Myth of the day
Phineas who lived in Salmydessus on the Black Sea, was said to be the son of Poseidon and had the gift of prophesy. Zeus was furious that Phineas was revealing too much of the gods' plans and decided to punish him. He blinded him and put him on an island with a banquet of food. Phineas, however, could not eat any of the food as the moment he picked it up, it was taken out of his hands by harpies. Jason and the Argonauts came to Phineas' rescue. They persuaded the Boreads, the sons of the North Wind, to chase away the harpies, who never came back. To repay Jason for his kindness, Phineas told him the secret of how to get the Argo through the Symplegades (rocks at the Bosphorus which clashed together randomly, causing many shipwrecks).
posted by Whispering Walls at 11:23 am
9 Comments:
The power of coincidences. Only last week, while waiting for my delayed flight, I happened to note that a movie 'The Harpies' was playing on the British Airways lounge television.I fear that the story line as portrayed by one of the Baldwin brothers had little to do with Phineas or Jason or indeed any classical antecedent.
Our Man used to work at the Argos in Leicester. It was just round the corner from the clock tower, opposite the defunct Haymarket theatre. Plenty of harpies back then too mind.
Greetings, Angus - glad to share your coincidence!
Hi Our Man - LOL - just realised my typo!
I was always a bit iffy about Jason - he wasn't bad enough to qualify as an anti-hero nor good enough to be an establishment hero, if you get my drift
I suppose you're right, info, but perhaps being a "grey hero" gives him humanity and credibility?
I suppose you're right, info, but perhaps being a "grey hero" gives him humanity and credibility?
I gather these harpies had the nasty habit of leaving excrement behind.
You are right, ED, they didn't even eat the food, they just befouled it.
What a mine of information you are, WW.
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