Arachne was a young woman, who was a master in the art of weaving. Even Athena herself couldn't do it better. Arachne was aware of it and so she didn't even try to keep her pride hidden. One day Athena came to Arachne in a disguise, to check on the talented weaver herself. She had to admit, that the woman's craftsmanship was indeed just perfect. But Arachne made a terrible mistake and challenged Athena, not knowing that she was standing right next to her. When she found out later that it was indeed Athena who gave her a visit, she hanged herself in the attic. But Athena showed sympathy and basted her dead body with magical oil. Soon after that the body changed into a little spider and Athena said to her: "You made your choice and so you shall hang forever. But you also shall weave for all time."

This picture is a bit different from the usual staff of Asclepius. Asclepius was the medical practitioner of the gods and the son of Apollon. One day Asclepius witnessed a snake which brought another snake back to life using special herbs. So he did that too. But Zeus, king of the gods, wasn't happy to see Asclepius bringing the dead back to life. Therefore, he killed him with one of his lightning bolts. According to legend Asclepius always had a snake with him because of its knowledge about the herbs.

This picture is showing how Athens did come to its name. Athena was the goddess of wisdom and art of war. One day there was a competition between Poseidon, god of the seas, and her. The winner got to be the new patron of an area (later known as Athens) and to choose a new name for it. Poseidon instantly saw himself as the winner. All of a sudden he let a huge spring of salt water rise. On top of that he gave the king a beautiful horse and presented for his citizens bath houses. Athena instead let grow a huge olive tree. She promised that the leaves of this tree would always remain green. And so a decision was made and Athens had a new name.

This picture is showing the origin of the winter. Hades, god of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, goddess of cereal. And so he abducted her and refused to let her free. Demeter got so desperate that she stopped doing her job. Worldwide all plants died and soon after that there was hunger and suffering. But Zeus showed mercy and talked Hades into letting Persephone walk free. But Hades insisted that his rules had to be respected. Persephone ate some seeds of a pomegranate and therefore she had to stay in the underworld. And so the brothers found an agreement: Persephone had to stay for a third of the year in the underworld. The rest of the year she was allowed to be with her mother. And so a few months of the year no plants are growing, because of the grief of Demeter.

This picture symbolizes the tragic story of the carefree Icarus. To get away from the imprisonment of the Cretan king Minos the inventor Daidalos decided to fly to freedom. Together with his son Icarus they build wings out of bars, wax and feathers. Daidalos told his son to be careful before they got started. He wasn't allowed to get too close to the water, because the feathers had to stay dry. But he wasn't allowed to fly too close to the sun either, because the wax would melt. Heat and also water would destroy the wings. But Icarus was fascinated by the feeling of freedom while he was flying through the air. So he didn't even notice that he was flying too close to the sun. And so the wax melted and the wings were destroyed so that Icarus fell into death.

The iris of the eye got its name from Iris, goddess of the rainbow.

This picture is showing the unheard warning of Cassandra. She was the daughter of a Trojan king and the god Apollon fell for her. Therefore, he gave her the gift of clairvoyance. But when she refused his advance he cursed her. Nobody would ever believe in her warnings, although they always become true.

Due to a blood guiltiness Athens had to send the Cretan king Minos nine virgins every nine years. They were sent into a huge labyrinth and got eaten by a monster (half human, half bull) - the Minotaur. The hero Theseus got himself send to Crete along with the other virgins. The daughter of Minos, Ariadne, fell in love with him. She knew that no one would ever find a way out of the labyrinth. And so she presented Theseus with a ball of red wool. As he got into the labyrinth, he winded the ball up. He just had to follow the red thread to find his way back out after he killed the Minotaur.

This picture symbolizes destiny - in Greek mythology three women with different tasks. The three Moirai were in charge of life and therefore got to decide how long every life lasts. Not even the gods dared to question the decisions of those women. Clotho was the one who span the thread of life and Lachesis decided how long this thread was going to be. When the time had come Atropos cut the thread and ended the life of every single one.

This picture tells the tragic story of Narcissus and Echo. Hera, wife of Zeus, was mad at Echo and therefore took her voice. She was cursed to repeat just the last words of heard sentences. One day she fell in love with the proud Narcissus, who rejected every woman. But Echo, because of the curse, wasn't able to get his attention. She only could repeat his last spoken words, but that got Narcissus terrified. And so she began to cry desperately until there was nothing left but her voice. Nemesis, goddess of rage, had witnessed the tragic death of Echo and decided to punish Narcissus. She cursed him into fell into love with his own mirror image. He wasn't aware that he felt into himself, because every last word of his was repeated by the remaining voice of Echo. And so he kept speaking with himself until he died. After his death he became the flower Narcissus which is bent forward, able to look at herself.

This picture is telling the tragic story of Oedipus. Due to a prediction of the oracle of Delphi Oedipus was abandoned by his Theban parents when he was a newborn. The oracle predicted that he would murder his father and get married to his mother. But Oedipus was saved by a shepherd and got adopted by a royal couple. Years later Oedipus accidentally murdered his father without knowing his true origin. Soon after that he answered the riddle of the sphinx in Thebes, who was terrorizing the city. And so he become the new king of Thebes and got married to the queen, who was also his mother. Years later she found out and killed herself. Oedipus, shocked by the truth, blinded himself with a sword and banned himself into exile.

The word siren doesn't quite fit with the myth, but it has its origins in it. The sirens, according to legend, weren't warnings but dreadful dangers itself. They could sing beautiful and attracted ships with their voices into horrible accidents. But the smart Odysseus found a way to resist those women. He put wax into the ears of his crew and strapped himself to a pole of his ship. So he could listen to the beautiful voices, but was unable to get to them.

This picture shows the origin of the Trojan War. ' Eris, goddess of discord, presented the goddesses Hera, Aphrodite and Athena a golden apple. It has the words 'for the fairest of them all' written on it. Not even Zeus wanted to get involved in this argument. And so Paris, the Trojan king's son, got to choose. Aphrodite promised him the prettiest woman in the world, and so he named her as winner of the competition. He didn't care about the promised power of Hera or the wisdom of Athena. But Helena, the chosen future wife of Paris, was already married. So he abducted her and triggered the Trojan War.

This is a present of the titan Prometheus for the humans. He wanted to help his favorite creatures and stole the fire of the gods. But Zeus didn't like the fast development of the humans because of the fire. Therefore, he punished Prometheus cruelly: He let him be chained to a huge cliff. Every day an eagle came to Prometheus ripped open his belly and ate his liver. At night the liver grow back and so the eagle could return.

Sisyphus was a clever king who betrayed Zeus. As punishment Zeus send Thanatos, god of death, to get Sisyphus. But he got the god drunk, pinned him and so got away. Now no man could die. But Ares, god of war, was made angry about that and so he freed Thanatos. Sisyphus was sent into Hades, but managed to escape. When he was returned he was punished cruelly: He had to roll a huge rock up a massive hill. But every time he was close to reach the top, the rock slipped away and rolled all the way down. So Sisyphus had to start over and over again for all eternity.

This picture symbolizes the torments of Tantalus. Tantalus had the privilege to wander as mortal among the gods. But he used to full capacity and betrayed the gods. He stole the nectar and ambrosia of the Olympians. Then he tested the wisdom of the gods, slaughtered his own son Pelops and presented his flesh to the gods as a feast. He presumed that they wouldn't eat the flesh because of their omniscience. For this Tantalus got punished. He was send into the Tartaros where he had to stand into a pond with a huge rock drastic hanging on a cliff over him for all eternity. But every time he leaned down to drink the water it moved away from him. Over his head were growing juicy fruits, but every time he grabbed for them the branch moved away from him. And so his punishment was to stay afraid, hungry and thirsty.

This picture shows the most famous couple of all gods. Zeus and Hera are the rulers of the gods. The eagle is the symbol of Zeus and the peacock the symbol of Hera. Zeus was known for his many adulteries and Hera hated him for that. Zeus had many children with his mistresses. One of them most hated of Hera and most famous, was Heracles.

This picture symbolizes the three greatest gods: Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Zeus was the ruler of all gods and god over the heaven. Next to the lightning bolts the eagle is one of his symbols. Poseidon, god of the seas, always caries a trident and is symbolized with a horse. Hades, ruler of the same named underworld, owns a magic hood and is symbolized with a dog.