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Mythology and its influence on history
Mythology and its influence on history
Mythology and its influence on history
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Within the body of ancient stories and teachings that we call myths lies an array of gods, goddesses, and mystical creatures. These gods and goddesses were mainly concerned with the nature of the world, and had virtue within their own ritualistic practices. The myths that were oriented around such almighty figures became a center of religion in ancient Greece. This became Greek mythology, and further became a considerable influence on culture, arts, and literature throughout time. Since then, artists and poets have derived ideas from Greek mythology, and have discovered current influence and pertinence in its subjects. Among the gods and goddesses that dominate the world of Greek mythology stands Aphrodite. Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty, and eternal youth. Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love and Beauty. Her origins differ depending on the story in which her tale is told. According to Hesiod’s Theogony, Aphrodite arose from the foam of Paphos’ …show more content…
For example, a flower blooming may symbolize rebirth and revival, just as a flower’s pigment may pertain death and grief. There were certain kinds of flowers that pertained to Aphrodite the most and that she held dearest to her. One of the flowers was the rose. Roses have signified beauty since ancient times, and for ancient Romans, the rose was especially associated with Aphrodite. According to an article entitled, “Aphrodite: Highlighting Her Symbols and Their Appropriate Meaning,” the author states, “the red rose was stained with the color red when she cut her feet on its thorns while running towards her dying Adonis.” This depiction of the tragic love story between Aphrodite and her love poses as an interesting background behind not only the color red itself, but the flower in which we see as romantic in modern times. What we view as sentimental and charming actually obtains fateful and grievous
In ancient times, the Greeks had absolute and undeniable respect for their gods. They demonstrated their admiration by putting in place many rituals and celebrations to reverence the gods that they loved and feared in order to ensure harmony with them. In particular, the focus will be on the religious beliefs of the Greeks, including prayer and sacrifice, as well as on festivals and the arts, such as the ancient Olympic games and theatre. These aspects of their culture made a significant contribution to their quality of life. Moreover, these topics will be examined in relation to the twelve Olympian gods and their associates.
Constantly causing disorder in the mortal world and between the Gods was Aphrodite, the goddess of love, sex, beauty and fertility. Aphrodite’s origin is very mysterious. There are two myths surrounding the birth of this ancient Greek deity. Aphrodite is commonly associated with jealousy and revenge. She always sought punishment for anyone who rejected her, or thought they were more perfect than her.
Long ago, stories of gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters in ancient Greece were essential to everyday life. Mythology is a culture’s collective rationalization of events, history, and super natural power. Myths are told to have originated in ancient Greece during but the concepts true source is unknown. Influences mythology has on Greeks and Romans include religion, history, art, and entertainment.
Aphrodite is one of the most famous figures of Greek mythology, because Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexual rapture. She was desired by nearly all of the Greek gods. Aphrodite was one of the twelve main gods on Mt. Olympus, and she was the most powerful goddess when it came to members of the opposite sex. There are many origins to Aphrodite's birth. Some of them are: She arose full-grown out of the foam of the sea, She is the daughter of Zeus and Dionne, She is the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, which would make her a Titaness, or She is the daughter of Titans Oceanus and Tethys, making her an Oceanid. (Dittus 34-35) “The most common origin of her birth is her being foam-born, which is what her name means” (Parin 45). This origin says that Aphrodite arose nude and full-grown out of the foam of the sea and riding into the shore of Cythera on a scallop shell. She found Cythera to be too small of an island, so she went to live in Paphos, in Cyprus, which is still the principal seat of her worship.
The act of studying mythology can be an extremely unifying thing. For humans as a species, myths connect us with our collective history by allowing us to see through the eyes of our ancestors. Potentially much more than in novels, myths allow us to enter into the ancient world on a deeper level; through them we are exposed to the popular worldview and superstitions of the day. The inner workings of ancient human beings are visible, and it becomes strikingly clear that they were not all that different than we are. They experienced similar hopes and fears, they felt the rapturous beauty of falling in love, and cursed the crushing pangs of loss. They missed loved ones when they were away, anxiously counting the days and watching the horizons for their return. Seeing, breathing, speaking creatures, they were living, emotional beings. Their hearts vigorously pumped lifeblood through their capillaries until the day of their death. (Ellwood, 9)
HEPHAESTUS AND APHRODITE APHRODITE Aphrodite is one of the most famous figures of Greek mythology. Because Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexual rapture,1 she was desired by. nearly all of the Greek gods. Aphrodite was one of the twelve main gods on Mt. Olympus,2 and she was the most powerful goddess when it came to members of the opposite sex of the sex.
She places in people the desire to have sexual relations and causes fear in men of the power of seduction by women. Her marriage to her husband was ignored as she had affairs with immortal and mortal men. Her infidelity in her marriage places her on the side with Greek men, rather than Greek women because only Greek men were able to cheat on their wives; not the other way around. In conclusion, the three important rules discussed in this paper that Greek women were required to obey, can be seen in the myths of the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Whether or not the Greek goddesses obeyed or did not obey these rules, their importance to the Greek culture is ever strong.
Both of them stand in contrapposto stance twisted along their axis with their weight tilted and their limbs bent, and their heads turn to left side downward. Aphrodite put her right hand over genitalia and left hand draping her garment over a large water pitcher. In contrast, the woman in The Greek Slave has her left hand over genitalia and right hand leaning on post draped with patterned cloth (Brooklyn Museum wall label). The significant different from Aphrodite is the Greek slave’s hands were bound together with chains, which indicates her social identity. Aphrodite, the goddess in Greek Mythology, engages in a trivial act out of everyday life. She has removed her clothing, draped it over a large water pitcher, and is stepping into the bath. The Greek slave has very similar pose but with her hands bound. She is not doing daily work like Aphrodite, but is leaning on post draped and probably waiting for sell. The Greek Slave is more details and smooth than Aphrodite of Knidos. Powers makes a return to ancient Greek by using the same pose with Aphrodite of Knidos, but expresses different social
Mythology was an integral part of the lives of all ancient peoples. The myths of
Ancient world literature and early civilization stories are mostly centered on human’s relationship with higher beings. Ancient civilizations were extremely religious, holding the belief that their very lives were in the hands of their almighty god or goddess. This holds true for both the people of biblical times as well as those of the epic era. However, their stories have some differences according to cultural variation but the main structure, ideas, and themes are generally found correlative. It is hard to believe that one work did not affect the others. The first great heroic epic poem of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament are parts of two cultures that are hundreds of years apart. Whereas Gilgamesh is a myth and the book of Genesis is the basis of many religions, they both have notably similar accounts of symbols, motifs, meaningful events according to the relationship between the divine and humans in literature.
One important reason why Aphrodite would be a good model is because she’s beautiful. The Iliad had always described Aphrodite as very beautiful and fragile. She is even said to be born out of sea foam. The text states, “Because of her beauty, other gods feared that their rivalry for her favours might lead to conflict and war” (Aphrodite).
Aphrodite was one of the nine that were known as the Great Goddesses, “an awful and lovely goddess,” according to Hesiod (Theogony), born of the foam that ensued when Kronos cut off Uranos’ genitals and they fell into the sea. She first walked ashore in Cyprus, and was welcomed by the Seasons (Hours):
Born from the remains of the castration of Uranus, Aphrodite arose from the foam in the sea and became known as the goddess of love to those who worshipped her, described by Hesoid. We see another version of her this goddess’s birth as well, from the gods Zeus and Dione, leaving a double tradition of Aphrodite’s birth and a basic duality in her character. Artemis, the Greek goddess of wild things, was born to Zeus and Leto, and remained a virgin goddess who roamed the forests with her female companions. These two goddesses disagreeing viewpoints on sexual relationships naturally set them up to have a conflicting relationship, yet their well-known trait of revenge in their myths bring a similarity to both the goddess of love and of hunting. Their personalities are compared through their primary functions in Greek mythology and physical characteristics, their behavior in myths that they are involved in, their portrayal in Greek art and literature, and if and how they are worshipped in Greek religion.
Thury, Eva and Margaret K. Devinney. “Theory: Man and His Symbols.” Introduction to Mythology: Contemporary Approaches to Classical and World Myths. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. 519-537. Print.
Aphrodite and Athena were both great powerful women who were revered as goddesses in greek mythology. They both were greatly worshipped, however due to their distinct personality traits they were worshipped and spoken about and very different ways. Both goddesses are immortal and female, and both seem to distinguish the incongruous gender roles between men and women throughout ancient Greece. What makes these two goddesses interesting, however, is their differences, which will determine how they will be reflected in myth. On one hand you have Athena, the androgynous goddess of war and wisdom. On the other you have Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sexuality. During this time, even among the immortals, women were seen as inferior and less