Daedalus and Icarus:
This story certainly has a message it is trying to convey: Avoid extremes! I'm sure Daedalus felt absolutely terrible about his son's death, but surely his inventions were not to blame? How often has youth lead to an arrogant rise, followed by a swift fall? It seems that Icarus never learned from Phaethon.
I really like this pair! They choose to accept their lot in life and embrace it. They embrace their poverty with humility and generosity. It seems that a little bit of wealth leads to greed, but no wealth at all leads to happiness. Also, I thought it was interesting that the gods, Jupiter and Mercury (at this point), are content in this meager house.
Transformation of Philemon and Baucis:
This is a great little Greek love story. The poorest house in the neighborhood is spared from divine wrath by its generosity. It seems fitting that Philemon and Baucis, who were content with each other before the the gods' appearance, chose with their request to spend the rest of their lives together.
Ceres and Erysichthon:
This story is completely opposite to the previous one. Erysichthon was completely dismissive of the gods, cutting down Ceres' tree, and I'm sure his arrogance will lead to the suffering of many innocent people. This is how all the other myths have gone at least.
The Famine:
This guy gets a pretty terrible punishment for his crimes. I turn into a diva when I get hungry, so I can't imagine what it would be like to end up eating your own body because of your hunger. Also, I really liked the description of Famine. It was horrible! I am glad that Erysichthon's mistake only caused him harm, not innocents like in earlier stories.
Achelous:
This is a pretty interesting tribute to Hercules' strength. He dominated what appeared to be a bigger man that could shape-shift into a snake and a bull. In all of this though, the woman has absolutely no choice in her husband. Women, even the female gods, are at the mercy of their male counterparts.
The Shirt of Nessus:
Hercules definitely looks like he is on the losing end of this encounter. Sure, he kills the Centaur that would have stolen his bride, but it seems that his poisoned arrows are destined to be his own undoing. This is a pretty cruel twist of fate.
The Death of Hercules:
This sounds like a pretty brutal way to die. The description of the Hydra's poison is disgustingly detailed. Luckily for Hercules though, his father bails him out. The mortal part of him dies, but he is transformed into a god. It worked out for him after all.
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Birth of Hercules:
I have no idea and will never have an idea of what childbirth is like, but it seems that Alcmena had a pretty rough time of it. Seven days is a long time to be in labor. Lucky for her, her hand-maiden Galanthis tricks the goddess of childbirth into allowing the birth to occur. This is a pretty weird origin story for the weasel too.
Orpheus and Eurydice:
This is a pretty tragic love story. I've heard it before, and I still feel like I need to yell at Orpheus not to turn around. He had worked so hard to raise his wife out of Hades, but his love for her drove him to look back, and her fate was sealed.
Ganymede and Hyacinthus:
The gods' lust gets innocent people in trouble over and over again. Jupiter abducts the Phyrgian, Ganymede, after transforming himself into an eagle. Then Hyacinthus is killed in a game of discus with Phoebus. It is terrible for these boys to have earned the love of such powerful gods.
Pygmalion:
Venus seems like a pretty just god in this story. She turn the Propoetides into wild bullocks for killing their guests as sacrifices instead of animals. Then she turns a Pygmalion's statue into a real girl, so that he can marry it. These are some weird stories!
(Pygmalion and the Statue, Regnault)
Myrrha and Cinyras:
This is interesting. In this case, it is a mortal that wants to commit sexual sin, not the gods. When the gods want to rape or sin, they do so without remorse. This girl, however, is torn apart by her desire to be with her father, even though it is incestuous and wrong.
Myrrha and the Nurse:
So instead of succumbing to the incestuous sin, Myrrha attempts to kill herself, only to be stopped by hr nurse. After a lot of questioning, the nurse understands Myrrha's shame, and begs her to be rid of the sinful desires.
Myrrha's Punishment:
So Myrrha tricks her father into sleeping with her during a festival of celibacy. That really sucks for Cinyras! Naturally in a story like this, Myrrha becomes pregnant and is forced to flee. She then prays to be deprived of life and death, so the gods turn her into a tree.
Venus and Adonis:
So the love-child of Myrrha and Cinyras is Adonis, a boy so beautiful that he catches the attention of Venus herself. There has to be some way that this goes horribly, horribly wrong. Probably by bears or lions, judging from Venus' warning.
Atlanta and Hippomenes:
So Venus is telling Adonis this story about a girl, Atlanta, who was beautiful and faster than any man alive. The gods tell her she ought to flee from marriage, so she proposes that any man to beat her in a footrace would win her, but to lose was to forfeit his life. So Hippomenes, descendant of Neptune, challenges her.
The Foot-Race:
With the help of Venus, Hippomenes wins the race and earns Atlanta's hand in marriage. However, he does thank or worship her after receiving her help, so she incites him to desecrate a temple. He and Atlanta are then turned into lions, and that is why Venus tells Adonis to fear lions.
(The Race, by Noel Halle)
The Death of Adonis:
Of course Adonis gets killed by a wild boar, and Venus is distraught. So like in many other stories, she preserves her memory of him in a flower. Also, I like the story-within-a-story-within-a-story concept. It's like inception!
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