Hesiod’s Theogony Hesiod writes his Theogony within the context of the nascent polis, which informs his conception of the Greek pantheon. The generations of gods that he portrays begin with the elements of nature and move steadily toward fully anthropomorphic figures, which represent elements corresponding to the experience of the city-state. In Hesiod’s time, the polis was led by a king, or kings, and the rule of Zeus that Hesiod portrays serves as an example of royal rule for them. Toward the end of the Theogony Zeus is urged by the other gods to be king, to rule the other immortals, and to follow the advice of Gaia. And so he apportions honors among them (881-5). Hesiod suggests that royal power results from the assent of the ruled, that it entails the right to rule, but that that rule must be tempered by recognition of the significance of nature, earth, which provides society’s livelihood. Zeus swallows the goddess Metis (890), just as a king must gain intelligence. Then he marries Themis, right, who bears good rule (Eunomia), justice (Dike) and peace (Eirene) (901-2), all necessary elements for a prosperous city-state. Eurynome (straight law) bears him the Graces (Charites), which are necessary elements for trade and social interaction. Zeus’ marriages to Demeter, Leto and Hera yield the gods and goddeses familiar to the Greek world, Persephone, Apollo, Artemis, Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia, and he himself eventually bears Athena (912-24). These are not elements of good rule, but simply the gods of the Greek polis. Demeter and Persephone are worshipped for agriculture, Apollo for his oracular shrine, Artemis for the wilderness and young women, Ares for war. Poseidon as sea god is apart from the polis, but he sires the fearsome Triton (931). Likewise, Ares’ children Phobos and Deimos, two aspects of fear, delineate realms beyond the proper bounds of the polis. Maia bears for Zeus Hermes (938-9), who as herald of the gods moves between realms, between one polis and another. The story of succession that arrives at the rule of Zeus moves from the undifferentiated Sky (Ouranos), through Kronos to Zeus, who himself must withstand the challenges of both Prometheus and Typhoeus.
In Hesiod’s Theogony, the Muses, which are the nine singing goddesses who he came across one day while taking care of his lambs, serve as a guide to the poet’s genealogy and organization of the origins of the gods by inspiring him to write down the lineage as they sing it. Using their angelic voices, the Muses presented Hesiod with the history of the cosmos in order. Thus, inspiring him to become a poet; he made this major change in his life and that resulted in Theogony, a chronological poem that consists of short life lessons, punishments, and roots of many Greek gods and goddesses. In this poem, Hesiod described these accounts as songs, when in fact, they were long verbal stories of how the gods of Olympus came to be. The sole purpose of
One day, Equality is supposed to be in the theater, but he is not there. Consequently, Equality is imprisoned to the Palace of Corrective Detention. Oddly, the prison does not have many restrictions, so easily Equality escapes. After his departure, he goes directly to the Council of Scholars, which is where a group of people have a job to gain more intelligence. Intentionally, Equality goes here because he wants to reveal his new discovery of electricity to the scholars. In effect, they denounce him for carrying out a discovery because it is contradicting to the laws of their society. After this happens, Equality bolts to the Uncharted Forest, he begins to actualize that people should live as individuals instead of one group. Liberty follows Equality and, eventually, catches up to him. In the Uncharted Forest, they find a sublime house on top of a mountain. Once they examine the house, Equality and Liberty decide to live in it. Uninhibited, they develop a more profound relationship along with a newly-founded liberated life. As an individual, Equality wants to free the people of his society and eventually begin his own. Equality says, "We matter not, nor our transgression. It is only our brother men who matter. Give no thought to us, for we are nothing, but listen to our words, for we bring you a gift such as has never been brought to men. Listen to us, for we hold the future of mankind in our hands" (70; ch. 7). Equality's life dramatically changes as he extends his life as a
In the novel, Anthem, written by Ayn Rand takes place when mankind has entered another dark age. A man named Equality 7-2521 lives in a society where he struggles to live equal within the brotherhood. In the world he lives in people are told they exist only for the sake of serving society, and have no other purpose. Therefore, each individual is assigned a vocation as a permanent life career which determines who they socialize and live with. However, Equality being very different from his brothers, believes in individualism and rejects the collectivism society around him. The concept of individualism vs collectivism is portrayed in the story because individuality is unknown to the people where no one is unique or excellent in any way. The people
We don't have any exact dates for Hesiod, but it seems that his poetic activity dates from around the last third of the 8th century BC. We find his versions of the Prometheus myth in two of his works: the Theogony at lines 521-616, and the Works and Days, at lines 42-89. The Theogony in general discusses the origin and genealogies of the gods and the events that led to the establishment of Zeus as their king. The Works and Days is quite varied in content but overall could be described as giving advice for living a life of honest industry. In the Theogony the story of Prometheus comes as a narrative interlude and aims at explaining the origins of certain institutions ...
...the god based upon conflicting traits of fear, deceit, and lust. Zeus' main characteristic is power in both Greek and Roman mythology. However, when Ovid's Metamorphoses is compared to Hesiod's Theogony, Juno's power is limited. Ovid's lack of respect and belief about Jupiter is apparent in his writings, which portray Jupiter as fearful, cunning, deceitful, and lustful. In opposition, Hesiod views Zeus as fearless, intelligent, and certainly not lustful. Zeus' characteristics in the Theogony are reflected from Hesiod's belief about the god to be much more than a worthless myth to the Greeks. Instead of mocking and disrespecting the all-powerful god of Greek and Roman mythology, Hesiod respects Zeus as the most powerful god.
This paper is to show that Heracles is the prime example of a hero’s journey through his actions and the struggles that he faced during his life until he was about to die but instead of death, his father, Zeus, saved him and he conquered the mortal realm, to become a god.
The role of women in Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days is outstandingly subordinate. There are a number of times in Hesiod's text that despises women, being mortal, immortal, or flesh-eating monsters. The overall impression of women from Theogony and Works and Days, leads one to believe that Hesiod is a misogynist.
Hesiod tells the story of how the curse of Pandora came to be in his writing. In his two works Hesiod, Works and Days and Hesiod, Theogony that contain the story of Pandora are both writing in a slightly different perspective. However, at the end both have the same meaning to them. That Zeus created women as a punishment for men. In developing this meaning in both poems Hesiod uses a few different things in each story as oppose to telling the same story for both. Hesiod, Works and Days and Hesiod Theogony have the same meaning and most of the same plot but different in some aspects.
The population in Equality’s society is taught to live for the betterment of their brothers and environment, rather than for themselves. The inhabitants of this society become very self-reliant on their brothers and society to think, feel, act and judge for them, consequently people’s opinions and decisions remain identical. Ayn Rand discusses how dependence affects innovators in another one of her novels, For The New Intellectual, “Men have been taught every precept that destroys the creator. Men have been taught dependance as a virtue” (Soul of an Individualist). This sentiment shows the effects of the Society’s dictation of dependence, it has removed any function of the ego and killed individual creativity . This form of dependence causes history to constantly repeat itself, making it
Roman and Greek mythology are filled with multiple interpretations of how the creator, be it the gods or nature, contributed to the birth of the world. These stories draw the backgrounds of the gods and goddesses that govern much of classical mythology. Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Hesiod’s Theogony are two pieces of work that account for how our universe came to be. A comparison of Theogony with Metamorphoses reveals that Hesiod’s creation story portrays the deities as omnipresent, powerful role whose actions triggered the beginning of the universe whereas in Metamorphoses, the deities do not play a significant role; rather the humans are center of the creation. The similarities and differences are evident in the construction of the universe, ages of man, and the creation of men and women on earth.
Equality discovers electricity, one day, and through this he recognizes the importance of intelligence, determination, and most of all, Equality learns that being different is not a transgression, but an essential part of life. Equality learns that he is the only one that can say if something is beautiful, if something is good, if something is bad, if something is ugly, and no one else can form his opinion for him, because he is an individual (94).
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.
Shortly after 9/11 twelve years ago, the federal government created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to protect air travel and prevent similar attacks. In 2012, the TSA had a budget of $8.1 billion, and while it claims to improve airport security, it fails to do so. Additionally, their checkpoints are privacy-invasive and cumbersome, negatively impacting the air travel industry. For these reasons, the agency should be abolished.
The gods in power, like Zeus, exhibit bias, dishonor, betrayal, deception, and many other humanly characteristics. One memorable scene is when Zeus and Poseidon are in conflict with each other over the Achaens versus the Trojans. Zeus controls the battle by “lifting the famous runner Achilles’ glory higher,” (Homer 13: 404). Zeus plays both sides in this scene, acting like a double agent which is dishonorable. Zeus’s bias is prevalent throughout the poem; specifically, he is “bent on wiping out the Argives, down to the last man,” (Homer 12: 81-82). Just like mortals such as Agamemnon and Achilles view each other with suspicion and intolerance, the gods experience identical emotions of wariness, anger, and irritation. This human-like behavior is not restricted to Zeus. Later in the text, Hera lies to Aphrodite to use her powers to manipulate her own husband Zeus. If one looks at Hera as a heavenly entity, her reaction may not make sense, but when it is viewed as a manifestation of human emotion, it become almost reasonable. Her scheming response to Zeus’s meddling with the war is spurred by her support for the Trojans. Hera’s manipulation and Aphrodite’s ego don’t stand alone as examples of this divine humanity. These instances suggest that the deities are being presented in this unique way to help explain behavior of the humans in The
In Anthem, Amy Rand’s inspirational novella, Equality 7-2521 lives in a future where there is no “I” or “mine.” Members of this Orwellian society work together in groups, which answer to the greater good. When Equality 7-2521 is forced to clean the streets, he rebels against this idea of collectivism by conducting illegal scientific activity. He rediscovers electricity, but when he showcases his invention of the light bulb, he is forced to flee. Joined by his love, Liberty 5-3000, he flees to the wilderness. There, he discovers the true meaning of the word “individual,” shattering the shackles of collectivism he has worn since birth. Equality 7-2521 renames himself Prometheus and his love Gaea, and they dream to create a society based on individual freedom.