Monday, April 19, 2010

Myths and Legends: Ganymede

The Abduction of Ganymede. To find out more about the gods' cup-bearer Ganymede, see this Wikipedia article: link; for information about the image: image source.

Ganymede was the son of Tros, legendary founder of Troy. He was so handsome that Zeus himself fell in love with him and carried him up into heaven, taking the form of an eagle to do so. Zeus granted Ganymede immortality and made him his cupbearer. Legend has it that Ganymede was herding sheep when Zeus abducted him, and you can see one of the sheepdogs barking in dismay. Meanwhile, Ganymede clutches in his hand the an arrow, presumably the arrow of Cupid that ignited Zeus's indomitable passion for the boy.

You can also find more myths and legends for the week of April 15-21 here. For more information and links to the actual javascript code, see the Myths & Legends Widget Reference Page.