Apollo's Raven: Linnea Tanner Heroine Mythological Adventure

Apollo's Raven: Linnea Tanner Heroine Mythological Adventure:   Introduction Linnea Tanner is a native of Colorado where she attended the University of Colorado and earned her BA and MS in chemi...

Apollo and Coronis; White Raven; Association with Healing

Apollo and Coronis

In Greek mythology, there is a tale of  Apollo who fell in love with Coronis, a Thessalian princess of unsurpassed beauty. He commanded his divine messenger, the white  raven, to guard Coronis. Though Coronis was pregnant with Apollo's child, she strangely did not care for her divine lover, but gave in to the advances of a mere mortal, Prince Ischys. She did not consider that Apollo, The God of Truth, could never be himself deceived.

Apollo and Human Lover, Swedish Royal Palace

 

Apollo ordered the raven to guard Coronis. When the raven brought news to Apollo of his lover’s infidelity, he became enraged that his faithful messenger had not pecked out the eyes of the prince. Apollo flung a curse so furious the raven's pure white feathers were scorched black. Apollo killed Ischys and sent his sister, Artemis, to slay Coronis with her deadly arrows (other accounts indicate Apollo killed Coronis himself).

 

In spite of his ruthlessness, Apollo felt a pang of grief as he watched Coronis be placed on the pyre and the flames roar up. At the last moment, he removed his son from the womb. Apollo gave his newborn son, Asclepius, to the wise centaur, Chiron, who taught him the art of healing herbs. Thereafter, Apollo became associated with healing through his son, Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing.

 

Coronis was set among the stars as Corvus, the crow (korônê in Greek).

Apollo's Raven

 

Rome's Association of Apollo with Healing

The Romans closely associated Apollo with healing. The Roman historian Livy recounts a plague in 433 BCE when the Roman people vowed to build a temple to Apollo and performed rituals to quell the wrath of the gods so the pestilence would not spread. Two years later, the Romans dedicated a temple to Apollo who they attributed for ending the epidemic. Up to the time of Emperor Augustus, the temple of Apollo Medicus was the only temple of Apollo in Rome. In 212 BCE the Romans instituted games in his honor, Ludi Apollinares. After the Roman conquest of Gaul, archaeological research shows inscriptions at Gallic healing sanctuaries combining “Apollo’ with the native names such as Apollo Belenus or Apollo Grannus.

Statue of Apollo in Marseilles France

 

References:

Fritz Graff, Apollo; Printed 2009 by Routledge, New York.

Edith Hamilton, Mythology; Printed 2013 by Back Bay Books, New York.

Refer to website: http://www.theoi.com/Heroine/Koronis.html

Linnea Tanner Heroine Mythological Adventure

 

Introduction

Linnea Tanner is a native of Colorado where she attended the University of Colorado and earned her BA and MS in chemistry. After working in the pharmaceutical industry, she is now an aspiring writer of historical fantasy, romance, and adventure based on her lifelong passion for Ancient Rome, Celtic Britain, and mythology. 

 

Life Venture of Linnea Tanner

As a child, Linnea was an avid reader of Greek/Roman/Nordic mythology which opened up a new world of gods/goddesses, heroes, and mythological adventure. Using this fantastical world as a base, Linnea imagined herself as a heroine warrior on a perilous odyssey to overcome nearly insurmountable obstacles. Other characters joined Linnea on this journey, including Romans, who taught her about courage, love, duty, loyalty, and sacrifice. Yet most schools taught history and mythology in the biased viewpoint of male conquerors; women were invisible in the background.

 

Linnea's childhood characters stayed with her as she began her life venture: marriage to her soul mate, birth of two children, education, and professional career. However, she rediscovered the wonder of the goddess mythology from ancient civilizations where women and men worked in partnership (“The Chalice & the Blade” by Riane Eisler). She was inspired by accounts of Celtic women warriors and rulers, and extensive research and expeditions to the UK and France. In the Celtic warrior society, the rights and status of women far exceeded those of the patriarchal societies of Greece and Rome. During her travels to the UK, Linnea's passion for writing was ignited after she researched the historical account of the Celtic queen Boudica, whose rebellion almost resulted in the withdrawal of all Roman forces from Britain in 60 AD.

 

Vision of Celtic Spirit Chronicles

Linnea Tanner has taken the next step in her next life’s adventure of becoming a writer. She envisions completing the Spirit Warrior Chronicles, an epic historical fantasy set in 1st Century Celtic Britain prior to the Roman invasion in 43 AD. The story is about the heroine, Catrin—a Celtic spirit warrior destined to meet the great grandson of Marc Antony (Marcellus) and to become a warrior queen in her tribal kingdom.

The first two unpublished novels of the Spirit Warrior Chronicles are:

• APOLLO'S RAVEN is set in 24 AD when Catrin begins a perilous odyssey that starts in Celtic Britain (modern day Kent) where she meets Marcellus; ventures into Gaul (modern day France) where she becomes a gladiatrix; and ends in Rome where she reunites and falls in love with Marcellus.

• RAVEN'S FIRE continues the odyssey where Catrin must take on the dark powers of her raven spirit to fulfill her destiny to become warrior queen. The draft of this manuscript is near completion.

 

Purpose of Apollo's Raven Blog

Linnea has begun this blog to share and to survey the opinions of others regarding ancient Celtic and Roman culture and mythology. In addition, she will share some of her research findings and photographs of sites in Britain (ancient Roman Britannia) and France (ancient Roman Gaul) where the heroine, Catrin, travels in her odyssey.

 

See website:

http://www.linneatanner.com/blog/