As we’ve seen throughout this blog series, there’s more to astrology than newspaper horoscopes and star signs. In fact, we’ve been looking at the Greek origin myths of the signs in the zodiac. Who or what gave their name or image to each sign? What are the myths behind the famous names? We’ll look at their […]
Greek mythology
The Origin Myths of the Zodiac’s Air Signs
As we saw last week, there’s more to astrology than newspaper horoscopes and star signs. In this blog series, we’re looking at the Greek origin myths of the signs in the zodiac. Who or what gave their name or image to each sign? What are the myths behind the famous names? We’ll look at their […]
Meet Charon: the legendary ferryman of Greek myth!
Charon, the ancient ferryman of Greek myth, is one of those figures that pops up even where other deities get ignored or forgotten. Sometimes people simply call him ‘the ferryman’ and he loses his name, but we all know who we’re referring to. But who was Charon, and what is the folklore surrounding him? Hit […]
Persephone: Goddess of Spring and Queen of the Dead
Spring has well and truly sprung, with plants popping up here in the British Isles and lambs gambolling around in the fields. If you’re a follower of Greek myth, then you know we have Persephone to thank for this renewal of spring! But how much do we really know about this dual deity, both goddess […]
What were the three types of water nymphs in ancient Greece?
For the past three weeks we’ve been looking at mythology related to water and the sea. Our final aquatic jaunt will be to meet the three groups of water nymphs in ancient Greece. They are the Naiads, the Nereids, and the Oceanids. Just to make things more complicated, you also have undines. Wikipedia lists naiads, […]
Why do people confuse sirens with mermaids?
There’s been a lot of confusion between sirens and mermaids since the Middle Ages. Many of the images show gorgeous women with fish’s tails. Or creatures with beautiful voices capable of bewitching men. Look at Ariel in The Little Mermaid. But it’s far from their Greek origins. And the siren/mermaid confusion only really starts when […]
