in-the-fields~ ~Three-faces-under-a-hood~ ~Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me~ ~Kiss-me-at-the-garden-gate~ ~Kiss-her-in-the-buttery~

Violas have over 200 common names, a large number of them relating to sex and love. The name Violet is said to be from "Vias"  meaning wayside.

Violets

According to one legend it was Venus who made the violet blue. She had been disputing with her son Cupid as to which was more beautiful... herself or a bevy of girls, and Cupid, with no fear of his mother, declared for the girls. This sent Venus into such a rage that she beat her rivals till they turned blue and turned into violets.

Called the "Flower of Modesty" because it hides its flowers in the heart-shaped leaves. Also called "Our Lady's Modesty" because it was said to have blossomed when Mary said to the Angel Gabriel, who had come to tell her she was to bear the Son of God, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord." The monks of the Middle Ages called "Viola tricolor," common in Europe, the "Herb of the Trinity" ("herba trinitatis" )  because they saw the symbol of the trinity in their three colors. The name "Heartsease" stemmed from its old use as a medicine to treat heart disease. People believed God gave the plant heart-shaped leaves for that use. The name may also come from its ancient use as an aphrodisiac and a love potion. The deep purple"Viola odorata" native of the Mediterranean region, is so sweet that an oil from it is used in the perfume industry.

The Role of Violets in the Ancient World

In ancient Greece, the playwright Aristophanes referred to Athens as the “Violet-Crowned City,” because Ion, the legendary founder of Athens who was crowned there, was an exact match of “ion,” the Greek word for violet. According to legend, Ion was leading his people to Attica and was welcomed by water nymphs, who gave him violets as signs of their good wishes. Thus violets became the city's emblem, and no Athenian home, altar or wedding was complete without them. Persephone, the daughter of the Earth Mother Demeter, was picking violets when Pluto kidnapped her to live with him in the underworld. Violets grew where Orpheus slept, and it was Venus who made violets blue. Disputing with her son Cupid over who was more beautiful, herself or a group of young maidens, Cupid favored the maidens. Venus flew into such a rage that she beat her competitors till they turned blue and became violets. Their connection to Venus made violets a popular love potion and aphrodisiac.

Both Greeks and Romans associated violets with funerals and death. Violets were routinely scattered around tombs, and, as symbols of innocence and modesty, children’s graves were routinely so blanketed with violets that the grave was completely covered.

White Violet

The Ancients' name for violets was “Iona”; they believed that Zeus, the king of the gods, originated violets in the meadows where Io used to wander. Zeus had fallen in love with the lovely nymph, Io, and changed her into a white heifer to protect her from his wife’s wrath. When Lo wept over the taste of the coarse grass she was forced to eat, Zeus changed her tears into sweet-smelling violets that only she was permitted to eat. The Athenians revered the violet, decorated their houses with it, and wore crowns of violets at their feasts and on festive occasions.

Persians and Greeks used the plants to help induce sleep, to calm anger, and to heal the heart and the head. Violet flowers steeped in hot water helped to ease a broken heart.

Romans made wine from violet blossoms, and decorated banquet tables with them believing that the flowers could prevent drunkenness. On the mornings after their festivities, Romans wore violet wreaths to relieve hangovers. Pliny documented the medicinal properties of violets, prescribing them for gout and spleen disorders.

Sentiment & Symbolism

Greek legend tells of a nymph named Io, who was beloved by Zeus. To hide her from Hera, his wife, Zeus changed Io into a white cow. When Io wept over the taste and texture of the coarse grass, Zeus changed her tears into dainty, sweet-smelling violets only she was permitted to eat. Roman myth tells a different story, one of lovely maids of antiquity who became the victims of Venus' wrath when Cupid judged them more beautiful than her. In her jealous fury, Venus beat the maidens until they became blue, and thus turned into violets.

In Christian art, the violet symbolizes the Virgin Mary’s humility. One ancient tale states that violets were in fact white until Mary was filled with anguish from watching her son, Christ, suffer upon the Cross. At this moment all the white violets turned purple to echo her mourning. Perhaps this is a reason why purple remains a color associated with mourning. In Renaissance paintings, Mary, while holding the baby Jesus, is often depicted with violets to symbolize her humility or perhaps as a premonition of Jesus’ death, as in this early painting "Madonna Benois", or "Madonna and Child with Flowers" (c. 1475-1478) by Leonardo da Vinci. And the viewer can make out tiny violets in the foreground of this painting by Sienese artist Giovanni Paolo aptly named "Madonna of Humility"(1435).




To dream of violets is a promise of advancement in life. It is said that a garland of violets worn about the head prevents dizziness. They are considered a good luck gift to any woman in any season, but where violets bloom in autumn, epidemics will follow within the year.

The Middle Ages

Violets were awarded as prizes to French troubadours in poetry contests. In Germany, folk dancers celebrated the first violets of Spring. A 10th Century English herbal claimed that violet blossoms could repel evil spirits and Britons and Celts used the flowers in salves and beauty lotions. Monks called violets the Herb of the Trinity because they saw the symbol of the holy trinity in its three leaves. Medieval Christians believed violets were once strong, upright flowers until the day of the crucifixion, when the shadow of the cross fell upon them, causing them to bow their heads in shame for Christ’s persecution.

From the 16th Century, the violet's use as a pain reliever was extensive, since it is among the few plants to contain salicylic acid, the chief ingredient in aspirin.

Color Messages

Violets are a symbol of faithfulness, a symbol of purity and charm against evil. Blue violets says "I'll always be true" and signify constancy; white violets depict modesty, or the desire to "take a chance on happiness"; and yellow violets convey modest worth, and the White violets - depict modesty and the desire to "take a chance on happiness" 

Corporal Violet

Legend has it that while Napoleon was in exile on the island of Elba, he confided to his partisans that he would return to France with the appearance of the violets in the spring, earning him the code name Corporal Violet. To determine a loyal supporter, a stranger was asked, “Do you like violets?” If the reply was “Yes” (Oui) or “No” (Non), it revealed one who did not know of the plot. If the answer was “Eh bien,” it confirmed the person’s loyalty.

Viorica - Romanian Violet

Once upon of time there was a girl called Violet. Her step mother didn’t like her, so one day she decided to get rid of the little girl. She took her over the forest and left her  there in the cold winter.  Not knowing how to get out of the forest in short time she fell  asleep and froze to death.

But she didn’t die. She mannaged to transform herself into a little violet flower which we call Viorica (Violet). And from that moment on, Violets blossum in spring before the snow melts.

The legend of the three Fates

The three Fates are good fairies. They are a special kind of fairies, who come three days after the baby is born and foretell his/her future (baby’s destiny). 

The legend says that Alexander the  Great  had in his possession life-giving water. The water got stolen by three female servants who drank it. From that moment on, they became immortal and God made them foretell people’s lives.

The fates

fragment from Musat and the fates, by Mihai Eminescu

Three white shadows from the dark emerge
Whispering as they go by,
Arround the cradle they converge.

Raising their hands towards the sky,
Like bending in the wind, so light,
Cast spell to fall asleep the child nearby.

They’re fates who, using their insight,
Convey, like ancient magi,
To the sleeping child, his life’s design.

Of all their gifts, none him deny,
As faint rays of light, divine,
Spring from their mesmeric eyes and fly.

Belief in fate, in their power to construct fate of each man was and still is widespread and entrenched among the Romanian people, being inherited from the Romans. There are three fairies that come in so-called odd nights (3, 5, 7) of the first week of newborn child's life to fortell the child's future destiny.They say that in ancient times, even the midwives who look after the newborn child could fortell newborns' destiny. Unfortunately, because midwives have confided this secret, nowadays they no longer have that gift.

In Transylvania there is still the tradition, as the midwife who helps the child's birth, even though he was born in hospital, to put in the room where the child sits, a white new one linen, a bowl with flour, salt, a bread, a penny and a wool beat . After 3 days and 3 nights if the 3 fates arrived, the midwife and parents will see the trace of fate on flour.

In Banat, Moldova and Wallachia at 3 days after birth, the family prepare a big meal for the 3 fates: bread, a chicken, wine, and three pennies, because they have the belief that they must be well feasting and well paid to fortell a   good fate for the newborn.

In Greece, the fates (Moirai) have the subtle but awesome power of deciding a man's destiny, too. Those three fates are the daughter of the goddess of Necessity, Themis. They are also called the Moirai to denote their descent from Moira, the original goddess of Fate. They are not to be confused with the Furies, who are the daughters of Nyx (Night). They laugh at our feeble attempts to cheat them because they always prevail. They are also known as the Moiras or Keras.They are often confused with the Roman goddesses, the Morae.They assign a man to good or evil. Their most obvious choice is choosing how long a man lives. There are three Fates. Clotho, the spinner, who spins the thread of life. Lachesis, the measurer, who choses the lot in life one will have and measures off how long it is to be. Atropos, she who cannot be turned, who at death with her shears cuts the thread of life.

The Fates are old and predate the gods. It is not entirely clear how far their power extends. It is possible that they determine the fate of the gods as well. In any case, not even the most powerful is willing to triffle with them.

Aesop's myths

Fables

The various collections that go under the rubric "Aesop's Fables" are still taught as moral lessons and used as subjects for various entertainments, especially children's plays and cartoons.

Aesop

Most of what are known as Aesopic fables is a compilation of tales from various sources, many of which originated with authors who lived long before Aesop.

Aesop himself is said to have composed many fables, which were passed down by oral tradition. Socrates was thought to have spent his time turning Aesop’s fables into verse while he was in prison. Demetrius Phalereus, another Greek philosopher, made the first collection of these fables around 300 BC. This was later translated into Latin by Phaedrus, a slave himself, around 25 BC. The fables from these two collections were soon brought together and were eventually re-translated into Greek by Babrius around A.D. 230. Many additional fables were included, and the collection was in turn translated to Arabic and Hebrew, further enriched by additional fables from these cultures.

Life

The place of Aesop's birth was and still is disputed: Thrace, Phrygia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Samos, Athens, Sardis and Amorium all claimed the honor. It has been argued by modern writers that he may have been of African origin: the scholar Richard Lobban has argued that his name is likely derived from "Aethiopian", a word used by the Greeks to refer mostly to dark-skinned people of the African interior. He continues by pointing out that the stories are populated by animals present in Africa, many of the creatures being quite foreign to Greece and Europe.

There is also a possible link to Islam.Often confused with Aesop, and having lived several centuries earlier, Aesop's fables may be derived from the works of Lokman.

The life of Aesop himself is shrouded in obscurity. He is said to have lived as a slave in Samos around 550 B.C. An ancient account of his life is found in The Book of Xanthus the Philosopher and His Slave Aesop.

According to the sparse information gathered about him from references to him in several Greek works (he was mentioned by Aristophanes, Plato, Xenophon and Aristotle), Aesop was a slave for someone called Xanthus (Ξανθος), who resided on the island of Samos. Aesop must have been freed, for he conducted the public defense of a certain Samian demagogue (Aristotle, Rhetoric, ii. 20). He subsequently lived at the court of Croesus, where he met Solon, and dined in the company of the Seven Sages of Greece with Periander at Corinth. During the reign of Peisistratus he was said to have visited Athens, where he told the fable of The Frogs Who Desired a King to dissuade the citizens from attempting to depose Peisistratus for another ruler. A contrary story, however, said that Aesop spoke up for the common people against tyranny through his fables, which incensed Peisistratus, who was against free speech.

The following is only 40 titles from the whole work of Aesop, which is estimated to be 135 Myths

   
        1. The north wind and the sun
        2. The hard-working and the drone
        3. The child who was stealing and his mother
        4. The kingfisher
        5. The lion and the mouse
        6. The dog, the rooster and the fox
        7. The lion in love and the farmer
        8. The viper and water snake
        9. The daw and the Pigeons
        10. The mosquito and the lion
        11. The shepherd that was joking
        12. The Lion, the fox, and deer
        13. The fox and the monkey
        14. The two beetles
        15. The farmer and his dogs
        16. The woodcutter and Hermes
        17. The Manage and the fox
        18. The wild cat and a rooster
        19. The eagle and the foxes
        20. The robbers and raspberry tree
        21. The cat and the mice
        22. The wolf and the goat
        23. The old lady and the lion
        24. The goat and the donkey
        25. The old lady and the doctor
        26. The imprisoned lion and the hunters
        27. The wolf and the grazing
        28. The man and the foxes
        29. The wife and chores
        30. The farmer and the iced snake
        31. The goat and the goat shepherd
        32. The wolf and lamb
        33. The robbers and the rooster
        34. The daw and the birds
        35. The wolf and the old lady
        36. The old man and death
        37. The bird and the bat
        38. The wild cat and hens
        39. The tone and dolphins
        40. The mouse and the frog

SOME OF THE CLASSIC TREASURY OF AESOP'S FABLE

The cicada and the ants

 It was raining for a whole day and night and the soil turned into mud and water and ran through the anthill. Ants’ food was soaked. The next day the rain stopped and the sun shined in the sky.  There weather was good for a whole week. When the soil dried, the ants carried all their food out from the hill so it could be dried from the sun. The ants will have food to eat until the next summer. A cicada, which was hiding from the rain appeared and started searching for food. Cicadas eat leaves from the trees. Unfortunately the trees didn’t have leaves and the cicada didn’t have anything to eat. It went to the ants and told them.

-    Can you give me some food?
-    Why? the ants asked. Don’t you have any food?
-    No, the cicada answered.
-    What did you do at the previous summer?
-    Summer was very nice and I was singing.
-    Well, if you were singing at summer, now in winter it is a good idea to dance, answered the ants.

And the cicada understood how foolishly he reacted. He should have collected food when it was still summer instead of entertaining himself.

The two mice

Once upon a time a mouse that lived in a city decided to go for a walk in the countryside. There he meet a mouse that lived in the fields and they became friends. The mouse that lived in the fields offered the city mouse fruit and other vegetables.  They ate, and then the city mouse told his friend to come in the city to see how it was and to eat food there too. So, a week later the two mice went to a cellar of an old city house. When the mouse from the fields saw all this food, that he didn’t  know existed, he was very excited.

-    All this food is for us, my friend! ,said the city mouse. Let’s eat.

Cheese, fruit, honey, potatoes and many other things. All of them were delicious. Suddenly, footsteps were heard.

-    We must hide! said the city mouse to his friend. The owner of the house is coming and if she sees us she will catch us.

They hid behind a box. The owner left and the two mice went out again.

-    Taste the honey said the city mouse.

There is nothing more delicious.

-    Wow! said his friend. I am jealous of you because you live in the city and you eat so many delicious things.

But suddenly footsteps were heard again. The two mice saw the owner with her cat coming.

-    Here, my cat. These awful mice are hiding in the cellar.

She left living the cat in the cellar. The two mice were very frightened so they stayed hidden. Luckily, the cat found a cup with milk and started drinking. So, the two mice ran quickly to their nest.

-    We escaped! said the city mouse to his friend . Tomorrow night we will come again.
-    Are you sure that the cat won’t come?
-    I am not sure at all but what can I do? Stay in my nest and have nothing to eat?
-    Does this happen every night?
-    Some nights nobody disturbs me. Well, calm down and tomorrow we will eat new and tastier food.
-    No, my friend, told the mouse of the fields. I will return to the countryside. I can’t stand being scared every night. I prefer eating fruit and vegetables and live in peace and quiet rather than eating honey and meat and being afraid of the cat. Goodbye and thank you for your hospitality.

And the mice of the fields run quickly to return to the countryside.

The lion which was afraid of a mouse and a fox

Once upon a time, a lion was sleeping in its cave. All night over  it was hunting, it had eaten a lot and it wasn’t hungry anymore so it was having a deep nap and was snoring. All the other wild animals which were living in the same area were listening to the lion’s snore and were  running away because even if it was asleep it was still frightening.

Only a fox passing by the cave, listened to  the snore and stayed to watch the king of the animals sleeping. Then  a mouse which  was already in the cave, wanted to leave so it creeped over the lion’s body, because there was no other way of escape. The lion woke up immediately, frightened, looking for what was creeping over it. The fox started laughing and making fun of it.

-I had never imagined that you, the king of the animals, will be scared of  a little mouse.

-Of course I wasn’t scared of it, answered the lion. I was taken aback that there is an animal which can walk over a sleeping lion’s body!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The bird and the bat

There was a bird which was enclosed into its cage that was next to the window. It was spring, the window was left opened and the bird was thinking of its life at forest, where it could fly free, and was singing.  All over the day when its owners were awake and were walking around the house, the bird was frightened so it wasn’t singing.

But when it was night and its owners were sleeping, the enclosed bird wasn’t afraid anymore so it was singing about its sadness. A bat, whose cave was near the bird’s cage, and was out for hunting the night, noticed the bird. A night flew over the bird’s cage and asked it:

-Can you tell me the reason why you are silent all day and start singing at night?
-Because I am afraid when its morning, explained the bird.  I was singing all day only when I was living in the forest. Then I was caught by people and enclosed in this tight "prison". Since then, I realized that it is better singing only at night.
-Now it is quite late, said the bat. You should have been more careful of people, when you were free. Now even if you are careful, there is actually no reason since you are already captured.

 The farmer and the frozen snake

On a winter’s morning, a farmer who went at his fields, came across to a snake , frozen by the cold. The farmer was very sensitive and felt sorry for it.

-Oh, pour snake! he was speaking alone.

It is frozen and it may be dead. But if not, it is possible to get well by the warm of my house. But how can somebody make a snake feel warm? He thought to return home but it was quite far away and he had to finish his work.

-Lets put it in my coat, he thought. It’s really warm in here.

So the snake came back to life quickly, felt happy that it was alive, and bit the farmer on his chest. The pour farmer died immediately because of the poison.

-I deserved it just because I felt sorry about an unthankful … murmured the farmer leaving his last breath!!!!

Moral: Learn from my fate not to take pity on a scoundrel. The greatest kindness will not bind the ungrateful.

The wayfarers and the axe

Once upon a time, two friends began for some work and walked discussing. Where they walked, in the forest, the one of them saw that something burnished between the grasses.  He bent to see and he lifted an brand new axe.

- We found an axe! shouted cheerful his companion.

The one however, that had found the axe was upset and it says:

-You do not say we only found a axe, you say: you found a axe.

But, while they advanced, meet three-four lumberjacks, that had lost their new axe and searched they find him. When they saw the two wayfarers, that the one kept to them the axe, they fell above angry.

- We were lost! shouted the one that had found kept him in his hands.

Turns then his friend and says to him:

- Do not say we were lost, you say: I was lost! Neither when you found the axe you wanted me for your companion, neither now that to you him will take and eat also timber want me you will have my companion!


The story shows that if people are not allowed to share in your good fortune, they will not stand by you in times of trouble.

The north wind and the sun
 

Once upon a time, the Sun and the North wind touched a big discussion for whom of the two was the strongest.

- Me, said the Sun.
- No, Me, said the North wind.

And they had so much tenacity, because none of them wanted to recede. So it was no conclusion, neither is come out never, so much stubborn that were also their two.

- I propose to You a bet! said end the North wind.
- Which bet? asked the Sun.
- We choose in the chance a person and that from the two us does accomplish and undress, is the strongest.
- Hmmmm, I accept the bet! said the Sun.

In a short time, appeared in the plain a person, that was alone. Began then, the North wind, to blow hard. The pedestrian bent his head and crossed his hands, on t o breast, in order to it is protected from air. Did the north wind blow more hard and the pedestrian, clasped his clothes and because the North wind you strengthen his blow, so the poor person  removed a woolen blanket, that carried with him in a poke, and wrapped with it, in order not to freeze. As long as more hard it blew the North wind, so much more tight was wrapped in the blanket him the pedestrian. In the end, the North wind bored and was ceased it blows. It in sunlight turned to also it said him:

- Your line now you try to undress him.

The sun appeared in the sky, as soon as it stopped blows the North wind, and immediately the pedestrian removed from on his blanket and put him in the poke. Strengthened the glare of the Sun and the passer clasped of the garment.

But the Sun  strengthen always more a lot his shine and the pedestrian, that had begun to sweat, it began to remove one by one his clothes, until, in the end he remain undressed  and looked at right and left, if there was a tree in order to go and lay down in shadow. Because however he did not find tree, it fall in the river, that passed there near and it remained in water, until the Sun, slowly-slowly, dwindled his shine.

- You  are the strongest! admitted the North wind, bidding farewell to Helium.

MORAL: Persuasion is better than force, and a kind and gentle manner will get quicker results than threats.

The Legend of Saint George

St. George

According to the Golden Legend the narrative episode of Saint George and the Dragon took place in a place he called "Silene," in Libya; the Golden Legend  is the first to place this legend in Libya as a sufficiently exotic locale, where a dragon might be imagined. In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the place is the fictional city of Lasia, and it is the godless Emperor who is Selinus.

The town had a pond, as large as a lake, where a plague-bearing dragon dwelled that envenomed all the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people of Silene used to feed it two sheep every day, and when the sheep failed, they fed it their children, chosen by lottery.

It happened that the lot fell on the king's daughter, who is in some versions of the story called Sabra. The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, decked out as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.

Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but George vowed to remain.

The dragon reared out of the lake while they were conversing. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross, charged it on horseback with his lance and gave it a grievous wound. Then he called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash. She and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the people at its approach. But Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptised, he would slay the dragon before them.

The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. "Fifteen thousand men baptized, without women and children." On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease.

Traditionally, the sword with which St. George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, a name recalling the city of Ashkelon, Israel. From this tradition, the name Ascalon was used by Winston Churchill for his personal aircraft during World War II (records at Bletchley Park), since St. George is the Patron Saint of England.

Pandora's Box

After Prometheus' theft of the secret of fire, Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create the woman Pandora as part of the punishment for mankind. Pandora was given many seductive gifts from Aphrodite, Hermes, Charites, and Horae. For fear of additional reprisals, Prometheus warned his brother Epimetheus not to accept any gifts from Zeus, but Epimetheus did not listen, and married Pandora. Pandora had been given a large jar and instructed by Zeus to keep it closed, but she had also been given the gift of curiosity, and ultimately opened it. When she opened it, all of the evils, ills, diseases, and burdensome labor that mankind had not known previously, escaped from the jar, although Pandora was quick enough to close it again and keep one value inside: hope. 

Persephone

In the Olympian telling, the gods Hermes, Ares, Apollo, and Hephaestus, had all wooed Persephone, but Demeter rejected all their gifts and hid her daughter away from the company of the Olympian deities. She was innocently picking flowers with some nymphs  in a field in Enna when Hades came to abduct her, bursting through a cleft in the earth; the nymphs were changed by Demeter into the Sirens for not having interfered. Life came to a standstill as the devastated Demeter, goddess of the Earth, searched everywhere for her lost daughter. Helios, the sun, who sees everything, eventually told Demeter what had happened. Finally, Zeus, pressured by the cries of the hungry people and by the other deities who also heard their anguish, could not put up with the dying earth and forced Hades to return Persephone. However, Hades tricked her into eating pomegranate seeds, which forced her to return to the underworld for a season each year. When Demeter and her daughter were united, the Earth flourished with vegetation and color, but for four months each year, when Persephone returned to the underworld, the earth once again became a barren realm.

Adonis

Adonis, a strikingly handsome young man, was Aphrodite’s lover. One of his greatest passions is hunting, and although Aphrodite is not naturally a hunter, she takes up the sport just so she can be with Adonis. Aphrodite is enraptured with him. However, her anxiety begins to grow over her neglected duties, and she is forced to leave him for a short time. Before she leaves, she gives Adonis one warning: do not attack an animal who shows no fear. Adonis agrees to her advice, but, secretly doubting her skills as a huntress, quickly forgets her warning. Not long after Aphrodite leaves, Adonis comes across an enormous wild boar. In the attack, Adonis is castrated by the boar, and dies from a loss of blood. Aphrodite rushes back to his side, but she is too late to save him and can only mourn over his body. Wherever Adonis' blood falls, Aphrodite causes anemones to grow in his memory.

Athena - Poseidon

 Athena competed with Poseidon to be the patron deity of Athens, which was yet unnamed, in a version of one founding myth. They agreed that each would give the Athenians one gift and that the Athenians would choose the gift they preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a spring sprang up; this gave them a means of trade and but the water was salty and not very good for drinking. Athena, however, offered them the first domesticated olive tree. The Athenians accepted the olive tree and with it the patronage of Athena, for the olive tree brought wood, oil, and food.

Theseus

King Minos demanded that seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls were to be sent to Crete to be devoured by the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster that lived in the Labyrinth created by Daedalus. Theseus volunteered to slay the monster. Like the others, Theseus was stripped of his weapons when they sailed. On his arrival in Crete, King Minos' daughter Ariadne, out of love for Theseus gave Theseus a ball of string so he could find his way out. As soon as Theseus entered the Labyrinth, he tied one end of the ball of string to the door post and brandished his sword which he had hid from the guards inside his tunic. Theseus came to the heart of the Labyrinth and also upon the sleeping Minotaur. A tremendous fight then occurred. Theseus beat the Minotaur with his fists, until death.  Theseus used the string to escape the Labyrinth and managed to escape with all of the young Athenians and Ariadne.

Daedalus and Ikarus

Daedalus and Ikarus

Daedalus was shut up in a tower to prevent his knowledge of the labyrinth from spreading to the public. He could not leave Crete by sea, as the king kept strict watch on all vessels. Since Minos controlled the land and sea routes, Daedalus set to work to fabricate wings for himself and his young son Icarus. When both were prepared for flight, Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too high, because the heat of the sun would melt the wax, nor too low because the sea foam would make the wings wet and they would no longer fly. After a while the boy began to soar upward as if to reach heaven. The blazing sun softened the wax which held the feathers together and they came off. Icarus fell into the sea. His father cried, bitterly lamenting his own arts, and called the land near the place where Icarus fell into the ocean Icaria in memory of his child.