Greek Mythology Research Paper

The Maori are a group of New Zealanders, rich and deep in culture with many fascinating stories to share. Myths are a large part of this group’s lifestyle, given that they are shared every time they gather. Many myths explain the reason why humans are here, why the rain falls and mist rise, why the waves are at constant attacks with the land. Another culture that contains many legends to tell is the Greeks, whose stories are quite similar to the Maori’s. Although the Greek and Maori society have developed on opposite faces of the planet, their mythology follows along the same wavelengths such as their creation story, which both contain something bursting into the unknown world, a main hero, and each god and goddess having their own role in

He has essentially fulfilled every one of his sibling’s wishes and brought them to the experience the unknown outside, thus earning him his title of the hero. In many tales, although all told with different dictions, all still revolve around the two lovers embracing, “Tane [lying] on his back and push[ing] with his strong legs, and…forces his parents apart, and Rangi rises high into the heavens” (Wikipedia Tane), thus discharging his brothers from their confinement, and ending with the young gods spilling out into the new world. The stories of Tane and his strength has arranged the foundation of many other myths crucial to the Maori culture and way of thinking, an example being the reason why the storms create havoc among the land through hurricanes, tsunamis, and other ocean related disasters. Along with this theme, the Greeks also made Zeus into their “hero” of their mythology and is the main god that many stories are based upon. He is known as, “…the supreme god he dispensed good and evil and was the father and ruler of all humankind, the fount of kingly power and law and order” (Credo Zeus), mainly because he is elected as king of all gods as he governs over Mount Olympus, the place where many Greek gods are from. This position is due to the bravery he exuded when confronting his father about the topic of ruling the world

Tane, as mentioned many times, is named as the god of forestry and birds. His siblings also have aliases, such as, “Tangaroa…one of the great gods, the god of the sea” (Wikipedia Tangaroa), Rongo: the god of peace and cultivated plants, and many others. These names that are allied with each god help for them to be recognized between the many that appear within Maori myths. Each one of them has their own job to do that makes the world the way it is now. This is the same with Greek mythology, as there are also many gods with certain identifications, such as, “Poseidon…one of the twelve Olympian deities of the pantheon in Greek mythology…his main domain is the ocean, and he is called the ‘God of the Sea’” (Greek Mythology Pantheon Poseidon), which is the Greek equivalent to Tangoroa. Of course, there are many other gods and goddesses that have identities relating to their power: Hades, the god of the underworld, Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, Apollo, the god of the sun, and so on. Each one of these gods and goddesses have their own roles, hence the names affiliated with them, so the people studying mythology, or just people speaking of it in general, may have a sense of who these specific supernatural beings are and what they do for the world, both in the Maori and Greek culture. The gods of the sea take