Download Archery in Literature Mythology

ARCHERY IN LITERATURE
MYTHOLOGY
Classical Mythology has its roots in ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. There are many famous and
infamous archers in mythology. Where do myths come from? Around 400 BC the Greek philosopher
Plato coined the word mythologia in order to distinguish between imaginative accounts of divine actions
and factual accounts of events. The Greeks of this era lived in an age that was increasingly scientific, and
were skeptical of the accounts long told of gods and goddesses. How well do you know their stories?
The following are summaries of the stories of mythological archers.
Achilles, Apollo and Paris
Achilles was the son of King Pelius of Thessaly and the sea nymph Thetis. He was the greatest of Greek
warriors. The powerful gods, Zeus and Poseidon each wanted to have a son by the beautiful Thetis, but
Prometheus, the fire god, warned them that her offspring would have greater powers than his father.
The gods arranged the marriage between Thetis and the mortal Pelius to avoid the emergence of a
power greater than theirs. Because of her love for Achilles, his mother tried to make him immortal by
dipping him in the river Styx, the river that ran through Hades. Since Thetis had to hold him by his heel,
this one spot was left vulnerable. At battle in Troy, Achilles was shot in the heel by an arrow from the
bow of Paris. In some Myths, Apollo guided Paris’ bow.
Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto and the twin brother of Artemis, the virgin huntress. He was one of
the most important deities of both the Greek and Roman religions and was the god of prophecy, archery
and music. One myth tells of the love god, Eros shooting a flurry of arrows in response to taunts from
Apollo. The first of Eros’ arrows was a gold-tipped shaft and when it struck Apollo it made him fall
immediately in love with Daphne, the daughter of a river god and a huntress. The second arrow had a
lead tip and caused Daphne to become indifferent to Apollo. Apollo pursued Daphne relentlessly until
she prayed for help and was turned into a laurel tree.
Paris was one of fifty sons of King Priam of Troy. According to the Greeks he was responsible for causing
the Trojan War. Paris was very handsome and courted Helen, who fled her husband and went to Troy to
be with Paris. His unusual attractiveness was believed to be a gift from Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
During the long Trojan War, Paris was revealed as a coward, who only escaped with his life through the
intervention of Aphrodite. It was an irony of fate that a poisoned arrow shot from Paris’ bow found the
one vulnerable spot on the mighty Greek champion Achilles. Paris himself was killed by an arrow prior to
the fall of Troy.
Artemis
Artemis was the daughter of Leto and Zeus, and the twin of Apollo. Artemis is the goddess of the
wilderness, the hunt and wild animals, and fertility. Artemis was one of the Olympians and a virgin
goddess. Her main vocation was to roam mountain forests and uncultivated land with her nymphs* in
attendance hunting for lions, panthers, hinds and stags. Contradictory to the later, she helped in
protecting and seeing to their well-being, also their safety and reproduction. She was armed with a bow
and arrows which were made by Hephaestus and the Cyclopes (blacksmiths and metalworkers).
In one legend, Artemis was born one day before her brother Apollo. Her mother gave birth to her on the
island of Ortygia, then, almost immediately after her birth, she helped her mother to cross the straits
over to Delos, where she then delivered Apollo. This was the beginning of her role as guardian of young
children and patron of women in childbirth. Being a goddess of contradictions, she was the protectress
of women in labor, but it was said that the arrows of Artemis brought them sudden death while giving
birth. As was her brother, Apollo, Artemis was a divinity of healing, but also brought and spread diseases
such as leprosy, rabies and even gout.
Orion
Orion, one of Poseidon’s unruly sons, was a gigantic and handsome hunter who could walk through the
oceans with his feet on the seabed and his head above the waves. Like his giant brother, the one-eyed
Polyphemus, Orion was blinded in a quarrel, but his eyes were healed by the radiance of the sun god
Helios. There are many differing stories concerning his death, but according to one myth, the love that
Eos, goddess of the dawn, felt for Orion was such that it caused divine jealousy until Artemis was
persuaded to shoot him with an arrow on behalf of the gods. He was then raised to the stars to form a
constellation. Another legend says that Orion tried to rape the virgin goddess, so she killed him with her
bow and arrows. Another says she conjured up a scorpion which killed Orion and his dog. Orion became
a constellation in the night sky, and his dog became Sirius, the Dog Star. Yet another version says it was
the scorpion which stung him and was transformed into the constellation with Orion, the latter being
Scorpio.
Cupid (Eros)
Cupid was the Roman god of love and he was the son of Venus, the goddess of love. He was depicted as
a beautiful but wanton boy, armed with a quiver full of “arrowed desires” to inflame love in the hearts
of gods and men. Some of his arrows would turn people away from those who fell in love with them.
According to one myth, Aphrodite was jealous of Psyche. She was once a mortal princess whose
astounding beauty earned the ire of Aphrodite when men turned their worship from goddess to girl.
Aphrodite commanded Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with the most hideous of men, but the god
himself fell in love with her and carried her away to his secret palace. However Cupid hid his true
identity, and commanded her never to look upon his face. Psyche was eventually tricked by her jealous
sisters into gazing upon the face of god, and he abandoned her. In her despair, she searched throughout
the world for her lost love, and eventually came into the service of Aphrodite. The goddess commanded
her perform a series of difficult labours which culminated in a journey to the Underworld. In the end
Psyche was reunited with Cupid, given immortality by the god Jupiter, and the couple wed in a
ceremony attended by the gods.
*Nymphs: In Greek & Roman Mythology, any of numerous minor deities represented as beautiful
maidens inhabiting and sometimes personifying features of nature such as trees, waters, and
mountains.