Introduction
The concept of god changes from culture to culture. As a result, there have been countless gods and goddesses in different parts of the world at different points of time. Hence, it is seen that they have different characteristics. However, the fact cannot be denied that there are many parallelisms among them. It is in this context that a comparison as well as contrast among gods in different mythologies attains significance. Greek and Norse mythologies are remarkable for their influence all across the world. The gods in these mythologies have wider acceptance for their varied reasons. On a critical analysis, it becomes clear that there are both similarities and dissimilarities between them. While Norse and Greek gods have parallelisms in their involvement with the human world, they differ in their nature as well as interaction with people.
Norse mythology is rich with a number of gods and goddesses who have much importance in shaping the very culture of the region. One of the chief aspects of the Norse mythology is that it has gods for each and every aspect of human affairs. Most of them are related to nature, and are phenomenal for their strength as well as intelligence. This principle is applicable for both Norse and Greek gods (Low, p.25). There are specialized gods for many aspects of human beings such as wisdom, courage and other emotions including love. Gods in both the mythologies have similarities in their interaction with humans as well. It is seen that many gods directly come to the human world and deal with people in order to settle their issues. At some points of time, it is seen that the gods favors some people and works against some others. However, they always try to upheld moral values by fighting a...
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Conclusion
Each mythology represents a culture. For the same reason, mythologies and the character involved in them change fundamentally from culture to culture. Norse and Greek mythologies are remarkable for their acceptance all over the world at all times. Hence, there has been an array of discussions on varied aspects of them. An analysis on the nature of gods clarify that there are elementary differences between the concept of god is both the myths. While the Greek gods keep a little distance from human beings, the Norse gods seem to be closely attached to the subjects. Also, there are differences even in their appearance. Mythologies explain that the Greek gods are immortal while the Norse gods grow old and perish. Even in the midst of many similarities, it is seen that the gods in Norse and Greek mythologies have a lot of differences.
Many authors have employed the religious beliefs of their cultures in literature. The deities contained in Homer’s Odyssey and in the Biblical book of Exodus reflect the nature of the gods in their respective societies. Upon examination of these two works, there are three major areas where the gods of the Greek epic seem to directly contrast the nature of the God of the Israelites: the way problems are solved, the prestige and status that separates the divine from the masses, and the extent of power among the immortal beings.
My research paper will investigate the Greek God Apollo. The reason I chose Apollo was I have never had a chance to look into other Gods or Goddess’ other than Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. The next seven paragraphs are paraphrased depictions, stories and relational information directly related to the god Apollo The information was compiled by author: Atsma, Aaron J., on the website: Theoi.com. Theoi Project Copyright © 2000 – 2011. 12 May 2014. Each paragraph is a separate encyclopedia reference and is noted in the following footnotes reference.
How did people revere their gods differently among three civilizations? Did they worship with the same general intent? What were gods’ role(s) in people’s lives? A brief exploration into the religions of Egypt, Greece, and the Hebrew people may bring insight to these questions. Although the main idea of higher beings remains constant throughout societies’ religion, their form of presence in people’s lives varies. I will present the relationship between the leaders and the gods, as well as resemblance to monotheism and systems of government.
The Greeks believed that the earth was formed before any of the gods appeared. The gods, as the Greeks knew them, all originated with Father Heaven, and Mother Earth. Father Heaven was known as Uranus, and Mother Earth, as Gaea. Uranus and Gaea raised many children. Amoung them were the Cyclopes, the Titans, and the Hecatoncheires, or the
The gods worshipped by the Norse people can be separated into two groups; the Aesir and the Vanir. The Aesir are the gods that hold the cosmos together and were the most commonly worshipped. The leader of these gods is Odin. (Infoplease.) He is the Allfather; the father of all gods, and the ancestor of many families in Northern Europe. He is also a war god. Although in our culture today he is portrayed as an honorable leader and battlefield commander, the Norse
Every ancient society and civilization has creation myths that were passed down and keep alive throughout the passing of time by word of mouth. These myths are the world’s oldest stories and are vital to these cultures because they explain their beginnings and give purpose to their existence. By analyzing and interpreting different creation myths it becomes easier to understand different cultures and their connections and relationships with heir beliefs and god(s).
When they arrived, they brought their beliefs with them, and with that, their gods. The old gods are changed in very different ways, changes for example, in their names, character, and so on. Such as Mr. Wednesday, he is now known as Mr. Wednesday. When he was first created by the Norse people he was the king of the gods, the all-father, Odin, was the most well known of the over 170 names associated with him, from mercury to wōđanaz to even Óðinsdagr. The god in Norse mythology of a multitude of things: knowledge, sorcery, death, royalty, runic alphabet, healing, battle, poetry, frenzy, and the gallows. He was first derived from the roman god, mercury, in the 1st century. He then became widely accepted as a god among much of Europe, though he takes a much higher role in the Norse texts. A great majority of texts mentioning Odin, were Norse and from around the 13th century. Just as Odin was in the old European religions, Mr. Wednesday takes an particularly crucial role in American Gods, the role of the ringleader. He is preoccupied with gathering and joining the old gods into an army to finish the war that has begun with the new gods
Norse, Japanese, and Greek mythologies, too, agree on a lot of ideals. They each contain a clash of gods and the death of certain gods in order to form life. The list of creation myths, and myths in general, that relate to each other could stretch out for miles. With these parallels, humanity can better understand earlier cultures and document the method to how mythologies change over time. Works Cited Browning, W. R. F. Dictionary of the Bible.
The Ancient Greeks believed strongly in their gods and goddesses, they believed that the gods often intervened in their lives. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Homer portrays relationship between the mortals and immortals as immortals have the ultimate power over mortals. The mortals are at the mercy of the immortals. The gods can be generous and supportive but also destructive to any human being.
Throughout time each civilization has spread its folklore about their gods. Mythology is the collection of a societys myths and during older times mythology was thought to be created by the people who did not see the world like everyone else. Those people saw the world full of beautiful, magical possiblities. Many of the stories still hold an impact on the world today. Maybe not in the sense of worship, but people are intrigued to figure out the state of mind of the ancient people that once worshipped these gods. Some civilzations worshipped these gods in hope that they would help them in their daily lives. Most civilizations had gods for everything taht imacted their lives. Civilizations had gods that controlled the weather, the harvest, or
Ancient Roman mythology consisted of a combination of rituals, beliefs, and observances of supernatural occurrences. They were based heavily on the idea of Greek mythology. As legend has it, the gods resembled human figures but they were bigger stronger and much more beautiful than that of the ancient roman gods. Even though the Roman gods were not depicted to be as beautiful they still were thought of with high admiration by roman citizens. The roman’s paid homage to the gods, in doing so they expected protection, fertility, prosperity, and good health in return for their allegiance.
Because of the under development of science, Ancient Greeks used mythologies and associated to the gods anything that they could not explain or understand, which also have revealed many aspects of their culture and society, including their views toward gods. Through the survived works of ancient Greeks, one can see that the concept of exchange plays a center role in the relationship between human beings and gods; and that the ancient Greeks had absolutely and undeniably respect for their gods, who are human-like and demand to be glorified.
Mythology is the basis of human nature. From the beginning of literature, mythology has defined what has been seen as the “unexplainable” or “unnatural”. Around the world, mythology has a strong impact on the beliefs of other cultures and affects their view of the world around them. Babylonian mythology and its themes of friendship and mortality explain the natural phenomenon that occurred in everyday life, the creation of the world and the creation of humankind.
Hundreds of years ago people did not have the technology to explain different forces of nature. They created gods, each with separate powers, to rule their domains. Some of the gods were merciful, some were wicked, and others were merely servants of more powerful gods. Looking at the gods, it is easy to tell what the civilization most valued. I am going to look at the Greek and the Norse gods to compare what was most important to their societies.
Throughout studying many myths, I came up with many new observations. Many questions came into my mind about these myths. Greek mythology takes us back to a time when people had a connection with nature and when nature played a major role in people’s lives. The religious beliefs of the people who wrote the myths are found in the background of these myths; however, they are not to be read like religious texts. The myths try to offer explanations of “how”, which makes us think deeply about the purpose of these myths and the questions they draw to our minds. According to the myths we studied in class, the world created the gods, not the other way around. The gods were always created in the image of man, which shows how much men were important in their society. Furthermore, many of these Greek myths show us the difference between the views of the Greek then and our view towards many aspects of the society, including nature. Monsters appear in Greek myths and have different representations and roles. Greek mythology reflects a view of the Greeks towards the world and how certain aspects of their lives are similar and different to modern society.