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Greek mythology gods
Gods of ancient Greece
Gods of ancient Greece
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Hermes - Messager god Essay written by Jamecca The idea of gods and goddesses began as far back as the ancient Egyptians, but the ancient Greeks were the first group to form a religion based on gods and goddesses. They believed that the gods and goddesses were not different from humans. Some of the few ways humans were different from gods were that the gods were stronger and lived forever. Since the Greeks believe in many gods, they are Polytheists. The gods and goddesses were thought to control different parts of the universe. For example, Zeus is the king of the gods, controlled weather. Or like Athena who was the goddess of wisdom. You learn about different gods and goddesses in myths. A myth is a story about a god or goddess. Homer, a blind poet, is famous for telling myths. He told myths because no one could read or write. Hermes (Latin name Mercury) is the messenger of the gods. He is the fastest of all the gods and goddesses. He is the son of Zeus and Maia. He is a guide who knew the way to the underworld. So he would show the dead souls the way to the underworld. Hermes is also known as the patron of traders, merchants, thieves and everyone who lived by their wits. Some characteristics of Hermes include his ingenuity, knowledge, creativity, and is known to be very cunning. He is also quite good at gymnastics. Hermes is an incredibly clever god. He found a tortoise outside of his cave and displayed his godly talent by placing strings over the shell, inventing the first lyre. As a child he was very precious, even for a god. But he caused a great deal of trouble. But one day, he went too far and learned a very important lesson. Hermes is a master thief. He started his career as a thief before he was more than a few hours old! It was his intelligence and theft abilities in the following myth that won him recognition as a god. The worship of Hermes began in his birthplace, Arcadia. People of Arcadia would hold festivals called Hermaea in his honor. The sacrifices offered to him included honey, incense, cakes, pigs, lambs, and young goats. One of the most famous myths about Hermes shows his extreme intellect. One day after his mother fell asleep, Hermes tip-toed to the pasture where his brother Apollo kept a large heard of cows.
It might seem contradictory that they believed in many gods and sought organization at the same time, for larger numbers are inherently unstable. But, to the god-fearing Greeks, each god represented a different facet of life that together upheld an organized universe if each of these gods was properly appeased. To satisfy these gods, the Greeks participated in activities such as prayer and sacrifice and erected divine temples and centers for oracles in honor of specific gods. There is evidence of this institutionalization early on in the reign of the Olympian gods, thus forming the Olympian religion. The Olympian religion lacked the presence of true sentimentality, and the gods were not seen as forgiving or "flawless" as the Christian God is often portrayed.
Hercules was a semi-God from ancient Greek mythology. He was recognized for his courage, bravery, strength and sexuality. He isn't exactly remembered for his intelligence, but he sometimes was described as not being very witty. (Mythology Study Guide)
Long ago, stories of gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters in ancient Greece were essential to everyday life. Mythology is a culture’s collective rationalization of events, history, and super natural power. Myths are told to have originated in ancient Greece during but the concepts true source is unknown. Influences mythology has on Greeks and Romans include religion, history, art, and entertainment.
Mythology is the study of a compiled group of stories that describe the culture’s practices and past experiences. Mythology is a valuable aspect of every culture. It communicates the culture’s truthful everyday experiences or fabricated details of past events, roles, and traditions such as family, sexuality, art, religion, philosophy, laws and marriage. A culture’s collective group of stories help communicate loyalty, ethical and rational teachings, and social models. Ancient Greece and Egypt are two cultures that we’ve studied in this course so far that I will discuss the Creation Myth associated with each culture.
Not only did the Greeks fear and respect the mythological gods and goddesses that they created, but they also related to the stories and characteristics of each god. The Greeks primarily used Mythology to better understand the world around them, but a few of the stories were purely for entertainment. Those who disliked the irrational, but loved facts created mythology. These mythologies consisted of the gods and goddesses encountering struggles, love, pain, and almost any human interaction. The Ancient Greeks applied the stories to overcome similar struggles in their own lives. Although the Greeks respected these mythological deities, they did not view the gods as religious figures. Almost every god or goddess had a mythology that featured
Hermes is the god of shepherds, land travel, merchants, weights and measures, oratory, literature, athletics and thieves. Most importantly, he is the messenger of the gods. Hermes is the son of Zeus and the nymph Maia, daughter of Atlas. He was worshipped throughout Greece but mainly in Arcadia. Hermes was actually born in Arcadia in a cave on Mount Cyllene. Hermes was born at the break of dawn because Zeus, his father, had impregnated his mother, Maia, while the other god’s were sleeping. After Hermes was born he ran off to Thessaly. Hermes was originally a phallic god who was attached to fertility and good fortune. He was also a patron of roads and boundaries. The name Hermes stems from herma, the plural of hermaiherm. Hermaiherm is a square or rectangular pillar made of stone or bronze, with the head of Hermes. The head was placed at the top of the pillar with male genitals at the base of the pillar. The pillars were used for road and boundary markers. The people of Athens stood the pillars outside their homes to help fend off evil. Hermes has been depicted in
The word myth derives from the Greek mythos, which has a range of meanings from "word," through "saying" and "story," to "fiction"; the unquestioned validity of mythos can be contrasted with logos, the word whose validity or truth can be argued and demonstrated. Because myths narrate fantastic events with no attempt at proof, it is sometimes assumed that they are simply stories with no factual basis, and the word has become a synonym for falsehood or, at best, misconception. In the study of religion, however, it is important to distinguish between myths and stories that are merely untrue. The term mythology denotes both the study of myth and the body of myths belonging to a particular religious tradition. The first part of this article discusses the nature, study, functions, cultural impact, and types of myth, taking into account the various approaches to the subject offered by modern branches of knowledge. In the second part, the specialized topic of the role of animals and plants in myth is examined in some detail. Some say that in Ancient Greece, Greek myths evolved over many years like history, passed down for generations. They were stories of human kings and heroes with supernatural powers, or various prayers and rituals for specific gods. The Greeks believed their gods were a lot like humans. They believed their gods were able to have children, feelings, and live their lives the way humans did every day. However, each god had a specific duty. They each were in charge of a different aspect of life. Aphrodite was placed in charge of love, beauty, marriage, and vegetation. Many temples were built in honor of her and other gods, and each city was usually a patron to a particular god. Ceremonies were performed for the worship of the gods, and the people of the towns distributed gifts to shrines. Aphrodite had many statues carved in worship of her.
The God Hermes, son of Zeus and Maia (nymph), was known as the messenger of the Gods and was a guide of souls to the Underworld. Hermes was a very impressive baby, the day he was born he founded and empty tortoise shells and created an instrument out of it called a Lyre. Hermes then had a sudden hunger for meat Hermes discovered the herd very soon. One by one, he started pulling the hoofs out of the cows’ feet and re-attaching them in the reverse order to confuse anyone looking at the tracks. Hermes then did the same to his own sandals. He then took the herd, and hid the them inside a cave.
Gods have existed almost since the beginning of mankind, as people had things that they worshiped such as the sun, the moon, and many other things. To me the Greeks had the most unique gods, because they had many gods for many different things such as love, war, etc. The gods were almost like human beings as they interacted in the lives of the people they watched over and the people they cherished. The gods were said to have mixed with the humans to make half mortal and half immortal people, blessed with certain powers. Today we all have one god, because it is the way we were brought up, but there are many types of religions such as Christianity, Hinduism, etc. The Greek gods lived among the people on top of a huge mountain called Mt. Olympus. The Romans took over on the gods and gave them different names, but many of them had the same job or duty. There was a king of the gods and his name was Zeus he was god of the sky, and he had a wife and she was called Hera and her duty was to advise her king on the way to run things. Poseidon was a brother to Zeus and was god of the sea and all that lived under it and dared to cross it as he tested many a sailor. Hades another brother of Zeus ruled the underworld or hell. There are many other gods such as Athena, Aphrodite, Hephaetus, Hermes, Helios, etc. The Greeks loved their gods so they would build temples of worship, statues of praise, and many other things to support them. Today the world of Greek gods are portrayed on the motion picture screen in movies, and even in cartoons. Our belief of many of these gods is that they did not exist, but who do you know that lived in that time. Some conclusions are that they could have existed but the people we kno...
Many people would blatantly state that the importance of the gods in Greek society derives from the fact that Gods in any society are usually used to explain phenomenon that people cannot logically comprehend, but in ancient Greece gods were actually entities that took part in the workings of society itself. Even simple aspects of day-to-day life such as sex and disputes between mortals were supposedly influenced by godly workings. Unlike modern religions such as Catholicism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, where an omnipotent force supposedly controls the workings of the world, a hierarchy of Gods characterized religion in ancient Greece. Working as one big family, which they actually were, each one of the Greek gods governed a certain aspect of the world in a way that usually reflected their own humanlike personalities. These unique personalities also contained many human flaws such as envy and greed, and were where the Greek God’s importance lay. Greek religion was more concentrated on the way an individual dealt with situations that popped up in the world around him than on understanding the world itself. In other words the Greeks were more interested in the workings of the mind than in the workings of the environment around them.
The Messenger of the Greek Gods and the Guide to the Underworld, Hermes has many different meanings to many different people. Hermes has been associated with things like Travel, Deception and Good Luck. He has outwitted the gods for his own pleasure or for the good of mankind. He has several children from many different gods and mortals. In pop culture he is refrenced in many games for his boots which have the power to make you run faster, and he is commonly asociated with postage and mail.
Apollo is one of the most widely renowned Greek god in ancient history, and one of the few gods to have both the same Greek and Roman name (Apollo). An online article, “Apollo,” said that he started out as the god of herdsmen, and “Apollo's identification as god of music, archery, and medicine came after his oracle was established at Delphi” ( “Apollo”). The article on GaleNet also mentioned that much later, he was commemorated as the god of the sun. Apollo is known for his powers in prophesying and his musical abilities with the lyre, a type of harp. He is also acknowledged as an athlete, particularly an archer, and a healer. He is said to have been the god to teach mortals the art of medicine. Apollo is an amazing character in Greek mythology,
In the Homeric Hymn to Hermes we learn many things, but this myth serves primarily as a ritual myth. Hermes is known for many of his acts of trickery, but before he ever performed one of these acts he created a lyre. This creation would have a bigger influence on society than possibly any of his other acts. It would aid Hermes in acquiring more divine right than possibly any other feats that he performed. Hermes helps us understand how and why hymns of praise were traded to the gods in exchange for favor, gifts, and privilege.
Zeus is a famous and important character in Greek mythology, it was because of him that many gods got to be where they are now. Zeus signified Justice and Fairness, he was King of Olympus and father of men.