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Apollo

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  BIO Apollo God of music, poetry, plague, oracles, sun, medicine, light and knowledge   Abode                        Mount Olympus Symbol                       Lyre, laurel wreath, python, raven, bow and arrows Parents                      Zeus and Leto Siblings                      Artemis Children                     Asclepius, Troilus, Aristaeus, Orpheus Roman equivalent     Apollo     Introduce Apollo is one of the most important and diverse of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology. The ideal of the kouros (a beardless, athletic youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, medicine, healing, plague, music, poetry, arts, archery and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu. Apollo was worshiped in both ancient Greek and Roman religion, and in the modern Greco–Roman Neopaganism. As t
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Poseidon

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Introduce Poseidon (Greek: Ποσειδῶν; Latin: Neptūnus) was the god of the sea, storms, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon. Linear B tablets show that Poseidon was venerated at Pylos and Thebes in pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, but he was integrated into the Olympian gods as the brother of Zeus and Hades. Poseidon has many children. There is a Homeric hymn to Poseidon, who was the protector of many Hellenic cities, although he lost the contest for Athens to Athena. Worship of Poseidon Poseidon was a major civic god of several cities: in Athens, he was second only to Athena in importance, while in Corinth and many cities of Magna Graecia he was the chief god of the polis. In his benign aspect, Poseidon was seen as creating new islands and offering calm seas. When offended or ignored, he supposedly struck the g
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Aphrodite

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Identity Aphrodite (Greek: Ἀφροδίτη, IPA: /apʰrodíːtɛː/; English: /ˌæfrɵˈdaɪtiː/; Latin: Venus) is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality. According to Greek poet Hesiod, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranus' genitals and threw them into the sea, and from the aphros (sea foam) arose Aphrodite. Because of her beauty other gods feared that jealousy would interrupt the peace among them and lead to war, and so Zeus married her to Hephaestus, who was not viewed as a threat. Her unhappiness in marriage caused her to frequently seek out the companionship of her lover Ares. Aphrodite also became instrumental in the Eros and Psyche legend, and later was both Adonis' lover and his surrogate mother.   Origin Aphrodite has numerous equivalents: Inanna (Sumerian counterpart), Astarte (Phoenician), Astghik (Armenian), Turan (Etruscan), and Venus (Roman). She has parallels with Indo-European dawn goddesses such as Ushas or Aurora. The Hellenes were well aware that her
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Phoenix

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Preface The phoenix (Ancient Greek: Φοῖνιξ, phoínix, Arabic:العنقاء) is a mythical  sacred firebird that originated in ancient Phoenician  mythology (according to Sanchuniathon), Chinese mythology, Egyptian religion and later Greek mythology.    Appearance and abilities A phoenix is a mythical bird with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to some legends). It has a 500 to 1,000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of its old self in  an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (sun city in Greek). It is said that the bird's cry is that of a beautiful song. In very few stories they are able to change
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Bab-el-Mandeb

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Description The Bab-el-Mandeb (variously transliterated Mandab or Mandib, and with article "el-" given also as "al-", with or without connecting dashes) meaning "Gate of Tears" in Arabic (باب المندب), is a strait located between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti  and Eritrea, north of Somalia in the Horn of Africa, and connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. It is sometimes called the Mandab Strait  in English. Overview Bathymetric map of the Red Sea with the Bab-el-Mandeb at the bottom right. The strait derives its name from the dangers attending its navigation, or, according to an Arab legend, from the numbers who were drowned by the earthquake which separated Asia and Africa. In the Arabic translation of Jules Verne's book Around the World in Eighty Days (page 30), it is referred to as the "Bridge of Tears". The distance to the shore of the Cape Dezhnev in Russia is 10,855 km, which is the largest dimension of mainlan
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Zeus

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In Greek mythology, Zeus (pronounced /ˈzjuːs/) (Ancient Greek: Ζεύς; Modern Greek: Δίας) is the King of the Gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky and thunder. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the Ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses: standing, striding forward, with a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or seated in majesty. Zeus was the child of Cronus and Rhea, and the youngest of his siblings. In most traditions he was married to Hera, although, at the oracle of Dodona, his consort was Dione: according to the Iliad, he is the father of Aphrodite by Dione. He is known for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring, including Athena, Apollo and Artemis, Hermes, Persephone (by Demeter), Dionys
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Atlantis

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Atlantis (in Greek, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, "island of Atlas") is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias. In Plato's account, Atlantis was a naval power lying "in front of the Pillars of Hercules" that conquered many parts of Western Europe and Africa 9,000 years before the time of Solon, or approximately 9600 BC. After a failed attempt to invade Athens, Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune". Scholars dispute whether and how much Plato's story or account was inspired by older traditions. Some scholars argue Plato drew upon memories of past events such as the Thera eruption or the Trojan War, while others insist that he took inspiration from contemporary events like the destruction of Helike in 373 BC or the failed Athenian invasion of Sicily in 415–413 BC. The possible existence of a genuine Atlantis was discussed throughout classical antiquity, but it was usually rejected and
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