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The importance of greek mythology
Influence of myth on greek culture
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that Hippolytus tried to rape her. Hippolytus was exiled because of her letter and Theseus never learned the truth (email 1.
Theseus was a man of many accomplishments. Theseus wanted nothing more than to be like Heracles, his cousin. This was part of the reason Theseus chose to walk to
Athens instead of by sea. He felt the sea was too easy of a journey (email). On his way to Athens he defeated many monsters. In Epidaurus there was a man named Periphetes who tried to kill him but Theseus was able to defeat him. In honor of his first victory Theseus kept Periphetes' club. Periphete was the first of Theseus's victories but was sure enough not the last. Theseus had defeated many others along the way including a man named Procrustes. Two other monsters were Sciron, amd Sinis. Sciron was a man known for pushing those who tried to pass by, over the cliff. Sinis was a little more harsh with his killing technique. Sinis would bend to limbs of a tree and tie whoever was there to the two different limbs with their wrists. Then when they could not hold on anymore they were forced to let go. This cause them to be separated and body parts went in every direction (Skidmore 4-8). When Theseus finally arrived in Athens his troubles were not over. Medea, Aegeus’s wife, had tried to poison Theseus. However when Theseus went to drink the unknown poison, Aegus noticed that Theseus had his sword. Aegus then quickly stopped Theseus from taking the poison. Medea then left and fled to Asia to avoid punishment. Aegus then made Theseus his successor. During this time Athens was
Starrett 3 facing many problems with the kind of Crete, Minos. The Athenians were required to send seven maidens to Crete every year. Those who were sent were eaten by a monster that was made of a bull's body and a human head. They called the monster, Minotaur (Theseus in Myth 1 &2). Theseus was determined to stop this from happening, so he elected himself to go an when he was there he would try to defeat the Minotaur. Aegus was scared that Theseus would not return so he begged him not to go. Theseus refused to stay, but made his father a promise. He told Aegus that if he defeated the Minotaur he would replace the black flag on his boat with a white one.
Theseus, The Great Athenian hero, was the son of Dianae and King Aegeus. Theseus had something that not many children at his age didn’t have, “he grew up strong far beyond others” (210). When he was young his father, King Aegeus, set a hollow sword and a pair of shoes and placed a great
Near the beginning of his journey, he met a Cyclops named Polyphemus. He killed & ate many of his men, so he had to stop him. He got him drunk with wine, and with an olive branch, along with his crew, “straight forward they sprinted, lifted it, & rammed deep in his crater eye.” (Pg 768: Lines 331-333) That was very brave, taking down a Cyclops. When Odysseus was disguised as a beggar, he asked the suitor Antinous for food, but denied his request & hit him with a stool. “The stool he let fly hit the man’s right shoulder on the packed muscle under the shoulder blade- like solid rock, for all the effect one saw.” (Pg. 808: Lines 1228-1230) Even after that, Odysseus remained calm & didn’t reveal his identity. He also fought al of the suitors & killed them all. He only had a few followers, and had to fight hundreds of men. His actions were very bold.
The significance of the quest to the society is that Theseus’ society admired those of great heroes
His crew makes many mistakes as they traverse across the sea in their return to Ithaca. As they lay stranded and trapped upon the island of Helios, Eurylochos said. “All deaths are hateful to miserable mortals, but the most pitiable death of all is to starve” (144). Despite the warning from Odysseus that they will all be doomed should they kill any of the sacred cows upon the island, they fear the death without remembrance and honor much more so then they fear the potential wrath of the gods that Odysseus has spoken of. This recklessness stands as their final temptation the crew faced as it resulted in each of its members’ death but it was far from their only opportunity in which they
In the story, the supreme ruler of Athens, Thesius ends up marrying Hippolyta, the Queen of the Jungle. However, during the whole story, Hippolyta never throughly discusses her feelings and ideas about the marriage. She acts as if she has no choice but to marry Thesius. This can be proven by examining Hippolyta's position in the relationship between herself and Thesius. Hippolyta was captured by Thesius during battle and Thesius intimidates Hippolyta into marrying him since he is a supreme ruler and she was defeated by him. Thesius reveals that he capture Hippolyta in battle in the following quote, "I wood thee by my sword/ And won thy love doing thee injuries" (Act I, Pg 7). The above quote and the fact that Hippolyta never discusses her feelings about the wedding leads the re...
In most Greek myths, you hear about the legendary hero that takes beats and monsters down by himself. Theseus, on the other hand, has people trust in him with his abilities that he later uses to aide him in differing situations. One example that shows this is when he becomes king of Eleusis. He starts to change the traditions of the town, and one of these changes is having the Companions, his personal guard, to be more interactive and in charge. This interest that Theseus shows in the Companions piques their interest and makes them start trusting him in more than just their king. Theseus’s loyalty to the Companions is also shown once they attack the stronghold of Sinis. While Xanthos gives the Companions and Theseus a smaller share of the spoils than himself, Theseus “divided all my own share among them” (99). By doing this, the Companions start to trust and rely on him over Xanthos. This loyalty is shown when Xanthos and Theseus fight each other to the death. Theseus ends up going against Xanthos, who has a spear, with only a sword, after he throws his spear. The companions see that Theseus might die, so they throw their spears for Theseus can reach one and kill
Theseus insisted to take the way by land. His idea was to become a hero as
Oedipus goes on with his journey not knowing about what he is going to do next. Oedipus runs into some people at a crossing on this journey and quarrels with them to there death. After this, he goes along to a city named Thebes where he outsmarted a beast that was cursing the city. He received praise and joy. While gaining the trust of all that lived there he quickly became King of Thebes. The people loved him because he was such a great leader. He was such a great king because he had a lot of love for his people and would do anything in his power to make them happy. As a result of this, Oedipus finds out that the city is in trouble unless the killer of their late king is found and punished. Little does Oedipus know that he is the killer of their late King or that the King was actually his father. Oedipus will strive for awnsers even though he has been warned not to dig to deep, for he will regret it.
Many people would blatantly state that the importance of the gods in Greek society derives from the fact that Gods in any society are usually used to explain phenomenon that people cannot logically comprehend, but in ancient Greece gods were actually entities that took part in the workings of society itself. Even simple aspects of day-to-day life such as sex and disputes between mortals were supposedly influenced by godly workings. Unlike modern religions such as Catholicism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, where an omnipotent force supposedly controls the workings of the world, a hierarchy of Gods characterized religion in ancient Greece. Working as one big family, which they actually were, each one of the Greek gods governed a certain aspect of the world in a way that usually reflected their own humanlike personalities. These unique personalities also contained many human flaws such as envy and greed, and were where the Greek God’s importance lay. Greek religion was more concentrated on the way an individual dealt with situations that popped up in the world around him than on understanding the world itself. In other words the Greeks were more interested in the workings of the mind than in the workings of the environment around them.
Thucydides credits Athens early success to Pericles and blames his inferior political successors for Athens ultimate defeat. These successors did not follow Periclean policy in and put their own private interests and good before the common good of the state. Sophocles uses Theseus as a didactic example of the ideal Athenian ruler. The final scene between Theseus and Oedipus, offers hope to the people of Athens that restoration is possible and with the guidance of honorable figures of authority, logos will once again prevail within their land.
As mentioned above, the world of ancient Athens, men was the dominate gender. Women were not allowed marriage without consent of their father. They didn’t even have the right to choose their lover. In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Egues presented engagement to Hermia and a man she didn’t love. "A respectable woman's main role in ancient Athens was to stay home, keep pretty, and bear children. Her life centered in the house and the children. Most citizen wives had slaves to do the cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping. Once she gave birth, her father could not take her back (Women in Ancient Athens 1)." In ancient Athens society established that it was disrespectful for women to disobey the commands of their father or husband. If her husband thought it necessary, he would have the right to keep her locked in the house if she wasn't behaving as a proper Athenian woman should (Women in Ancient Athens 1). In this case, while Hermia consoled to Theseus, Theseus told Hermia to die or reject the society of men altogether if she shouldn't obey her father.
of a mother-son marriage. Greek law considers the act, not the motive. meaning that even though she nor Oedipus knew they were related, they committed. the crime of the.. & nbsp; Finally, Oedipus's guilt. In some ways, Oedipus was the most guilty of them all. Consider his 'hubris'. He regarded himself as almost a god, assuming. that since he alone had solved the sphinx's riddle, he was the one of the gods. favorites. He was very quick to judge, and judged on the most flimsy of evidence. He calls on Tiresias to tell him what he should do, and when he. doesn't like what he hears, Oedipus says, "Your words are nothing - futile".
All throughout Edith Hamilton’s rendition of Theseus’ story she displays example for all three parts of the characteristic from Theseus’ superior strength, the prime example from the story is when Theseus kills the sleeping Minotaur without any weapons and only his bare hands, an example of Theseus’ intelligence comes during his reign as the King of Athens, he’s described as a wise king who chose a more democratic rule to govern his people, and an example for Theseus’ courage lies in his selfless actions to volunteer himself as one of the sacrifices to enter the Labyrinth to face the Minotaur. Although Hamilton’s description of Theseus’ legacy speaks for itself, “Theseus was, of course, bravest of the brave as all heroes are, but unlike other heroes he was as compassionate as he was brave and a man of great intellect as well as bodily strength (Hamilton 166.)” Just in Hamilton’s quick summary of Theseus’ character is a testament that he doesn’t fit the role of an epic hero but he is the literal archetype which epic heroes strive to be. Theseus isn’t just superhumanly strong, like Hercules, or only incredibly courageous to the point it’d be stupid, like Perseus, Theseus is superior in strength, intelligence, and
Zeus, most likely the most renowned god of all gods, the mighty god of lightning has taken part in some of the most widely known myths of all times. Zeus has taken part in many Greek and Roman myths alike, either as Zeus or as his Roman counterpart of Jupiter. Unlike most gods in mythology though, Zeus is the main character in almost all of the myths he is mentioned in. Whether the myth is about his epic clash against the Titans, his fight against the Giants or even about his extramarital affairs, Zeus always seems to come out of these conflicts unaffected and triumphant. When examining Zeus’ character though, it is important to note that Zeus is a god that exhibits human characteristics throughout most of his myths. Growth is one of the many human attributes that Zeus portrays in many of his myths.