Eagle (Zeus)

1. Eagle (Zeus) English I – Louise S. McGehee School 2004 (“Aquila”)

2. What the Eagle Looks Like • The eagle has shimmering white feathers. • It was a very big bird. • Sometimes called the “Thunder Bird” because it received Zeus’ thunder bolts from land. • The eagle was also called Aquila (Tucker). (Kakerka) A piece of Greek pottery of the eagle eating Prometheus’ liver.

3. The Cultural/National Origin and How it was regarded in its own culture • Aquila the eagle is Zeus’ messenger and comes from Greek mythology. • We know Aquila is Greek because Zeus was the Greek god and Aquila was Zeus’ eagle (Linsell). • This eagle is presented on Greek coins, armor, pottery, and art (Wise). • The eagle is found in other myths in other cultures, but it is not presented in the same way as it is in Greek mythology. (Wise) Greek Coin

4. Myths surrounding the eagle… “Dung beetle and the Eagle” is a myth from Aesop's Fables. • In this myth, the beetle asks the eagle not to eat a particular rabbit in Zeus’s name. • But the eagle doesn’t listen and the eagle eats the rabbit anyway. • Then every time the eagle lays its eggs the beetle crushes them. • So the eagle gets upset because she can’t lay eggs without them being destroyed (Gibbs). (Google)

5. Continuing “Dung Beetle” Myth… • The eagle brings her eggs to Zeus, and Zeus agrees to hold the eagle’s eggs in his lap. • When the beetle found out what the eagle did, he flew up to Mount Olympus and flew into Zeus’s face, causing Zeus to jump up and knock the eggs out of his lap. • Then, the beetle told Zeus what the eagle did to the rabbit so long ago, and Zeus punished the eagle. • But, since Zeus did not want eagles to go extinct, he tried to make the beetle stop smashing the eagles’ eggs, but he wouldn’t agree. • So Zeus changed the season when Eagles laid their eggs to when beetles would only stay right at ground level (Gibbs). (Zeus)

6. Another Myth surrounding the eagle… This second myth is tilted The Myth of Prometheus. • It is about Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus. They did things against Zeus’ will and, after a while, they gave man fire when Zeus did not want to give fire to man yet. • So, Zeus sent Pandora down with a box to give to Prometheus and Prometheus gave it to his brother because he knew it was going to be bad. • And his brother opened it and the box contained all of the horrors of the world. Since he opened the box he was tied down to a stone and Zeus’ eagle would come and eat his liver (The Myth of Prometheus).

7. Continuing The Myth of Prometheus… • Overnight, Prometheus’ liver would grow back and then the eagle would do it again. • Then Zeus sent Hercules to go get Prometheus, and Hercules bound him to a chain which was attached to a rock, which Prometheus had to carry with him the rest of his life. • This painting shows Zeus’s eagle eating the liver out of Prometheus's body (“The Myth of Prometheus”). (“Prometheus and the eagle”)

8. How it links with any other myths and stories • In a Mesopotamian myth, people thought a lion-headed eagle brought in the rain, and when the eagle would flap its wings that would be the thunder. This myth relates with Zeus and the eagle because as important as the eagle was in the Greek gods and goddesses, the lion-headed eagle has as much stature as Aquila did. • Also, there is a Chinese myth about two people getting married and the people trampling a magpie. The people did such a good job that they were happy about it. This myth links with the Prometheus myth because the people were fighting and harming the bird, whereas in Prometheus’s myth, Aquila was harming Prometheus.

9. How it links with the modern world • The eagle (Aquila) is a constellation. In Greek mythology it is known as the storm bird, and now it is known as the messenger of the heavens (Aquila). • The eagle is the national bird of the United States. (“Eagle”)

10. Works Cited • “Aquila.” Peoria Astronomical Society. 2002. Peoria, IL, 13 January 2004. <http://www.astronomical.org/pasmenu.htm>. • “Aquila”. Google. 2004. Google. 13 January 2004. <http://www.google.com/>. • Crane, Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project. 1997. 12 January 2004. <http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1989.00.00122> • “Constellions: Aquila – Doing his Master’s Bidding.” Hawaiian Astromical Society. 14 January 2004. <http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/agl/>. • “Dung Beetle.” Google. 2004. Google. 13 January 2004. <http://www.google.com/>. • “Eagle.” Google. 2004. Google. 13 January 2004. <http://www.google.com/>. • Gibbs, Laura. “Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002).” AESOPICA.NET: Aesop's Fables Online. 2003. 11 January 2004. <http://www.mythfolklore.net/aesopica/index.htm>. • Ivison, Erica A. “Greek Mythology.” SIIAS@CSI. 14 January 2004. <http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/siias/greekgods.html.> • Kakerka, Robert, Kate Mingione, Robin Herrmann, and Josh Schwabenbaur. “Zeus Culture.” In ancient Greece, Zeus was known simply as the King of the Gods. 16 January 2004. <http://www.ecsel.psu.edu/~jss264/intropage.htm>. • Kenneth, McLeish. “Imdugud.” Myth. New York: Facts on File, 1996. • Leadbetter, Ron. “Zeus.” Encyclopedia Mythica. 2003. M.F. Linemans. 13 January 2004.<http://www.pantheon.org/articles/z/zeus.html>.

11. Works Cited (cont.) • “Lightning Bolts.” Google. 2004. Google. 13 January 2004.<http://www.google.com/>. • Linsell, Tony. “Zeus Culture”;Anglo-Saxon, Mythology, Migration and Magic. 1994. Pinner, Middlesex, England: Anglo-Saxon Books. 15 January 2004. <http://www.ecsel.psu.edu/~jss264/ancient.htm>. • Milliken, Ba Shaleek Alshain. “Aquila, the Eagle.” A Collection of Mews about Star. 14 January 2004. <http://www.afn.org/~afn47757/room4/starbooks.html>. • “Prometheus and the Eagle.” Google. 2004. Google. 13 January 2004. <http://www.google.com/>. • “The Myth of Prometheus.” GeoCities. 2004. Yahoo. 12 January 2004. <http://geocities.yahoo.com/>. • Tucker, Suzetta. “The Bestiary.” Christian Legends and Symbols. 1999. 11 January 2004. <http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/legend01/index.html>. • “United States State Symbols, Bird.” SHG Resources. 2003. 14 January 2004. <http://www.statehousegirls.net/>. • Wiik, Michael. “Zeus”;Message net Communications Research. 2001. Washington, DC, WWW Consultants. 15 January 2004. <http://www.ecsel.psu.edu/~jss264/ancient.htm/>. • “Zeus Culture.” In Ancient Greece, Zeus was Known Simply as the King of the Gods. 13 January 2004. <http://www.ecsel.psu.edu/~jss264/ancient.htm/>. • “Zeus The Olympian.” Greek Mythology. 1998, X. 12 January 2004. <http://www.messagenet.com/myths/bios/zeus.html>. • “Zeus.” Google. 2004. Google. 13 January 2004. <http://www.google.com/>.