There are many lost civilizations that are still being excavated all over the world. Along with these lost civilizations comes an ancient story that describes each civilization. These stories describe a civilization that excited many years ago; however the challenge is to see if these stories describe a mythical civilization or a real civilization. 3 civilizations that are described in the ancient myths are the Minoan, the Mycenaean, and the Trojan civilization. The myth of the Minotaur and Theseus describes a great civilization known as the Minoan civilization. Then there is the myth of the Trojan War described in The Iliad by Homer. The Trojan War was a war fought between the Mycenaean’s and the Trojans. Therefore, archeologists put their life work into proving that these myths do describe a real civilization that existed.
The story of the Minotaur and Theseus describes a great civilization known as the Minoan civilization. A Minotaur is a monster that has a human body but the head of a bull. This beast was created when King Minos prayed to Gods for a bull from the seas. King Minos said he would sacrifice this bull in honor of the Gods. Poseidon answered to his prayers. He sent a beautiful white bull to King Minos; he was supposed to sacrifice this bull to show his faith to the Gods. However, the bull was so beautiful he decided to keep the bull and sacrifice a regular animal in its place. Poseidon was furious with his actions, so he decided to punish him. Poseidon decided to make King Minos’s wife Pasiphae to fall in love with the white bull. A wooden cow was built for her, so she can have an affair with the bull. As a result, she gave birth to the Minotaur. King Minos was ashamed of his wife and this creatur...
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...ons. Archeologists were able to find out the truth behind these civilizations and the myths had any significant to these individual civilizations.
Works Cited
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Early civilization remains permits us to observe how life was lived in earlier times. Until the Neolithic Era humans were fairly nomadic. When they became knowledgeable of farming they began to realize that they would not have to be nomadic anymore thus forming civilizations. These early civilizations were typically polytheistic, which means that they believed in many gods. During these civilizations they also learned to tame animals and their technologies grew more and more advanced. Almost all early civilizations have failed but they all left a lasting mark that will continue forever. The Nile River Valley Civilization and the Mesopotamia Civilization are both amazing but they both have their differences in their political and social aspects.
Grant, Michael, and John Hazel. "Athena." Gods and Mortals in Classical Mythology. Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam, 1973. Print.
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When analyzing ancient civilization and how it began, there are many elements and aspects that should be considered. Questions such as how did civilization begin? What lead to its creation? Where did it begin, and why in that particular location? Many of these questions can be examined and answered by researching what many believe is the world’s earliest civilization, Mesopotamia. It is widely believed that this region was chosen and supported one of the world’s first civilizations. This area was settled over 10,000 years ago by a group of people known as the Sumerians (Cunningham & Reich, 2010).
Tracy, Stephen V., The story of the Odyssey. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1990. PA4167 .T7 1990
Schein, Seth L. The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
Homer. The Illiad. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces: Expanded Edition?Volume I. ed. by Maynard Mack. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1995.
Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and Greece were all historical civilizations that made history the way it is today. The three civilizations differed in many different ways, but they were also quite similar in other aspects. The focus of survival, beliefs, daily life, and many other focuses connect the three civilizations.
Schein, Seth L. The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. "The Earliest Heroes: Prometheus and Io." Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1942. (95-99)
In 1882, Ignatius L. Donnelly published a book named “Atlantis: the Antediluvian World”. In this book, Donnelly tried to demonstrate his hypothesis that all known ancient civilizations were descended from a specific civilization, which was Atlantis. He observed that ancie...
6. GREEN, Peter, A Concise History Of Ancient Greece To The Close Of The Classical Era, Thames & Hudson, London, 1991