“Myths continue to fascinate us” (Kromholz and McCarter 1). In every new generation, many children are intrigued when they read Greek Mythology, which makes it valuable teaching tool in high school literature. This beneficial teaching device should have the priority in the on-going debate about the implementation of Greek Mythology. Implementing fundamental morals of life, providing interpretations to unexplained phenomena of the world, and stimulating the minds of students to extrapolate the content, the analysis of Greek Mythology should remain as part of high school standards, despite possible contrariety with a student's religion, or set of beliefs.
Greek Mythology ingeniously enforces many important life lessons in its stories. For example, a great moral is presented in the story of Baucis and Philemon: “Good people… ask whatever you want and you shall have your wish” (Hamilton 153). At that point in the story, Jupiter is rewarding Baucis and Philemon for being excellent hosts and punishing all the other single-minded citizens in the country. This story portrays two distinguished morals: love lasts forever and karma. People might not believe in karma, or even in love, but believing in karma leads people to assist others more than causing inconvenience, which is beneficial to the society. In a more informal method, myths present stories “about relationships… [And] especially stories that explore and evaluate the behavior of their principal characters” (Kromholz and McCarter 4). Not only does Greek Mythology present magnificent ideals, but also exploits the true nature of humans. From these kinds of stories, people will become aware of malicious behavior in humans and advise caution toward that behavior. Directly or indirectl...
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...s can impel us to realize some of the misconceptions that the society developed to become. Students only trust these beliefs if they wish to, which has two distinct directions. One is that students believe in the new morals that are presented to them, and if this occurs, it will not corrupt their brains, but only expand their perspectives of the world. They will start to embrace the morals and enrich the society, but some students might not find the Greek views logical. These students will scrutinize mythology only to find contrasting viewpoints, which will promote their analytical ability. The tradition of the laughing at how ridiculous Greek mythology sounds at some points is something that all generations should experience, but in the end, teaching Greek mythology has been a tradition in schools as long as people can remember and there is no need to remove it now.
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. 2nd ed. Mountain View: Mayfield, 1995
From before the dawn of civilization as we know it, humanity has formed myths and legends to explain the natural world around them. Whether it is of Zeus and Hera or Izanami-no-Mikoto and Izanagi-no-mikoto, every civilization and culture upon this world has its own mythos. However, the age of myth is waning as it is overshadowed in this modern era by fundamental religion and empirical science. The word myth has come to connote blatant falsehood; however, it was not always so. Our myths have reflected both the society and values of the culture they are from. We have also reflected our inner psyche, conscious and unconscious, unto the fabric of our myths. This reflection allows us to understand ourselves and other cultures better. Throughout the eons of humanity’s existence, the myths explain natural phenomena and the cultural legends of the epic hero have reflected the foundations and the inner turmoil of the human psyche.
Around the time where Greece was known to be the greatest civilization on earth, many people used myths and stories as an extension of their belief because they were culturally significant and important. Ancient Greece was a male-dominated civilization that created laws which would benefit only those with power, which let to the suffering of those without power. The relationship of the sexes was very important, because it showed how men were more superior and woman were frowned upon because they were treated more like minorities. Aeschylus’ “Agamemnon” is about a Greek king who would do anything, including sacrificing his daughter, because he feels as a man and a king whatever decisions he makes are always just. Sophocles’ “Antigone” is about a girl who goes against the religious values of the society, and get persecuted because state laws restrict her
Myths relate to events, conditions, and deeds of gods or superhuman beings that are outside ordinary human life and yet basics to it” ("Myth," 2012). Mythology is said to have two particular meanings, “the corpus of myths, and the study of the myths, of a particular area: Amerindian mythology, Egyptian mythology, and so on as well as the study of myth itself” ("Mythology," 1993). In contrast, while the term myth can be used in a variety of academic settings, its main purpose is to analyze different cultures and their ways of thinking. Within the academic setting, a myth is known as a fact and over time has been changed through the many different views within a society as an effort to answer the questions of human existence. The word myth in an academic context is used as “ancient narratives that attempt to answer the enduring and fundamental human questions: How did the universe and the world come to be? How did we come to be here? Who are we? What are our proper, necessary, or inescapable roles as we relate to one another and to the world at large? What should our values be? How should we behave? How should we not behave? What are the consequences of behaving and not behaving in such ways” (Leonard, 2004 p.1)? My definition of a myth is a collection of false ideas put together to create
“He was like a rooster who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow.” By this George Eliot meant that he who believe the universe revolves around his or her self are very arrogant and egocentric. This analysis of egocentric and arrogant people is sound. The mythological characters Arachne and Phaeton relate to this quote because they are both egocentric and arrogant.
The Role of Women in Greek Mythology In learning about the feminist movement, we studied the three articles, discussed and reviewed the different authors perspectives on the topic, and learned how important the role of woman in Greek mythology is. In presenting the feminist theory to the class, we analyzed the three articles, Women in Ancient Greece; Women in Antiquity: New Assessments; and Women in Greek Myth, and discussed how although the three articles provided different views on Feminism in mythology, they all essentially are aiming to teach the same basic concept. In order to understand the feminist theory, we have to understand the notion that although myths are invented and that they involve fantasy, the concept of mythology does not necessarily imply that there is no truth of history in them. Some of the humans may have lived while some of the events may have taken place. Most importantly, the social customs and the way of life depicted in the myths are a valuable representation of Greek society.
In her poem "Myth," Natasha Trethewey uses mythology, a unique structure, rhyme pattern, and punctuation to make form and content inseparable. Each of these elements serves to share the stages of grief one goes through one feels at the death of a loved one as well as the feelings of deep loss and longing.
Hunt, J.M. "Greek Mythology Zeus Lovers." SDSU College of Education: Home Page. Web. 19 June 2011.
In my opinion, books is a mystery, we don’t know what is inside a book so to be able to figure out, understand, and know about it mystery, we must read them. The Mythology lens in literature will allow the reader to reach the puzzle events and understand them thoroughly.
Zeus hurls his thunderbolt and the world trembles. Odin invites fallen warriors in the halls of Valhalla for a drink. Jesus Christ spreads the words of his father and gathers disciples. Buddha sits and meditates the meaning of the universe. Across the world there have always been mythological stories. From the first civilization to modern times, mythologies help explain the vents of the world and attempt to provide answers for unanswerable questions. Though every mythology appears different, if one looks close enough, commonalities appear. Joseph Campbell spent his life studying mythologies and religions along with compiling the commonalities amongst them. This study on the works of Joseph Campbell focuses on the following areas:
Greek mythology has many different stories that can depict different morals. For example, the myth of Helios, the sun god, and his son, Phaeton shows the importance of not letting your fantasies distract you from reality. However, the theme would not be clear without the main conflict.
Not to mention, you learn some great lessons. For instance, in the story of “ Echo and Narcissus” . Hera cursed Narcissus to fall in love with himself , the lesson was to look at someone for not their looks,but what’s inside. Additionally, in the story “Pandora’s Box” Pandora didn’t listen to Athena about the box Zeus gave her, and let curiosity get to her leading to a terrible disaster for humans . The lesson was curiosity gets to people easily, which is relatable . As you see there's a lot of lessons in Ancient Greek stories that modern day doesn’t
(1) One of the matters of which Ancient Greece flourished was culture, with elegant marble sculptures, fascinating literature, enchanting dramas, harmonious music, etc. However, the one aspect they are most popular for is their elaborate mythology which still inspires media to date. What most people do realize is
middle of paper ... ... The violence and stray ideals that are portrayed in mythology continue to thrive through literary works read by children. In the end, these ideals and violent ideas influence the younger generation the more they read, even in books as simple as Fairy Tales and Narnia. Works Cited Bakay, Graig.
In conclusion, myths reflect show us the Greeks view on the world, religion, and nature. Their understanding of the world is both similar and different compared to modern society. Myths also reflect the importance of gods in the Greek society and how each god represented something different. In addition, we can see the role of monsters in myths, what they represent and how were they important. Myths also show us the role of women in society and whether they were as important as men or not.