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How greek mythology affects modern society
Relation to the gods in ancient Greece
Relation to the gods in ancient Greece
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Throughout history, tyrants have ruled most of the populated world. These were people who held executive power in their community, and ruled with a fierce and rapacious grip, doing their will without paying their dues. These rulers can be seen through time in many different times and nations: Fidel Castro, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin (“Dictators and Tyrants in World History”). All of these tyrants ruled as the gods did, with an iron grip, holding the promise of demise over them in the case of insurgency. In Greek and Roman myths, their gods are painted as impeccable examples of a tyrant, commanding of the humans that they do there will at threat of death. For this purpose the gods were worshipped as Stalin was, through acute fear of their …show more content…
A long time ago, the king of Athens, Cecrops was searching for a god to be the patron of Athens. There were two gods who had shown interest in filling this role, Athena and Poseidon and consequently each was invited to Athens for a competition that would select who was to become the patron of Athens. The competition they would partake in would be one of gifts, each was to bring one wonderful gift to the city of Athens; when the day came, they each came forward with their gifts. Poseidon presented his first, and holding aloft his trident he struck the ground from which sprung a magnificent spring which widened into a lake. Seeing his beautiful gift, the people of Athens grew excited at the allure of this beautiful lake, however, upon touching the water to their lips they were disgusted for the lake was made of salt water and therefore could not be drawn from. Next Athena presented Cecrops with a simple olive tree which she then planted into the ground, exclaiming that it would grow large and bear olives to eat and even for oil to fuel their lamps with. Upon seeing the two gifts the people made their decision, picking Athena as her gift was clearly the superior. In a rage, Poseidon retreated back into the sea, and in a fit of retaliation, he mustered a massive wave which flooded the Thriasian Plain (“Athena and Poseidon's Contest for Athens”). In
So Poseidon stated to attack the wonderful city . He attack everyone how was fish, on a boat, and turned the fish against the city.
Many authors have employed the religious beliefs of their cultures in literature. The deities contained in Homer’s Odyssey and in the Biblical book of Exodus reflect the nature of the gods in their respective societies. Upon examination of these two works, there are three major areas where the gods of the Greek epic seem to directly contrast the nature of the God of the Israelites: the way problems are solved, the prestige and status that separates the divine from the masses, and the extent of power among the immortal beings.
The myths which prove the contradictory behavior of the gods, acting as both benefactors and tormentors of man, can readily be explained when viewed in light of the prime directive for man, to worship the gods and not “overstep,” and the ensuing “Deus ex Mahina” which served to coerce man to fulfill his destiny as evidenced by the myths: “Pandora,” “Arachne, and “Odysseus.” Humankind and it’s range of vision over the gods beauty and power portrayed them to be benefactors but unseemingly it depicted their affliction towards humans.
...jor problem to ancient Greek because the Poseidon controls the sea it can cause destruction and death.
Munn, Mark H. The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny in Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. N.p.: Berkeley: University of Califronia, 2006. Print.
As Greek governing power was within aristocracy, their gods were also viewed as somewhat of an aristocracy. I say this to elucidate that there is a unique relationship between a leader or ruler and his society’s god – in perception by the people, and by interaction.
Aphrodite and Athena were both great powerful women who were revered as goddesses in greek mythology. They both were greatly worshipped, however due to their distinct personality traits they were worshipped and spoken about and very different ways. Both goddesses are immortal and female, and both seem to distinguish the incongruous gender roles between men and women throughout ancient Greece. What makes these two goddesses interesting, however, is their differences, which will determine how they will be reflected in myth. On one hand you have Athena, the androgynous goddess of war and wisdom. On the other you have Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sexuality. During this time, even among the immortals, women were seen as inferior and less
The Athenians have made it their boast that they had never been conquered. Both Achaean and Dorian invaders passed them by, possibly because their rocky plain was far less fertile than the rich valleys of Argos or Sparta. Thus the Athenians represented, or claimed to represent, the purest and most ancient Grecian stock, descended from the gods themselves (Ellis). The initial name of Athens was Akte or Aktike, named after the first king, Akteos (http://www.sikyon.com/Athens/ahist_eg01.html). Her second name, Kekropia, came from the king, Cecrops, who succeeded Akteos by marrying his daughter. According to the legend, his lower body was that of a dragon. During his reign, goddess Athena and Poseidon were competing for the protection of the city and each one offered presents. Poseidon struck the rock at the Acropolis with his trident (the three marks can be seen behind the Erectheion) and a spring with salted water gushed up. With the blow also leaped the first horse, ready to serve the man faithfully, while Athena offered an olive tree. The legend tell us that all the men of Athens voted for the gift of Poseidon and all the women, for the gift of Athena. Because there was one woman more than the men, goddess Athena was selected and from her the city took her name.
Throughout Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, gods are presented as remarkably human in almost every way. While it is assumed that gods are divine entities incapable of human transgression, they are portrayed with all the flaws of mortals in The Iliad. The gods are a manifestation of human emotions consequently helping to explain the behavior of the humans in The Iliad. The actions of the heroes are what determine their fate, not divine intervention. Ultimately, the humans in The Iliad have inherent characteristics that provide the driving force behind their actions: the gods simply act in concert with them, allowing the human beings to exercise free will of
Although the stories are based on tyrants and their ability to gain power and pride through the scarification of others, I believe that the authors also attempted to describe the tyrants need to feel praised and express passion and anger. Their determination of reaching what is most important to them, is the reason the two tyrants were able to reach absolute power, at different points in their command.
Since Poseidon, god of the earthquake, is still furious toward Odysseus for stabbing Polyphemus in the eye, the Phaeacians’s xenia went wrong. They hosted their guest properly, but went against the gods’ will and in a way showed no respect to the gods, especially Poseidon. After Poseidon knew Odysseus went back to Ithaca, he said, “I will lose all my honor now among the immortals, now there are mortal men who show me no respect – Phaeacians, too.” (13. 145-147) Thus, the Phaeacians were punished and killed for showing xenia to the wrong
the Gods in the affairs of humanity is much greater in the Iliad then in the
Ever wonder why Poseidon, god of the seas, was said to have such an unpredictable temper? Maybe the Greeks just simply chose to make him that way to make their myths filled with more drama, or maybe his personality is based on the element that he reigns over. Either way, since Poseidon ruled over the sea in Greek myth, he was the sole figure responsible for the sea’s natural events and their unpredictability. Knowing that myths accounted for natural events in ways like Poseidon’s personification of the seas is important because it gives some insight on how the people of Greece would explain such strange phenomena, for example, the changing seasons. With that in mind, one should know that the awe-inspiring, physical nature of our world is key
To begin with, the ancient Greeks explained the creation of the universe, in particular the Earth and its elements, by a system of anthropomorphism in which their gods are human-like and are representatives of these elements. For example, Zeus is the god of heaven while Hades is the underworld lord (Hesiod, p.145). Unlike the Christians’ god who is “flawless”, the ancient Greeks’ divinities are portrayed as humans and are far from perfect. Their gods behave like ordinary people except they are immortal and have supernatural powers. Like any human being, the Greeks’ gods have love, jealousy, sadness, etc. For instance, in Euripides’ Bacchae, Zeus falls in love with Semele, which makes Hera becomes jealous and tries to kill Semele and Dionysus (Euripides, p.209). The Greeks even have a physically imperfect god, Hephaestus. This is to say that the gods’ attitude toward mortals is affected by how people treat them as the Greeks’ gods have emotions like humans.
“Gods can be evil sometimes.” In the play “Oedipus the King”, Sophocles defamed the gods’ reputation, and lowered their status by making them look harmful and evil. It is known that all gods should be perfect and infallible, and should represent justice and equity, but with Oedipus, the gods decided to destroy him and his family for no reason. It might be hard to believe that gods can have humanistic traits, but in fact they do. The gods, especially Apollo, are considered evil by the reader because they destroyed an innocent man’s life and his family. They destroyed Oedipus by controlling his fate, granting people the power of prophecy, telling Oedipus about his fate through the oracle of Apollo, and finally afflicting the people of Thebes with a dreadful plague. Fundamentally, by utilizing fate, prophecies, the oracle of Apollo, and the plague, the gods played a significant role in the destruction of Oedipus and his family.