Hindu Creation Myth: Recent Episodes
alex
A podcast about early farmers compared to hunter-gatherers. Also how agriculture caused class division.
Alex’s Greek Monster Myth: Medusa and Perseus
Source:https://www.theoi.com/articles/the-myth-of-perseus
Script::
This is the story about Perseus and Medusa. It’s set in present day Meditarean islands between Greece and Turkey. First I’ll tell you their backstories-
Zeus, the lightning god, and Danae, a mortal princess, had Perseus. Since his mom was a mortal and his dad was a god, he was a demi-god. Him and Danae lived with Danae’s dad, King Acrisius.
Acrisius thought Perseus was going to kill him when he grew up, so he cast Danae and her son into the sea in a wooden chest. They came to an island called Serifos where King Polydectes took them in.
The king fell in love with Danae and made her his slave. Perseus wanted to protect his mother, but Polydectes sent him on a mission to bring back the head of Medusa.
Medusa had once been a beautiful woman with long, flowing hair. One day she had gone to Athena’s temple to brag about being prettier than Athena. Athena got mad and cursed Medusa with a hideous face and snake hair. And if anyone looked at her they would turn to stone. Athena sent her to a cave far, far away.
Before Perseus left on his quest, the gods gave him gifts to help him. Hades gave him the cape of invisibility, Hermes gave him winged sandals, Athena gave him a reflective bronze shield, and Hephaestus gave him a sword.
Then, Perseus found Medusa’s cave and peeked in. Perseus turned his shield and saw Medusa sleeping through the bronze. He slowly walked in, still only looking at her through the shield, and chopped her head off with the sword. He put her head in his bag and started his journey home.
While he was traveling back home, Perseus saw Andromeda, a beautiful woman, stuck in a rock. Cetus the sea monster was going to eat her, but Perseus slew the monster and saved her just in time. Perseus wanted to marry Andromeda, but she was already engaged to Phineus. Phineus got mad at Perseus for proposing to Andromeda, so he challenged him to a duel.
Perseus accepted and took out Medusa’s head and turned Phineus to stone, making sure to cover Andromeda and his eyes. Then Perseus and Andromeda Went back to Polydectes and set Danae free by turning Polydectes to stone. After Polydectes was defeated, Perseus and Andromeda got married. The moral of this story is that you should go for something if you really want it and be courageous.
I picked this myth because in 4th grade my teacher used to tell us tons of greek myths and this is my favorite out of all the myths he told us.
Alex’s Greek Seasons Myth Podcast Script: Source- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXx2FFylpH0
The Greek myth I picked is about how the seasons were created.
It starts with Persephone, The daughter of Demeter, aka the goddess of the harvest, running through a field picking flowers on Mount Olympus.
Hades, god of the underworld is watching her. He wants to marry her but is too shy, and Demeter would never let him.
One day he rode a golden chariot up from the underworld, kidnapped Persephone, and brought her to the underworld. Demeter couldn’t find her and worried.
She went to the sun god, Helios, who sees everything. He said he saw Hades take Persephone to the underworld because he had a crush on her.
Demeter then went to her brother Zeus and asked for him to help. He refused because he didn’t want to start a war or anything. So then Demeter said that she wasn’t gonna plant anymore crops on the earth, so then a huge famine began.
The people on the earth tried to appease her and build her a big temple, where she stayed for a whole year weeping. The lack of crops was making the earth die out and killing the people, so the gods of Olympus each brought a gift for her.
She refused all of them and finally Zeus gave in. He brought Persephone up to the surface world again.
But before he did, Hades told Persephone to eat some pomegranate seeds, because she was probably starving. She ate 6 of the 12 seeds.
But then she remembered that if you eat anything in a different realm, you are stuck there forever. Demeter said she had only eaten half of the seeds, so she would only have to be in the underworld for half the year.
So when Persephone is with her mom for half the year Demeter is happy, crops grow, it is summer.
But then when Persephone goes to the underworld to Hades, Demeter cries and crops stop growing, causing winter. That is the end of the Greek myth of how the seasons are caused.