Thursday, June 20, 2002

Artemis (Greek)

Artemis (Greek)

Alternative Names(異名):
Artemis (Greek), 아르테미스, Diana (Roman), 디아나, 다이아나, 다이애나,


Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto. Her twin brother is Apollo . She is the lady of the wild things. She is the huntsman of the gods. She is the protector of the young. Like Apollo she hunts with silver arrows. She became associated with the moon. She is a virgin goddess, and the goddess of chastity. She also presides over childbirth, which may seem odd for a virgin, but goes back to causing Leto no pain when she was born. She became associated with Hecate. The cypress is her tree. All wild animals are scared to her, especially the deer.

Saturday, June 15, 2002

Prometheus (Greek)

Prometheus

Prometheus was the wisest Titan. His name means "forethought" and he was able to foretell the future. He was the son of Iapetus . When Zeus revolted against Cronus Prometheus deserted the other Titans and fought on Zeus side.

By some accounts he and his brother Epimetheus were delegated by Zeus to create man. In all accounts, Prometheus is known as the protector and benefactor of man. He gave mankind a number of gifts including fire. He also tricked Zeus into allowing man to keep the best part of the animals sacrificed to the gods and to give the gods the worst parts.

For this Zeus punished Prometheus by having him chained to a rock with an eagle tearing at his liver. He was to be left there for all eternity or until he agreed to disclose to Zeus which of Zeus children would try to replace him. He was eventually rescued by Heracles without giving in to Zeus.

Sunday, June 9, 2002

Arianrhod (Welsh)

Arianrhod

Alternative Names(異名):
Arianrhod


Arianrhod is a figure in Welsh mythology who plays her most important role in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi. She is the daughter of Dôn and the sister of Gwydion and Gilfaethwy; the Welsh Triads give her father as Beli Mawr. In the Mabinogi her uncle Math ap Mathonwy is the King of Gwynedd, and during the course of the story she gives birth to two sons, Dylan Ail Don and Lleu Llaw Gyffes, through magical means.


Mabinogion

According to the Fourth Branch, Arianrhod's uncle Math fab Mathonwy would die if he did not keep his feet in the lap of a virgin when he was not at war. Gilfaethwy falls in love with his original footholder, Goewin, and he and his brother Gwydion engineer a war with King Pryderi of Dyfed, forcing Math to leave his court. In his absence Gilfaethwy rapes Goewin, but is punished severely when Math returns (Math turns him and Gwydion into a series of mated pairs of animals). Math marries Goewin to alleviate her shame, but must find a new virgin to hold his feet.

Gwydion suggests his sister, Arianrhod. To test her virginity, Math tells her to step over his magician's rod. On doing this, however, she immediately gives birth to a young boy, Dylan Ail Don, and an entity which becomes Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Dylan is a sea spirit, who flees to the ocean immediately after he is baptized; Gwydion grabs the entity before anyone else sees it and places it in a chest. Before long it becomes a boy who grows at twice the normal rate; when he is four he is as big as an eight-year-old. Gwydion takes him to see his mother at her home, Caer Arianrhod.

However, Arianrhod is still angry about her humiliation at Math's court. She places a tynged (a geis or curse) on the boy that he will never have a name unless she gives it to him. Gwydion disguises the boy as a shoemaker and returns to Caer Arianrhod; while Arianrhod is being fitted, she sees the boy killing a wren with a single stone and remarks that the fair-haired one ("lleu") has a skillful hand ("llaw gyffes"). Gwydion reveals the disguise, and says she has just given her son a name – Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Arianrhod then places a second tynged on Lleu, that he would never take arms unless she armed him. A few years later Gwydion and Lleu return to Caer Arianrhod, this time disguised as bards. Gwydion is an accomplished storyteller and entertains her court. That night, while everyone sleeps, he conjures a fleet of warships. Arianrhod gives them weapons and armor to help her fight, thereby dispelling her second curse. When Gwydion reveals the trickery, Arianrhod places a final tynged on Lleu: he would never have a wife from any race that is on this earth now. Gwydion and Math eventually break this curse by creating a woman out of oak blossom, broom, and meadowsweet; she is named Blodeuwedd ("flower face"). With her curses, Arianrhod denied Lleu the three aspects of masculinity: a name, arms, and a wife.


In other sources

One of the Welsh Triads, 35 by Rachel Bromwich's numbering, establishes a different family connection for Arianrhod. Her father is named as Beli Mawr, and her brother is Caswallawn (the historical Cassivellaunus). She has two sons by Lliaws son of Nwyfre, Gwenwynwyn and Gwanar, who both accompany Caswallawn in his pursuit of Julius Caesar, who has been chased from Britain. This triad is the only source connecting Arianrhod to Beli Mawr and the Caswallawn saga, but it is not incompatible with the tradition recorded in the Mabinogion. The stories of Welsh mythology changed over time, and the Mabinogion does not contain the only version of them. Welsh scholar William John Gruffydd noted that 15th- and 16th-century poets apparently knew an alternate tradition in which Arianrhod actually became Math's footholder. Additionally, some scholars have suggested that in an earlier form of the Fourth Branch, Gwydion was the father of Arianrhod's sons.

Arianrhod's palace, Caer Arianrhod, is connected with a rock formation visible off the coast of northern Gwynedd at low tide. This formation is one of several landmarks that attest to the localization of the events in the Fourth Branch in this area. The name "Caer Arianrhod" is also used in Welsh for the constellation Corona Borealis.


Etymology

The name "Arianrhod" (from the Welsh arian, "silver," and rhod, "wheel") may be cognate with Proto-Celtic *Arganto-rotā, meaning "silver wheel." Alternately, the earliest form of the name may have been Aranrot, in which case the first part of the name would be related to "Aran."


Tag

Names | Welsh goddesses | Welsh mythology |

Wednesday, June 5, 2002

Ares (Greek)

Ares

Alternative Names:
Ares, 아레스


Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. He was disliked by both parents. He is the god of war. He is considered murderous and bloodstained but, also a coward. When caught in an act of adultery with Aphrodite her husband Hephaestus is able publicly ridicule him. His bird is the vulture. His animal is the dog.