First Greek Myths

THE PIRATES' PUNISHMENT

2011-10-15T04:13:00.000-07:00

Do you know where wine comes from, guys?

This week I was doing workshops in a London school. We had time for just one story before the going-home bell rang.

'Tell us one about dolphins,' someone shouted out.

'No, a pirate story,' said a girl at the front.

'The theme of the week is Ancient Greece,' their TA reminded them.

One of the boys turned to me. 'Can you tell us a dolphin-and-pirate story from Ancient Greece'

'Course I can.' And here it is:

A young man hired a ship to take him across the sea to the Greek island of Naxos.
‘Where shall we really take him?’ sniggered the crew among themselves, ‘Egypt? Syria?’
They looked for all the world like honest tradesmen but they were really pirates in disguise. Their job was to kidnap passengers and sell them on as slaves. They made a lot of money that way; the chests in the hold were full of gold.
‘The poor fellow is still a boy,’ muttered one of the oarsmen. ‘Will not his mother miss him?’
The others laughed in his face. Pirates could not afford to think of their victims’ mothers, or sisters and children. They had to be cruel and heartless or they would fail at their job.
The passenger spoke from his seat by the mast. ‘Are you sure this is the way to Naxos?’

The captain replied without hesitation. ‘We’ve done this journey many times before, sir.’
The oarsmen threw worried glances at each other. Was the young man suspecting foul play already? Had he overheard their conversation?
‘I would like some wine, if I may,’ said the passenger, sniffing the air. ‘Your cargo seems to be leaking costly stuff.’

The captain sniffed the air. Strange, he could smell expensive wine too. Where was it coming from? His barrels held nothing but cheap stuff fit only for workmen.
‘Our senses must be playing tricks on us, sir. We have been out in the sun too long.’

The passenger laughed and slapped his knee. He couldn’t suspect he’d been kidnapped, then. He would be panicking and trying to get the attention of a passing vessel if he did.
‘I like the masts on your ship, captain. They go very well with the wine, don’t you think?’

The captain looked up from the barrel he was inspecting. The straight masts had warped in the sun. They had branches with leaves growing out of them. They looked more like grapevines than masts on a ship. The sun, thought the captain. It was playing tricks on all their minds. He had to give the men some water…
‘I do like a bit of revelry when I am travelling,’ laughed the passenger. He leapt up and started dancing. His hair had changed from black to gold, his eyes were the colour of ripe grapes.

Was it he who was making them see these things, then? Was their passenger a magician?
Someone in the crew started to pray. ‘Oh Dionysus, god of wine and vegetation, help us.’
‘But I am helping you,’ laughed the passenger.
The captain reeled at the words. They hadn’t kidnapped a magician, then, but a god, the son of the great Zeus himself. These strange happenings were his punishment.

A scream made him look from Dionysus to his men. The oars in their hands had turned to serpents, writhing and spitting poison.
‘Abandon ship,’ he yelled. ‘Each man to his own.’

The men needed no further prompting, even though none of them could swim to save his life. In a minute, they were all in the sea, struggling to keep afloat.

‘I am the god of happiness, the god of revelry,’ shouted Dionysus from the deck of the ship. ‘You mock me by kidnapping people, by turning their lives to misery. I should let you all drown, but one of you spoke kindly about me and my mother, so I shall spare your lives.’

He passed his hand over the sea and the pirates suddenly found they could swim. They had been turned into dolphins.

‘Go,’ ordered Dionysus, ‘and from now on, be kind to all people crossing the sea. Help them when they are in trouble.’

The dolphins scattered, their past lives as pirates completely forgotten. To this day, they still roam the wine-dark sea, helping sailors and swimmers in distress!

This story appears in AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 TALES.
Copyright in the US, Saviour Pirotta and Kingfisher Books
Copyright in the UK, Saviour Pirotta and Macmillan Books
Copyright in the rest of the world, Saviour Pirotta and, where the book is in print, Saviour Pirotta and the local publisher.
This story may be used by schools, libaries and for educational purposes but not for financial gain.

For other exciting stories from around the world, purchase a copy of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 TALES.

HERE BE MONSTERS: GRABBED BY GORGONS

2011-07-09T13:32:00.000-07:00

The Gorgons were three monstrous sisters whose hideous faces both terrified and captivated people in Ancient Greece, and later Rome. They were believed to have golden wings and sharp bronze claws, strong enough to rip open flesh. Enormous tusks stuck out of their mouths. Their skin was covered in tough scales like a reptile's, and their hair was a mass of writhing snakes, ready to sting and poison anyone who got close.

Not that many people managed to get close enough to be gored by the gorgons. The sisters were so ugly, one look into their eyes and you were turned instantly to stone.

Medusa as seen on a Greek vase

The gorgons, whose names were Sthenno, Euryale and Medusa were the children of the sea god Phorycs and his wife Ceto, a terible sea-monster. Early storytellers believed they could create dangerous reefs that would wreck ships and send sailors to the bottom of the sea.

Later ones insisted that Medusa was born a beautiful woman but she insulted the goddess Athena and was turned into a monster like her two sisters. Sthenno and Euryale were immortal, but Medusa could be killed. That's why King Polydektes sent the hero Perseus to cut off her head. When he did, two drops of blood fell in the earth. From these were born the winged horse Pegasus and the giant Khrysaor.

Not everyone was terrified of the gorgons. Because of their scaly skin, a lot of people thought of them as some kind of snake - and snakes were considered to have healing powers in Ancient Greece. They could also protect you from the evil eye. Some people placed images of the gorgons on the graves of relatives, to ward off evil. Soldiers had the faces of Medusa engraved on their shield for protection. Perhaps they wished they could turn the enemy to stone.

You can read the story of how Perseus killed Medusa in THE ORCHARD BOOK OF FIRST GREEK MYTHS or PERSEUS AND THE MONSTROUS MEDUSA.
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SHOPPING WITH PRINCESS ARIADNE

2011-06-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

On my recent research trip to Crete, I came across this shop sign outside a supermarket in Agios Nikolaus. I can't read the Greek alphabet but I knew what it said right away. The picture on the right was a good clue. Ariadne! This was a supermarket named after the princess who helped Theseus escape from the labyrinth after he slew the minotaur.

It was the first time I'd seen a shop called after the princess, but it wasn't the last. There are a lot of supermarkets in Crete called Ariadne. Some don't even have the name above the door. They just have a picture of Ariadne holding that famous ball of string. And one or two supermarkets only had a picture of the ball. No Ariadne needed! The symbol is so famous, people only have to see the ball of string and know what the shop is called. I wonder why supermarkets are called Ariadne. Perhaps the owners want the shoppers to think that it's like a labyrinth inside, filled with aisle after aisle of goodies to buy.

That first sight of a shop sign inspired by Greek myths, made me keep a look out for more. A few days later I saw a goldsmith's in the city of Heraklion. Guess what it was called? You got it! MIDAS! It was named after the king with the golden touch. There were lots of people coming in and out of it so no one seemed to mind that Midas ended up rejecting gold. I asked the lovely couple who ran the hotel I stayed in and they said lots of jewellery shops in Crete are called Midas.

On the same day I also photographed a hotel called Daedalus. As you might know, he was the famous inventor who created the labyrinth under King Minos's palace in Knossos. He also built the bronze giant called Talos and made wings for himself and his son Icarus so they could escape from Crete. I couldn't figure out what the connection between Daedalus and the hotel was. Perhaps the owners just wanted a name associated with their beautiful island. They got an artist to paint a colourful sign for them, which seems to glow with a life of its own in the bright Greek sunlight. Here's a copy of the picture I took.

The Greeks are not the only ones to use names from Greek mythology as shop and brand names. The Japanese sports label Nike is a famous example. Nike was the Greek goddess of victory, speed and strength, so you can see why the sports label chose her for their name. She had wings, and after battles she flew around battlefields, rewarding winners with fame and glory. The ancient Greeks used her image on coins to bring them wealth.

There's also Ajax bathroom cleaner, Atlas Travel, the Hermes fashion label, a film company called Orion Pictures and Naxos, a classical music label named after the island where Theseus abandoned poor Ariadne. It always comes back to Ariadne!

Next time you're out shopping take note at how many goods and services we use have names inspired by Greek myths. You'll be surprised!

AT KING MINOS'S PALACE

2011-06-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

The original columns were made of upside down tree trunks

I recently went to Crete on a research trip. My next book is set there and I wanted to see the locations for myself. First port of call was, of course, the palace at Knossos, which I'd been wanting to visit since I heard the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur when I was knee-high to a bee.

It's believed to have been the home of King Minos, step-father of the famous Minotaur and father of Ariadne, the princess who ran away with Theseus.

The word palace is a bit misleading here. Knossos is in fact a maze of over 1000 rooms, a little city in itself. There are workshops, smithies, store rooms, school rooms and offices for priests, administrators and merchants. The site was discovered in 1878 by a Cretan guy called, of all names, Minos. He uncovered bits of the palace but it wasn't until the English archaeologist and eccentric Sir Arthur Evans bought the site in 1900 that most of Knossos came to light. Evans hired lots of people to dig up the ruins, then proceeded to embellish them with frescoes and reconstructions he claimed were based on archaeological evidence. Critics insist he damaged the original remains in a way that they can never be reclaimed, and that he re-invented the past to suit his own needs. I liked his embellishments myself. They give the place a certain grandeur and, wandering from room to room it is so easy to imagine you are breathing the same air as the characters in the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur.

His Royal Highness, The Prince of Lilies

We are not sure if King Minos really did exist, or whether the word Minos actually meant something like 'his majesty', in which case there would have been a whole line of kings called Minos. The people who lived in Knossos are now called 'the Minoans', meaning the people of Minos. That name was given to them by Evans. We have no idea what they called themselves.

The frescoes, which are mostly reconstructions by an artist called Piet de Jong, show a nation at work and play. The men, portrayed as young and healthy in all the paintings, have sun-burnt skin; the women are all pale. Perhaps this was to suggest that men spent a lot of time out in the sun, hunting and fishing, while the women stayed at home, perhaps cooking or weaving. There are frescoes that show people fishing and gathering flowers.

There are also depictions of sport, mainly of bull-leaping. It seemed that one of the most popular feats of the time was somersaulting over bulls and hanging on to their horns for as long as possible before being thrown off. Perhaps this was the start of bullfighting, and the bull races that are held in places like Pamplona in Spain. Unlike the art of many other nations of the period, Minoan frescoes do not show soldiers or battles. Perhaps they did not think war was a subject worth remembering, or maybe they were not a warlike people. My favourite fresco is that of the 'Prince of Lilies'. It was restored by an artist called Gillieron and Sir Arthur Evans believed it shows a priest-king, leading an animal to its sacrifice.

The throne was designed for a woman to sit on.

I thought the most impressive part of the palace was the throne room. This too was recreated by artists in the 1900s and most of the frescoes here show mythological creatures called Griffins. These were very important to the Minoans, the people who lived here, and were used as symbols in seal rings. No one knows for sure what the throne room was used for. Evans believed that a later people who ousted the Minoans, - called the Mycenaeans - used it for ceremonial meetings and to receive ambassadors. Others insist that it could have held the statue of a goddess, who would have been seated on a wooden throne. The Minoans worshipped the mother goddess and statues of her have been found all over Crete.

The Minoan civilisation gave way to the ancient Greek world, but Knossos remained a busy, inhabited city even in Roman times. And it continues to inspire writers and artists to this very day. I came away from the site, my head buzzing with ideas for a new book. I've already jotted down a lot of notes and worked a plot. Watch this space! And come back again to my blog if you want to find out about lots of other legendary facts I discovered in Crete!