Mythology Book Notes Summary

Midas

Midas was a rich king in Phrygia. He had great rose gardens into which, Silenus wandered, drunk as usual. Midas returned him to Bacchus and the god offered him anything he wanted. Midas asked that everything he touched be turned to gold. He could not eat (everything would turn to gold, including any food) and soon he asked the god to take his wish back. Later, Apollo changed his ears to those of an ass because he chose Pan over him in a music contest.

Aescupulus

"There was a woman in Thessaly named Coronis, of beauty so surpassing that Apollo loved her." Part 6, Chapter 1, pg. 413. The girl decided that she would rather marry a mortal instead. Apollo found this out and went mad, resulting in her death. He saved her unborn child, Aescupulus and had him raised by Chiron. The god taught him about healing and he became the best healer in the world. He healed many men. The gods grew angry when he raised a man from death. Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt and killed him. In revenge, Apollo killed the Cyclopes that forged Zeus' thunderbolts.

Danaids

These were famous women in the underworld destined to carry water in leaky jars forever. They were the fifty daughters of man named Danaus who were forcibly married to fifty cousins. At the wedding, Danaus presented each one of them with a dagger. Only Hypermnestra did not kill her husband. She was thrown into prison, but was united with her husband Lyncaeus later. Theseus descended from them.

Glaucus and Scylla

Glaucus was a fisherman whose fish came back to life and swam into the ocean. He captured one of them and ate it. An intense longing for the sea overwhelmed him. He flung himself into it. A nymph named Scylla found him and he fell in love with her. Circe also fell in love with him and she turned Scylla into the hideous dragon of Scylla and Charybdis.

Erysichthon

One woman was given the power to change shapes like Proteus and she used the power to get food for her father. Erysichthon cut down one of Demeter's oaks and it bled. Demeter found out and cursed him with endless hunger. He soon lost all of his money buying food. He was hungry all the time and nothing could sate his appetite. He sold his daughter for food and Poseidon changed her into a fisherman. Every time her father sold her, she changed into something else and escaped. Eventually, her father ate his own body and died.

Pomona and Vertumunus

Pomona and Vertumunus were Roman deities. Pomona idolized orchards over any other part of nature. Vertumunus sought her to be his wife. He took the disguise of an old woman and kissed her. Using the example of the orchard trees that would not be so fruitful on their own, he convinced her that she needed a helper. He revealed his true identity and she accepted him as her husband.

Topic Tracking: Women 20