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Athena's lasting influence on Greeks
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Greek Mythology:
Whenever people go somewhere, they see things about Greek mythology and it excites kids especially with the history of the culture, and society. For generations people have viewed and researched greek mythology and have been excited and amazed by the history of it. For instance, Athena is a Goddess of wisdom and crafts; Calypso, Goddess-nymph of mythical island of Ogygia; Fatal Flaw/Hubris, state of arrogance, extreme pride. The characters that i have in Greek mythology are all important aspects because they are all from thousands of years ago and they all have a part in the text The Odyssey.
Athena is very important because she is one of the most known but also most influential Goddesses of all. She was born out of her father's (Zeus) head after he swallowed his pregnant mistress; Athena was born grown and clothed in her mother's clothes. They named her the Iliads goddess of fight, the warrior-defender, the protector of civilized life and artisan activities, and so on. Athena had a significant role in the Greek mythology and in the lives of the Athenians and all greeks. First, she was a goddess of wisdom in a time when women were no more than a sexual servant. Next, she was one of the three goddesses involved in the Golden Apple of discord scandal, and became the lifelong enemy of Paris because her
Hubris is extreme pride or arrogance shown by a character. In The Odyssey, Odysseus was hubris about everything because he thought he was the best of the best but he was just as flawed as everyone else around him. Hubris came to be defined as overweening presumption that leads a person to disregard the divinity fixed limits on human actions in an ordered cosmos. In The Odyssey, not only was Odysseus very hubris, he had fatal flaw in him too because when he gets all cocky about beating Troy, Poseidon makes it harder to get back to his
In The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Allen Mandelbaum, Homer retells the story of Odysseus’s expedition from Troy to his homeland, Ithaca. Along the way, Odysseus faces numerous challenges—from dealing with Poseidon’s wrath to getting trapped on Calypso’s island. With Athena’s guidance, he returns to Ithaca to reunite with his son, Telemachus, and loyal wife, Penelope. Throughout the book, hubris or excessive pride is in display especially with Odysseus and the suitors. Hubris causes the them to neglect the gods and create careless mistakes which backfire in the future. Their incapability to make good decisions is affected by their pride which blurs what is and is not a good idea. In addition, hubris is also a trait looked down on in Greek culture. Homer lets his audience understand how pride can be part of one’s success. However, hubris will not only cause his or her downfall but also of those around them.
In Histories, Herodotus’ uses a variety of themes to narrate historical events and a common theme revolves around hubris. Extremely common amongst Greek literature and Greek mythology, hubris appears to be the infamous human trait. Greek mythology sees hubris as a great atrocity and results in an unrelenting punishment. The idea of hubris is that an individual with an authoritative position, a strong or influential leader, becomes extremely proud of his exceptional qualities and forms a delusion of his position to be on par with even the Gods. This blinds the hubristic individual into believing he can defy the Gods and elude ones inevitable fate. Herodotus’ Histories is no exception to containing individuals that display hubristic qualities similar to many other significant historical entities. In Histories, the theme of hubris assists the reader in making a connection between the excerpts from the end of book 1 (1-204-206) to other books and excerpts in Herodotus’ Histories.
Greek mythology is something that everyone knows of, not only because it is so interesting, but because of the many gods and goddesses. One of the most well known goddesses being Goddess Athena who portrayed so many good characteristics. Although Goddess Athena is best known for wisdom, military skill, and crafts, she is also known for her mythological influence on the modern day world and her acts of heroism.
“There is no safety in unlimited hubris” (McGeorge Bundy). The dictionary defines hubris as overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance. In The Odyssey, Homer embodies hubris into the characters Odysseus, the Suitors, and the Cyclopes. Odysseus shows hubris when he is battling the Cyclopes, the Cyclopes show hubris when dealing with Odysseus, and the Suitors show it when Odysseus confronts them at his home.
As a resident on Mount Olympus, Athena rightfully represents both intelligence and strategy (Grant, Hazel 83). Symbols that identify with the goddess include the owl for wisdom and the olive branch for peace (Athena or Minerva… 1). Athena was a goddess of war who preferred peace to fighting (Lies 47). The deity was depicted in full wartime armor, including a helmet and spear. However, despite her rough accessories, Athena also showed off extreme femininity in her clothing as well as features (Buxton 79). Athena was Zeus’s favorite daughter. Zeus, the king of the gods, allowed her to dress in his Aegis (Lies 47). The Aegis was a breastplate made of goatskin that bore the image of a gorgon to instill panic in foes (Buxton 79). She was born fully-grown and already dressed in her full outfit, ready for war. Furthermore, Athena was the only Olympian not born of a mother. She sprang directly from her father, Zeus’s, head (Lies 47). She was different from the others of her kind, which may be why she was so honored so highly in early Greece.
“Oh for shame, how the mortals put the blame on us gods, for they say evils come from us, but it is they, rather, who by their own recklessness win sorrow beyond what is given,” (1.32-34) is a simple quote reminding us the entities in charge of all characters in the poem The Odyssey – the gods. Hubris, or excessive human pride, is most detested by the gods and likewise is most punishable by them. The Odyssey is a story about Odysseus and Telemachus, two heroes who throughout their adventures meet new people and face death many times. Telemachus goes to find his father after he learns from Athena that he is still alive. The two meet, and Odysseus attempts to go back to Ithaca after he was lost at sea, and on his way there becomes one of the most heroic characters in literature as we know it. Like all heroic characters, Odysseus began to display hubris as he learned how true of a hero he was. James Wyatt Cook, a historian and an expert on The Odyssey, wrote about how hubris can affect the characters that display it. He says, “Because Homer’s Odyssey is essentially comic, that episode [opened wind bag destroys ship] is only one of a series of setbacks Odysseus experiences before reaching his home in Ithaca and recovering his former kingdom and his family. Such, however, is not the case for those who display hubris with tragic outcomes.” (Cook 1) Initially, Odysseus learns about Aias who died as a cause of the excessive pride he portrays. Proteus warns Odysseus when he says, “…and Aias would have escaped doom, though Athena hated him, had he not gone widely mad and tossed outa word of defiance; for he said that in despite of the gods he escaped the great gulf of the sea, and Poseidon heard him…...
There are many historic and fictional figures where hubris led to their downfall. Hubris is defined as being arrogant and having pride for your self. There are many people that are led to their downfall because of hubris. People that are hubris are blinded and can’t see what they did wrong. Those who contain hubris only think about themselves and can’t see the big picture. They think the world revolves around them and think they are the best. They are always going to be successful but suddenly will drop down. They will do anything to make themselves look good. There are many people that contain hubris. Oedipus is a fictional character in the novel Oedipus the King by Sophocles. The novel focuses on hubris. Oedipus is a man that is blinded by hubris through his whole life. Oedipus killed his father and married his mother. Oedipus killed his father because he was filled with hubris and did not let him pass the intersection so he got mad and decided to slay him. Dr. Frank Tassone a historic figure was also filled with hubris which is what led to his downfall. Dr. Frank Tassone was the former superintendent of Roslyn. Hubris was the reason for Dr. Frank Tassone’s downfall. Dr.Tassone is very arrogant and believes the “world revolves around him”. Dr. Tassone was taking the schools and the parents money. He did not think it was wrong to take their money. Dr.Tassone was blinded for money. Bernie Madoff was also filled with hubris and was blind for money. Bernie Madoff was an American stockbroker and investment advisor. Bernie Madoff loved and was obsessed for money. Bernie thought that his company Bernard Madoff Investment Securities LLC was the best. Another person that is filled with hubris is Alex Rodriguez. Alex Rodriguez is an ...
Mythology was very important to the men and women of ancient Greece. They worshipped the gods and goddesses, wrote poems about them, and based a great deal of art work off of them. The people of Greece looked to the gods and goddesses for help in all aspects of their lives; including health, agriculture, and war. Reading about Greek mythology can inform people about the society of Greece because the Greek gods were created by the people of Greece. Three main goddesses who were worshipped by the Greeks were Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.
The sin of hubris is one of the evilest sins and rightly so. It ends up costing Odysseus twenty years at sea all because he told Polythemus his name. Hubris caused Odysseus’s crew to have unjustifiable faith in him even when Odysseus stood by while six men got gobbled up. The sin caused Odysseus to lie to his own wife just to get emotion out of her and feel better about himself. Odysseus used hubris to make himself feel superior enough to bring death upon suitors when gods are usually the ones to enact such a deed. Throughout Odysseus’s long and treacherous odyssey, he shows the corrupt trait of hubris, in the form of cockiness when he talks to key characters on his expedition home.
The word hubris is generally described as a arrogance to the point of a flaw. This arrogance tends to offend the gods within Greek mythology as they are the ones who provide for these people and civilizations to reach such great heights. Often times, the gods will choose to bring someone back down a level by taking away what made them so great or by simply offing them altogether which is seen within the myth of Atlantis . In the Greek myth of Narcissus, a man named Narcissus looked into his reflection in water only to become enamored with his beauty and falls in love with himself. Because he was so filled with hubris, he felt no need to take care of biological functions as humans need to do in order to survive, ultimately leading to him dying because of his fascination with himself. Narcissus’ name is where our words relating to narcissistic came from within the English
As you can see Athena was a very important figure in Greek mythology. She was very close to the same person in some cultures and completely different person in others. Her influence on the people varies widely depending on which stories you read and from what culture they are
Hubris, which translates to overweening arrogance and excessive pride, is the hamartia (flaw) in which the character Oedipus and even Jacosta possess. It takes on the form of arrogance of not accepting ones destiny and even attempting to tamper with the intangible realm of prophecy and deities: forces greater than ourselves. In the Oedipus Myth, Jacosta and Laius leave Oedipus to die in the forest shortly after birth to escape the prophecy and selfishly preserve their prestige in society; however Oedipus is saved by a Shepard. Consequentially, this act of mercy later brings forth
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
In Greek mythology Hubris means to have excessive pride or self-confidence from the hero. This excessive pride often leads to the hero’s downfall and is often their fatal flaw. Hubris causes the hero to disregard the gods. The hero’s don’t make good decisions. Their ability to make decisions is often hurt because their pride blurs what is a good and bad idea.
The famous ancient Greek writer, Sophocles, once said, “success is dependent on effort.” (Ancient Greece). Ancient Greece brought so much effort into their art, history, wars, mythology, their people, and their society to bring success to their civilization. The United States bases several parts of their civilization from the teachings and experiences the Greek civilization had. The Greek civilization is significant to the United States for many reasons including their influence on astronomy, math, and physics, Homer’s epics, and the Persian War.