One of the most unmistakable, evident themes of Hesiod's didactic narratives is the moral decay of the characters portrayed within them. Ironically, many of his creatures which he brings alive in his literature develop this decay in an evolutionary succession. Hesiod conveys to his readers this idea of negative succession mainly within one of his more well-known works, Theogony. Both groups of characters in the Theogony, gods and mortals, display this moral decay as his story progresses. This decomposition of law and morality within succeeding generations of characters is brought about by different events, according to Hesiod. In Hesiod's Theogony, different races of men are created and destroyed according to the will of the gods, so it appears that Hesiod is putting the gods in control of the general disposition of the mortals. The gods, unlike some mortals, have no superior being to fall back on or to blame their behaviors on, so it seems to me that they more at fault with their wicked behaviors than the race of men in this narrative. Although it seems that Hesiod attempts to put these immortals in a good light by tinting the image of their questionable behavior with his constant flattering adjectives (and such), he, either consciously or inadvertently, paints a dark picture of their true ethics and characters.
Different theories have been developed which relate to this theme of moral decay throughout history, even several centuries after Hesiod's life. This idea of evolutionary decay seems to corroborate with the widely received, contemporary theory of evolution, or Darwinism, brought forth through the designs and beliefs of Charles Darwin in which he states that, in nature, only the fittest creatures will survive ...
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...stion that mankind was not always so selfish and violent as in this age of iron that we live in.
It is ironic that the entity in existence was the being called Chaos, for although it's Greek translation is Chasm, or emptiness, I believe that chaos and disorder will be their fate if the gods continue this eternal cycle of increasing self destructive behavior. All of this, however, was created as through the beliefs and imagination of Hesiod. Historians and mythologists still can not concretely separate, in his two stories, the Theogony and the Works and Days, which parts were of his imagination and which were not; it is therefore difficult to determine what the author's overall message was to the readers. It is possible that Hesiod wrote these stories in order to discredit the gods with gossip of their alleged human-like violence and sexual transgressions.
In Hesiod’s Theogony, the tensions within a family seem to be an intensified version of issues that are relatable to people. The results of these tensions are also dramatic and have a tendency to have a fulfillment of the fears that were causing the tensions as a result. This implies that there is a natural cycle of destruction between father and son. Tension seems to arise with the implication of the woman’s creative nature juxtaposed to the destructive nature of her husband.
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.
In Greek mythology having power and control over others was the greatest achievement that any character could achieve. In order to gain this dominance many characters had to use fraudulent tactics. These tactics were learned from earlier generations and then tweaked in order for future success. This path was an example of how Ouranos, Cronos and Zeus all came to power. In the poem Hesiod’s Theogony, the Greek family relationships between the husband, wife and their children are a repeated cycle, built on the characteristics of power, deceit and achievement that maintained the family dynamic in Greek life.
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.
Schlegel, Catherine. "Introduction to Hesiod." Introduction. Theogony and Works and Days. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 2006. 1-10. Print.
Caldwell, Richard S. The origin of the gods : a psychoanalytic study of Greek theogonic myth
In this essay, I hope to provide answers to how the actions of Hippolytus and Phaedra relate to the gods, whether or not the characters concern themselves with the reaction of the gods to their behavior, what the characters expect from the gods, how the gods treat the humans, and whether or not the gods gain anything from making the humans suffer. Before we can discuss the play, however, a few terms need to be defined. Most important would be the nature of the gods. They have divine powers, but what exactly makes the Greek gods unique should be explored. The Greek gods, since they are anthropomorphic, have many of the same characteristics as humans.
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
In Hesiod’s Works and Days, he begins by stating “But you, Perses, listen to right and do not foster violence; for violence is bad for a poor man” (Hesiod 1). Hesiod believes that violence is for people of low ethical and economic standing, and that if a man is violent then he will be punished by Zeus. This is where the pessimistic side of Greek religion comes into play: Hesiod warns that Zeus will know if a man is acting in disreputable ways, and will punish not only him but also the place in which he lives by causing famine, plague, and the general perishing of everyone. Hesiod believes that a man should act to uphold justice rather than walk the path of ferocity. Whereas a violent man will bring ruin to his city, a just man will bring prosperity and “all-seeing Zeus never decrees cruel war against them” (Hesiod 2). The land will bear plenty of food, people will be healthy, and civilization will bourgeon. The importance of these two elements in Hesiod’s writing is that he is trying to encourage people to simply act courteous and kind to others. This ideal and these warnings play into how Hesiod believes the basileises should act and how men should treat the people around them.
“For science, the end of the evolution struggle is simply represented by 'survival.' As for the means to that end, apparently anything goes. Darwinism leaves humanity without a moral compass” (Bruce Lipton). Lipton is saying how the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin (which states that over time, through natural selection, the organisms to survive will be those best suited to the environment) essentially has as a final step, humans doing whatever to survive, even break their own morals. Humans, usually are a species that are able to make rational decisions, even when under tense situations. However, should these situations begin to escalate to the point where one fears their life may be in danger, it causes them
Throughout Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, gods are presented as remarkably human in almost every way. While it is assumed that gods are divine entities incapable of human transgression, they are portrayed with all the flaws of mortals in The Iliad. The gods are a manifestation of human emotions consequently helping to explain the behavior of the humans in The Iliad. The actions of the heroes are what determine their fate, not divine intervention. Ultimately, the humans in The Iliad have inherent characteristics that provide the driving force behind their actions: the gods simply act in concert with them, allowing the human beings to exercise free will of
“Gods can be evil sometimes.” In the play “Oedipus the King”, Sophocles defamed the gods’ reputation, and lowered their status by making them look harmful and evil. It is known that all gods should be perfect and infallible, and should represent justice and equity, but with Oedipus, the gods decided to destroy him and his family for no reason. It might be hard to believe that gods can have humanistic traits, but in fact they do. The gods, especially Apollo, are considered evil by the reader because they destroyed an innocent man’s life and his family. They destroyed Oedipus by controlling his fate, granting people the power of prophecy, telling Oedipus about his fate through the oracle of Apollo, and finally afflicting the people of Thebes with a dreadful plague. Fundamentally, by utilizing fate, prophecies, the oracle of Apollo, and the plague, the gods played a significant role in the destruction of Oedipus and his family.
To begin with, the ancient Greeks explained the creation of the universe, in particular the Earth and its elements, by a system of anthropomorphism in which their gods are human-like and are representatives of these elements. For example, Zeus is the god of heaven while Hades is the underworld lord (Hesiod, p.145). Unlike the Christians’ god who is “flawless”, the ancient Greeks’ divinities are portrayed as humans and are far from perfect. Their gods behave like ordinary people except they are immortal and have supernatural powers. Like any human being, the Greeks’ gods have love, jealousy, sadness, etc. For instance, in Euripides’ Bacchae, Zeus falls in love with Semele, which makes Hera becomes jealous and tries to kill Semele and Dionysus (Euripides, p.209). The Greeks even have a physically imperfect god, Hephaestus. This is to say that the gods’ attitude toward mortals is affected by how people treat them as the Greeks’ gods have emotions like humans.
Throughout studying many myths, I came up with many new observations. Many questions came into my mind about these myths. Greek mythology takes us back to a time when people had a connection with nature and when nature played a major role in people’s lives. The religious beliefs of the people who wrote the myths are found in the background of these myths; however, they are not to be read like religious texts. The myths try to offer explanations of “how”, which makes us think deeply about the purpose of these myths and the questions they draw to our minds. According to the myths we studied in class, the world created the gods, not the other way around. The gods were always created in the image of man, which shows how much men were important in their society. Furthermore, many of these Greek myths show us the difference between the views of the Greek then and our view towards many aspects of the society, including nature. Monsters appear in Greek myths and have different representations and roles. Greek mythology reflects a view of the Greeks towards the world and how certain aspects of their lives are similar and different to modern society.
If individuals see that choosing morality is beneficial and brings happiness, they will make that choice, which then leads to that individual or group continuing on in society rather than “dying out,” as others would. In addition, individuals can see that choosing moral or ethical actions not only improves them as individuals, but can improve society. For example, when an individual makes the ethical choice to participate in social justice, the community as a whole experiences justice, making the individual feel better and helping improve the society. Therefore, not only can ethics be tied to evolution in how ethics developed within humanity, but choosing to be ethical or unethical provides an evolutionary advantage for those individuals within society. As a result, the moral and ethical decisions made by individuals, which can be explained through social Darwinism, have helped to shape society, its basic morality, and what is expected of individuals in various societies all over the world.