Hermaphroditus, the son of Aphrodite and Hermes. Hermaphroditus possessed his fathers handsome virility and his mothers beautiful face. In some stories it is said that the nymph Salmacis, upon falling in love with Hermaphroditus, prayed to be joined with him forever. Her prayers were granted and their two bodies were physically united, thus making the first hermaphrodite.The Moira were the three sisters of Fate. They were the children of Zeus and the titan Themis. Clotho, whose name meant spinner, created the thread of life, signifying the birth of a mortal being. Lachesis, whose name meant apportioner, measured the thread. And Atropos, whose name meant inflexible, cut the thread, ending the life span of a mortal being. Not even the gods had control over the Fates, who were in some earlier myths born of Necessity, greater and more ancient than even the immortals.Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, and a child of sun and laughter.Poseidon/Neptune was the god of the sea and he yielded enormous power. Zeuss brother, Poseidon lived in a palace beneath the ocean. When he struck the sea with his trident storms of gigantic magnitudes were born, and his golden chariot was able to quiet the waves. If he plunged his trident into the ocean floor, earthquakes rolled out from the epicenter of his rage. His wife, the sea nymph Amphitrite, and his son, Triton, lived with him in his underworld kingdom. Triton was half man, half fish, and rode a sea monster with his conch shell horn. Athene was often pitted against Poseidon in the myths, the ultimate wisdom versus the ultimate chaos. Prometheus and his brother, Epimetheus, whose name meant forethought and afterthought, were two titans whose aid enabled Zeus to win his battle against Cronos and the other Titans. They were given the task of creating the men and animals. Epimetheus decided that he would create the animals, while Prometheus set about making the first man. Epimetheus, however, gave to hi...
