Greek Mythology Essay, Research Paper

Greek Mythology

Mythology was an integral part of the lives of all ancient peoples. The myths of

Ancient Greece are the most familiar to us, for they are deeply entrenched in

the consciousness of Western civilization.

The myths were accounts of the lives of the deities whom the Greeks worshipped.

The Greeks had many deities, including 12 principal ones, who lived on Mt.

Olympus. The myths are all things to all people ? a rollicking good yarn,

expressions of deep psychological insights, words of spine-tingling poetic

beauty and food for the imagination. They serve a timeless universal need, and

have inspired great literature, art and music, providing archetypes through

which we can learn much about the deeper motives of human behavior.

No-one has the definitive answer as to why or how the myths came into being, nut

many are allegorical accounts of historical facts.

The Olympian family were a desperate lot despite being related. The next time

you have a bowl of corn flakes give thanks to Demeter the goddess of vegetation.

The English word “cereal” for products of corn or edible grain derives from the

goddess’ Roman name, Ceres. In Greek the word for such products is demetriaka.

Demeter was worshipped as the goddess of earth and fertility.

Zeus was the king and leader of the 12. His symbol was the thunder and in many

of his statues he appears holding one.

Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes, was most at home in the depths of the

Aegean where he lived in a sumptuous golden palace. When he became angry (which

was often) he would use his trident to create massive waves and floods. Ever

intent upon expanding his domain, he challenged Dionysos for Naxos, Hera for

Argos and Athena for Athens.

Ares, god of war, was a nasty piece of work ? fiery tempered, bloodthirsty,

brutal and violent. In contrast Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, symbol of

security, happiness and hospitality, was as pure as driven snow. She spurned

disputes and wars and swore to be a virgin forever.

Hera was not a principal deity; her job was a subservient one ? she was Zeus’

cupbearer.

Athena, the powerful goddess of wisdom and patron of Athens, is said to have

been born (complete with helmet, armor and spear) from Zeus’ head, with

Hephaestus acting as midwife. Unlike Ares, she derived no pleasure from fighting,

but preferred settling disputes peacefully using her wisdom; however, if need be

she went valiantly into battle.

Hephaestus was worshipped for his matchless skills as a craftsman. When Zeus

decided to punish men he asked Hephaestus to make a woman. So Hephaestus made

Pandora from clay and water, and, as everyone knows, she had a box, from which

sprang all the evils afflicting humankind.

Apart fro one misdemeanor, Hephaestus’ character seems to have been exemplary.

During the Trojan War Athena asked the god to make her a new suit of armor.

Poseidon, on hearing this, teased Hephaestus by saying that when Athena came to

his forge she would expect him to make mad passionate love to her. As Athena

wrested herself from the eager Hephaestus, he ejaculated against her thigh. She

removed his seed with wool and threw it away, and Gaea, who happened to pass by,

was inadvertently fertilized. When Gaea’s unwanted offspring was born, Athena

brought him up, and he eventually became King Erichthonius of Athens.

Apollo, god of the sun, and Artemis, goddess of the moon, were the twins of Leto

and Zeus. Many qualities were attributed to Apollo, for the Ancient Greeks

believed that the sun not only gave physical light, but that its light was

symbolic of mental illumination. Apollo was also worshipped as the god of music

and song, which the ancients believed were only heard where there was light and

security. Artemis was worshipped as the goddess of childbirth and protector of

children; yet, paradoxically, she asked Zeus if he would grant her eternal

virginity. She was also the protector of suckling animals, but loved to hunt

stags!

Hermes was born of Maia, daughter of Atlas and one of Zeus’ paramours. He had an

upwardly mobile career. His first job was as protector of the animal kingdom. As

the chief source of wealth was cattle, he therefore became the god of wealth.

However, as civilization advanced, trade replaced cattle as the main source of

wealth, so Hermes became god of trade. However, a prerequisite for good trade

was good commerce, so he became the god of commerce. To progress in commerce a

merchant needed to be shrewd, so this attribute was assigned to Hermes. Later it

was realized that to excel in commerce one needed to use the art of persuasion,

so Hermes was promoted to god of oratory.

Last but not least of the 12 principal deities was the beautiful Aphrodite,

goddess of love, who rose naked out of the sea. Her tour de force was her magic

girdle which made everyone fall in love with its wearer. The girdle meant she

was constantly pursued by both gods and goddesses because they wanted to borrow

the girdle. Zeus became so fed up with her promiscuity that he married her off

to Hephaestus, the ugliest of the gods.

Hades never made it to Mt. Olympus, but his job was nevertheless an important

one. Hades’ dominion was the vast and mysterious underworld (Tartarus). He was

the benevolent god who gave fertility to vegetation and who yielded precious

stones and metals. But he was also the feared guardian of a dark realm, from

which no-one, having once journeyed, ever returned.

A number of the countless lesser gods were powerful but never made it to Zeus’

inner circle. Pan, the son of Hermes, was born with horns, beard, tail and goat

legs. His ugliness so amused the other gods that eventually he escaped to

Arcadia where he danced, played his shepherd’s pipe and watched over the

pastures, shepherds and herds. Dionysos, son of Hera and Zeus, was even more

hideous at birth ? horned and crowned with serpents. His parents boiled him in a

cauldron, but he was rescued by Rhea, and banished to Mt. Nysa in Libya where he

invented wine. He eventually returned to Greece where he organized drunken

revelries and married Ariadne, daughter of King Minos.

In addition to the gods the Ancient Greeks revered many beings who had probably

once been mortal, such as King Minos, Theseus and Erichthonious. Intermediaries

between gods and humans, such as the satyrs, also appear in the myths. The

satyrs lived in woods and had goat horns and tails; they worshipped the god

Dionysos, so, appropriately, they spent much of their time drinking and dancing.

Nymphs lived in secluded valleys and grottoes and occupied themselves with

spinning, weaving, bathing, singing and dancing. Pan found them irresistible.

The Muses, of which there were nine, were nymphs of the mountain springs; they

were believed to inspire poets, artists and musicians.

Finally, mention should be made of the three crones Tisiphone, Aledo and Megara ?

sometimes called the Furies ? whose job it was to deal with grievances from

mortals, and punish wrongdoers. They had dogs’ heads, snakes’ hair, bloodshot

eyes, coal black bodies and bats’ wings and carried brass-studded scourges. It

was considered unlucky to call them by name ? they had to be called Eumenides ?

the kindly ones!

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