Danae and Perseus

GREECE, GREEK MYTHOLOGY

A long time ago in Argos lived King Acrisius and his only child, Princess Danae. When King Acrisius learned of a prophecy that he was destined to die at the hands of his daughter’s son, he locked Danae deep underground in a chamber made of bronze so that no man could come near her. However, the god Zeus infiltrated her prison and, in the guise of a shower of gold, impregnated her. Danae then secretly gave birth to a son whom she named Perseus. When her father learned of this, he commanded Danae and the child Perseus be put in a chest and set in the sea.

Mother and child drifted but by the grace of the gods landed safely on the shores of the island of Seriphos. There the kind fisherman Dictys offered them sanctuary, and they lived in peace as Perseus grew up. Meanwhile, the ruler of Seriphos, King Polydectes, began to covet Danae. He saw Perseus as an impediment, so he sent him on a quest to retrieve Medusa’s head.

Medusa was a Gorgon, a monster in the form of a woman with snakes growing from her head. Her appearance and her stare were so frightening that all who saw her turned to stone. Perseus was able to defeat her by using a mirror to avoid looking at her directly. He chopped off her head and put it in a bag, returning to Seriphos a hero. Unfortunately, the king never expected Perseus to return, and Danae, repulsed by Polydectes, had fled to the temple of Athena. Furious at the mistreatment of his mother, Perseus used the Gorgon’s head to turn Polydectes into stone.

Perseus then retrieved his mother, and together they returned to Argos. King Acrisius, terrified that he would die at the hands of his grandson, exiled himself instead. But at the games commemorating the exiled king, Perseus threw a discus that flew astray and hit Acrisius, killing him instantly.

Moses

EGYPT, HEBREW LEGEND

Long ago, the Jewish people were slaves in Egypt, forced to work for the Egyptians. The Pharaoh began to fear that they might overthrow him, and so he ordered all the baby boys born during a certain time to be killed. Yocheved feared for her son, Moses, so she put baby Moses in a basket and sent him down the river. As he floated in the water, he was found by Pharaoh’s daughter, who raised Moses as her own. After he had grown into a young man, Moses realized his true lineage and killed a slave master who mistreated a Jewish slave. He then decided to leave the riches of the palace and flee to a humbler life across the sea.

In Midian, Moses met and married a Kenite woman named Zipporah. They lived happily until God told Moses, through a burning bush, to go back to Egypt, liberate the Jewish people, and bring them to the chosen land. Moses reluctantly agreed.

Upon returning to Egypt, Moses demanded Pharaoh set the Jewish people free, and when Pharaoh refused, God sent down ten plagues. First the Nile River was turned to blood, killing all the fish. Then the country was beset by an infestation of frogs. Then everyone became covered in lice, followed by flies, then all the livestock died of sickness. People began breaking out in boils, and fire came raining down from the sky. Locusts ate all the crops, then the world became dark for three days. Finally, with the last plague, all the firstborn sons in Egypt died. But the firstborn sons of the Jewish people were spared because the families were warned ahead of time by Moses to mark their door frames with lamb’s blood.

Pharaoh, heartbroken at the death of his own son, ordered Moses and all the Jewish people to leave Egypt. But when Moses parted the Red Sea to create a path for the Jewish people to cross, Pharaoh changed his mind. He ordered his army to chase down the fleeing Israelites. After the last of the Jewish people crossed, Moses closed the sea on the Egyptian army, drowning all of them. And so Moses and the Jewish people were free.

Griffin

PERSIA, PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY

Griffins are giant hybrid creatures, part lion and part eagle. As griffins are the kings of both animals and birds, their majesty and power represent wisdom and strength in war. Their claws have medicinal properties, and their feathers can cure blindness. They guard treasure, and wherever a griffin is found, gold deposits are sure to be nearby. They even build nests of the gold they dig out of rocks. Pliny the Elder, a Greek historian, wrote of how the one-eyed warrior Arimaspian people constantly waged war with the griffins that lived near them. The warriors lived near the foot of the Rhipaion mountains in northern Skythia and fought continually with the griffins, who defended their rivers of gold.

Griffins also mate for life. Strictly loyal to their partners, they will not take a new mate even if their significant other dies. So they have come to represent monogamous unions and unwavering devotion. Their mixture of sky and ground animals means they are able to traverse both the air and the land, representing the connection between heaven and the earth, the divine and the human.

Griffins have traveled far and wide. They have been found in paintings and sculpture since ancient times in Iranian art and even ancient Egyptian works. Griffins have also been documented in Syria, Anatolia, and Greece. They are in the frescoes of the throne room at the palace of Knossos on Crete. They have been recorded as far east as Central Asia and India. They also appear frequently in the heraldry of Western Europe.

Griffins are also sometimes depicted as the creatures that pull Apollo’s chariot. Apollo is the Greek god of healing, medicine, archery, poetry, and music. One of the twelve Olympians and the most powerful of the pantheon of gods, he originally only watched after the sun god Helios’s cattle. But eventually he became the god that pulled the sun across the sky each day, with flying griffins, stronger than oxen, pulling his chariot.

Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka

RUSSIA, RUSSIAN FAIRY TALE

There once was an orphaned girl named Alyonushka, who lived with her young brother, Ivanushka. Ivanushka was still too young to work, so he would follow his sister to her job on the other side of the forest. The journey was long and hot for the young boy, so when he saw a cow hoofprint filled with water, he asked his sister if he could drink from it. She told him to wait until they could drink from the well. He asked again when he saw another hoofprint—this time a horse’s—filled with water, and again she told him to wait for the well. By this time he was so hot and thirsty that when he saw a goat hoofprint filled with water, he didn’t ask. He just drank. Immediately he was transformed into a little white goat, for the water had been a witch’s trick.

Alyonushka, realizing what had happened to her brother, began to cry. She vowed to take care of him forever. Just then a merchant came riding by and saw the lovely Alyonushka on the side of the road with a baby goat by her side. He asked her why she was crying, and when she told him her story, he instantly fell in love with her purity and proposed to her right then and there. Alyonushka agreed and they were soon wed, and the three lived happily for some time.

However, one day a witch kidnapped the goat-brother and used him to lure Alyonushka to the river. The witch seized the girl, tied her up, and weighted her with stones before throwing her into the water. Ivanushka managed to escape the witch. He ran home and found that the witch had transformed herself to look like Alyonushka. Alyonushka’s husband, who had been away during this adventure, did not notice any difference in his wife. The disguised witch tried to convince the merchant to eat the goat. But Ivanushka instead led him to the river to discover and save the real Alyonushka. Knowing they had been deceived by the witch, Alyonushka and her husband killed her, breaking the curse on Ivanushka. To their delight, he became a human boy once again.

Janus

ITALY, ROMAN MYTHOLOGY

Janus is the Roman god of beginnings, gates, time, passages, journeys, and endings. He is a god of transitions, always having one face looking forward to the future and one looking back to the past. He is particularly important to travel, trade, and shipping, especially when associated with Portunus, the god of harbors.

Janus is an unusual god because he was a mortal man first. The story begins with Saturn, a god of agriculture and great power. He ruled from Capitoline Hill until he was overthrown by his son, Jupiter, who then became the king of all the gods. Fleeing from his son’s wrath, Saturn sought refuge in Latium and with the king of Latium, who was Janus. Janus welcomed Saturn with open arms, so Saturn made Latium successful in its agriculture, especially viticulture, the production of grapes. In return, Janus gave Saturn half his kingdom, and they ruled together peacefully. Latium saw great prosperity under their rule, a true golden age, eventually becoming the city of Rome in the center of the Roman Empire. As a reward, Janus became the god of gates and the god to connect people with all the other deities of the Roman pantheon.

Janus also became the protector over the beginning of all activities. He inaugurated the seasons, and the first day of each month was sacred to him. He was the gatekeeper, the protector of passages and endings, and the deity of duality. He became so important to the Romans that they built him five separate shrines in the city of Rome alone. All the shrines were built near crossings of rivers or watercourses. The most impressive shrine was the one near the Argiletum. The temple had a statue of Janus in the middle, where offerings of wine were given, and large bronze doors on either end, which were open during times of war and closed during times of peace.

Halibu the Hunter

MONGOLIA, MONGOLIAN LEGEND

On the Mongolian steppes, there once was a hunter named Halibu. He was highly skilled and caught much game, but he was also very kindhearted, readily sharing his meat with everyone. Therefore, he was widely respected.

One day while hunting, he heard strange sounds and looked up to see a small creature in the beak of a fierce bird. He shot the bird down with his arrow and was surprised to see a small snake-like creature freeing itself from the bird, but he was even more surprised when the creature thanked him for saving her. She said she was the daughter of the dragon king and that if he followed her, the king would offer Halibu many treasures. She suggested he ask for the stone in the king’s mouth, a magical stone that would allow Halibu to understand the languages of all animals.

The princess took Halibu to her father, and the dragon king was delighted to see his daughter safe and offered Halibu any treasure he desired. The hunter decided he didn’t need treasure, but he asked for the magical stone to understand the languages of animals. The king was surprised but agreed on the condition that Halibu never tell anyone what he heard the animals say, or he would be turned into a rock immediately.

With the stone in his mouth, Halibu brought home even more game. But one day he heard a flock of birds discussing an upcoming disaster. They predicted that the mountain would collapse and the plain would flood that night, drowning everyone, including Halibu’s home.

Halibu dashed home to warn his people, but none of them would believe him no matter how insistent he was. They said moving was difficult and demanded proof. He reluctantly told them about the dragon king, the magical stone, and the birds’ conversation he overheard. As he spoke, he began to turn to rock, and when he finished, he had become completely solid.

The stunned people believed him and hurriedly collected their things. They barely managed to escape before the mountain collapsed and the area flooded. To this day the descendants of Halibu’s people thank him and search for his rock.

Pan Hu

CHINA, YAO PEOPLE

A long time ago, the empress of China had an earache so terrible she sent for her physicians. From her ear they pulled a tiny gold worm, and her pain went away immediately. Instead of killing the creature, the empress set it on a plate under a jar and gave it a little food and water. When she next checked in on it, it had become a small dog. She named the dog Pan Hu, and he soon became a favorite of the emperor, following the ruler wherever he went. So Pan Hu was one of the first to hear about the enemy king who planned to go to war with the emperor.

The emperor put out a proclamation promising his daughter’s hand in marriage to whoever could bring him the head of the enemy king. But the king was a terrible warrior, and no one was able to kill him. Pan Hu took matters into his own paws: he snuck into the enemy’s castle, and when the king was drunk from a night of partying, Pan Hu cut off his head. The dog returned with the head of the king, and the emperor then threw a great feast in his honor. But Pan Hu only sulked, and the emperor realized he wanted the promised reward of marriage to the princess.

The emperor explained that a human princess could not marry a dog. Pan Hu said that this problem could be fixed. He bade the emperor place him under a giant golden bell and not have anyone look at him for seven days. The emperor did this, and for six days the bell rested undisturbed. On the seventh day, the princess began to worry for Pan Hu, thinking he must be hungry and thirsty. She brought him food and drink and lifted the bell only the tiniest bit, but it was enough to break the spell.

Pan Hu emerged with the body of a man and the head of a dog. But the emperor still honored the union, and Pan Hu and the princess married and went on to have many, many children and even more descendants.

The Fairy Godmother

FRANCE, FRENCH FAIRY TALE

The Fairy Godmother is a helpful creature who has supported many heroes and heroines, none more famously than Cinderella.

Cinderella was a beautiful girl whose kind mother died when Cinderella was very young. After remarrying a cold woman with two bitter daughters, Cinderella’s father died also. This left Cinderella orphaned and in the care of her resentful stepmother. Angry that Cinderella was more beautiful than her own daughters, the stepmother put Cinderella to work mending the laundry, cleaning the house, and doing all the cooking. Each night, Cinderella slept in the ashes of the kitchen fireplace and became filthy.

Quiet Cinderella bore all this abuse patiently until she heard about the upcoming royal ball. It was to be a night of celebration, with all the young ladies of the country invited to meet the prince. Cinderella wished to go to the party, but when she asked her stepmother and stepsisters, they all laughed in her face. For who would want to dance with a dirty girl covered in ashes? Cinderella cried as her stepfamily put on their beautiful gowns and rode away to the ball. It was then that the Fairy Godmother, hearing Cinderella’s sobs, appeared to help her.

The Fairy Godmother told Cinderella that because her heart was sweet and pure, she would help her by turning a pumpkin into a carriage, mice into horses, rags into a ball gown, and dirt into glass slippers. But, she warned, the spell would break at midnight. And the rest was up to Cinderella.

Gleefully, Cinderella rode to the ball and met the prince. He was instantly dazzled by her and she by him, and they danced the night away. At midnight, Cinderella remembered the Fairy Godmother’s warning and fled the ball, leaving behind a broken pumpkin and a single glass slipper.

The prince began a search for the mysterious girl, insisting every young lady in the realm try on the glass slipper. But it didn’t fit anyone, until it was finally slipped on the ash-covered foot of Cinderella. Rejoicing, the prince and Cinderella were soon married, and the Fairy Godmother blessed their union.