Greek Goddess Devian Essay

One of the female characters in “Odyssey” is Athena. Athena is the daughter of Zeus and the goddess of wisdom, purposeful battle, and the womanly arts. In the “Odyssey” she is portrayed as a helper and guardian of Odysseus and his family. Athena assists Odysseus on his journey home, and Telemachus (Odysseus’s son) on his journey as well. She is also a master of disguise, clever, and wise. This we see

Demeter was much sought-after by mortals, as her title made her extremely important to them. So she lived on Earth, not on Mt. Olympus, and she frequently appeared to mortals, who were not afraid of her like they were of some of the gods.

Since the beginning of time the people of the world have their share of beliefs. Greek mythology is the arguably the most popular region of study. In Ancient Greece every citizen had a patron that would protect them and pantheism was commonplace. The Romans admired the Greeks in their art and culture and even took different aspects of their gods. Polytheism was widely accepted in all cultures so the seed of mythology bloomed. The time line of the creations of gods to the end of their reign is an important factor in Greek Mythology.

Ramayana, translated by William Buck, is an ancient Indian epic telling the story of a prince named Rama who fights against his adversary, Ravana. Although there are many important female characters throughout the book, they are often seen as subordinate to their male counterparts where intelligence and strength are concerned. One character who proves this stereotype wrong is Sita, Rama’s wife, who often shows that she has the capacity of being just as powerful as the men of the story. By being more mindful than most people around her, Sita defies the expectations that many characters have placed on her. Sita lets the reader see another side of women’s power and shows us the strength that women could have. The reason that Sita proves to be powerful is that she seems to have an understanding of the deeper meaning of her life; precisely the quality that men don’t expect her to have.

In contrast to the father, the mother had a connection with their children, often leading to an overthrow of the husband. This materialistic love is easily shown in the myth of Demeter and Persephone. “ The joy of Demeter’s eternal lifetime was her daughter, Persephone, whom she had borne to Zeus “ ( Rosenberg Demeter 94). After Persephone was taken away, Demeter became infuriated and even “ withdrew her life sustaining powers,.. she broke the plows, killed oxen, and caused the earth to shrivel” ( Rosenberg Demeter 96). Seen from Demeter’s reaction to the situation, the bond between mother and child was very strong compared to that of the father. When Persephone returns, she takes comfort in her mother rather than her father. Children usually took the mother’s side and went against their father’s will. In the creation myth of the Greeks, there were two generations in which the mother wanted to protect her children from the grasps of the father. Gaea was afraid of what Uranus would do to their fearful children, and sought to protect them ( Rosenberg Creation 86). The wives of Cronus and Uranus both schemed the overthrow of their husbands,

Gender inequality has been a controversial topic for numerous religions and cultures throughout history. Women were commonly regarded as the subservient gender, an idea that was no different in Ancient Greece. Throughout Greek mythology, women were considered inferior and troublesome symbols, while men were known for courage, leadership, and strength. While there is no argument of the flagrant sexism that is illustrated in Greek mythology, it can also be claimed that women were given a situated position of freedom, necessity, and power as well. Many popular Greek plays and myths contain several complexes and well described female characters. These goddesses themselves, partook the role of victim, heroine, and villain as it illustrated the diversity of characters in which women were portrayed and seen in both Ancient Greek society and mythology, allowing us to question “Were the women of Ancient Greek mythology equally represented as free and superior?” The creation of the Greek mythological universe, the creation of multi-gendered goddesses or deities, and the free and superior personalities accredited to women in Ancient Greek mythology to answer the question that women were fairly represented as powerful in Ancient Greek mythology.

The Greek and Roman societies were a very patriarchal society. This is reflected throughout the myths in classical mythology. By looking at the many pieces of literature involving Greeks and Romans we will see that the roles women portrayed are very different from women’s roles in today’s society. Although there are a few similarities to women’s roles in today’s society, their roles are more like those women in the past. We can see this by looking at the qualities of Greek and Roman female gods and looking at the roles women play in the myths.

While Athena is divine, she is still a central female character and the way in which she is portrayed makes an impact on the way Homer’s women are perceived.

The role of the goddess is one of a supernatural being, but more importantly one in a position to pity and help mortals. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is the most prominent example of the role; in the very beginning of the story she is seen making a plea for Odysseus' return home, and throughout the first half of the book she assists him in his journey. She is the driving force behind arranging

Unlike religious gods today, the Greek gods resembled human being in their form and their emotions, and suffered from the same dilemmas humans throughout time have faced. The Greeks believe in many gods and think they are very much like people. They have both supernatural powers and human weaknesses. The gods would fight, play on each other, gets angry or jealous, and steal from each other. The Olympian Gods live atop Mt. Olympus in Greece behind a gate of clouds. They watch the mortals down on earth which they can visit any time, and are responsible for the success or failure of human life. The Greeks worship their gods, pray, give offerings, and build temples to please the gods so they will not give any punishments.

In Greek mythology the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus played a major role in everyday life. The Greeks respected them and thought of the gods as all mighty.

The Birth of Athena reflects the scene in which the goddess Athena is said to have been born fully grown out of the head of her father Zeus, the king of the gods. Coming out of his head represents her role as the goddess of wisdom, being born from the brain of the king of all gods. We can see this clearly on the amphora, as we see a small woman whom is completely clothed and armed walking out of the skull of Zeus, holding his thunderbolt. Zeus seems to be fairly relaxed, sitting on a stool with a carving of a swan on it, and holding a scepter. Their position at the center of the piece reflects their focus on the story, being surrounded by other gods to spectate the miraculous birth.

Goddess, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Classical Women of Antiquity, written by Sarah B. Pomery, focuses on the main categories of women in the literature and society of ancient Greece and Roman over a time period of fifteen hundred years. Pomery focuses on these roles and how they are significant in the development and structure of these great ancient civilizations. Her goal in writing this book was to expand upon her first book, entitled Goddesses as she discusses in the Preface of this book. She wanted to include the significance of all women’s roles beyond just that of Olympian women because the first thesis was so well received.

Though Athena is a female, she is not known for her beauty or stature, but for her wisdom. Whenever Athena creates her plan to rescue Odysseus, everyone is thoroughly surprised because no one had yet to think of one. The rest of the gods at the assembly had known that Odysseus had been trapped but were not sure of how to rescue him without facing Poseidon’s wrath. The gods did not expect a plan from Athena because she is a female, she is not supposed to be smart or have an opinion. Athena exceeds everyone’s expectations and uses her wisdom to rescue Odysseus. Additionally, Athena proves herself when she gives Odysseus the plan to disguise himself once he reaches Ithaca. Athena constantly saving Odysseus shows her critical thinking which she applies to show her wisdom. Most people do not expect that from her because she is a woman and she cannot be thinking superior to men, but Athena proves that wisdom is one of her prized traits. Because Athena is a female, most people would think of her as beautiful, but she proves her important trait to be wise.

Kore grew under her mother 's watchful eyes. Like Demeter, she heard the prayers of the humans every day. By the time Kore was eighteen, the lamentations haunted her. There was nothing Kore could do without being officially named a goddess, and Demeter seemed to no longer care. The only thing the Goddess of Grain and