What You Didn’t Know About Greek Mythology

Greek Gods were nothing like the Christian God, they were wildly flawed and human. This is why people find Greek Mythology entertaining. In fact, there are some wild facts about the Mythology you should know:

• The Greek Gods picked sticks to see who would govern over what, with Zeus getting the sky, Poseidon the sea and I suppose you can say Hades got the short end of the stick and got stuck with the Underworld.
• The expression ‘Take the bull by the horns’ came from one of Hercules tasks where he had to save the city of Crete from a raging bull and did as the expression says: he took the bull by the horns.
• Athena and Poseidon both competed to be the guardian of a city by offering gifts. Poseidon offered a spring of water that turned out to be salty, whilst Athena offered an olive tree. Needless to say, Athena won, and the city became known as Athens.
• Statues of an armed and armored Aphrodite prove she had a military background and influence. She was married after all to Ares the God of War.
• Pandora was the first ever mortal and received many gifts from the Gods to make her perfect. Unfortunately one of them gave her a box she wasn’t allowed to open, but like Eve and the forbidden fruit, Pandora opened the box and released evil into the world.
• Zeus’ adultery is responsible for the creation of Echoes. Zeus depended on a nymph called Echo to distract his wife Hera whilst he had affairs. When Hera discovered this he punished Echo by removing her speech and only allowing her to repeat what everybody else said.

There are countless other facts about mythology to read up on. If you wish to learn more about myths or fantasy in general, don’t be afraid to browse through our online library www.lumatch.com.