By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Who were Castor and Pollux and what are the details of the story involving these two figures from Greek mythology? These two Greek heroes, who are now perhaps most familiar to people because they became immortalised in the constellation Gemini in the night sky, are the subject of a fascinating story, or rather series of stories, from ancient Greek mythology, so let’s take a closer look at the details of the myth.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Who is Achilles? And what was his role in myth? How should we analyse his character, and the meaning of the story of Achilles? And where did the phrase ‘Achilles heel’ come from? Let’s take a closer look at the stories about Achilles from Greek mythology. Before we come to an analysis of the myth, it might be worth summarising the story of Achilles’ life and death.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The story of Diana and Actaeon and his band of hounds is a well-known tale from classical myth, especially thanks to Ovid, who included the story in his great anthology of myths involving transformations of various kinds, the Metamorphoses.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The story of Arachne is one of the most famous of the Greek myths dealing with young women. Or at least, it is perhaps the most famous one not to involve the young woman either being carried off by Zeus (who had something of a reputation for doing that) or falling in love with someone and then dying tragically. Instead, the story of Arachne focuses on (traditional) woman’s work: weaving and embroidery.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The poster-boy of existentialism, Sisyphus has become associated with laborious and pointless tasks, because he was condemned to roll a boulder up a hill, only for the boulder to roll back down to the bottom just as he was about to complete the task. He was thus doomed to repeat this action forever.