Men and Gods

CADMUS, ACTAEON AND ECHO AND NARCISSUS

Cadmus

Origins
u Cadmus’ parents were King Agenor and Queen Telephassa, who ruled the Phoenician city of
Tyre. As a young prince, Cadmus lived an extravagant and adventurous life surrounded by family.
His siblings were Phoenix, Cilix and Europa. Europa would play an important role in his future. He
eventually become known as the first Greek hero as he followed the life path the gods laid out for
him.
u Cadmus is known as the first Greek hero, and there are two main legends that are associated
with his journey.
u As previously mentioned, Cadmus’ sister Europa would play a large part in his life. One day,
Europa was out with her friends gathering flowers, when Zeus approached them disguised as a
white bull. Europa moved toward the bull in order to stroke him, but when she stepped on him,
the bull ran off, kidnapping Europa on his back. He swam through the sea and arrived in Crete. It
was then that Europa realized she had been kidnapped by Zeus. She married a local king,
making her the first queen of Crete.
u However, her family did not know what had become of her and her father sent all of her brothers
out to find her. He told them not to return until they had rescued their sister. Their mother also
accompanied them while they searched all over for their beloved Europa. But there were no
clues to her whereabouts and the brothers began to settle in different areas, unable to return
home to their father.
Cadmus
Source:
https://www.enotes.com/topics/cad
mus
www.greeka.com
 u
Actaeon was a famous hero in Greek
mythology. He was the son of Aristaeus, a
herdsman, and Autonoe, and resided in the
region of Boeotia. He was the pupil of
Actaeon the centaur Chiron. He somehow caused
the wrath of goddess Artemis, eventually
leading to his death. There are many and
different recounts of the myth; however,
they all revolve around the notion that he
was a hunter that was transformed into a
stag and was then killed by his hunting dogs.
According to the most popular version,
provided by
Callimachus, Actaeon accidentally
saw Artemis naked, while she was bathing in
the woods; amazed at her beauty, he was
spotted by the goddess, who told him not to
speak again or he would change into a
deer.
u Upon hearing his hunting dogs, however, Actaeon called them and
immediately transformed into a deer. So, he started running into the
woods, but his well-trained dogs found him and tore him to pieces.
The myth of Actaeon was considered to represent human sacrifice
in an effort to appease a deity.
ECHO AND NARCISSUS

Who Was Echo?

u As this story goes, there was once a nymph
named Echo. Nymphs were magical female
creatures that lived in nature. They were not
quite human, but not goddesses either.
u Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, liked to
spend time with the nymphs. His wife, Hera,
was very jealous that he spent his time there.
When Hera went to find Zeus, Echo crossed
her path and tried to distract her from
finding him by talking and talking…
u Hera grew angry at Echo's talking, so she
cursed her. Then, Echo could only repeat the
last words spoken to her (like an echo, get
it?). She had lost her beautiful voice and
could only mimic what others were saying,
never being able to speak her own words
again.
http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/usersto
ry948-story-of-echo-and-narcissus.html
Who Was Narcissus?

u Narcissus was the most handsome guy around. When Narcissus was
a child, a prophet (someone that tells the future) told his mother that
he would live a long life, IF he never saw his own reflection. His
mother didn't understand, so she never warned him about it. Uh-oh.
u Narcissus was so beautiful that most people who looked at him fell in
love. But Narcissus thought he was better than most, and he never
returned the love of his admirers.
Source: https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-story-of-echo-
narcissus-lesson-for-kids.html
A Love Story?

u One day, Echo came across Narcissus in the forest. She immediately
fell in love with him! But what could Echo do? With her curse, she
could never tell Narcissus that she loved him and could only repeat
his words back to him. Narcissus did not understand this, and he told
her to go away! Echo was devastated.
u Soon after, Narcissus was in the woods and stopped to take a drink
in a pond. The water was so still that he was able to see his reflection
for the first time. But Narcissus didn't realize he was looking at himself.
He fell in love with the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. It
was true love…with himself! All Echo could do was sit and watch.
u https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1vzHagVIPc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s2QPQnuaGk
Themes

Overestimation of one's abilities

u Icarus gets careless and believes he can fly higher than he actually
can, and although was initially warned countlessly by his father, he
continues to fly towards the sun. Ultimately, this was his downfall. In the
end, it is also depicted that Daedalus lamented his own arts and ability
due to the loss of his son.
Obedience is important
u The death of Icarus was due to disobedience to his father. Moreover,
the entire situation with the Minotaur and the building of the labyrinth
was due to King Minos' disobedience towards the gods regarding the
issue of sacrificing to the God of the Sea, Poseidon.
u
https://sites.google.com/site/mythsandlegendsnotes/daedalus-and-
icarus
PRIDE AND PUNISHMENT

u The day, the gods did not like it when humans tried to act like them by overcoming their mortal
limits. In ancient Greek culture, acting like a god was called "hubris", and it was often severely
punished. Flying through the air definitely constituted hubris, since flight was supposed to be a
strictly gods-only activity. Watching from the ground, shepherds and plowmen even mistake
Daedalus and Icarus for gods, since mortals had never before achieved flight. Of course,
Daedalus and Icarus pay a price for overstepping their humanly bounds. Icarus dies and
Daedalus loses a child lose-lose. It's an important lesson in humility, and the wisdom of living within
your limits. The myth seems to be saying that instead of wanting something extraordinary (such as
flying, or in Icarus' case, flying really high), we should learn to be happy with what we already
have. Daedalus takes this lesson in humility to heart.
u It's not an accident that when he lands in Sicily, he builds a temple to Apollo, the god of the sun.
After watching his son be destroyed by the sun, Daedalus has accepted that he's just not as
powerful as the gods or nature. By building the temple, he's essentially saying, "Sorry, Apollo. I
totally respect you now. And just to prove it, I built you this totally swanky house of worship,
complete with a bunch of beautiful statues." In a bit of poetic justice, the writer Ovid says that
Daedalus' nephew whom Daedalus had tried to kill by pushing him off the Acropolis watches as
the inventor performs the funeral rites for his son. (Daedalus doesn't notice the nephew, since
Athena had transformed him into a partridge.) Apparently, Daedalus didn't think twice about
pushing his nephew off a cliff, but when his own son fell from a great height? Well, that's a
different story
Questions About Pride and
Punishment
u Who has more hubris, Daedalus or Icarus? Have you ever gotten
yourself in trouble for reaching beyond your limits?
u For trying to be like the gods, Daedalus lost his son. Was this a fair
punishment? Do you think Daedalus would have learned his lesson
with a lesser punishment?
u Is humility (being humble) a "good" characteristic? Does it keep us
safe, or does it hold us back from accomplishing great things?
u What do you think Daedalus' nephew felt as he watched his
uncle perform Icarus' funeral rites?
Discussion

u Describe your favourite Greek story and say why you like it.
u Identify common themes and ideas in each story.
u Do you think that the gods are just and fair? Explain.