Greece
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The Mighty Amazons
In Greek Mythology these daughters of Ares were warlike women noted for their courage and pride who lived at the outer limits of the known world, usually known as the city of Themiskyra on the Black Sea and their queen was Hippolyta.Some of the most well known of these mighty women were Antiope, who during a raid Theseus made her his concubine, Pentheselia, who met Achilles in battle during the Trojan War; and Myrina, Queen of the African Amazons. We can't forget about the most popul [...]
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Selene the Moon Goddess
Selene (Roman: Luna) is the Greek Goddess of the moon. She is the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. She had fifty daughters with Endymion and had the goddesses Pandia and Ersa with Zeus. She is usually depicted either riding side saddle on a horse or in a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds. Her lunar sphere or crescent was represented as either a crown set upon her head or as the fold of araised, shining cloak. Sometimes she was said to drive a team of oxen and her lunar crescent was likened to the horns of a bull.…
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Hestia
Hestia was the Greek Goddess of the hearth, family, and domestic life. Her Roman equivalent was Vesta. Her name meant both a house and a hearth, symbolising the home and its residents. She also represented the coalition and relationship between the colonies and the mother cities. She was the first born child of Kronos and Rhea who was swallowed by her father at birth. Zeus would later force their father to disgorge his children. As the first to be swallowed she was also the last to be disgorged, and so was named as both the eldest and youngest of the six Kronides. When many of the gods sought for her…
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Prostitution: the world’s oldest profession?
Many people have heard prostitution being referred to as the oldest profession in the world and it may well be one of them. It was first referred to as such by author Rudyard Kipling in back in 1888, however, the trade of money or goods in exchange for sex goes back way before then. The earliest mention of prostitution occurs in records dating back to 2400 BCE. Karkid, the Sumerian word for female prostitute appears in lists of professions from that period. The ancient Mesopotamian religious practices seem to have effectively given birth to the sex trade. The Sumerians worshipped Ishtar, the goddess of love, fertility, and war, born anew…
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Aesop’s Fables
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop I am sure most of us have heard the term “Slow and steady wins the race”. It comes from a very popular fable The Tortoise and the Hare. Its just one out of a number of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages. Not every fable that has been linked to Aesop is his own original material. There are…
