Unicorns and Winged Horses/The Midnight Summer Festival Ends Today

So this is the very last day...

I really do wish the festival had gone on far longer!

I have a very deep love for mythology,

and would enjoy

a longer time period in which

to post more articles related to this topic!

I wanted my last post to be about Norse mythology,

but just haven't had the time

to write it.

Those who have read my two previous posts

know that they took a lot of work.

If it weren't for my night job,

I would have been able to write the third post...

Oh, well...

Instead, I will feature my favorite

mythological creatures.

I got this idea from Kat @ A Myriad of Books.

She has several favorite mythological creatures, 

while I have two -- both equines!
I do like dragons and griffins,

but the creatures I absolutely prefer are...

unicorns, with or without wings,

and winged horses.

These creatures are so beautiful!!

Here are some pictures I discovered

at a fabulous website today,

Mystical Unicorn, by Unicorn Lady:

The Unicorn Gallery!

"Darkness"

David Jean

In this beautiful picture, there's a wingless unicorn

along with a winged horse.

They look so realistic!

"Winged Magic"

Lori Howe

This is so exquisite....

"October"

(Calendar Image)

This one is rather whimsical!

"Starlight Visit"

Sue Dawe

This image is very touching...it seems

that the winged horse, probably a male,

is courting the rather shy female unicorn...

And now a little background on winged horses

and unicorns!

Pegasus is the snowy-white, winged horse of Greek mythology,

sired by the Greek god Poseidon,

and foaled by the fearsome Gorgon Medusa.

In one legend, he was captured by the Greek hero

Bellerophon, and together they completed

many fantastic adventures.

Eventually, Zeus transformed him into the

constellation that bears his name.

Pegasus has been depicted in art and film,

and at times has been the symbol of wisdom.

Bellerophon on Pegasus spears the Chimera,

on an Attic red-figure epinetron,

425 - 420 B.C. 

Unicorns first appeared in Greek mythology as well.

They were also white, as was Pegasus, sometimes depicted

with a goat's beard, and with a spiral-shaped

horn growing from their foreheads.

They were especially popular in the Middle Ages

and the Renaissance,

becoming a symbol of purity and grace.

Indeed, part of the legend was that a unicorn could only

be captured by a young, virgin girl.

The famous The Hunt of the Unicorn

is a series of seven tapestry hangings depicting

these beautiful, fantastical creatures.

The tapestries are on display

in the Cloisters branch of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

"The Unicorn Is Found"

(the second of the seven tapestries)

Celtic Mythology/The Mabinogion

Although I'm not very familiar with Celtic mythology,

I do know that it has influenced, and become part of,

the Arthurian tales.

I am a confirmed fan of King Arthur,

Merlin, Sir Lancelot, Guinevere,

Sir Gawain, and all the rest!!

The Celts originated as groups of tribal societies that flourished in the Europe of the Iron Age, as well as that of the Roman era.  They spoke Celtic languages, derived from a branch of the greater Indo-European language family.  These languages are still spoken in Europe, especially in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the peninsula of Brittany in France, Cornwall, and the Isle of Man.  They are also spoken on Cape Breton Island, located in Canada, as well as Patagonia (Argentina and Chile).  For further information on these languages, click on the links located within the body of this paragraph.

The earliest culture accepted as Celtic, or more properly, Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture (c. 800-450 B.C.).  By the time of the Roman conquest, this culture had spread to several regions, including the British Isles (these people are known as 'Insular Celts'), the Low Countries, a large part of Central Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, and northern Italy.

The so-called 'Continental Celts' settled in parts of France, the Alps, and Northern Italy.  The Romans called those who settled in France 'Gauls'. 

The heaviest concentrations of Celts in the Iberian peninsula resided in Spain and Portugal.  One group was located in Galicia, to the north of Spain, and the Atlantic shores of the peninsula.  Those who lived n the north and northwestern areas of Spain and Portugal were known as the Gallaecian, Astures, and Cantabrians.  They were part of the Castro culture.

There was a lot of variation in the religious practices of the Celtic religion, although the god Lugh does seem to have been revered throughout the Celtic world.

In Ireland, there's a surviving body of myths, dating from the early medieval period in that country.  Most of it deals with the Tuatha De Danann, who are a race of people in Irish mythology.  This name, 'Tuatha De Danann', if often translated as "peoples of the goddess Danu".  According to the legends the Tuatha were descended from Nemed, the leader of a group that arrived from Scythia around 2350 B.C.  Nemed is featured in The Book of Invasions, or Lebor Gabala Erenn (another translation of the title is The Book of the Taking of Ireland).  This book is a collection of poems and narratives about the mythical origin of the Irish, beginning from the creation of the world, and continuing down to the Middle Ages. 

The Irish pantheon of gods was headed by the Dagda, who was a father-figure, as well as the protector of the tribes that worshipped him.  He was an immensely powerful god.  

Then there was the Morrigan.  She was the goddess of battle, strife, and fertility, and was often depicted as a triple goddess. 

There are other important gods and goddesses in Irish mythology -- Brigid (or Brigit), who is the Dagda's daughter, Aibell, Aine, Macha, and the reigning goddess, Enu.  There is a horse goddess, named Epona, whose festival is celebrated with horse races during the summer festival.  Other gods include Nuada Airgetlam, who was the first king of the Tuatha De Danann, Goibniu, and Dian Cecht, who was the patron of healing.

More is known about Irish mythology than about Welsh mythology.  However, the tales known as the "Four Branches of the Mabinogi", are part of The Mabinogion.   

One of these is the tale of "Culhwch and Olwen", which is about a hero connected to King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table.  The tale has survived in its entirety as part of the Red Book of Hergest, which is a manuscript written in the Welsh language, copied down around 1400 A.D., and containing the tales of The Mabinogion.  A fragment of the same story has also survived in the White Book of Rhydderch, copied around 1375 A.D.

Not much of Gaulish mythology has been preserved.  There are some tales that were written down by Roman writers, and mention the names of some gods, such as Taranis, Teutates and Esus, but there is little evidence to connect them to Celtic religion.

The Mabinogion

Anonymous

(Gwyn Jones, Thomas Jones, translators)

Trade Paperback, 238 pages

Published by J.M. Dent & Sons

October 7, 1993

(first published in 1949)

The Mabinogion is a collection of eleven Welsh tales, taken from medieval Welsh manuscripts.  Some scholars speculate that the date for these stories is somewhere between 1170 and 1190, A.D.  

From the Goodreads Synopsis

Closely linked to the Arthurian legends--King Arthur himself is a character--they summon up a world of mystery and magic that is still evoked by the Welsh landscape they so vividly describe. Mingling fantasy with tales of chivalry, these stories not only prefigure the later medieval romances, but stand on their own as magnificent evocations of a golden age of Celtic civilization.

This translation of The Mabinogion has, since its first appearance in 1949, been recognized as a classic in its own right. It was last revised by Gwyn Jones and his wife, Mair, in 1993.

Greek Mythology Overview/Orpheus and Eurydice

I can't really say that the tales of the gods, goddesses, and heroes of ancient Greece are my favorites, since they are the ones I'm most familiar with, but I do love them!  I find them totally fascinating.  I read parts of the Iliad and the Odyssey when I was in high school, and thus, know the most famous stories. 

So, as I begin this series of posts on world mythologies, which is part of the wonderful Midnight Summer Festival, I must begin with the tales I grew up with.  Furthermore, Greek mythology has, more than any other, been the foundation and source of Western civilization.  Thus, it would seem to me, it's the most important.  The other important mythologies are the Celtic and the Norse.  The Celtic in particular had a marked influence on the King Arthur tales, which I wholeheartedly adore! 

I will explore these other mythologies in later posts.

The fascinating tales of every culture's mythology were, and in some cases, still are, part of each culture's religion.  Such was the case with the Greeks -- their gods and goddesses were once actually worshipped, having their own temples and special days of celebration.  Every Greek citizen was expected to honor these gods and goddesses, too.   The worship rituals were woven into a Greek's daily existence.  

The Greek religion/mythology also influenced every other aspect of Greek life -- its art, politics, and literature, although at the beginning, the tales were only transmitted orally.  This was the oral-poetic tradition.

Later on, the principal Greek tales were set down in two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, which are believed to have been written by Homer.  In fact, these are the two earliest known Greek 'books'.  Both of them deal with the events of the Trojan War, which, according to the first poem, began when Paris, from the city of Troy, kidnapped Helen, the most beautiful woman of the time, and took her to his city, and away from her husband, King Menelaus of Sparta.  This even ignited a prolonged war between the Trojans and the Achaeans, as the Greeks of Homer's time were known. 

One of Homer's possible contemporaries, Hesiod, is considered the author of the Theogony, which sets down the earliest Greek myths, and deals with such things as the creation of the world and the origin of the gods, as well as that of the Titans and the Giants.  Another poem by Hesiod, Works and Days, although primarily dealing with the subjects of farming, astronomy, and various others, also contains the legends of Prometheus, Pandora, as well as Hesiod's Five Ages of Man.

The Greek myths and characters most familiar to me, and probably to most of us, are those related to the Olympians, a group of younger gods that overthrew the Titans or Elder Gods.  There were twelve Olympians, and they lived on Mount Olympus, hence their name.  This mountain is the highest in Greece, and is located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, as well as about 62 miles (100 kilometers) away from Greece's second largest city, Thessaloniki.  it is still known as "the abode of the gods".

The classical list of the Olympians consisted of the following gods and goddesses: Zeus, who was the main god, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Hermes.  To this list, other gods and goddesses are sometimes added: Hades, Hestia, Aesclepius, Eros, Hebe, Heracles, Pan, and Persephone. 

The Greek god Zeus

(Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican)

These divine beings were thought to preside over certain religious and aesthetic concepts.  For example, Aphrodite (known as "Venus" to the Romans), was the goddess of love and beauty, Ares (the Roman Mars) was the god of war, Hades (the Roman Pluto) was the god of the dead, and Athena (the Roman Minerva) was the goddess of wisdom and knowledge. 

Some of the famous tales associated with these gods, goddesses and heroes,  are the creation of Man by Prometheus, the twelve labors of Hercules, the tale of Daedalus and his son Icarus, Orpheus and Eurydice, Theseus and Ariadne, Cupid and Psyche, and Phaeton, who drove too close to the sun.  The stories of Perseus and Oedipus are also well-known.  Then there's the judgement of Paris, which set off the Trojan War.

One of my favorite myths is that of Orpheus and Eurydice.  Why?  Because it's very romantic, of course!  It's one of the myths retold by Edith Hamilton in her classic, Mythology, which was the subject of one of my previous posts.  It's a very beautiful, yet bittersweet, story...

Orpheus was the most skilled musician and poet in the Greek world.  He was also considered a prophet, and the founder of the Orphic mysteries.  His skill with the lyre, which he used to accompany his singing, was such that everyone who heard him, including animals, and the nymphs of the forests, were enthralled.  In some versions of the myth, his father was said to be the great god Apollo, while in others, he was said to be the son of Oeagrus, a Thracian king. 

Orpheus fell in love with and married Eurydice, who, in some versions, was an oak nymph, and in others, a daughter of Apollo (make of this what you will!).  On their wedding day, Orpheus played for her, and she danced joyously through the meadow.  A satyr caught sight of her and pursued her.  While trying to escape, Eurydice was bitten by a venomous snake, and died instantly.  Orpheus was inconsolable, and decided to go down to the Underworld in search of her.  While there, he charmed Hades and Persephone, the gods of the Underworld, into allowing him to return with his wife to the world of the living.  There was one condition, however --- he was not to turn around to look back at her until they had emerged entirely from the Underworld.  Everything goes well, but, when they are at the point of emerging, Orpheus is seized by doubt -- is Eurydice really following him?  So, of course, he turns around, just in time to see her outstretched arms, as she begins to vanish...

Orpheus attempts to retrieve her again, to no avail.  So he returns alone to the land of the living, and falls into a deep depression.  He is unable to sing or play his lyre.  The only way he can see Eurydice again is to die himself.

Orpheus was later killed by the Maenads, who became angry when they saw that no amount of persuasion by them could bring him out of his depression.  Thus, he was finally reunited with Eurydice in the Underworld. 

This myth has had such an impact on the human imagination that it has been retold in several different ways in literature and drama, as well as music and ballet.  One notable example is "Black Orpheus" a 1959 film, made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus.  It was given the Palme D'Or at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, as well as the 1960 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and the 1960 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film.  Another important example is  "Orfeo ed Euridice", an opera by the German composer Christoph Willibald Gluck.  It was first performed in Vienna in 1762.

Jennifer Estep's New "Mythos Academy" series!!

The fabulous Midnight Summer Festival 

continues to delight everyone 

with its mythology-related articles,
interviews, and giveaways!

Be sure to visit all of the participating blogs!

You can access the festival by clicking

on the button located in my sidebar.

I have just discovered a terrific new YA novel,

the first in a series,

with a new spin on mythology!

Here it is!! 

Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy #1)

Jennifer Estep

Trade Paperback, 250 pages

Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

Expected Release Date:

July 26, 2011

Genre: YA Fantasy

From the Goodreads Synopsis

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War...

I think this sounds like a truly great read!  I came across this book while browsing, and found it at A Cupcake and a Latte, where Wendy (aka Mocha), the blog's creator, has posted an interview with the author, Jennifer Estep, and included a giveway, as well!  Just click on the link above for more information.

The second book in the series is already in the works, but we need to be a little patient, since its publication date is several months away.  Here are the cover and synopsis, from one of my favorite book sites, Goodreads!

 

 Kiss of Frost (Mythos Academy #2)

Jennifer Estep

Trade Paperback, 368 pages

Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

Expected Release Date: November 29, 2011

Genre: YA Fantasy

From the Goodreads Synopsis

Logan Quinn was try­ing to kill me. My Spar­tan class­mate relent­lessly pur­sued me, swing­ing his sword at me over and over again, the shin­ing sil­ver blade inch­ing closer to my throat every time. A smile tugged up his lips, and his ice-blue eyes prac­ti­cally glowed with the thrill of battle …

I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Acad­emy, and I have no idea how I’m going to sur­vive the rest of the semes­ter. One day, I’m get­ting schooled in sword­play by the guy who broke my heart — the drop-dead gor­geous Logan who slays me every time. Then, an invis­i­ble archer in the Library of Antiq­ui­ties decides to use me for tar­get prac­tice...

Well, I am certainly excited about this one, as well!

 Just a few more months...

Jennifer Estep

  

Joseph Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand Faces"

Today I'd like to feature another classic

in the field of mythology,

written by Joseph Campbell,

the famous American mythologist,

writer and lecturer.

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Joseph Campbell

Hardcover, 391 pages

Published by Fine Communications, US

July 1, 1999

(first published in 1949)

From the Wikipedia Article

Campbell explores the theory that important myths from around the world which have survived for thousands of years all share a fundamental structure, which Campbell called the monomyth. In a well-known quote from the introduction to The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell summarized the monomyth:

"A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man."




This is another of those books I've been meaning to read!  This particular book became even more famous when the journalist Bill Moyers interviewed the author for a special series on mythology, back in 1987.  The project aired on PBS, and is accompanied by a book.  Both are titled "The Power of Myth".

Campbell's interpretation of the hero's quest shows the marked influence of the great Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung, who first formulated the theory of the archetypes, as well as that of the collective unconscious, that universal repository of images shared by all of humanity.  It must be a fascinating read!

Campbell borrowed the term "monomyth" from James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, since he was a noted Joyce scholar.  The structure of another classic Joyce novel, Ulysses, also influenced the structure of Campbell's own book.

Born and raised in White Plains, New York, in a Roman Catholic family, Campbell showed an early fascination with Native American culture, especially its mythology.  This was the seed of his lifelong fascination with the subject.

He graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in English Literarure in 1925, and received his M.A. in Medieval Literature in 1927.  In that same year, he also received a fellowship from Columbia University, which enabled him to travel to France and Germany, where he became fluent in the languages of those countries.

His sojourn in Europe brought several important influences into his life, such as those of modern art, literature, and the work of Freud and Jung.  He edited the first nine papers in Jung's Eranos lectures, and helped found the Bollingen Series of books, which covered the subjects of psychology, anthropology, and myth. 

Campbell taught at Sarah Lawrence College for 38 years.  During those years, he also traveled to India and Japan.  He had already met the Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti in 1924. 

The Asian trips convinced him of the importance of comparative mythology, and he embarked on his magnum opus, The Masks of God, which is a study of world mythologies, spanning several centuries.

Campbell's books describe the evolution of myth through time.  He also affirmed that mythology has a fourfold function in human society, which he listed in the last volume of his great masterpiece, titled The Masks of God: Creative Mythology, as well as in several lectures.

1.) The Metaphysical Function: Awakening a sense of awe before the mystery 
     of being. 
2.) The Cosmological Function: Explaining the shape of the universe
3.) The Sociological Function: Validate and support the existing social order
4.) The Psychological Function: Guide the individual through the stages of life

Professor Joseph Campbell

(March 26, 1904 - October 30, 1987)

Edith Hamilton's "Mythology"

The wonderful "Midnight Summer Festival"

is in full swing!

Be sure to visit the host blogs,

as well as the participating blogs,

for interesting posts related to mythology,

as well as terrific giveaways!

Today I'd like to feature a book that

has become a classic in

the literature of mythology.

Mythology

Edith Hamilton

Hardcover, 497 pages

Published by Little, Brown & Co.

January 30, 1942

From Amazon's Product Description

Since its original publication by Little, Brown & Company in 1942, this author's Mythology has sold millions of copies throughout the world & established itself as a perennial bestseller in its various available formats: hardcover, trade paperback, & mass market paperback. Mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the Greek, Roman & Norse myths & legends that are the keystone of Western culture - the stories of gods & heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present.  (description for the Back Bay Books 1998 trade paperback edition)

I have just purchased a copy of this book on Amazon, and hope to read it soon -- that is, after I've finished my current and soon-to-be-read books...( There's just so much great stuff to read, and so little time in which to do so!)

The author presents skillful retellings of the original, classic Greek, Roman, and Norse myths.  As far as I know, this book has been in print continuously since it was first published in the 1940's.  

Here's a partial list of the Table of Contents:

PART ONE

I) The Gods

The Titans and the Twelve Great Olympians

The Lesser Gods of Olympus

The Gods of the Waters

The Underworld

The Lesser Gods of Earth

The Roman Gods

III) How the World and Mankind Were Created

IV) The Earliest Heroes

Prometheus and Io

Europa

The Cyclops Polyphemus

Flower-Myths: Narcissus, Hyacinth, Adonis

PART TWO

I) Cupid and Psyche

II) Eight Brief Tales of Lovers

Pyramus and Thisbe

Orpheus and Eurydice

Ceyx and Aleyone

Pygmalion and Galatea

Baucis and Philemon

Endymion

Daphne

Alpheus and Arethusa

And here's a quote from the book:

We do not know when these stories were first told in their present shape; but whenever it was, primitive life had been left far behind.  The myths as we have them are the creation of great poets. 

Aside from Bulfinch's Mythology, this is probably the book most read by those who love mythology, being used as an introductory textbook in many high schools.  It's impressive how long it has endured.

The author, Edith Hamilton, was a noted American educator and classical scholar.  Her first book The Greek Way, was published in 1930.  Another work, The Roman Way, was published in 1932, and yet another, The Echo of Greece, in 1957.

Born in Dresden, Germany, on August 12, 1867, she grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the United States.  She would return to Germany in 1895 to study humanities and classics at the University of Munich.

She had originally intended to pursue a doctoral degree in Leipzig, but was discriminated against merely because she was a woman.  She then planned to obtain it at Munich, but never did.  Instead, she accepted a position as head of the newly opened Bryn Mawr Preparatory School for Girls in Baltimore, in the U.S.  She remained for twenty-six years.

She received the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Rochester and the University of Pennsylvania, both  in 1950. 

In 1957 she was awarded the Golden Cross of the Order of Benefaction by King Paul of Greece, thus becoming an honorary citizen of Athens. 

She wrote several other books related to classical studies, and died on May 31, 1963, in Washington, D.C.

The Wikipedia article I used as source contains more detailed information about this fascinating scholar.

Edith Hamilton

Classical scholar and author

(1867 - 1963)

The Midnight Summer Festival Starts Today!!

This is a fascinating new literary event, hosted by

the following blogs!

Rabid Reads

Deranged Book Lovers

Mission To Read

The purpose of the event is to highlight and explore

the various world mythologies.

During the time period from July 10th to July 20th,

the three hosting blogs will feature

author interviews, giveaways,

and posts related to mythology.

What a terrific idea!!

If you haven't already joined this event,

you can do so by clicking

on the event button, which you will

find in my sidebar.

Just what is mythology, and how did it originate? 

I have always been fascinated by mythology.  But then, I have always loved the fantastical, the unusual, the surreal and supernatural.  Mythology is all of these things.  As a child, I believed that all the tales of fantasy I read were true, that these things really did happen.  Of course, as I grew into adolescence, I became aware that this wasn't so at all, which only served to heighten my fascination with and attraction to this type of reading material.  So I was quite surprised when I learned that there was a time when adults in ancient cultures actually believed in the gods and goddesses in these tales. 

The human mind, always searching for answers to the puzzles of the universe and existence itself, needs explanations for these mysteries.  The ancients devised such explanations, and they are poetically beautiful, to the extent that the subsequent scientific explanations discovered in later centuries seem pedestrian by comparison.

What could be more beautiful, more sublime, than the idea of a sun god driving a chariot across the heavens?  It wasn't a planet orbiting around the solar system's star that caused night and day.  Instead, a magnificent deity blazed through the ether, with his equally magnificent, fiery horses. 

When Icarus demands to be allowed to fly near the sun, we feel his father Daedalus's anxiety, and when Icarus plunges to his flaming death, we also feel his father's pain... This myth is similar to that of Phaeton, who wanted to drive the chariot of the sun (see picture and link below).

What we moderns know as 'mythology' was once sacred to our ancestors.  Far from being fantastical tales passed down from generation to generation, mythology was once a set of beliefs.  Some cultures at the present time still have what could be termed a mythologically-based religion.  Examples would be Hinduism in India, and Shintoism in Japan.  Wicca, a modern Neopagan religion, also incorporates pantheons from several cultures. 

According to Wikipedia, there are several theories for the origin of myths.  One such theory is named "euhemerism", because the mythologist Euhemerus (c. 320 B.C.) suggested that the stories of the gods and goddesses were really legends about actual human beings.

Another theory proposes that myths originated as allegories of natural phenomena.  Max Muller, a 19th-century Sanskrit scholar, favored this theory, which also encompasses philosophical and spiritual concepts.  Thus, Apollo came to represent fire, Poseidon water, and so forth.

A third theory proposes that the ancients, not understanding the forces of nature, tended to personify them, and thus began to worship them.  This is the theory of mythopoeic thought. 

Yet another theory states that myths are connected to rituals.  This is named the myth-ritual theory, proposed by Biblical scholar William Robertson Smith.  According to this one, people performed rituals for many years, eventually forgetting the reason for them.  They then invented myths which supposedly were the reasons for those rituals.

No matter which theory one wants to follow (I personally believe that they are all equally plausible explanations for the origins of mythology), it cannot be denied that mythology is a fascinating topic even in the 21st century!  Although many of us book addicts love to read 'hard' science fiction, and may be passionate about our computers, cell phones, and iPads, there's still something about mythology that calls to the human soul, that part of us that loves poetry, that is enchanted by the mysterious, the beautiful, the imaginary. 

How interesting that the United States chose the name "Apollo" for its series of lunar expeditions!  Indeed, even the insignia, or patch, chosen for the Apollo 13 mission features the blazing solar horses! 

I hope more of you will join us for a truly fascinating journey through the world of myths!  After all, they are the source of our wonderful tales of fantasy and the supernatural, as exemplified by our greatest authors in these genres! 

Phaeton and the Chariot of the Sun

Apollo 13 Mission Patch

Main Source: Wikipedia article on mythology