Achilles was the son of King Peleus of Thessaly and Thetis, a sea Goddess. Zeus, the King of the Gods, was his grandfather. When Achilles was a baby Thetis heard a prophet predict that Achilles would die in battle when he grew up. Thetis was afraid and wanted to prevent this. So, she took Achilles to the River Styx, which had magical powers that could protect people from pain and death. Holding Achilles by the foot, Thetis dipped him into the river. His body was almost entirely covered by the magical water—except for his heel, which did not get wet. Many years later, Achilles became a soldier and went to fight in the Trojan War. He survived many battles—until the day he was shot in the heel with an arrow, and died from the wound. Helen was the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta in Greece, and was considered the most beautiful woman in the world. One evening, Helen and Menelaus hosted a dinner party in honor of Paris, the visiting prince of Troy. Troy was a powerful city in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Paris was so awestruck by Helen’s beauty that he kidnapped her and took her to Tory, hoping they would be married there. When Menelaus discovered that Helen was missing, he was furious. He quickly organized the entire Greek army to sail to Troy to get Helen back. But when the Greek army arrived, the Trojan soldiers banded together and refused to let Helen return to Sparta. The conflict erupted into the Trojan War, which lasted 10 years. During the war, the entire city of Troy was destroyed and many soldiers on both sides died, including the Greek hero Achilles. At last, the Greeks defeated the Trojans and the war ended. Helen returned safely to Menelaus in Sparta. The Trojan War began when Helen, the queen of Sparta, was kidnapped by Paris, the prince of Troy. The entire Greek army sailed to Troy to get Helen back, but the Trojans blocked the gates to their city and refused to let her go. Even after a long and bloody battle lasting 10 years, the Greeks were still unable to get through the gates of Troy. Then, the Greek hero Odysseus came up with a plan to trick the Trojans. He had the Greek army build a hollow wooden horse, with room inside for dozens of Greek soldiers. They left the horse—and the Greek soldiers within it—outside the gates of Troy. The rest of the Greek army pretended to sail away. All of the Trojan soldiers thought that the Greek army had given up, and that they had left the large wooden horse as a gift to honor the power of Troy. The Trojan soldiers opened the gates of their city and took the horse inside. That night, while the Trojan army slept, the Greek soldiers charged out of a trapdoor in the horse’s side, ready for battle. The Greeks destroyed Troy, defeated the Trojan soldiers, and won the war. Odysseus was the brave king of the Greek island Ithaca who fought in the Trojan War. On his way home from battle, his ship sailed through a narrow sea channel, or strait , near Italy. Odysseus had to steer carefully between the shores of the strait to avoid getting stranded on the rocks. On one side of the strait lived the monster Scylla. She had 6 snarling dogs’ heads and 12 human legs, and she devoured any sailors who passed by. On the other side of the strait lived Charybdis, a monster shaped like a rock, who created a dangerous whirlpool by constantly swallowing and spitting out the sea. Odysseus decided to steer closer to Scylla, to avoid smashing his ship to pieces in the churning currents of Charybdis’s whirlpool. Unfortunately, Scylla captured and ate six of Odysseus’s shipmates, but Odysseus managed to escape with the rest of his crew and his ship intact. Hercules was the son of the God Zeus and Alcmena, a woman from Thebes. When Hercules was a baby, two poisonous snakes found their way into his crib, and he strangled them with his bare hands. As he grew up, Hercules’ extraordinary strength increased. When he reached adulthood, the Gods decided to test Hercules. They challenged him to complete a dozen dangerous tasks known as the Twelve Labors. In each of these tasks, Hercules had to risk his own life to save the lives of others. One labor involved capturing an enormous snow- white bull with the strength of a dozen bulls. This bull had run wild over the Greek island of Crete, crushing the homes of villagers and trampling their crops. It also struck fruit trees with its sharp horns and knocked them to the ground. The people of Crete despaired over the damage to their island, and prayed that someone would be able to help them. Hercules arrived on Crete and spotted the bull thundering across a meadow. He ran after it, captured the powerful bull with his bare hands, and wrestled it to the ground. The people of Crete cheered. Hercules then hoisted the bull over his shoulders and carried it to the Gods, who praised him for his great strength. Narcissus was a beautiful young man who refused to love anyone. Despite this, he was deeply loved by the woodland fairy, or nymph, named Echo. Echo followed Narcissus through the forest, watching over him tenderly. One day, Narcissus sent her away, angrily telling her that he would never love her. Echo was so hurt by his rejection that she shut herself up in a cave to cry. She never came out again and wasted away there, leaving only her echo of her voice. Artemis, the Goddess of the forest, was furious with Narcissus for mistreating her favorite nymph. Artemis placed a curse on Narcissus: since he refused to love others, he would be overwhelmed with love for himself. The next day, Narcissus saw his reflection in a forest pond and fell in love with himself. He sat on the banks of the pond for many years, gazing at his reflection in the water with hopeless desire as he slowly wasted away. Finally, Artemis took pity on him and changed him into a beautiful flower that still bares his name today. Perseus was the son of the God Zeus and Danae, a woman from the Greek island of Seriphos. Perseus was a very brave young man, and the jealous king of Seriphos wanted to get rid of him. So the king sent Perseus to find the monster Medusa and cut off her head. Medusa had sharp fangs and claws and her hair was made of poisonous snakes. Anyone who would look into her frightening face would be turned to stone and instantly killed. The Goddess Athena gave Perseus a shield made from a mirror and a sword to help him fight Medusa. After several months of traveling, Perseus found the monster’s dwelling place in the mountainside. He lit a torch and entered Medusa’s cave. Medusa charged into view, screaming that she would kill all intruders. Perseus used the mirrored shield to see her reflection—since he could not look directly at her face—and cut off her head with his sword. Then, he placed Medusa’s head in a sack, because her face could turn people to stone even after she had died. Before returning home, Perseus brought Medusa’s head to the king of Atheiopia, to prove his bravery and ask for Princess Andromeda's hand in marriage. He held Medusa’s head above a fountain outside the palace, so the king and princess could see its reflection in the water safely and not be turned to stone. Pandora was a lovely young woman who was blessed by the Gods with intelligence, curiosity, and beauty. She was married to Epimetheus, whose name means “afterthought.” At their wedding, the God Zeus gave them a beautifully carved box filled with all of the ingredients of the world. Zeus told them to keep the box in a safe place, and never open it. Many months later, Pandora asked Epimetheus if she should open the box just to see what was inside, then quickly close it again. Epimetheus—who never thought about something until after it was accomplished—said that this was a good idea. So Pandora lifted the lid, and suddenly all of the world’s troubles, vices, evils, and diseases flew out, and spread themselves among humans. Alarmed, Pandora quickly closed the lid, preventing the one last thing in the box from escaping. This last ingredient was hope, the cure for all of the other things that had been in the box. From that day forward, Pandora and Epimetheus safeguarded hope for the world.