Greek Gods and Theogony

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter tells the story of Demeter, the goddess of fertility of grain. Demeter has a daughter with Zeus by the name of Persephone. The hymn explains the strong bond between Demeter and Persephone and how distraught Demeter is when her daughter is abducted. This traumatic event causes Demeter to live among mortal men disguised as an old woman and withdraw the fertility of the earth. In this paper, I will examine how the Homeric Hymn to Demeter operates as a charter myth, or narrative that explains modern practices, and how successful the hymn is in conveying the modern practice.

To fully understand the poems; Metamorphoses and Theogony, one needs to understand more about the writers. Hesiod was a greek poet, who lived around 700BC, and was inspired by muses to write epic poetry. Theogony is considered one of earliest works and concerns itself with the cosmogony, or the origins of the world and theogony, or the gods, and pays specific detail to genealogy (West, 1996: 521). Ovid, on the other hand, was a Roman poet, born in 43 BC – the year after the assassination of Julius Caesar and lived during Augustus’s reign. It’s said that his father took him to Rome to become educated in the ways of

Many have deemed Homer and Hesiod the “founding fathers” of Greek epic poetry and philosophical writings. Both writers’ careers flourished around 8th century B.C, and were immense influences in the world of Greek philosophy. Hesiod focuses on more traditional origins of life for his stories and ensures that the creation of the world and its rulers are embodied in his works. Homer has been considered one of the most influential philosophical writers for centuries by recognized philosophers. He wrote about principles in battle, governance, counsel, sports, the home and life in general that the Greeks looked to in praise. While both of the authors were similar in writing style, they differ vastly in the messages of their poems.

Hesiod’s gods lost their carelessness and gaiety of the Homeric gods, became the moral forces, severe guardians of order and justice, born of Zeus. The role of gods according to Hesiod belongs not only the Olympian gods with human form, like Zeus or Apollo, but the Earth, Sky, Star, Wind, Fight, Lies, Victory, Wisdom, violence, etc. Zeus as for Hesiod is not just carrier of the power, as Uranus and Kronus, but also the embodiment of a long-awaited order, keeper and guardian of ethics. The desire to have a better life and a constant feeling of dissatisfaction are natural for people, and the gods tend, on the contrary, to complicate people’s lives and create new difficulties. Thus, the Hesiod’s style of poetry is close to Homer’s one, but because of the general didactic orientation Hesiod’s poetry is almost out of bright Homeric metaphors, similes and epithets.

The Theogony is one of the most well-known sources of ancient Greek Mythology. It was written around 700 BC and delineates the emergence of the universe as well as the gods’ births and origins. Hesiod begins and ends the poem with a reference to the Heliconian Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, goddesses of the arts as well as proclaimers of heroes and gods. In the beginning of the poem, Hesiod discloses that by order of the Muses he has to begin and end his stories of the gods with a reference to them (Hesiod quoted by Evelyn-White, Hugh G., Theogony 2004: 29-35).

Cronus was a titan and controlled the world along with the other titans when Zeus was born. Cronus usually swallowed his children after they were born, but Rhea took Zeus to Mount Dicte where he was hidden from Cronus. He then came back to Cronus when he was older and made Cronus regurgitate his brothers and sisters. His brothers were Hades and Poseidon and his sisters were Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. He ended up marrying Hera and had eight children with her. He was infamous for his affairs with other women while married to Hera. He had many children and some of importance were Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes and Dionysus Hercules, Perseus the Muses, the Graces, and Helen of Troy were only a few of his children. He had many children that were gods and he had a few that were heros as

Hera, the Greek goddess of childbirth and marriage, was the wife and sister of Zeus. She was the Queen of Olympian Deities. People knew her as the most beautiful and powerful goddess, but she had a bad side to her.

“The supreme deity of Greek mythology has his lusty, tempestuous story recast in engaging fashion by Stone”(ProQuest). Zeus was thought of as the father of gods and men. While he did not make them, he protected them, and therefore was considered a father to them. He ruled over the sky and air, and controlled everything that happened in his domains from his throne on Mount Olympus. To gain his throne, he overthrew his father, Cronos, with the help of his siblings, and then dividing up the realms between him and his two elder brothers. Zeus became lord of the sky and rain, Poseidon took the title lord of the sea, and Hades became ruler of the underworld. He then banished his father to the shadowy Tartarus in the underworld. Zeus was the most

Stemming from a desired standpoint, Aphrodite, a gorgeous, perpetual young woman with a beautiful body is known as the goddess of love and beauty. Graciously assisting men charm their desired spouse with love enchantments, Aphrodite herself was no stranger to divine lovers as she held various relationships with both gods and mortals. Yet, despite her dynamic desirability and mixed personality, Aphrodite had to overcome her weak and frightful self (http://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/aphrodite/) due to her jealousy. Even though it was thought that she was born the daughter of Zeus and Dione, it was more frequently believed that she was born of the foam in the sea off of island Cyprus. Later on, Aphrodite went to marry lame smith Hephaestus, Olympian god of Iron, but was quietly acquiring a private affair with Ares, god of War.

“Oh Hephaestus- who of all the goddesses on Olympus, who has borne such withering sorrows in her heart? Such pain as Zeus has given me, above all others! Me out of all the daughters of the sea he chose to yoke to a mortal man, Peleus….Zeus also gave me a son to bear and breed...but only to send him off in the beaked ships to Troy to battle Trojans!” (P. 481)

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

Zeus, his name is synonymous with Greek mythology and religion. God of the weather and sky he used his powers of wind, lightning, and thunder to uphold the law and keep order. He ruled Mount Olympus as well as the pantheon of gods who lived there. Watching over mankind he would punish those who defied him and help those who were wronged. However, Zeus did have his flaws. His quick tempered nature combined with his lust for women made him relatable to the common man. From his coming to power until the beginning of Christianity, this complex god would have no equal.

The god I am going to be talking about is a god named Hades And he had a small family. First, The mother and father of Hades are Rhea, and Cronus. Also, Hades’s has two brothers and they are Poseidon,

Daughter of Cronus and Rhea, sister of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, and Hestia. Mother of eight children.

One piece of evidence that the gods were important to these people is found when the people took time out of their lives to worship their gods together. In the video, about the history of the Greek Theater, people are said have gathered together to dance and sing and praise Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility.