The first chapter overviews some important mythological Greek/Roman gods, including Zeus/Jupiter, king of the heavens, Poseidon/Neptune, king of the seas, Hades/Pluto, king of the underworld, Aphrodite/Venus, queen of love and beauty, Minerva/Athena, goddess of wisdom, Hera/Juno, queen of Earth and sky, Ares/Mars, the great warrior, Hermes/Mercury, the flying messenger, and Hephaestus/Vulcan, the blacksmith.
A glorious Golden Age persists during the reign of Kronos/Saturn and the Titans. Humans on Earth are happy. No one grows sick or hungry, fights, or commits crimes. When done with life, people float away to a flowery western land. The peaceful Golden Age ends when Saturn's own children, the one-eyed Cyclopes, and the hundred-handed monsters overthrow the Titans and Zeus/Jupiter becomes the new ruler. Zeus/Jupiter imprisons the Titans in the Lower Worlds and appoints the Cyclopes and hundred-handed monsters as jailers. People grow dissatisfied, destroying their lands, killing the animals for food, and waging war against one another.
The third chapter tells the story of Prometheus in three parts. In the first part, Prometheus defies Zeus/Jupiter and steals fire for the benefit of humankind. In the second part, Zeus strikes back at humankind by creating Pandora and sending her down to Earth with a golden casket and to marry Epimetheus, Prometheus' brother. Pandora opens the casket and releases all manner of evils into the world. She only closes the box in time to trap Foreboding from escaping, enabling people to have joy and hope in their lives. In the third part, Zeus/Jupiter shackles Prometheus to the top of the Caucasus Mountains, where hailstorms and eagles tear at his body. Prometheus turns Io back from a cow into a maiden, and her descendent Hercules eventually frees Prometheus from his bonds.
Humankind becomes wicked after Zeus/Jupiter tricks Pandora into opening the casket and releasing evil into the world. Zeus/Jupiter grow fed up with human wickedness and send them a great rainstorm and flood to kill them all. The mortal son of Prometheus, Deucalion, and his wife, Pyrrha, are exceptions to the wickedness, performing good deeds and living upright lives. Prometheus warns Deucalion and Pyrrha about the storm, enabling them build a boat to survive the storm. All except Deucalion and Pyrrha perish in the flood. Once the water recedes, the Earth grows even more lovely, but Deucalion and Pyrrha are lonely. Hermes/Mercury, the messenger of the Mighty Ones, tells Deucalion and Pyrrha to 'cast the bones of your mother over your shoulders behind you.' Deucalion and Pyrrha solve the riddle, casting stones of the Earth over their shoulders. From these stones spring goodly people to keep Deucalion and Pyrrha company. These people form Hellas, also known as Greece.
When Zeus/Jupiter spends too much time with Io, Hera/Juno becomes jealous. Zeus/Jupiter temporarily turns Io into a cow to hide her, but Hera/Juno sees through the scheme and makes Io's cow form permanent. Hera/Juno ties Io to a tree and assigns the hundred-eyed Argus to watch Io. Zeus/Jupiter sends Hermes/Mercury to free Io. Hermes/Mercury plays his flute, soothes Argus to sleep, and beheads Argus. Upset over the death of Argus Hera/Juno sets his hundred eyes into the tail of a peacock and sends a gadfly to torment Io. Prometheus saves Io by sending her to Egypt. In karmic payback, Io's descendant frees Prometheus from his mountaintop chains.
Arachne loves to spin all morning and weave all afternoon. She becomes so skilled at spinning, she feels no mortal or god can match her, including the goddess Athena/Minerva, the divine goddess of crafts and weaving. Affronted, Athena/Minerva challenges Arachne to a weaving contest. Arachne uses her finest silk thread to weave a marvelous web that is both strong and light. Athena/Minerva weaves enchanting pictures with the sunbeams, the clouds, plus the colors of the sky, the fields, and the woods to win the contest. As a result of her loss, Arachne must never use the loom or spindle again. Athena/Minerva transforms Arachne into a spider so Arachne can spin and weave without a loom or spindle.
Hera/Juno becomes jealous of the time Zeus/Jupiter spends with mortal lady Leto and tasks all creatures to torment Leto. Poseidon/Neptune sends Leto beyond Hera/Juno's reach to Delos island. There Leto gives birth to twins Apollo, god of light and music, and Artemis/Diana, goddess of the hunt. Apollo has many hero adventures with his silver bow and lyre, including killing a giant serpent, pursuing Daphne, accidentally killing his wife, Coronis, and avenging the death of his son, AEsculapius. During his adventures, he punishes the white crow for his wife's death by cursing it to only squawk "Cor-Cor-Cor" and turning the bird black. In the end, Zeus/Jupiter punishes Apollo, confiscating his bow, his arrows, and his lyre and ordering him to work for a year like a mortal slave.
Stripped of his silver bow and lute and ordered to serve as a slave, Apollo asks to serve King Admetus for a year. The kind King Ademetus takes Apollo into his household and treats him well. After a year, Apollo is restored to his former glory and tells King Admetus to call on him if he needs help. When King Admetus is blocked from marrying the lovely Alcestis by her father, old King Pelias, King Admetus asks Apollo for help. Apollo helps Admetus to win Alcestis' hand. As a wedding gift, Apollo tells Admetus if he is ever close to death, one of Admetus' loved ones may give their life for his. When Admetus becomes ill, his wife, Alcestis, gives her life for his. However, Alcestis is brought back to life by Proserpine, goddess of the underworld.
When Cadmus' sister Europa disappears into the sea on the back of a white bull, their father sends Cadmus to find Europa. The search leads Cadmus to Delphi in Greece, where he asks the wise woman Pythia for advice. She tells him to follow the white cow and to build a city where she lies down. Cadmus follows a white cow, but must battle a dragon before building his city. After Cadmus kills the dragon, Athena tells him to plant the dragon's teeth. From the dragon's teeth spring up dozens of men who fight one another until only five are left. Cadmus and these five men build the city of Thebes. Cadmus becomes king and the first schoolmaster of Greece. He teaches his people the alphabet and how to read and write. Meanwhile, Europa is taken to a new country, and that new country, Europe, is named for her.
After the Pythia predicts his daughter's son would kill him, the king of Argos seals his daughter, Danaë, and his grandson, Perseus, in a chest and casts them out to sea. Mother and child wash up on a distant shore where a kindly man promises to care for them. The king of this new land wishes to marry Danaë and blames Perseus when she refuses. The king sends Perseus on a quest for the Gorgon Medusa's head, hoping Perseus will be killed. Aided by Athena/Minerva and Hermes/Mercury, Perseus obtains magic flying slippers and flies to the icy cave of the three Gray Sisters. He steals their one eye and one tooth to force them into revealing the location of the Maidens who keep the golden apples. The Maidens give Perseus a sword, a shield, a magic pouch, and a cap of invisibility. With these tools, Perseus beheads Medusa and places her head in the magic pouch. On the way home, Perseus uses the head to turn a sea monster to stone and win the hand in marriage of the king's daughter Andromeda. Perseus and Andromeda return to his homeland to save Perseus' mother from the wicked king. After killing the wicked king, Perseus, Andromeda, and Danaë sail back to Argos. Fearing the prophecy, the old king of Argos flees. Unable to escape fate, the king of Argos is accidentally killed by a quoit thrown by Perseus during a contest. Too grief-stricken over killing his grandfather to become the new king of Argos, Perseus trades kingdoms with another king, ruling happily over the two rich cities of Mycenae and Tiryns.
I. The Arcadian king orders his baby daughter, Atalanta, to be abandoned in the woods. A kind old bear cares for Atalanta until she is discovered by hunters. The hunters teach Atalanta how to hunt, and she becomes known as the 'fleet-footed huntress.' II. The king and queen of Calydon have a baby boy named Meleager. One day, the queen finds the three fates giving Meleager gifts. The third gives him life until a burning stick turns to ashes. The three fates leave and the queen extinguishes the stick and locks it away. III. After a bounteous harvest, the people of Calydon burn the harvest and make offerings to many of the gods. However, they forget to thank Diana. In retribution, she sends a wild boar who wreaks havoc across the lands. The king of Calydon sends for the best hunters to stop the beast. IV. The brothers of the queen of Calydon do not wish to hunt Diana's boar with Atalanta, a woman. When Meleager takes Atalanta's side, she's allowed to hunt. Atalanta strikes the boar first and Meleager finishes the beast off. Meleager insists Atalanta receive the skin as a prize, which upsets the brothers of the queen. Fighting breaks out and the brothers of the queen are slain. When the queen finds out she goes insane and burns Meleager's stick, killing her own son. When she returns to her senses, she kills herself. V. Atalanta's fame has spread, and many young men want to marry her. She challenges them to a race and says the first one who can best her may marry her. She adds that the any who lose must forfeit their lives, but that she will give them a head start. Many men are put to death, until Meilanion, with the help of three golden apples and his handsome face, wins the race and Atalanta's hand in marriage.
A young, serpent-like man named Cecrops washes ashore near the city that is now called Athens, Greece. He finds a group of primitive hunter-gatherer people who still live in caves. Cecrops teaches the people how to make and use tools such as bows, arrows, nets, and fish hooks. He also teaches the people how to make houses, so they can leave their caves. Finally, he teaches the Greeks about Jupiter and the other gods. The people make Cecrops their king and are very happy. Then both Athena and Neptune arrive in town, each competing to become the patron of the people by offering gifts. The people choose Athena's wisdom and olive trees over Neptune's wealth and horses.
When the king of Athens AEgeus visits Troezen, he falls in love with the Troezen king's daughter, AEthra. AEgeus marries AEthra, and they have a baby named Theseus. AEgeus must leave his wife and child to defend Athens. AEgeus hides his sword and sandals under a heavy rock for Theseus once Theseus grows strong enough to lift the rock. When Theseus lifts the rock and retrieves the sword and sandals, Theseus sets off on a dangerous journey to visit AEgeus in Athens. On his journey, Theseus meets and defeats three murderous monsters.
Theseus travels to Eleusis despite learning its king, Cercyon, wrestles and kills all visitors. Once Theseus arrives in Eleusis, he wrestles and kills Cercyon, keeping with the motto, 'As you have done to others, so will I do unto you!' Tired and hungry, Theseus is pleased when Procrustes invites him to his home for rest and dinner. A young girl tells Theseus that Procrustes, also called 'The Stretcher,' is a robber. She also warns Theseus must not rest in Procrustes's iron bed. Turning the tables, Theseus forces Procrustes into the iron bed, leaving him to his fate, before freeing Procrustes' servants. When Theseus arrives in Athens, the wicked witch, Medea, tries to poison him. When King AEgeus realizes Theseus is his son, he thwarts the poisoning attempt and Medea flees. Realizing Theseus will one day become king, the wicked cousins attempt to kill Theseus, but the Athenians come to the rescue.
The Athenian Daedalus is a marvelous artisan and inventor, but not a very good person. First, he tries to knock his own nephew, Perdix, off a scaffolding, because Perdix shows a talent for inventing. Luckily for Perdix, Athena intervenes and transforms Perdix into a bird before he is killed. As a punishment, Daedalus is banished from Athens. Daedalus and his son, Icarus, take refuge in Crete. In Crete, Daedalus builds King Minos a wonderful palace and a labyrinth to entrap the dangerous Minotaur. But Daedalus can't stay out of trouble. King Minos punishes Daedalus by making him a slave. Daedalus builds wings of wax and feathers so he and Icarus could escape to Sicily. However, on the trip, Icarus flies too close to the sun and his waxen wings melt. Icarus plunges into the sea and perishes. Daedalus makes it to Sicily, but his days of inventing and building marvelous wonders are over.
Believing that King AEgeus murdered his son, King Minos of Crete attacks Athens. King Minos demands a yearly tribute of six youths and six maidens in exchange for peace. The six youths and six maidens sail in a black ship with black sails to Crete to be forced into the labyrinth and eaten by the Minotaur. When Theseus comes to Athens, he demands to be part of the tribute. When Theseus arrives in Crete, Princess Ariadne feels pity for him and gives him a sword and a ball of silken thread. Theseus kills the Minotaur with the sword and leads the other young Athenians out of the labyrinth with the thread. He, Princess Ariadne, and the other Athenians flee Crete, riding the black ship back to Athens. Unfortunately, Theseus has forgotten to fly a white flag to signify his safe return. Seeing the ship and its black flags and believing his son dead, King AEgeus faints, falls, and drowns in the sea, which is named the 'Aegean Sea' in remembrance.
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