We recently went to a party, and while blatantly eavesdropping on people's conversations, we overheard the following statements:

  1. "My last boyfriend had to take his mom out to dinner once a week - he's got the biggest Oedipus complex this side of Athens!"

  2. "My personal trainer is such a monster - he can bench press 5,000 pounds. He's really got the strength of Zeus."

  3. "Even though the copy guy down the hall is completely incompetent, he's so cute that I do all my copying twice just to hang around him - he's going to be my Achilles' heel!"

  4. "My intellectual girlfriend named her bunny slippers Cassandra and Calliope and she won't tell me why - what do those names mean??"

Notice a pattern? (Besides the fact that we attend really dorky parties.) All of these statements have origins in Greek mythology. Greek mythology is fascinating, because while it can sound academic, it's really a whole bunch of interesting stories that have influenced such diverse areas of thought as philosophy, psychology, literature, theater and art. So if you want to have a better appreciation of these areas (and want to impress your friends the next time they are wondering where the Elektra record company came up with its name), we'll start you on the right path.

1. LEARN HOW TO RECOGNIZE A GREEK MYTH

A myth is really more of a concept than something that can be defined. It's kind of like trying to explain The Artist Formerly Known as Prince - you can tell the story, but it takes a little while.

What is a myth?

The word myth, which literally means "word" or "story" in ancient Greek, refers to authorless tales perpetuated by ancient communities. Other communities besides the Greeks, such as the Sumerians (those guys lived for summer vacation) and Egyptians also perpetuated communal myths, but the Greek ones are most prevalent in Western culture. The characters in Greek myths are typically gods and heroic humans. Each story contains a lesson for mortal humans on earth to learn from the immortal gods and various kinds of tragic human heroes. Most often, these lessons either concerned morality or an explanation of how a feature of nature was created.

The Romans also maintained a collection of myths. Actually, almost all of their mythical stories and characters are taken from the original Greek myths. The essential difference is that while Greek myths generally seek to express a moral lesson or explain a facet of nature, Roman myths often also have a political message. The names of the Roman gods and heroes are the Latin translation of the Greek names. So, for example, in Greek mythology, Zeus is the god of the sky; in Roman mythology, Jupiter plays this role. Both are said to have essentially the same history and families.

The interesting thing about these early myths is that they were primarily transmitted orally from one generation to the next. Because they were never written down, they could be told slightly differently depending on who was doing the telling/exaggerating, and this could alter the myth's essential message. Fortunately, pencils were eventually invented, and myths were recorded in print. The two main myth-writing guys were Hesiod and Homer.

  • Hesiod, who lived during the 7th Century B.C., wrote a poem called The Generation of the Gods. In it, he explained the origins of the immortal Greek gods. According to Hesiod, the gods live at the summit of a mountain called Mount Olympus. Many gods represent a part of the natural universe. For example, the first gods were Uranus, a male god signifying heaven and Gaea, a female god signifying Earth. These two original gods had many children and grandchildren, one of whom was the famous Zeus. Zeus, the most powerful god, and his wife Hera are the leaders and parents for the most famous Greek gods who live on Mount Olympus.

  • Homer, a Greek poet who lived in the late 8th Century B.C., wrote two very influential epic (translation: LONG) poems that helped to define mythology. He wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey, which chronicled events during the Trojan War. His poems take place in Greek cities like Corinth, Thebes and Athens, and spoke of human characters with names like Agamemnon, Menelaus and Achilles. Though not gods, the stories of these characters' lives were considered to be myths and were further dramatized by Greek dramatists such as Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus.

These stories were about murder, adultery, incest, power struggles, and love - very Days of Our Lives. According to Greek mythology expert H.J. Rose, the gods are "glorified men and women who remain extremely human, and on the whole, neither irrational nor grossly unfair in their dealings." In a sense, for the human characters in these heroic Greek myths, the gods represent what Hollywood stars represent to us non-famous people: figures who are larger than life and part of an unreachable realm. They have raucous orgies and they always get to do cool things.

Just as magazines can be broken down into those that discuss fashion, cars, vegetarianism, and nudism, certain myths deal primarily with particular topics. One type of myth deals with explaining the creation of the world. Another kind of myth explains the family history and hierarchical social structure of the gods who live on Mount Olympus. Human problems (and the way humans use advice from the gods to address them) represent another kind of myth. Of course, myths weren't categorized this way on purpose, because, as we said at the beginning, they started out as simple tales. But we anal-retentive humans have found plot patterns within the stories.

2. MEET SOME MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS

The famous Olympian Greek gods are a group of 12 beings who are all related to each other (cue banjo music). Now, keep in mind that these gods are supernatural and many came into being through seemingly unrealistic ways. So, just like we can believe that Buffy the Vampire Slayer can actually come into contact with vampires, we have to allow for a bit of creative license in understanding the stories of these gods.

Another difficulty in understanding myths is that the stories can be very intertwined and complicated. Imagine trying to explain the entire plot of General Hospital to your friend from Zimbabwe that never even heard of the show. How would you ever be able to get across every plot twist, every relationship, every break-up and every outfit in 500 words or less? So with that in mind, let's meet some of these wild and crazy deities.

  • Zeus and Hera are the leaders of the gods and represent the forces of power and justice. Zeus often sleeps around with humans (his son, Perseus, was half human, half god), and Hera hates it that Zeus is such a player. She's always trying to mess things up for his other chicks and the kids he has with them. Zeus has two brothers, Poseidon and Hades.

  • Poseidon, Zeus's brother, is the god of the sea. He is the most powerful god after Zeus and he spends very little time on Mount Olympus. Poseidon is a pretty strong guy and mostly gets what he wants. For example, when he decided that there should be an ocean somewhere, he created one. One myth tells the story of how the goddess Athena wanted claim to the same land where Poseidon chose to put his ocean so she planted an olive tree there. Well, Poseidon got pissed, so he brought Athena to god court. (See? Massive litigation has always been around.) The other gods judged in favor of Athena, and allowed the territory of land to be called - can you guess? - Athens!

  • Hades is Zeus's other brother and the god of the underworld - sort of the opposite of Mount Olympus. After a human dies, he/she resides in Hades' realm. One myth tells how Hades kidnapped Persephone, one of Zeus's daughters, to make her his wife. After she ate 6 forbidden pomegranate seeds, Hades made her the Queen of the underworld, and from then on she had to divide her time between Hades' palace and the upper world of the gods. (When she's upstairs, it's summer and spring, and when she's downstairs, it's fall and winter.)

  • Demeter is Zeus's sister, the mother of Persephone, and the goddess of agriculture and fertility. One bizarre myth tells the story of how Demeter accidentally ate the arm of a dead human. When the gods realized this, they brought the guy back to life. His whole body, except the shoulder, was put back together. Demeter fashioned an arm for him out of ivory.

  • Ares, the son of Zeus and Hera, is the god of war. Though he's a god, he was nonetheless almost killed when two other gods stuffed him into an urn for having attitude.

  • Athena is Zeus's daughter, but was born out his forehead, so she does not have a mother. She is said to have invented many human tools, including the trumpet, flute, rake, ship and chariot (things that were slightly more common in ancient times). Athena is also known for being the goddess of wisdom and intelligence. One myth tells the story of how a human named Arachne thought she was the world's best weaver, so she challenged Athena to a contest. Arachne lost, and as a punishment, was turned into a spider.

  • Apollo is another son of Zeus, but his mother is Leto, another random goddess. He has been called the god of music, healing, light, truth, and a variety of other things. He is referred to many times in Greek mythological drama for having the ability to see providential truth through his Oracle in the city of Delphi.

  • Artemis is Apollo's twin sister. She is the goddess of chastity, but also is a hunter and protects the young (in other words, she's the goddess of virgins). She also is known for being present during childbirth.

  • Aphrodite, another of Zeus's daughters, is the goddess of love and desire, and she can compel anyone to desire her. She often intervenes in the life of immortals who are in love. Aphrodite is married to Hephaestus, but she really loves Ares and is constantly shacking up with him.

  • Hermes, another of Zeus's sons (his mother was a mountain nymph) acts as his father's messenger, but is actually considered the god of thieves and of commerce. He is also the fastest of the gods (he has wings on his shoes), and has a prankster personality.

  • Dionysus is the son of Zeus and a human woman named Semele, and he is the god of wine. It was also Dionysus who granted King Midas the "golden touch," the power to make everything he touched turn into gold (including, unfortunately, his daughter).

  • Hephaestus is the son of Zeus and Hera. He is the god of fire and is the only god to be called ugly. Although he is lame (no, not un-cool, he just can't walk), he is always compassionate to others and detests fighting and war. Hephaestus created the first woman, Pandora (of "Pandora's Box" fame).

There are many other miscellaneous gods, many of whom can be categorized together. Examples of such categories are Muses, Nymphs, and Sirens.

  • The Muses are nine daughters of Zeus who all sought to be sources of artistic and scientific inspiration for the other gods and for humans. They sing and play musical instruments to encourage motivation and dedication. For example, Calliope is the muse of epic song.

  • The Nymphs are lower-ranked god-like creatures. Their job is to protect the realm of nature, presiding over trees, mountains and bodies of water. They live in the forests, often enchanting unsuspecting humans.

  • The Sirens are also nymph-like creatures. Through hauntingly beautiful singing (or "siren songs"), they lure males to the island where they live and cause their destruction.

If it helps, check out this picture of the family tree of the main gods. There are many other gods, but these are the main characters and most of the others play supporting roles. Each god has a myth associated with his or her birth and purpose in the world. Of course, as immortal gods, none are ever considered to die.

3. MEET SOME HUMAN HEROES

Heroes can take different forms. Some are mixed breeds (one parent is human, the other is a god). Some are simply humans that have extraordinarily close interactions with the gods. Often the heroes are endowed with special powers. So we'll introduce you to four popular heroes: Heracles, Jason, Cassandra, and Tiresius.

  • Heracles, who is also known as Hercules, was the ultimate Greek jock. He was born to the god Zeus and the human Alcmena. Hera, Zeus's wife, was jealous of Zeus having a child with another woman, so she sent snakes into Heracles' crib to kill him. Baby Heracles strangled both snakes, the first sign of his godly roots. As a teenager, Heracles slew the ferocious Lion of Cithaeron, saving the life of a king. Heracles also drove a chariot, was a major wrestler, and was a master at archery and fencing. To nurture his cultural side, he could also play the lyre.

  • Jason is known as the "King of the Argonauts." (No, these guys didn't work for NASA, but they were explorers). The Argonauts' mission was to search for a special ram with gold fleece. Jason wanted to find the Golden Fleece because having it would save the land from famine and infertility. On his way to get the Golden Fleece, he ran into Medea, the daughter of a king, who fell in love with him. She promised to give him a special drug that would make him temporarily invincible if he would marry him. So, long story short: girl meets boy; girl anoints boy with drug; boy seizes golden fleece; girl gets boy. By the way, once the task was over, Jason left Medea, and she got so pissed off that she killed their children to punish him.

  • Cassandra was the daughter of the King of Troy (as in Trojan War), and was endowed with the power of prophecy. The god Apollo was in love with her, and made her promise to return his advances. At first she consented, but then later changed her mind (tease). Apollo was so upset by her rejection that he stripped her of her powers of persuasiveness. As a result, one of her (accurate) prophecies that went unheeded led to the downfall of the Trojans in the Trojan War. Moral: Teach Apollo that no means no!

  • Tiresius was the son of a human shepherd and the nymph, Chariclo. Tiresius was somewhat of a prophet, but was also blind. One story says that as a young boy, Tiresius watched the goddess Athena when she was naked and was blinded in retaliation. Despite his blindness, Zeus empowered him with the ability to see the future. Often in Greek dramas, the tragic hero will consult with Tiresius for advice. He acts as a symbol of irony - a blind man who can see the future. Pretty deep, huh?

4. FIND REFERENCES TO GREEK MYTHOLOGY IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Yes, yes, these stories are all interesting, but they also maintain a strong influence on today's culture. Here are a couple of interesting examples:

  • Oedipus complex: Sigmund Freud believed that all men want to kill their fathers so that they can marry their mothers. So today, whenever we see a guy who is just a bit too close to his mom, we might say that he has an Oedipal complex.

    The term originated from this Greek story: there was this guy named Oedipus who, at birth, was destined by fate to kill his father (who also happened to be the King of Thebes) and marry his mother. The people in Thebes thought that this was a pretty big deal, so when Oedipus was an infant, he was sent away. As an adult, Oedipus returns to Thebes only to - you guessed it - kill his dad and marry his mom.

    By the way, the reverse condition (women who seek to kill their mother and marry their father) is called the Elektra complex.

  • Achilles' heel: Achilles was born to a goddess mother, Thetis, and a human father, Peleus. Thetis did not like the fact that her son was part mortal, so she was told to dip him into the River Styx to cleanse him of his mortality and render him invincible. She did this, but held him by his heel as she dipped. His heel was left untouched by the water, and so that remained the only part of him that was not invincible. Years later when he was in battle in the Trojan War, Achilles' enemies took advantage of his weak spot and shot a poisonous arrow directly into his heel, and he died.

    We now use this term to refer to someone's weakest spot, the cause of his or her downfall. For instance, if ice cream is your Achilles' heel, then the one way someone can get you to do something for him or her is to offer you ice cream.

  • A Herculean task: Hercules is actually the Roman name of the Greek hero, Heracles. Heracles is famous for his unbelievable strength. Throughout his life, Heracles was also challenged to many physical tasks (such as defeating the many-headed Hydra). Each and every time, Heracles successfully accomplished his "labors," all because of his god-like strength. Today, we use the term "Herculean task" to refer to a challenge that is so difficult, that only Heracles, with his god-like strength, could accomplish it. It doesn't mean that something is impossible, but it means that it's overwhelmingly large and should require more than one person.

  • Pandora's Box: Pandora was the first woman, and she had a good relationship with the gods. One day, the god Epimetheus told Pandora not to open a certain box. She opened the box anyway, and pain, war, illness, and all of the other evils of the world poured out. The only thing left in the box was hope.

    When people today speak of opening a Pandora's Box, they mean that even a small, well-intentioned action can release a flood of negative repercussions.

Greek mythology also has a strong presence in pop culture. For instance:

  • The Muse - This 1999 movie depicted Sharon Stone as an inspiration for a filmmaker who had lost his creative steam. Now you know that this title came from the characters in Greek mythology that inspired artists.

  • Sirens - This Hugh Grant and Elle MacPherson film takes place in the late 1920s, and tells the story of an artist on an island whose work and lifestyle are observed by a visiting bishop. The artist's lifestyle included having many female "friends" around who inspire his work. You now understand that the title of this movie is not incidental; the sirens were gorgeous creatures that lured men to their deaths with their beautiful siren songs.

  • A Midsummer Night's Dream - This movie, starring Calista Flockhart (whose name in Greek means "good"), Kevin Kline, and Michelle Pfeiffer, is based on Willy Shakespeare's play. In it, nymphs and other magical spirits contribute to the air of confusion, silliness, and falling in love with the wrong partner. You are now a bit wiser, for you realize that nymphs were the spritely gods of the forest who liked to play tricks on humans.

  • Clash of the Titans - This movie, starring Harry Hamlin, basically retells the story of Perseus and how he encountered mythological creatures to save his girlfriend. A super-cheesy movie, but you'll get to see a bunch of actors portraying the gods.

While you're not exactly a "geek of all things Greek," you now know enough about the subject to make a few mythological references at parties. We're so proud of you.