Greek and Roman mythology is well know. The people of that time period were passionate about the gods and did everything in their power to please them. Like most religions the goal is be like one of the gods in order to achieve good fortune or to gain everlasting life. One of the most interesting characteristics about the Greek and Roman Gods is how the gods are not perfect in that they make the same mistakes that the average human would make. These characteristics were put into place to allow ancient Greeks and Romans to effectively relate to the gods making them more believable. This is unlike other religions where the god(s) are shown as the all perfect character making no mistakes. These characteristics relate back to the family and are …show more content…
There was no one above them to punish them for these actions, or for that matter, there was no one to tell them what they were doing was even wrong. This gave the gods an entitlement to be able to do what they wanted even if happened to affect their family. Myths Encyclopedia declared “Their actions stemmed from recognizable passions, such as pride, jealousy, love and thirst for revenge. The deities often left Mount Olympus to become involved in the affairs of mortals, interacting with men and women patrons, enemies, and sometimes lovers. They were not above using tricks and disguises to influence events, and their schemes and plots often entangled people” (Greek Mythology). As shown throughout Greek and Roman mythology, immortal gods have very distorted family relationships in order to demonstrate their power or to stay in power. As mortals, in this ancient time period, they looked up to these gods and relied on them to set the standard as to how to treat their family members. The family relationships of the gods and mortals of ancient Greece were similar if not exactly the same making these unruly behaviors acceptable in society of ancient Greece and
The Greek gods were portrayed as humans, which meant that they were not perfect. That is, the gods made mistakes, felt pain (e.g. Aphrodite in love with the mortal Adonis), and succumbed to anger and their tempers (e.g.
Unlike Greek mythology, Christianity has one God, who is good and peaceful, and Satan who was evil. Unlike Christianity, Greek gods and goddesses were both good and evil, similar to humans.The Greek gods have flaws that caused them to appear almost human-like and not so much as a god (Schmucker). The most common thought of a god is that they are powerful and without mistake, which contradicts the appearance of Greek gods/goddesses (Burns). They have been known in stories, such as the one with Zeus turning a woman (Io) he had an affair with into a cow, to lie and cheat for their own personal enjoyment (Hamilton 78-80). The saying “humans make mistakes” and if the Greek gods and goddesses did too, then why did the Greeks worship them. Almost all of the gods had flaws such as lust, adultery, and even hatred. The Greek gods acted so much like humans that the only major difference between the two is that the gods/goddesses had powers. The Greeks putting all of their faith and reliance in these flawed gods and goddesses created an unstable foundation which would have easily been why their religion died. The followers of Greek mythology didn’t always obey what the gods/goddesses told them to do out of love, but sometimes out of fear (“Powerful”). All of the sexual harassment and cruelty in Greek mythology could have led to the Greeks leaving mythology and
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.
Each having a function in the life of the everyday Roman, that would require some sort of worshipping. The Roman gods were taken from the beliefs of the Greek gods. They are directly descended from their neighboring religion. The Roman mythology consisted of the high god Jupiter, his wife and sister Juno, son Vulcan, son Mercury, daughter Diana, daughter Venus, son Mars, daughter Minerva, son Apollo, sister Vesta, brother Pluto, brother Neptune, and Janus.(Classical Mythology)
Every ancient society and civilization has creation myths that were passed down and keep alive throughout the passing of time by word of mouth. These myths are the world’s oldest stories and are vital to these cultures because they explain their beginnings and give purpose to their existence. By analyzing and interpreting different creation myths it becomes easier to understand different cultures and their connections and relationships with heir beliefs and god(s).
The Ancient Greeks believed strongly in their gods and goddesses, they believed that the gods often intervened in their lives. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Homer portrays relationship between the mortals and immortals as immortals have the ultimate power over mortals. The mortals are at the mercy of the immortals. The gods can be generous and supportive but also destructive to any human being.
As I said before, Zeus is the father of all gods and humans. He represents the idea of an independent moral code that all humans and immortals must obey. If any god or mortal did not follow this moral code, Zeus would enforce justice and watch over the punishment of the wrongdoers (Cunningham and Reich 33). Although Zeus is known for representing a moral code, Zeus’ behavior was far from moral. “Zeus was subject to pleasure, pain, grief, and anger, but he was most susceptible to the power of Eros – love, which often got the objects of his desire in a lot of trouble with his wife, Hera. Zeus wa...
The flaws that the Gods showed were very similar to the mortals in the Iliad. The Gods have always been represented as responsible, are rare to make mistakes, and they do not make mistakes. However, in the Iliad, the Gods acted more like humans than expected. The only difference seen between the humans and gods was that the gods were immortal and have more power than the humans. An example that I found to show human-like characteristics was when Hera tricked Zeus into sleeping with her and making Sleep but him to sleep, knowing that she was doing something wrong and for her own benefit. This scene showed the human characteristic of people hurting one another for their own benefit just like Agamemnon did to Achilles when he took away his war
Both Roman and Greek religions were influenced by omens and sacrifice. In Greece, religion revolved heavily on sacrifices because these ancient people hoped to turn the favor of the gods. This favor was highly valued because the Greek citizens believed that having the gods favor would allow them to receive whatever they wished. The belief during this time period stated the only way to invoke the favor of the gods was through some form of sacrifice. These sacrifices would occur at feasts or special ceremonies and before and after a battle. In many cases the sacrifice was in some way related to the god to whom it was sacrificed (Parker).
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.
In the Bible and Greek Mythology both were the believe of us to God(s). In biblical stories, christians believe that the lord God created the world; he created birds, animals, and humans. Similarly, in Greek mythology, Zeus and his forces established the mount olympus to be there Eden, and he ordered to create all alive things in earth, even though he doesn’t want mortals, but the mortals still appears. Therefore, Biblical stories and Greek mythology have many similarities, both have the stories of the creation of human. In particular, the three examples that have the closest similarities are The Creation of woman, How god's punish those who don’t worship them and reward those who worship them. and The Kingdom of God.
The concepts of the gods and fate were created to explain things. In Ancient Greece there was a lot that was not understood; science was in its infancy and everything that happened could be explained by the will of the gods or fate. The gods were the height of power; they supposedly existed since the beginning of time. They were immortal, omnipresent and omnipotent. However, the different gods had different personalities. In this sense they were anthropomorphic. Having such mastery of the world would enable them to control man's behavior, as is shown in King Oedipus.
Roman vs. Greek Civilization Although both Roman and Greek civilizations shared similarities in the areas of art and literature, their differences were many and prominent. Their contrasting aspects rest mainly upon political systems and engineering progress, but there are also several small discrepancies that distinguish between these two societies. This essay will examine these differences and explain why, ultimately, Rome was the more advanced civilization of the two. Greece, originally ruled by an oligarchy ("rule of the few"), operated under the premise that those selected to rule were selected based not upon birth but instead upon wealth.
The ancient Greeks lived in an influential and creative time. Music filled the streets, sculptures towered over the city and masterpieces hung on walls everywhere. Children were being educated which led to great philosophers in the future. This city-state was flourishing and is now known today as one of the most advanced ancient civilizations. As progressive as these people were sadly, they were held back by their own beliefs. The fear of a raging hurricane controlled by Poseidon or one of Zeus’s deadly lightning bolts left people scared that these awful things could happen to them which made following the lessons of the stories a lot easier than thinking for themselves. When the consequences were so deadly why wouldn’t you follow the rules? The gods were a great way to describe what was going on around them. It was an easier explanation then a scientific equation. The Greeks were not encouraged to think for themselves but were rather expected to follow the lessons of the myths in love, character traits and in the afterlife.The ancient Greeks grew up with stories of cursed lovers and doomed mortals for falling in love with immortals. Love was a dangerous thing in Greece and falling in love with the wrong person could mean disaster. A great example of being punished for falling in love are Cupid and Psyche. Venus was so jealous of Psyche’s beauty she tried to put a spell over her and make her fall in love with an awful beast (Hamilton, 97). When that didn’t work she made her do impossible tasks (Hamilton, 102). Hera is another imp...
To begin with, the ancient Greeks explained the creation of the universe, in particular the Earth and its elements, by a system of anthropomorphism in which their gods are human-like and are representatives of these elements. For example, Zeus is the god of heaven while Hades is the underworld lord (Hesiod, p.145). Unlike the Christians’ god who is “flawless”, the ancient Greeks’ divinities are portrayed as humans and are far from perfect. Their gods behave like ordinary people except they are immortal and have supernatural powers. Like any human being, the Greeks’ gods have love, jealousy, sadness, etc. For instance, in Euripides’ Bacchae, Zeus falls in love with Semele, which makes Hera becomes jealous and tries to kill Semele and Dionysus (Euripides, p.209). The Greeks even have a physically imperfect god, Hephaestus. This is to say that the gods’ attitude toward mortals is affected by how people treat them as the Greeks’ gods have emotions like humans.