Aetheros, god of the wandering and the lost watches over and protects the lost mortals and the lost souls. In this sense “lost” means both physically lost as well as the philosophical sense of being lost in life. For the men who are at a crossroads of life and have no idea which direction to go, and the soldier lost on his journey home from foreign lands, Aetheros watches over and protects. Aetheros also has some power in the afterlife of mortals; for the eternal souls who got lost on their journey to Charon and the river Styx, Aetheros protected the souls and delivered them directly to Charon. Aetheros acts as a guide as well as a god to go to for protection in your most desperate times, and as an aid for the most desperate of souls.
Aetheros is depicted as somewhat of a loner or hermit god. In his pictures he is always alone and also portrays the exact opposite of the standard “god” image. Aetheros is not nude with bulging muscles in his statues and works of art, Aetheros is generally covered up by a cloak or other article of clothing. This type of imagery is to further the concept of Aetheros as lost himself, which is why he cares so deeply about the lost mortals. His artwork is rare, really only seen in his temples because Aetheros is a borderline forgotten god, only thought of when he is most needed by the living mortals.
The artwork of Aetheros focuses a ton on him being a solitary god, and this focus on solidarity contributes in many ways the ways Aetheros is worshipped. An example of this is the processions; processions for Aetheros are more commonly quiet and involving only a small number of people because Aetheros was not usually involved with other gods in Roman mythology so the worship of Aetheros is reflects his sol...
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...ll the animal in sacrifices and would also keep track of all of the votives and offerings left at the temple for Aetheros. While the Older “master” priest recites the prayers, leads the procession to grave sites, and is the one to set up private ceremonies at the request of families.
Aetheros is a quiet, solitary god that was in certain ways lost in his godliness. In return he watches over all the lost mortals and all the lost souls and protects them on their own journey. The entire worship of Aetheros is focused on solidarity and modesty. The processions are quite, the ceremonies and temples are small and modest, and the only public ceremony is small and short. Even their priests live a lonely life under the word of Aetheros. Aetheros, an almost forgotten god, and Aetheros is a god that protects those in their most vulnerable and desperate times in life and death.
In the Aeneid, love is depicted as an uncontrollable emotion. Venus and Juno promote the romance between Dido and Aeneas. Dido, the queen of Carthage, begins to fall in love with Aeneas, even though she has vowed to her late husband that she would set her “face against marriage” (Virgil 975). Aeneas falls in love with Dido and remains with her in Carthage, even though he knows that he must continue his travel to Rome. Love is a passion which consumes the soul in spite of its will. It is an “inward fire” (Virgil 976). Juno arranges it so that Dido and Aeneas consummate their love in a cave during a storm. Again, mortals have little or no control over their loves. The gods are the ones who cause people to fall in love.
To start with the most common one, the role of the gods, one can see many such allusions thrown all over the odyssey. The epic poem starts in Mt.Olympus where the gods are discussing what will happen to Odysseus , Master mariner and warrior of Ithaka. As it so happens he is on the island of Kalypso, one of the lesser gods. Also, as Odysseus travels, one learns about the role of the gods in not only his travels but other peoples ones too. Agisthos, the man who stole Agamemnon's wife and killed him, was sent a message from Zeus by Hermes, giving him the information of what will happen if he kills him. Also, Menelaus, the red haired king of war, had to wrestle with a sea-god in order to gain acceptance and sail all the way back to his homeland of Sparta, and find news about the rest of his companions. He would not find out about his brothers demise until he got home.
Both Odysseus and Aeneas were helped by different gods. Odysseus was helped by Calypso in a way. She held him captive, but was forced to release him from the father of all Greek gods,Zeus. Athena, goddess of wisdom, helped Odysseus find out whether or not Penelope still loved him, she disguised him to look like an old man so he could go into the town without people knowing who he was. He got help from the god of wind as well who helped him by giving him a bag of wind so he could sail back to Ithaca. Poseidon did not really help Odysseus, he was just trying to convince him that he was nothing without the gods.
Aeneas’s voyage up to his journey to the Underworld has not been easy to say the least. He had to wat...
... wife and home as well as his place in Carthage in the name of the gods, in the name of a quest that does not directly benefit him. From this pursuit, he does not stand to gain spoils, and the most that could be said of his fame would be drawn from his descendents. It is this moral stance, this understanding of universal placement, of purpose, that sets Aeneas apart from other heroes.
The primary focus of ancient Greek sculptures was that of the human body. Almost all Greek sculptures are of nude subjects. As the first society to focus on nude subjects, Greek sculptors attempted to "depict man in what they believed was the image of the gods and so would come to celebrate the body by striving for verisimilitude or true – likeness (realism and naturalism!)."(Riffert) Not only did the Greeks celebrate the human form in their art but also in everyday life. (Riffert) One of the favorite topics for sculptors was that of the athlete. In Greek culture athletes were described as "hero–athletes". (Riffert) This shows that athletes were revered and looked upon as heroes. The influence of athleticism is evident in many famous sculptures. I will attempt to show how the human form influenced Greek art. It is important to note that many of the Greek sculptures discussed do not exist in their original form but rather in Roman copies of the original bronze sculptures. (Riffert)
Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound portrays a greek god detained by a superior for disobedience against the latter’s rule. On the other hand in Euripides’ Hippolytus portrays lust and vengeance of the gods and the extent that they can go to to avenge it.
When discussing the fate of Aeneas, a thought provoking question is posed that is commonly debated. If Aeneas is commanded by fate, does he have free will? It is important to approach this question with a solid understand of fate. There are two common sides to the debate of whether Aeneas had free will or not. One view believes Aeneas had no choice but to follow his destiny because he was commanded by fate, and prophesied to found the race that will one day build Rome. The other side states Aeneas did indeed have free will, and even though his fate was set, room is available within his fate for events to change. One can argue Aeneas makes some of his own choices, but no particular detail of his life is untouched. Destiny determines that the Trojans will found a city in Italy, but it does not stipulate how that will happen. This is where room is left for free will. After much research and considering the views of many commentators and the proof they showed, the answer can simply be found by going back to the text of The Aeneid.
When the gods are looked at as larger versions of specific facets of ourselves and our personalities the gods are fulfilling their most useful purpose- allowing us to better understand ourselves. In the same way a specialty doctor may have a model of human lungs or a gynecologist may have a model of the female reproductive system in their office it helps to have a model of what we are looking at (preferably larger, so that it can be examined closer) that we can take apart and put back together, so too have we created larger archetypal versions of the various hats we put on. The larger than life, archetypal gods and their children help us look into the different components of ourselves, so that we may better understand
Because of the showcase of beliefs that the Greeks admired, the influence on Greek mythology, and collective public impact, sacrifice played a key role in Greek culture. From centuries back from B.C., we see a devotedness and attentiveness in the Greek religion and culture, and a great deal of that devotedness can be attributed to ritual sacrifice, and how it united the ancient Greeks, no matter where they were. So, even with a practice many hold in a negative connotation, it can still bring together the public, display values that we still respect, and affect the greatest works of the ancient world.
It is also significant that he has intentionally broken away from the stereotypical austere images of the gods, and has set his gods at the opposite end of the scale to the Virgilian gods. BIBLIOGRAPHY: OVID METAMORPHOSES Translated by A.D.Melville VIRGIL THE AENEID Translated by R.Fitzgerald D.C.Feeny The Gods in Epic G.K.Galinsky Ovid's Metamorphoses R.O.A.M.Lyne Further Voices in Virgil's Aeneid Wilkinson Ovid Recalled C.H.Wilson Jupiter and the Fates in the Aeneid --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Virgil's Aeneid: book: 1.5 ff.
Looking at Greek Mythology we tend to encounter the gods of that time. Sometimes they work in the background of the human part of the story, but in epics like The Odyssey the gods play a very large if not central role in the main developments of the story.
There are many gods that play a role in the Aeneid. The main ones are Jupiter, king of all deities, Juno the divine antagonist of Aeneas’ destiny and Venus, his mother and his main protector. There are also the lesser gods such as Neptune, Aeolus, and Mercury, who serve as instruments for the main gods to meddle in the events of the story.
“The Odyssey” is an epic poem that tells the story of Odysseus and the story of his many travels and adventures. The Odyssey tells the main character’s tale of his journey home to the island of Ithaca after spending ten years fighting in the Trojan War, and his adventures when he returns home and he is reunited with his family and close friends. This literary analysis will examine the story and its characters, relationships, major events, symbols and motifs, and literary devices.
The Greeks housed their gods in temples, which were often enclosed by the walls. In the inside of the temples, big statues of their gods were exposed. When the ceremony took place, those statues were even bathed, clothed and symbolicayy fed.