The Role of Greek Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Times

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Recommended: Role of athena in the odyssey essay

The Role of Greek Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Times

With all of the interesting aspects of the Odyssey, I am only going to touch on one of them. The gods and goddesses in the Odyssey of all of the deities mentioned I am only going to focus on a few. The first and most powerful of these is Zeus. Then we have Hermes, the messenger god. Last but not least of these would be Athena, the goddess of warriors.

Zeus, Ruler of the gods.

"Zeus, father of gods and of men. His power was vast as the sky, mighty as the roll of thunder . . . " (Lord 9). From this description of Zeus we could imagine a huge dominating person who had absolute control over everything. Zeus, was the father of gods, many of them were his children. Zeus was the god who liberated the world from the rule of the Titans. His father, Cronus, was the most powerful of the Titans. Cronus had heard that one day one of his sons would manage to take the throne from him. In order to avoid this most miserable fortune, he swallowed his children right after they were born. Zeus managed to avoid this fate though because his mother tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock instead. When Zeus was grown, he forced Cronus, with the help of his grandmother earth, to regurgitate all of the five older children and the rock. Then with the help of his siblings, and various other creatures he defeats the Titans. Zeus and his brother then drew lots to see who would rule what. Zeus ended up as ruler of the skies. He wielded the devastating thunderbolt. His power was greater than all of the other gods powers combined. In spite of his power though, he is not omnipotent or omniscient. He can be opposed and deceived. Both Poseidon and Hera, his wife, get the better of him in the Illiad. Might...

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...s her city, and the olive tree her tree.

So the big deal is?

The gods in ancient times affected man in many ways. In the Illiad Zeus exiles Odysseus, so that he may never see his home again. Later, Athena feels sorry for Odysseus and his son and she beseeches her father to let Odysseus go home. Zeus agrees, and sends Hermes to tell Kalypso to send Odysseus home. In these ways the gods either help or hinder the heroes through Greek mythologies and many other mythologies as well. The mythologies would be very boring if you did not have a god sticking his nose into every detail of the heroes life, and what would our heroes be like if they had not had their gods to back them?

Works cited

Gates, Doris. The Warrior Goddess: Athena. New York: The Viking Press, Inc, 1972.

Gates, Doris. Lord of the sky: Zeus. New York: The Viking Press, Inc, 1972.

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