male characters who had a major role, an exception to the general rule of lower status for goddesses compared to gods. She was revered by women.Some sources say Friday is named after her. DIRECT COMPARISON Both Aphrodite and Freyia are goddesses of love and fertility/reproduction. In keeping with the apparent Norse acceptance of infidelity, Freyia is much more a goddess of lust, being identified with sexual freedom. In this way she was almost identical to Aphrodite, as both were well-known for their numerous partners.While one of Freyia's prized possessions was her famous necklace, Aphrodite, similarly, was renowned for her girdle. In many stories, both goddesses were asked to "lend" these adornments to others.Because of her association with divination, Freyia has some of the characteristics which the Greeks assigned to Apollo. GARM -- CERBERUSGARMGarm was a huge, gigantic dog that guarded the gates to Hel's realm. He was the head of a pack of numerous dogs and wolves with this guard function. CERBERUSCerberus is a ferocious dog, given to Hades to guard the entrance to the underworld. Usually depicted as three-headed, Homer described him as having fifty heads. Sometimes he is described as having a serpent for a tail and dragons on his back. As the guard of the underworld, his function was to prevent the living from entering, and the dead souls from returning to the land of the living. Except for one occasion, he remains in the underworld, the one occasion being one of the Labours of Heracles. He is known to be the brother of the Hydra (a nine-headed serpent, whose destruction was another of Heracles' Labours) and the Chimera (a fire-breathing creature which is a mixture of a lion, a goat and a serpent).DIRECT COMPARISONPerhaps in both these mythologies, the old saying "Beware of the dog" is more appropriate than "Dog is man's best friend." Needless to say, it is an obvious similarity that the guard to the underworld is a canine. In the...
