13 of the strangest stories from Greek mythology

The birth of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, courage, and warfare, is a tale as extraordinary as the deity herself.

Unlike most gods and goddesses, Athena's birth was not a conventional one. 

Instead, she sprang fully formed and armored from the forehead of her father, Zeus, the king of the gods.

The story begins with Zeus and his first wife, Metis, the Titaness of wisdom and deep thought.

When Metis became pregnant, a prophecy foretold that the child she carried would grow up to overthrow Zeus, just as Zeus had overthrown his own father, Cronus.

Fearful of this prophecy, Zeus swallowed Metis whole, hoping to prevent the prophecy from coming true.

However, this act did not stop the birth of Athena. Instead, it only delayed it.

Over time, Zeus began to suffer from unbearable headaches. The pain was so intense that he called for Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths and craftsmen, to split open his head with an axe.

When Hephaestus complied, Athena sprang forth from Zeus's forehead, fully grown and dressed in armor, her eyes gleaming with wisdom and power.

Her birth was accompanied by peals of thunder, shaking the earth and sea.

Prometheus was a unique figure among the Titans. He was known for his wisdom and foresight, and he had a particular fondness for humanity, which set him apart from most other gods and Titans.

This fondness led him to commit one of the most audacious acts in all of mythology: he stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity.

Fire, in this context, was more than just a practical tool. It represented knowledge, progress, and civilization.

By giving fire to humans, Prometheus not only provided them with a means of survival but also set them on a path towards progress and enlightenment.

However, this act of rebellion did not go unpunished. Zeus, angered by Prometheus's audacity and the potential threat that an enlightened humanity could pose to the gods, devised a cruel and eternal punishment for the Titan.

Prometheus was chained to a rock in the remote Caucasus Mountains, and every day, an eagle, the emblem of Zeus, would swoop down and eat his liver.

Each night, his liver would regenerate, only to be eaten again the next day. This cycle of torment was to be Prometheus's fate for eternity.

Although centuries later, Prometheus was freed from his torment by the legendary Hercules, who killed the eagle and broke the chains.

Arachne was a mortal woman, renowned for her extraordinary talent in weaving. She was not just good; she was the best, her skills unmatched by any other mortal.

Her tapestries were so exquisite and her technique so flawless that the nymphs themselves would leave their groves and streams to come and watch her weave.

However, Arachne's incredible talent was accompanied by an equally incredible pride.

She was so confident in her abilities that she dared to challenge Athena, the goddess of wisdom and crafts, to a weaving contest.

Athena, disguised as an old woman, warned Arachne not to be so arrogant and to respect the gods.

Arachne scoffed at the warning and declared that she could create a tapestry more beautiful than anything Athena could weave.

Accepting the challenge, Athena revealed her true form, and the contest began. Both weavers created magnificent tapestries, but while Athena's depicted the glory of the gods, Arachne's portrayed the gods' misdeeds, including Zeus' many infidelities.

Athena was enraged, not only by Arachne's audacity to challenge her but also by the truth in Arachne's tapestry.

In a fit of anger, Athena destroyed Arachne's tapestry and loom. Overcome with shame and despair, Arachne hanged herself.

Athena, perhaps feeling a moment of pity or remorse, decided to save Arachne from death but condemned her to a different fate.

She transformed Arachne into a spider, doomed to weave for all eternity.

Narcissus was a youth of extraordinary beauty, so beautiful that both men and women were captivated by him.

However, Narcissus was not interested in the affections of others. He rejected all those who loved him.

One day, while Narcissus was hunting, he stopped to drink from a clear pool of water.

As he leaned over, he saw his own reflection in the water and fell deeply in love with it.

Not realizing it was merely an image, he tried to embrace it, kiss it, and talk to it, but to no avail.

He became so obsessed with his reflection that he could not leave the pool. He stopped eating and drinking, slowly wasting away as he gazed at the image he could not possess.

Eventually, Narcissus died by the pool, consumed by his self-obsession. In his place, a flower grew, which was named Narcissus in his memory.

Some versions of the story suggest that the gods turned him into the flower as a reminder of his fate.

The Labors of Hercules, also known as the Twelve Labors, are among the most famous stories in Greek mythology.

They tell the tale of Hercules, the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene, who was driven to madness by Hera, Zeus's wife, and killed his own wife and children.

As penance for his actions, Hercules was assigned a series of labors by King Eurystheus, who was guided by Hera to devise tasks that would either kill Hercules or prove impossible to complete.

The tasks ranged from slaying fearsome beasts like the Nemean Lion and the nine-headed Hydra, to capturing mythical creatures like the Golden Hind of Artemis and the Erymanthian Boar.

Hercules was also tasked with cleaning the Augean stables in a single day, stealing the girdle of Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons, and even seizing Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the entrance to the Underworld.

Each of these tasks was fraught with danger and demanded immense physical strength, cleverness and bravery. He also had assistance from some gods, who provided him with magical tools to help.

Hercules often had to find unique solutions to complete his tasks, such as using the river to clean the Augean stables or offering a golden apple to distract the dragon guarding the Hesperides' garden.

In each case, Hercules was able to overcome the odds and complete his tasks, proving his heroism and earning his redemption.

King Midas was a wealthy ruler, known for his love of gold.

One day, he provided hospitality to Silenus, a satyr and companion of Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry.

Grateful for Midas's kindness, Dionysus offered to grant him a single wish. Overcome by his desire for wealth, Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold.

Dionysus, though hesitant, granted Midas's wish. At first, Midas was overjoyed. He touched everything around him, marveling as it all turned to gold. However, he soon realized the downside of his golden touch.

When he tried to eat, his food turned to gold. When he tried to drink, his water turned to gold.

Even his beloved daughter was transformed into a gold statue when he embraced her.

Desperate and miserable, Midas begged Dionysus to take back his gift. Dionysus, feeling pity for Midas, agreed to reverse the curse.

He instructed Midas to wash in the river Pactolus to lose his golden touch. Midas did as he was told, and he was relieved to find that his touch was normal again.

This river later became legendary for its golden sands, thought to be a gift from the gods.

Icarus was the son of Daedalus, a skilled craftsman and inventor. They were both imprisoned in a labyrinth on the island of Crete by King Minos.

The labyrinth was a complex maze, designed by Daedalus himself to house the Minotaur, a monstrous creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull.

Trapped and desperate to escape, Daedalus devised a plan. He crafted two pairs of wings out of feathers and wax, one for himself and one for Icarus.

Before they took flight, Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sea, as the dampness would clog his wings, and not too close to the sun, as the heat would melt the wax.

Icarus, filled with the exhilaration of flight, ignored his father's warnings. He flew higher and higher, drawn to the warmth of the sun.

His disobedience proved fatal. The sun melted the wax in his wings, and Icarus plunged into the sea and drowned.

The story of Icarus's flight is a powerful exploration of the human spirit's ambition and the tragic consequences of ignoring wise counsel.

Oedipus was the son of Laius, the king of Thebes, and his wife, Jocasta. Before his birth, an oracle prophesied that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother.

Horrified by this prophecy, Laius and Jocasta decided to kill their newborn son. They ordered a servant to leave the baby on a mountainside to die.

However, the servant took pity on the infant and gave him to a shepherd from the neighboring city of Corinth.

The shepherd, in turn, gave the baby to the childless king and queen of Corinth, who raised him as their own.

Unaware of his true parentage, Oedipus grew up in Corinth. As a young man, he visited an oracle and heard the same prophecy that his birth parents had received.

Believing that his adoptive parents were his biological parents, Oedipus left Corinth to avoid fulfilling the prophecy.

On his journey, he encountered Laius, his biological father, and killed him in a dispute, unknowingly fulfilling the first part of the prophecy.

Oedipus then arrived in Thebes, which was being terrorized by the Sphinx, a creature with the body of a lion and the head of a woman.

The Sphinx posed a riddle to Oedipus, promising to leave Thebes if he could solve it.

Oedipus answered the riddle correctly, the Sphinx killed herself, and Oedipus was hailed as a hero.

As a reward, he was given the throne of Thebes and the hand of the widowed queen, Jocasta, his biological mother. In this way, the prophecy was fulfilled.

Pandora was created by the gods as part of a punishment for mankind. This was in response to Prometheus, a Titan, who had stolen fire from the gods and given it to humanity.

Zeus, the king of the gods, ordered Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship, to create a woman out of clay.

Each of the gods gave her a gift, hence her name Pandora, which means 'all-gifted'. Athena taught her crafts, Aphrodite gave her beauty, Hermes gave her speech, and so on.

Zeus sent Pandora to Earth as a gift to Epimetheus, Prometheus's brother. Despite Prometheus's warning not to accept any gifts from the gods, Epimetheus was captivated by Pandora's beauty and agreed to marry her.

Pandora brought with her a jar (often misinterpreted as a box) that Zeus had given her, instructing her never to open it.

Driven by curiosity and unable to resist the temptation, Pandora eventually opened the jar.

As she lifted the lid, all the evils of the world – disease, sorrow, poverty, war – escaped and spread across the Earth.

Horrified, Pandora quickly tried to replace the lid, but it was too late. All that remained in the jar was Hope, who fluttered out to comfort mankind in their suffering.

Pygmalion was a talented sculptor from the island of Cyprus. Disillusioned by the flaws he saw in the women around him, he decided to create a statue of the perfect woman.

He carved her from ivory, shaping her with such skill and attention to detail that she seemed almost alive. He named her Galatea, and she was so beautiful and lifelike that Pygmalion fell in love with her.

Pygmalion adored Galatea. He dressed her in fine clothes, adorned her with jewels, and treated her as if she were a living woman.

However, despite his deep affection for Galatea, Pygmalion was tormented by the knowledge that she was only a statue and could not return his love.

During the festival of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, Pygmalion made a desperate prayer.

He asked Aphrodite to give him a wife like his statue. Aphrodite, moved by his sincere love and desire, decided to grant his wish.

When Pygmalion returned home and kissed Galatea, he was amazed to find that her lips felt warm.

The ivory of her skin softened to flesh, her eyes opened, and she transformed into a living woman.

Galatea returned Pygmalion's love, and they were soon married.

Orpheus was a legendary musician, whose music could charm beasts, coax trees to dance, and even divert the course of rivers.

He was deeply in love with a beautiful nymph named Eurydice. They were happily married, but their joy was short-lived.

Eurydice was pursued by a satyr on their wedding day and in her flight, she stepped on a venomous snake and died.

Devastated by her death, Orpheus played such mournful songs that all the gods and nymphs wept.

Moved by his sorrow, they advised him to descend to the Underworld and plead with Hades, the god of the dead, to return Eurydice.

Armed with his lyre, Orpheus journeyed into the Underworld, where his music softened the hearts of Hades and his wife, Persephone.

Hades agreed to release Eurydice on one condition: Orpheus must walk in front of her without looking back until they reached the upper world.

Orpheus agreed and set off with Eurydice following him. However, in his anxiety, he turned to look at her just as they were about to reach the exit, and Eurydice was immediately pulled back into the Underworld, this time forever.

Sisyphus was the king of Corinth, known for his cunning and deceit. He was so clever that he managed to cheat death twice, tricking Thanatos, the personification of death, and even capturing him, thereby preventing any mortal from dying.

This act angered the gods, and when Sisyphus eventually died, he was given a unique punishment.

In the underworld, Sisyphus was condemned to roll a massive boulder up a steep hill.

However, just before he reached the top, the weight of the stone would become too much, and it would roll back down the hill.

Sisyphus would then have to start his task all over again. This cycle was to be his fate for eternity, a futile labor with no hope of completion or reprieve.

Tantalus was a king who was favored by the gods and often invited to dine with them on Mount Olympus.

However, Tantalus abused this privilege in several ways. He stole ambrosia and nectar, the food and drink believed to sustain the gods' immortality, to share with his mortal friends.

He also committed the horrific act of killing his own son, Pelops, and serving him as a meal to the gods to test their omniscience.

The gods were appalled by Tantalus's actions. As punishment, they restored Pelops to life and condemned Tantalus to Tartarus, the deepest part of the Underworld reserved for the most wicked.

There, Tantalus was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches.

Whenever he reached for the fruit, the branches raised his intended meal from his grasp.

Whenever he bent down to get a drink, the water receded before he could get any. He was left with an eternal hunger and thirst, tantalizingly close to food and drink but unable to satisfy his desires.