...The Dominance of Fate Fate was of great concern to the Greeks, and its workings resonate through many of their myths and texts. We see countless characters who go to great lengths in attempts to alter fate, even if they know such an aim to be futile. The inability of any mortal or immortal to change prescribed outcomes stems from the three Fates: sisters Clotho, who spins the thread of life; Lachesis, who assigns each person’s destiny; and Atropos, who carries the scissors to snip the thread of life at its end. These three divinities pervade all the stories of Greek myth, whether they be stories of gods, goddesses, demigods, heroes, or mortals and regardless of the exploits recounted. Nothing can be done to alter or prolong the destiny of one’s life, regardless of the number of preparations or precautions taken. This inflexibility applies just as much to Zeus as to the lowliest mortal, as we see in Zeus’s hounding of Prometheus to divulge the name of the woman who will bear the offspring that one day will kill him. Though this lesson is somewhat consoling—the way of the world cannot be bent to match the whims of those in authority—it is also very disturbing. The prospect of free will seems rather remote, and even acts of great valor and bravery seem completely useless. The myths provide an interesting counterpoint to this uselessness, however. In virtually all the stories in which a character does everything in his power to block a negative fate, and yet falls prey to it,...
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...Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη, Aphroditē) Goddess of love, beauty and desire. She was married to Hephaestus, but she had many lovers, including Ares, Adonis and Anchises. She was depicted as a beautiful woman and often naked. Her symbols include roses and other flowers, the scallop shell, and myrtlewreath. Her sacred animals are doves and sparrows. The Roman version of Aphrodite was Venus. Apollo (Ἀπόλλων, Apóllōn) God of light, healing, music, poetry, plague, prophecy, and more. He is the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis. Apollo was associated with the Sun; while Artemis was the Moon. Both use a bow and arrow. In the earliest myths, Apollo fights with his half-brother Hermes. In sculpture, Apollo was depicted as a handsome young man with long hair and a perfect physique. His attributes include the laurel wreath and lyre. He often appears in the company of the Muses. Animals sacred to Apollo include roe deer, swans, cicadas, hawks, ravens, crows, foxes, mice and snakes. Ares (Ἄρης, Árēs) God of war and bloodshed. He was the son of Zeus and Hera. He was depicted as a young man, either naked with a helmet and spear or sword, or as an armed warrior. Ares generally represents the chaos of war in contrast to Athena, who represented strategy and skill. Ares' sacred animals are the vulture, venomous snakes, dogs and boars. The Roman version of Ares is Mars. Artemis (Ἄρτεμις, Ártemis) Goddess of hunting, wilderness, animals and childbirth. In later times she became...
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...Ancient Greece The Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena, located on the Acropolis in Athens, is one of the most representative symbols of the culture and sophistication of the ancient Greeks. Part of a series on the | Modern Greece.Septinsular Republic.War of Independence.First Hellenic Republic.Kingdom of Greece.National Schism.Second Hellenic Republic.4th of August Regime.Axis occupation (collaborationist regime).Civil War.Military Junta.Third Hellenic Republic | History by topic.Art.Constitution.Economy.Military.Names | History of Greece | | Neolithic Greece.Neolithic Greece | Greek Bronze Age.Helladic.Cycladic.Minoan.Mycenaean | Ancient Greece.Homeric Greece.Archaic Greece.Classical Greece.Hellenistic Greece.Roman Greece | Medieval Greece.Byzantine Greece.Frankish and Latin states.Ottoman Greece | | Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BCto the end ofantiquity (c. 600 AD). Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in ancient Greece is the period ofClassical Greece, which flourished during the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Classical Greece began with the repelling of a Persian invasion by Athenian leadership. Because of conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished fromCentral Asia to the western end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture...
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