The Impact of Greek Mythology to the World

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Greek mythology has been around for hundreds of years, and it has influenced much of our culture with it’s outrageous stories and fables. With epics like “The Odyssey” teaching morals to ancient Greece, or myths like Hades and Persephone “explaining” how seasons were created , “the group of stories known as classical myths were first written down by the ancient Greeks,” each having their own plot and storyline, but all leading to one another in a combined piece (Bingham, 6). The stories of Greek Mythology have influenced the arts and literature of the world, displayed the morals that the Greeks believed in, and changed how they thought about science and natural events. Greek mythology began with the civilization and society of the Ancient Greeks, and “the greek society emerged from the Mycenaean civilization, which flourished from 1600 to 1200 B.C.” (Green, 4). It was, as is modern day Greece, located on the Balkan peninsula, and consisted of multiple city-states, or independent kingdoms. It was ruled as a monarchy, which provided Greece with a King and/or Queen. With the decline of Greece in 1200 B.C., “they lost the art of writing”, and spread from Greece to the Mediterranean Sea. In 338 B.C., “King Philip of Macedon became ruler of the Greeks” , with Alexander The Great, his offspring, then became the ruler of Greece, with his death leading to the take-over by Rome (Bingham, 7). During these periods, many stories and legends of the believed Greek Gods were passed orally, and then became written epics or fables such as Homer's The Odyssey. To start, the arts, such as sculptures and paintings, became widely influenced by many of the myths and stories of Greek Mythology. At the National Archaeological Museum of Italy, “‘The Farne... ... middle of paper ... ...u, Evangelia. "Apollo, Daphne and the Laurel Tree." Greek-Gods.info. Evangelia Hatzitsinidou, 04 Dec 2013. Web. 11 Dec 2013. . Hilton, Edith. "Mythology: Themes, Motifs, & Symbols." Sparknotes. Sparknotes, 26 Nov 2013. Web. 4 Dec 2013. . Lupo, Alberto. Rockefeller Center Statue of Atlas. 2008. Array. Panororamio, New York, NY. Web. 19 Dec 2013. . Osborne, Kevin, and Dana Burgess. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Classical Mythology. New York, NY: Penguin Group (USA) Inc, 2004. Web. . Stylianou, Nicos. "Greek Mythology Paintings." igreekmythology. Nicos Stylianou. Web. 10 Dec 2013. .

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