8 Curiously Fertile Greek Deities

Greek mythology was always my favorite thing to learn about in grade school and throughout this year. So many affairs and murders – it’s like a big historical soap opera. Though many stories vary, and there is some dispute over certain stories and situations, I tried to stick to one source in order to avoid confusion. Warning: There are a few somewhat NSFW pictures here, naked goddesses and such. But it’s art, so it’s all okay.

Total Children: Tyche, Rhodos, Peitho, Eunomia, and Hermaphroditus.

Aphrodite has always been synonymous with sexual pleasure. From her name we get the word aphrodisiac, which might tell you something about her. She was somewhat… promiscuous. She was often considered the goddess of love, but of course, she was more famous for the physical aspects of love. It’s surprising (to me, at least) that she wasn’t higher up on this list. Although she married Hephaestus, according to my source, she only had five children: all with Hermes. Hermes also had another son, Pan, (from which we get the pan flute and the word panic) – pictured above with Aphrodite.

Total Children: Hestia, Hades, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, and Zeus.

Cronus, the titan, who is often picture as our modern-day father time, fathered six children with his sister, Rhea. Above, she is pictured handing one of their children to Cronus, whom he will promptly swallow. (Cronus’ father, Uranus, cursed him to meet the same fate as he: murdered by his own son.) Eventually, Rhea gets tired of her children being eaten, and she sends her youngest son, Zeus, off to live as a mortal. Eventually, she finds him later and tells him to poison his own father. Cronus eventually spits up all five children he has swallowed, and then was thrown into Tartarus by his sons.

Total Children: Maia, Merope, Aterope, Calaeno, Electra, Alcyone, and Tagete.

Pleione bore Atlas seven children – sisters called the Pleiades, above. Apparently, they were all “wooed” by other gods, (Merope bearing Pan to Hermes). The Pleiades star cluster was clearly named after these sisters, who are also (half?) sisters to Calypso, my personal favorite character from The Odyssey. Eventually, they learn of their father’s fate, to hold the world on his shoulders, and they commit suicide.

Total Children: Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania.

Mnemosyne, one of the titans, was recognized as the goddess of memory. She and Zeus had a small affair and gave birth to the nine Muses, pictured above. The Muses were the deities of art, or rather, those who inspired art – music, poetry, stage, and dance, in particular.

Total Children: Mnemosyne, The Cyclopes, Cronus, Rhea, Coeus, Phoebe, Hyperion, Hecatonchires, Iapetus, Oceanus, Tethys, and Echidna.

Uranus, one of the original deities, was born to Gaia, who is the inspiration for modern-day Mother Earth. With his mother, he made twelve children. These were all the titans. At first, they gave birth to a horrid beast with fifty heads and a hundred hands. Its name was Hecatonchires. They were so repulsed by this monster that they threw him into Tartarus. After that, they tried again, but were gifted with the horrible Cyclopes. Again, they threw him into Tartarus. On the third try, they succeeded. And soon enough, they had twelve children. Eventually, Cronus kills his father Uranus, as shown in the above picture, and curses his son to have the same fate as he.

Total Children: Aether, Hemera, Momus, Ponos, Moros, Thanatos, Hypnos, The Hesperides, The Keres and Fates, Nemesis, Apate, Philotes, Geras, and Eris.

I could not find a good picture of Erebus anywhere, but I’ll have to just put this one up anyway. Erebus was the personification of darkness, and son to Chaos. He and his sister, Nyx, courted to give birth to fourteen children in all. I can’t find much on all of their children, but among the most well known are Hypnos, god of sleep, and Eris, the goddess of discord.

Total Children: Dionysus, Heracles, Ares, Hebe, Hephaestus, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, Urania, Persephone, Peaches, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, and Athena (who was taken out of Zeus’ head in full armor after he had a splitting headache).

This might come as a surprise, but Zeus is not number one on the list. He gave birth to at least twenty-one children to nine different goddesses (and one who emerged from his head). Among those were his sister/wife, Hera (pictured above), his other sister, Demeter, and his aunt, Mnemosyne. He was definitely the most adulterous god, though. He gave birth to the nine Muses and many other gods of Olympus. While he did get around, he came nowhere close to beating our number one contender…

Oceanus and Tethys, who seem to be one of the few monogamous couples on this family tree, purportedly gave birth to about three thousand daughters, known as the Oceanids. Each Oceanid was assigned a particular body of water, pasture, or cloud. Of these, only about a hundred are named from what I can find. Obviously, I do not have the time, space, nor the attention span to list them all, so I will just leave your imaginations to run rampant on this one.

Top 10 Christmas Traditions around the World

Christmas is a time of presents, anticipation, excitement and goodwill virtually anywhere in the world. In different parts of the world, however, the specific traditions used to celebrate Christmas can vary widely.

Here in America, a typical tradition at Christmas time is to leave a tray of cookies and a cup of milk out for jolly old Santa Claus. Santa makes his list of the boys and girls that have been either naughty or nice, and comes to their home on the night before Christmas. Santa will leave the good children a gift made by the elves at the North Pole, and he will leave the naughty children nothing but coal in their Christmas stockings.

During Christmas time in Caracas, Venezuela, from December 16 to December 24, the streets are closed for the roller skating mass. Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like: a mass of people roller skating together through town. Frustrating for those trying to make their way through traffic around the streets that are closed for the holiday tradition? Perhaps, but this is a very well-known tradition in the area, and many people love to participate in it each year.

In Australia, Christmas is hot like a summer day in the U.S. In Australia, the Christmas dinner is much like the American Thanksgiving dinner. The Australian Christmas dinner typically consists of turkey, ham, pork, plum pudding, and mince pies. Australian tradition is to have Christmas dinner on a beach in the middle of the day. Perhaps the most important part of Christmas in Australia is the “Carols by Candlelight.” This event takes place on Christmas Eve, with thousands of people gathering to light candles and sing their favorite Christmas carols.

In France, Christmas time is all about the light show. Imagine that – the nation that is home to Paris, the “City of Lights,” steals the show during the most lights-focused time of the year. Examples can be found all over the country during the Christmas season; for example, during the Fête des Lumières from December 5 to December 8, Lyon features over 70 light shows that are simply breathtaking.

Christmas in Brazil is the most celebrated holiday in the country, since about 90 percent of the population of Brazil consider themselves to be Christians. Christmas is a big deal in Brazil! Because Brazil is in the southern hemisphere, it is summertime during the holiday season; temperatures can reach well above one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. December 24 is the day that begins the official Christmas celebrations. It starts with Christmas cooking, which traditionally includes codfish and turkey with beer or juice as a beverage. Because pine trees are rarely found in Brazil, households that have a Christmas party will often feature a fake tree with Christmas lights and decorations. There can be several families at each gathering, with over seventy people attending one Christmas party. The night often starts with Bingo, then comes the singing and eventually a “Secret Santa” exchange. Just before midnight, all the lights in the house are shut off (with the exception of the Christmas tree lights, of course) and the children lie in bed and await the arrival of Santa Claus.

At Christmas time in Japan, people are getting ready to order buckets and buckets of fried chicken. Rather than celebrating Christmas with a ham or turkey, as is traditional in many other parts of the world, Japanese families usually celebrate the holiday by eating loads of fried chicken. Although only about one percent of the Japanese population follows the Christian religion, ads have made it a tradition anyway to eat at Kentucky Fried Chicken during Christmas. After filling up on fried chicken, it is also traditional to enjoy a heaping plate of cake for dessert.

Perhaps one of the most unique ways to celebrate the Christmas season is found in Italy. In Italy, on January 5, children await the arrival of a magical figure to bring them candy and other goodies. But it is not Santa Claus they are waiting for; no, these children are waiting for a witch named La Befana. She is portrayed as coming down the chimneys of various homes and delivering gifts, all while holding a broomstick. Instead of leaving milk and cookies for jolly old Saint Nick, Italian children leave wine and crackers for this mystic witch. However, in Norway, it is said that you must hide all of the brooms in your house or the witches will steal them and ride them off into the night. Perhaps they are headed to Italy.

In Finland, the Christmas celebrations primarily extend from December 24 to December 26. Fir trees are set up in each household on Christmas Eve. Much like during Christmas in America, people in Finland bake gingerbread cookies and other yummy treats. Finnish Christmas dinner begins on the night of Christmas Eve, at the spotting of the first star in the sky – usually between five and seven o’clock.

In Mexico, Christmas is known as La Posada. It is a tradition to carry a picture of Joseph and Mary from house to house in the search of “shelter” before the birth of Jesus Christ himself. In Mexico, Santa Claus is not usually used to symbolize Christmas like he does in America. Instead, the people of Mexico choose to use the striking red flower called the poinsettia as a symbol of the season – a tradition that has begun to catch on in other parts of the world as well.

In Germany, the Christmas celebration begins on December 6 and continues non-stop until after Christmas Day. On December 6, the baking and decorating begins. It all starts with the spiced cookies and cakes, then comes the home-made cards and gifts. One of the more well-known Christmas traditions – and one that originated here in Germany – is the creation of beautiful gingerbread houses. Christbaumgeback is the name of a German dough that can be shaped like clay before it is baked and used to decorate the Christmas tree. Although gingerbread and gingerbread houses are certainly a part of Christmas celebrations elsewhere in the world, none can match those created in Germany.

Top 10 Weirdest Japanese Inventions

The Chindogu – meaning purposeless and, without being nasty to the inventor, pretty stupid inventions. Put it this way, these guys would be laughed off Dragon’s Den. But they’re embraced by Tokyoites. The Chindogu Society monitors these inventions stiffly and they must meet the criteria – inventions must be useless and for daily use which seems slightly contradictory but there you go. Here’s some of the best:

Lingerie maker Triumph Japan has heritage. These are the guys that gave the world the ‘Grow Your Own Rice’ bra. Bash a button and get a Welcome to Japan message in English, Chinese or Korean. Must make foreplay fun.

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The 10-in-1 Gardening Tool

A giant Swiss Army knife for any acolyte of Alan Titchmarsh. There’s a shovel, rake, pickaxe and trowel amongst other things. Gardeners complain about bad backs all the time – they’ll probably be rushed in to the ER with a slipped disc after this thing.

Thirsty but out of pocket? It’s an increasingly pertinent issue. So the people of Japan came up with this. An upside umbrella designed to catch raindrops which can then be refreshingly supped for free. The downside? You wear this monstrosity on top of your head.

We’ve all been there. Fallen asleep on the tube waking up at the last stop with a collar coated in saliva and a bad case of bed-head. But no more. Subway-Sleepers, essentially a travel pillow, come complete with label so fellow passengers can wake you when you’re home.

Tired of waiting for your butter to melt? Too hard to spread? All that’s a thing of the past with new Pritt Stick for butter. That’s not a typo. Let’s try again. Pritt. Stick. For. Butter. Let’s say no more.

These Elvis-esque tasseled garments work like dusters with one minor difference – no elbow grease. Simply attach duster slippers to the cat and he’ll leave everything sparkling in his wake. No cat? Get baby grow duster for your crawling newborn instead.

The name ‘hat’ is slightly misleading. Give credit where credit is due for the ingenious notion of never running out of tissues. But still, you just can’t ignore that this is essentially wearing a toilet roll on your head.

If there’s one thing bald men must miss it’s looking in the mirror to see a full head of hair staring back at them. Well, grieve no longer baldsters. This wig on a stick enables you to bring back the good ole hair years, and wave goodbye to the sane ones.

According to Freud, some women suffer from penis envy. Well not many men suffer from breast envy but perhaps that’s speaking too soon. Strap on breasts full to the brim with milk and dispensed through a nipple valve.

Basically a pair of fake legs for men to grab forty winks on during which time they can convince themselves they have a girlfriend. Lonely girls don’t miss out either, what with the torso and arm cuddle giving a shoulder to cry on. Avoid on public transport.