... infamous and mischievous deeds, Hephaistos yielded some of the most spectacular relics in Greek mythology. In Homer's epic tale The Iliad, Hephaistos receives a request to forge battle armor and shield for the great Greek warrior and mortal, Achilles, during the heat of the Trojan War. The request comes from Thetis, the mother of Achilles, and by one account, the one that cared for Hephaistos after he was tossed ... to look straight at it" because it shone with such brightness and had the markings of the work of a god (Homer 12.14). Achilles gratefully dons his armor and goes into battl...

• Word Count: 1341
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... him, Agamemnon decided to take Briseis, Achilleus' war prize, whom he had given him as a reward. The consequence of this action was to alienate the god-like Achilleus, the greatest warrior among the Achaeans, from the war. The long-term effect of Agamemnon's indifference towards Achilleus, son of the goddess Thetis, was that Achilleus succeeded in petitioning Zeus, through Thetis, for glory and honor and ensured that ... Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all believed they were the fairest and Paris was tasked with deciding who the winner should be. Since he could not decide based solely on the...

• Word Count: 2432
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... to her: child-goddess, wife-goddess, and widow-goddess. (Guirand 113-114; Hamilton 27) "Hera was depicted as a young woman, fully developed, or a chaste and severe beauty. Her forehead is normally crowned with a diadem or with a high crown of cylindrical shape, the polos. She wears a long tunic of chiton and is enveloped in a veil which adds to her bearing of nobility, reserved ... age, with brow generally crowned with ivy. Later he appears as a beardless youth of rather effeminate aspect. Sometimes the delicate nudity of his adolescent body is half covered by the nebris, a skin of a pa...

• Word Count: 2320
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Stymphalus, there were three temples to her: child-goddess, wife-goddess, and widow-goddess. "Hera was depicted as a young woman, fully developed, or a chaste and severe beauty. Her forehead is normally crowned with a diadem or with a high crown of cylindrical shape, the polos. She wears a long tunic of chiton and is enveloped in a veil which adds to her bearing of nobility, reserved ... age, with brow generally crowned with ivy. Later he appears as a beardless youth of rather effeminate aspect. Sometimes the delicate nudity of his adolescent body is half covered by the nebris, a skin o...

• Word Count: 2220
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Athens were so delighted with the olive tree that Zeus gave the city to Athena, and named it after her. The Greeks also built the Acropolis, with its centerpiece consisting of the Parthenon, a temple made to honor Athena. Athena character is represented differently in the Iliad and the Odyssey. In the Iliad, written by the poet Homer, Athena is portrayed as a fierce and ruthless warrior goddess, who takes pleasure in ... war Athena was alluded to several times. Thomas Hardy alluded in The Mayor of Casterbridge in 1886. "She started the pen in an elephantine march across the street. It w...

• Word Count: 1509
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... relationship that resembles one's relationship with a parent, or perhaps an older brother. In the Iliad, Homer adeptly exposes the many sides of the complex relationship between humans and gods. One of the most telling aspects of this interaction is revealed shortly after the confrontation between Achilleus, the great warrior, and Agamemnon the king and leader of Greek forces. As a punishment for Achilleus's bold insolence, ... exists between omnipotent kings and their subjects; the former is reminiscient of a king's attachment to the chosen few outstanding servants or favorites. The ge...

• Word Count: 2271
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School