Understanding and Appreciating Greek Mythology

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“Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated,” Thomas Bulfinch once proclaimed. Greek Mythology is often misunderstood as the main religion of Greece, but in all actuality Greek Mythology is simply a genre. A genre with the same equivalence to any other genre but this genre did something that no other could’ve accomplished. This genre has inspired religions, poets and artist all over the world and continues to influence somebody’s life every day. So why was Greek Mythology created, what is Greek Mythology, how does it compare to other mythologies, how does it exemplify the human race, and why has it affected so many people? Greek Mythology was a religion created …show more content…

Hindu Mythology is the first mythology to ever exist. Hindu Mythology is the mythology of small tales created along with Hinduism. Shortly after Hindu Mythology came Greek Mythology. Hindu Mythology is a lot more specific and not as open to where as to Greek Mythology is vast and open to many interpretations and thoughts. Years after these two ideal mythologies were created, even more mythologies were made. From Egyptian to Norse the list just kept growing and growing. Roman Mythology came into play at least 1000 years after Greek Mythology. Roman Mythology is in almost all principles the same as Greek but most of the characters names had been changed. After Rome took over Greece is when Roman Mythology became popular. Even though Rome took over Greece, Greek Mythology remained the most popular mythology to …show more content…

We can see this theory flawed out in the stories the Ancient Greeks shared and live by. For example, when the Greeks created Mount Olympus and decided to put only twelve specific Gods and Goddesses up there, is a symbol of democracy and are the first known usages of democracy in a story. Where would the world be today if democracy wasn’t advertised in Greek Mythology? Possibly suffering from the lack of economic stability that is. Greek Mythology also reinstates the themes of life and its monstrosities. For example, the story of Medusa. Medusa was a beautiful girl who always bragged about herself and eventually, Athena turned her into a monster for that. Ancient Greeks used these kinds of stories to influence people not to live like monsters did. These stories also inspired and impacted some of the largest religions. Christianity grew birth into life many years after Greek Mythology was created and it is believed that some scenes from the Bible are in reference to certain Greek Mythological stories. Greek Mythology has literally touched and impacted every aspect of culture even if in the smallest ways. Poets, writers and singers use allusions to Greek Mythology to get across a point. Clothing brands such as Nike are named after actual Greek Mythological characters. Even some diseases are named after Greek Mythology. So yes, this polytheistic

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