“Mythology is full of stories about bizarre and cruel punishments imposed by gods on mortals and other divine beings. These punishments were often intended as warnings or lessons and reflected the values and beliefs of the societies from which they originated.
Prometheus – Bound to a rock where an eagle eats his liver every night
In Greek mythology, Prometheus was punished by Zeus for giving fire to humanity and for his rebelliousness. Prometheus’ punishment was that he was chained to a rock on the side of a mountain. Every night an eagle came and pecked open his belly and ate his liver. His liver regenerated during the day, allowing the eagle to return every night. Eventually, he was freed by Chiron, a centaur who gave his life for Prometheus, and Heracles, who killed the eagle.
Tantalus – Forever in the underworld and just out of reach of food and drink
Tantalus, a son of Zeus and a favorite of the gods, violated their trust in a horrific way. To test his status and the favor of the gods, he invited them to a meal where he slaughtered his own son, Pelops, and served him to them. The gods, immediately aware of this horrendous act, refused to eat the flesh, except for Demeter, who, lost in thought, ate a piece.
As punishment for his unthinkable crime, Tantalus was sent to Tartarus, the deepest abyss of the underworld. There he underwent an eternal punishment: he stood in water up to his chin, but each time he bent down to drink, the water receded. Fruits hung above his head, just out of reach. Whenever he tried to eat, the fruits were blown away by the wind. Thus Tantalus was tormented by eternal hunger and thirst, a punishment that gave rise to the word ‘tantalize,’ referring to an unattainable desire or a futile effort.
Ixion – Forever bound to a burning wheel
One day, Zeus invited Ixion to Olympus as a guest. The foolish mortal was attracted to Hera, Zeus’ wife, and tried to seduce her. Zeus decided to test Ixion’s loyalty and created a copy of his wife. Ixion fell for it and impregnated the fake Hera, who later gave birth to the monster Centaurus. Zeus struck Ixion with his powerful lightning bolt and bound him to a burning wheel that would spin forever. Ixion was forced to eternally repeat the words, “Pay your benefactor back often with gentle favors.”
Lamia – Transformed into a child-devouring monster
Zeus, the king of the gods, was not a very faithful husband. Many of his mistresses (voluntary or forced) were caught by Zeus’ wife, Hera. This was a very jealous and powerful goddess, not a fine combination for the caught mistresses. Hera often did not stop at destroying her husband’s mistresses but devised punishments that were much worse.
This brings us to the story of the poor beautiful Libyan queen Lamia. When Hera found out that Lamia had an affair with her husband, she turned her into a horrific creature with a desire to devour children, even her own children.
Actaeon – transformed into a deer and torn apart by his dogs
Actaeon was an excellent hunter. One day, while hunting with his fifty dogs in the Gargaphië Valley near the city of Orchomenos, he was overcome by thirst. He bent over a stream in the valley to drink, when he suddenly saw the hunting goddess Artemis. She was, along with some nymphs, bathing naked in the spring from which the river originated. Actaeon stood petrified, captivated by the beauty of the virgin goddess.
Irritated that he spied on her, Artemis turned him into a deer. As the unfortunate hunter realized his fate, his dogs noticed him. They did not recognize their master and pursued him. Actaeon tried to flee, but was quickly overtaken and torn apart.
Sisyphus – Pushing a gigantic boulder up a hill forever
Sisyphus was notorious for his cunning and deceit. His greatest crime was deceiving Thanatos, the god of death, thus temporarily avoiding death itself. This act of hubris and defying the natural order angered the gods, particularly Zeus.
As punishment for his arrogance and constantly defying the gods, Sisyphus was sentenced to an eternal and pointless task in the underworld. He had to push a huge boulder up a steep hill. However, each time he almost reached the top, the rock slipped from his hands and rolled all the way back down. Sisyphus had to start over from the beginning, forever tormented by a task that could never be completed.
This punishment symbolizes the ultimate futility and the endless cycle of frustration. The story of Sisyphus has become so emblematic of futile efforts that it inspired the term ‘Sisyphean task,’ referring to an endless and fruitless task.
Pasiphaë – An uncontrollable desire to mate with a bull
Minos had to sacrifice “the most beautiful bull from his herd” to Poseidon every year. One year an exceptionally beautiful bull was born, but Minos refused to sacrifice it and instead offered a lesser bull. As punishment, Poseidon cursed his wife Pasiphaë with an uncontrollable desire for the white, magnificent bull.
Eventually, Pasiphaë turned to Daedalus and asked him to help her mate with the bull. Daedalus made a hollow wooden cow, covered with real cowhide, so realistic that it deceived the Cretan Bull. Pasiphaë crawled inside the contraption, allowing the bull to mate with her. Pasiphaë became pregnant and gave birth to a creature that was half human, half bull, and lived exclusively on human flesh. The child was named Asterius, after the previous king, but became generally known as the Minotaur (“the bull of Minos”).
Marsyas – Skinned alive and turned into a river
The goddess Athena had invented a flute but threw it away. She rejected and cursed it because her face got an unattractive expression during playing. Marsyas found the instrument and became skilled at it. So confident about his musical talents, he challenged Apollo, the god of music who played the lyre, to a duel. Apollo accepted the challenge under the condition that the winner could do whatever he wanted with the loser.
Apollo eventually triumphed because he could also play his lyre upside down, something Marsyas could not do. According to the agreement, Apollo was allowed to do what he wanted with the satyr: he tied Marsyas to a tree and skinned him alive.
Cassandra – Apollo gave her the gift of prophecy, but made no one believe her
Cassandra was a princess of Troy, the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. Her story is one of the most tragic in Greek mythology. Cassandra was blessed with the gift of prophecy by the Greek God Apollo. However, when she rejected his romantic advances, Apollo cruelly cursed her: although she would retain the gift of prophecy, no one would believe her predictions.
This curse led to a life full of misery for Cassandra. Her warnings about the fall of Troy, including the famous warning about the Trojan Horse, were ignored or questioned by her fellow Trojans. Her gift became a source of despair, as she saw the approaching disasters but was powerless to prevent them.
After the fall of Troy, Cassandra was captured by Agamemnon and taken to Mycenae as his concubine. Her tragic fate ended when she was killed along with Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife, and her lover Aegisthus.
Io – turned into a cow and pursued by a gadfly
Io, a priestess of Hera, fell prey to the love of Zeus. When Hera, Zeus’ jealous wife, discovered their affair, Zeus turned Io into a white cow to hide her. Hera, not to be fooled, asked Zeus for the cow as a gift. Reluctantly, Zeus agreed.
But Io’s story did not end there. Zeus tried to secretly retrieve her, but Hera, furious over the deception, sent a gadfly to pursue Io. The fly constantly stung her and chased her around the world, giving her no moment of rest. Io’s journey took her through many countries and adventures, eventually crossing the Bosporus (‘cow-crossing’), which was named after her. Finally, Io pleaded with the gods for mercy, and Zeus intervened to turn her back into her human form. She gave birth to Zeus’ son, Epaphus, and eventually found peace after her long and painful ordeal.”
