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similarities between greek and roman gods
evolution of greek mythology over time
similarities between greek and roman gods
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Greek mythology has been around for hundreds of years, and it has influenced much of our culture with it’s outrageous stories and fables. With epics like “The Odyssey” teaching morals to ancient Greece, or myths like Hades and Persephone “explaining” how seasons were created , “the group of stories known as classical myths were first written down by the ancient Greeks,” each having their own plot and storyline, but all leading to one another in a combined piece (Bingham, 6). The stories of Greek Mythology have influenced the arts and literature of the world, displayed the morals that the Greeks believed in, and changed how they thought about science and natural events. Greek mythology began with the civilization and society of the Ancient Greeks, and “the greek society emerged from the Mycenaean civilization, which flourished from 1600 to 1200 B.C.” (Green, 4). It was, as is modern day Greece, located on the Balkan peninsula, and consisted of multiple city-states, or independent kingdoms. It was ruled as a monarchy, which provided Greece with a King and/or Queen. With the decline of Greece in 1200 B.C., “they lost the art of writing”, and spread from Greece to the Mediterranean Sea. In 338 B.C., “King Philip of Macedon became ruler of the Greeks” , with Alexander The Great, his offspring, then became the ruler of Greece, with his death leading to the take-over by Rome (Bingham, 7). During these periods, many stories and legends of the believed Greek Gods were passed orally, and then became written epics or fables such as Homer's The Odyssey. To start, the arts, such as sculptures and paintings, became widely influenced by many of the myths and stories of Greek Mythology. At the National Archaeological Museum of Italy, “‘The Farne... ... middle of paper ... ...u, Evangelia. "Apollo, Daphne and the Laurel Tree." Greek-Gods.info. Evangelia Hatzitsinidou, 04 Dec 2013. Web. 11 Dec 2013. . Hilton, Edith. "Mythology: Themes, Motifs, & Symbols." Sparknotes. Sparknotes, 26 Nov 2013. Web. 4 Dec 2013. . Lupo, Alberto. Rockefeller Center Statue of Atlas. 2008. Array. Panororamio, New York, NY. Web. 19 Dec 2013. . Osborne, Kevin, and Dana Burgess. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Classical Mythology. New York, NY: Penguin Group (USA) Inc, 2004. Web. . Stylianou, Nicos. "Greek Mythology Paintings." igreekmythology. Nicos Stylianou. Web. 10 Dec 2013. .
Myths relate to events, conditions, and deeds of gods or superhuman beings that are outside ordinary human life and yet basics to it” ("Myth," 2012). Mythology is said to have two particular meanings, “the corpus of myths, and the study of the myths, of a particular area: Amerindian mythology, Egyptian mythology, and so on as well as the study of myth itself” ("Mythology," 1993). In contrast, while the term myth can be used in a variety of academic settings, its main purpose is to analyze different cultures and their ways of thinking. Within the academic setting, a myth is known as a fact and over time has been changed through the many different views within a society as an effort to answer the questions of human existence. The word myth in an academic context is used as “ancient narratives that attempt to answer the enduring and fundamental human questions: How did the universe and the world come to be? How did we come to be here? Who are we? What are our proper, necessary, or inescapable roles as we relate to one another and to the world at large? What should our values be? How should we behave? How should we not behave? What are the consequences of behaving and not behaving in such ways” (Leonard, 2004 p.1)? My definition of a myth is a collection of false ideas put together to create
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. 2nd ed. Mountain View: Mayfield, 1995
Greek mythology is thought to be very fascinating to many people; I personally wanted to learn more about it and the Hellenistic period. A new cultural age was led by Alexander the Great when he took over Egypt and the Near East, historians refer to this period as Hellenistic.
Reid, Jane D. The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1993. Print.
Grant, Michael, and John Hazel. "Athena." Gods and Mortals in Classical Mythology. Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam, 1973. Print.
From before the dawn of civilization as we know it, humanity has formed myths and legends to explain the natural world around them. Whether it is of Zeus and Hera or Izanami-no-Mikoto and Izanagi-no-mikoto, every civilization and culture upon this world has its own mythos. However, the age of myth is waning as it is overshadowed in this modern era by fundamental religion and empirical science. The word myth has come to connote blatant falsehood; however, it was not always so. Our myths have reflected both the society and values of the culture they are from. We have also reflected our inner psyche, conscious and unconscious, unto the fabric of our myths. This reflection allows us to understand ourselves and other cultures better. Throughout the eons of humanity’s existence, the myths explain natural phenomena and the cultural legends of the epic hero have reflected the foundations and the inner turmoil of the human psyche.
The Odyssey, the name in itself embodies a tale of vast exploration to which fortune may change at any moment’s notice. In Homer’s poetic epic, we primarily follow the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who after the Trojan War disappeared for ten years on a voyage to make it home safely to his family. The tale is a hybrid between historical accounts and Greek mythology, utilizing physical manifestations of gods to fill in for the loss of technological prowess as a result of the Greek Dark Age that spanned from the 11th-9th century B.C.E. As much as The Odyssey is a tale of godly intervention, it also serves as a tool to analyze ancient Greek civilization; whether it is from the cultural customs that were prominent in its population, to the
Morford, Mark P.O., and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology. '7th ed'. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Rosenberg, Donna. World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics. 5th ed. Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Pub. Group, 1994. Print.
7. Osborn, Kevin, and Dana Burgess. The complete idiot's guide to classical mythology. New York, NY: Alpha Books, 1998.
Hunt, J.M. "Greek Mythology Zeus Lovers." SDSU College of Education: Home Page. Web. 19 June 2011.
The tales of Greek heroes and the gods are older than all of us. Most of these tales are thought to be myths, but every interpretation of Greek mythology and the stories that it contains correlates with something in the real world today. The story of the creation of the world, and the stories of the heroes Hercules, Perseus and Theseus, are only but a few of the compelling stories Greek mythology has to offer.
Rosenburg, Donna. World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics. Third Edition. Chicago: NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group, Inc., 1999. Text.
Powell, Barry. Classical Myth; Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. pp. 33–34. 2001. Print.