I think Medusa is fascinating because apparently she wasn't always a hideous monster -- Athena turned her into one after she was raped/ravished by Poseidon on the floor of Athena's temple.
Before her transformation, Medusa was renowed for her beauty and she represented female intuition and wisdom.
2007-05-16 16:51:47 · 16 answers · asked by The "Hmm" Girl 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
The additional details to your question surprised and intrigued me. I was not aware of this transformation.
My favorite character, however, was Prometheus who brought fire to the people.
As I see it, Prometheus brought the "fire" of the mind, awakening the human race to self-consciousness and the awareness of competing alternatives. It's quite like the allegory of the Garden of Eden, really. When Eve and her mate partook of the "Tree of Knowledge" (of good and evil) they too became self-aware, able to recognize the difference between right and wrong. They became thinking, analytical human beings.
2007-05-16 17:10:09 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I thought Medusa was born a monster. But there's always some other versions, I guess.
I would say Aracne. She was a beautiful woman, very skilled (I don't know how to say it in english... she weaved? netted?). She said she was even better than Athena. The goddess didn't liked that and challenged Aracne to a competition. Aracne won, Athena turned her into a spider. So unfair!
2007-05-16 18:24:01 · answer #2 · answered by Escilas 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd have to say Morpheus, the god of dreams and the shaper of form. If anyone as ever tried Morphine, or read the Sandman, you'll know why.
The Lord Shaper is just cooler than most of the other Greek figures, and there is just something beautiful and powerful about dreaming, so to think of a being that haunts all of the worlds dreams is a great idea for a god(or a graphic novel series)
2007-05-17 02:50:59 · answer #3 · answered by munstrumridcully 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I always thought that Zeus himself was an interesting character. I mean, he had so many trysts with nearly any woman or man he could get his hands on, God or not.
He "came" to these people in forms of white bulls, swans, and many other creatures, and still they fell in love with him.
I also liked that Athena was born from his head. Her mother was Metis, the goddess of crafty thought and wisdom, but after Zeus had a night with her, he feared the consequences. It had been prophesied that Metis would bear children more powerful than their father, even Zeus himself. In order to forestall these consequences, Zeus "put her away inside his own belly;" he "swallowed her down of a sudden". But he was too late: Metis had already conceived a child. When it came time, Zeus was in great pain; Hephaestus, cleaved Zeus's head with the double-headed Minoan axe. Athena then leaped from Zeus's head, fully grown and armed.
I mean, where else can you get a story like that?
He was also the father of the infamous Heracles, whom he bedded his human mother after falling in love with her from above.
Just being the God of Gods and was able to take down his 'parents' as well, the Titans, he was someone that could do anything. Just a cool guy overall.
2007-05-16 17:40:51 · answer #4 · answered by cyancat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pandora, because she was beautiful, and curious. Did you know that the Greek word for "woman" means "the beautiful, bad thing"? Apparently it wasn't just the Christians who blamed all the ills of the world on a woman; Pandora opened the box and Eve ate the apple. Isn't it interesting how many pagan myths Christians adapted (stole/used) in their myths?
2007-05-16 19:39:56 · answer #5 · answered by LodiTX 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I always liked the stories of mythology and the amazing fact that they travelled so far by the muses alone. My favorite was probably Athena Daughter of Zeus brother of Mercury. She was the first testament that PMS was real.
2007-05-16 17:02:42 · answer #6 · answered by arborsurgeon 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I like Selene, goddess of the moon because the moon is a beautiful silver orb. I also like Atalanta for being one tough, proud woman. Oh, and I can't forget wise Athena and virgin hunter Artemis.
2007-05-16 21:22:21 · answer #7 · answered by citta rosa 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Athena... she has been ever since I first learned about Greek gods in 6th grade. She had a rockin birth and she was smart and powerful.
2007-05-16 18:36:29 · answer #8 · answered by bickeo 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
gods, demigods, and other spirits are great, but i've got to say Orpheus is a beautiful and tragic story. a musician so graced that his name still rings around the world today and who made the gods reconsider the verdict of death upon a human. the music was perfect but Orpheus was still just a man full of fear and he lost his love to the underworld. it's quintessentially greek.
2007-05-16 17:54:53 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hail Eris
All hail Discordia
Why - read Principia Discordia
2007-05-16 18:50:49 · answer #10 · answered by hairypotto 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋