Ten Greek Myths ll

Orpheus and Eurydice:
   Orpheus was a musician who married a nymph called Eurydice. She trod on a poisonous snake, died, and went to the underworld. Orpheus was so sad that he visited the underworld and begged for her return. Orpheus charmed the souls of Hades with his lyre until Pluto, god of the underworld, relented. Eurydice was allowed to follow Orpheus out of Hades, so long as he didn't turn around to check if she was there. They almost reached safety when  Orpheus looked back and Eurydice was drawn back to Hades. His lack of trust lost her forever.

Pandora's Box:
   Pandora was the first mortal woman, created out of clay by Hephaestus. Athena breathed life into her, Aphrodite made her beautiful, and Hermes taught her to be beguiling. Zeus then sent her as a gift to Prometheus's brother, Epimetheus, in revenge for being tricked earlier by Prometheus. Epimetheus fell in love with her, and when they married, Zeus gave Pandora a wedding gift of a beautiful box, which he instructed her never to open. Pandora succumbed to curiosity and peeked inside, releasing disease, greed, old age, death, cruelty, war, and other types of suffering into the world. Only hope remained in the now empty box.
Perseus and the Medusa:
   Perseus lived with his mother, Danae, on the island of Seriphus. The tyrant king, Polydectes, wanted to marry Danae, but she refused. In revenge, the king sent Perseus to kill Medusa, knowing he wouldn't return alive, since all who looked on her and her hair made of snakes were turned to stone. However, the gods helped Perseus in his quest; Athena gave him a shiny shield and Hermes gave him a sharp sword. Perseus then visited the Graiae, three hags who shared one tooth and one eye. He stole the eye and made the hags tell him where to find the Medusa. On his way, he passed through the land of Nymphs and was given a cap of invisibility, a shoe of swiftness to escape, and a special bag for the Medusa's head. Using the shield to view the Medusa's reflection, Perseus beheaded her. He took the head back to Seriphus and rescued his mother by showing the Medusa's head to everyone in the king's court, thus turning them to stone.
Theseus and the Minotaur:
   During a power struggle with his brothers for the throne of Crete, Minos prayed to Poseidon to send him a magnificent white bull as a sign of approval. He promised to sacrifice the bull, but when he saw it, he kept it for himself and sacrificed the best of his own herd. When Poseidon found out, he made Minos's wife Pasiphae fall in love with the bull and the resulting offspring was the Minotaur, a monster with a head and tail of a bull and the body of a man. Minos imprisoned the Minotaur in a gigantic labyrinth, and each year for nine years, seven young men and women were sent from Athens as food. Theseus volunteered to be one of the human sacrifices, but when he arrived at Crete, Minos's daughter, Ariadne, fell in love with him. She gave him a ball of thread, which he fastened to the entrance of the maze then unravelled as he journeyed into the center, where he found and killed the Minotaur. Then Theseus retraced his steps back to his love by following the thread.
The Trojan Horse:
   The Trojan War was caused when Prince Paris abducted beautiful Helen, queen of Sparta. The Greek warriors set sail for Troy to bring her back and the war waged for 10 years, with heavy losses on both sides. Finally, Athena, the goddess of war, gave Odysseus a plan. The Greeks built a huge wooden horse and left it in their camp, then pretended to sail away. The Trojans discovered their abandoned camp and the wooden horse. After much debate they dragged it into the city of Troy and had a big party to celebrate the end of the war. That night, Greek warriors, who had been hiding in the hollow  horse, climbed out of a trap door and slaughtered the Trojan troops while they slept. They rescued beautiful Helen and sailed home.