Mythology Part 6, Chapter 2: Brief Myths Arranged Alphabetically

Arachne

Minerva was the weaver of the gods and Arachne declared her own work to be superior. Minerva went to the home of the upstart mortal and they had a competition. When they were finished, Arachne's work was of the same quality, and done in the same time. Minerva beat her with the shuttle of the loom. After the girl hanged herself, Minerva turned her into a spider so she could weave forever.

Arion

Arion was poet who went from Corinth to a music contest in Sicily. He won, but on the way back the sailors decided to kill him. They asked him to sing a song and then threw him into the sea when he finished. The dolphins, entranced by his music, carried him to safety.

Aristaeus

Aristaeus was a beekeeper. When all his bees died, he went and seized Proteus to ask him what to do. Proteus told him to sacrifice and leave the animals in whole on the altars. Nine days later, when he returned, bees swarmed all around the altar.

Aurora and Tithonus

"Now from her couch where she lay beside high-born Tithonus the goddess/ Dawn, rosy-fingered, arose to bring light to the gods and to mortals." Part 6, Chapter 2, pg. 428. Tithonus was the father of the king of Ethiopia. Aurora had asked that he be made immortal, but forgot to ask that he be kept forever young. He aged and became senile, but no batter how shrunken his body became, he remained alive. Eventually, Aurora turned him into a grasshopper.

Biton and Cleobus

Biton and Cleobus were sons of Cydippe, a priestess to Hera. Their mother wanted to see an image of Hera that was some distance away. She had no oxen or donkey, so the sons yoked themselves to the cart and pulled her through heat and dust. When they reached the temple, they collapsed in exhaustion. Cydippe asked the goddess for a blessing and her sons died peacefully in the temple while sleeping.

Callisto

Callisto was the daughter of Lycaon and another man who tried to feed human flesh to a god. Zeus fell in love with her, but in jealousy, Hera turned her into a bear. When her son was fully-grown, he tried to hunt her, and Zeus turned her into the constellation. Her son became the lesser bear.

Chiron

Chiron was a good Centaur who taught many of the heroes. When Hercules fought the Centaurs, he injured him accidentally. Chiron did not die immediately, but suffered for a long time before he perished.

Clytie

Clytie was a maiden who was in love with the Sun. The Sun, however, did not return her affection. She gazed at him always, eventually turning into a sunflower.

Dryope

Dryope went with her sister, Iove to a pool and pulled some blossoms from a lotus tree near it. The tree bled and when Dryope tried to run, she found that she had taken root. She turned into a tree and never turned back.

Epimenides

Epimenides went to sleep as a boy and woke up 57 years later. He helped Athens overcome a plague and in return he wanted only friendship for his home city.

Hero and Leander

Leander was a youth and Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite. H swam across a river every night to see her. A light that she would place in a tall tower guided him. One night, the wind blew the light out and he drowned. Hero killed herself when she found out.

Ibycus and the Cranes

Ibycus was a poet who was mortally wounded by thieves. Cranes avenged him by flying over a robber in a mob of people. The thief freaked out and exposed himself to his executors.

Leto

Leto was the daughter of Phoebe. Zeus abandoned her after he made her pregnant and she wandered the world until the floating island Delos accepted her. On the island she gave birth to Apollo and Artemis. Years later, Apollo helped the island and stopped it from moving.

Linus

Linus was the son of Apollo and a woman named Psamathe. She deserted him and he was eventually torn to pieces by dogs. He died before he became ripe and became a saying for fruit and wine. Another Linus tried to teach Hercules something he did not want to learn and was killed.

Marpessa

Marpessa was a maiden carried off by Ideas from the Calydonian Boar hunt. Apollo fell in love with her and was going to fight Ideas. Zeus stopped the fight and told them to let Marpessa choose. She chose the mortal Ideas because she knew that an immortal would desert her.

Marysas

Athena invented the flute but she threw it away not thinking it important enough for her time; her face became disfigured whenever she blew on it. Marysas, a satyr, picked it up and challenged Apollo. He lost and was killed.

Melanpus

Melanpus raised two snakes as pets. From them, he learned how to speak the language of animals. He saved himself on multiple occasions with this ability. He also became a famous soothsayer because he could understand the language of the birds.

Merope

Merope was married to a son of Hercules who was killed in a revolt. The new king took over and took her as his wife. Her son eventually helped her kill the usurper.

Myrmidons

The myrmidons were men created from ants in the days of Achilles' grandfather, Aeacus. Hera sent a plague to destroy the island of a girl that Zeus loved. Aeacus prayed to Zeus and the next day, the king of the gods had turned a colony of ants into a massive army.

Nisus and Scylla

Nisus had a purple lock of hair that would kill him if it were cut from his head. Minos besieged his town and his daughter Scylla cut the lock from his head and offered it to him. This sickened Minos and he sent the girl away. Eventually, she was turned into a bird.

Orion

Orion was a giant who fell in love with a princess from an island. Her father kept delaying the marriage. One day, Orion insulted the girl when he was drunk. Dionysius put him to sleep and the king blinded him. When he came back later to search for the king, Artemis killed him. After his death, he became a constellation.

Pleiades

The Pleiades were the seven daughters of Atlas who were pursued by Orion before he died. Zeus, pitying them, made them into stars that Orion would pursue forever. One of them gave birth to Hermes and another gave birth to Dardanus, a founder of the Trojan race.

Rhoecus

Rhoecus picked up an oak that fell to the ground and the Dryad of the tree offered him anything he wanted as thanks. He asked for her love. She said she would love him. A bee stung him and unthinking, he slapped it. The dryad was enraged and she blinded him.

Salmoneus

Salmoneus pretended that he was Zeus at the festival of Zeus and tried to get people to worship him. Zeus struck him down with lightning.

Sisyphus

Sisyphus was a king of Corinth who saw a great eagle in the sky. When he returned to find his daughter missing, he suspected Zeus. Zeus got angry for being blamed and punished the King. He sent him to the Underworld where he was to forever roll a stone up a hill. His daughter gave birth to Aeacus, the grandfather of Achilles.

Tyro

Tyro was a daughter of Salmoneus who bore twin sons to Apollo. She abandoned them fearing that her father would be upset. A horse keeper brought them up. Her husband found out about her earlier children years later and locked her away. The twins found her. Jason was her grandson.

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