King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table

Mythological Characters

The Sirens Song

Journey From the Unknown bywena

The Sirens Song

The Graeae


The Graeae were a trio of ancient goddesses sisters in Greek mythology. They were depicted as three old gray women sometimes they are shown as being half swan. They were called Deino

(Dread), Enyo (Horror) and Persephredo (Alarm). The Graeae were the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto and sisters of the Gorgons. They were said that they had the wisdom dating from to primordial days of the Titans. They symbolized old age and were born as old women.

They had only one eye and tooth which they shared among them in order to protect their sisters the Gorgons...The hero Perseus stole the eye, as they passed it to each other and held is as a ransom they were forced to reveal to him where the objects that he needed to kill Medusa were to be found. When he had the answer he did not return it but threw it into a lake and set forth to continue his adventure.

In one myth it has said that the Gaeae witnessed the abduction of Persephone but did not interfere The Goddess Demeter then transformed them into the old gray hags.

Mythological Greek Creatures

The all seeing. A man with many eyes was called Argus Panoptes. He had a hundred eyes.and was in many adventures: He killed a bull who ravaged Arcadia and satyrs for stealing cattle. However, Argus himself was killed  by Hermes  while he guarded Io, inpreganated by Zeus, for the Goddess  Hera..

The Cyclopes were gigantic one eyed monsters. They are named Brontes, Steropes, and Arges. They were born from Gaiea and Uranus. Cronus  imprisoned the Cyclopes in Tautaus.  Zeus released them from their fate and fought against the Titans with him. Zeus granted them with freedom.

Giants

The Giants were were born when from the blood from Uranus when he mutilated by Cronus. They became powerful and attempted to destroy Zeus and the other Olympians in their war against the Titans. When the gods won they imprisoned the Giants in Tartaras.

Typhoeus

Typhoeus, was a fire breathing dragon with a hundred heads. Gaeia gave birth to him in an attempt to keep the Zeus  from defeating her children the Titans. Zeus destroyied Typhoeus with his lighting bolts. Typhoeus is said to be buried under Mount Etna in Sicily.

Nymphs in Greek Mythology

Nymphs in mythology are female deities who are associated with natural environments there are different types of nymphs, those that dwell in the sea, the forests and the Underworld nymphs. Nymphs are divine spirits and are depicted as young girls who love to dance and sing. They are believed to dwell in mountains and forests, by rivers, and also in the sea.

They were imortal in the sense that they did not die of old age or illness, and they also gave birth to immortal children by a god, they were not immortal.

Other nymphs were were in the company of Goddesses or Gods as with the goddess Artemis, Apollo who played music for them to dance and sing to on his lyre. And they also associated with the superior divinities and god of wine and drunkness Dionysus and woodland gods such as Pan and Hermes.

Nymphs childlike and virginal were by nature the lovers of creativity especially music and dance they spent their time reveling in nature they are considered to being one with the natural world.Some say that they have seen the nymphs in their travels that is a belief that is still held strong in some parts of Greece.

The Mystery of Lilith

And before Eve there was Lilith. A jewish myth that puts a twist on the Bible history of the creation of mankind.

Who was Lilith and how does she live on in womankind's evolution to the present day?

Lilith according to the old Judaic myth was the first wife of Adam. Refusing to submit to Adam as a subservient wife she deserted him and found her own place in history. Lilith was replaced by Eve who, made from the rib in his side, was condemned to being obedient to him and sit at his side.

Lilith became a demon and fled to a cave where she consorted with demon lovers. From these different unions demon children were born. These demons visited the Earth through mirrors they returned at will to their own world. According to the myth Lilith lives on through mirrors and enters the bodies of young girls through their eyes and leads them to indiscretions and promiscuity.

Mirrors have long been believed to be portals to the Other World and that demons inhabiting that world frequently visit the Earth through them . After they committed evils deeds in the earthly world they return at will to the Other Side.

Lilith became the epitome of promiscuity and disobedience. Many modern day women, who some call feminists, view Lilith as a role model symbolizing the equality of the sexes. Lilith did not believe in male dominance; when faced with it she cursed Adam and left to create her own world.

In folklore and mythology there is always the essence of truth. The tale of Lilith contradictory to the religious beliefs of today brings a truth which many have come to believe; and that is that there is an equality between all of mankind and womankind.

El Dorado

The legendary country of the Golden Man which originated in South America. The legend was thought to come from the custom of a people of Colombia who each year anointed a chief; the king was said to be covered with gold dust at a religious festival. The ceremony took place when a new ruler was elected. With this ceremony the new ruler was recognized as king.

El Dorado is a myth in which precious stones were found in abundance; it has fascinated explorers who quested for it since the days of the Spanish conquistadors who conquered the Central and South Americas.

The tale of El Dorado has evolved several times throughout the centuries, and eventually accounts of the previous myth were combined with those of the legendary city. The resulting El Dorado legend which for centuries drew the European explorers. El .Dorado is similar to other myths commonly named as The Fountain of Youth and Shangrila.

El Dorado is also sometimes used as a metaphor as the ultimate prize that one spends a lifetime seeking; It could be a lover, happiness, or fame. It is also used s as a figure of speech to represent something which may not ever be found. The name of El Dorado came to be used as a place where wealth is rapidly accumulated.

The Druids

Druids were priests of an ancient Celtic religion. In the Celtic world, they were the religious leaders teachers, judges, advisers, healers, fortunetellers and poets. The Druids controlled the religious and political power of the time.

The earliest records in the ancient accounts of the Druids date back to the 200s B.C. Various ancient  from the Greek sand Romans described the beliefs and practices of the Celtic priests.

Caesar in around 100 B.C. wrote about the Druids and recorded some facts of the Druids. 

According to his records there were two leading classes in Celtic society: the knights or warriors and the Druids. The Druids did not perform manual labor, serve in the military, or pay taxes. The members of this class devoted their lives to religious worship and were responsible of human sacrifices.

The Druids were respected and were sought for advice and instruction. They also served as judges for most public and private disputes, and crimes. Disobeying the Druids' decisions led to removal from the order the most severe punishment. Training to become a Druid was a long practice which could take up to 20 years. Those who wanted to join the order had to learn the religious laws and traditions and the philosophical principles of the Druids.

The Druids believed in a supreme god, whom they called Be' al.  The symbol of this Supreme Being was fire; the Druids also worshiped lesser gods.

The Druids taught that the human soul upon death passed into the body of a newborn child. To the early Druids the oak tree was sacred and they performed their rituals in oak forests.  The Druids associated the mistletoe, which grows on oak trees, had healing powers

Details of Druid ceremonies are not fully known.

The practice reported in detail was the practice of human sacrifice. The Druids believed that human sacrifices were necessary to get favor of their God.  In times of illness, or war, people would be gathered, placed in wicker containers, and burned alive.

The Druids' role in religion and society is seen in mythology. It was believed that the Druids had magical powers and could foretell the future. It is said that the Druids used human sacrifice and magic rituals to ensure prosperity and success.

In ancient Celtic literature, Druids were frequently symbolized as magicians and prophets were influential royal advisers. It was believed that the Druids could read minds and predict the future; it was also believed that they could take the form of birds or women.

The belief of the Druids is seen in early Irish mythology. The Irish hero Finn was raised by a Druid. Throughout the myths, Druids used their powers for both for good and for evil.

By the 18^th century,  Druids were presented in literature had lost much of their connection with the ancient religious order.  The myths of the Druids persist over the centuries.  There are questionable facts about their history and the beliefs and practices that dispute myth from fact. The Druids are considered to have earned a place in the mythological world. 

A History of Greek Mythology

Greek Mythology, are the beliefs and ritual practices of the ancient Grecian civilization from around about 2000 BC. It was a culture full of distinct stories and legends about a variety of gods. By about the 700s BC the mythology of Greece was fully developed and included classic collections of by the poet Hesiod and the Iliad and by Homer whose works began about that time.

Greek mythology has several characteristics which were different from other mythological stories. The Greek gods were humanlike in form and exhibited human feelings. This differed from other ancient religions such as Hinduism or Judaism; Greek mythology did not have structured spiritual teachings. The practice and belief was without a written code, such as a bibles or sacred books.

In Greek mythology the weakness of humans was given emphasis compared to the powers of nature. The Greeks believed that their gods, who were immortal, had control over all parts of nature.
The mythology was instilled in with every aspect of Greek life. Each city contained temples of worship to a particular God or group of Gods. They honored the Gods in their festivals and other official gatherings, poets narrated legends which were learned by many about the Gods. Most of the myths were learned orally. Different parts of the home were dedicated to certain Gods, and people offered prayers to those Gods.

The Gods were also honored in holy places. Delphi was a holy site dedicated to Apollo. A temple built at Delphi contained an oracle and the people travelled to with questions about the future. In addition to prayers, the Greeks offered sacrifices to their Gods.

Greek myths were built upon the primitive religions of the region of Crete which appeared around 4000-3000 BC. They believed that objects had spirits, and, had special magical powers. Over time, these beliefs expanded into legends involving objects, animals, and Gods. These legends became a part of classical Greek mythology.
As the Greek civilization advanced the mythology was gradually altered with the influence of neighboring civilizations which caused a variation of Greek beliefs.


The myths were passed on from generation to generation.  With the appearance of Christianity there was a transformation of the stories into myths which though entertaining were consider fictional.  The myths are still being learned and studied which keeps the Greek mythology alive to this day.

Miraculous Births in History

Miraculous births are a common myth in historical literature and religious texts. Stories of miracle births often include miraculous conceptions by a God, the supernatural or in some mythologies linked to creation.


In the story of Krishna, the God is the responsible for the conception and is also the result of the conception.

The stories of Buddha and his unusual birth developed through the centuries. In Buddhism, miraculous birth traditions were described as a series of incarnations. According to this recorded history Buddha was the first of six incarnations.  The legendary account of the birth of Buddha is in that the Great Being decided  where and when he was to be born according to the story Maya, his mother, fell asleep and dreamed of four archangels carried her to the Himalaya Mountains in her dream the Great Being came to her in the form of a white elephant. .'"


In the Hebrew Bible, there are stories of barren women giving birth where the God miraculously intercedes. The birth of Moses and the Sarah in the Old Testament is one example. The birth of Moses was foretold to Pharaoh in which caused him to command that all the male children to be thrown into the river. Moses was born on in the year 2377.


In certain Christian beliefs, Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox, the birth of the Virgin Mary is miraculous. The Virgin Mary's parents, St. Anne and St. Joachim, were childless, when an angel came to them and told them that they would give birth to a daughter Mary, she was born without the original sin.

The Gospels record the birth of Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke, Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel and she learned that she will conceive and bear a child called Jesus. When she asks how this can be, since she is a virgin, he tells her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her. In the Gospel of Matthew, the birth came to Joseph in a dream, in which he is told to name the child Jesus. This miraculous bit is the most well known.


The Gospel of Luke recounts that Jesus was conceived when Elizabeth was about six months pregnant; when her cousin, the Virgin Mary, came to tell her about her news, Elizabeth's unborn child jumped. The Catholic calendar places the feast of John the Baptist on June 24, six months before Christmas.




The birth of a child by a God and a mortal which results in the birth of a hero comes from the belief of the origin of Gods. Some of the heroes who were born of a God with a mortal are Ion by Apollo and Creus; Asclepius by Apollo and Coronis; Helen by Zeus and Leda and Romulus by Mars and Aemila.

The majority of civilizations and cultures have stories of miraculous births in one way or another.  This belief is widespread and persists until today.  Within each account of an unusual birth there is a truth that links all of these cultures together into one sacred belief.  Are miraculous births factual or merely myths?  

Myths and Legends

Myths and legends are types of stories and often with folk tales and fairy tales make up a civilization and culture of the peoples of the world.

A myth gives an explanation for something unknown: or how the world or a particular custom began. Myths or a cycle of myths may have a chronology; but for the most part is timeless and the events are sometimes symbolic. Myths are considered a religion in certain parts of the world.

Some anthropologists and scholars of religion came have ascertained that certain Christian stories shared many of the features of myth, and could be called myths.

A legend is a story which is told as a historical event. The legend may be version of a historical event in which the participants have become larger than life. Examples of legends are the legends of which are set in a definite period, the reign of Richard I of England (1189-99), or about King Arthur which may be based on facts. These legends have a definite time period.

 Myths and legends may be passed down orally or in writing, from generation to generation their origin or author is unknown.

The concept of a myth is that it is a belief or religion of a culture and has its basis in an attempt to explain natural events such as Creation myths.

Along the same line the Great Flood myths appear in many cultural myths as an event which caused a renewal of a civilization through a great catastrophe.

Myths reinforce the beliefs of a culture and sets and example for what is often consider to morally and symbolizes the purpose to strive for in ones life.

Myths are examples of the sophisticated stories attempting to rationalize the world around the people and to gain insight into what is in the realm of the unknown.

Greek History and Mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks. Their Gods, heroes, and the nature of their world are the basis of myths. The origins of their own cults and the rituals that were practiced were a significant part of their culture. They were a part of religion and continue to be a part of religion in modern day Greece. Scholars study myths in order to discover and understand the religious and political policies of Ancient Greece, as well as its civilization.


Greek mythology is a large collection of narratives, and in Greek art. Greek myths, as with most civilizations in the world, was an attempt to explain the origins of the world with Gods, Goddess, and heroes which made up their lives. Greek mythology has been an influence on the culture, the arts, and the literature of the Western world and at the present time is a part of Western legacy along with language. Greek mythology has changed over time to with the evolution of their culture.


A variety of myths and legends in Greek mythology the gods were essentially humanistic but with ideal bodies. The Ancient Greek gods did not suffer from disease, and could be wounded. Most gods were associated with specific aspects of life. Love tales often include incest, the rape of a mortal woman by a God which resulted in heroes Tales of punishment with the invention of the Gods as when Prometheus steals fire from the gods to bring to humankind.


Mythology was at the heart of everyday life in Ancient Greece. Greeks regarded mythology as a part of their history. They used myth to explain natural phenomena, cultural variations, hostilities along with friendships. It was a source of pride to be able to trace the descent from a mythological hero or a god.


The facts behind mythology and history are not as farfetched as one might think. When a civilization is confronted my mystery the myths can be a source of comprehending and in the explaining what is unknown. The historical events such as the Trojan War may be fact or fiction but the myths can be considered as an attempt of a civilization to identify their status in the world around them.