All Discussions Tagged 'legends' - iPeace.us2024-03-29T12:34:37Zhttps://ipeace.us/group/legends/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=legends&feed=yes&xn_auth=noIsis and Osiris Legendtag:ipeace.us,2011-12-10:2217368:Topic:31349732011-12-10T05:40:05.243Zmody Ibrahemhttps://ipeace.us/profile/mody
<p><img alt="Osiris legend and myth" border="1" height="478" src="http://www.phoenician.org/osiris_legend_myth.jpg" width="500"></img></p>
<p align="left"><b><font color="#800000" face="Arial" size="6">T</font><font color="#800000" face="Arial" size="4">he</font></b><font face="Arial" size="3"> Egyptians and Phoenicians had such a close and warm relationship that the venerable Isis and Osiris legend of Egypt included a trip by their queen to Byblos in Lebanon to seek help in time of need. It began when her husband -- the god Osiris, who was also the king -- was killed by his brother Seth. The body of Osiris…</font></p>
<p><img border="1" src="http://www.phoenician.org/osiris_legend_myth.jpg" alt="Osiris legend and myth" width="500" height="478"/></p>
<p align="left"><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="6">T</font><font color="#800000" face="Arial" size="4">he</font></b><font face="Arial" size="3"> Egyptians and Phoenicians had such a close and warm relationship that the venerable Isis and Osiris legend of Egypt included a trip by their queen to Byblos in Lebanon to seek help in time of need. It began when her husband -- the god Osiris, who was also the king -- was killed by his brother Seth. The body of Osiris was sealed in a chest and thrown into the Nile River. The rest of the story is told to us by Plutarch, the Greek biographer.</font></p>
<p align="left"><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">Isis on [hearing] the news, sheared off one of her tresses, and put on a mourning robe, whence the city, even to the present day has the name of “Copto” (<i>I beat the breast</i>). . . . She learnt by inquiry that the chest had been washed up by the sea at a place called Byblus [Byblos], and that the surf had gently laid it under an <i>Erica</i> tree. This<i>Erica</i>, a most lovely plant, growing up very large in a very short time had enfolded, embraced and concealed the coffer within itself. The king of the place being astonished at the size of the plant, and having cut away the clump that concealed the coffer from sight, set the latter up as a pillar to support his roof.</font></b></p>
<p align="left"><b><font face="Arial" size="3"><font color="#800000">They tell how Isis having learnt all this by the divine breath of fame, came to Byblus, and sitting down by the side of a spring all dejected and weeping spoke not a word to any other persons, but saluted and made friends of the maid servants of the queen, by dressing their hair for them, and infusing into their bodies a wonderful perfume out of herself; when the queen saw her maids again, she fell a longing to see the stranger, whose hair and whose body breathed of ambrosial perfume; and so she was sent for, [and] becoming intimate with the queen, was made nurse of her infant. The king’s name they say was Malacander, herself some call Astarte, others Sooses, others Neinanoë, who is the same with the Greek Athenais.</font></font></b></p>
<p align="left"><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">Isis is said to have suckled the child by putting, instead of her nipple, her finger into his mouth, and by night she singed away the mortal parts of his body. She turned herself into a swallow and flew around the pillar until the queen watched her, and cried out when she saw her child all on fire, and so took away the boy’s immortality. Then the goddess, manifesting herself, asked for the pillar of the roof, and having removed it with the greatest ease, she cut away the <i>Erica</i> that surrounded it. This plant she wrapped up in a linen cloth, pouring perfume over it, and gave it in charge of the king; and to this day the people of Byblus venerate the wood, which is preserved in the temple of Isis.</font></b></p>
<p align="right"><b><font face="Arial" size="3" color="#800000">Plutarch </font></b></p>
<p align="right"><b><i><font face="Arial" size="3" color="#800000">Morals </font></i></b></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">She took the body of Osiris back to Egypt where, according to legend, he went on to become god of the dead and lived in the underworld. His son Horus defeated Seth and became god of the living and protector of the pharaohs.</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">This relationship between the Egyptians and the Phoenicians of Lebanon continued for 3000 years. Since Egypt was almost entirely without wood, the strong, fragrant cedar of Lebanon became prized in the land of the Nile. It was used for burial crypts, temples, and construction of all kinds. Their trade lasted from the First Dynasty until the coming of Alexander the Great in 332 BC, as revealed by evidence still visible in Egypt and Lebanon. These interactions give us remarkable new insights into Egypt and its many dynasties, seen from the point of view of Phoenicians who were there so often during those many years. This unique look into Egypt's history is experienced throughout the book</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><img border="1" src="http://www.phoenician.org/isis_well.jpg" alt="Isis legend well" width="440" height="330"/></font></p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" color="#003300" size="3">Isis Legend Well</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" color="#003300" size="2">She met the Phoenician maidens</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300"><b>at these stairs, shown leading down</b></font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300"><b>to the spring at Byblos today.</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><br/></font></p> Elissa (Dido) Legend of Carthage .tag:ipeace.us,2011-12-08:2217368:Topic:31340472011-12-08T23:36:03.522Zmody Ibrahemhttps://ipeace.us/profile/mody
<p><img alt="Elissa - Dido at Carthage" border="1" height="267" src="http://www.phoenician.org/Carthage_painting_small.jpg" width="385"></img></p>
<p align="center"><b><font color="#003300" face="Arial" size="2">Elissa and the Founding of Carthage</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font color="#003300" face="Arial" size="2">(Dido Building Carthage)</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font color="#003300" face="Arial" size="2">by J. M. W. Turner</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font color="#003300" face="Arial" size="2">1815…</font></b></p>
<p align="left"></p>
<p><img border="1" src="http://www.phoenician.org/Carthage_painting_small.jpg" alt="Elissa - Dido at Carthage" width="385" height="267"/></p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" color="#003300" size="2">Elissa and the Founding of Carthage</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300">(Dido Building Carthage)</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300">by J. M. W. Turner</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300">1815</font></b></p>
<p align="left"><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="6">T</font></b><font face="Arial" size="3">he legend of Elissa, a Phoenician princess from Tyre, tells how she created the great city of Carthage on the coast of North Africa. Surprisingly enough, much of this story turns out to be historically accurate. Unfortunately this legend was recorded by Greek and Roman writers, whose lands fought long wars with the Phoenicians. That led to a bitter description of the king of Tyre, a boy only eleven years of age, who could hardly have done many things told in the story.</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Nevertheless, the legend is fascinating. Here it is relayed by the Roman poet Virgil. He uses Roman names in the poem: Aphrodite is called Venus, Elissa is Dido, Acherbas is Sychaeus, and Africa is Libya. Aphrodite tells the story to Aeneas as he arrives on the shore near Carthage.</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>This that thou seest is [Carthage's] land, by Tyrians peopled;</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Here is Agenor’s town; fierce Libyans harass our borders;</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Dido is queen of the realm; she abandoned her Tyrian city</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Fleeing her brother; —but long are her woes, too long their recital;</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Nevertheless, in its broader lines, I will follow her story.</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>She was the bride of Sychaeus, a man who was counted the richest</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Owner of land in Tyre, and devotedly loved by poor Dido,</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Whom in her maidenly bloom, her father had pledged in betrothal:</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Omens of marriage were bright; but over the Tyrian people</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Reigned her own brother Pygmalion as king, —a monster of evil.</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Bitter dissension arose in the home, and by avarice blinded,</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Disregarding his sister’s love, and defiant of Heaven,</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Even at the altar he stealthily slew unwatchful Sychaeus.</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Long he concealed the deed, and, imagining many a pretext,</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Basely deceived and encouraged the hope of his heart-broken sister.</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>But in her slumbers the spirit itself of her husband unburied</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Came, and uplifting a face of strange and unnatural pallor,</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Showed her the blood-stained shrine, and his breast transfixed by the dagger,</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Plainly disclosing the secret disgrace of her home and her brother.</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Then he adjured her to hasten her flight, and escape from the country,</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Telling of treasure long hid in the earth, to aid her departure,</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Gold unreckoned in weight, and silver unmeasured in value.</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Dido, alarmed by the dream, made ready her flight and her comrades;</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Gathered all those to her side who detested the merciless tyrant,</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>All who were moved by fear. Then, a vessel that chanced in the harbor</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Seizing, they freighted with gold, and sordid Pygmalion’s treasure</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Floated away on the sea; —and this was the deed of a woman!</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Down to this place they came, where soon you will see the majestic</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Walls and rising towers of the new-born city of Carthage.</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Next they purchased a site, called Byrsa because of their bargain;</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#800000"><b>Only so much could be bought as their wit could surround by a bull’s hide.</b></font></p>
<p align="right"><font color="#800000"><b><font face="Arial" size="2">Virgil </font></b></font></p>
<p align="right"><i><font color="#800000"><b><font face="Arial" size="2">Aeneid</font></b></font><font color="#800000"><b><font face="Arial" size="2"> 1.335-1.368 </font></b></font></i></p>
<p align="left"><font size="3">Elissa and Aeneas go on to have a love affair which ends tragically when he leaves her to continue his journey.</font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="3">In real life, Carthage arose because of changes in Phoenician society which occurred before the creation of this great city in 814 BC</font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="3"><img border="1" src="http://www.phoenician.org/elissa1-small.jpg" width="300" height="261"/></font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300"><b>Dido (Elissa) and Aeneas</b></font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300"><b>by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin</b></font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300"><b>c. 1815</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="3"><br/></font></p> Europa Legendtag:ipeace.us,2011-12-08:2217368:Topic:31338212011-12-08T20:37:43.755Zmody Ibrahemhttps://ipeace.us/profile/mody
<p><img alt="Europa" border="1" height="271" src="http://www.phoenician.org/Europa_10-small.jpg" width="350"></img></p>
<p align="center"><b><font color="#003300" face="Arial" size="2">Europa Being Brought to Crete</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><font color="#003300" face="Arial" size="2"><b>(Il Ratto di Europa)</b></font></p>
<p align="center"><b><font color="#003300" face="Arial" size="2">by Paolo Veronese</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font color="#003300" face="Arial" size="2">c. 1580</font></b></p>
<p align="left"><b><font color="#800000" face="Arial" size="6">Z…</font></b></p>
<p><img border="1" src="http://www.phoenician.org/Europa_10-small.jpg" width="350" height="271" alt="Europa"/></p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" color="#003300" size="2">Europa Being Brought to Crete</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300"><b>(Il Ratto di Europa)</b></font></p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300">by Paolo Veronese</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300">c. 1580</font></b></p>
<p align="left"><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="6">Z</font></b><font face="Arial" size="3">eus was said to have seen the Phoenician princess Europa at her home in Tyre, Lebanon, where she walked beside the sea gathering wildflowers. He immediately fell in love with her. As the ancient poet Ovid tells us, he. . . .</font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="2" color="#800000"><b>. . . .headed for the shore, where the great king’s daughter, Europa, used to play together with the Tyrian virgins. Royalty and love do not sit well together, nor stay long in the same house. So the father and ruler of the gods, who is armed with the three-forked lightning in his right hand, whose nod shakes the world, setting aside his royal sceptre, took on the shape of a bull. [He] lowed among the other cattle, and, beautiful to look at, wandered in the tender grass.</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="2" color="#800000"><b>In colour he was white as the snow that rough feet have not trampled and the rain-filled south wind has not melted. The muscles rounded out his neck, the dewlaps hung down in front, the horns were twisted, but one might argue they were made by hand, purer and brighter than pearl. His forehead was not fearful, his eyes were not formidable, and his expression was peaceful. Agenor’s daughter marvelled at how beautiful he was and how unthreatening.</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="2" color="#800000"><b>But though he seemed so gentle she was afraid at first to touch him. Soon she drew close and held flowers out to his glistening mouth. The lover was joyful and while he waited for his hoped-for pleasure he kissed her hands. He could scarcely separate then from now. At one moment he frolics and runs riot in the grass, at another he lies down, white as snow on the yellow sands. When her fear has gradually lessened he offers his chest now for virgin hands to pat and now his horns to twine with fresh wreaths of flowers.</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="2" color="#800000"><b>The royal virgin even dares to sit on the bull’s back, not realising whom she presses on, while the god, first from dry land and then from the shoreline, gradually slips his deceitful hooves into the waves. Then he goes further out and carries his prize over the mid-surface of the sea. She is terrified and looks back at the abandoned shore she has been stolen from and her right hand grips a horn, the other his back, her clothes fluttering, winding, behind her in the breeze.</b></font></p>
<p align="right"><font size="2" color="#800000"><b>Ovid, <i>Metamorphoses </i></b></font></p>
<p align="right"><font size="2" color="#800000"><b><i>Book II: 844-875 </i></b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="3">Once they had arrived on Crete, the lovers Zeus and Europa gave birth to three children, including Minos who became king of the Minoans. The great and beautiful Minoan civilization left many bequests for the Classical Greeks who followed. And the name of this Phoenician princess was given to the entire new continent, which was called Europe.</font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="3"><img border="1" src="http://www.phoenician.org/Europa1-small.jpg" width="232" height="211"/></font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300"><b>The Abduction of Europa</b></font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300"><b>Roman Mosaic</b></font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300"><b>Byblos, Lebanon</b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="3"><br/></font></p> Aphrodite Legend .tag:ipeace.us,2011-12-08:2217368:Topic:31341922011-12-08T03:58:33.191Zmody Ibrahemhttps://ipeace.us/profile/mody
<p><img alt="Aphrodite" border="1" height="342" src="http://www.phoenician.org/Aphrodite_550.jpg" width="550"></img></p>
<p align="center"><b><font color="#003300" face="Arial" size="2">Aphrodite Comes to Cyprus</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font color="#003300"><font face="Arial" size="2">(The Birth of </font><font face="Arial" size="-1">Venus)</font></font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font color="#003300" face="Arial" size="2">by Sandro Botticelli</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font color="#003300" face="Arial" size="2">c. 1485…</font></b></p>
<p align="left"></p>
<p><img border="1" src="http://www.phoenician.org/Aphrodite_550.jpg" alt="Aphrodite" width="550" height="342"/></p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" color="#003300" size="2">Aphrodite Comes to Cyprus</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font color="#003300"><font face="Arial" size="2">(The Birth of </font><font size="-1" face="Arial">Venus)</font></font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300">by Sandro Botticelli</font></b></p>
<p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#003300">c. 1485</font></b></p>
<p align="left"><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="6"> A</font><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="4">phrodite,</font></b><font face="Arial" size="3"> the goddess of love, beauty and fertility, was revered by the Phoenicians from at least 3200 BC. She was distinguished from the other leading goddess of the Near East -- and in Greece later -- primarily because those others wore armor and fought in battle. The other goddesses included the Greek Athena (in full armor in the Parthenon), and the Canaanite Astarte.</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Aphrodite's nature reflected the peaceful Phoenician society in which she developed. She was the heart of their community, even when other deities later joined her. The people there referred to her simply as "Our Lady." She had an intimate relationship with Adonis near Byblos in Lebanon.</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">The sea-going Phoenicians brought Aphrodite with them to islands across the Mediterranean such as Cythera, and then to Cyprus. Many years later, when classical Greece arose and Cyprus became that society's valued source of copper, the legend of beautiful Aphrodite came to mainland Greece.</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">This is the most famous description of her birth. It occurred following a dispute between Uranus -- father of the gods -- and his son Chronos, who castrated him.</font></p>
<p><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">The genitals, cut off with adamant</font></b></p>
<p><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">And thrown from land into the stormy sea,</font></b></p>
<p><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">Were carried for a long time on the waves.</font></b></p>
<p><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">White foam surrounded the immortal flesh,</font></b></p>
<p><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">And in it grew a girl. At first [she] touched</font></b></p>
<p><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">On holy Cythera, from there [she] came</font></b></p>
<p><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">To Cyprus, circled by the waves. And there</font></b></p>
<p><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">The goddess came forth, lovely, much revered,</font></b></p>
<p><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">And grass grew up beneath her delicate feet.</font></b></p>
<p><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">Her name is Aphrodite among men</font></b></p>
<p><b><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3">And gods, because she grew up in the foam. . . .</font></b></p>
<p><b><font color="#800000" size="3" face="Arial"> Hesiod</font></b></p>
<p><font face="Arial" color="#800000" size="3"><b><i> Theogony</i> <i>185-195</i></b></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">After her arrival at Cyprus, Aphrodite appeared in many of the Greek epics and legends. Later she also appeared in the epics of the Romans, who called her Venus. She was always the beautiful goddess of love.</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><img border="1" src="http://www.phoenician.org/aphrodite1a.jpg" width="181" height="300"/></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><b>Aphrodite of Capua </b></font></p>