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Nordikfolk.com's
Ancient Warriors - Legions From Around The World
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The North Sea Peoples invaded Macedonia and Greece after the terrible eruption of the volcano on Thera. The population of Greece was greatly reduced. Because of this there was little resistance for the invaders except for a few groups of Achaean’s who had fortified their defenses. The Kings of Greece and Crete had received warnings that the Vikings were coming from the North. They had enough time to prepare for their impending attack. Fortified enclosures were hastily built. A wall was built around the Acropolis and a tunnel leading to the spring on the North side. At Mycenae and Tiryus walls were built of un-hewn rocks. Hidden approaches to wells were built. At Corinth a strong wall was built. Some Achaean chieftains hoped to fight at sea. The remains of their castles are proof that they lost. The King of Pylos sent his navy to Pleuron on the North coast of the gulf of Corinth. Their ships were manned with 400 rowers and warriors. They provided a coastal observation corps. They knew that the Vikings would land by sea. Swift charioteers were set up between the watching Navy and the Palace of Pylos. The king of Pylos could not defend the whole coast nor prevent a landing at every point. But he had a good early warning system. But this coastal defense system could not prevent the North Sea Peoples from landing on the coast of Peloponnese. Hyllus, leader of the North Sea Warriors, made the following proposal to the Greek king: “….There was no need for the two armies to risk their lives in an all out fight. He suggested that thr Pelopenessians chose a champion to fight him in a single combat. He gave his oath (sacred to the Vikings) that if he lost he would withdraw his Army and make no further attempt upon the Peloponnese for a hundred years….” In this duel, Echemus, King of the Greeks, slew Hyllus. The Vikings abided by their oath and passed on without invading. They returned a hundred years later and occupied the Peloponnese. The land was then divided between the three great grandsons of Hyllus. Temenus, the eldest, received Argus. Cresphontes took Messene. Aristodemus took Sparta. Aristodemus, according to Herodotus was the ancestor of the Spartan king. Leonidas, who fell at the head of his 300 Spartans at Thermopile. The Vikings entered the peninsula shortly before 1200 BC. The palaces and settlements of the Peloponnese were destroyed by earthquakes and fire and not by the invading Northern Warriors. Between the natural catastrophes and the Northern invasions, the Mycenaean culture ended; circa 1150 and 1100 BC. The King of Crete sent his fleet to stop the Vikings at sea. He also had 400 war chariots prepared for battle, in case they did land. Armour and weapons of all sorts were made ready. More than 20,000 sheep and 500 pigs were gathered to feed the troops. But before the Vikings reached Crete the terrible eruption of Thera took place. Archaeologists found the weapons and remains of the North Sea Peoples on top of the volcanic ash and lava not in it or below it! They came after the disaster. The Vikings only encountered resistance where some part of the population who had survived banded themselves together in a defensible position. Who knows what history would have to say if the Vikings tried to conquer Greece and Crete when they were at full strength? |
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![spartans[1]](http://s3.amazonaws.com/webjam-upload/spartans1___1f72d95adedf4f6a9dfd4f57d063af15(800x600)__382__.jpg) Spartan warriors were elite fighting men. They are still praised today for their discipline, physical training, and strategic skills. Yet, out of all these elite Spatan warriors rose someone who even they considered to be extraordinarily brave, and heroic. That person was Spartan King Leonidas. In 480 B.C, during the Persian-Greco Wars, Leonidas lead 300 Spartans and thousands of allies in a mission designed to slow down the Persian military advance toward the heart of Greece. It was considered to be a suicide mission. When the battle seemed hopeless King Leonidas, dismissed their allies, leaving only him and 300 other Spartans to hold off thousands of Persian warriors, they were literally outnumbered one thousand to one. |
![Pela2b[1]](http://s3.amazonaws.com/webjam-upload/pela2b1___d566448be4e643ee8ad30a31e11963d3(167x443)__16__.jpg) Alexander the Great (*356; r. 336-323): the Macedonian king who defeated his Persian colleague Darius III Codomannus and conquered the Achaemenid Empire. During his campaigns, Alexander visited a.o. Egypt, Babylonia, Persis, Media, Bactria, the Punjab, and the valley of the Indus. In the second half of his reign, he had to find a way to rule his newly conquered countries. Therefore, he made Babylon his capital and introduced the oriental court ceremonial, which caused great tensions with his Macedonian and Greek officers. |
![JUlius%20ceasar[1]](http://s3.amazonaws.com/webjam-upload/julius20ceasar1___5a4a0a1bbf9a4977921890124039dba9(249x500)__74__.jpg) Gaius Julius Caesar was born 101 B.C (before Christ). At the age of 20, Julius Caesarwent to battle in the conquest of Mytilen. For his contribution in the conquest he was given the Oak Branch. The Oak Branch was a high honor in Caesar's time. Julius Caesarnext big move was public speaking, which helped him in his next position in life. As priest, he also became a quaestor within two years. By 65 B.C. Julius Caesar increased his status and became "Curule Aedile". Curule Aedile is a political position that was of high status in Rome. Before invading Gaul, Caesar became a governor in a city near Gaul. In 49 B.C. Caesar was ready to invade Rome by starting a Civil War. The Civil War caused Pompey to flee Rome to Egypt seeking protection. However, within the next year, Egypt's Pharaoh executed Pompey to gain Caesar's favour. Caesar did not grant his favour. Instead, Julius Caesar declared war on Egypt and executed the Pharaoh. |
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Hercules is the Roman name for the mythical Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus (the Roman Jupiter) and the mortal Alcmena. Early Roman sources suggest that the imported Greek hero supplanted a mythic Italic shepherd called "Recaranus" or "Garanus", famous for his strength, who dedicated the Ara Maxima that became associated with the earliest Roman cult of Hercules. While adopting much of the Greek Heracles' iconography and mythology as his own, Hercules adopted a number of myths and characteristics that were distinctly Roman.
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When Hercules was born to Alcmene, she named him Herakles. But in Roman, Herakles is pronounced Hercules, which is the name we use for Hercules to this day. Hercules in Greek mythology is a great figure of valor and muscle strength. Hercules bravery earned him a place among the gods. After he left the mortal world, he found a position on Mount Olympus, the gods' dwelling place.
Zeus, the King of the gods was an unfaithful husband. He had a weakness for worldly pleasures. He fell in love with Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon. In a short time, Alcmene conceived Hercules. This angered Hera and she tried to kill Hercules. Hercules survived his first fatal assault with a miracle.
When Hercules reached adulthood he became a famous warrior. He also fell in love with a beautiful woman called Megara. Megara became the mother of Hercules' children and together they made a happy family. However, things were to be different. Hera took a vow to irritate Hercules during his lifetime. She tricked Hercules into a wild rage. In his rage, the mortal god Hercules killed his family. This was exactly what Hera wanted!
When Hercules returned to his normal state of mind, he saw things were beyond remedy. He prayed to Apollo to get rid of his ![B00005QW6B.01.LZZZZZZZ[1]](http://s3.amazonaws.com/webjam-upload/b00005qw6b___4795593445054a848fd838f0a388ab5f(373x500)__51__.jpg)
crime. Apollo was the sun god who could read into the future. We find in Greek Mythology that Hercules requested his advice. Apollo assigned him ten important tasks (later it was turned to twelve) as the way of purifying his soul.
The Delphic oracle sent him to Tiryns where the king Eurystheus ruled. Hercules was expected to serve him as laborer for twelve years of his life. However, the difficult service was not fruitless. Apollo promised him immortality. He was to become a god. However, the great Hercules of greek mythology had one problem, Hera. She actually kept her promise to make Hercules' life as wretched as she could. Nevertheless, with the assistance of Hermes and Athena, Hercules pulled off his term of twelve years with excellence. In addition, he became the greatest mortal on the earth to become a god.
Hercules In Greek Mythology - What Made Him So Special?
The honorable penance of Hercules and his eventual success is what makes him so special. His success brought him immortality, which would have been unthinkable for ordinary mortals. Hercules' first task was to peel off the skin of the horrifying Nemean Lion after capturing one. His next task was to kill The Lernean Hydra. The Lernean Hydra was a serpent with nine heads, which never gave peace to the lives of those around it. The third task for him was to bring a Hind (a sacred red deer) from Ceryneia to the king. The deer was the pet of Diana, the Moon goddess.
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The fourth task for Hercules was to bring a live Erymanthian Boar. It was very dangerous to men and animals living around the mountain Erymanthus. Then Hercules was asked to clean up King Augeas' stables in one day. Are you thinking what is so great about it? King Augeas had an awesome amount of cattle of cows, bulls, goats, sheep and horses. Hercules proposed to King Augeas that he would clean the stable only if he rewarded Hercules with a tenth of his cattle.
After this success, Eurystheus was planning to make something tougher for Hercules. He commanded Hercules to force out an enormous flock of birds, which assembled at a lake near the town of Stymphalos. Goddess Athena helped him with a pair of bronze krotala, an item similiar to castanets. The Cretan Bull was an easy task for Hercules. Hercules wrestled the bull, and then delivered it back to King Eurystheus.
The eighth task was to bring the Man-Eating Horses of Diomedes. It was followed by the battle against the Amazonian female army to get the belt of Hippolyte, the queen. The tenth labor was an awesome one. Hercules had to go around the world, to bring the cattle of the Monster Geryon. It had three heads and three sets of legs all attached at the waist.
The tricky assignment was the eleventh one. Eurystheus asked Hercules to get the Apples of the Hesperides. These were the golden apples gifted by Hera to Zeus. These apples were strictly guarded by a hundred-headed dragon, named Ladon, and also by Hesperides, daughters of Atlas. The other obstacle was that Hercules had no idea where these apples of Hesperides were located. Eventually, Hercules found the location from Nereus whom he seized until Nereus gave him the location of the apples of Hesperides.
Then Hercules found out through Prometheus, whom Hercules had helped, that he would have to have Atlas retrieve the apples. Hercules agreed to hold the sky and the earth while Atlas retrieved the apples. When Atlas returned with the apples, he told Hercules that if he would hold the sky and earth for the rest of time, that he would take them to Eurystheus himself. But Hercules fooled Atlas by asking him to hold the earth until he padded his shoulders. Atlas took Hercules place holding the earth, and Hercules picked up the apples and ran.
After making the great Hercules do all sorts of unbelievable errands, Eurystheus made sure that he did not succeed the last time. So, he ordered Hercules to abduct Cerberus, the underworld beast. Did you ever hear a living man visiting the Hades? However, Greek mythology tells us Hercules was no ordinary man. He was a hero.
He eventually did complete all the tasks, purified his soul and rescued the princess of Troy from a ravenous sea-monster. He also facilitated Zeus to beat the Giants in a great battle for the control of Olympus. He married again, to the charming Deianira. She presented him a cloak, which was coated with what she mistakenly thought to be a magic love potion. She was told that the balm would make the person love her forever.
Ironically, it was poison, which burned Hercules skin. Hercules, not being able to endure the pain asked his friends to kindle a fire. Then Hercules placed himself on the fire to be burned up alive. But the gods looked down, and Zeus thought that Hercules had suffered enough. So he asked Hera to end her anger toward Hercules, which she did. Then Hercules was brought to Olympus in Athena's chariot by Zeus' request.
This Greek mortal Hercules is undoubtedly the greatest hero of Greek Mythology. Hercules is still considered to be the perfect mythical character.
Greek gods and goddesses
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The Greeks used their myths to interpret and understand the world around them. They combined their mythological tradition with their moral concepts and came up with a set of supreme beings to worship.
The life of these gods laid out the foundations for the understanding of how to live a virtuous life. These myths were passed down through their society's storytellers like Homer, who wrote the epic poems the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey." These works of art are the source of much of our knowledge of the Greek gods, and the beliefs surrounding them.
The twelve Olympian gods ( they are named after their dwelling place, Mount Olympus) were the best known gods. They ruled after the overthrow of the Titans.
The relationship between the ancient Greeks and their gods was based on a simple concept: if men worshipped and made sacrifices to the gods, then the gods would look favourably upon them in return.
The Olympians:
- Aphrodite - Goddess of love and beauty. Her son was Eros, the god of love. She is also believed to have kept a watchful eye over sailors.
- Apollo - Beautiful god of the light, medicine and music. Apollo represents order, harmony, and civilization
- Ares - God of war. He had an affair with Aphrodite, and was father to many children.
- Artemis - Goddess moon, forest, childbirth and the hunt. Although she was associated with childbirth and children, Artemis was a virgin.
- Athena - (Athene) Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom and war and the patron goddess of Athens. Like Artemis, she was a virgin goddess too.
- Hades - God of the Underworld.
- Hephaestus - God of fire and the forge. Mated to Aphrodite.
- Hera - Queen of the Gods, wife of Zeus, protector of marriage.
- Hermes - The messenger of the gods, god of business. He was a very smart child, inventing the lyre by using a tortoise's shell when he was only a newborn baby.
- Hestia - Goddess of home, symbolized by the hearth which holds the ever-burning flame.
- Poseidon - God of the sea and earthquakes. As god of the seas Poseidon held great power, and could calm the waves or create terrible storms. He had an unreliable temper, and used his powers to generate fear and punishment on people as revenge.
- Zeus - King of the Gods, god of the sky, symbolized by the thunderbolt. As the ruler of the Olympian gods, Zeus held enormous power and almost absolute authority. His role was primarily to watch over the activities of the other gods, and make sure they weren't exceeding their powers
Titans, also known as the elder gods, ruled the earth before the Olympians overthrew them.
The ruler of the Titans was Cronus who was de-throned by his son Zeus.
- Prometheus - He stole the sacred fire from Zeus and the gods.
- Atlas - Zeus punished him to forever bear the heavens upon his shoulders.
- Dione - The mother of Aphrodite.
- Gaea - was the Earth goddess. She mated with her son Uranus and gave birth to the remaining Titans. Often misspelled "Ghea."
- Uranus - was the sky god and first ruler, the son of Ghea.
- Cronus - Son of Uranus. His wife was Rhea (his sister). He was the father of Zeus.
- Rhea - was the wife of Cronus.
- Oceanus - is the unending stream of water encircling the world.
- Mnemosyne - was the goddess of memory and the inventor of words.
- Tethys - was the wife of Oceanus.
- Themis - was the god of justice and order.
- Iapetus - was the father of Epimetheus, Menoetius, Prometheus and Atlas.
- Coeus - was the Titan of Intelligence.
- Phoebe - the Titan of the Moon.
- Crius - He represented the tremendous power of the sea.
- Hyperion - means "he who goes before the sun."
- Thea - Hyperion's wife and sister.
- Epimetheus - means "afterthought" is the opposite of his brother Prometheus ("forethought").
- Metis - was the first wife of Zeus. She ruled over all wisdom and knowledge.
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