Herakles (a.k.a. Hercules): Son of the great God Zeus and a mortal woman, Hercules would forever be at odds with Zeus’s goddess wife, Hera. After he went mad and murdered his family, Hercules had to complete 12 tasks, none of which were believed to be possible. The tasks included slaying beasts such as the Nemean Lion and the multi-headed Hydra. Although he completed the 12 tasks, he later died when he put on clothing that had been smeared with poisoned centaur blood.
Odysseus: Odysseus was one of the Greek heroes of the Trojan War as described by Homer in his famous epic poem The Iliad. Not only was Odysseus a skilled warrior, he was also the cleverest of the Greek captains. When the effort to take Troy stalled, it was Odysseus who devised the famous Trojan Horse, a large wooden “gift” which actually contained many Greek warriors. When the horse was brought inside Troy’s walls, the soldiers came out and opened the gates for their fellows. After the war, Odysseus returned home to Ithaca: his long journey, full of adventures, is narrated in Homer’s The Odyssey. Among his adventures was a famous fight with Polyphemus the Cyclops.
Achilles: Another great Greek hero of the Trojan War, Achilles was born to a supernatural being, a nymph, who protected him by dipping him in the River Styx when he was an infant. This made him invulnerable except for one spot where her hand covered his skin: his heel. Thus the phrase “Achilles heel,” which means “weak point.” Achilles was a brave warrior who led his own band of soldiers, known as the Myrmidons. Achilles bested Troy’s greatest warrior, Hector, in single combat. Hector’s brother, Paris, later killed Achilles by shooting him with an arrow in his heel.
Jason: Jason was a young prince whose father’s throne had been usurped by a certain Pelias, who made himself king. When Jason showed up demanding his father’s kingdom, Pelias sent him on a quest: find the Golden Fleece and bring it back. He rounded up a group of heroes and they set sail in a ship called the Argo: the heroes were therefore called the Argonauts. They had many adventures and did manage to claim the Golden Fleece.
Atalanta: One of the few heroines in Greek lore, Atalanta was one of the heroes that Jason rounded up to crew the Argo (although some versions of the Argo legend do not include her). Atalanta was beautiful and the fastest runner in the land: according to myth, she could even run on water without her feet getting wet. Many of the other heroes on board the Argo were in love with her, but none more than Prince Meleagrus of Calydon. In a spat over her, he killed his uncles and was himself later killed by his own mother in her grief over her brothers. Atalanta later promised to marry anyone who could beat her in a footrace, and the handsome Melanion finally did, but only with help from the Goddess Aphrodite. Aphrodite gave him golden apples to drop, which distracted Atalanta, allowing him to win.
See Also:
The Legend of Atalanta and Hippomenes
The Legend of Atalanta and the Calydon Boar
 |
