03 - Golden Fleece
Alright, then.
First of all, not many have decided to enter my class, though that's alright. It just means that there's more room for student-teacher interaction, which is great on all accounts.
The Golden Fleece is the first magical artifact we'll be covering.
First, some history in this artifact:
In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece (Greek: Χρυσόμαλλον Δέρας) is that of the winged ram Chrysomallos (Χρυσόμαλλος).
Athamas, king of the city of Orchomenus in Boeotia (a region of southeastern Greece), took as his first wife the cloud goddess Nephele, by whom he had two children, the boy Phrixus and the girl Helle. Later he became enamored of and married Ino, the daughter of Cadmus. Ino was jealous of her stepchildren and plotted their deaths. Nephele, or her spirit, appeared to the children with a winged ram whose fleece was of gold. On the ram the children escaped over the sea, but Helle fell off and drowned in the strait now called after her the Hellespont. The ram took Phrixus safely on to Colchis, on the far (eastern) shore of the Euxine (Black) Sea. Phrixus then sacrificed the ram and hung its fleece on a tree (sometimes an oak tree) in a grove sacred to Ares, where it was guarded by a dragon.
Okay, now that the history lesson is over, I wonder what some of you might think of the golden fleece.
First person to tell me two meanings and the use of the golden fleece will get 10 house points.
Second person will get 5 house points.
All others, of course, will be graded.
Yes, I actually DO own the Golden Fleece. No, I didn't bring the original to class because I don't want other people to oggle at its greatness and wonder about its possible worth, like some of you are probably doing right now. Besides, it's part of my own private collection that's under heavy protection through many wards. besides, I acquired it by my own means...
{ooc: strikethroughs are illegible, no matter how hard you try~. Also, some stuff taken from Wikipedia. Yay?}
First of all, not many have decided to enter my class, though that's alright. It just means that there's more room for student-teacher interaction, which is great on all accounts.
The Golden Fleece is the first magical artifact we'll be covering.
First, some history in this artifact:
In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece (Greek: Χρυσόμαλλον Δέρας) is that of the winged ram Chrysomallos (Χρυσόμαλλος).
Athamas, king of the city of Orchomenus in Boeotia (a region of southeastern Greece), took as his first wife the cloud goddess Nephele, by whom he had two children, the boy Phrixus and the girl Helle. Later he became enamored of and married Ino, the daughter of Cadmus. Ino was jealous of her stepchildren and plotted their deaths. Nephele, or her spirit, appeared to the children with a winged ram whose fleece was of gold. On the ram the children escaped over the sea, but Helle fell off and drowned in the strait now called after her the Hellespont. The ram took Phrixus safely on to Colchis, on the far (eastern) shore of the Euxine (Black) Sea. Phrixus then sacrificed the ram and hung its fleece on a tree (sometimes an oak tree) in a grove sacred to Ares, where it was guarded by a dragon.
Okay, now that the history lesson is over, I wonder what some of you might think of the golden fleece.
First person to tell me two meanings and the use of the golden fleece will get 10 house points.
Second person will get 5 house points.
All others, of course, will be graded.
Yes, I actually DO own the Golden Fleece. No, I didn't bring the original to class because I don't want other people to oggle at its greatness and wonder about its possible worth, like some of you are probably doing right now. Besides, it's part of my own private collection that's under heavy protection through many wards. besides, I acquired it by my own means...
{ooc: strikethroughs are illegible, no matter how hard you try~. Also, some stuff taken from Wikipedia. Yay?}