Bay Laurel: Apollo and Daphne
Apollo angers Cupid by telling Cupid how wonderful and strong Apollo himself is and that basically called Cupid a weak child. Cupid became angry and told Apollo “Your arrows may strike all things else, Apollo, but mine shall strike you.” With that Cupid pierced Apollo with a golden arrow that caused Apollo to fall in love with the nymph Daphne, the daughter of the river god, Peneus. Then Cupid took another arrow that was blunt and tipped with lead and hit Daphne. This made Daphne loath the idea of love. So began Apollo’s courting and Daphne’s disinterests. However as time passed, Daphne became frightened by Apollo’s relentless pursuit and Apollo more excited. As Apollo came closer and closer to catching Daphne, Daphne asked the river god, her father, to change her into send her underground or change her so that she can escape. As Daphne wished, Peneus turned her into a plant (bay laurel). Apollo seeing this pledged, “Since you cannot be my wife, you shall assuredly be my tree. I will wear you for my crown. With you I will decorate my harp and my quiver; and when the great Roman conquerors lead up the triumphal pomp to the Capitol, you shall be woven into wreaths for their brows. And, as eternal youth is mine, you also shall be always green, and your leaves will know no decay."
Curiosity: Pandora’s Jar
*According to history, the box was actually a jar
After Prometheus' stole the secret of fire for mankind, Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create the woman “Pandora” as part of the punishment bestowed upon humanity. When Pandora was created, she was given many gifts from the gods including a clothed in gold, jewels, elaborate garments as well as a large jar. When she entered earth, Pandora was given to Epimetheus as his wife. However Prometheus feared of additional reprisals and warned his brother, Epimetheus, not to accept Pandora as his wife. But Epimetheus did not listen, and married Pandora anyways.
Pandora lived her life in content but there was always a nagging in the back of her mind, tempting her to look inside the jar. The said jar was a gift from Zeus who instructed her to keep it closed, but she had also been given the gift of curiosity, and finally gave in to the temptation and opened it. When she opened the jar, Pandora quickly tried to close it and prevent the evils to be released. However, it was too late and all of the evils, ills, diseases, and burdensome labor that mankind had not known previously, escaped from the jar. Then at the very bottom of her jar, there laid hope.
*According to author Willem Verdenius the myth is not intended to imply that the character of Pandora acted out of malice in opening the jar as she, but rather that it was her curiosity as being the cause of her actions.
Narcissus Flower
A hero from the territory of Thespiae in Boeotia was renowned for his beauty. For that reason, he was exceptionally cruel to those who love him. As divine punishment he falls in love with a reflection in a pool, not realizing it was his own, and died there, not being able to leave the beautiful sight of his own reflection. The place where he perished is said to be where the Narcissus flower appeared. This flower is always bowing as if trying to look at its reflection.
Spider: Arachne
Arachne was gifted in the art of weaving. Not only were her finished products beautiful to look at, but also the very act of her weaving was a sight to behold. Nymphs were said to abandon their frolicking to come observe Arachne practice her magic. So remarkable were her works that observers often commented that she must have been trained by the very patron goddess of weaving, Athena herself. Arachne scoffed at this. She was disgusted at being placed in an inferior place to the goddess and proclaimed that HerculesAthena herself could not do better than her.
Athena was quite perturbed at Arachne's bold claim, but she decided to give the young woman a chance to redeem herself. She came to Arachne disguised as an old woman and warned her to be careful not to offend the gods, lest she incur their wrath. But Arachne told the old woman to save her breath. She welcomed a contest with Athena, and, if she lost, would suffer whatever punishment the goddess deemed necessary.
The goddess accepted the challenge and revealed her true form. The Nymphs who had come to watch Arachne's weaving shrunk back in fear, but Arachne stood her shaky ground. She had made a claim, and she was sticking to it. So the contest began, the mortal at her loom, the goddess at hers. Athena began to weave the scene of her contest with Poseidon for the city of Athens. A beautiful scene developed from the threads, showing Poseidon and the salt-water spring, and Athena with an olive tree, gifts to the people who would name Athena as their patron, and their city after her. The bystanders marveled at the goddess' work.
Arachne, for her part, created a tapestry showcasing scenes of Zeus' various infidelities: Leda with the Swan, Europa with the bull, Danaë and the golden rain shower. So exquisite was the mortal's work that the bull seemed lifelike, swimming across the tapestry with a real girl on his shoulders. Even Athena herself was forced to admit that Arachne's work was flawless. (Whether or not Arachne was actually better than Athena is still a mystery)
Angered at Arachne's challenge, as well as the presumptuousness of her choice of subjects, Athena tore the tapestry to pieces and destroyed the loom. Then she touched Arachne's forehead, making sure that she felt full guilt for her actions. Arachne was ashamed, but the guilt was far too deep for her poor, mortal mind. Depressed, she hanged herself.
Athenatook pity on Arachne. She most likely did not expect that Arachne would commit suicide. She brought her back to life, but not as a human. By sprinkling her with the juices of aconite, Athena transformed the woman into a spider; her and her descendants to forever hang from threads and to be great weavers.
* Arachne was a young woman from Lydia, sometimes said to be a princess, who offended Athena, and suffered the consequences. Her story helped serve as a warning to all to take care to not offend the gods.