Greek Mythology Articles

Zeus the Thunderer, after kidnapping the beautiful daughter of the river god Azop, took her to the island of Oynopia, which has since been named after Azop’s daughter Aegina. The son of Aegina and Zeus, Aeacus, was born on this island. When Aeacus grew up, matured, and became king on the island of Aegina, no one in all of Greece could compare to him in love of truth or justice. The great Olympians themselves revered Aeacus and often chose him as a judge in their disputes. After his death, Aeacus, like Minos and Radamant, became a judge in the underworld by the will of the gods.

When Prometheus stole the divine fire for mortals, taught them various arts and crafts and gave them knowledge, life on earth became happier. Zeus, angered by Prometheus’ actions, punished him severely and sent evil to the people. He commanded the glorious god, the blacksmith Hephaestus, to mix earth and water, and to make of this mixture a beautiful girl equal in power to men, to have a gentle voice and a gaze similar to that of the immortal goddesses. Zeus’ daughter Athena was to weave a beautiful garment for the girl; the goddess of love, the golden Aphrodite, was to give her a charm that no one could resist; Hermes to give her a cunning mind and dexterity.

Many crimes were committed by the people of the Copper Age. Arrogant and wicked, they did not obey the Olympian gods. The thunderbolt Zeus was angry with them; Zeus was especially angry with the king of Lycosura in Arcadia, Lycaon. Once Zeus came to Lycosura as an ordinary mortal. In order for the inhabitants of Lycosura to know that he was a god, Zeus gave them a sign and all the inhabitants fell prostrate before him and worshiped him as a god. Only Lycaon did not want to give Zeus divine honors and ridiculed all who worshiped Zeus. Lycaon decided to test whether Zeus was a god. He killed a hostage who was in his palace, boiled part of his body, burned another part and offered them to the great thunderbolt to eat. Zeus was terribly angry. With a flash of lightning, he destroyed Lycaon’s palace and turned it into a bloodthirsty wolf.

The immortal gods living on the bright Olympus created the first human race happy; this was the Golden Age. Then the god Cronus ruled in the sky. In those days, people lived like the blessed gods, knowing neither worries, nor labor, nor sorrow. They did not know the weak old age either; their legs and arms were always strong and sturdy. Their life, without disease and full of happiness, was like an eternal feast. Their death, which came after a long life, was like a peaceful, quiet sleep.