The Gunpowder Treason and Plot

"Remember, remember the fifth of November.

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.

I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot."

This famous rhyme, still popular in U.K. as a symbol of liberation reminds us why an event in history could hold so much importance for Britishers. Till today, the night of 5th November is celebrated in U.K. with a bonfire with people singing songs and burning fireworks.

The event is associated with a gunpowder plot, planned to kill the then king of Scotland, James IV,  who recently took over the throne succeeding King James 1.  James IV, who promised that the system under his regime would prosper for the Catholic group was unable to stand up to his word. Robert Catesby, the mastermind behind the plot, called upon his fellow mates to strategize a plan to blow up the King and the House of Lords. Among his fellow mates was the infamous Guy Fawkes, who had a history of being a part of such notorious plans. All of them belonged to wealthy catholic families and were opposed to the new religion. Catesby hope to bring back Catholicism in England.

Guy Fawkes, the executor of the plot, was recruited because of his knowledge of gunpowder, a skill he acquired while working as a mercenary soldier. The plan was set on execution, starting off by renting a vault near the parliament. During the next few weeks, they accumulated enough gunpowder to bring down the whole parliament into ashes.

Just a few days before the D-Day, one of the members of the house of lords,Mounteagle,  received an anonymous letter as a sign of warning of the upcoming fiasco. Mounteagle spring into action and immediately informed the rest of the members about it. James did not call for any immediate action, since that would bleak off the chances of catching the conspirators red-handed. On the night of the 4th of November, the king’s men swung into action, thoroughly searching each and every corner of the parliament. It didn't take them much time to come across a suspiciously large store of firewood. Guy Fawkes, the final key to the whole plan was caught on the spot with torch-wood and matches. He was taken in for interrogation and the whole plot crumbled like a pack of cards.

He was tortured severely till Nov 7, until he broke down, and gave all the information to the authorities about the fellow plotters. Eventually, all 13 men were caught and were found guilty of treason to the state. They all were sentenced to gruesome death of hanging, drawing and quartering. This kind of severe punishment was given in case of a severe crime, treason being one of them, Just when you thought game of thrones was just a violent series, you come to know that such events actually had happened in the past.

Its a process in which the guilty is drawn/dragged by a horse to the place of execution. Then he is hanged in a manner where his neck is not broken by a drop, but just to the point that he is conscious of the misery that he was about to face. Then came the gruesome part, when his intestines, private parts and heart were taken out of his body and burned before him. Most of the guilty died of shock and haemorrhage. After he died, he was beheaded and his body was quartered i.e. cut into 4 parts for burying. Sometimes, the head was placed on a spear and mounted on top of the castle/London bridge as an act of reminding the people what would happen if they commit such a crime. This kind of punishment was one of the worst given in ancient British period.

King James, elated the a plot of such magnitude was avoided, ordered celebration by lighting bonfires throughout London which is followed even today. 5th of November is also observed as the Guy Fawke’s day.

This event was also used as an idea in the plot for the popular movie V for Vendetta, a fantastic concept in itself

Cerberus - The mythical Creature

Cerberus is an ancient creature in greek and roman mythology with 3 heads of a dog. It guards the entrance of hades, to prevent people from the underworld from escaping. Cerberus was the offspring of Echidna, a hybrid half-woman and half-serpent, and Typhon, a fearful gigantic monster

The three heads usually represent the past, present and the future while some believe it represents birth, youth and old age. It has an appetite for live meat so doesn’t allow anyone to enter, apart from souls, and do not allow the souls to exit. 

Killing cerebrus was the 12^th herculean task given to Heracles. In the underworld, Heracles met theseus and pirithous. He freed them both who had been captured by hades ages ago.

Heracles found hades and asked his permission to bring cerebrus to the surface. Hades asked him to overpower the beast without using any weapons. Heracles did so and carried the beast on his back to king eurystheus. King was frightened of the beast and asked Heracles to carry it back to the underworld in exchange of release from his labours.

Cerberus can also be found in the dante’s 3^rd circle of hell, where those who have succumbed to the sin of gluttony have come.

The DEVIL !

According to the old testament, satan is considered to be the spirit responsible for stealing life. He is just the messenger of god to do evil work. Since time started, people have this images of evil creatures with horns but none is as powerful as the satan. This spirit lived in a shadowy place where all men and women who died went, irrespective of their deeds being good or bad.

In ancient Persia, Zorast created two concepts. Good and bad. One must choose between them to decide their fate after death to heaven or hell. The good one was called ahura mazda. Bad one was ahrihem.Ahura mazda was the god of light and truth.Ahrimen was the god of darkness, lies and deception.

Then came hades in greeek mythology. He spent more time in the underworld. No human liked him. He was likeable, but he wasn’t evil either. He was the god of justice. He decided whether people after death goes to a place of happiness or misery. He Is also the god of wealth and abundance. He had a two pronged fork for blasting things.

Zeus throws typhon away into tarturus, the lowest region of the underworld. The idea grew up as ages passed by, and it is presumed that the devil called upon his fallen angels. In ancient Jerusalem, there is this ancient place called gahena which was an old stinking rubbish place, where executed criminals were burned. This place came to be designated as hell. Gahens was the inspiration for the concept of hell.

In the new testament, the devil is given the name , beast 666. Theer was an ancient language called Aramaic. When nero Caesar was translated to Aramaic, the number came out to be 666. The new testament says that the devil was driven out and pushed into the abyss. One day it will rise and there shall be a battle between good and evil. The devil has wings, depicting that once he was an angel. They looked more like the wings of a dragon. Dragon symbolized evil force. It’s the dragon that the satan inherits its turned feet. When satan isn’t being a dragon, he is a snake. The serpent which tempted eve into the garden was thought to be the devil.

400 AD, a roman emeror Constantine converts to Christianity. Christianity becomes a mighty empire. Church bishops have power to influence. Constantine made this religion more popular and told people to accept. No option was given. If you are not with the state and the empire, you are with satan. As time grew, people against the state were executed, in the name of devil.

Greek of shepherd and flocks was Pan. His is like a goat like creature. Satan adopts his feature and becomes a creature with horns and panned legs.

Succubus is an ancient female demon which comes in dreams and seduces men. Incubus is a male demon seducing women at night.

Muslims were looked down upon and treated as if they were the preachers of satan. There were attached under the orders under king Philip, on Friday 13^th,1307.

The legend of Sisyphus

Sisyphus, who defied the gods and put Death in chains so that no human needed to die. When Death was eventually liberated by Ares- the god of War. and it came time for Sisyphus himself to die, he planned a deceit to escape from the underworld. When he was finally captured, the gods decided upon a punishment for him. He would have to push a rock up a mountain; upon reaching the top, the rock would roll down again, leaving Sisyphus to start over. Camus sees Sisyphus as the absurd hero who lives life to the fullest, hates death, and is condemned to a meaningless task.

Camus presents Sisyphus's ceaseless and pointless toil as a metaphor for modern lives spent working at futile jobs in factories and offices. "The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious."
Camus is interested in Sisyphus' thoughts when marching down the mountain, to start anew. This is the truly tragic moment, when the hero becomes conscious of his wretched condition. He does not have hope, but "there is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn." Acknowledging the truth will conquer it; Sisyphus, just like the absurd man, keeps pushing. Camus claims that when Sisyphus acknowledges the futility of his task and the certainty of his fate, he is freed to realize the absurdity of his situation and to reach a state of contented acceptance. With a nod to the similarly cursed Greek hero Oedipus, Camus concludes that "all is well," indeed, that "one must imagine Sisyphus happy."

For the French philosopher and writer Albert Camus, the Greek myth of Sisyphus perfectly captured the human condition. Sisyphus was condemned to a life of meaningless activity—pushing a boulder up a hill again and again and again, without purpose or accomplishment. If the miscreant king had any hope of finding meaning in this existence, it had to come from inside him.

This is the existential condition, as philosophers have described it from the 19th century on. Understanding the absurdity of it—and understanding that one is personally responsible for making life meaningful—can be a source of overpowering anxiety and unease—what philosophers have called existential dread.

But how is this dread processed in the human mind? What exactly is going on in the brain when meaning is threatened and we struggle to affirm it? Such questions are increasingly being explored not only by philosophers but by psychological scientists as well, including two from the University of British Columbia. Steven Heine and Daniel Randles wondered if existential suffering might have the same neurological source as other suffering—the pain of social rejection, say, or even the pain of a stubbed toe.

Zeus- The God of Sky

He was also responsible for passing judgement to gods and mortals. He has the power of nature, carrying the lightning bolt as a weapon. A tribute to his power. The natural world was scary for the mortals. They did not know why lightning strikes randomly during storms.  So they said they were symptoms of gods power.

Origin : theogony, same as book of genesis

In the myth, cronos was the king of the titans, then the most powerful gods in the universe. They were not well civilized. As god, he must mate and produce offsprings. So he mates with his own sister, Rea. Old saying says that no one is good enough for our family than our own family. So incest was common. Hades, poseidon and zeus. But cronos was scared that his own son would replace him and become more powerful. So cronos decides to swallow them up. Now since they are immortals, they cannot die. They are just locked into his belly. Rea is horrified. When rea is pregnant again, she goes to a cave and gives birth to zeus. When cronos demands of the child, she gives him a rock to swallow. Zeus is saved. Myth says zeus was born on the island of crete on a mountain. Zeus grows up in the cave. He needs to reinstate his own position. If he loses, he will have to go to tarturus, the hell. Highest peak in Greece, mount Olympus. Other children grew up inside belly. Zeus mixes something and gives to cronos. Cronos becomes ill and starts vomiting. First the rock comes out which rea had given her. That rock is today the foundation for the ancient temple of Delphi, the home of the oracle. It ws a temple where people would come to ask god for advice. Zeus now has siblings by his side who have escaped from cronos’s belly. But he needs more manpower to defeat cronos. There were forgotten brothers of cronos, the Cyclops in tarturus , and the 100 handers. Zeus convinces them to be on his side. They are happy since zeus has released them and treates them equally. Cyclops present zeus with a gift, the power of lightning.

Battle begins

100 handers throw mountains on other side. Zeus throwing lightning. Actual volcanic eruptions happened there. Tifon is summoned by cronos. Dion temple dedicated to zeus built near mt Olympus. Eagles were symbol of zeus. Zeus has this uncontrollable sex drive. He changed forms to mate with them. Sometimes eagle,  sometimes swan and sometimes bull. One day he got attracted to this woman god called metis. Metis means practical wisdom. Prophecy tells that one day his son wil defeat him, so he swallows metis. He absorbs her wisdom too. He needs a new wife. He marries his sister, Hera. Hera is powerful. Queen of goddesses. She is jealous as zeus is always going uot with other women. So she plans to overthrow zeus. She ties him on his own bed. All Olympians gather together.

All other Olympians were condemned Apollo and poseidon to built walls of troy. Justice has been served.

Once zeus sees humans involved in cannibalism. He gets angry. Punishes by sending storms for 9 days and 9 nights. Only 2 people survive by travelling in an ark. After this incident came Christianity which started replacing the authority of zeus.

Ares- God of War

ARES was the great Olympian god of war, battlelust, civil order. He was depicted as either a mature, bearded warrior dressed in battle arms, or a nude beardless youth with helm and spear.The symbol of Ares was the spear and his sacred animal was the dog.The month March was named in honour of Ares (Mars), and war dances were held during that period.

Ares was famous for having an affair with the goddess Aphrodite.With her he fathered Deimos, Phobes, Eros, Adrestra, Anteros and probably the most dangerous of all was Cycnus. Once when Ares and Aphrodite were making love, Helios, the god of sun, saw them. He went back and told Hephaestus, Aphrodite's husband. Hephaestus wove an invisible net and placed it as an ambush trap. Next time the two lovers met, they were both trapped. Hephaestus then called all the other gods to look at them, caught red-handed.

Ares is also alleged to have killed Adonis, Aphrodite's lover. Aphrodite fell in love with this youth, possibly because she was wounded by an arrow by Eros.Aphrodite sheltered Adonis as a new-born baby and entrusted him to Persephone. But Persephone was herself attracted towards Adonis.The dispute between the two goddesses was settled by Zeus. Adonis was to spend one-third of every year with each goddess and the last third wherever he chose. He chose to spend two-thirds of the year with Aphrodite.Adonis was killed by a wild boar, which was apparently Ares disguised.

Kadmos, who was searching for the kidnapped Europa together with his mother, reached a place Samothrake, where his mother died. After the funeral he went to see the Oracle of Delphi. This told him that he would better forget to find Europa, as the Oracle knew who had kidnapped her. Instead of this, he should just wait until the day he would find a herd of cows. If one of them would have a moon-shaped sign on its ass, then he should kick the cow and follow the animal to there where it would die. There he should found a city. So he did, founding the city of Theban and creating the Theban Saga. Nearby, next to a fountain, there lived a dragon. Kadmos killed the beast. He did not know that the dragon belonged to the war god Ares. To stop the rage of Ares, Athena advice him to take the teeth of the dragon and to sow them as if they were regular seeds. From the teeth grew men that, as soon as they were out of the earth, started to fight against each other. He named them Spartoi, and these were the ancestors of the Spartans. Even then, Kadmos had still to serve Ares during eight years and to do all kinds of trifles for him. But still he managed to keep one of the dragon teeth, the one that would create the so-called "killer machines". After the 8 years of serving Ares, Kadmos was given Harmonia as a wife. Harmonia was the daughter of the war god and Aphrodite.

According to a late tradition, Ares slew Hallirhothios, the son of Poseidon, when he was on the point of raping Aliped, the daughter of Ares. Hereupon Poseidon accused Ares in the Areiopagos, where the Olympian gods were assembled in court. Ares was acquitted, and this event was believed to have given rise to the name Areiopagos.

Aphrodite- The symbol of love

Aphrodite was an ancient greek mythological symbol of beauty, love, pleasure and and procreation. She is often depicted as a beautiful naked woman accompanied by a winged goddess Eros.Her attributes included a dove, apple, scallop shell and mirror. According to Hesiod, she was born when Uranus (the father of the gods) was castrated by his son Cronus. Cronus threw the severed genitals into the ocean which began to churn and foam about them. From the aphros ("sea foam") arose Aphrodite, and the sea carried her to either Cyprus or Cythera. Hence she is often referred to as Kypris and Cytherea. Homer calls her a daughter of Zeus and Dione.

Zeus was scared that other gods would fight over Aphrodite over her marriage proposals, so he cut all scopes and married her to a hard working smith god Hephaestus. Getting such a wife was a dream for him, so he used all his resources to make beautiful jewellery for her to keep her happy and contended. Aphrodite on the other hand knew about her beauty and was always amongst glitz and glamor. the jewelery made her more popular amongst gods and mortals.


Her corresponding love goddess in roman mythology is venus and her messenger is the Cupid.