Saturday, October 16, 2010

Zeus' weakness

Some people say that every person in the world has a weakness even a god. It is great to have in mind about how strong every person is or how smart you are or how generous are you. We all know that but when the time comes that you’re facing your weakness, it is hard to decided whether to fight for it or to just give it up.

We all know that Zeus is the God of the Sky and also known as the God of Light. In the story of creation in Greek, Zeus was one of the children of Cronus and Rhea. According to the story, Zeus was the only child who manages to escape from Cronus plan due to the help of his mother, Rhea. Another thing about Zeus is that he married Hera and had a daughter, Aphrodite. Zeus has three siblings named Hera, Hades and Poseidon. He is the leader of all the gods in Mountain Olympia. Lastly, he symbolizes as a thunderbolt, an eagle, a bull and an oak.

Zeus became the king of the gods by the following story. It all started in the story of creation according to Greek when Zeus’ siblings were swallowed by their father, Cronus. Zeus manages to escape along with his siblings and Cronus’ brothers from Cronus’ stomach when he vomited. After that, he battled the Titans. One of the Titans faced Zeus. After the battle, Zeus won and earned the three worlds. He shared the worlds with his brothers. Zeus earned the sky world, Poseidon earned the water world and Hades earned the underworld.

Zeus’ weakness was mentioned only when he is always distracted. He was distracted when he cites a beautiful goddess or a beautiful woman. For that, when he was trying to help the Trojans, he is always distracted.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

King Agamemnon

We all know that the story Iliad is a Greek story about gods and goddess and some myths happened in the past. This story started about Achilles and Agamemnon. In this story, we may encounter or mention some gods and goddess that are familiar to us. It all started when Achilles, the greatest warrior, and Agamemnon, the commander-in-chief of the army, went to a town near Troy. In that setting, they captured two beautiful girls named Chryseis and Briseis. When Chryes, the father of Chryseis, heard that his daughter was captured by King Agamemnon, he prayed for help to Apollo. Apollo answered Chryes’s prayer and soon something terrible happen to Achilles’ army. Achilles turned to the fortune teller and told him what happen. The fortune teller also told Achilles that this happening was a curse because King Agamemnon didn’t want to release the girl he captured, Chryseis. When King Agamemnon had an agreement on Achilles, he released Chryseis and captured Briseis, Achilles woman. When Achilles heard of this, he decided to give up in the army. King Agamemnon turned to Apollo. After that, he returned the first woman he captured, Chryseis, to his father and then, he ordered some troops to send Briseis to King Agamemnon. Achilles gave up without having a war. After this scene happen, Achilles turned to his mother, Thetis, and asked for help. He even suggested to his mother that she should use her influence in Zeus to ask for more help and to ensure the Trojans. When Achilles knew that his army was losing because he was not in the group, they would betray King Agamemnon and join him. After that scene, Thetis turned to Zeus and he agreed to help her. The next scene is that Zeus will help the Trojans defeat King Agamemnon. Before King Agamemnon’s defeat happen, an announcement was happened about testing his army on strength after nine years. He suggested to his army that they should relax and go back to their homes. Every soldier jumped for joy. After that, Odysseus along with Athena stayed sharp on keeping an eye on the Achaeans. Next is that they captured Troy. Nektor ordered his army to meet the Achaeans in the plains in front of Troy. After that, Homer made a list of troops who will be allies to help the Trojans. In Books 3, King Agamemnon declared a duel between Paris and Menelaus. Menelaus won by unexplainable happenings. Helen then restored Menelaus. In Books 4, King Agamemnon was surprised about the skills of Menelaus in battle.
King Agamemnon’s stubbornness was mentioned in Books 1-4. First was not following an agreement to another person. Second, he let his soldier’s took a vacation instead of training them in nine years. Last, when he declared the winner on a duel, I think he just pick that he wanted because he cannot prove who, between the two duelists, have the most powerful skills and strength. King Agamemnon may be stubborn but he may be a great ruler of an army.