My daughter decided to take a Mythology class as one of her college electives.  I remember learning about mythology in school and always found it fascinating – how did the myths get started and why were these certain Gods so important to the Greeks.  I decided to skim through her book just to get some more information.

Back in the day when there was no internet, television, radio or libraries, storytelling was a big part of everyday life.  In ancient Greece, many stories just happened to be about gods and goddesses. Some of the stories are based on tradition.   These myths explain everything from weather to the meaning of the world.  These stories became fully developed around 700BC.  Greek mythology is part of the religion in ancient Greece.  It details the lives and adventures of the gods and goddesses. Ancient Greeks believed in many gods some who were more powerful than others.  If they believed in the gods, they felt their lives would be better while they were living and the gods would take care of them after they died.

There are many Greek Gods and Goddess but here are some of the more popular ones:

• Zeus – God of the sky and ruler of the Olympian gods.  After overthrowing his father, he became supreme ruler of the gods, as well as lord of the sky and rain.  Many know his weapon as the thunderbolt.
• Poseidon – God of the sea. This God had a bad temper. He could destroy cities with earthquakes or sink entire fleets of ships.  His most distinctive attribute was the three-pointed trident.
• Apollo – God of prophesy, music and poetry and knowledge. He is the son of Zeus. Both medicine and healing are associated with Apollo.  He is associated with a lyre, which is an instrument which resembles a harp.
• Aphrodite – Goddess of beauty and love. Greeks connected her name with “foam”, resulting in the story that she was born from the foam of the sea.
• Hera – Queen of the gods and goddess of women and marriage.
  She was the wife and sister of Zeus. She was a very jealous wife and turned Callisto into a bear because Zeus fell in love with her.
• Athena – Goddess of wisdom and defense. She was the daughter of Zeus.  She is associated with the olive tree and the owl.
• Ares – God of war. He represented the unpleasant aspects of battle although he was often characterized as a coward.  He was the son of Zeus.

With my daughter in college now she has quite a few textbooks.  I like to give her Penless Bookmarks for her to use.  On each of the bookmarks, there is a QR Code for me to upload a picture or video.  The bookmarks sure come in handy when dealing with multiple textbooks.  She loves to get the bookmarks, scan the QR Code and see what is on it.  These unique and personalized bookmarks always put a smile on her face!

“Aphrodite had the beauty; Zeus had the thunderbolts.  Everyone loved Aphrodite, but everyone listened to Zeus.” – Esther M. Friesner