Introduction
One of the most popular of these traditions is represented by a set of stories or legends about the gods and goddesses who were worshipped by the Ancient Greeks and later, under different names, by the Romans. These stories were originally in the Greek language and were later translated into Latin, the language of Rome ; still later, they were translated into English, French and other European languages.
The Ancient Greeks believed that their country stood at the centre of the earth with the sea surrounding it on all sides. At its highest point was Mount Olympus. It was here that Zeus , the king of the gods, lived with all the other divine beings, most of whom were his children. This group of gods was given the name of 'the Olympians' , after the mountain which was their home.
Zeus was the son of Cronus, the king of a race of supernatural beings called ''Titans'. After the death of Cronus, his kingdom was divided among his three sons - Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Zeus became the king of the sky, Poseidon took over the oceans and Hades ruled the Underworld, the land of the Dead. Apart from these three brothers, there were nine major gods and several minor gods who lived on Mount Olympus. Here are their names.
Zeus : the king of gods
Hera : wife of Zeus and the queen of gods
Poseidon : the god of the sea
Demeter : the goddess of agriculture, who gave mankind the gift of good harvests
Apollo : the god of the sun, music and poetry
Artemis : the goddess of the moon, hunting and chastity
Athena : the goddess of wisdom
Aphrodite : the goddess of love and beauty
Hermes : the messenger of the gods
Ares : the god war
Hephaestus : the god of fire and the chief craftsman of the gods
Dionysus : the god of wine and merrymaking
Hades : the god of the Underworld and the god of money
Among the minor gods were the nine Muses who looked after music, literature, art and the sciences. The three Greece were in charge of dancing, social enjoyment and the fine arts. The three fates spun the thread of human destiny, which they could cut off whenever they liked. The three Furies punished the crimes of those who escaped justice. Pan was the god of shepherds; the Satyrs were spirits who took care of the woods and fields, while Momus was the god of laughter.
The World and After..
At the beginning of the universe, there was only 'chaos', or a state of complete disorder and confusion. All matter - whether solid, liquid, or gas - was jumbled together and had no shape. Then the gods decided to bring about some kind of order. They picked up the lightest substance from the jumbled mass and made it the sky. They chose the next lightest substance and created the gently blowing breeze. The heavier particles sank to the bottom and formed the earth while the rest turned into water and became the sea, on which the earth floated.
Still the gods were not satisfied. They felt that the earth looked bare and empty. So, they raised bits of the earth to create hills and mountains. They scooped out valleys and divided the land into forests, fields and plains. Then they made rivers and lakes. Before long, stars appeared in the sky. Birds, fish and other animals appeared on the earth. But there were no human beings.
Zeus, the king of the gods, felt that humans should be created to inhabit the earth. The gods belonged to a race of supernatural beings called Titans, and among them were two brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus. The gods entrusted the job of creating humans to these brothers.
''But remember to give human beings the necessary qualities to look after themselves,'' the gods warned the brothers.
''We will,'' replied Prometheus and Epimetheus.
Prometheus decided to create the first human being. He would model him after the gods and Epimetheus would give him the qualities to match his looks.
While Prometheus was busy creating man. Epimetheus was distributing gifts to the animals. He gave wings to the birds, claws and fur to the animals and sells to the tortoises so that they might all be comfortable. Then, he gave the animals swiftness, power and strength. He was so carried away that he forgot to keep any special gifts for man.
Prometheus knew that if man was to be superior to the other creatures, as the gods wanted, he would need some special quality. He thought long and hard and finally came to the conclusion that only the gift of fire could make man superior to the rest of god's creatures.
But fire belonged only to the gods and no one else was allowed to have it. The gods, who lived on Mount Olympus, kept firs burning all the time in special vessels, which they guarded carefully. Prometheus knew that they would never agree to share the gift of fire with man or anyone else on earth. But he made up his mind to steal fire from the gods and give it to human beings, whom he had created so lovingly. The gods would be angry if they came to know what he had done and would surely punish him; but he decided to take the risk.
One dark night, Prometheus quietly made his way to Mount Olympus, the home of the gods, unseen by anyone. He quickly grabbed a burning piece of wood from one of the fires and hid it in his bosom. He returned to the earth with the fire burning into his skin. He gave fire to humans, and taught them how to use it. Needless to say, it gave them tremendous power, for now they could do a lot of things with fire. They made pots and pans, produced tools for ploughing the land and doing many other things. They also used fire to light up their homes and to keep themselves warm. They were very grateful to Prometheus who had risked his life to bring them such a wonderful gift.
The gods too were very angry with Prometheus for giving away something that belonged to them. After much thought they decided to send a beautiful woman down to the earth and use her to punish Prometheus and the human beings he had created.
Zeus smiled and said, ''That will do far a start ! I shall give Prometheus a more severe punishment later. Now we must find out what kind of life humans are living on the earth.''
Several gods were sent to find out what the human beings created by Prometheus were doing. They went back to Mount Olympus and reported to Zeus, ''Your Majesty, human beings are perfectly happy. They are leading a life of bliss.''
The gods saw that the first human beings were good and innocent. The air on the earth was pure and fresh. The sun shone brightly all the year round and the earth was full of delicious fruits and fragrant flowers. No one knew the meaning of hunger, sickness or death. They had everything they needed and were totally content.
''It's all because Prometheus was sly enough to steal my fire!'' cried Zeus angrily. ''We must change all this Listen carefully, I have a plan.''
Then Zeus said, ''The woman whom we are going to send down to the earth must be specially charming. Let each one of us give her a special gift.''
Then Zeus said, ''The woman whom we are going to send down to the earth must be specially charming. Let each one of us give her a special gift.''
So the gods joined hands to create a divinely beautiful woman with very special gifts. They named her Pandora. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, took Pandora down to the earth and presented her to Prometheus as a special gift from Zeus. But Prometheus did not trust Zeus, and wisely refused to accept the gift. Epimetheus , on the other hand, was more trusting. He could not believe that such an exquisite creature could harm them in any way , so he married Pandora despite Prometheus warning him not to do so.
At first, Epimetheus and Pandora were very happy together. They walked hand in hand through the cool forest, gathering sweet and delicious fruits and nuts. Pandora would sit under the shade of trees weaving garlands of sweet - scented flowers. Sometimes she sang in her melodious voice while Epimetheus listened, enchanted. Often , they sat together in quiet contentment listening to the song of the birds.
One afternoon, as they walked along the river, they saw a traveller in the distance. It was Hermes, who had come to pay them a visit. He was dusty and weary after a long journey. He carried a heavy box on his back.
''I'm on my way to deliver a message for King Zeus,'' said Hermes. ''But it is a long way off and I'm very tired. Could I leave my box here for a while ?'' he asked them.
Epimetheus readily agreed and Hermes went on his way after promising to come back for the box vey soon.
Pandora was curious about the contents of Hermes' box. She wondered why it was so heavy. Epimetheus remembered Prometheus' warning not to trust the gods. So he told her to leave the box alone as it did not belong to them.
''We are not supposed to open it,'' warned Epimetheus again. ''Besides, Hermes trusted us to keep it safe.''
Pandora was annoyed. It was the first time that Pandora and Epimetheus did not agree about something. He tried to make amends by inviting her to visit the rose garden. But Pandora refused to be pacified and Epimetheus decided to leave her alone for a while. He had no doubt that she would soon join him in the garden.
Pandora was certain that there was something precious inside the box, and was anxious, therefore, to see what it was. As soon as Epimetheus left the place, Pandora rushed to where Hermes had left the box. She looked at it with great longing. It was made of dark wood with beautiful carvings all over. It was securely tied up with a golden cord fastened with an elaborate knot. Pandora was proud of her deft fingers and her ability to weave. She was confident that she would be able to undo the knot if she tried. She could hear Epimetheus calling her from the garden. She also heard the sounds of laughter. But nothing mattered to her anymore.
For a long time it seemed that she would not succeed. The knot was so intricate that no matter how hard she tired, she just could not undo it. But strange whispering sounds seemed to be calling out to her from within. finally, just as she was about to give up in despair, the knot came undone and the golden cord fell on the ground leaving the box open. Pandora smiled triumphantly. at last she could discover what lay inside the box.
Pandora's heart beat loud and fast. Should she open the box? She put her ears on the lid of the box. Did she really hear whispers, or was it only her imagination ?
This time the whispers sounded louder. There came fluttering voices from within that clearly said, ''Please, Pandora, open the box and set us free,'' ''Pandora, we beg of you, let us out. Free us from this dark and gloomy prison!''
Pandora was really intrigued. Who was inside the box? How did they know her name?
Surely it would not be wrong to set free whoever was imprisoned within the box? She heard Epimetheus calling her to join him. As if in a dream, Pandora lifted the lid of the box to take a quick look.
Now , Zeus had known exactly what would happen when Pandora saw the box, and so he had filled it with all the evil things he could think of. There were sorrows, vice, crimes, diseases and everything else that could make life miserable for humans. Each of these looked like a dirty brown wasp with a sting. As soon as Pandora opened the lid, they came fluttering out and filled up the whole place. They stung Pandora and Epimetheus who had come in to see what Pandora was doing The wasps flew out through the door and windows and stung the people who were dancing and making merry in the garden. Their shouts of joy soon turned cries of pain,
Pain, anger, quarrel and sickness were totally unknown to Epimetheus and the people of the golden age. But when these evil spirits stung them, something totally new happened. Tempers flew, people quarrelled and fought with one another. They fell sick and their bodies ached with pain. Epimetheus and Pandora argued, each blaming the other for this sad state of affairs.
They had forgotten the box. It was closed once again as Pandora had dropped the lid as soon as Epimetheus arrived. Once again, Pandora heard whisper this time.
''Open the box, Pandora,'' it said, ''Open the box and let me out.''
''You had better do as the voice asks,'' said Epimetheus.
''You saw what happened the last time,'' replied Pandora tearfully , ''I do not want any more of those creatures escaping from the box.''
''You let the others out when I had forbidden you to touch the box,'' said Epimetheus, ''and they made us all miserable. I cannot imagine anything worse happening! So, you had better let this last one out too.''
Pandora walked up to the box and lifted the lid once again with trembling fingers. This time a little snow- white bird flew out of the box. A cool and healing breeze swept over the whole place as it fluttered its wings.
''Who are you ?'' asked Epimetheus in surprise.
''I'm Hope,'' said the little bird, ''I shall heal the wounds caused by all the others.''
When Zeus, in his rage, was stuffing the box full of evil spirits, one of the gods felt pity for the poor humans on earth, and quietly put in the spirit of hope at the very bottom of the box to soften their misery.
Hope flew all over the place and touched the people who were suffering. She lessened their pain and made their life bearable, although they could never get back to the golden age again.
''Will you stay with us, for ever and ever?'' asked Epimetheus hopefully.
''As long as you need me,'' said Hope, smiling. ''I promise never to leave you. There may be times when you think that I have vanished. But when you least dream of my being with you, you will see the glimmer of my wings and I''ll be there.''
And so, hope came to stay. Even now hope rules the world. No matter how much we suffer, it is hope which enables mankind to look ahead and dream of a brighter and happier future.
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
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