Curated playlist
Mythological rapists
- ZeusZeus is the supreme deity of the Greek pantheon, and yet even the gods rise from their seats when he enters the room. That detail, preserved in ancient sources, says everything about the order of things on Mount Olympus. He is the king who…
- Jupiter (god)Jupiter, king of the Roman gods, takes his name from two ancient words: the Proto-Italic djous, meaning "day" or "sky," and pater, meaning "father." Sky Father. The name alone tells you what the Romans believed they were dealing with. For…
- OdinOdin has more than 170 recorded names, more than any other god among the Germanic peoples. The names describe his attributes, point to myths involving him, or recall religious practices tied to his cult. Many of them trace back to a single…
- FreyrFreyr, whose name in Old Norse simply means "the Lord", once stood at the center of a golden temple in Uppsala, his statue carved with an enormous phallus, flanked by Odin and Thor. Worshippers came to him for peace, good harvests, and…
- ApolloApollo carries more names than any other Olympian. He is the archer god, the healer, the prophet, the musician, the shepherd's patron, the founder of cities, the averter of evil, the lord of light. He was born on a floating island in the…
- HadesHades is the god of the dead and the King of the underworld in ancient Greek religion and mythology. His name became so feared that by around the 5th century BC, the Greeks had largely stopped saying it aloud, pressing euphemisms into…
- PoseidonPoseidon is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, a god of such terrifying breadth that sailors prayed to him for safe passage while farmers credited him with the growth of their crops. He ruled the sea,…
- Mars (mythology)Mars, the Roman god of war, was not simply a deity of battle. He was also a guardian of crops, a father of the Roman people, and a protector whose sacred animals spoke prophecy from the branches of oak trees. His very name gave the world a…
- DionysusDionysus stands as one of the most paradoxical figures in all of ancient Greek religion: the god who frees his followers from fear and self-consciousness, yet who also embodies ritual madness and the destruction of those who stand against…
- HephaestusHephaestus refused to come home. The Greek god of artisans, blacksmiths, and fire had been thrown out of heaven by his own mother, Hera, and his answer was to forge her a golden throne. When she sat on it, invisible fetters locked her in…
- AchillesAchilles, the central figure of Homer's Iliad, carried a name that meant something like 'he who has the people distressed' - a striking label for a warrior celebrated above all others for his glory in battle. His name combines the Greek…
- HermesHermes is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion, and his story begins in a cave on Mount Cyllene, in the dead of night, where Zeus secretly made love to Maia. On the very first day of his life, the rapidly maturing infant crawled…
- Neptune (mythology)Neptune, the Roman god of freshwater and the sea, had a festival timed not to stormy weather or crashing waves but to the worst heat of summer, when rivers ran low and springs nearly dried up. Every year on the 23rd of July, Romans…
- LaiusThe year 320 to 310 BC captures a moment frozen in clay on an Apulian red-figure hydria. This ancient vessel depicts King Laius of Thebes carrying off the son of Pelops, king of Pisa. Laius taught the boy how to drive a chariot while…
- Sextus TarquiniusSextus Tarquinius was the son of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome. He is not remembered for victories in battle, nor for any law he gave Rome. He is remembered for a single night in Collatia, when he entered a woman's…
- ThyestesPelops and Hippodamia gave birth to Thyestes in the city of Olympia. Their union carried a heavy burden from the moment Myrtilus died. The servant of King Oenomaus had been promised half the kingdom and the bride's virginity after Pelops…
- GebGeb, the Egyptian god of the Earth, was said to laugh earthquakes into existence. According to ancient belief, the trembling of the ground was not a geological event but an outburst of divine amusement. Crops grew because Geb permitted…