The aegis is sometimes called the breastplate of Zeus and sometimes referred to as the shield of Zeus. The Aegis was made up of four spirits who were the arm guards of Zeus.
“Across her [Athena’s] shoulders she threw the betasselled, terrible aigis (aegis), all about which Phobos (Terror) hangs like a garland, and Eris (Hatred) is there, and Alke (Battle Strength), and heart-freezing Ioke (Onslaught) and thereon is set the head of the grim gigantic Gorgo (Gorgon), a thing of fear and horror, portent of Zeus of the aigis.” Homer, Iliad 5. 738 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.)
Phobos was the male personification of fear. He was the son of Ares and Aphrodite.
Eris was the female spirit goddess of strife. She had such a malignant personality that she was the only goddess not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. When she turned up anyway, she started a feud that led to the Trojan War.
Alke was the female personification of strength. Ioke was the female personification of pursuit. Both of these spirits are associated with the battle spirits known as the Makhai.
In my mind, these spirits of war and strife are like the Christian version of the Four Horseman of the apocalypse. If they show up, you better hope you have a paddle and a boat to get through that flood of unpleasantness headed your way.
A statue in the Church of San Vitale of the Four Horseman. Photo by Cheryl Cook.
Most Mondays, I highlight a different Greek myth or an aspect of mythology that has influenced the Turning Creek series. The first book, Lightning in the Dark, is out now. The second book, Storm in the Mountains, will be available in May. Cover reveal coming soon! Real soon. Later this week soon.
I am going to be changing things up for Mythology Mondays for two reasons. One, there are many other things to talk about in regards to myths besides just profiling them, that I think are important to writing and storytelling. Second, because this is my party and I can. 🙂
Occasionally, instead of a myth profile, I want to talk about myths themselves, the cultural construct of them, why they stick around, why we are so fascinated by them, and why I love them. Ready? Here we go!
I have been pondering over the idea of redemption recently. As a Christian, this is a common and central theme to my own belief system. Redemption is found in fiction, in music, in movies, and everywhere. It is pervasive because it is something we, as humans, long for. I believe we were created that way. Your opinion may differ, but the fact remains, redemption is important in the way we view the world.
A couple weeks ago, I wrote a guest post on redemption at Para Your Normal in which I discussed how to take a shady character, like a harpy, and construct a plan to redeem them through writing. No matter what genre you write, you start with a character and a problem. At the end of the story, you should end up with a problem that is solved (or on its way to being so) and a character who has grown into a better version of themselves.
In my profile on harpies a few months ago, I said, “I wanted to know what would happen if a violent creature was forced to live in the world with people and how they would reconcile their own nature with that of the world around them.”
In mythology, harpies are nasty things, think The Last Unicorn.
The harpy attacking from The Last Unicorn.
When I was a kid, this moment in the movie (along with several others) completely creeped me out. I loved the movie though.
As an adult, the only book I can recall having a harpy as the main character is Thea Harrison’s Kinked, from her Elder Races series. Aryal is an amazing character that I loved from the beginning of the series. I am so behind on this series, but it is fabulous.
Mythology is ripe with characters who need redemption. The fun thing about working with myths is that a framework is already there. As a writer, I do not have to start from scratch to create a world or the people that fill it. In many myths, characters who do not find redemption are punished and punished harshly. Narcissus, Bellerophon, and Cronos are only three of many from Greek mythology alone who met unfortunate ends because of their failure to make better choices.
As readers, we want to see redemption stories. We want to see that good things can happen to characters we have come to love. I adore a good villain who mends their ways and then has to make retribution. It takes strength of character to admit wrong and then try to fix the transgressions. This is one reason why romance is rife with the wounded hero, the reformed rake, and the penitent villain.
My harpies not only need redemption, they have to find a way to redeem their most prominent but problematic characteristic: violence. The each have to find a way to make sense of what they are and then use that knowledge for the good of their community and those they love. How they answer that question is different for each of them and their struggles, while similar, are not the same.
Redemption is unique to the bearer. The theme is the same, but the way we find it is different. Some paths to redemption are easy. Some paths are uphill both ways in the snow barefoot.
Every Monday, I highlight a different Greek myth that has woven its way into the Turning Creek series. The first book, Lightning in the Dark, is out now. If you pay close attention to the details, you will see where some of the elements and history of the series originated.
I sat down to write this post and the word that keeps going through my head is philandering.
When I was younger, I thought of a guy like this:
Zeus from Disney’s Hercules.
I knew Zeus had a lot of children, and not all of them with his wife, Hera, but I did not understand the true depth of his wandering ways until I read a few articles and books which referenced his seduction/rape of Leda in the form of a swan. As an aside, The Swan Thieves by Kostova is a wonderful book. If you want to see some great depictions of this aspect of the Zeus myth do a Google image search for Leda and the swan. Be warned though, many of the results, while beautiful art, are NSFW.
Leda and the Swan, a 16th-century copy by Peter Paul Rubens, after a lost painting by Michelangelo
By some counts, Zeus had relations with as many as 70 women and that makes for a whole slew of immortal and half-mortal children. I suppose if he looked like this:
Luke Evans as Zeus in the Immortals
I would consider his advances. Zeus was well known for seducing women in other forms. He seduced Leda as a swan, Europa as a bull, Kallisto as Artemis (both females), Antiope as a satyr, and Danae as a golden shower (insert crude joke here). I am not making this up. It seems Zeus was willing to stoop to any level to trick or coerce women into having sex with him. Why couldn’t he just buy them a drink or a villa or something?
In between chasing women, Zeus was busy inspiring culture across the civilized world. He was the giver of prophecy, controlled the weather, was the god of law and justice, and he kept a tight rule on the other immortals who lived on Mount Olympus. He was respected by other gods and mortal supplicants and was often referred to as ”Father.”
For every story of good, there is a another example of his despotism. Zeus is credited with killing his father and saving his siblings, but also with starting and controlling the Trojan War. He took revenge on mortals and gods alike who he felt did not give him his due or who went against his wishes. Zeus held onto power by being ruthless. In his defense, he was the ruler of other gods whose reputations were also less than stunning and he had to one up them to keep them in line.
In the Turning Creek universe, Zeus leans towards the despot version of the myth. He was a tyrant who abused his followers to such an extent that they rebelled. In the mythology of Turning Creek, the original four harpies led a revolt against the father of all gods and destroyed Mount Olympus. His true destruction is uncertain and he is remembered with a mix of fear and hate. All the Remnants lost something in the war and the harpies lost one of their own. James Lloyd, one of the main characters in Lightning in the Dark is a Zeus history buff which causes some issues with Petra, who has a healthy wariness and hatred for Zeus.
Every Monday, I highlight a different Greek myth that has woven its way into the Turning Creek series. The first book, Lightning in the Dark, is out now. If you pay close attention to the details, you will see where some of the elements and history of the series originated.
Bellerophon, was said to be the son of Poseidon and the Corinthian princess, Eurynome. Eurynome was, of course, married when she became with child by Poseidon. The joining may have been by mutual agreement as her husband, Glaucus, was the son of Sisyphus who had been cursed by Zeus to have his family line die out.
It never is simple with the Greeks.
Bellerophon has the ordinary life of a rich, titled prince until he commits murder. There are various stories about who he killed, either a brother or another noble of Corinth. Either way, he was exiled for his actions and sent to live in the court of Proetus.
Enter in the deceitful woman. Proetus’s wife tries to get Bellerophon in her bed. He refuses. Repeatedly. She does not take kindly to being rebuffed and tells Proetus that Bellerophon has made inappropriate overtures to her. She demands that her husband kill Bellerophon in retribution for her threatened virtue.
Bellerophon is a charming man and Proetus likes him. He is loathe to kill a man he admires. I would venture to say it is was also probably likely that Proetus was not ignorant of his wife’s character. Proetus comes up with an idea that he believes will both soothe his conscience and appease his snake of a wife.
Proetus sends Bellerophon to his father-in-law, Iobates of Lycia, with a sealed note instructing the man to kill Bellerophon. Iobates feasts for nine days with his guest before opening the letter. When he does so, he does not want to comply with the request. It was considered very bad form to murder a person to which you had extended your hospitality.
Instead of killing Bellerophon, Iobates sends him on a quest, which he believes will probably kill the young man. Bellerophon amazes everyone and completes the quest, and the next one, and the next, and the next.
It is in this manner that one of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology begins. By the time Bellerophon is done, he has completed the following feats:
Captures Pegasus, the winged horse, with the help of a golden bridle from Athena.
Slays the fire-breathing Chimera.
Defeats the Solymi, a war-like tribe of Lycia.
Defeats the Amazons, women who fought like men.
Kills the Carian pirate, Cheirmarrhus, who had been sent to assassinate him.
When Proetus’s castle guard is sent to assassinate him, Bellerophon calls upon Poseidon, who floods the plain and drowns the soldiers.
A floor mosaic from Syria depicting Bellerophon and Pegasus defeating the Chimera.
Iobates realizes his plan has failed and, in true ancient history fashion, gifts his daughter to Bellerophon and makes him heir to the throne. Bellerophon sired three children with his wife, Isander, Hippolochus, and Laodamia.
Over time, Bellerophon began to believe he deserved to be welcomed into the halls of Mount Olympus. He was eaten up by his pride. He attempted to fly Pegasus up Mount Olympus to join the gods by force. Zeus was angered by his impertinence and sent a gadfly to bite the flank of Pegasus. The horse threw off Bellerophon who fell to the earth and landed in a bramble of thorns.
Pegasus was welcomed into Zeus’s stable. He carried Zeus’s lightning bolts when the god went off to war.
Bellerophon, blinded and crippled from his fall, spent the rest of his life as a wandering hermit consumed with bitter gall for his treatment.
In Turning Creek, I fudged the details about Bellerophon a bit, but his pride and sense of entitlement are definitely intact.
Every Monday, I highlight a different Greek myth that has woven its way into the Turning Creek series. The first book, Lightning in the Dark, is out now. If you pay close attention to the details, you will see where some of the elements and history of the series originated.
You might have a vague idea of what a nymph is and I would guess your level of nerd influences your ideas about this creature. I am a nerd, so my first inclination is towards the Dungeons and Dragons version on the nymph. It is OK to admit that here.
According to the D&D Monster Manual Core Rulebook III (which I have sitting on my desk right now), a nymph is a fey and “nature’s embodiment of physical beauty.” They hate evil and can blind or kill anyone who looks at them directly with their beauty. They are solitary creatures, live in wild areas, and avoid conflict when possible. They will fight to preserve the purity and sanctity of nature. If you want to know, and I know you do, their hit die is a 3d6.
Greek mythology abounds with nymphs of all kinds. Nymphs were female spirits who ruled and protected natural and wild areas including lakes, springs, rivers, caves, clouds, trees, beaches, and fields. They cared for the plants and animals in their domain. They were not gods themselves, but were often involved with the gods and were frequent attendees to events on Olympus.
There were many classes of nymphs, which mostly depended on where they chose to live. Unlike the D&D version, Greek nymphs often lived in groups. They served as handmaidens to goddesses, had relations with the gods and bore their children, married mortals and gods alike, and served often as nurses or nurturers to gods and children.
In Turning Creek, there are a number of nymphs running around in various forms. Beth Kramer, wife of Simon Kramer, runs the mercantile with her husband and is a nymph.
