Love Story of GREEK Myth

Naturally, love was one hot topic amongst the Greeks, and the proliferation of romantic themes—most of them tragic— is astounding. Of course, the Greeks honored love, but surprisingly, they did not particularly laud the goddess of love, Aphrodite. Her epithets—which are extremely indicative of how the Hellenes felt about this powerful emotion—include Androphonos [killer of men], Epitymbidia [she upon the graves], and Melaina [the blackened one]. Aphrodite really had no important festivals, and her favorite consort was Ares, god of war. Love was extremely important—and hurtful, deadly, and destructive [the Greeks were very perceptive, wouldn't you say? ]. However, love was vital to the scheme of existence, and the Greeks felt they had to pay homage to it...but not necessarily revere it.

I consider myself one of the most stoic, antagonistic, anti-"love" wenches on the face of this planet. [Yeah, bitterness over old boyfriend...] However, requests for tales of love [and love lost] are among my most numerous, so I have decided to share a few of my favorites. Again, I have not included all of the stories of amour, but rather a select group that I feel are representative of Greek mythology. Heck, the myths involving Zeus alone would make War and Peace look like a friggin' abstract! [And you'll notice how prominent the concept of "love at first sight" is—yeah, right...