Greek mythology is the myths and legends the ancient Greeks centred their lives around. The ancient Greeks used it to explain the events and components of the world around them. Their religion included gods and heroes, creation stories, and the origins of their civilisations and rituals. It is topic that had been studied and examined in great depth for thousands of years. This fascinating religion's messages and influences are reflected in today’s modern society, and many similarities can be found between Greek mythology and modern religions, such as Christianity. This proposal will outline the research and project I hope to successfully complete.
The topic of Greek mythology is too vast to be able to research in the set period of time, so the focus of this research task was the Olympian Gods.
There are 12 Olympian gods (see appendix 1), Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes, Artemis and Hephaestus. All of these gods are related and linked together somehow, and are named after their home, Mount Olympus. These gods supposedly ruled after they overthrew the Titans, the original rulers.
Zeus, Poseidon and Hades are the 3 brothers who each rule over their own element. Zeus is supreme ruler of the gods, and of the sky. He is the rain god and carries a thunderbolt as a weapon to punish those who displease him. He is known to punish those who lie or break vows.
Poseidon rules over the ocean, and carries a trident as a weapon, which can shake the earth. This can be seen in many modern movies, but he is listed under his name in Roman mythology, Neptune. Poseidon had a very difficult, argumentative personality, and was also known for his greed. He tried to take over many cities, causin...
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...any demi-gods, who often went on to become heroes of Greek Mythology [e.g. Heracles (Hercules), son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene]. Gods would often come to humans in the forms of animals, and seduce them, impregnate them, and then return to Mount Olympus, where they would sometimes watch over their children.
This topic of flawed gods and accessibility is a fascinating one. To showcase this captivating topic, I have decided to produce a major work for the English Extension 2 course. This will require me to write a series of short stories that outlines my knowledge of Greek mythology. Several adjustments have been made to suit my skill level and time limitations. It has been decided that four 1000 word short stories will be submitted to a HSC marker, with reflections to outline the progress of my project.
(For HSC English Extension 2 Syllabus, see appendix)
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.
Leading to the overthrow of the great ruler known as Cronus("The myths of Poseidon, God of the sea"), the battle of Titanomony. They released three cyclopes from the pit of the underworld and to help aid them in the war.The cyclopes returned a favor to them by granting Zeus’ power of lightning, the “invincibility helmet” of Hades and most importantly the trident of Poseidon.The three pronged weapon gave Poseidon the powers need to defeat Cronus and the Titans. Using the powers given to them by the cyclopes eventually overthrowing his powerful father ,Cronus, with the help of his brothers Zeus and Hades in the battle of Titanomony. The battle resulted in the Titans and the monster of the underworld ,Typon, getting sent into the “underworld” known as “Tartarus”.By defeating Cronus they split their power into three. Zeus getting the power to rule the sky and Earth.Then Hades got the privilege to rule the area known as the "underworld" .The third and final area split up between Zeus, Poseidon and Hades was ruling of the sea .("The myths of Poseidon, God of the sea"). They decide...
In the beginning, it all started with the gods and goddesses Cronus (God of the Sky) and Rhea (Goddess of the Earth). They met and got married. While they were married they produced six offspring. These offspring would turn out to be some of the most famous in mythology. The offspring consisted of Hestia, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera, and of course, the famous Zeus. Poseidon was the oldest son to be born from these two. Unfortunately when the offspring were born Cronus devoured most, even though Rhea tried many times to keep that from happening. Finally when Zeus was born she tricked Cronus into thinking it was his own son, when handed to him, and he eat him like all the others. But after doing so, Rhea told Cronus that she had given him a stone wrapped up in a blanket. Zeus later overthrew his father and released all of his other kin. After overthrowing Cronus, Zeus took over the ruler of the kingdom. With him taking the thrown on Mt. Olympus, he chose Hades to rule the underworld and Poseidon to look after the sea and land. Poseidon was a very powerful god and ruled with fury. He was made the god of waters in general and of the sea in particular (1). He is an equal in dignity to Zeus but not in power. This is important because it does not allow Poseidon to question his br...
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)
Morford, Mark P.O., and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology. '7th ed'. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
"Gods and Men in Greek Religion." Gods and Men in Greek Religion. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr.
Poseidon is a god of many names. He is most famous as the god of the sea. The son of Cronus and Rhea, Poseidon is one of six siblings who eventually "divided the power of the world." His brothers and sisters include: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Zeus. The division of the universe involved him and his brothers, Zeus and Hades. Poseidon became ruler of the sea, Zeus ruled the sky, and Hades got the underworld. The other divinities attributed to Poseidon involve the god of earthquakes and the god of horses. The symbols associated with Poseidon include: dolphins, tridents, and three-pronged fish spears.
Zeus overthrew his Father Cronus. Cronus was the king/ruler of the Titians. Zeus made a deal his brothers Poseidon and Hades. Zeus became the supreme ruler of the gods. He is known to be the lord of the sky and the rain god. His weapon is a thunderbolt. Zeus throws the thunderbolts at those who displease him. He is also known to punish those that lie or break
In this essay I am going to focus in the Greek Mythology. In the Greek Mythology there is no single text that introduces all of the myth’s characters and stories because the myths were part of an oral tradition that unfolded gradually in the written literature of the archaic and classical periods.
What ancient religion contains infidelity, incest, and life-time long punishments of which were almost, if not, are unbearable? Welcome to Greek Mythology! The Ancient Greeks envisioned higher powers, such as titans, gods and many other mystical wonders to account for every unexplainable thing they saw. As a result, a series of tales of betrayal, humiliation and entrancements sprouted from the imagination of the Ancient Greeks. The international bestseller, Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths, by Bernard Evslin, engages it’s readers, while telling the narratives of the Greek Gods.
Jupiter was the ruler of the gods. He is also known as Zeus to the Greeks. The King of Gods in Greek Mythology Zeus was the ruler of the sky, and had the power to create thunderstorms and lightning as well as earthquakes. He was the child of Cronus and Rhea. As the story goes he was their sixth child, and the father to protect him from being overthrown had eaten the five previous children. Zeus was taken to a city called Crete and hidden from his father. As Zeus grew older and learned of what happened he found a potion to make his father regurgitate the other children. Once this happened they all teamed up and killed their father. Zeus then became the ruler of Mount Olympus, and head of the new line of Gods. Jupiter was the predominant power holder of Roman Gods. He was ruler of the sky, the daylight, all the weather, and even the thunder and lightening.(Ruck,Carl and Staples, Danny, pg 19)
Throughout Greek mythology it is known that some gods have priority over others. The twelve Olympians are among those. The relationship between humans and Greek gods is revealed through several myths. These gods are not only born with special skills and gifts but are also worshiped in several places such as Athens, where Athena is greatly worshiped . Not only do human beings look up to these gods but they respect and aspire to be like them. Even if the gods abuse their authority at times, they are able to show compassion and reasoning towards human beings by providing aid. They keep a reputable title for being a god but also protect their image. The myths that will be discussed in this essay are Danäe and the
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.
Grene, D., and Lattimore, R., eds. ?Antigone? and ?Prometheus Bound.? Greek Tragedies: Volume 1. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1991. 178-232, 65-106.
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.