Jupiter, a Roman god
Jupiter, a Roman god (fresco from the House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii, ca. 79 AD) Who was Jupiter? Jupiter was the chief of the gods for the Romans, the way Zeus was for the [...]
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09, 2017
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09, 2017
Philemon and Baucis – Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Just a loaf of bread This is a story we only know because Ovid wrote it down in his poem, the Metamorphoses. It might be a traditional Greek story, but we don't know [...]
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07, 2017
The god Varuna – Hinduism – India
Monsoon rain (Goa) Around 1000 BC, in the Vedic period in India, Varuna was an important Hindu god. Varuna was originally a sky god - his name means "the one who covers everything." Often people think [...]
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07, 2017
Indra, god of rain – Ancient India
Indra, 4-5th c. AD (Mathura, India) Who was Indra? In the earliest Hindu stories that we know of, from the Rig Veda, Indra is the ruler of the Hindu gods, the [...]
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07, 2017
Who is Zeus? Ancient Greek gods
The god Zeus is the lightning and the thunder Zeus was, for many people in ancient Greece, the king of the gods. Homer shows Zeus this way in the Iliad, for example. But mainly, Zeus is [...]
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07, 2017
Who was Prometheus? Greek religion
Prometheus makes people (now in the Louvre museum) One of the Titans Prometheus was a Titan, one of the children of Ocean. He and his brother Epimetheus were Zeus' and Hera's cousins. [...]
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07, 2017
Persephone and Hades – Greek religion
Hades kidnaps Persephone (mosaic from Amphipolis, 300s BC) Persephone was the daughter of the goddess Demeter. One day Persephone was dancing with her friends in a sunny meadow, having a good time, picking [...]
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07, 2017
Tantalus’ Crime and Punishment
Tantalus' crime and punishment: This Italian vase from the 300s BC shows a different version of the story where a spirit holds Tantalus back from a basket of bread and a jug of water [...]
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07, 2017
Phaethon and the Chariot of the Sun – Greek myth
Phaethon drives Helios' chariot Phaethon was a little boy who lived alone with his mother. He started going to school, and the other children teased him because he didn't have any father. [...]
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07, 2017
Pandora’s Box story – Greek mythology
Pandora's Box story in Greek mythology: The Greek god Hephaistos creates Pandora Greek mythology tells the story of Pandora's Box: When Zeus was so angry at Prometheus for giving people fire, he was also [...]
