I found it pretty intense that Zeus is such an authoritative and selfish figure at times, he'll even take away the ability for Metis to birth a child from her, for himself.

I just can't help but seeing ourselves in these stories. From elemental symbols to the psychology of gods, to literal examples like this, where human constructions or qualities are whipped up into mythological gods and whatnot -- I wonder if this sort of wrapping things in stories was a way for human beings to encode certain ideas and knowledge in ways that it was easier to understand, like metaphors?

I've always associated snakes/dragons as very earthly elements, insomuch as they spend a lot of time moving in the dirt, and constantly shedding their scales for regeneration. It's fascinating that Typhoeus was the child of Earth here, and you can see the connections to each others symbolically.

I dig the metaphor of fruit and persuasion/desire here -- it sort of paints a picture in my mind of an amazingly ripe strawberry, that once you bite into, you're almost overcome with how delicious it is, and can't stop yourself from eating the rest of it. Plus, there's also the symbol of fruit and life-giving power, whether it be the juices flowing from it or the seeds that literally birth new fruit.

This is some fun imagery, picturing someone so giant that they tower above mountains and stretch into outer space. I love the poetic language!

The power dynamic of Hercules using arrows and Zeus using thunderbolts is an interesting symbolic juxtaposition -- Hercules, being a demi-god who has both divine qualities and human qualities in him, uses these arrows, which are a human made item, where Zeus, being a god, has the power to control elements, like lightening. I wonder how much of mythology is just human beings sort of anthropomorphizing nature?

I think the symbol of a sickle here is powerful -- it represents both life and death. Sickles are often used for cutting grass, which kills things, but they are also associated with agriculture, which naturally resembles cultivation and food and growth.

I found it interesting that "laws" and "judge's" are implied to be a sort of deviation from nature in a way, and how that idealistic natural state is fundamentally rooted in Goodness and Truth, etc...

I feel like this is another "call back" example of how all these creation stores have such thematic origin similarities -- chaotic darkness and un-intelligibility, etc...

I like how there's so many symbols of birth and whatnot throughout these stories -- honey and milk as nurturing elements, which are often always associated with coming from a mother in order to feed the growing young, etc...

Not just here, but throughout all of these reproductive stories there seem to be a lot of earthy elements used to symbolize reproduction and birth -- whether it's blood, symbolizing a sort of basic component of life, or the deep sea, oftentimes associated with feminine and creative qualities, or even the obvious parallel of white foam, and how such things generally come from chemical reactions, which involves the process of combining and creating, etc...

I found this little bit interesting, especially with how Eros is briefly portrayed. In Plato's Symposium, Socrates and others speak about Eros as more of a metaphor for human desire, as opposed to one of the literal gods. They try to illustrate how the mythological figure represents a sort of intermediary yearning that we all are defined by, which compels us to seek fulfillment, like the driving force of love. Here, Eros is portrayed similarly -- supremely beautiful and intoxicating, with the power to diminish rational or reasoned thinking, and reveal a more instinctual response.