The Role of Greek Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Times
With all of the interesting aspects of the Odyssey, I am only going to touch on one of them. The gods and goddesses in the Odyssey of all of the deities mentioned I am only going to focus on a few. The first and most powerful of these is Zeus. Then we have Hermes, the messenger god. Last but not least of these would be Athena, the goddess of warriors.
Zeus, Ruler of the gods.
"Zeus, father of gods and of men. His power was vast as the sky, mighty as the roll of thunder . . . " (Lord 9). From this description of Zeus we could imagine a huge dominating person who had absolute control over everything. Zeus, was the father of gods, many of them were his children. Zeus was the god who liberated the world from the rule of the Titans. His father, Cronus, was the most powerful of the Titans. Cronus had heard that one day one of his sons would manage to take the throne from him. In order to avoid this most miserable fortune, he swallowed his children right after they were born. Zeus managed to avoid this fate though because his mother tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock instead. When Zeus was grown, he forced Cronus, with the help of his grandmother earth, to regurgitate all of the five older children and the rock. Then with the help of his siblings, and various other creatures he defeats the Titans. Zeus and his brother then drew lots to see who would rule what. Zeus ended up as ruler of the skies. He wielded the devastating thunderbolt. His power was greater than all of the other gods powers combined. In spite of his power though, he is not omnipotent or omniscient. He can be opposed and deceived. Both Poseidon and Hera, his wife, get the better of him in the Illiad. Might...
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...s her city, and the olive tree her tree.
So the big deal is?
The gods in ancient times affected man in many ways. In the Illiad Zeus exiles Odysseus, so that he may never see his home again. Later, Athena feels sorry for Odysseus and his son and she beseeches her father to let Odysseus go home. Zeus agrees, and sends Hermes to tell Kalypso to send Odysseus home. In these ways the gods either help or hinder the heroes through Greek mythologies and many other mythologies as well. The mythologies would be very boring if you did not have a god sticking his nose into every detail of the heroes life, and what would our heroes be like if they had not had their gods to back them?
Works cited
Gates, Doris. The Warrior Goddess: Athena. New York: The Viking Press, Inc, 1972.
Gates, Doris. Lord of the sky: Zeus. New York: The Viking Press, Inc, 1972.
On April 1992, a young man from a wealthy family went to have the most amazing experience of a lifetime. He went hiking to the Alaskan Frontier, from the Grand Canyon, and through Chesapeake Beach. His name was Christopher McCandless and he wanted the best for himself. He first burned the cash inside of his wallet, cut up his ID’s, and abandoned his car. He even gave away $24,000 in savings to charity. The story “Into The Wild” describes how Chris McCandless changed his name to Alexander Supertramp. Jon Krakauer’s “Into The Wild” depicts a Transcendental representation due to his appreciation of nature when leaving society, trusting his own instincts, and most importantly, the interconnection of Oversoul.
Karlinksy, Neal. "" Chris McCandless Inspires Adventures but at What Cost."" Http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3680748&page=1. N.p., n.d. Web.
A young man journey into the deep wild to escape the pressure of society and in seek of the meaning of happiness. Into The Wild, a non-fiction biography written by Jon Krakauer, a story of a man named Chris McCandless, who is a well educated, wealthy young man, that seek his answer to true happiness in the wild of the Alaska region. As his journey continue onward, he met many new people that he had influence to do things against the current.
Kleinfeld, Judith. "McCandless: Hero or Dumb Jerk?" Adn.com. The Anchorage Daily News, 16 December 2007. Web. 12 February 2012.
In the time period of The Odyssey, the people of Greece worshipped the gods for advice and guidance. The gods then decided if they were going to help or ignore their people. This is seen in The Odyssey where Athena decides that she will help save Odysseus. To help save Odysseus, she first decides to talk to his son, Telemachus. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, gives advice to Telemachus. As of this point on, the reader observes a change in Telemachus. From a shy and timid boy now becomes a confident and self-assured man. Telemachus then takes immediate actions and surprises everyone, even his own mother because of his superiority. However Telemachus wouldn't have been responsible for his actions if one individual didn't give advice to him, Athena. Therefore Athena, or the gods in general were responsible for Telemachus' actions by setting up a crew for him to travel and also telling Telemachus to drive away the suitors and to seek information about Odysseus.
When we look at Greek Mythology we often run into the gods of that era. Sometimes they are merely backdrops to the human element of the story but in stories such as The Odyssey the gods play a prominent if not vital role to the central themes of the story.
Ancient Greek mythology has made its way into public conscience and knowledge. So much so that any person on the street would be able to name at least one deity from their pantheon. From this public knowledge, much is known about the religions including its stories and mythologies. But less is known about a person’s role in Ancient Greek religion and even less about a woman roles in their religion. What roles the Ancient Greek people did play can be gathered from the Greek stories and myths. But more specifically what roles did Ancient Greek women play in their religion. The Ancient Greek myths and stories tell of priestess and women who remained virgins as a way of worshipping their gods. But more questions come from these, why did these women become priestess and what rituals did they perform? Both the reasons behind these motives and the process one goes through to become a priestess must be explored to better a woman’s role in Ancient Greek religion.
To start with, McCandless was not someone who gave up. Despite others trying to scare him out of continuing with his journey into the Alaskan wilderness, nothing deterred McCandless. He anxiously awaited to experience life off the land. The people McCandless encountered on his way to Alaska often commented on his determination. Jim Gallien, a man who drove McCandless into the Alaska interior, described McCandless as “real gung-ho”. McCandless's attempt to undertake such a risky endeavour is something to admire in itself. To travel two years, mostly on foot, is certainly not an easy task. However, McCandless still persevered through the hardships he faced throughout his journey. McCandles...
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Chris McCandless took a long journey into the Alaskan interior unprepared, and cautionless. He only carried a few items in his backpack as he ventured out into the unknown. For example, Krakauer writes, “He [Chris] had no axe, no bug dope,no snowshoes, no compass. The only navigational aid in his possession was a tattered state road map he’d scrounged at a gas station” (5). This proves that Chris was very unprepared for his trip and he carried very few possessions with him. The fact that Chris died in the wilderness shows that it was very irresponsible to go into the wilderness unprepared and vulnerable. At the end of Chris’s journey, when he decided to venture out of the Alaskan interior, he found himself in quite the
There is no doubt in mythology that the king of gods, Zeus, is the most supreme and powerful, ruling the sky. He controls the thunderbolt, a symbol of power feared by both gods and mortals. The Greeks and Romans honored Zeus above all other gods. He is without mistake, the god of all gods. Their stories of Zeus are plenty; his designs have molded mythology from his birth. Zeus' victory in outwitting his intelligent wife, Metis, by swallowing her pregnant, was the gateway used by the Greeks and Romans to show Zeus as the greatest god to come since his father and grandfather. However, as the stories of the gods and goddesses unfold, the Greeks and Roman's interpretation of Zeus' characteristics are different. Zeus is always upheld as the king of gods, but his other personal attributes to his godly rein are conflicting. Zeus' characteristics of fearfulness of female deities, cunningness and use of trickery, and lust in Ovid's Metamorphoses compared to the Theogony are opposed due to Hesiod's true respect of Zeus versus Ovid's lack of respect of Jupiter in Roman mythology.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2011. 950-1023. Print.
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