The Highs and Lows of Mythology

1. The Highs and Lows of Mythology By: Adam Cooke

2. Lows: The Story of Tantalus • Born a son of Zeus, Tantalus was from a city called Phrygia and was a father to Pelops, Broteas and Niobe. • Everything in Tantalus’ life seemed very good, until he developed a bad reputation with Zeus. • Once Tantalus was accepted into Zeus’ table in Olympus, he started to misbehave and even was accused of stealing food and bringing it back to his people, as well as revealing the secrets of the gods to regular citizens.

3. The “Sacrifice” • The most disturbing thing and most famous thing that he is known for is he once offered up his own son Pelops, to the gods as a sacrifice! • Zeus then ordered Clotho, one of the Fates, to revive the boy. She collected the parts of the body and boiled them in a sacred cauldron. • He killed Pelops, chopped him up, boiled him then served him to the gods in a banquet. • Recognizing what was in front of them, none of the gods touched the sacrifice except for Demeter, who absentmindedly ate part of the shoulder because she was in distress. • Tantalus was sent to a place in the underworld called Tartarus, to serve his punishment. • His punishment was that he had to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree. Each time he tried to drink, the water eluded him. Each time he grabbed for fruit, the tree got higher. Giving him the deprivation of any nourishment.

4. Tantalus in Our World Today • The English verb “tantalize”, comes from the story of Tantalus. • To tantalize someone is to tease someone with something that they will never really get. • The chemical element Tantalum, atomic number 73 on the periodic table of elements, is named after the story of Tantalus. • It was named this due to lack of reactivity and difficulty to isolate. The metal had “tantalized” chemists.

5. The Highs: Theseus • Theseus was a hero in Greek mythology. He was a king of Athens who was the son of Aegeus or of Poseidon. It is said that his mother Aethra slept with Poseidon as well. Meaning Theseus would have both divine and mortal characteristics. • Theseus’ “father” Aegeusleft for Athens when Aethra became pregnant. Before leaving he left his sword and shield under a large stone and told Aethra that when Theseus grew up, to take the weapons for himself.

6. The Six Labors • Once Theseus grew up he removed the stone and recovered his fathers arms. His mother then told him about his father and that he had to return the weapons to the king to claim his birthright. • Theseus killed six villains on his way to Athens: 1. Periphetes a cripple with a club. 2. Sinis, by tying him to two bent trees which he then released. 3. He killed the Sow of Crommyon. 4. He killed Sciron. 5. He wrestled Cercyon. 6. Finally he killed Procrustes. • This is how Theseus became king of Athens. • He had to bring the weapons to Athens and there was two paths he could take. • One path would be to go by sea, which is the easy way. Or, he could go by land and have to pass the six entrances of the underworld (or six labors). Being brave and courageous, he chose land.

7. Theseus and the Minotaur • Theseus went to the labyrinth at night, and finally found his way to the heart of the labyrinth where the minotaur lived. • The beast awoke and a lengthy and spirited fight then broke out. Theseus eventually overpowered the beast and stabbed it in the throat. • A few years earlier, King Minos of the town Crete, took ownership over Athens. • Every 9 years, he shipped the seven most courageous young men and the seven most beautiful young women to Crete to be killed by a minotaur. A half-man half-bull that lived in a Labyrinth. • Theseus offered to go and slay the minotaur, so he took the place of one of the men, and left for Crete. • He was given a ball of string by Ariadne a daughter of Minos who had fallen in love with Theseus. The ball of string was given to him because it can be used to find his way out of the labyrinth.