The most famous incident of the Trojan war is the horse that appears at the end. The Greek writer portrays it as a great trick of a cunning general. The Roman writer, Virgil, tries to portray it as the will of the Gods, although the narrative makes the Trojans sound like they were being incredibly stupid by taking the horse into the city. It is best for someone to read the description in the Aeneid to see why. The priest of Neptune even tells them, “I fear Greeks bearing Gifts.” Many people think this famous line comes from the Iliad, often described as the greatest War novel of all time, but it comes from Vergil’s Aeneid.

Forbidden from each other, the young couple whispered messages through a cracked wall between their houses. They formed a plan to meet one night at a fountain by Ninus’ tomb, under a white mulberry tree.

As she waited by the tree that night, Thisbe saw a lioness approaching, her jaws coated in blood. Thisbe ran away, dropping her veil.The whole story can be found at http://readingshakespeare.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/review-a-midsummer-night25e225802599s-dream-bbc-radio-3-11911/ The lioness pounced on the veil, smearing it with blood.

Soon Pyramus arrived. Seeing the lioness and bloody veil, he assumed Thisbe was dead. Grief-stricken, he plunged his sword into his heart. The white mulberries on the nearby tree were stained dark red with his blood.

Finally Thisbe returned to the meeting spot. She saw Pyramus dead with her veil beside him. She cried out to the gods in grief, asking that the mulberries retain their dark red color in memory of the blood shed that night. Then she plunged Pyramus’ sword into her own breast. The gods heard her plea, and mulberries have been dark red ever since.

Hercules does kill his wife and children, but it is because of Hera’s intervention. As penance, he is made to do twelve labors to atone for the rage that Hera sent upon him. The twelve labors of Hercules has been an enduring myth. It has spawned movies, and the man even appears in one Three Stooges movie. He has been described as the Greek superman and with good reason. He has powers far beyond those of mortal men. When he dies, he enters the Greek pantheon.

Although the religious opinion has shifted away from worship of Gods, the myths remain. They tell us about people and tell us about our world. Zeus will appear throughout the myths in various rules. Sometimes he is responsible for the birth of another character who the myth will be about. When it comes to the Trojan War, he is remarkably neutral, although Virgil’s Aeneid suggests that Zeus allowed Jupiter to fall because Aeneas’s ancestors would go on to found the city of Rome.

As king of the gods, he is known for his primary weapon, the lightning bolt. The bolts are made by another one of his sons, Hephaestus. The Roman name for Hephaestus, Vulcan, lends his name to an important metalworking process.