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Greek Mythology
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Deucalion and Pyrrha
11-05-2013 17:50Deucalion, was a son of Prometheus, the Titan who gave to mankind the gift of fire. Deukalion and his wife Pyrrha, daughter of Pandora and Epimetheus, Prometheus’ brother, were the only survivors of the great flood that put an end to the Bronze Age.
The myth of Deukalion and Pyrrha bears many similarities with the story of Noah’s ark and therefore the great flood is considered to be a common ground for myths from all over the world. In the greek version of the myth, the father of Gods, Zeus proceeded to pour heavy rain from the sky, causing every human being to be destroyed apart from a few who found refuge on the highest mountains. Zeus wanted to avenge the mankind for the hubris of Lycaon, king of Arcadia who served Zeus a dish of his slaughtered son to test whether he was truly omniscient.
In response to a warning from his father Prometheus, who was aware of Zeus’ destructive plans, Deukalion constructed a large chest and climbed into it with his wife. They floated safely in the chest for nine days and nights drifting ashore on Mount Parnassos. Deucalion offered a sacrifice to Zeus and in response he offered him the choice of whatever he most desired. Deukalion asked for a new race of people. They were told to do so by tossing stones over their shoulders. The stones thrown by Deukalion turned into men and those thrown by Pyrrha turned into women.
This new race was name Deukalionids, originated from Central Greece and spread to other areas of the Greek mainland and also to the western Peloponnese. One of Deukalion and Pyrrha’s children was Hellen, who gave the eponym of the Greek people, the Hellenes. Hellen was in his turn the father Aiolos, Doros, Achaios and Ion, the eponyms of the four main divisions of the Greek people, the Aeolians, Dorians, Achaeans and Ionians.
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