Understanding Greek Mythology: Interpreting Natural Phenomena

The Greeks used myths to explain natural occurrences, unanswered questions, and the world’s phenomenon. The Greeks had numerous myths and legends; each one had it’s one purpose. Many myths were created by people to explain why certain things happened the way they did.

Originally the Greeks wrote basic myths to explain the vast world around them during primitive times. The first time period of Greek mythology began around the year 2,200 BC, this time period consisted of crude myths adopted from the Minoans, a group of invaders. It was not until 1,600 BC that the mainland began to recover and redevelop itself. From 1,600-1,200 BC many myths were based on heroes and greatly exaggerated tales. The next time period of Greek mythology was the Dark

One myth explained how humans came to be. The Greeks believed that Prometheus, one of their various gods, molded people from mud and gave each living piece of creation special roles and qualities. Similar to other creation stories, the Greeks believed that something or someone blew life into them. The Greeks believed Athena, goddess of wisdom, to be the one that breathed life into the muddy figures Prometheus created. After the creation of man they were placed on the earth to live, but this caused outrage to Zeus, the god of lightning. After seeing the people Prometheus created, Zeus became furious and demanded that they sacrificed to him. Prometheus tricked Zeus into accepting the bones of an animal as a sacrifice instead of the meat, which allowed man to keep the meat to eat for themselves. After realizing what had happened Zeus became even more angry and decided to ruin man. Zeus created Pandora, the first woman, and gave her a box; he instructed Pandora to keep the box closed and never to open it. Eventually Pandora’s curiosity got the better of her and she opened the box; therefore, when the box was opened she released disease and misfortune, but also

The Greeks believed that the gods were the reason for different disasters. For instance, the ancient Greeks believed that earthquakes were created by Poseidon, the god of the sea, slamming his trident against the ground. Another example is Zeus, god of thunder, was the reason for storms and lightning throughout the world. The Greeks also believed that their gods were responsible for the season changes. They accredited Persephone, goddess of spring and growth,with changing seasons. They believed that Persephone was kidnapped by Hades, god of the underworld, and taken to the underworld to be his bride and rule over the underworld with him. During Persephone’s time as a captive, Demeter, her mother and goddess of agriculture, grieved so much that plants around the world wilted and lost their leaves. The legend further shows that after negotiating and pleading with Hades, the two struck a deal that Persephone would stay for half the year on the surface of the earth and the other half in the underworld with Hades. During her time in the underworld the plants would go bare, and those times we now call Autumn and Winter. During her stay on the earth, the plants would flourish and these times would be called Spring and