Mythology and Religion Comparative Essay
What should we believe in according to science or Greek mythology? My
belief is that everything in this universe happens because of natural
forces, and not by gods or goddesses. Greek mythology is just
traditional tales of the Ancient Greece that tells stories of how the
world and everything in it came to be.
The Greeks had a very different idea of how the world was created. I
believe that the universe was created by a huge explosion and not by
gods or goddesses. Through scientific data gather from the Hubble
Space Telescope, it shows that the most reasonable theory of the
creation of the universe is the big bang theory. According to the
theory, the universe was created between 10 billion to 15 billion
years ago from a huge explosion that launched matter in all
directions. That is why the universe has been expanding ever since.
The Greeks had a very different idea of creation. The Greek myth of
creation was that in the beginning there was only Chaos, a mass of
darkness. Somehow through the darkness, Chaos created Gaea, mother
earth, Erebus, and Eros. Chaos also produced Night, while Gaea first
produced Uranus, the god of the heavens. Together Gaea and Uranus
produced the mountains, sea, and gods.
The Greeks had a different concept of how mankind was created, but
from my own perspective, mankind was created through a process called
evolution. According to scientific data gather from scientists, the
most reasonable explanation for mankind is the theory of evolution.
According to the theory, it was a long process of transformation by
which humans originated from apelike ancestors. The Greeks, however,
believed that the gods created mankind. Prometheus and Epimetheus
were given the task of creating creatures of earth. Prometheus
created man out of mud, and Athena breathed life into them. Prometheus
had assigned Epimetheus to give the creature of the earth their
various traits. By the time Epimetheus got to man he had given all the
traits out and there were none left for man.
How is the word myth used popularly? In today’s society, myths are more commonly referred to as a story that is known amongst a group that may or may not have any truth or validity to it. These type of stories have been told from one generation to another generation with a common theme every time it is said or repeated. I remember growing up my older sister would scare us younger kids with the urban myth of Candyman. This was during a time before I even knew about the movie, and for her, it was a way to scare us kids out of our wits. She would tell us about this story of a slave who returns from the dead as a ghost who was in search of revenge and could only be summoned by saying his name five times while facing a mirror.
Life is full of frustrations and confusion. There are times that questioning the purpose of one’s life to be living at all from their belief and faith in the one they believe. Christian Adherents are faced with these issues and are misguided by the loquacious talk of philosophers and scientists that seem to argue that the existence of human beings have been derived by something else other than God. These are illustrated through various forms of media and deem to be very convincing for most. However, there are people and ideas of the Christian Religion to comply back with what is said against it. Pope John XXIII was a significant role model for the Christian Religion as he showed true belief and faith to God through his deeds. Topics in debate of Bioethical issues are in question and the practices of the Christian belief are fact to the individual of the means of questioning the purpose here on Earth. Regarding the letter from Paul to the Corinthians, it says “Be on guard; stand firm in faith; be men of courage, be strong.” Its significance to believers is that they can be deceived in time of desperation and at times of hardship but God tells them to stay strong in faith and in courage no matter the distress they are facing.
Judaism and Islam are two major world religions. They are widely followed throughout the world. These two religions have a long a delicate past that has come to describe their future.
Religion is sold to the masses daily. In 1925 it was sold to the masses in the form of printed material by Bruce Barton. In 1960 it was sold to the masses by way of a film entitled Elmer Gantry. Bruce Barton sold a different idea of Jesus than most people were familiar with. In the film, Elmer Gantry sold religion with bravado and arrogance which was not the typical way of selling religion either. In each work, religion is being sold but Elmer is a more exciting and relatable character than Bruce Barton’s Jesus. Elmer Gantry sold religion in a similar way to Barton’s Jesus but did so in a more relatable manner.
A mythology is an important feature of many cultures. A myth is a sacred narrative that explains how the world and humankind assumed their present form. In a broad sense, it can refer to any traditional story. A myth’s function is to provide a model for behavior and to provide a religious experience. By reenacting myths societies bring themselves closer to the divine.
Over thousands of years, the ancient Egyptian civilization been closely associated with religion, mythologists have considered itself one of the most important fundamentals of the Egyptian civilization, more than five thousand years, and the pillars of the establishment of the Egyptian state and standardization. However, I was always fascinated about the myths in the middle east, not because I was born in Iraq and grew up in an Assyrian family, it’s because the ancient Egyptians have contributed in adding many civilizational achievements to the world through the knowledge of their agriculture, stability, creating the first major central country in the region, and may be accompanied by the presence of major achievements in various fields in
They had similar beliefs, but also immeasurable differences. It was composed of many meaningful gods and goddesses that all played a part in the everyday life of the average Roman and Greek person of that time.
In her poem "Myth," Natasha Trethewey uses mythology, a unique structure, rhyme pattern, and punctuation to make form and content inseparable. Each of these elements serves to share the stages of grief one goes through one feels at the death of a loved one as well as the feelings of deep loss and longing.
The Classical mythology contains tales and epics of the ancient Greek and roman literatures and myths. On the other hand, Homer’s two epic poems, the Iliad relates to the events of the Trojan War while the Odyssey details Odysseus expedition after the war. Homer’s epic poems, the Odyssey and the Iliad present a major part of ancient history as modern fictional heroic stories. In ancient Greek, heroes were humans who were depicted to possess superhuman abilities. A key example in the classical mythology is Akhilles who is later known in Homer’s Iliad as Achilles. Achilles is he greatest hero of the Iliad whereas Odysseus is the greatest hero of the Odyssey. The greatest heroes from classic mythology and the modern fictional hero’s stories are mortal, and subject to death. The Odyssey and the Iliad marks the beginning of modern fictional literature.
Throughout history many civilizations and cultures have had their own ways of explaining the world and its creation. Each of these civilizations has created unique descriptions and accounts of such events. However, when comparing them to each other, are they really different? Look at the ancient Greco - Roman creation myths as told by Hesiod in his Theogony and Works and Days and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when compared to the creation myths as seen in the Old Testament’s book of Genesis they may not be as different as one would think. Taking a more in-depth look at both Genesis and Hesiod’s and Ovid’s work more closely, the reader can see that on multiple occasions the myths have almost identical similarities which reflect their views in society. The similarities in particular are the myths of the creation of man, women with their subsequent role of evil in ancient times, and the great floods. These similarities prove that even though these two scriptures were centuries apart, the concepts presented in each myth were almost identical to one another.
Throughout the ancient world, religions and ideologies have developed into forms and practices that influence the very essence of civilizations. Religions could pose as a form of foundation for the beliefs, ideas, social organizations, and economic structures of a certain group of people. They provided a means of justification and form of unity between people and they helped establish and infuse new ideas into a culture. Religions were used as source to explain the misconcepted beliefs in nature and science as well as natural phenomina and it was also used to provide a source of motivation, control, and stability in a civilization.
The relationship between gods and mortals in mythology has long been a complicated topic. The gods can be generous and supportive, and also devastating and destructive to any group of humans. Mortals must respect the powers above them that cannot be controlled. The gods rule over destiny, nature, and justice, and need to be recognized and worshipped for the powerful beings as they are. Regardless of one's actions, intentions, and thoughts, the gods in Greek myth have ultimate power and the final decision of justice over nature, mortals, and even each other.
Hundreds of years ago people did not have the technology to explain different forces of nature. They created gods, each with separate powers, to rule their domains. Some of the gods were merciful, some were wicked, and others were merely servants of more powerful gods. Looking at the gods, it is easy to tell what the civilization most valued. I am going to look at the Greek and the Norse gods to compare what was most important to their societies.
Religion benefits our society in various ways. In this paper, I will be discussing the importance of religion to the society. Religion provides comfort and quells dissatisfaction, it strengthens human community, religion assures us of comic order, it managed conflict in society, and it teaches us morals that helps we the people in the community to follow.
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.