054 The Curse of Atreus Pt 1 (Guess who's for dinner)

There was once a family in Greek Mythology that was considered the most tragic of all time. From it's beginnings with the disturbing Tantalus to the murder of Agamemnon and later Clytemnestra, this family is ten different flavors of messed up. However, what is this curse of Atreus that I spoke of? Well it's the story of the two sons of Pelops and how their antics furthered the curse that began with Tantalus. As a side note, there was a little tidbit that I forgot to mention in my last entry, remember Myrtilus? Well I forgot to tell you guys that before he died at the hands of Pelops, he cursed him and his line, so that probably added on to the chance of misfortune in this family caused by that wacky Tantalus. 

Wow this family tree is just filled with more tragedy than a emo's social life

053 The man with the Ivory Shoulder and the race for love

Ah yes remember Pelops? No? Well then let me remind you. Pelops was the son Tantalus, king of Sipylus, who decided to test the divinity and all-knowing nature of the gods by cutting up his son and cooking him up to give to gods at a banquet in Olympus. Obviously the gods were not fooled (except Demeter who ate the part that was Pelops' shoulder) and they kicked Tantalus out the heavens and resurrected the poor boy and Hephaestus constructed a shoulder made entirely out of ivory. The newly revived Pelops was then put under the wing of Poseidon as his apprentice and he soon became in love with the little boy (see the blog on Ganymede to get a better understanding on the Greek's view of pedophilia). Poseidon taught Pelops well, especially how to ride a chariot (being the god of horses definitely helps). His life in Olympus would all come crashing down however when Zeus threw him out because he found out that his father had stolen the food of the gods and revealed their secrets to humanity. Now fast forward some years later and Pelops is a young man and like any young man he is searching for the babes. Well this is the story of how he achieved this goal, this is the story of how he got woman.

Welcome to Pisa, don't try to court my daughter or I will put your head on a stake

052 The story of Zeus, Io, and Hera Part 2

The tale of Io is indeed one of the more famous stories that deal with Zeus' adulterous escapades, but there are nice little things that were explained such as:

Why peacocks have those "eyes" on their feathers

051 The Story of Zeus, Io, and Hera (Plus a Dude with 100 eyes)

On this 51st post of Moments in Greek Mythology, I decide for my birthday I would give you my gift for all my readers (yes all 12 of you) the Story of Io and Zeus. And what do you know? It involves kidnapping, rape, transformation, and murder; Jesus how many of these stories did the Greeks tell their kids about?

Sorry honey, you have to take a hit for the team, if you don't go out with the giant thunder god, he will burn down Argos