Strong, silent type to hold sky on shoulders.Duties: standing still and not complainingabout this awful job. This is a temporaryposition. I promise I will return and takeback the incredibly heavy sky. Really.Seriously, you'd be doing me a huge favor ifyou'd hold the sky for an hour. Two hours,most. I just want to grab an apple. Flexibleschedule. Calloused hands a plus. Apply toAtlas at the far end of the world .

REALITYCHECKCharles Atlas(1893-1972) wasa bodybuilderwho becameone of America'sleading symbolsof physical fitnessand strength. BornAngelo Siciliano,Atlas was inspiredto take his nameafter seeing astatue of the god ina museum when hewas a boy.

Want to know more? Go to:I www.metmuseum.orgl

works_of_artlgreek_and_roman_art

• Flings • Friends • Foes

~ 11 Ltione Hesperis Pleione Heracles Zeus Perseus

31

"One mistake andZeus sticks me

with holdinz HI)()

the skv~I

tor crcrniry+-f' . ,,,

110 au:

The ancient Greeks thouqht the

sky was a dome suspended above

the earth, so their all shows MIa:;

holding a globe. Today, people ottenmistake this globe fOI the earth, .md

I.hink Atl,.s·s job was to hold lip tile

earth instead of the sky,

32

"Oh hi 'b k ", myac In ac .......••.---""....,.".

G«,.AtlHehehis

FaenshbEth'scecin-erhEjocI

REACH FOR HESHY-FOREVER'Atlas picks the wrong sidein the Titanomachy, andZeus punishes him-big time!

Atlas was the son of Iapetus,one of the original 12 Titanswho ruled before Zeusstarted the Titanomachy.This ten-year war betweenthe Titans and Olympiansdecided who would ruleheaven and earth. Atlashad to make a choice: joinhis family in the fight, orside with Zeus-and betrayhis blood. Atlas stuck with theTitans, which proved to be abig mistake. After Zeus led theOlympians to victory, the Titanswho had sided against him wereseverely punished: Zeus threwthem into the darkest depths

VI

I-

I/'

f-

I C

I r

of Tartarus, deep within theUnderworld. But not Atlas. Hegot a special punishment fromZeus. He was forced to holdup the enormous sky, Uranus,forever. With a punishment likethat, Atlas probably wished thathe'd betrayed his family after all!

ForAtlas, carrying theentire heavens on hisshoulders must have

i' become exhausting after11 the first several years orI: so. No wonder he waseager to trick someoneinto taking over hisenormous job! Meanwhile,heroic Heracies had a bigjob of his own: He wascharged with the task ofcollecting the goddessHera's golden apples,which were tended by theHesperides. The Hesperideswere Atlas's daughters, soHeracles thought that Atlascould help him. Atlas, however,had a plan of his own. Heoffered to get the apples forHeracies-as long as Heracleswould hold up the sky while hewas gone. Atlas had no intentionof taking back the sky, butHeracles was one step ahead ofhim. When Atlas returned withthe apples, Heracles asked himto hold the sky for a momentwhile he adjusted his cloak tomake holding the sky a littlemore comfortable. Tricked! As

r-==--=-- -=-_~- _~_ .-

) within theut not Atlas. Helishment from'ced to hold; sky, Uranus,mishment like)Iy wished thatfamily after all!

==- - -j

IIOIIiG FOR

fHEGOLDAtlas tries to trick ~Heracles, but the ~.~~~hero has a trick ofhis own.

soon as Atlas took the sky,Heracies grabbed the applesand ran! And Atlas was onceagain stuck holding up the skyfor all eternity.

tlOUIiTAlti OFTROUBLEA rude Titan is set in stone.The hero Perseus wasexhausted. He had justkilled monstrous Medusa, ahideous Gorgon, almost dyingin the process. As night fell,Perseus politely asked Atlas forpermission to rest in his lands.But Atlas feared that Perseuswould steal his golden apples,so he refused to show the herothe common courtesy thatall travelers deserve. Perseuscouldn't tolerate such rudeness.He showed Medusa's severedhead to Atlas and bam! Themighty Titan instantly turnedto stone and became the AtlasMountain range.

REALITY CHECMThe Atlas Mountains are a system\)f ,I. Olllll·"iil ranges and plateausil) North Africa that extend acrossMorocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

Atlas Mountains

33

RO FORNIREREALITYCHECKThe C-130 Herculesmilitary aircraft takesits name from themighty hero Hercules(Heracles), for whomno challenge wastoo great. It wasoriginally designedto evacuate peoplein emergencies andtransport cargo.Today it has manymore uses, such asfighting fires andobserving weather .

What can I do for you? Are viciousmonsters terrorizing your town? Ferociousbeasts running wild? Is a vengeful goddesscausing you grief? There's no monster toomean, no beast too big, and no labor toolowly-I'll tackle them all and be homein time for dinner! Limited time offer:.Iwo-for-one Hero Special! That's right!C~o impossible feats for one low price.:.must be crazy to offer such a deal!

Want to know more? Go to:http://www.globa/aircralt.org/planes/c-13D _herculespl

And take thegarbage out!

Hydra Nessus KingEurystheus

I

There are a number of powerful

groups in Greek mythology. The

Titans were the children of Uranus

and Gaea and were the first

generation of gods. Led by Zeus,

the Titans' children, known as the

Olympians, defeated their parents

in a battle called the Titanomachy.

Demigods were offspring born

to a god and a human being, ormortal.

Heroes were extraordinary

mortals who committed

courageous deeds. Some heroes,

such as Heracies, were granted

immortality; others, such as

Odysseus, remained mortal.

"I chose tolive a glorious

life but it., "isn't easy.

48

SUPERBABYBeing the son of a god has itsups and downs.

The princess Alcmene wasloved by the mighty god Zeus-along with about a gazillionother women! When she gavebirth to Zeus's son Heracles,the baby had the strength of ademigod. Hera, Zeus's jealouswife, hated both Alcmene andher offspring, so she sent twoserpents to kill the infant in hiscradle. But Heracles was noordinary baby. He strangledboth serpents with his barehands before they could lay afang on him.

As a young man, Heracleshad a vision. In the vision hewas offered the choice of aneasy life of pleasure or a morechallenging life of hardship,

danger, and glory. Heracleschose the second. And boy, didhe ever get what he asked for!

REAlI'Y CHECKUnder his Roman name, Hercules,Heracles has been the featuredcharacter in more than 70 moviesand television films. Among themany actors who have portrayedhim on the screen are Steve Reevesand Arnold Schwarzenegger. In1997, Disney released Hercules, ananimated version of Heracles' story.

s

Thebes, HeraelEwas under attacarmies of Orehaneighboring cityhero Heracles hThebes and deftCreon, the gratEThebes, rewardWIThhis daughtEhand in marriaglMegara lived haand had severalthe goddess Heon destroying Hdrove him insancompletely out (killed Megara arOnce his sanityHeraclesfled Ththe Oracle at Dwho spoke on tApollo. The oracto be cleansed (crime, he wouldKing Eurystheustwelve years.

R LlTYTh gend '1 hEhi<; I' city ceci ite fi (;;1\"

w· .OWdl .1

PeA.T'in

Want to know more? Go tlhttp://www.sikyon.com/T/;

Iry. Heraclesnd. And boy, didat he asked for!

CHname, Hercules,n the featured!than 70 movies1S. Among thehave portrayed

1 are Steve Reevesarzenegger. Inased Hercules, anof Heracles' story.

The legendary Thebes was actually ahistoric city. Once the most powerfulcity-state in ancient Greece, Thebeswent to war against Athens In thePeloponnesian War in 431 BCE.

Alexander the Great destroyed I!hebes when it revolted against himIn 316 BCE. I Greece and had neverWant to know more? Go to: ~

I

http://WWW.Siky.on.COmfTl1ebeslthebeS_eg.htmt______

~--------~~~------=~--~----~

MERACLES ANDEGARA

Hera drives Heracles crazy.

Thebes, Heracles' hometown,was under attack from thearmies of Orchomenus, aneighboring city. The younghero Heracles helped defendThebes and defeat the enemy.Creon, the grateful king ofThebes, rewarded Heracleswith his daughter Megara'shand in marriage. Heracles andMegara lived happily for a timeand had several children. Butthe goddess Hera was still benton destroying Heracles, so shedrove him insane. While he wascompletely out of his mind, hekilledMegara and their children.Once his sanity was restored,Heraclesfled Thebes and visitedthe Oracle at Delphi, a priestesswho spoke on behalf of the godApollo. The oracle told him thatto be cleansed of his terriblecrime, he would have to serveKing Eurystheus of Tiryns fortwelve years.

REALITY CHECK

THETWELYELABORS OFHERACLES,I-5Eurystheus keepsHeracles busy. Really busy!

King Eurystheus and Heracleswere cousins, but there was littlefamily love between them. As theOracle at Delphi had instructed,Heracles had to perform thefollowing nearly impossiblelabors for the king:

1. Kill the ferociousNemean Lion and make acloak of its skin.

2. Kill the terrible Hydra of theLernaean swamps. Thisenormous serpent hadmultiple heads. When onehead was chopped off, Hydraimmediately grew another. Thetask seemed impossible untilHeracles had the bright ideato have his cousin lolaus burneach stump after Heraclescut off one of Hydra's heads.This prevented the head fromgrowing back, and soonHydra was history.

been cleaned. Augeas toldHeracles that if he couldclean the stables in one day,he could have a tenth of theking's cattle. Heracles divertedthe Rivers Alpheus andPeneus through the stablesand the rushing waterswashed out all the filth.

3. Capture the golden-hornedCerynian stag.

4. Capture the Erymanthian boar.

5. Clean the Augean stables.King Augeas's stables heldmore cattle than any in

"YYHIMG LIMNZeus's wife, Hera, didn't find it

easy being married to the most

powerful god on Mount Olympus.

An Olympian and the goddess of

women, marriage, and childbirth,

she resisted Zeus's authority and

was jealous of his other loves.

But the most famous object of

her hatred was Heracles. Hera

tormented the hero from the day

of his birth until the end of his

mortal life.

49

------ - -- -~------ F'HE TWELVE LABORS OF HERACLES, 6-12 Hera

A hero's work is never done.

After Heracles successfully killing Hydra didn't count Hades agreed, but only

completed his first five tasks, it because lolaus had helped him. if Heracles promised to

Iwas on to the next five (or so he And Eurystheus said cleaning the subdue the vicious dog

thought!): Augean stables didn't countwithout using weapons. (

6. Chase away the man-eating,either, because Heracles had

Heracles fought Cerberus

cheated by using the rivers tountil he lay helpless in the

iron-feathered Stymphalian hero's powerful hands. 'fhat shirt

birds.wash away the dirt. So the king

, 7. Capture the Cretan bull.assigned poor Heracles two While Heracles was in

more tasks. the Underworld, he freed

8. Capture the man-eating 11 . Collect the golden applesthe hero Theseus, who had tHE

mares of Diomedes. from the garden of the been trapped there; then he Awily~

9. Retrieve the belt of Hippolyte, Hesperides. made his way to Earth. When revenge

queen of the Amazons. 12. Fetch Cerberus, theEurystheus saw Heracles the grav

10. Round up the cattle of ferocious three-headedapproaching with Cerberus in Heracles

Geryon, a three-bodied giant. guard dog of thehis arms, he was so terrified a happil,

With the ten labors completed,Underworld. For this task, that he leaped into a large jar tragedy

Heracles was ready for a rest.Heracles entered the called a pithos and begged the hero

, Underworld and asked its Heracles to return the beast toBut Eurystheus was a sneaky

and Her,

character. He told Heracles thatruler, Hades, if he could take the Underworld. Heracles

~

Cerberus to the upper world. Finally, having completed Deianeirc

I.all his chores, Heracles was a wickecrewarded by Eurystheus with his carry herdaughter Deianeira's hand side. Shlin marriage. Centaur

REALI'I'Y CHECKher whilE

The Pillars of Heracles are twoswimmir

natural promontories that lie at Centaur'the entrance of the Mediterranean with an (Sea. One is in Spain and the otheris on the north coast of Africa.

dipped ifAccording to legend, the two rocky of the mlandmarks were one until Heracles Nessusseparated them with his greatstrength to make a path to Cadiz, vengearSpain. For the ancient Greeks, the his shirt,Pillars of Heracles marked the blood, cboundary of the known world.

Want to know more? Go to: http://phoenicia.orgiproperth

gibra/tar.html

------- ---- .....;J

50

l

sd, but onlyromised tovicious dog

;J weapons.Ight Cerberuselpless in therful hands.

3S was in, he freedJS,who hadlere; then heo Earth. WhenI Heraclesth Cerberus inis so terrifiednto a large jarand beggedJrn the beast toI.

:J completedleracles wasrystheus with hiseira's hand

~CK'acles are twoories that lie athe Mediterraneanain and the otherlast of Africa.end, the two rockyone until Heracles.vith his great~a path to Cadiz,relent Greeks, the~smarked theknown world.

to: http://phoenicia.org/

(

A wily Centaur getsrevenge from beyondthe grave.

Heracles and Deianeira werea happily married couple. Buttragedy continued to stalkthe hero. One day Deianeiraand Heracles came to a river.Heracles swam across it, butDeianeira hesitated. Nessus,a wicked Centaur, offered tocarry her across to the otherside. She agreed, but theCentaur attempted to kidnapher while Heracles was busyswimming. Heracles saw theCentaur's trick and shot himwith an arrow that had beendipped in the poisonous bloodof the monstrous Hydra. AsNessus lay dying, he plotted hisvengeance. He gave Deianeirahis shirt, stained with Hydra'sblood, claiming it had magicalproperties. He told her that if

she ever felt in danger of lOSingHeracles' love, she should askHeracles to put on the shirt andhe would never leave her.

Years later, Heracles fell inlove with the princess lole.Fearing she would lose herhusband, Deianeira followedNessus's advice and gave theCentaur's shirt to Heracles as agift. When Heracles put on theshirt, the poisonous blood ofHydra seeped into his skin andmade him burn in torment.Unable to remove the terribleshirt, Heracles pulled severaltrees from the earth and builthimself a funeral pyre, then setit on fire. As he lay on the pyre,his immortal part returned toMount Olympus, where he andHera finally made peace. Thenthe hero rose to the heavens asthe constellation Heracles.

Y7HING LINKCentaurs in Greek

mythology were half-horse

and half-man creatures.

They were known for

being aggressive and

mischievous. But not all

Centaurs were as bad

as Nessus, the wicked

Centaur whose shirt killed

Heracles. Chiron, the

most famous Centaur,

was a wise teacher whose

students included such

great heroes as Achilles,

Heracles, and Jason.

_____ -------------------------------------------------------------~~I51

Chiron