Greek Mythology A to Z

I belong to a Facebook group called "Sketching Every Day". As the name suggests, every day there is a prompt and members are invited to sketch something fitting the prompt. It isn't compulsory, and members can draw and post something completely different, or not post at all, as they wish. Every September members are invited to spend the first 26 days compiling an A to Z on a subject of their own choice. This September I have picked on a particular love of mine, (Classical) Greek Mythology. Here's the first few days so far. 

Achilles was the last, and one of the greatest Greek heroes. A central figure in the Trojan War, Achilles' is to my mind a tragic story about the futility of trying to avoid Fate. It illustrates how even the mightiest warrior can be defeated by small things. In essence, we each one of us have our own Achilles' heel

B is for Bellerophon. Here we have a hero brought low by his own hubris. Having shown great heroism in riding the winged horse Pegasus to defeat the monstrous Chimaera in his youth with the aid of the Goddess Athena, Bellerophon grew arrogant as he grew older. In his pride he decided that he had earned the honour of flying to Olympus on the back of Pegasus, and when attempted to do so,  Zeus sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus’ who bucked Bellerophon off. In one version of the myth Bellerophon fell into a thorn bush and was blinded, living out the rest of his days in misery and anguish.

C is for Chiron and also for Centaur. The most renowned of the centaurs, Chiron was wise and gentle, and in different myths served as tutor to some of the greatest heroes – Perseus, Theseus, Achilles, and in some sources, even Heracles, the greatest of them all. On his death, Zeus took his body and placed it amongst the stars as the constellation, Centaurus.

D is for Dionysus. Dionysus was a fertility god, especially associated with wine and celebration. His name literally translates as ‘twice born’. His mother, Semele, was lover to Zeus, whose wife Hera, Queen of the Gods, tricked her into asking Zeus for a gift. When he promised her to give her what she asked, she asked him to appear to her in his full God Like form. When he appeared to her so, the sight was too much for a human to bear, and she turned into a pile of dust. Zeus snatched the unborn infant Dionysus and stitched him into his own thigh, until it was time for his real birth.

E is for Erymanthian Boar. The hero Heracles was told by the Gods to fulfill 12 tasks for his cousin Eurystheus as a penance. As his 4^th task he was ordered to bring back the Erymanthian Boar, a fearsome wild beat of vast size and ravenous jaws. He drove it into a snowy wilderness, bound its feet, and carried it back to Eurystheus. Eurystheus himself was so frightened of the creature that he hid in a bronze jar until it was gone.