More Olympian Revenge

The elaborate stories in Greek mythology guarantee that the gods of Olympus were never bored. They were either constantly falling in love, protecting or punishing someone. The following are people that managed to anger the gods and their chosen punishments:

Ixion: A king of the Lapiths in Thessaly, he pushed his father-in-law into a bed of coal and wood making it the first murder of kin in mythology. Ixion was shunned by the other kings and princes in the area, but Zeus took pity on him and invited him to sit with the rest of the gods in Olympus as a guest. Ixion, however, did not respect Zeus's hospitality as he lusted after Hera. Zeus decided to trick him and presented him with a cloud (nephele) of Hera, with which Ixion mated. This union with the cloud-Hera produced the Centaur who later ruled the mountain of Pelion in Magnesia. As punishment for his betrayal, Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt and tied him to a spinning burning wheel for all eternity.

Sisyphos: Sisyphos was the king of Corinth who managed to trick both men and gods alike with his craftiness. He betrayed Zeus's secrets, took his brother's throne, and when he was chained by Thanatos (death) as punishment for his betrayal, he even managed to trick Thanatos into releasing him and tying up death. After this he was dragged to Tartarus again, where he once again tricked Persephone into allowing him to visit the world of the living. Finally, the gods reserved special punishment for Sisyphos in Hades: He was forced to push a large rock up a hill and right before he reached the top, the rock would roll back down forcing him to start his ordeal again.

Read the rest of the article at www.allthegreeks.com and more revenge stories here.

Image and Source: www.theoi.com

When the Gods Take Revenge

The Ancient Greeks managed to create a diety system of gods that were so "human" in their personal stories and traits, that is truly impressive. Their gods loved and hated with a passion, they would get jealous and they sought revenge. Especially the latter, they must have enjoyed. Here are a few cases of wrath felt by the gods as revenge:

Prometheus

This titan suffered the most terrible punishment from the gods of Olympus. Prometheus (which in Greek means forethought) was entrusted by Zeus to create humankind out of clay. Because he wanted to help his creations survive, he gave humans fire against the will of Zeus. When Zeus found out, he chained Prometheus on the top of mount Caucasus and sent an eagle every day to feast on his liver. The torture would continue for eternity every day, because Prometheus's liver regenerated at night, so that the eagle could eat it again the next day. Finally, decades later, Hercules saved him (with Zeus's compliance, of course).

Pandora

Pandora was a woman created by the god of fire Iphestos and "adorned" by Athena with all the beautiful characteristics and traits that a woman of charm should have. Pandora was meant to be Zeus second revenge on Prometheus and his creations (the humans). So, after Zeus chained Prometheus to the mountain, he sent Pandora with a box to Prometheus's brother, Epimetheus (afterthought). The woman was beautiful, so Epimetheus accepted this gift from the gods, although his brother had warned him not to accept any gifts from Olympus. Pandora brought a box with her, which she was instructed never to open, for any reason. Of course the gods counted on Pandora's curiosity, who they knew would eventually open the box. When she finally did open the box secretly, sorrow, famine, death and every other possible ailment were released into the world onto men. She managed to close the box right before hope escaped from inside...

Read about: Atlas, Odysseus, Pasiphae, Niobe