No. 057
Kallikantzaroi: The Saw, the Tree and the Holy Water
For twelve days after Christmas, Greek households kept the fire burning against the kallikantzaroi: goblins who spend the rest of the year sawing at the tree that holds up the earth.
The drawers
All entries, by number
Every card filed so far, newest first. Use the drawer labels to narrow the index to Titans, the Underworld, monsters, heroes, mortals or folklore.
6 entries on file
No. 046
The Daedalus File: A Cow, a Maze, a Murder, a Flight
Icarus is remembered for one bad flight. His father left a longer record: a hollow cow for a queen, a maze for a monster, a nephew thrown from the Acropolis, and the wings.
No. 039
Orpheus the Founder: Argonaut, Widower, Author
Before the backward glance, Orpheus kept time for the Argonauts and drowned out the Sirens. After his death, his name signed poems, rites and theologies. The founder’s full file.
No. 049
Medusa’s Family File: Sisters, Sons and a Grinning Face
Hesiod gave Medusa immortal sisters, a sea-god lover and two sons who sprang from her neck. Archaic artists gave her tusks and a grin. The Gorgon’s record, before Ovid rewrote it.
No. 020
Persephone: The Queen the Dead Addressed
Most retellings stop at the abduction. The dead knew Persephone differently: as the queen who heard their pleas, weighed their purity and, on thin leaves of gold, was asked to let them through.
No. 013
Prometheus: The Fire-Thief File
Hesiod made him a trickster, the tragedian a prisoner who would not bend, Plato an inspector who arrived too late. The Prometheus sources laid side by side, down to the clay.