Day 5: Friday July 6th

Its FRIDAY!
This means last day of classes for the week, and Santorini tomorrow for the weekend!
Before my mind can race away with my Santorini plans, we had classes this morning to pay attention to!
Today's class was actually pretty fun because we went over some ancient greek myths and legends...

Yesterday we visited the site of Zeus and Europe's tryst that resulted in King Minos.
So today we discussed one of Minos' stories.

Minos becomes king and takes Pasiphae as his queen, with whom he has several children including his daughter Ariadne.

• Pasiphae was a daughter of the sun who can see all that happens below. One day the sun saw Aphrodite (who was very unhappy in her marriage to Hephaestus--the god of the forge) sleeping with Aros the god of war. Pasiphae's father tells her what happened and she tells Hephaestus. Aphrodite wants to punish the sun but she cannot so instead she punishes Pasiphae. Aphrodite sends Cupid to make Pasiphae blindly in love with a bull. Pasiphae eventually sleeps with the bull and give birth to a monster.
• Minos knows his wife was bewitched by aphrodite and forgives his wife for her adultery. He knows that he cannot kill his wife's child, even though it is a monster, and therefore hires and engineer (Daedalus) to create the labyrinth in order to protect what is known as the Minotaur.
• Every month a boat of young people form athens was sent into the labyrinth. If they could find their way out they were free but if they could not they would become a meal for the Minotaur.
• One day Theseus, Prince of Athens and son of King Aegeas offers himself to go into the labyrinth because he wants to slay the Minotaur. Ariadne falls in love with Theseus and devises a plan so he can escape. She sends him in the labyrinth with a thread so he can find his way back to the entrance after slaying the Minotaur. Theseus slays the Minotaur and escapes and marries Ariadne. 
• Upon his return to Athens he falls in love with another woman and abandons Ariadne. As he makes is way back home Theseus forgets that his father said to change the sails from black to white if he is alive otherwise if he is dead for the ship to remain with black sails. When the ship is close to Athens, his father King Aegeas sees the black sails and commits suicide. He threw himself of a cliff and into the sea below, giving its name the Aegean Sea. 

I love ancient Greek Myths and Legends! they're all like mini soap operas and very dramatic! But they also are really cool in that there is a story for everything!

We also learned a few new greek words!

May favorite is    έτσι κι  έτσι, it is pronounced etsi-ketsi. It means so-so and is used as a response when someone asks you "how are you".

It's a lot of fun to say and when I was out with some of my roommate Lauren's friends I used it and was told that I sounded truly Greek in the way i pronounce it! YAY! lol 

Thats all for today! 

Tomorrow is the beginning of Santorini so stay tuned for pictures!!!!!!

~ αγαπώ ~