Many people of this time looked up to the gods and put them on pedestals. In today’s culture, aspects of Hercules and other mythological character are very evident. Modern Society has somewhat changed the story of Hercules. They glorified him as a ladies man with big muscles. Hercules was all that but he also had a very bad temper, which shows in many examples of sacrificial prayer.
Similarly, Hercules was also a special hero. He was a demigod who had superhuman strength. After murdering his family, Hercules was sentenced to twelve very dangerous labors. After Hercules died, he was considered as one of the greatest heroes in Greek Mythology. Both great Greek heroes are similar in many ways but also very different in early life and accomplishments.
The three of them all drew straws to split up the universe. Zeus drew the biggest meaning he was in control of the sky and immortal/mortal beings sort of like Uranus. Poseidon Drew the next biggest and became in charge of the sea. Hades drew the smallest and was made the ruler of the underworld. This all together is known as “A dawn of a new era” due to the fact that there were new rulers for the world.
“…Aeneas seized a great stone, so huge that two men, as men now are, would be unable to lift it, but Aeneas wielded it quite easily.” (The Iliad) This is a clue that it was common for people to have great respect for their ancestors at the time, and Homer reflects this in his poem. The poem brings more character and opinion into the Trojan War than a factual account. It shows the thoughts and feelings of many people, from their points of view. It attributes the victories of certain battles not only to those fighting, but also to the gods. The Iliad deals with the war on a huge scale, speaking of large armies congregating from all over Greece, and yet also on a more personal scale, showing the regret that Helen feels when she thinks of all those who have suffered and died because of her.
On the Trojan side was Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Leto, Xanthus, and Aphrodite (20.41-43). However, some gods like Zeus did not officially take sides, but by their actions, someone could deduce what side they were on. In the Trojan War, Zeus, the most feared of all the gods, impacted the Trojan War definitively more than all the other gods; he did this both directly and indirectly. The Iliad is an epic poem and is one of the earliest works of ancient Greek literature (Murnaghan 2). According to most scholars, it was written by Homer in ancient Greece (Spievogel 47).
But mainly what I found most interesting of all was that even though he was the god of war he was still able to be defeated by gods that were under his status and even by mortals or in other words humans. Which, in a way is very embarrassing for a god that is one of the twelve gods on Mount Olympus. So I decide that I want to know, why? So I started looking and looking for myths that would help me find the answer I was looking for and that is when I came across the myth of Ares and Hercules, another of Zeus sons. The god of war, Ares, was a very handsome looking god because he was able to make Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love, even feel in love with him while she was married to another man.
There were gods for everything in life like government, sex, month of birth, trade, and human traits (i.e. wisdom, love, war, birth, rain, etc.) The Greeks believed that the only answer to death was to be remembered in fantastic tales and heroic deeds. Many of the gods existed with characteristics like the mortal man with the exception of death and powers of unnatural strength, intelligence, and other amplified human characteristics. The main gods that were worshiped were the twelve Olympian Gods although there were others as well.
Greek Mythology and Superheroes Thousands of years ago what is now considered mythology and folklore was actual religion among the indigenous cultures of those beliefs. Among those, Greek Mythology is the most well-known and referenced. Greek Gods were not visions of perfection. They had personal problems, arguments, wars, and a great multitude of affairs. The Greek gods were essentially characters in the works of many great writers and it can be debated that belief in these gods came second to the writing of the stories.
The Anglo-Saxon mindset that a hero must be more than a man comes from the Greeks. The Greeks typically meant that their heroes must be demigods, but the Anglo-Saxons took the concept and applied the strength and wisdom to a mortal man. One very important intertwined concept of the epic hero is the hunt for a quest. Epic heroes seek out opportunities and take it upon themselves to find/carry out a quest. Ultimately quests are a huge part in the make-up of an epic hero.
"Heliopolis, located in the main pyramid are with the other god villages,"(Cavendish 67) was where the Zeus equivalent prominently dwelled and although he "was a ruler he had no power significa... ... middle of paper ... ...se the Greeks had more structure, rank, and class distinctions their mythology was looked upon as the best and related to most often. Greek and Egyptian mythology shared many things, including the use of gods, creators and stories, the Greeks however put more structure into these areas and developed these and others. The Greek's culture affected their culture and others because they had such a strong basis for their mythology and life. Many cultures stole what the Greeks had because it was so strong. Even in current life, Greek mythology is still a factor.