Q is for Queen Rhodope of Thrace

Long, rough day! Getting this post on the 11th hour ...haha, literally!!!

This is a challenge to post every day in April (except on Sundays) blogging thematically from A to Z. Go HERE for details. My A-Z theme this year is Greek Mythology inspired by the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan that I recently read.  Please be aware that what I write is my interpretation of my findings and may not necessarily be accurate are straight quotes.
Also, "Featured Book" at the end of these posts are books I've reviewed in this book blog, coinciding with the letter of the day.

Queen Rhodope of Thrace:

• She was the wife of Haemus.
• Haemus was vain and haughty and compared himself and Rhodope to Zeus and Hera, who were offended and changed the couple into mountains (the Balkan mountains and Rhodope mountains, respectively). The story is mentioned by the Roman poet Ovid at Metamorphoses 6.87-89.

Spanning southern Bulgaria and parts of Greece, the Rhodope Mountains were named after Queen Rhodope of Thrace.  They’re home to such natural wonders as the marble cliffs of the Trigrad Gorge, which leads to a very interesting place: Devil’s Throat Cave.  Remember, the sad story of Orpheus?  This was where he went through to venture into the underworld to save his wife.  Rhodope Mountains was his homeland.

Sources:
Stranger Dimensions
Wikipedia

Quantum Paleo by

My rating: 3

P is for Poseidon

This is a challenge to post every day in April (except on Sundays) blogging thematically from A to Z. Go HERE for details. My A-Z theme this year is Greek Mythology inspired by the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan that I recently read.  Please be aware that what I write is my interpretation of my findings and may not necessarily be accurate are straight quotes.
Also, "Featured Book" at the end of these posts are books I've reviewed in this book blog, coinciding with the letter of the day.

Poseidon from Milos, 2nd century BC

(National Archaeological Museum of Athens)

Poseidon:

• One of the twelve Olympian deities of the pantheon in Greek mythology.
• His main domain is the ocean, and he is called the "God of the Sea".
• Additionally, he is referred to as "Earth-Shaker" due to his role in causing earthquakes, and has been called the "tamer of horses".
• He is usually depicted as an older male with curly hair and beard.
• Relied upon by sailors for a safe voyage on the sea. Many men drowned horses in sacrifice of his honor.
• He lived on the ocean floor in a palace made of coral and gems and drove a chariot pulled by horses.
• He was a very moody divinity and his temperament could sometimes result in violence. When he was in a good mood, Poseidon created new lands in the water and a calm sea. In contrast, when he was in a bad mood, Poseidon would strike the ground with a trident and cause unruly springs and earthquakes, ship wrecks and drownings.
• He once married a Nereid, Amphitrite, for whom he created the islands called Paxi by hitting his trident on the southernmost part of Corfu. With Amphitrite he produced Triton who was half-human and half-fish.
• He also impregnated the Gorgon Medusa to conceive Chrysaor and Pegasus, the flying horse.
• The rape of Aethra by Poseidon resulted in the birth of Theseus and he turned Caeneus into a man, at her request, after raping her.
• Another rape involved Amymone when she tried to escape from a satyr and Poseidon saved her.
• He was in love with his sister Demeter who kept resisting. Once she turned herself into a mare to avoid him but this resulted in the opposite results when he became a stallion and captured her. Their procreation resulted in a horse called Arion.

Sources:
Greek Islands
Wikipedia

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Featured Book:

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

My rating: 3.5

O is for Orpheus

This is a challenge to post every day in April (except on Sundays) blogging thematically from A to Z. Go HERE for details. My A-Z theme this year is Greek Mythology inspired by the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan that I recently read.  Please be aware that what I write is my interpretation of my findings and may not necessarily be accurate are straight quotes.

Also, "Featured Book" at the end of these posts are books I've reviewed in this book blog, coinciding with the letter of the day.

(source)

Orpheus:

• Legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth.  
• Bard whose music could charm many types of people, beasts, and even objects.
• When his wife, Eurydice, died shortly after their wedding Orpheus traveled to the underworld to retrieve her.
• He tamed Cerberus, the giant three-headed guard dog of the underworld, and in the hall of Hades and Persephone gave a performance that moved the god of death himself.
• Hades agreed to let Orpheus take Eurydice back to the world of the living under the condition that he would lead her out of the underworld without looking at her.
• Just as they were about to emerge, Orpheus looked back and Eurydice was forced to stay in Hades forever.

Sources:
Wikipedia
World of Mythology

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Featured Book:

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

My rating: 3.5

Book Loot Giddy

Last week was full of book giddiness, particularly this past Saturday.  A book came in the mail and I finally used my Barnes & Noble birthday gift card from hubby dear and bought a Nook Simple Touch and a pretty snazzy protective cover for it.  I've been having fun playing with it and filling it with books.  I'll have to show it to you later on another post, just on its own.  In the meantime, here's my loot since my last BLG post...

Won (thank you The Flashlight Reader!):

Bought (print):

For Review:

Borrowed from library:

Kindle Freebies:

N is for Nemesis

This is a challenge to post every day in April (except on Sundays) blogging thematically from A to Z. Go HERE for details. My A-Z theme this year is Greek Mythology inspired by the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan that I recently read.  Please be aware that what I write is my interpretation of my findings and may not necessarily be accurate are straight quotes.

Also, "Featured Book" at the end of these posts are books I've reviewed in this book blog, coinciding with the letter of the day.

Nemesis, by Alfred Rethel (1837)

Nemesis:

• Also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia.
• Another name was Adrasteia, meaning "the inescapable".
• Related to the Greek word νέμειν [némein], meaning "to give what is due".
• She was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris (arrogance before the gods).
• Described as a daughter of Night, though some call her a daughter of Erebus or of Oceanus.
• Personified vengeful fate as a remorseless goddess: the goddess of revenge.
• Also found as personification of the moral reverence for law, of the natural fear of committing a culpable action, and hence of conscience, and for this reason she is mentioned along with Aidôs, i. e. Shame.
• A kind of fatal divinity, for she directs human affairs in such a manner as to restore the right proportions or equilibrium wherever it has been disturbed; she measures out happiness and unhappiness, and he who is blessed with too many or too frequent gifts of fortune, is visited by her with losses and sufferings, in order that he may become humble, and feel that there are bounds beyond which human happiness cannot proceed with safety. This notion arose from a belief that the gods were envious of excessive human happiness.

Sources:
Greek Myth Index
Wikipedia

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Featured Book:

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Rating: 5

M is for Mount Olympus

YAY, WE'RE AT THE HALF WAY MARK! :)

This is a challenge to post every day in April (except on Sundays) blogging thematically from A to Z. Go HERE for details. My A-Z theme this year is Greek Mythology inspired by the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan that I recently read.  Please be aware that what I write is my interpretation of my findings and may not necessarily be accurate are straight quotes.

Also, "Featured Book" at the end of these posts are books I've reviewed in this book blog, coinciding with the letter of the day.

Mount Olympus of Greek Mythology:

• Regarded as the "home" of the Twelve Olympian gods of the ancient Greek world.
• It formed itself after the gods defeated the Titans in the Titan War, and soon the palace was inhabited by the gods.
• It is the setting of many Greek mythical stories.
• Zeus ruled Mount Olympus, calling the gods who did not reside on the Mount Olympus to attend his court when summoned.
• Goddesses named Seasons kept the gate of clouds that would permit the divine beings to enter and exit Olympus
• In words of Homer:  "Olympus was not shaken by winds nor ever wet with rain, nor did snow fall upon it, but the air is outspread clear and cloudless, and over it hovered a radiant whiteness."
• Lines from Odyssey:  "So saying, Minerva, goddess azure-eyed,
  Rose to Olympus, the reputed seat
  Eternal of the gods, which never storms
  Disturb, rains drench, or snow invades, but calm
  The expanse and cloudless shines with purest day.
  There the inhabitants divine rejoice
  For ever." (Thomas Bulfinch)

Real Mount Olympus of today's Greece:

• The highest mountain in Greece, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city.
• It has 52 peaks. The highest peak Mytikas, meaning "nose", rises to 2,917 metres (9,570 ft). It is one of the highest peaks in Europe in terms of topographic prominence
• Noted for its very rich flora with several species.
• It is a National Park of Greece and a World's Biosphere Reserve

 

Sources:
Wikipedia
Yelena Casale

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Featured Book:

Mr. Monk is Cleaned Out by Lee Goldberg

Rating: 4

L is for Lyssa

This is a challenge to post every day in April (except on Sundays) blogging thematically from A to Z. Go HERE for details. My A-Z theme this year is Greek Mythology inspired by the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan that I recently read.  Please be aware that what I write is my interpretation of my findings and may not necessarily be accurate are straight quotes.

From left to right: Zeus, Lyssa, Actaeon, and Artemis

Lyssa:

• One of the primeval gods who was a daughter of Nyx, the goddess of night, who was believed to be the mother of everything mysterious and anything that was inexplicable and unpleasant, such as death, disease, sleep, ghosts, dreams, witchcraft and enchantments.
• Her father was Erebus, who reigned in a palace in the dark regions of the Underworld.
•  As the sister of the many of the dark gods of death, night and the Underworld,
• She personified mad rage and frenzy.  
• She was also the spirit of rabies in dogs and small animals, a deadly disease that causes madness and convulsions and is transmissible to humans.
• She was strongly associated with the Maniae. The Maniae were evil spirits personifying Insanity, madness and crazed frenzy, the goddess of insanity was called Insania or Mania meaning madness. Insania and the Maniae were companions of both Lyssa and her infernal sisters, the Furies (Erinyes), the goddesses of Vengeance & Retribution.
• In Herakles she is called upon by Hera to inflict the hero Heracles with insanity. In this scenario she is shown to take a temperate, measured approach to her role, professing "not to use [her powers] in anger against friends, nor [to] have any joy in visiting the homes of men." She counsels Iris, who wishes to carry out Hera's command, against targeting Heracles but, after failing to persuade, bows to the orders of the superior goddess and sends him into a mad rage that causes him to murder his wife and children.
• She drove Actaeon's hunting dogs mad so they killed him after he had glanced upon a naked Artemis as she was bathing.

I don't like this chick!!!

Sources:
Gods Laid Bare
Tales Beyond Belief
Wikipedia

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Featured Book:

Love Your Frenemies by Mina V. Esguerra