00:26Once upon a time,
00:27there was a very beautiful Spartan prince, whose name was Hyacinth, and who was loved by the sun-god, Apollo.
00:36Hyacinth was not only loved by Apollo, but also by the god of the west wind, Zephyrus,
00:42the god of the north wind, Boreas, and a mortal man, named Thamuris.
00:49However, out of all his many lovers,
00:52Hyacinth chose Apollo, the one whose beauty perfectly matched his.
00:57The young man would always accompany the young god to all his sacred places, in his golden chariot,
01:04and Apollo taught him how to use the bow, how to play the lyre, the art of prophecy, and exercises
01:11to stay fit and attractive.
01:13On a fateful day, Apollo was teaching Hyacinth the game of coit, and they took turns to throw the discus.
01:22The god of the west wind, Zephyrus, came up on them, and asked to join in on the game, to
01:29which they agreed.
01:30But Zephyrus was not there for the fun of the game.
01:33He was still bitter, that Hyacinth rejected him, and chose Apollo instead.
01:39He was there to punish Hyacinth.
01:41With such might that it slit the clouds in the sky, Apollo threw the discus, and Hyacinth ran to catch
01:49it, in an attempt to impress Apollo.
01:52But in a way that seemed unintentional, Zephyrus blew the discus back wildly, that it hit Hyacinth on his head,
02:01the force of the blow, instantly killing him.
02:04Turning pale in horror, Apollo held his dying lover in his arms, as he breathed his last.
02:12He tried using his powers to heal him, all to no avail.
02:17He tried giving Ambrosia, to heal his wounds, but it was too late.
02:22Hyacinth was already dead.
02:25Some say they were wounds inflicted by the fates, and so could not be cured.
02:31Apollo wept in sorrow, at the loss of his lover, he felt utterly powerless at that moment, his medicinal skills
02:39proved useless, there was nothing he could do.
02:42He promised to always remember Hyacinth in the music of his lyre, and from Hyacinth spilled blood, he created a
02:50flower of the same name, the Hyacinth.
02:54This is how the Hyacinth flower, came to be.
03:18Once upon a time, a talkative nymph called Echo, distracted Hera, on behalf of Zeus, by chattering at her,
03:27while Zeus was on one of his many extramarital affairs.
03:32She kept Hera busy, until Zeus finished, but she should have known, that nothing could be kept secret from the
03:39queen of the gods, for too long.
03:41When Hera learned of the plot, she placed a curse on Echo, that she would only be able to say
03:48the last words, that had been spoken before.
03:51She would not be able to say anything of her own, she would only repeat the last words of others,
03:57thenceforth.
03:59One day, while walking in the woods, Echo saw a beautiful young man, whom she fell in love with.
04:07His name was Narcissus, and he had gone on a deer-hunting expedition, with his peers.
04:14Echo quietly stalked him, the more she looked at him, the more her heart yearned for him.
04:20She wished to say his name, to call out for him, but she could not, for she had been cursed
04:26not to say a word of her own.
04:30Sadly, Narcissus was an extremely vain and pompous youth, so self-absorbed and self-obsessed, that he spurned all advances
04:38made towards him,
04:40because he deemed them all, unfit and inferior for a man of his beauty.
04:45During the hunt, Narcissus lost his way, and got separated from his friends.
04:51He called out for them, only to hear his words, repeated by a strange voice.
04:58Startled, Narcissus demanded to know whose voice it was, but it only kept repeating his words.
05:06Finally, he called out to the strange voice, to come to him, and Echo, thinking he was reciprocating her love,
05:14joyously ran out of the bush to embrace him.
05:17But Narcissus barked at her to get her hands off him, and pushed her away.
05:22May I die before you enjoy my body? he said scornfully.
05:28Deeply pained by this rejection, Echo fled back into the forest in shame.
05:33She kept repeating his last words, enjoy my body, and still kept stalking him, but away from sight this time.
05:42One fateful day, the goddess of vengeance and karma, Nemesis, attracted Narcissus to a pool of water,
05:51the gods had had enough of his vanity.
05:54On looking into the water, Narcissus immediately fell in love with his own reflection,
06:00not realizing it was just a reflection, just an image.
06:04In an attempt to join this beautiful man he saw in the pool, he jumped into the water, and was
06:11drowned.
06:11After the death of Narcissus, Echo too began to fade away.
06:17Her beauty faded, her skin wasted, and her bones turned to stones.
06:23All that remains of this once lovely nymph, is the sound of her voice, an echo.
06:49Once upon a time, the warrior god of music and the sun, Apollo,
06:54mocked the young god of love, Eros, for the way he used his bow and arrow.
07:00As Apollo was a renowned archer, who also made use of a bow and arrow, for hunting and fighting,
07:07he taunted Eros, saying,
07:10What are you doing with powerful weapons, naughty boy?
07:14That equipment of yours, is fitting of our shoulders.
07:19They are able to give wounds to animals, and to enemies, and we are the ones, who know how to
07:25use it.
07:26I slew the swollen python, by piercing his disease-bearing belly, with countless arrows,
07:33and all you can do with them, is to provoke some stupid loves.
07:38Come now, little boy, leave the bow and arrow, to the warriors and hunters.
07:44Greatly insulted, Eros prepared two arrows, one of gold, that would cause one to fall in love,
07:51and one of lead, that would fill one with hatred.
07:55He shot Apollo with the golden arrow, instilling in him, an intense love for a river nymph called Daphne,
08:02and then shot Daphne, with the lead arrow, instilling in her, hatred for Apollo.
08:10Daphne, the daughter of the river god, Peneus, was a river nymph, who greatly adored Apollo's sister,
08:17Artemis, and followed in her footsteps, striving to guard her virginity,
08:23and turning down her many lovers, preferring to explore the forests, and take part in woodland sports instead.
08:30Her father, Peneus, initially demanded that she got married, and gave him grandchildren,
08:38but later succumbed to her incessant pleas, and allowed her be.
08:42Thus, it was such a bad stroke of luck for Daphne, when Apollo fell for her,
08:48continually pursuing her, wherever she went.
08:52Apollo kept begging her to stay, but she continued to reject him.
08:57However, Daphne could not outrun the god forever, and she knew this, that sooner or later,
09:04Apollo would catch up with her, and he had all the power to claim her.
09:09So Daphne called upon her father,
09:12Help me, Peneus, open the earth to swallow me, or change my form, which has brought me into this danger.
09:20Let me be free of this man, from this moment forward.
09:25She prayed.
09:27Peneus answered her plea, and Daphne's limbs were seized with a heavy numbness.
09:33A thin bark, grew around her breasts, her hair, changed into foliage,
09:39her arms, changed into branches, and her feet, were fastened to the earth, by sluggish roots.
09:46She had turned into a laurel tree.
09:49Even though the tree was now all that was left of Daphne,
09:53Apollo would not forget her, vowing to honor her forever.
09:58Always, my hair will have you, my lyre will have you, and my quivers will have you.
10:05You shall forever wear the perpetual honors of your foliage, my beloved laurel tree.
10:12With that, Apollo bestowed upon Daphne, eternal youth, rendering her evergreen.
10:19It is for this reason, that the leaves of the bay laurel tree, do not decay.
10:44Once upon a time, the titan goddess of Dorne, Eos, fell in love with a very handsome Trojan prince,
10:52named Tithonus.
10:54He was the son of Laomedon, king of Troy, and Strimo, daughter of the river, Scamander.
11:01The two lovers eloped to Ethiopia, where they had two sons, Eomethean and Memnon.
11:09There, the lovely Eos, visited the king god Zeus, and prayed to him to grant her lover Tithonus, immortality.
11:18Zeus bowed his head and granted her prayer, Tithonus would live forever, and would never die.
11:25But alas!
11:27Eos forgot to ask him to grant Tithonus, eternal youth as well.
11:32Eos lived happily with her lover, until loathsome old age, began to press on him.
11:38Grey hairs, appeared on his head and chin, he could not move, nor lift his limbs.
11:45He grew old and withered, getting wrinklier, uglier, and more feeble, day by day, yet unable to die.
11:54To relieve him of his suffering, Tithonus would later be transformed into a cicada, to spend the rest of his
12:01immortal days.
12:21Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Thrace, the Thracian king, Oeagris, and the muse, Calliope, had a son,
12:29named Orpheus.
12:31When Orpheus was still very young, the god, Apollo, taught him how to play the lyre.
12:37By the time he reached adulthood, he had perfected the lyre, and became the best musician there was.
12:43Whenever Orpheus played the lyre, all the animals, came out to listen.
12:48His music, made the stones, and trees, to dance.
12:53Once, Orpheus was playing his lyre, when he saw a very beautiful woman, whom he instantly fell in love with.
13:00The woman's name, was Eurydice, and she also, had fallen in love with the fine man, playing the lyre.
13:08Before long, they got married.
13:10The couple lived in happiness and harmony, for many years, until one fateful day, when Eurydice decided to take a
13:18stroll.
13:19She was walking in the forest, in the company of some nymphs, when a shepherd saw her, and lusted after
13:25her.
13:25As the shepherd tried to rape her, she managed to break free, and ran.
13:32However, while running, Eurydice stepped upon a poisonous snake, and was bitten by the serpent, causing her death.
13:40When Orpheus found his wife's body, it had gone cold.
13:44The snake's venom, had long killed her.
13:47In his grief, Orpheus sang a long song of sorrow.
13:51Everything living, and non-living, was moved by his song.
13:56Even the gods, were deeply touched, by his grief.
14:00Apollo then told him, that only if he descended to Hades, would he be able to see his wife, and
14:06bring her back.
14:08Orpheus was ready to do anything, so, he agreed.
14:12No man, entered, or left the realm of Hades alive.
14:16But with the protection of the gods, and the guidance of Apollo, Orpheus did.
14:22He traveled to the gloomy underworld, to the stygian realm, where he saw many souls of the dead, both known,
14:29and unknown.
14:30With his music, Orpheus enchanted Cerberus, the three-headed guardian dog, which then allowed him to go on ahead, to
14:38the throne of the king of the dead, Hades, and his queen Persephone.
14:43Orpheus knelt at the feet of Hades, intensely pleading with the god, to let him take his wife back.
14:49But the heart of Hades was as cold as ice, and he was not moved, in the slightest.
14:56Then, Orpheus began to play his lyre.
14:58He sang all the mournful songs ever known to him, so beautifully, that the hard heart of Hades, softened.
15:06Hades allowed him to take Eurydice with him, but there was a condition.
15:11Orpheus would not look back at his wife, till they came into the light, at the surface, or he would
15:17lose her forever.
15:19Eurydice's ghost, would be walking behind him, and if Orpheus was patient enough, he would have her, as his wife
15:26again, alive, and normal.
15:29Orpheus thanked the god, and made his way out of the underworld.
15:33Surely, as Hades promised, Eurydice closely followed behind, waiting to come out to the light, to become flesh again.
15:41When they got close to the surface, Orpheus strained his ears, to hear Eurydice's footsteps, but heard nothing.
15:49He began to think the gods had fooled him.
15:52In his doubt, he forgot that Eurydice was a ghost, just a shadow, and one could not hear the footsteps,
15:59of a shadow.
16:01Alas, Orpheus turned, to see if Eurydice was behind him.
16:06Indeed, she was behind him, but because he looked back, the ghost of Eurydice, was drawn back to the underworld.
16:14She was gone, forever.
16:16Orpheus tried to return to the underworld, but a man could not enter Hades twice, while still alive.
16:23His impatience, had cost him his wife, a second time.
16:28Roaming the earth aimlessly, Orpheus wished for nothing, but his own death.
16:33He wanted to join his wife, in the underworld.
16:36In his sorrow, he shunned the worship of the gods, except Apollo, whom he continued to pray to.
16:43Orpheus again, sang songs of sorrow, calling for his death.
16:48When the Mynads, the female followers of Dionysus, saw him, they began to throw stones,
16:54and sticks, at him, for scorning Dionysus. But the stones, and sticks, refused to hit him,
17:01due to the music of the lyre. Furious, the women and beasts, ripped Orpheus apart,
17:07during their drunken dance ritual. But Orpheus' head, refused to die.
17:13Still singing mournful songs, his head, and lyre, floated down the river, to the island of Lesbos,
17:19where the people there, buried his head, and built a shrine, in his honour.
17:26Apollo silenced the singing head, afterward, and Orpheus' soul, returned to the underworld,
17:32to the Elysian fields, where he was reunited with his beloved wife, Eurydice.
17:38This is the story of Orpheus.
17:57Orpheus.
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