"and controls all things, the savior of the whole world, and the guardian of mortals."" Helen of Troy was worshiped as a heroine in several parts of the ancient world during the early historical epoch. Euripides' play ""Helen"" depends on a tradition begun in the early 6th century B.C. by the Greek poet Stesichorus that Helen was the daughter of Zeus (who took the form of a swan) and Leda. But this might simply be a poetic way of saying that she was hatched from an egg. There are two versions of the birth of Oedipus. He was given a"
"Orphic Egg The Orphic Egg in the Ancient Greek Orphic tradition is the cosmic egg from which hatched the primordial hermaphroditic deity Phanes/Protogonus (variously equated also with Zeus, Pan, Metis, Eros, Erikepaios and Bromius) who in turn created the other gods. The egg is often depicted with a serpent wound about it. In Greek myth, particularly Orphic thought, Phanes (mythology) is the golden winged primordial being who was hatched from the shining cosmic egg that was the source of the universe. Called Protogonos (First-Born) and Eros (Love) — being the seed of gods and men — Phanes means ""Manifestor"" or"
"egg from which hatched the primordial hermaphroditic deity Phanes/Protogonus (variously equated also with Zeus, Pan, Metis, Eros, Erikepaios and Bromius) who in turn created the other gods. The egg is often depicted with a serpent wound around it. Many threads of earlier myths are apparent in the new tradition. Phanes was believed to have been hatched from the World-Egg of Chronos (Time) and Ananke (Necessity) or Nyx (Night). His older wife Nyx called him Protogenus. As she created nighttime, he created daytime. He also created the method of creation by mingling. He was made the ruler of the deities and"
"Ab ovo Ab ovo (Latin: ""from the beginning, the origin, the egg"") is a reference to one of the twin eggs from which Helen of Troy was born. The eggs were laid by Leda after mating with Zeus disguised as a swan. Had Leda not laid the egg, Helen would not have been born, so Paris could not have eloped with her, so there would have been no Trojan War. The English literary use of the phrase comes from Horace's ""Ars Poetica"", where he describes his ideal epic poet as one who ""does not begin the Trojan War from the"
"sky. But Nemesis, as if wedded to the tribe of birds, when her months were ended, bore an egg. Mercurius (Mercury) Hermes took it away and carried it to Sparta and threw it in Leda's lap. From it sprang Helen, who excelled all other girls in beauty. One source of the myth says that Nemesis was the mother of the Telchines, whom others say were children of Pontus and Gaea or Thalassa. The four famous Telkhines (Telchines), Aktaios (Actaeus), Megalesios (Megalesius), Ormenos (Ormenus) and Lykos (Lycus), whom Bakkhylides (Bacchylides) calls the children of Nemesis and Tartaros.[N.B. Tartaros is the spirit"
"Keroessa In Greek mythology, Keroessa (in Greek Κερόεσσα ""the horned"") was a heroine of the foundational myth of Byzantium. She was the daughter of Io and Zeus; elder sister of Epaphus; and mother of Byzas, founder of Byzantium, with her uncle, Poseidon. According to the historian Hesychius of Miletus, as Io, changed into a heifer and being chased by a gadfly on behalf of the jealous Hera, was passing through Thrace, she gave birth to a girl, Keroessa, on the banks of the Golden Horn, by the altar of the nymph Semestra. Keroessa was reared by Semestra and grew up"
"""soup to nuts"". Thus ""ab ovo"" can also be used to mean a complete or entire thing. Ab ovo Ab ovo (Latin: ""from the beginning, the origin, the egg"") is a reference to one of the twin eggs from which Helen of Troy was born. The eggs were laid by Leda after mating with Zeus disguised as a swan. Had Leda not laid the egg, Helen would not have been born, so Paris could not have eloped with her, so there would have been no Trojan War. The English literary use of the phrase comes from Horace's ""Ars Poetica"", where"
"refuge with Leda. The swan gained her affection, and the two mated. Leda then produced an egg, from which Helen emerged. The First Vatican Mythographer introduces the notion that two eggs came from the union: one containing Castor and Pollux; one with Helen and Clytemnestra. Nevertheless, the same author earlier states that Helen, Castor and Pollux were produced from a single egg. Pseudo-Apollodorus states that Leda had intercourse with both Zeus and Tyndareus the night she conceived Helen. On the other hand, in the ""Cypria"", part of the Epic Cycle, Helen was the daughter of Zeus and the goddess Nemesis."
"Phanes Phanes (, genitive Φάνητος) or Protogonus (Greek: Πρωτογόνος, ""first-born"") was the mystic primeval deity of procreation and the generation of new life, who was introduced into Greek mythology by the Orphic tradition; other names for this Classical Greek Orphic concept included Ericapaeus ( ""power"") and Metis (""thought""). In these myths Phanes is often equated with Eros and Mithras and has been depicted as a deity emerging from a cosmic egg, entwined with a serpent. He had a helmet and had broad, golden wings. The Orphic cosmogony is bizarre, and quite unlike the creation sagas offered by Homer and Hesiod."
"of Helen of Troy, the author of the compilation of myth called ""Bibliotheke"" notes the possibility of Nemesis being the mother of Helen. Nemesis, to avoid Zeus, turns into a goose, but he turns into a swan and mates with her. Nemesis in her bird form lays an egg that is discovered in the marshes by a shepherd, who passes the egg to Leda. It is in this way that Leda comes to be the mother of Helen of Troy, as she kept the egg in a chest until it hatched. Rich-haired Nemesis gave birth to her [Helene (Helen)] when"
"mythology, Athena was believed to have been born from the head of her father Zeus. In the founding myth of Athens, Athena bested Poseidon in a competition over patronage of the city by creating the first olive tree. She was known as ""Athena Parthenos"" (""Athena the Virgin""), but, in one archaic Attic myth, the god Hephaestus tried and failed to rape her, resulting in Gaia giving birth to Erichthonius, an important Athenian founding hero. Athena was the patron goddess of heroic endeavor; she was believed to have also aided the heroes Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, and Jason. Along with Aphrodite and"
"Scholars have suggested that Orphism is ""un-Greek"" even ""Asiatic"" in conception, because of its inherent dualism. Chronos (Time) created the silver egg of the universe; out of this egg burst the first-born, Phanes. Phanes was a uroboric male-female deity of light and goodness, whose name means ""to bring light"" or ""to shine""; a first-born god of light who emerges from a void or a watery abyss and gives birth to the universe. Many threads of earlier myths are apparent in the new tradition. Phanes was believed to have been hatched from the World-Egg of Chronos (Time) and Ananke (Necessity or"
"not see her brothers among the Achaeans. The narrator remarks that they are both already dead and buried back in their homeland of Lacedaemon, thus suggesting that at least in the Homeric tradition, both were mortal. Another account of the myth states that Nemesis (Νέμεσις) was the mother of Helen, and was also impregnated by Zeus in the guise of a swan. A shepherd found the egg and gave it to Leda, who carefully kept it in a chest until the egg hatched. When the egg hatched, Leda adopted Helen as her daughter. Zeus also commemorated the birth of Helen"
"Electryone In Greek mythology, Electryone (Ancient Greek: Ἠλεκτρυώνην) or Electryo or Alectrona (Doric form) was a daughter of Helios and Rhodos, and sister to the Heliadae. She died a virgin and was worshipped as a heroine on the island of Rhodes. It is speculated by some that she was possibly a goddess of the morning, or of man's waking sense, which causes him to wake up in the morning; the Doric form of her name is akin to the Greek word for ""rooster"" (Alectrona, the feminine genitive of Αλεκτορ, Alektor, the ancient Greek word for ""rooster""), while the Attic form"
"Greek goddess of love Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans) often portray her as sexual and fertile. Homer's ""Iliad"" states that Aphrodire (Venus) was born from the sperm/foam of the castrated genitals of Uranus. ""Venus Anadyomene"" is a painting by Apelles that shows Aphrodite rising from the sea. The original painting is now lost, but a colossal copy of the painting exists, painted by the artist Titian and known as ""Venus Anadyomene"" by Titian. It depicts Venus (Aphrodite) rising from the sea and wringing her wet hair after her birth, a pose inspired by an account of the original painting by"
"(""from the egg"") and in mediās rēs (""into the middle of things"") in his ""Ars poetica"" (""Poetic Arts"", c. 13 BC), wherein lines 147–149 describe the ideal epic poet: The ""egg"" reference is to the mythological origin of the Trojan War in the birth of Helen and Clytemnestra from the double egg laid by Leda following her seduction by Zeus in the guise of a swan. Probably originated in oral tradition, the narrative technique of beginning a story ""in medias res"" is a stylistic convention of epic poetry, the exemplars in Western literature being the ""Iliad"" and the ""Odyssey"" (both"
"Leto In Greek mythology, Leto (; ""Lētṓ""; Λατώ, ""Lātṓ"" in Doric Greek) is a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, the sister of Asteria. The island of Kos is claimed as her birthplace. In the Olympian scheme, Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, which Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eyes of Zeus. Classical Greek myths record little about Leto other than her pregnancy and her search for a place where she could give birth to Apollo and Artemis, since Hera in her jealousy caused all lands to shun her. Finally, she"
"""Revealer,"" and is related to the Greek words ""light"" and ""to shine forth"" as well as the Latin ""Lucifer"". An ancient Orphic hymn addresses him thus:Ineffable, hidden, brilliant scion, whose motion is whirring, you scattered the dark mist that lay before your eyes and, flapping your wings, you whirled about, and through this world you brought pure light. Orphic Egg The Orphic Egg in the Ancient Greek Orphic tradition is the cosmic egg from which hatched the primordial hermaphroditic deity Phanes/Protogonus (variously equated also with Zeus, Pan, Metis, Eros, Erikepaios and Bromius) who in turn created the other gods. The"
"of a child and how in shame Derceto flung herself into a lake near Ascalon and her body was changed into the form of a fish though her head remained human. Derceto's child grew up to become Semiramis, the Assyrian queen. In another story, told by Hyginus, an egg fell from the sky into the Euphrates, was rolled onto land by fish, doves settled on it and hatched it, and Venus, known as the Syrian goddess, came forth. The author of ""Catasterismi"" explained the constellation of Piscis Austrinus as the parent of the two fish making up the constellation of"
"Beroe (mythology) Beroe (Greek: Βερόη) in Greek mythology is a nymph of Beirut, the daughter of Aphrodite and Adonis, and sister of Golgos. She was wooed by both Dionysus and Poseidon, eventually marrying Poseidon. At the birth of Beroe, Hermes acted as the midwife and assisted in the delivery of Beroe then the Virgin Astraia (lady of justice) took the infant Beroe and fed her with the wise breast and told her words of law, feeding her honey and washing her with sacred water. As she grew up, she was highly regarded as an outstanding beauty and destined to marry"
"produced four offspring from two eggs: Castor and Clytemnestra from one egg, and Helen and Polydeuces (Pollux) from the other. Therefore, Castor and Clytemnestra were fathered by Tyndareus, whereas Helen and Polydeuces were fathered by Zeus. Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus were in exile at the home of Tyndareus; in due time Agamemnon married Clytemnestra and Menelaus married Helen. In a late variation, Euripides's ""Iphigenia at Aulis"", Clytemnestra's first husband was Tantalus, King of Pisa; Agamemnon killed him and Clytemnestra's infant son, then made Clytemnestra his wife. In another version, her first husband was King of Lydia. The kings of"
"armed and clad in armor. Hesiod also relates that the goddess Aphrodite was born from the foam of the sea after Ouranos's castrated testicles were thrown into it. Helios was a child of Zeus by Euryphaessa. He was also called ""the son of Earth and starry Heaven,"" and the son of Hyperion. Dionysus was dithyrambus, ""he who entered life by a double door."" His first birth took place prematurely. His mother, Semele, died when Zeus appeared to her in a flash of lightning, and so Zeus opened his own flesh and enclosed the infant. In time, Dionysus was born ""perfect"""
"Herse of Athens Herse (Ancient Greek:Ἕρση means ""dew"") was a figure in Greek mythology, daughter of Cecrops, sister to Aglauros and Pandrosos. Cephalus is the son of Hermes and Herse who suffers a tragic ending to his happy marriage with Procris. According to the ""Bibliotheca"", when Hephaestus unsuccessfully attempted to rape Athena, she wiped his semen off her leg with wool and threw it on the ground, impregnating Gaia. Athena wished to make the resulting infant Erichthonius immortal and to raise it, so she gave it to three sisters, Herse, Aglauros and Pandrosos, in a willow basket and warned them"
"many versions of the story, Zeus took the form of a swan and seduced Leda on the same night she slept with her husband King Tyndareus. In some versions, she laid two eggs from which the children hatched. In other versions, Helen is a daughter of Nemesis, the goddess who personified the disaster that awaited those suffering from the pride of Hubris. The subject was rarely seen in the large-scale sculpture of antiquity, although a representation of Leda in sculpture has been attributed in modern times to Timotheus (""compare illustration, below left""); small-scale sculptures survive showing both reclining and standing"
"The Child who came from an Egg The Child who came from an Egg or The Egg-Born Princess () is an Estonian fairy tale, collected by Dr. Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald in ""Eestirahwa Ennemuistesed jutud"". William Forsell Kirby included a synopsis of it in ""The Hero of Esthonia"" as ""The Egg-Born Princess."" Andrew Lang included it as ""The Child who came from an Egg"" in ""The Violet Fairy Book""; he listed his source as ""Ehstnische Märchen"", which was the German translation of Kreutzwald's work, by F. Löwe. A queen told an old woman that she had two griefs: a new one,"
"was ""the famous egg that legend says Leda brought forth"". Pausanias traveled to Sparta to visit the sanctuary, dedicated to Hilaeira and Phoebe, in order to see the relic for himself. Two Athenians, Theseus and Pirithous, thought that since they were both sons of gods, both of them should have divine wives; they thus pledged to help each other abduct two daughters of Zeus. Theseus chose Helen, and Pirithous vowed to marry Persephone, the wife of Hades. Theseus took Helen and left her with his mother Aethra or his associate Aphidnus at Aphidnae or Athens. Theseus and Pirithous then traveled"
"when Perseus beheaded Medusa, they were born of the Earth, fed by the Gorgon's blood. A variation of this story holds that they were formed from the mingling of Medusa's blood, pain and sea foam, implying that Poseidon had involvement in their making. The last version bears resemblance to Hesiod's account of the birth of Aphrodite from the foam created when Uranus's severed genitals were cast into the sea by Cronus. Pegasus aided the hero Bellerophon in his fight against the Chimera. There are varying tales about how Bellerophon found Pegasus; the most common being that the hero was told"
"but Dotterine lived happily with the king ever after. The Child who came from an Egg The Child who came from an Egg or The Egg-Born Princess () is an Estonian fairy tale, collected by Dr. Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald in ""Eestirahwa Ennemuistesed jutud"". William Forsell Kirby included a synopsis of it in ""The Hero of Esthonia"" as ""The Egg-Born Princess."" Andrew Lang included it as ""The Child who came from an Egg"" in ""The Violet Fairy Book""; he listed his source as ""Ehstnische Märchen"", which was the German translation of Kreutzwald's work, by F. Löwe. A queen told an old"
"as Paximadia. A ""scholium"" of Servius on ""Aeneid"" iii. 72 accounts for the island's archaic name Ortygia by asserting that Zeus transformed Leto into a quail (""ortux"") in order to prevent Hera from finding out about his infidelity, and Kenneth McLeish suggested further that in quail form Leto would have given birth with as few birth-pains as a mother quail suffers when it lays an egg. The myths also differ as to whether Artemis was born first, or Apollo. Most stories depict Artemis as born first, becoming her mother's midwife upon the birth of her brother Apollo. The childhood of"
"and Hephaestus and Athena were married, but, when Hephaestus was about to consummate the union, Athena vanished from the bridal bed, causing him to ejaculate on the floor, thus impregnating Gaia with Erichthonius. Another comparable story from Greek mythology describes the conception of the hero Perseus. According to the myth, Zeus came to Perseus's mother Danaë in the form of a shower of gold and impregnated her. Although no surviving Greek text ever describes this as a ""virgin birth"", the early Christian apologist Justin Martyr has his Jewish speaker Trypho refer to it as such in his ""Dialogue with Trypho""."
"Some versions of the story state that Athena also cursed her so that a pair of golden wings grew from her head. Chrysaor and Pegasus were said to be born from the drops of Medusa's blood that fell in the sea; others say that they sprang from Medusa's neck as Perseus beheaded her, a ""higher"" birth (such as the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus). Chrysaor is said to have been king of Iberia. Chrysaor, married to Callirrhoe, daughter of glorious Oceanus, was father to the triple-headed Geryon, but Geryon was killed by the great strength of Heracles"
"The Goat Girl The Goat Girl is a Greek fairy tale, known in many variants, collected by Anna Angelopoulou, Johann Gottfried von Hahn, and Georgios Ioannou. It bears many similarities to the French ""Donkeyskin"". A couple had no children; the wife prayed for any child, no matter what. One day, she gave birth to a baby goat. She grew up as playful as any child. Her mother wished that her father could have a jug of water, and the goat said she could carry it, if her mother tied it to her horns. She carried it to her father, and"
"sped over the furrowed land, always turning into such dread creatures as the dry land nurtures, that she might escape him. Nemesis, as she fled from Zeus' embrace, took the form of a goose; whereupon Zeus as a swan had intercourse with her. From this union, she laid an egg, which some herdsman found among the trees and handed over to Lede (Leda). She kept it in a box, and when Helene was hatched after the proper length of time, she reared her as her own. I will now go on to describe what is figures on the pedestal of"