According To Hesiod, The Love-God Eros Was One Of The Oldest Divine Beings

In his epic poem, Theogony, the 8th-century BCE Greek poet, Hesiod, strove not only to tell myths about the gods, but to also trace the lineages and genealogy of the divine beings.  In the beginning, claimed Hesiod, there existed a great Chasm from which sprang the primordial deities. The first personified entity that emerged from the Chasm was Gaia (Earth). Similarly, Nyx (Night) and the less-personified Erebos (a realm of darkness) also appeared out of the Chasm. This small cast of Chasm-spawned deities might have been the only gods that the ancient Greek world would have known had not one more being flown out of the Chasm to prod the shy primordial deities into the act of procreation. To fulfill this purpose, the mysterious Chasm created Eros, who brought feelings of attraction and love to the divine world—emotions that would forever change the Greek gods and humanity.

Upon the arrival of this erotic deity and his powerful aphrodisiac side effects, the primordial gods inevitably began to feel quite interested in each other.  There was no fighting his influence as, according to Hesiod, Eros was “the dissolver of flesh, who overcomes the reason and purpose in the breasts of all gods and all men” (Theogony, line 120). After falling prey to Eros’ machinations, the gods Nyx and Erebos hooked up to have children. Gaia, too, felt the mood enough to create her own lover, Ouranos (Heaven). Gaia and Ouranos would in turn bring about the Titans, among which the couple of Kronos and Rhea would become the parents to most of the Olympian gods. In turn, the Olympian pantheon, led by ever-lusty Zeus, who would go on to create more gods, demigods and mythical creatures—so on and so forth, all thanks to the power of primordial Eros.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (4th century BCE image of Eros on pottery exhibited in the Blanton Museum of Art - Austin, Texas, USA, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Theogony and Works and Days by Hesiod, translated by M. L. West. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988, 1999, 2008.
• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D104 
• https://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Eros.html 
• https://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Eros.html

Dr. Marileif’s Spectacular Bad Luck

Marileif was an interesting figure who, for a time, was a prominent member of society in the land of the Franks in the 6th century. He came from obscure origins, apparently starting his career as a layman laborer for a church near the city of Poitiers. His father, brothers and some cousins were also working for the church, running church-owned mills or cooking in church-run kitchens. Marileif, however, had greater ambitions than being a laborer for the local church. Likely with the help of one of the book-smart clergymen that he had access to in his work as a church laborer, Marileif started studying the medical theories of the day. We, unfortunately, do not know where he studied, who taught him, or what types of credentials he touted, but it is certain that he ultimately became a renowned physician. His skills were treasured and trusted to such a degree that he became the court physician for King Chilperic of the Franks (r. 561-584).

Although Marileif was an important member of Chilperic’s court and he was lavished with untold gifts of precious metals, jewels and horses, his overall experience in Frankish high society was not good. His bad luck began around 577, when King Chilperic’s rebellious son, Merovech, targeted Marileif as a way to get back at the king. According to the contemporaneous bishop and historian, Gregory of Tours (c. 539-594), Merovech “ordered that Marileif, the royal physician, should be seized when he was journeying home from the King’s court. Marileif was cruelly beaten, his gold and silver and everything else which he had with him was confiscated, and he was left destitute” (History of the Franks, V.14). Merovech reportedly was planning to murder the physician, too, but Marileif fortunately escaped and used his contacts in the church (including Gregory of Tours) to return home to Poitiers.

Despite this robbery and attempted murder, Marileif made a comeback in the court of King Chilperic. Through work, he regained his lost wealth and expanded upon it, filling his estate in Poitiers with a vast hoard of gold and silver. He also had a fine stable of pricy horses, the pride and joy of many a well-to-do medieval man. Unfortunately, fate came to take its due once again from Marileif in 584. That year, King Chilperic was assassinated, and the vassals of the slain monarch’s brother and nephews scrambled to gain an advantage in the power vacuum. Shortly after Chilperic’s assassination in 584, Duke Gararic, a lord working for King Childebert II (Chilperic’s nephew), arrived in Poitiers to claim the city for Childebert. Before leaving Poitiers to make a similar demand to the people of Tours, Duke Gararic stopped by Marileif’s estate to pilfer some of the now patronless physician’s stockpile of wealth.

Poor Marileif’s ill luck, however, did not stop with Duke Gararic. Next came King Guntram (Chilperic’s brother) who sent an army against Poitiers in 585 as reprisal for the city’s submission to King Childebert II. As had happened last time, the invading army knew that Marileif was a wealthy man, and they targeted his estate for looting. The second round of pillaging was apparently even worse than the first. Gregory of Tours wrote about Marileif’s disastrous experience during 584 and 585, stating, “He had already been robbed once by Duke Gararic; and now he was stripped a second time, so that nothing remained to him of all his property. They took his horses, his gold and silver, and all of his precious possessions, of which he had a vast store, and reduced him once more to service to the church” (History of the Franks, VII.25).

Prompted by the ruthless one-after-the-other looting by the armies of King Childebert II and King Guntram, Marileif apparently returned to his beginnings, rejoining the group of workers that saw to the daily tasks of church properties. What he did from then on, if he continued as a physician for the clergymen or if he simply worked in the mills or kitchen, is unknown. Whatever path he chose, be it medical or muscle, hopefully it was free from further theft.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (A physician/alchemist examining a flask, by David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours, translated by Lewis Thorpe. New York: Penguin Classics, 1971.

Zeus Gained His Power Over Lightning From Thankful Cyclopes

New generations overthrowing the old was a repeated theme in ancient Greek mythology. The first ruling couple of ancient Greek myth was Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (Heaven). To this pair was born the Titans, the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires (Hundred-Handed Ones). The last two of these groups were so powerful that Ouranos had them imprisoned in the earth out of fear, doing so without Gaia’s permission or consent. As payback for the imprisonment of her sons and other abuses, Gaia plotted with the Titans and helped them successfully removed Ouranos from power by giving the arch-Titan, Kronos, a sickle that he used to emasculate his father. Once in power, however, Kronos did not release the Cyclopes or the Hecatoncheires. Also—like father like son—when Kronos began having children with his fellow Titan, Rhea, he feared his offspring’s power so much that he, too, wanted them imprisoned. Instead of locking them inside the earth, Kronos swallowed the newborn godlings, who happened to be many of the main members of the future Olympian pantheon.

Rhea, like Gaia before her, did not appreciate what was happening to her children, and it was when she was about to give birth to baby Zeus that she finally had enough. She swaddled a rock in baby clothing and handed the stone over to Kronos, who promptly ate it without any investigation. Meanwhile, Rhea slipped off to sympathetic Gaia, and they arranged for little Zeus to be raised secretly in Crete. Once Zeus came of age, he began building a coalition to take down his father. At this point, however, Zeus was apparently only godly in terms of strength, with little-to-no divine smiting ability, so the fledgling god’s first steps were taken in the form of espionage and sabotage. He successfully arranged for a substance to be fed to Kronos which resulted in the Titan regurgitating all of the children of Rhea that he had eaten. For his next step, Zeus tracked down his long-imprisoned uncles, the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires. These beings Zeus freed from their prisons in exchange for promises of help in the upcoming confrontation between the Olympian gods and the Titans.

The hundred-handed Hecatoncheires may have been unsurpassed warriors, but it was the Cyclopes that gave Zeus his particularly iconic advantage. According to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod, the thankful Cyclopes were the ones who “gave Zeus his thunder and forged his thunderbolt” (Theogony, lines 139-145). With his Olympian siblings freed, the recruitment of the monstrous Hecatoncheires, and the acquisition of his famous Cyclopes-forged lightning weaponry, Zeus was able to topple Kronos and supplant the Titans in a ten-year mythological conflict known as the Titanomachy.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Athena/Minerva, Zeus/Jupiter and other gods, painted by René-Antoine Houasse (1645–1710), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Theogony and Works and Days by Hesiod, translated by M. L. West. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988, 1999, 2008.
• https://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Ouranos.html 
• https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Hekatonkheires.html 
• https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Titanes.html#Titanomakhia 
• https://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisRhea.html  
• https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Zeus.html  

The Gamble Of Norway’s King Olaf II For The Island Of Hísing

In 1015, a royal-blooded Viking and mercenary named Olaf Haraldsson (Saint Olaf) launched his bid for power in Norway, intending to end fifteen years of foreign domination over Norwegian land by the Danes and Swedes. The last Norwegian king had been slain in the year 1000 by a coalition consisting of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark (r. 987-1014), Olaf the Tax-King of Sweden (r. 980-1022), and dissident Norwegian jarls. In the years after that battle, Norway was ruled by jarls who deferred to the Danish and Swedish authority. It was against these foreign-backed Norwegian jarls that Olaf Haraldsson campaigned in 1015, forcing them into exile or submission by 1016. After consolidating power, the upstart ruler proclaimed himself King Olaf II of Norway and began the precarious balancing act of trying to keep foreign influence out of Norway while also striving to enforce his newfound authority over the weariest of his Norwegian chieftains, such as a conspiracy of five minor kings against him that was thwarted in 1017.

Although the Dane, Canute the Great (r. 1016-1035), was on the rise at the same time as King Olaf II of Norway, Canute’s early focus was on England, making Denmark less of a threat to Olaf during his early years. Sweden, on the other hand, gave the fledgling King Olaf II quite a bit of trouble as he tried to establish his authority in Norway. Although the Swedish-aligned jarls had been defeated by 1016, Olaf the Tax-King of Sweden refused to acknowledge the new Norwegian monarch’s authority, and pointedly attempted several times to send tax collectors into Norway. According to the Heimskringla (History of the Kings of Norway) of Snorri Sturluson (c. 1179-1241), the Norwegian king or his agents clashed with Swedish tax collectors on at least three instances, and in another incident the Swedes even commandeered a ship laden with goods meant to adorn the throne room of King Olaf II. Such isolated friction and contained harassments continued until 1019, by which time both Olafs, of Norway and Sweden, had tired of their feud. That year, King Olaf II of Norway married the Swedish king’s daughter, Ástrid, and the two monarchs met together to finally settle their differences.

When the monarchs met, the Swedish king reportedly granted, without much debate, recognition of the Norwegian Olaf’s authority over most of what King Harald Finehair (r. 860-940) of Norway had once ruled in the past. The arguments apparently heated up, however, when the two discussed the large Island of Hísing, presumably referring to modern Hisingen, in Sweden. Instead of resuming their hostilities over the issue, the two in-laws reportedly decided to resolve their disagreement through a non-violent competition. According to folklore, they played a game of dice, and the Island of Hísing was the stake.

As the story goes, the game involved throwing two numbered dice (with the highest number being six on each die) and the one that threw the highest sum won the round. Whichever king provided the dice must have brought a loaded pair, for both kings consistently began rolling double-sixes. Snorri Sturluson described the bizarre dicing scene:

“Then the Swedish king threw two sixes and said that it was no use for King Oláf to throw. He replied, while shaking the dice in his hand, ‘There are two sixes still on the dice, and it is a trifling matter for God, my Lord, to have them turn up.’ He threw them, and two sixes turned up. Thereupon Oláf, the king of Sweden, again threw two sixes. Then Oláf, the king of Norway, cast the dice, and one six showed on one of them, but the other split in two, so that six and one turned up” (Heimskringla, Saint Olaf’s Saga, chapter 94).

Such was the way, according to folklore, that King Olaf II of Norway gained control of the island of Hísing. Snorri Sturluson, for his part, recognized this was a far-fetched story, even for the folklore-riddled sagas which were frequently prone to artistic license. He made sure to distance himself from the story by crediting the tale to a certain Thorstein the Learned.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Hall scene from the saga of Olaf Tryggvason, illustrated by Christian Krohg (1852–1925), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Sources:

• Heimskringla, by Snorri Sturluson and translated by Lee Hollander. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964, 2018. 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olaf-II-Haraldsson 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olaf 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olaf-Tryggvason 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Canute-I 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sweyn-I  

According To Legend, Athena Saved An Injured Craftsman Who Worked On The Acropolis Of Athens

The area of the Acropolis at Athens has played host to human activity and construction since before recorded history, but it was in the age of Pericles (c. 495-429 BCE) that the Athenian Acropolis truly became a masterpiece and a world wonder. Starting in 447 BCE, Pericles began a massive campaign of construction and beautification on the acropolis. Utilizing architects such as Callicrates, Iktinos and Mnesikles, as well as the genius sculptor Phidias, Pericles’ cultural campaign brought about the existence of masterful structures on the Acropolis, including the Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Statue of Athena Promachos, the Erechtheion, and the Parthenon.

According to legend, the goddess Athena, the patron deity of Athens, took keen interest in the project. She made her support known, so the story goes, during the construction of the Propylaea, the great entryway of the Acropolis. In a tale related by the Greek-Roman biographer, Plutarch (c. 50-120), it was said that one of Pericles’ craftsmen fell from a high section of the Propylaea and suffered severe wounds from the crash. No one who attended to the injured worker could think of any remedy that would save the man’s life and they could do little but watch as he slowly neared death.

Pericles, after hearing the news, went to bed saddened and distressed. Yet, sleep brought him relief, for while he rested, the goddess Athena was said to have infiltrated Pericles’ dream, and she instructed him on how to save the dying craftsman. When he awoke, Pericles rushed off to where the injured man lay and set about treating the patient in the way that Athena had explained. The godly cure apparently worked wonders, and the craftsman quickly recovered and went back to work on the Acropolis. As thanks for Athena’s help, Pericles reportedly had an unplanned statue built that celebrated the goddess’ feat of healing.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Athena and Odysseus painted by Giuseppe Bottani (1717–1784), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Plutarch’s Lives edited by Charles W. Eliot in the Harvard Classics series. New York: P. F. Collier & Son, 1909, 1937.
• https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-greece/acropolis 
• https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/404/ 
• https://www.ancient.eu/Acropolis/ 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pericles-Athenian-statesman  

The Fight Between A Tough Medieval Homeowner And Two Looters

In the year 584, King Chilperic of the Franks was assassinated, and the late king’s treasurer, Eberulf, was accused of being involved in the murder. Chilperic’s brother, King Guntram (r. 561-593), was convinced of Eberulf’s guilt and sent troops with instructions to take him dead or alive. Hearing this news, Eberulf fled to the city of Tours and sought sanctuary in Saint Martin’s church, bringing him into contact with the city’s resident bishop and historian, Gregory of Tours (c. 539-594). Gregory found the fugitive to be an annoyingly rude and sacrilegious man, yet Eberulf was not the only disturbance in the city—bounty hunters and warriors sent by King Guntram also arrived to arrest (or at least contain) the fugitive, and while they stayed, they were not very courteous in their interactions with the city folk.

Gregory of Tours was a fan and admirer of King Guntram, but that did not stop the bishop from detesting a band of warriors from Guntram’s base of power in Orleans that arrived to keep Eberulf from leaving Tours. When these men arrived in the city, they reportedly became more interested in extorting and pillaging the locals than simply keeping an eye on the accused murderer. According to Bishop Gregory, when this particular armed group from Orleans had served out their guard-duty shift, “they set off home again, taking with them a vast amount of loot, carrying off pack-animals, cattle and whatever they could lay their hands on” (History of the Franks, VII.21). Of particular outrage to Gregory, his own mules had been stolen by the looters. The bishop’s animals would eventually be returned to their pasture, however, and Gregory of Tours happily recorded the tale of how it occurred in his History of the Franks.

As the story goes, the mule theft was carried out by two of the men from Orleans. Driving a herd of mules can be thirsty work, and, as the two thieves were ushering the animals away from the city, they decided to pick up a drink for the road. After surveying their surroundings, the two mule-thieves picked out a house that was sure to have a stockpile of fine beverages. With spears in hand, they pounded on the door to the house, and when the startled inhabitant of the residence appeared at the threshold, the thieves threatened him with their weapons, demanding that the homeowner bring forth something for them to drink.

In picking the house they did, the mule-thieves had horrible luck. The man who came to the door owned a sword, and he apparently had a military background, for he knew how to use his blade with deadly efficiency. Feeling threatened by the demanding, spear-waving thieves, the homeowner decided to fight back and protect his wine cellar. According to Gregory of Tours, “he drew his sword and pierced them both. They fell to the ground and died on the spot. Saint Martin’s beasts arrived home safe” (History of the Franks, VII.21). Gregory of Tours did not elaborate on whether the freed mules found their own way back to pasture, or if the sword-wielding hero did one last deed by helping them return.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Image of a kneeling knight with a sword, by Stewart Watson (fl. 1843-1847), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours, translated by Lewis Thorpe. New York: Penguin Classics, 1971.

Ammianus Marcellinus’ Humorous Description Of Tough Gallic Women

Ammianus Marcellinus was a man of Greek ancestry who was born in the year 330 at Antioch. He spent his early life as a warrior in the Roman military and, although he gained little renown as a tactician, he did achieve a high rank as an officer. He began pursuing his true calling, however, when retired from the military around 371 to focus on his scholarly ambitions. This calling ultimately brought him to Rome, where he wrote a 31-book text in Latin that traced events from the time of Emperor Nerva (r. 96-98) to his own time in the 4th century. The resulting Res Gestae, also known simply as the History, was highly praised in his own time, and continues to be admired to this day. His work is regarded as ancient Rome’s last great history, and Ammianus, as its author, is often remembered as the last great Roman historian.

Ammianus Marcellinus was indeed a great historian and he produced a history of priceless value to our understanding of the 4th century, but he had peculiar differences that made him unique from his fellow Roman greats, such as Livy and Tacitus. The two renowned Roman historians just mentioned were not only known for their historical research, but also for the aura of eloquence and artistry that emanates from their work. Ammianus, too, had a knack for drama and imagery, but unlike his successful predecessors, Ammianus’ text was in no way regarded as a literary masterpiece in the way it was composed. Quite the opposite, Ammianus had his own unique style and tone—his History is filled with bizarre or gaudy wording, as well as huge digressions off into all sorts of subjects that piqued his interest. Such characteristics might be detrimental to the average writer, but Ammianus’ narrative skill and talent for imagery turned his bizarre digressions into a charming and entertaining strength. The appeal of his peculiar, but refreshing, writing style can be easily ascertained from a humorous and vivid description of tough, kickboxing Gallic women found in Ammianus’ History:

“Almost all Gauls are tall and fair-skinned, with reddish hair. Their savage eyes make them fearful objects; they are eager to quarrel and excessively truculent. When in the course of a dispute any of them calls in his wife, a creature with gleaming eyes much stronger than her husband, they are more than a match for a whole group of foreigners; especially when the woman, with swollen neck and gnashing teeth, swings her great white arms and begins to deliver a rain of punches mixed with kicks, like missiles launched by the twisted strings of a catapult” (History, 15.12).

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Greco-Roman man and woman painted by Lawrence Alma-Tadema  (1836–1912), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Ammianus Marcellinus’ History, translated by Walter Hamilton as The Later Roman Empire. London: Penguin Classics, 1986, 2004.
• https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195389661/obo-9780195389661-0115.xml 
• https://brill.com/view/db/amo?language=en 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ammianus-Marcellinus