Curated playlist
Princes in Greek mythology
- HectorHector, prince of Troy, stands at the center of one of the oldest stories in Western literature. In Homer's Iliad, he leads the Trojan army against the besieging Greeks for ten years, kills more warriors than any man on his side, and dies…
- Paris (mythology)Paris of Troy was condemned before he was born. His mother Hecuba dreamed she gave birth to a flaming torch. The seer Aesacus read this as a verdict, not a vision: the child would destroy Troy. Priam ordered his chief herdsman, Agelaus, to…
- 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…
- TriptolemusA young boy named Triptolemus lay sick in the palace of Eleusis. Demeter, disguised as an old woman named Doso, found him weak and dying. She fed him her own breast milk to restore his strength. Then she placed him upon the hot coals of a…
- JasonJason, the Greek mythological hero at the center of one of antiquity's great adventure stories, arrives in the city of Iolcus wearing only one sandal. He lost the other crossing a river called Anauros while carrying an old woman on his…
- BellerophonBellerophon was ranked among the greatest heroes of ancient Greek mythology, placed alongside Cadmus and Perseus as one of "the greatest hero and slayer of monsters" before the days of Heracles. He rode a winged horse, killed a…
- TelemachusTelemachus carries a name that means "far from battle," or perhaps "fighting from afar," as a bowman shoots from a distance. He is the son of Odysseus and Penelope in Greek mythology, and a central character in Homer's Odyssey. His father…
- AnchisesAphrodite descended to the hills of Mount Ida while Anchises herded his cattle. The mortal man possessed beauty that rivaled an immortal god. She bathed in Cyprus before returning to the Troad disguised as a Phrygian princess. Hermes had…
- CadmusCadmus, the legendary Phoenician prince credited with founding Thebes, carried something far more consequential than a royal title: the alphabet. The ancient historian Herodotus credited him with introducing Phoenician letters to the…
- MeleagerA Calydonian prince named Meleager stood at the center of a family tree that ancient sources could not agree upon. Apollodorus records him as the son of Althaea and King Oeneus, while other accounts suggest his father was the god Ares.…
- PeliasPelias, king of Iolcus in Greek mythology, owes his entire reign to a single missing sandal. When a young stranger arrived in Iolcus wearing only one shoe, Pelias recognized the man at once as his greatest threat. An oracle had warned him…
- SisyphusSisyphus, the founder and king of Ephyra, now known as Corinth, is one of the most recognizable figures in all of Greek mythology. Not for his power, not for his victories, but for a single, unending action: pushing an immense boulder up a…
- Nestor (mythology)Nestor of Gerenia, legendary king of Pylos, survives in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey as a voice that never stops. Dares the Phrygian described him as large, broad and fair, with a long hooked nose and the bearing of a wise adviser. Beyond…