T h e s e u s _ Phaedra _ Hippolytus ; P e r i t h o u s

Morpho telemachus, M. theseus, M. hercules; Archaeoprepona phaedra, Eulepidotis ilirias, Troides hypolitu syn. Ornithoptera hippolytus
Minois dryas syn. Papilio phaedra, Pedaliodes phaedra, Leptotes pirithous, Chloreuptychia herseis
Rhodomyrtus tomentosa, Myrtus communis, Banksia integrifolia





  T h e  S i x  L a b o r s   
  j o u r n e y  to  A t h e n s
At the first site, which was Epidaurus, sacred to Apollo and the healer Asclepius, Theseus turned the tables on the chthonic bandit, Periphetes, the Club Bearer, who beat his opponents into the Earth, and took from him the stout staff that often identifies Theseus in vase-paintings.

At the Isthmian entrance to the Underworld was a robber named Sinis, often called "Pityokamptes" ( Πιτυοκάμπτης, he who bends Pinetrees). He would capture travelers, tie them between two pine trees that were bent down to the ground, and then let the trees go, tearing his victims apart. Theseus killed him by his own method. He then became intimate with Sinis's daughter, Perigune, fathering the child Melanippus.

In another deed north of the Isthmus, at a place called Crommyon, he killed an enormous pig, the Crommyonian Sow, bred by an old crone named Phaea. The Bibliotheca described the Crommyonian sow as an offspring of Typhon and Echidna.

Near Megara, an elderly robber named Sciron forced travellers along the narrow cliff-face pathway to wash his feet. While they knelt, he kicked them off the cliff behind them, where they were eaten by a sea monster. Theseus pushed him off the cliff.

Another of these enemies was Cercyon, king at the holy site of Eleusis, who challenged passers-by to a wrestling match and, when he had beaten them, killed them. Theseus beat Cercyon at wrestling and then killed him instead.

The last bandit was Procrustes the Stretcher, who had two beds, one of which he offered to passers-by in the plain of Eleusis. He then made them fit into it, either by stretching them or by cutting off their feet. Since he had two beds of different lengths, no one would fit. Theseus turned the tables on Procrustes, cutting off his legs and decapitating him with his own axe.

  a f t e r  A t h e n s
( capture the Marathonian Bull, an emblem of Cretan power.)

A m p h i o n and Z e t h u s

 Zethus slossonae, Psidium guajava, Schefflera arboricola, Schefflera octophylla, Sagittaria sagittifolia, Poritia phama, Cynandra opis Brilliant Nymph, Anthanassa sitalces Pine Crescent, Eleocharis dulcis, Sambucus canadensis, Actaea erythrocarpa, Saururus cernuus

s u n. 初 四, 316 巷 歇 業 無 聲 (mon. 補假)

_ i d a s & m a r p e s s a

 T h e c l a (Ancient Greek: Θέκλα, Thékla, God's fame) was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of Paul the Apostle. The earliest record of her life comes from the ancient apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla.  

 M a r p e s s a /mɑrˈpɛsə/ (Ancient Greek: Μάρπησσα, Márpēssa, the robbed one) was an Aetolian princess, and a granddaughter of Ares. According to another myth, she was the daughter of Evenus and Alcippe. She loved Idas and was loved by him in return. She was also loved by Apollo.

When Idas asked to marry Marpessa, Evenus refused his request. Idas went to Poseidon and begged for the use of a winged chariot. Poseidon consented to his use, and Idas stole Marpessa away and fled. Her father, after chasing the couple for a long time and realizing he could not catch up to them, killed his horses and then drowned himself in a nearby river, which took his name.

Apollo also pursued them in his own chariot, wanting Marpessa for himself. Eventually Zeus intervened and commanded Marpessa to choose between her mortal lover and the god. Marpessa chose Idas, reasoning to Apollo that had she chosen the god, she would have eventually grown old and lost his affections:

"And thou beautiful god, in that far time,

 When in thy setting sweet thou gazest down

 On this grey head, wilt thou remember then

 That once I pleased thee, that I once was young?"

_ A r c h i a s & A c t a e o n

  Arcas imperialis Cramer, 1775 syn. Papilio actaeon Fabricius, 1775

 A r c h i a s fell in love with the son of Melissus, named Actaeon (distinct from Actaeon, son of Aristaeus) - the most handsome youth in the city. Finding that "no fair means or persuasion" prevailed upon the youth, Archias made plans to kidnap him. Under the guise of inviting himself to Melissus' house in order to take part in a feast, Archias and his accomplices laid hands on the boy and attempted to spirit him away. The family resisted, and in the ensuing tug of war Actaeon was torn apart.

Melissus demanded justice of the Corinthians, but was ignored by them. In return he climbed to the top of Poseidon's temple, invoked the god's wrath as vengeance for his son's murder and threw himself onto the rocks. A great drought and famine resulted, and the oracle, upon being consulted, announced that the death of Actaeon had to be avenged. Archias went into voluntary exile, and led a group of Corinthians into Sicily where they established the colony of S y r a c u s e.

After establishing the town and fathering two daughters, Archias was "treacherously" slain by T e l e p h u s, whom he had taken advantage of when Telephus was still a boy.

 A r c a s /ˈɑrkəs/ Ἀρκάς, the son of Zeus and Callisto, she was a nymph in the retinue of the goddess Artemis.

  E v e n u s, the river-god. In a story in which Evenus is presented as a mortal king, he drowned in the river that bore his name whilst pursuing Idas who abducted his daughter, Marpessa.

 T e l e m u s (Τήλεμος, Telemos), a prophet, son of Eurymus. Telemus warned the Cyclops Polyphemus that he would lose his sight to a man named Odysseus.
   
    'Alas!
    Now an ancient prophecy about me
    has truly been fulfilled! Telemus,   
    fine, tall son of Eurymus, a seer
    who surpassed all men in prophecy,
    reached old age among the Cyclopes
    as a soothsayer. He said all these things
    would come to pass someday—I'd lose my sight
    at the hand of someone called Odysseus.

    — Homer, Odyssey, ix, 509

【 A l e c t r y o n 】

Trochilus polytmus m & f, Houttuynia cordata, Strobilanthes dyeriana Persian Shield, Dimocarpus longan, Piper nigrum, Polyommatus dorylas Turquoise Blue, Nomiades, Polyommatus, Smilax glabra./ Gallus gallus, Alectryon excelsus, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus, Wolfiporia extensa.
___________


Wolfiporia extensa 茯 苓
Smilax glabra 土 茯 苓

農 曆 十 二 二 六

s w e e t g r a s s ɛ l o v e d a r t

 ( i n d i g e n o u s )  

 philenor (Greek φιληνωρ) literally means "fond of a man/men" or "loving one's husband". Battus comes from a "regal Greek  family" from cyrene in North Africa. (Tveten, 1996)