Seventh post: Interview an Expert

I am interviewing Richard Martin a Greek Mythology expert at Stanford University. What made you want to be an expert in Greek Mythology?  I was always interested at 10,11,12 years old before you even and read books about in and learn somethings about Greek and Latin and found it to be more fun. What is your most favorite myth? Uhhm I have many favorites but my favorites would have to be when Ulysses coming home after the Trojan War and Hermes being related to him and Athena's.  Are there still people that believe in Greek mythology? Actually there are not just in Greece but other places in the world.There are groups called neo-pagens and they meet up talk about and worship the gods, and make sacrifices. Which god do you think had the most influence in Greek Mythology, and Why?  Zeus because he is the king of the gods because of thunder and lightning and threatening to turn them into something. Hades maybe because he can threaten stuff too. Do you think there are some gods or beasts that has been taken from another religion or myths in Greek Mythology? Which? Yeah, well not particular gods but the story pattern. The beginning of the world the earth and sky, Kronos and Rhea and Zeus and his family. Scholars have found in the middle eastern countries but the names have changed other than that no. It is hard to say that the Greeks had borrowed from others.                                                                       He is right about that he was interested in Greek Mythology before I started liking it. I just started liking it this year. I found it interesting that Ulysses is related to Hermes (the god of messengers, thieves, travelers, and merchants). I was happy there was someone else who likes the myth of Athena. I did not know for sure that there were people who still believed in all of this. I sort of thought there were people who believed all of this stuff exsisted and still continues to exsiste. I also did not know people still made sacrifices to or worshiped the gods. I sort of thought that Zeus would have the most influence on Greek Mythology because he is the king of the gods. But I really did not expect he would say Hades may influence Greek Mythology. I did not really know that the story pattern is what was copied in the myths. I think that he is a very intellegent person who knows a multitude of thing about Greek Mythology.

Sixth Post:Poseidon and Zeus

http://blogs.yis.ac.jp/19vettorettij/2013/02/24/poseidon-and-ares/  Poseidon is the Greek god of the sea.  His mother and father are the titans Kronos and Rhea. His brothers and sisters are Zeus, God of the sky and thunder, Hera, Goddess of women and marriage, Demeter, Goddess of agriculture, Hades, God of the dead and the Underworld, and Hestia, Goddess of the hearth. Poseidon and all of his brothers and sister except Zeus were swallowed by their father because he was afraid of the prophecy that told him one of his son would kill him as he kill his father. Rhea gave Kronos a rock to eat instead of Zeus. When Zeus was all grown up he feed his father a mixture of mustard and wine that made him vomit. Kronos vomited Poseidon and all of his brothers and sisters up. Then Zeus destroyed Kronos with his own scythe and threw him into the depths of Tartarus.  Poseidon's wife is Amphitrite. His children are all cyclops Theseus, Triton, Polyphemus, Belus, Agenor, Neleus, and Atlas. The Cyclops made him his trident. Poseidon had a competition with Athena over the city Athens. Athena created an olive tree; Poseidon produced a saltwater spring. The people of Athens thought Athena's gift was better. You can kind of see why the people Athens thought Athena's gift was better.Poseidon got angry anyway and flooded the place. Once Poseidon even tried to seduce the beautiful sea nymph Scylla, his wife, Amphitrite, became jealous and transformed her into a horrible sea monster with six dogs' heads. Scylla terrorized sailors, and she devoured several of Odysseus's companions. Poseidon symbols are a trident, Dolphin, Horse. He created the horse. The island of Atlantis was the chosen domain of Poseidon.  Poseidon has been call Earth-Shaker and Father of horses. He can make earthquakes. He is one of the most known god in Greek mythology. His lives on Mount Olympus with the rest of the Olympian gods and goddesses.