Greek Mythology Research Paper

Myth comes into being on the base of primitive religious belief and popular folklores, representing the wisdom and intelligence of a group of people. Some people may prejudicially regard myth as some ridiculous, strange and bizarre stories fraught with queer and absurd characters and plots which will never actually happen in the real world. If everyone is harboring this disdainful kind of view on myth, it is definitely a great loss culturally and aesthetically. Graf points that “a myth makes a valid statement about the origins of the world, of society and of its institutions, about the gods and their relationship which mortals, in short, about everything on which human existence depends”. (3) Greek myth, an indispensable component of the myth

These gods lead a life very close to mundane life. They not only serve as examples of virtues and traits but also contain a lot of shortcomings such as jealousy, vanity, revenge, extravagance as well as passion for power fight and love affairs. In stark contrast to Greek myth, gods or goddesses in some Chinese myths are perfect and flawless. The well-known Goddess of Sky-patching has devoted herself entirely to the welfare of people on the earth with the least pursuit of individual happiness and felicity. A complexity is characteristic of Greek gods who own mighty and power but still are troubled by limitations. The protagonist this paper is going to focus on is such a god with complicated

Impious Ixion for his inhuman cruelties was bound to a fiery wheel and racked and torn by its swift revolutions. Tantalus, who abused the hospitality of the gods, ever tortured by hunger and consuming thirst, tried in vain to reach fruits hung just above his head, or stooped to drink the water which always eluded his wrinkled lips. The most famous one might be the story of Sisyphus. As a Greek tyrant, Sisyphus was tempted to escape from death, so he deceived Hades into putting on his handcuffs stop Hades from returning to the Underworld. He then had to receive the punishment that he must forever roll up-hill a heavy stone which ever rolled down. Nowadays, this story was usually used to describe seemingly endless torment and pain. If explored further, it contained the eternal topic of the existence and evolvement of human beings. Segal has commented on this point that “rather than embodying the fate that awaits those few human beings who dare to defy the gods, Sisyphus symbolizes the fate of all human who find themselves condemned to live in a world without gods. He is admirable because he accepts the absurdity of human existence, which is less unfair than pointless”. (44) Although Sisyphus was fully aware that his endeavor and attempt would prove futile, he did not choose to give up or commit suicide but toiled on. Sisyphus’s dilemma exactly resembled human conditions. In many occasions, people