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Know About Lesser known Myths and Legends of Europe on Europe Tour From India

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Europe Tour Packages - Book Europe Vacation tours with Flamingo Transworld.

Europe Tour Packages - Book Europe Vacation tours with Flamingo Transworld.

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All over the world there are marvelous stories—stories that once upon a time, were believed to be true and today are bound to the legends and myths. The question still remains - are these myths something which lived in the thoughts of our ancestors, or they were entirely based on real events? It is true, that mostly all of these stories seem to the scientific world as a work of comic products of vivid imaginations which aimed towards explaining the phenomena beyond our understanding or comprehension. Yet we are arrogant to accuse our ancestors of being non-civilized and ignorant in one moment, and then present them with praise and admiration for their monuments, buildings, artworks, sculptures, and civic values in the next? This only concludes that our modern world has two contradictory attitudes for our past.

Everything he Touched Turned to Gold: the Myth of King Midas

King Midas is one of the best known myths of antiquity. It is a story told during Europe Tour Packages that has been brought up by numerous writers and artists, the Roman poet Ovid gave an identity to Midas in his play Metamorphoses. In this play, Ovid portrays the life of Midas, king of Phrygia.

As per this version of the myth, on the death of Orpheus, Dionysus (Roman God) left Thrace with his old teacher Silenus. Drunk as usual, Silenus got lost while strolling with Dionysus. Phrygian farmers found him and led him to Midas. The king was surprised and instantly recognized the old man and he held an eleven-course banquet in honor of Silenus.

King Midas then helped him to get back to Dionysus. Delighted to have his old teacher back, the god wanted to thank Midas and gave him a wish. Midas asked that everything he would touch shuold turn into gold. The wish was granted and it was delightful to turn roses, apples, etc. into gold, but soon Midas was enclosed by such brightness and luxury that he did not have anything to eat. Anything that touched his lips would turn into the valuable metal. Even the wine gifted by Dionysus turned into liquid gold as he was trying to quench his thirst.

Realizing that he was destined to die of thirst and hunger, Midas requested Dionysus to free him from this doom. Dionysus asked him to wash his hands in the Pactolus River – currently situated in Turkey.

The symbol of the Swastika and its 12,000-year-old history

The word ‘swastika’ originates from a Sanskrit word which means ‘Well Being’, ‘Good Existence, and ‘Good Luck’. Also, it is also known by numerous names in different parts of the world - like ‘Manji’ in Japan, ‘Wan’ in China, ‘Hakenkreuz’ in Germany, ‘Fylfot’ in England, and ‘Tetraskelion’ in Greece.

We can see the symbol of the Swastika visible next to a scripture saying “ZOTIKO ZOTIKO” which means “Life of Life” over the walls of the catacombs in Rome on Europe Tour From Flamingo. It can also be found on the windows of the curious Lali-bela Rock churches in Ethiopia, and also in various other churches around the world.
It has been casted by the Phoenicians as a symbol of the Sun and used by the priestesses as a sacred symbol of worship.

For the Hindus in India and other Asian countries, the swastika has been a very important symbol for many thousands of years and up to this day, the symbol can be found in temples, buses, taxis, and over the cover of books. It was used in Ancient Greece and can be seen on the ruins of Troy, which existed more than 4,000 years ago.

In Buddhism, the swastika symbolizes good fortune, abundance, prosperity, and eternity. It can be found carved on statues on the soles of Buddha’s feet and on his heart. It is believed that it contains Buddha’s mind.

One can see on Europe tour that how and why did so many different cultures & countries, across many eras of our history, use the same symbol and evidently with the same meaning?

It is unfortunate, that a symbol of life and eternity that was be very sacred for thousands of years has become a symbol of hatred.

The ancient origins of the legendary griffin

The griffin is a legendary beast with the head and wings of an eagle, and the body, tail, and rear legs of a lion. The eagle was believed to be the ‘king of the birds’, and the lion represented the ‘king of the beasts’.

Griffins were a part of art and mythology of Ancient Greece. Evidence of representations of griffin is also found in ancient Persia and ancient Egypt dating back to as early as the 4thmillennium BC. During the Persian Empire, the griffin was perceived as a protector from evil and witchcraft. On the island of Crete (Greece), archaeologists have discovered depictions of griffin in frescoes of the Throne Room of a Bronze Age Palace of Knossos (15th century BC).

Further to the east in India, a part-man & part-bird creature, the Garuda, served as a vehicle for the Hindu god Vishnu. Perhaps the obsession with such hybrid creatures is because of the fact that it allows people to merge the best characteristics of two creatures into one ’super creature’, giving it meaningful symbolism.

No matter what the origin, the griffin has been a part of our human culture for a long time and will continue to play its role in mankind’s imagination for a long time to come. It persists even today on various school emblems, mascots, and popular literature popular among the visitors during Europe tour.