1. What is mythology. It is an organized collection of stories (i. e
What is mythology? It is an organized collection of stories (i.e., "myths") by which we explain our beliefs, our history and nature. Beneath the story-lines, myths usually confront major issues such as the origin of humanity and its traditions, and the way in which the natural and human worlds function on a profound, universal level. Other myths, however, seem merely to narrate the deities' daily activities -- their love affairs and pleasures, their jealousies and rages, their ambitions and schemes, and their quarrels and battles.

2. Mythology around us now.
Everyone uses Nike brand shoes, because Nike was the goddess of victory. They always use NASA's Apollo missions, too. Company names: Amazon!!! 1) Janus Capital Group is a group of investors/investment advisors, named after Janus, Roman god of doorways, who had one head facing the future and one facing the past. 2) The upcoming new spaceship design is the Orion capsule, launched by the Ares launch vehicle. (Orion being a mythological hunter who was made into a constellation, Ares being the Greek god of war.) 3) Persephone is the name of a German band. Persephone was Greek, the wife of Hades, and goddess of spring. Vocabulary: 1) Mercurial means quick to change moods, from Mercury, Roman messenger of the gods. 2) Saturnine means gloomy. Saturn was Jupiter's father (Roman) who had good reason to be sad. He ate all his children, or thought he did, and then his youngest killed/banished him. 3) Jovial means cheerful, and it comes from one of Jupiter's other names, Jove (it's the genitive in Latin), who was always off having sex with hot nymphs, despite his wife. Flowers: 1) The hyacinth is what Hyacinthus turned into when Apollo killed him by accident. 2) Iris is the name of the messenger of the gods before Hermes/Mercury came along. 3) The narcissus is what Narcissus changed into when he died. and Literature (all from Harry Potter. Sorry, I can't think of anything outside that series that would be Classics-referencing enough): 1) Minerva McGonagall's first name, Minerva, is the Roman goddess of wisdom, equivalent to Athena. 2) Sibyll Trelawney's first name, Sibyll, is derived from the Sibyl (of Cumae), a famed oracle who lived as many years as there were grains in a pile of sand. 3) Argus Filch's first name, Argus, was a servant of Hera with one hundred eyes, who never slept, so he saw everything. And the way he always turns up when Harry's sneaking around certainly seems to support that. (previous 3: The Sphinx in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire asks a riddle, as did the Sphinx in the story of Oedipus.)

3. Cultural References
Ancient myths live in our culture. We find references to those myths in many contemporary words and expressions, such as Pandora's box, Oedipus complex, nymph, and olympian. Other words derived from mythology include adonis (from Adonis), aurora (from Aurora), chlorophyll (from Chloris), chronology (from Kronos), discipline (from Disciplina), discord (from Discordia), eros (from Eros), fate (from Fate), fauna (from Faunus), fidelity (from Fides), flora (from Flora), fortune (from Fortuna), fraud (from Fraus), Hades (from Hades), Hell (from Hel), hygiene (from Hygieia), jovial (from Jove), liberty (from Libertas), lunar (from Luna), morphine (from Morpheus), mortality (from Mors), mute (from Muta), narcissism (from Narcissus), nemesis (from Nemesis), ocean (from Oceanus), -- and the names of the planets, and some of the months (including Janus for January), etc. Mars (the Roman war god) is remembered in words such as Mars (the planet), March (the month), and martial (as in martial arts).

4. Hippolyta comes to negotiate.

5. Scene from Theseus and Hippolyta on a Greek Urn

6. Pyramus and Thisbe

7. Pyramus and Thisbe
16th Century.

8. Recognize anyone?