Parallel Myths Read Online Free PDF

Christ.”
    * In India, “Brahman” is the eternal, absolute; “Brahma” is the form “Brahman” takes as Creator.
    * Or perhaps they never accepted it, their own national myths (i.e., Russian, Ukrainian, Uzbek) being stronger.
    * German: “Vocation Tragedy.”
    † The Ennobucht is an estuary on the Baltic Sea in northern Germany.

2. The Cast of Characters
     
    The word
pantheon
comes from the Greek
pan
, meaning “all,” and
theon
, meaning “gods.” A pantheon is thus a collection of gods, the cast of characters of the myths.

THE GREEK AND ROMAN PANTHEON
     
    Greek myth has many minor gods and goddesses, but the chief gods were the Olympian twelve, said to live at the summit of Mount Olympus in Greece, and the two gods of earth. The Latin (Roman) names of these gods are given in parentheses.
    The Olympian Twelve
    Zeus (Jupiter, Jove)
    His name means “bright sky” in archaic Greek. He is the thunderbolt-wielding King of the Gods who overcame the Titans, an earlier race of giants, to establish his authority over the universe. His name is akin to the Latin
deus
, meaning “god” and the Sanskrit (Indian)
Dyaus
, the name of an early Indian sky-god.
    Zeus cast lots with his two brothers over the domains. His brother Poseidon won mastery of the sea, and the other brother, Hades, becamelord of the Underworld. Zeus is master of both the skies and the land surface of the earth.
    Hera (Juno)
    The wife and twin sister of Zeus, she is frequently angered by her husband’s adultery, but at no time does she leave him. However, she has no fear of him and often scolds him.
    Her name means “protectress” in Greek, and she is worshiped as the patroness of brides on their wedding night, of mothers in childbirth, and of nurses. She can renew her virginity periodically by bathing in a sacred spring. Wives appeal to her for revenge against their erring husbands.
    Aphrodite (Venus)
    Her name means “born of foam,” as she is said to have risen naked from the foam of the sea, a fully mature woman, riding on a scallop shell.
    She is the goddess of beauty and sexual desire. She is analogous to the Middle Eastern fertility goddesses Ishtar, Ashtaroth, and Astarte.
    Her son is Eros (Cupid), the god of love, whose irresistible arrows cause mortals to fall hopelessly in love.
    Zeus gave Aphrodite in marriage to Hephaestus, the crippled god of the forge, but she bore children fathered through an adulterous union with Ares (Mars), the god of war.
    Her Latin name, Venus, is the root of
venereal disease
.
    Hermes (Mercury)
    His name means “pillar” or “phallus.”
    The son of Zeus by a nymph named Maia, he is the god of the crossroads and of commerce, a patron of travel and thieves, and is the messenger of the gods. He is pictured as having winged feet, and is a clever trickster.
    Apollo
    His name, which is the same in Latin, means either “apple man” or “destroyer.” The son of Zeus by Leto, Apollo is a sun-god, driving the chariot of the sun across the heavens. He is the patron of both athletic contests and the arts. He speaks through the oracle at Delphi, called “the Pythoness.” His twin sister is Artemis.
    Apollo supplanted an earlier Greek sun-god, Helios (Sol), who was a personification of the heavenly body. One of his names is Phoebus, meaning “the shining one.”
    Artemis (Diana)
    Twin sister of Apollo, a moon goddess, patroness of small children and hunters, she is a perpetual virgin. Among her names is Phoebe, the feminine version of Phoebus. Sacred to the people of Ephesus, she is prominently mentioned in the account of Saint Paul’s mission to the Ephesians in the biblical Book of Acts.
    Ares (Mars)
    His name means “warrior.” He is the bloodthirsty, hard-drinking, dishonest, and temperamental god of war, thoroughly unpopular among the other Olympian gods. His sister is Eris, meaning “discord.” He is said to be a brother of Zeus and Hera.
    Hestia (Vesta)
    Her name means “hearth,” and she is