Each Greek hero is born of one divine parent or is at least helped

by a deity during his quest is sent on a seemingly impossible quest is hindered by a deity andor terrible monster(s)

during his quest escapes certain death to live a happy life usually

with his new bride is mythical as signaled by the interference of

gods and monsters during each quest

Hero Parents Quest Obstacles Result

Odysseus Laertes and Anticleia (Mortals)Aided by Athene

Return home to wife Penelope andchild Telemachus

Lotus-EatersCyclopsPoseidon

Arrives homeafter being gonefor almost tenyears

Perseus Zeus and Danae(Immortal andMortal)Aided by Athene

Kill Medusa andbring her head backto King Polydectes

Medusa theGorgon RescuesAndromeda fromsea monster

MarriesAndromedaReturns home bykilling hisenemies

Theseus Aegeus (orPoseidon) andAethra (Mortals)Aided by Ariadnepriestess of Cretangoddess

Part of group whowas to be victims to the Minotaur

The Minotaur inCrete Finds hisway out of thelabyrinth

Escapessuccessfullyfrom CreteMarries defeatedAmazon QueenHippolyte andlater Phaedra

Heracles Zeus and Alcmene(Immortal andMortal)

Complete 12Labors

Nemean LionHydra CretanBull ThracianHorses Hera

Marries MegaraKills theirchildren MarriesDeianeiraCannot settledown

Aeneas Anchises andVenus (Mortal andImmortal)

Escape Troy andCarthage Be ancestor of Romanrace

Aeolus blows shipsoff course DidoHindered by Juno

Reaches Italy andsettles AncestorRomulus foundsRome

1048708 Son of a divine father and mortal mother 1048708 Leaves his father to save the world 1048708 Begins his mission with initiation 1048708 Continues with ldquotestsrdquo offered by a shadowy

enemy 1048708 Heals banishes evil forces establishes

customs and laws 1048708 Dies 1048708 Through his death purifies all people from evil 1048708 Returns from the Underworld overcoming

death 1048708 Returns to his father

Separation a hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of ldquosupernatural wonderrdquo

Initiation fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won

Return the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow men

eg Prometheus ascended to the heavens stole fire from the gods and descended

1048708 1) ldquoThe Call to Adventurerdquo 1048708 The signs of the vocation of the hero 1048708 Cf Isaiah 6 1 Nephi 1 1048708 2) ldquoRefusal of the Callrdquo 1048708 The folly of the flight from the god 1048708 Cf Jonah 1048708 3) ldquoSupernatural Aidrdquo 1048708 The unsuspected assistance that comes sometimes in the

form of a magical device or ability sometimes from direct

intervention 1048708 In later myth Athena was the regular patroness of heroes 1048708 4) ldquoThe Crossing of the First Thresholdrdquo 1048708 5) ldquoThe Belly of the Whalerdquo 1048708 The passage into the realm of night the hero was must risk

death or imprisonment

Hero Parents Quest Obstacles Result

Odysseus Laertes and Anticleia (Mortals)Aided by Athene

Return home to wife Penelope andchild Telemachus

Lotus-EatersCyclopsPoseidon

Arrives homeafter being gonefor almost tenyears

Perseus Zeus and Danae(Immortal andMortal)Aided by Athene

Kill Medusa andbring her head backto King Polydectes

Medusa theGorgon RescuesAndromeda fromsea monster

MarriesAndromedaReturns home bykilling hisenemies

Theseus Aegeus (orPoseidon) andAethra (Mortals)Aided by Ariadnepriestess of Cretangoddess

Part of group whowas to be victims to the Minotaur

The Minotaur inCrete Finds hisway out of thelabyrinth

Escapessuccessfullyfrom CreteMarries defeatedAmazon QueenHippolyte andlater Phaedra

Heracles Zeus and Alcmene(Immortal andMortal)

Complete 12Labors

Nemean LionHydra CretanBull ThracianHorses Hera

Marries MegaraKills theirchildren MarriesDeianeiraCannot settledown

Aeneas Anchises andVenus (Mortal andImmortal)

Escape Troy andCarthage Be ancestor of Romanrace

Aeolus blows shipsoff course DidoHindered by Juno

Reaches Italy andsettles AncestorRomulus foundsRome

1048708 Son of a divine father and mortal mother 1048708 Leaves his father to save the world 1048708 Begins his mission with initiation 1048708 Continues with ldquotestsrdquo offered by a shadowy

enemy 1048708 Heals banishes evil forces establishes

customs and laws 1048708 Dies 1048708 Through his death purifies all people from evil 1048708 Returns from the Underworld overcoming

death 1048708 Returns to his father

Separation a hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of ldquosupernatural wonderrdquo

Initiation fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won

Return the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow men

eg Prometheus ascended to the heavens stole fire from the gods and descended

1048708 1) ldquoThe Call to Adventurerdquo 1048708 The signs of the vocation of the hero 1048708 Cf Isaiah 6 1 Nephi 1 1048708 2) ldquoRefusal of the Callrdquo 1048708 The folly of the flight from the god 1048708 Cf Jonah 1048708 3) ldquoSupernatural Aidrdquo 1048708 The unsuspected assistance that comes sometimes in the

form of a magical device or ability sometimes from direct

intervention 1048708 In later myth Athena was the regular patroness of heroes 1048708 4) ldquoThe Crossing of the First Thresholdrdquo 1048708 5) ldquoThe Belly of the Whalerdquo 1048708 The passage into the realm of night the hero was must risk

death or imprisonment

Theseus Aegeus (orPoseidon) andAethra (Mortals)Aided by Ariadnepriestess of Cretangoddess

Part of group whowas to be victims to the Minotaur

The Minotaur inCrete Finds hisway out of thelabyrinth

Escapessuccessfullyfrom CreteMarries defeatedAmazon QueenHippolyte andlater Phaedra

Heracles Zeus and Alcmene(Immortal andMortal)

Complete 12Labors

Nemean LionHydra CretanBull ThracianHorses Hera

Marries MegaraKills theirchildren MarriesDeianeiraCannot settledown

Aeneas Anchises andVenus (Mortal andImmortal)

Escape Troy andCarthage Be ancestor of Romanrace

Aeolus blows shipsoff course DidoHindered by Juno

Reaches Italy andsettles AncestorRomulus foundsRome

1048708 Son of a divine father and mortal mother 1048708 Leaves his father to save the world 1048708 Begins his mission with initiation 1048708 Continues with ldquotestsrdquo offered by a shadowy

enemy 1048708 Heals banishes evil forces establishes

customs and laws 1048708 Dies 1048708 Through his death purifies all people from evil 1048708 Returns from the Underworld overcoming

death 1048708 Returns to his father

Separation a hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of ldquosupernatural wonderrdquo

Initiation fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won

Return the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow men

eg Prometheus ascended to the heavens stole fire from the gods and descended

1048708 1) ldquoThe Call to Adventurerdquo 1048708 The signs of the vocation of the hero 1048708 Cf Isaiah 6 1 Nephi 1 1048708 2) ldquoRefusal of the Callrdquo 1048708 The folly of the flight from the god 1048708 Cf Jonah 1048708 3) ldquoSupernatural Aidrdquo 1048708 The unsuspected assistance that comes sometimes in the

form of a magical device or ability sometimes from direct

intervention 1048708 In later myth Athena was the regular patroness of heroes 1048708 4) ldquoThe Crossing of the First Thresholdrdquo 1048708 5) ldquoThe Belly of the Whalerdquo 1048708 The passage into the realm of night the hero was must risk

death or imprisonment

1048708 Son of a divine father and mortal mother 1048708 Leaves his father to save the world 1048708 Begins his mission with initiation 1048708 Continues with ldquotestsrdquo offered by a shadowy

enemy 1048708 Heals banishes evil forces establishes

customs and laws 1048708 Dies 1048708 Through his death purifies all people from evil 1048708 Returns from the Underworld overcoming

death 1048708 Returns to his father

Separation a hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of ldquosupernatural wonderrdquo

Initiation fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won

Return the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow men

eg Prometheus ascended to the heavens stole fire from the gods and descended

1048708 1) ldquoThe Call to Adventurerdquo 1048708 The signs of the vocation of the hero 1048708 Cf Isaiah 6 1 Nephi 1 1048708 2) ldquoRefusal of the Callrdquo 1048708 The folly of the flight from the god 1048708 Cf Jonah 1048708 3) ldquoSupernatural Aidrdquo 1048708 The unsuspected assistance that comes sometimes in the

form of a magical device or ability sometimes from direct

intervention 1048708 In later myth Athena was the regular patroness of heroes 1048708 4) ldquoThe Crossing of the First Thresholdrdquo 1048708 5) ldquoThe Belly of the Whalerdquo 1048708 The passage into the realm of night the hero was must risk

death or imprisonment

Separation a hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of ldquosupernatural wonderrdquo

Initiation fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won

Return the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow men

eg Prometheus ascended to the heavens stole fire from the gods and descended

1048708 1) ldquoThe Call to Adventurerdquo 1048708 The signs of the vocation of the hero 1048708 Cf Isaiah 6 1 Nephi 1 1048708 2) ldquoRefusal of the Callrdquo 1048708 The folly of the flight from the god 1048708 Cf Jonah 1048708 3) ldquoSupernatural Aidrdquo 1048708 The unsuspected assistance that comes sometimes in the

form of a magical device or ability sometimes from direct

intervention 1048708 In later myth Athena was the regular patroness of heroes 1048708 4) ldquoThe Crossing of the First Thresholdrdquo 1048708 5) ldquoThe Belly of the Whalerdquo 1048708 The passage into the realm of night the hero was must risk

death or imprisonment

1048708 1) ldquoThe Call to Adventurerdquo 1048708 The signs of the vocation of the hero 1048708 Cf Isaiah 6 1 Nephi 1 1048708 2) ldquoRefusal of the Callrdquo 1048708 The folly of the flight from the god 1048708 Cf Jonah 1048708 3) ldquoSupernatural Aidrdquo 1048708 The unsuspected assistance that comes sometimes in the

form of a magical device or ability sometimes from direct

intervention 1048708 In later myth Athena was the regular patroness of heroes 1048708 4) ldquoThe Crossing of the First Thresholdrdquo 1048708 5) ldquoThe Belly of the Whalerdquo 1048708 The passage into the realm of night the hero was must risk

death or imprisonment