Greece
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Tyche- The Original Lady Luck
Tyche, or Tykhe in Greek, was the goddess of fortune, chance, providence and fate. Although some sources identify her as an Oceanid, a daughter of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, other sources have indicated her parents were Aphrodite and either Zeus or Hermes. Some sources give her a husband called Agathos Daimon, literally “good spirit”, which emphasizes her later association with good luck. She is depicted holding a rudder as she was the deity charged with guiding the affairs of the world. In this aspect she was a one of the Moirai, or Fates. Tyche is also shown with a ball, showing the unsteadiness of fortune as it can roll…
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Greek Goddess Eileithyia
She was the goddess of childbirth and labor pains. Her name means “she who comes to aid” or “relieve” from the Greek word elêluthyia. Her Roman counterpart was Lucina (“Light bringer”) or Natio (“Birth”). She was depicted as a woman wielding a torch, representing the burning pains of childbirth, or with her arms raised in the air to bring the child to the light. Hesiod in the Theogony states she is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. She was born in a cave near Knossos, Crete, and this became her main place of worship. She was also worshiped in Olympia, which is attested by the discovery of a shrine attributed…
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Tiresias
It seems like every Greek myth has a seer that must peer into the darkness of the future or the underworld or something to put the hero on his path to destiny. The go-to seer for many myths was Tiresias. It seemed like he was so good at his job, they couldn’t even let him alone when he was dead. Someone was always going into the underworld to bring him up for a prophecy of some kind. Tiresias was born to the nymph Chariclo and a shepherd, Everes. Chariclo was a favorite of Athena, and in one myth Tiresias got his power of prophecy from Athena. He was said to…
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The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great conquered the known world, but died unexpectedly in Babylon in 323 BCE at 32 years old. His death left his empire in disarray, and his generals scrambled to save pieces of it even as Alexander’s funeral preparations drug on for two years. At one point, one of these generals, Ptolemy, took control of both Egypt and the great general’s body. According to Roman historian Curtius Rufus, “Alexander’s body was taken to Memphis by Ptolemy, into whose power Egypt had fallen, and transferred from there a few years later to Alexandria, where every mark of respect continues to be paid to his memory and his name. This was…
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Ancient Ghost Stories
Anyone familiar with Greek myth knows that any hero worth his salt had to make a visit to the underworld. However, the afterlife was not an unfamiliar concept to any of the cultures of the ancient world. In fact, ancient peoples were probably more sure that the soul survived bodily death than some in the modern world. The details of the afterlife differed from culture to culture, but there are consistent themes. The afterlife was a place ruled by specific laws and souls could only roam the earth if given specific permission from the gods for special circumstances. These usually included murder, where the murderer went unpunished, improper funeral rites…
