1. Greek Mythology TRAVIS AND GRAYSON

2. Ares  Ares was the great Olympian of war, battle lust, and manly courage. He is described as either a bearded warrior dressed in battle arms, or a nude, beardless youth with helm and spear. Because of his lack of distinctive attributes he is often difficult to identify in classical art. The symbols of Ares was the spear and his scared animal was the dog.  Ares was son of Zeus, king of gods, and Hera, the goddess of marriage. Ares just like his mother, had a difficult character to deal with so he was unpopular to the other gods. He would often get into fights with other gods.

3. Persephone  Persephone was the goddess queen of the underworld, wife of the god Hades. She was also the goddess of spring growth, who was worshipped alongside her mother Demeter. Persephone was titled Kore as the goddess of spring bounty.  Once upon a time when she was playing in a flowery meadow with her nymph companions, Kore was seized by Hades and carried off to the underworld as his bride. Her mother upset at her disappearance and searched for her throughout the world. She got furious when she did not find her and refused to let Earth bear fruit until Persephone was returned, but Persephone could not because she tasted the fruit of Hades and was forced to spend a part of a year with husband in the underworld. When she returned in the spring it was marked by the flowering of meadows and the sudden growth of the new grain.

4. Athena Athena was the Greek Virgin goddess of reason, intelligent activity, arts, and literature. She was the daughter of Zeus; her birth is unique because she did not have a mother. Instead, she sprang full grown in amour from Zeus’s forehead. She only tool part in wars that defended the state and home from enemies. She invented the trumpet, flute, rake, plow, ship, and chariot. She was the embodiment of wisdom, reason, and purity, and was Zeus’ favorite child and was allowed to use his weapons including his thunderbolt. Her holy tree was the olive tree and she was often symbolized as an owl. The favorite city of Athena was Athens and after she won a contest with Poseidon, she became the protector of Athens and the city was named after her.

5. Heracles Hercules was a demigod and was the son of a mortal women named Alcmene and the supreme god Zeus. Zeus' wife Hera hated the child born out of wedlock, and sent two snakes to kill the baby. However, the young boy killed the animals. Heracles then became a strong warrior, but Hera struck him with madness, and he killed his own children and wife Hercules needed to find some way for the gods to forgive him for this terrible crime. the gods said they would forgive Hercules if he did twelve hard jobs for the king of Argos - we call these the twelve labors of Hercules. Some of the more well known task were: The Lion of Nemea Heracles' first task was to kill the lion of nearby Nemea, a terrible beast. It was resistant against all weapons, but Heracles strangled it. From then on, he wore the lion's invulnerable pelt as armor.

6. Heracles Hydra In this task Hercules he had to go kill the Hydra. The Hydra was a huge snake with nine heads. Hercules realized that whenever he cut off a head, two more grew back out of it's neck. By fighting the Hydra, Hercules was only making it stronger. So Hercules thought of another plan. Instead of cutting off the heads, he smashed them between two rocks. Then the heads did not grow back, and so Hercules was able to kill the Hydra. Cerberus This was Hercules last labor where he had to go to the underworld and retrieve a three-headed dog know as Cerberus. When he returned with the dog he was free. Hercules is one of the best-known heroes in Greek mythology and he has been in many of the movies and stories that we see today.

7. Dionysus Dionysus was the god of fertility and wine. He created wine and spread the study of grapes. He was the son of Zeus and Semele, and he was the only god with a mortal parent. Zeus had went to Semele in the night, unseen by human eyes, but could be felt as a divine presence. When Hera found out She went to Semele in disguise and convinced her she should see her lover as he really was. When Zeus visited her again, she made him promise to grant her one wish, and she wished to see him in his true form. Zeus was unhappy knowing what was about to happen, but bound by his oath, he had no choice. He appeared in his true form and Semele was instantly burnt to a crisp by the sight of his glory. Zeus managed to rescue the fetal Dionysus and stitched him into his thigh until he would be ready to be born. His birth from Zeus granted immortality upon him. Throughout His life Dionysus wandered the world actively spreading his cult. The thing most associated with Dionysus in today's culture is with wine, there are many Wineries named after him.

8. Websites  http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Ares.html http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Ares.html  http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Persephone.html http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Persephone.html  Ebsco/Host  ProQuest  WorldBook