New day, new haiku!
Yesterday, I just suddenly felt so weak and exhausted so I couldnt post this. I'm feeling a little better though but still so weak...
This one is for the Titaness, Rhea, the Great Mother, Queen of Heaven and wife of Kronos.
The haiku is alluding to Zeus' birth story and his eventual take down of his father.
You see, Kronos too was told a prophecy that one of his offspring would replace him. So every time he and Rhea had a child, he swallowed them.
I've seen the paintings for this depictions and...all I can say is wow really.
Just wow.
Rhea, mortified and sick of this, wanted to at least enjoy the fruits of motherhood so when she gave birth to Zeus, she his him in a cave and put a rock in baby clothes. Kronos didnt notice at first and just swallowed it and in a variant myth, he was raised in the cave and another said he was sent to Crete.
This situation is much the borth of Perseus with Danaë, and yet again another case of meeting ones destiny in desperation to avoid it,
Anyway, thank you all for growing followers, I'm forever humbled and grateful for the support 🙏🌹💜
Here's the link for the growing collection:
https://hellopoetry.com/collection/132853/the-women-of-myth/
Be back tomorrow with another one!
Much love,
Lyn 💜

New day, new haiku!
This one is for Phaedra, a Cretan Princess and sister of Ariadnê.
Though I know of her, she is one woman of myth I do not like.
After her sister ran off with Theseus, Phaedra herself fell in love with his son, Hippolytus. When he rejected her, she decided to write a letter to Theseus, saying that he had violated her and Hippolytus was killed.

Now the matter of his death varies from myth to myth. In one variant, his father cursed him, using one of Poseidon's curses to do so - i.e. a sea creature dragged him to his watery death. In another variant, his own father ended his own life, and another said that Dionysus sent a bull to do the deed.

To make things worse, Phaedra was his STEP-MOTHER, the second wife to Theseus. *Lyn gaves herself a big facepalm*
Given all this, strangely, she was seen as a tragic character in mythology. Personally, I don’t understand why because I found her to be spiteful [and that honestly hasn’t changed when I read more on WHY she was so ‘tragic’].

In a small variant myth, Hippolytus rejected the Goddess of Love herself to stay faithful to Artemis, for his faith in her was unshakeable. [I still find that to be very admirable as hell.] As expected, Aphrodite was enraged by his ‘snub’ and to punish him, she cursed Phaedra to fall for him. So
I think what makes me dislike her is the whole ‘If I can’t have him, no one can’ attitude. Just because of his willingness to honour a goddess, to stay faithful to her, a woman [or women] sought to effectively destroy him for it! And what better way than with her words, right? Words may be light but they carry so much weight, this applies to us all. Everyone one regardless of gender.

They are the most powerful and dangerous thing in the world in my opinion. Ironically, the name Phaedra is derived from the word ‘phaidros’, meaning "bright" and well, I don’t see much that is bright about her because shes not being painted in a good light. [Pun intended!]

There is a variant myth of Theseus taking Hippolytus’ life after reading Phaedra’s letter and in her grief, she took her own as that is not what she wanted.

I suppose what makes me dislike her is how situations like this happen in day to day life, which is not only sad but also really scary too. Even with the myth of her doing what she did because she was cursed by Aphrodite, to me that is no justification. Words are like actions, they all have consequences. I know we are all human and all, but the lesson I took from this is to mind what I said because it may come back to haunt me. At some point in our lives, we have all said something that we regret. But we live and learn and grow. Especially in this day and age now.

Anyway, thank you all for growing followers, I'm forever humbled and grateful for the support 🙏🌹💜
Here's the link for the growing collection:
https://hellopoetry.com/collection/132853/the-women-of-myth/
Be back tomorrow with another one!
Much love,
Lyn 💜

New day, new haiku!
This one is for Ariadnê, the Cretan Princess who is heavily associated with Labyrinths. She is also seen as a goddess to some to!
This haiku alludes to Theseus and the Minotaur to which Ariadnê is included in. She supposedly fell for Theseus and helped him to slay the Minotaur and they eloped but he left her. There are many variants of why, her being in a relationship with Dionysus (lover and in some his wife also) or that he was bored of her.
Even so, this haiku does hint to the Minotaur with the first and last line (threads have also become her symbol also) and Dionysus with the second line. The second line also hints her natural seduction also which I imagine Theseus and Dionysus found her to be too!
Anyway, thank you all for growing followers, I'm forever humbled and grateful for the support🙏🌹💜
Here's the link for the growing collection:
https://hellopoetry.com/collection/132853/the-women-of-myth/
Be back tomorrow with another one!
Much love,
Lyn 💜

New day, new haiku!
This one is for Atalanta, a courageous and fierce huntress (not be be confused with Atalanta, the Argonaut). Small wonder that she has been compared to Artemis, theyre similar indeed.
In fact, she swore an oath to Artemis, keeping to the two thing the goddess herself treasures other than hunting - her virginity.

She was more of a tomboy, other than hunting, she loved wrestling, riding horses and such. She gained a reputation for being so skilled and better than her male counterparts.

Theres so much story around this extraordinary woman of myth. Her father left her for death from the moment she was born and she was raised by a she bear, and eventually raised by hunters. She played a role in the hunt for the Calydonian boar was gifted the boars head and hide by Meleager, a fellow hunter and slayer of the beast who happened to be in love with her and was tragically killed by his mother. The reason being because he killed his uncles who were jealous that such a prize was given to her and not them.

Even from birth, this woman was badass.
Now for the main and popular myth!
Not only was Atalanta a skilled huntress, she was beautiful, grabbing the attention of men (who were intrigued and some probably wanted to put her in her proverbial place, so to speak).

So she said that she will offer her hand to the man who could outrun her in a race, but the losers will lose their life by her hand.

One man caught her eye, Hippomenes (aka Milanion or Melanion). He knew well enough to know he couldnt beat her in a race so he turned to Aphrodite to help. The Goddess of Love was outraged by Atalantas lack of interest in love, so she granted him three golden apples of the Hesperides before the race commenced.

As expected, Atalanta was beating him and he would drop a golden apple to make her stop and admire it. Some myths say she deliberately did so to give him a chance to win, haha! And win he did!

She did swear off marriage (oath to Artemis) but happily married him and gave birth to their son, Parthenopaeus.

But their marriage was shortlived and they were turned into lions...
The reason being because they were so consumed by their passion, that they actually made love in one of Zeus' sacred temples. Another myth states that her husband didnt honor his dues to Aphrodite and so she cursed them to make love in the temple.

Honestly, this is one of my favourite myths. I find her so inspiring as a character (and the fact that they apparently made love in one of Zeus' temples makes me laugh hard! The irony! The last line of the haiku is a reference to their...excited *******, haha! 😂😂😂)

Men didnt like that she was so strong and skilled as a huntress yet she stuck to her guns and proved herself, though she didnt really have to. Thats something we can all learn from as a whole to be honest. Even her name is rooted from 'atalantos' which means, "equal in weight"- a testament to her achievements and victories with men.

Man or woman, we are all true equals. None exceeds another. We all have our strengths and weakness in life but if we stay true to our resolve to be the best we can be, we'll be much better for it! ^^

Anyway, thank you all for growing followers, I'm forever humbled and grateful for the support🙏🌹💜
Here's the link for the growing collection:
https://hellopoetry.com/collection/132853/the-women-of-myth/
Be back tomorrow with another one!
Much love,
Lyn 💜

BONUS HAIKU!
This one is in link with Clymenestra's story. [Link: https://hellopoetry.com/poem/3980318/clytemnestra/]
Somewhat of another layer of tragedy in the story. Kassandra (or Cassandra) was a Trojan Princess who became the lover of Agamemnon. But before he brought her to his kingdom, before their subsequent deaths, she was a Priestess of Apollo.

Apollo was said to be so enamoured by her. In exchange for the gift of seeing the future, she promised him favours. In one variant, she broke her word after he granted her the gift (something he couldnt revoke to his chargin) and he cursed her further, no one would ever believe her prophecies. Another variant is that he gave her the power to tempt her into his bed and that didnt work, and he cursed her.

Either way, much like Clytemnestra, she too is a tragic figure. She had told Agamemnon repeatedly of the danger to come but he never believed her. And she too was resigned to her fate, she fully accepted it. But at least she was accepted in Elysian despite it all.

The first line does allude to Apollo and it's very much a euphemism.
The rest, highlights her power and tragedy to come.
Anyway, thank you all for growing followers, I'm forever humbled and grateful for the support🙏🌹💜
Here's the link for the growing collection:
https://hellopoetry.com/collection/132853/the-women-of-myth/
Be back tomorrow with another one!
Much love,
Lyn 💜

New day, new haiku!
This one is for Queen Clytemnestra, mother of Iphigenia [link to her poem: https://hellopoetry.com/poem/3921056/iphigenia/]
Now let me not lie, at first when I first read about her I didnt like her but after I did more research, I couldnt help but feel bad for her as she wasnt one dimensional. I found that in one variant before she was Agamemnon's wife, she was married to King Tantalus of Pisa and has a son whom Agamemnon slew before her eyes before taking her to bride.

Bear in mind Agamemnon was known to be a skilled warrior but arrogant and selfish as a ruler. He angered Artemis by boasting he was a superior hunter and killed one of her sacred stags. Artemis made the winds weak so he could not participate in the Trojan War. And so he lured his daughter Iphigenia and her mother under the pretense of marriage to Achilles...only for her mother to watch another child die before her eyes.

I cant imagine what Clytemnestra was subjected to being married to Agamemnon but to see two children die before her eyes...I can see her already having resentment towards her Warrior husband and with the death of her daughter, she snapped and wanted vengeance. I'm sure the cogs were turning in her head as she had an affair with his cousin,
Aegisthus. Depending on the myth variant, she was either seduced by him or chose to enter into it. Both were planning the death of Agamemnon. I believe Aegisthus's own father was betrayed by Agamemnon's. (Hence the cogs of vengeance turning).

And when her husband returned from Troy, he was slain, he and his lover, Cassandra. Some myths say she slew him, some myths said the angry loves did the deed together.
But it's hard not to feel some sympathy for her.
Vengeance is a never ending cycle that can cause great harm in the long run. That's one thing I've learned from her myth.
That, and hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned...

Anyway, thank you all for growing followers, I'm forever humbled and grateful for the support🙏🌹💜
Here's the link for the growing collection:
https://hellopoetry.com/collection/132853/the-women-of-myth/
Be back with another one!
Much love,
Lyn 💜

New day, new haiku!
This one is for Danaë, the mother of Perseus, one of the greatest heroes of Greek Myth.

Long in short, her father, King Acrisius was visited the Oracle of Delphi due to not having any sons and wanted to know if it will change in the future. It was not to be as the Oracle prophecized that the King will die at the hands of his daughter's sons. Hoping to avoid this, he imprisisoned his beautiful daughter in a tower of brass [it was either that, a tower of bronze or chamber of bronze depending on the myth].

It was a prison of great fineries befitting her regal right, but a prison none the less. There were no windows or doors. Of course, Zeus saw her and desired her as she was a great beauty and through a tiny crack of the ceiling, became a shower of golden rain, impregnating her. When her father found out, she had already given birth to Perseus. And of course, he didnt believe the story behind his conception either. Furious by the child, and fearful of the prophecy [as well as stirring the god's wrath should he harm his own kin], he sealed his daughter and grandson in a wooden box and cast them into the turbulent sea. By Poseidon's hands, the chest eventually arrived safely to Seriphos, ruled by Polydectes. And the king's brother, Dictys, found them, took them in and raised him as his own. And well, the rest is history, I guess! ^-^
I've always liked Danaë and frankly, the story of her father can be condensed into a quote by Oogway, "One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it." This quote can apply to other myths too so it's really apt. I played around with the haiku with this quote in mind!

Anyway, thank you all for growing followers, I'm forever humbled and grateful for the support🙏🌹💜
Here's the link for the growing collection:
https://hellopoetry.com/collection/132853/the-women-of-myth/
Be back tomorrow with another one!
Much love,
Lyn 💜

New day, new haiku!
Now that I've done with the Pleiades, I'm back to other women of myth!
This one is for Arachne. Now she always stood out to me.
The myth I grew up with is that she was overly arrogant and proud about her talents. Athena challenged her and well, Athena lost. Even the Goddess of Wisdom and Handicrafts was in awe of Arachnes work. As Ovid said, Athena couldnt find 'a fleck or flaw—even Envy can not censure perfect art'. But then, Arachne didnt portray the gods in a good light either. (Tbh, most myths are about the Gods being ******* to humans AND each other). Athena tore the loom, in jealous rage and we all know what happened, Arachne became a spider. There are in fact two alternate stories with the same ending. One is the one I grew up with, Athena cursed her to be a spider, but the other one is that Arachne ended her life as the Goddess destroyed her proudest work and she was turned into a spider out of pity. Either way, I was alluding to a spider with the last line. Ironically, while writing this, I saw two spiders in my living room and several baby spiders in my garden.
Which doesn't help my arachnophobia 😅😅😅
Anyway, thank you all for growing followers! 376 followers! I'm forever humbled and grateful for the support🙏🌹💜
Here's the link for the growing collection:
https://hellopoetry.com/collection/132853/the-women-of-myth/
Be back tomorrow with another one!
Much love,
Lyn 💜

New day, new haiku!
And here is the last of the Seven Sisters! ^^
This haiku is for Merope. She is known as the lost Pleiad.
There are many variations of her myth but the one I am aware of is that out of her sisters, she was the only one to have had lusted and had was intimate with a mortal. Hence why her light is 'faint and stained by shame' compared to her sisters. So I was hoping to capture her insecurity in this haiku.
Let me know what you think!
Anyway, thank you all for growing followers, I'm forever humbled and grateful for the support🙏🌹💜
Here's the link for the growing collection:
https://hellopoetry.com/collection/132853/the-women-of-myth/
Be back tomorrow with another one!
Much love,
Lyn 💜

New day, new haiku! ^^
This one is for Sterope [aka Asterope]
Sterope is known to be the wife of King Oenomaus of Pisa [His name somewhat alludes to wine hence the first line, and the kingdom is mentioned in the second].
One more Sister to go and that'll be the end of the Pleiades! ^^
Anyway, thank you all for growing followers, I'm forever humbled and grateful for the support🙏🌹💜
Here's the link for the growing collection:
https://hellopoetry.com/collection/132853/the-women-of-myth/
Be back tomorrow with another one!
Much love,
Lyn 💜