A Lovely Swim

Marilyn via adski_kafeteri

I was never more certain of how far away I was from my goal than when I was standing right beside it.


In Greek mythology, Hermione (in greek: Ἑρμιόνη) was the only daughter of Menelaus and Helen. She had three brothers. While her parents were away fighting (and being seduced, in Helen's case), Hermione was being raised by her aunt, Clytemnestra. Prior to the Trojan War, she was betrothed by Menelaus to Orestes, her cousin through Menelaus' brother, Agamemnon. However, on the battlefield during the Trojan War, her father also promised her to Neoptolemus, also known as Pyrrhus, son of Achilles. There is a historical dispute over whether or not such a discrepancy actually occurred, however. Some authors, such as Euripides, describe the dual promise, while others, such as Ovid, do not mention it at all.

Regardless, at the end of the Trojan War, Neoptolemus claimed Hermione as his and took her back to Epirus, his homeland.

Shortly after settling into the domestic life, however, conflict arose between Hermione and Andromache, the concubine he had obtained as a prize after the sack of Troy. Hermione blamed Andromache for her inability to become pregnant, claiming that the concubine was casting spells on her to keep her barren. She asked her father to kill Andromache while Neoptolemus was away at war, but when he chose not to go through with the murder, Hermione fled from Epirus with her cousin Orestes.

Hermione and Orestes were married, and she gave birth to his heir Tisamenus.

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Later myths of the Classical Greeks relate that Athena guided Perseus in his quest to behead Medusa. She instructed Heracles to skin the Nemean Lion by using its own claws to cut through its thick hide. She also helped Heracles to defeat the Stymphalian Birds, and to navigate the underworld so as to capture Cerberos.

For Wagga who hasn't seen Gattaca:


In another late story, it is said that Odysseus' cunning and shrewd nature quickly won Athena's favour. In the realistic epic mode, however, she largely is confined to aiding him only from afar, as by implanting thoughts in his head during his journey home from Troy. It is not until he washes up on the shore of an island where Nausicaa is washing her clothes that Athena arrives personally to provide more tangible assistance. She appears in Nausicaa's dreams to ensure that the princess rescues Odysseus and plays a role in his eventual escort to Ithaca.