Hades, Lord of the Shadows

Every once in a while, I get these weird fanatic obsessions about some book or movie or TV show, and it hijacks my daydreams for weeks at a time until it runs its course. It must have started when I discovered the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas a few days ago and I became an embarrassing fangirl (hey, don't judge), and now I have felt a weird pull towards Tim Burton movies and macabre topics in general this week. It's like a craving...an Edgar Allan Poe addiction...and a Hitchcock obsession... And then it hit me. It's divine inspiration, you silly!Hades, the God of the Dead, is obviously using his influence to point my thoughts towards the ghostly and the grim. He doesn't want to wait around for Halloween or something. He knows that he has my sympathy and respect, so he wants me to talk about him next.
So I shall.
Hades is the constantly misunderstood God of the Dead, who may have a ghostly realm and rather morbid interests, but is the farthest thing from evil. His parents are Rhea and Kronos, the titans, and he and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, are sort of a trio of power representing all aspects of the earth besides Gaia, the terrestrial earth itself: sea, sky, and underground.

Now, it often bothers me that his portrayal in popular culture is often skewed and prejudiced. Sometimes he is erroneously equated with the Devil, simply because his realm is underground, and his kingdom is misrepresented as Hell--but nothing could be more inaccurate. This was what vexed me the most about the Percy Jackson film adaptation--even more than the twelve-year-old protagonists suddenly becoming sixteen, or Grover's character randomly becoming a racial stereotype--Hades and his realm were both shown as evil and hellish, which it wasn't in the book. So everyone gets punished after they die, no matter what sort of life they led? Gosh. The Greek weren't that cynical!

True, he does punish evildoers, and they go to a place called the Fields of Punishment that is somewhat akin to the Christian concept of Hell. But he also rewards the just and the noble, and sends them to a blissful eternity in Elysium, the Greeks' Heaven. If a soul chooses to be reincarnated three times, and achieves Elysium all three times, then he or she is allowed an "all-access pass" to another, even more wonderful, part of Elysium: the Isles of the Blessed. Most people, however, are neither extremely good or extremely evil, and so their souls drift about in the nuetral Fields of Asphodel forever.

Does that sound Satanic or evil to you? All Hades does is make sure people get what they truly deserve--whatever that might be. He is devoted to justice--and that's more than I can say for Zeus or the other Olympians, who pursue fairly selfish interests and fail to see any kind of objective morality. Zeus is above his own rules. Poseidon's temper and emotions get in the way of his judgement. Aphrodite thinks that "love" can justify any wrong. And even the beloved Athena is more concerned about what is wise than what is right.

I guess justice is never popular, and Hades can come across as merciless and even cruel, because he is so unrelenting. But he is not without the capacity for empathy, as shown in the story of Orpheus. Orpheus was a talented musician that completely adored his wife, Eurydice. They lived in matrimonial bliss for some time, but one day, she was bitten by a poisonous snake and died. Orpheus, nearly mad with grief, descended to the Underworld to bring Eurydice back, and charmed his way past the guards (Charon the ferryman, Cerberus the dog, etc) with his enchanting music on the lyre. Finally, he reached Hades' palace. Persephone was moved by his tale of devotion and grief, and persuaded her husband to give Orpheus an audience. Orpheus began to play for them, a song that was a wordless expression of the love he felt, and the pain at losing his beloved--and Hades, the calculating ruler of darkness, wept.

Hades decided to show Orpheus pity, and said he would relinquish Eurydice's soul--on one condition: Orpheus must make his way through the tunnel to the world above without looking back to be sure that Eurydice was following him. He would need to trust the Lord of the Dead. Orpheus agreed to the terms and began to trek through the tunnel--but he couldn't hear his wife's footsteps. He forced himself to keep moving. Finally, just as he was about to break out into the sunlight, he couldn't bear it any longer, and he looked back to see if she was there--and Eurydice was dragged back to the Underworld, lost to him forever because of his lack of faith.
[In case you didn't know this before, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (or Philosopher's) Stone, the three-headed dog Fluffy is charmed to sleep with an enchanted harp, in order to slip past him to what he is guarding. Rowling knows her Greek mythology.]

When he received the Underworld as his domain after the Titan War, Hades was banished from the world above and the heavenly abode of the gods, Mount Olympus, except for one day out of the year: the Winter Solstice (just a few days before Christmas), the shortest day of the year which is almost in complete darkness.

Now, granted, I understand why the Olympians are not too crazy about having Hades at their family reunions. He is certainly a frightening being to behold, armed with the Helm of Darkness (a helmet that allows him to become invisible and to spread fear), with demons called the Furies as his minions and Cerberus, the vicious three-headed dog, as his pet. Hades always was the "different" one of the family, far more introverted and cold than his brothers. It's not that Hades doesn't feel emotions acutely, but he has far more control over his anger--instead of exploding, he lets it brew and fester into resentment for centuries. Ahem. A little passive-aggressive. But it's a refreshing change of pace from his melodramatic relatives.

Unlike his brothers, Hades is known only for his one romantic exploit, his beloved wife. I guess, because it is harder to move his heart, when he falls in love, he falls permanently. This situation just further shows that Hades is unchanging, resolute, unlike his brothers who are known for being ever-changing like the tides and the storms. Abducting the goddess of spring is the only selfish thing we ever really see Hades do, and, well, if you were that desperate and lonely, you might do something unwise too. I can understand, too, why he fell in love with her--though she has her mother's innocence and humility, she's also her father's daughter, and is therefore queenly and proud too. Hades probably had no trouble imagining her the Queen of the Underworld. And because Persephone was kept apart from the rest of the gods by her mother's sheltering, she could probably relate to his feeling of isolation.

Despite the shunning his relatives give him, Hades doesn't exist in a constant state of misery. He is extremely powerful, and has more autonomy than any of the gods--because he is so removed from Zeus' authority, he doesn't really have to answer to anybody. He owns all the riches under the earth. He has a magnificent palace in the Underworld, and an orchard that Persephone tends to in the winter. And I think it gives him personal satisfaction, knowing that he has integrity while his relatives have very little, although this probably also makes him bitter, witnessing their hypocrisy.

Besides the Helm of Darkness, Hades' symbols include the color black, shadows, skulls and spirits, and his dog, Cerberus.

The natural fear of Hades and what he stands has interesting psychological implications. Humans instinctively fear the dark, not because darkness is necessarily evil, but because it shrouds things from our vision--we fear what we don't know, and death is the very greatest chasm of the unknown. Just remember, there is nothing in the dark that wasn't there when the light was turned on. (That last bit is a little Twilight Zone quote for you.)

All in all, he might be intimidating and a bit unnerving, but Hades was literally given a bad lot in life when he and his brothers gambled for the domains of the world. It was his Fate to be an outcast.

Pt. 10 of PJO: The Lightning Thief

-RJ
goodbye, have a good day!

MP3 thing: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?tjme8hm9gbx2155

In this chapter, Annabeth shows Percy around the camp, and he finally starts to feel at home at Camp Half-Blood.

Part 10 (Chapter Seven). Please tell us what you think, rate, subscribe, and thanks for listening!

Salutations bloggers!

Why the Greeks are Cooler than the Romans

Sorry I haven't updated in a while--college exams. :/ Ew. But now that those are all overwith, let's talk about important things, like dead ancient societies and their deities!

Every so often, I think I'm going to give a little tidbit about Romans-versus-Greeks. Now, it's true that the Romans had a superior army, that they were more united and less individualistic, that they did indeed defeat Greece and rule over them with a mighty empire for a very long time. Blah, blah, blah. I don't CARE if Rome conquered Greece, I still think Ancient Greece is cooler. Why? Roman government was relatively fascist--pretty similar to Sparta, actually, a city-state anomaly in Ancient Greece--and while I won't deny its lasting impact on modern civilization, they were somewhat unimaginative. Their more "sophisticated" city life was basically stolen from the Greeks--their architecture, with its arches and pillars, looks awfully familiar, does it not?
True, some of their technological advances were pretty amazing: the aqueducts that gave running water to all their cities was ingenius. But even then, we can't rightfully give them all the credit for our modern plumbing system, because thousands of years prior, the palace at Knossos, Crete had the world's first flushable toilet. (No joke!)

Rome tried to convince the world and themselves that they were not barbarians by showcasing their urban society: music, theater, gruesome gladiator fights to the death--wait, what? Yeah, they'd bring their kids like it was a sporting event, buy their roasted rats-on-a-stick as if they were hot dogs, and watch slaves fight to the death in creative ways. (Just in case you thought The Hunger Games actually invented that concept.) One thing that is cool, though, is that they'd sometimes plug up the arena, fill it with water, and have mock naval battles with small ships. Now that is pretty sweet, even I must admit.
Still, Rome's attempts at being a cultural mecca were kind of...desperate. They knew they could never live up to the sophistication of Greece's philosophy, music, art, and theater--so, instead of trying to stubbornly make their own thing, they just adopted Greece's. I guess that is a virtue, that when they saw someone else's ideas were better, they swallowed their pride and...plaigarized. Well, I guess I can't hate them for respecting Ancient Greece. They had the same gods watching over them, after all.

In fact, let's talk about the gods. Everyone knows that the Romans essentially stole the Greek gods, slapped some different names on them, and called it their own pantheon--I'll list as many as I can think of below. You'll notice that most of our planets are named after Roman gods, and you can probably guess why each of them seemed appropriate (Jupiter was the biggest planet, Neptune is blue, etc). Sometimes in old literature (say, Shakespeare) the names will be used interchangeably, so it's good to be familiar with both so that you understand the allusion.

But there are subtle differences between Roman and Greek religion. The Romans emphasized different aspects and traits of the gods, and emphasized some gods over others--and the differences are highly indicative of the cultural differences. It's quite interesting comparing the two. For instance, in Greek myths, Zeus and Jupiter are pretty similar--except when he's Zeus, the focus is often more on his romantic exploits, his rages and tantrums, his mistakes--his human side. But as Jupiter, he's generally a lot more stern and distant, much more of a responsible leader, and has better control over his human urges--he still has affairs, but there's that different nuance there, that he's more in control, it's merely an excercise of his godly privileges.

In comparing Pluto and Hades, the Romans had a little less dread for the God of the Dead--made mention of him in their literature and prayers, and made oaths by him more frequently--he was more respectable. Why? The Romans did not fear death the way the Greeks did. To the Romans, an honorable death was far more glorious than a long life--Elysium awaited a faithful soldier! Their devotion to Rome was more important than their own lives. While the Greeks did strongly believe in a blessed afterlife for heroes, and believed heroic deaths were noble, they liked their comfortable lives in the world above too much--they did not look forward to the Land of the Dead. Therefore, they avoided speaking his name except with euphemisms, and only the darkest cults made any sacrifices or altars to Hades. (Poor guy. :/ )

Ares, the Greek god of war, is a brutal, cruel god that the Greeks seem to have little respect for. But the Greeks adored Athena, their favorite, Athens' patron, the goddess of wisdom. She was the one they looked to in wartime, because she was an expert strategist--if she made a plan, it would not fail. The Greeks, clearly, valued brains over might. The very opposite is seen in the Roman pantheon: Mars, god of war, is their favorite and most important--and he is portrayed a little more positively. An important distinction is made: he is the god of a just war--not just violence for violence's sake. On the other hand, while Athena becomes Minerva and has her place in the Roman pantheon, she is more obscure, not nearly so important as to the Greeks. Obviously, the difference between their values is clear. Obedience to the State and devotion to Rome is much more important than intelligence or wisdom...I guess...

So you can see why I, a total Romantic, would prefer the passionate Greeks to the Romans. Both have their good and bad points, I admit, and my preference is obviously a matter of opinion. The Romans may have been more successful, but I think the Greeks were happier. So I guess it just depends on what you want more...

Here's a basic list of Greek gods and  their Roman names, just in case you run across them in a T.S. Eliot poem or something:
Zeus = Jupiter (occasionally, "Jove," which is where we get the word "jovial," which means to be "like Jove" but really refers to someone who is merry and boisterous)
Hera = Juno
Poseidon = Neptune
Hades = Pluto (the poor guy finally got a planet named after him and now it's been demoted...story of his life...)
Hermes = Mercury (we also have an English word "mercurial," which, though it literally means "like Mercury," it refers to someone who is always changing)
Kronos = Saturn
Ouranos (Kronos' father) = Uranus
Aphrodite = Venus
Ares = Mars
Artemis = Diana
Apollo = ...still Apollo, for some reason
Athena = Minerva (yes, this is where J.K. Rowling gets the professor Minerva McGonagall)
Persephone = Prosperpina
Demeter = Ceres (this is where we get our English word "cereal"!)
Hephaestus = Vulcan (I'm not even going to get into the Trekkies)
Dionysus = Bacchus
Hestia = Vesta
Eros = Cupid
Gaia (the Earth goddess) = Terra (this is where we get the word "terrestrial," meaning "pertaining to the earth," and "extraterrestrial," or "not of this earth")

So, what do you think? Am I being unfair to the Romans? Is there some accomplishment of theirs I am forgetting to mention? Which civilization do you prefer? I want to hear what you think.
Well, that's all I can think of for now, but if I remember more, you will be the first to know. Have a nice weekend, everybody!
~Meg

In Defense of Hera

After talking about Zeus last post, it seems only fair to next move on to his second-in-command, his partner, wife, and sister--Hera, Queen of the gods. As with Zeus, she is not a simple character, and your opinion of her somewhat depends on who you are.

She is the patroness and protector of marriage and family. No Greek wedding was complete without sacrifices and prayers to Hera. Naturally, women in Ancient Greece tended to be drawn to worshiping her, because she understood their woes.

Zeus was the poster child for infidelity. Hardly a Greek myth begins any other way besides, "So Zeus had a kid with this one mortal lady..." (generally in more poetic wording). Now, as I mentioned last week, he and Hera loved each other once, and it's hard to speculate the chicken-or-egg question: Did Hera become a nagging jealous wife because of her husband's behavior, or did Zeus start to cheat because his wife was nagging and suspicious? I guess either way the behavior of both parties perpetuated the cycle. Because Zeus cheated, Hera became angry. Because of Hera's anger, Zeus felt pushed away and turned to other women. Thus, it never ends.

That being said, Hera was legendary for her revenge plots. The problem is, she took out all her anger on the mortal women and demigod children instead of on her faithless husband--partially because he's the king of the gods and you don't want to mess with that, even when you're his wife. For instance, like I mentioned weeks ago, she tricked Semele into causing her own demise, and very nearly killed her unborn child, Dionysus. In some versions of the story, she later gave baby Dionysus some toys to play with that were actually magic artifacts that summoned the wrath of the titans--the infant wine god barely escaped with his life, thanks to his father.

Perhaps her most famous quest for vengeance, however, was against the hero Heracles (who for some reason is better known by his Roman name, Hercules. I guess it sounds cooler). She put a myriad of deadly obstacles in his path, both in his childhood and his adulthood, but he conquered them all.

It wasn't just demigod children that she punished. When Zeus commissioned a young nymph, Echo, to distract Hera (by incessant talking) from his latest exploit, Hera eventually saw through the plot and became enraged (surprise, surprise). She punished Echo by making her unable to speak, except to repeat other people's words. Sometimes, even to this day, you can hear Echo repeating you!

While you may or may not agree with this punishment, Echo suffered greatly for it. She tried desperately to win the love of Narcissus, a beatiful but outrageously arrogant young man, who rejected her very callously. Aphrodite was indignant at his cruelty and punished him by making him fall desperately in love with his own reflection (hence, from his name we get the English word "narcissistic," meaning utterly self-absorbed). Narcissus was so desperate to be with his own reflection that he dove into the river and drowned.

So obviously, Hera indirectly caused a great deal of grief. Besides being jealous and suspicious, quick-tempered like so many other members of her family, and very proud, she was in constant rivalry with Aphrodite and Athena. She, like Athena, was a chaste goddess (in her case, this meant being completely faithful to her undeserving husband, like a perfect Greek wife)--but she, like Aphrodite, was beautiful and alluring. One day, the three goddesses got into a heated argument about who was the most beautiful, and it ended up causing the Trojan War (more to come on that later).

But was she wholly bad? Of course not. I don't hate Hera, and I don't hate her husband, even though their actions sometimes frustrate or exasperate me. We cannot ignore that fact that she was compassionate and strong, that she looked after the mortals who pleased her. Yes, she held grudges pretty fiercely. Yes, she was proud--the peacock is her symbol because of this--but I believe that stemmed from deep-seated insecurity. After all, if she was so beautiful and so kind, why wasn't she enough for her husband? She had given him two (or three) children and stood by his side through all adversity. Why did he need anyone else? I think that probably hurt her a great deal.
I think Hera gets a bad reputation partially from the long tradition of unfaithful husbands in the ancient world, who resented Hera for cramping her husband's style. But seriously...is it unfair of her to expect him to change his ways now that he's married? If the wife were the unfaithful one, and the husband the jealous one, would we be reacting differently? Double. Standard.

And while you can argue about whether her reaction was proportional to the crime or not, I can't help but feel sorry for her. Anyone who has loved someone and felt alone in love knows the pain she suffers every day. Being in love and feeling like you're the only one is very lonely indeed. Also, I think it wounds her pride to have everyone in Olympus gossip about her philandering husband, and it's hard for her to hold her head up and keep her dignity when everybody knows the intimate details of her messy marriage.

Hera was a pretty strong character, too. There were times that she stood up to Zeus when it was important enough. For instance, when the gods, angry at Zeus's slump in leadership skills, decided to rebel and trap Zeus in his throne, Hera was the driving force behind the plot. She and Poseidon made their brother swear to be a more responsible leader before letting him out of the chair.

p.s. Did you know that the peacock has that curious pattern in its tail because Hera placed eyes in its feathers, to keep a lookout on Zeus? Also, Hera created Argus, a man literally covered in eyes, for the same purpose. (It is from this myth that J.K Rowling gets the name for Hogwarts' caretaker, Argus Filch!)

p.p.s. Hera still has plenty of influence in modern-day US, even among the non-Greek/pagan population. Her Roman name is Juno--remember that movie of the same name that came out a few years back with Ellen Page, about the teenage mom? Yeah, she's named after the patroness of motherhood for good reason. And it is still a tradition for weddings to happen in June, more than any other month--the month dedicated to Juno!

Zeus, My Apologies

Last night, almost exactly at midnight, I awoke to a massive thunderstorm. I'm usually not scared of storms--I love them--but last night was so loud, it was like cymbals clashing in my ears every five seconds. It was like the storms was right above my house. Even now, in the morning, there are iron-grey clouds overhead and great gusts of wind bending the trees. I haven't witnessed a thunderstorm like that in years, and I think I know the cause.

Alright, alright, Zeus, I get it! You're angry that I've talked about your relatives in great detail, but I've only discussed you when it pertained to someone else's story. Forgive me for my silly mortal foolishness. Obviously, the Lord of the Sky should be foremost in my thoughts and my blogging.

Gulp. So, um, here goes.


Zeus was the youngest child of Rhea and Kronos (also spelled Cronus, but I like the "K" spelling better), the King of the Titans. The titans ruled during the "Golden Age," so called because man was "innocent" and untainted by knowledge--much like Adam and Eve before they ate the forbidden fruit. But to call it a "golden" age is sheer propaganda, because humans lived like animals, hunting and gathering, scrounging for food, and Kronos kept them around to amuse himself. Tempests, hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires were uncontrollable and nearly constant. Basically, the world was a mess.

Kronos was a tyrant. Ancient Greek writers call him "wily" and "crafty," for good reason. He had overthrown his own father, Ouranos (the sky), at the urging of his mother Gaia (the earth). But he did not feel safe in his power, because he had heard a prophecy that one of his own children would overthrow him in much that same way. So every time one of his children was born, and Rhea showed him the child, Kronos devoured them. Hestia, Hades, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter--all of them were swallowed by the Titan Lord, just for existing. Being immortal deities, of course, they were not affected by his stomach acid and just kind of chilled out in his insides for years, growing up and hating their father. Ew.

Finally, when her youngest son was born, Rhea had had enough. She decided to save baby Zeus by tricking her husband into eating a rock instead (it was shaped like a baby and wrapped in a blanket, so he was fooled). Meanwhile, she spirited her infant away to an island off of Crete, where he was raised in secret. When he grew to manhood, Zeus forced Kronos to vomit up his siblings, and the six of them defeated the titans. The Cyclopes helped by forging the three brothers powerful weapons: Zeus, the lightning bolt; Poseidon, the trident; and Hades, the helm of darkness. They cast the titans into Tartarus, and tore their own father into a million pieces with his own scythe (a curved sword).

Now, there's no doubt that humans fared much better under Zeus's reign than Kronos's. To some degree, this was merely incidental--Zeus established order in nature and tamed the globe, taking control of storms and making the earth more suitable for farming in one place. It took him some time to see any value in humanity--he was rather angry with Prometheus for giving us fire, if you recall--but eventually he realized how much humanity adored him for making their lives less hellish. And really, how could he resist that kind of gratitude? Also, he realized how much nicer it was to have worshipers that weren't completely stupid, and to have society progress.

After that, Zeus started taking an interest in human affairs. He instituted certain rules--for instance, Zeus's hospitality rule: treat your guests as if they were gods come to earth, because they just might be. (This rule is particularly important in The Odyssey, when Polyphemus the Cyclops violates this duty of a host, much to Zeus's ire.)

Zeus's womanizing is legendary. Once upon a time, he seduced his sister Hera (note that familial relationships are much different for gods than for humans, so this isn't actually gross), who in turn felt so guilty afterwards that he promised to marry her. The Greeks tell us that their honeymoon lasted three centuries, so obviously they really loved each other at one time. They had two (or three, depending on your source) children together--Hebe, Ares (and Hephaestus). But eventually, Zeus's eyes began to wander... He had Persephone with Demeter, Hermes with Maia, Dionysus with a mortal woman, Semele; Apollo and Artemis, the Muses, Helen of Troy, Hercules, Perseus, the Graces...need I go on? Many stories center around Zeus's philandering and Hera's jealousy and vengeance.

Zeus is the chieftain of the gods, the mighty leader,  the ruler of Olympus and the god of storms. He is the bringer of thunder and lightning, and the majestice eagle is his symbol. He is proud, quick-tempered, and unforgiving, yet he is not incapable of human emotions. Generally, he is depicted with a bushy grey beard and in long white robes, either seated on a throne or striding forward with a lightning bolt. The Greeks both adored and feared Zeus, and made many magnificent temples and shrines to him.

....Do you think that great long post will please him? Hopefully it's good enough that my house won't get struck by lightning...

Have a great week!
~Meg

Pt. 9 of PJO: The Lightning Thief

Happy Saturday, viewers.

Here is yet another part of the Lightning Thief by the brilliant Mr. Riordan (I really wish it were pronounced REER-din instead of RY-er-din).

In this section,  Percy explores the camp and runs into some trouble with the bully, Clarisse. 

MP3 time! http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?8d5tdcdi6uhegl0

thanksalotforwatchingourvideosandreadingourblog!isthisdifficultforyoutoread?

Greek Values

When you're studying a particular society--its art, literature, history, mythology/religion, anything--you have to examine the cultural values in order to really understand it. Sorry to sound so much like a textbook, but I swear this'll get more interesting.

So a lot of people get really weirded out by Greek mythology because...well, take your pick of the reasons. Scandals galore? Check. Human-animal hybrids? Check. Crazy magic-science? Check. But we can't really look at the Greeks through the lens of American values, circa 2012--we can't expect people who lived thousands of years ago to have lived by our cultural norms. We have to apply their values to their stories--and then, some things start to make sense.

Take the Sophocles play Oedipus Rex, for instance. It's pretty disturbing. In fact, reader discretion is advised past this point. Baby Oedipus is abandoned by his parents and left to die of exposure, all because his father heard a prophecy that the baby would someday kill his father and marry his mother. Ugh. The parents, thinking they can prevent the prophecy from ever occurring, tie the kid's feet up and leave him to die in a field. However, unbeknownst to him, he is taken in by a peasant who feels sorry for him. Oedipus grows up and saves Thebes from the Sphynx's riddle, so he is feeling pretty clever. Little does he know, that guy he killed on the road who looked like a peasant was actually his father, the king. And little does he know, that cougar he married is actually his biological mother. He keeps trying to figure out why the gods are cursing Thebes with plagues, famine, and drought, since he doesn't know what they've done wrong. He spends the whole play trying to get to the truth.

When the truth finally comes out, however, Jocasta his mother/wife is so horrified that she hangs herself. His daughters are ruined forever, knowing nobody will ever marry them. And Oedipus blinds himself.

So...moral of the story? Americans might have trouble figuring out the point of all that melodrama. To the Greeks, however, the moral is obvious: you cannot outwit fate. You cannot outrun the gods. Apollo's oracle said this was going to happen--so it happened. There was no preventing it on anybody's part.

Also, Oedipus's (and his parents') fatal flaw was hubris--that's a very important Greek concept, so remember it--arrogance, believing (erroneously) that one is cleverer or stronger than the gods. Hubris is the downfall of many heroes in Greek myths because it's such an easy trap to fall into.

Finally, a bit of trivia: does anyone know the answer to the Sphynx's riddle, one of the oldest riddles in the world still surviving?
What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?
Post the answer if you know it, or figure it out!

Ciao!
~Meg

Pt. 8 of PJO: The Lightning Thief

Hey guys, Parte Siete is here! Siete = SEVEN.

actually, I just remembered that this is part eight! So Parte Ocho

In this section, Chiron explains the modernization of the gods.
MP3MP3MP3MP#MP#MP#MP#M3mpMM#m3pm3m3mpm3m3m3mmMP#Mp3mP3MP# Download!!!!!!!!!: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?82fnznvu5xj7myw

Have a wonderfilled day!

-luvthecheat