Greek Mythology Analysis

The Ancient Greeks believed in many gods and heroes during their time. Each one had a sole purpose in a mortal’s lifetime. Greek mythology had a huge impact on religion in Ancient Greece. The Greeks performed rituals in order to honor their gods. Mythology affected the Ancient Greeks in many ways. The origins of mythology, the influences of mythology through a human’s lifetime and lessons taught in the ancient myths will be examined.

Greek Mythology has been known to be one of the footprints left by the civilization of ancient Greece to our history and these mythology somehow shed a light to the culture, life style, religion and history of ancient Greece since the mythology were the primary basis of the origin of the ancient Greeks and they believed that these mythologies explained the origin of why things turned out to be like that.

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.

When people wonder about Ancient Greece the first thing that comes to their minds is Greek mythology; gods and goddesses that have helped shape many historical events. “In ancient Greece, stories about gods and goddesses and heroes and monsters were an important part of everyday life.” (“Greek Mythology.”) The civilization showed that numerous characters and stories helped shape Greeks. The beliefs the Greeks had with mythologies was they understood the meaning behind all the characters that are known today. However, to the Greeks, they were not just characters, these were their gods and goddesses who gave them meaning and understanding of the world around them. Worshiping the gods and goddesses helped them with their religious rituals and the temperament of the weather. A famous wine-jar that was made during this time period was “Achilles killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea, 540-530 BCE, black-figured amphora”. (Khan Academy) The civilization that they lived in grew around their worship and achievements.

Once upon a time, Odysseus and Penelope had decided to go on a honeymoon after he got back to Ithaca. His son had stayed to watch over the town while he and Penelope had gone to be alone in peace for once. While Telemachus was watching over Ithaca, Odysseus got into an argument with Zeus.

Greek mythology, as in past ways humans detailed lives, was used as a way to explain the environment in which everything around us happened and lived. The natural wonders they witnessed and the passing of time through the days, months, and seasons. Myths were also in a way connected to religion and explained where they came from and what are the lives of the gods. Also stated where humanity had come from and what it they should expect after death. It gave almost a rule on the best way to be in a happy life.(History Staff) Myths were used to tell historical events so that people could maintain contact with their ancestors, the wars they fought, and the places they explored. (Cartwright)

Atalanta was present, and dominated all competitors in wrestling matches. She gained lots of attention from the games, and her birth parents even offered to let her live with them. Atalanta was not interested in marrying anyone, but to please her father she declared that she would marry anyone who could beat her in a foot race. One man in particular used this offer to his advantage by asking Aphrodite, who disliked Atalanta due to her hatred of marriage, for three golden apples. It was said that these apples were so beautiful that nobody on Earth could resist their temptation. Atalanta was able to get ahead of the man at the beginning of the race, but was distracted by the first golden apple that the man rolled out in front of her. She quickly reached down to grab it, but by this time the man got ahead of her. She quickly caught up to the man, but was thrown off course when he tossed out the second apple. She eventually caught up to the man for the second time, but was unable to complete the race. Just before the finish line, the man rolled out the third and final apple. The brief pause that Atalanta took to admire the apple allowed him to get ahead and win the race, as well as her hand in

Myths show us many things about the early Greeks. It shows us their thought processes, their artistic and creative abilities, and their primitive forms of politics. 4. As the people’s needs changed, so did the portrayal of Zeus.

Greek Mythology, used to explain the unknown. The Greeks never had the technology to discover why things happened the way they did. For that reason, they would believe in stories about Gods and Goddesses that determined their everyday lives. They would worship and sacrifice living beings to show their respect for the Gods. Over time, they developed the story of how the world was created, their main Gods and Goddesses, and traditions and rituals.

Folklore is a collection of stories passed down from generation to generation that include Legends, Myths, and Fairy Tales.

Atalanta was a fierce young women that was raised by hunters and animals after being abandoned by her parents for being a girl. Atalanta was able to go through many obstacles in life and proved to be strong and worthy of honor. She was loved and feared, many men tried to marry her but she would accept no one, for she wanted to be wild and free. Like the beautiful and majestic bald eagle, Atalanta was strong and independent. When she was able to reconcile with her dad and parents not all was good. Atalanta’s father wanted her to get married and get a husband but she did not need a men in her life, to satisfy her father Atalanta said that she would marry whomever could beat her in a race. Many men tried but failed miserably, for she was as swift as the god Hermes. Atalanta made all the men who dared to go against her look puny. There was a men however, that tried to beat her by cheating with the help of the goddess Aphrodite. Melanion threw golden apples, the most beautiful and enchanting things any mortal has ever seen ahead of

Greek mythology is used for the explanation on how humankind lived. Religion was the main source of myths. There were many things it was used for like the explanation on how Gods, Goddesses, monsters and mythical creatures lived in ancient times. This mythology explained the origin of gods and their lifestyle and where humanity would go after death. The original gods were Uranus and Gaia. They had a total twelve Titans, one of the most known and powerful Titan was named Iapetus, he repr. During the Golden Age when Uranus was defeated, Iapetus was in charge of the Western part of the mythological world, until he was defeated by Zeus and imprisoned.

In Chapter 1 of the book Mythology by Edith Hamilton, many elements regarding Greek and Roman mythology were discussed, these including the Titans; who were Cronus (main titan and father of Zeus), Ocean (the river), Tethys (Ocean’s wife), Hyperion (father of the son), Mnemosyne (memory), Themis (justice), Prometheus (savior of mankind), Atlas (bore the weight of the world on his shoulders), and lastly Iapetus, (who was only known because of his sons).

Legends and myths are always changing throughout the centuries, always adapting to the timeframe they are in. In wizard101, the massive multiplayer online video game that emphasizes on seven different schools of wizardry and magic, this is no exception. With the addition of the newer spells: Athena battle sight, Queen Calypso, and Hephaestus, all are portrayed in such a way that their simplest attributes are quantified into characters that fit the PG rating for the Wizard101’s community. The turn based card game encapsulates the gods and goddesses with in a card to evoke their appearance and power during battle. Below shows us some of the major changes and interpretations that KingsIsle, the creators, did to bring the Greek legends to fruition.

"A myth is a collective term denoting a symbolic narrative in religion, as distinguished from symbolic behavior (cult, ritual) and symbolic places or objects (temples, icons)". (The New Encyclopedia Britannica. Vol. 24)Mythology is a collection of myths meant to explain the universe. Mythological stories were told in many different cultures and civilizations. The existence of myths is known in every society. Many different myths were conceived to explain occurrences that happened in nature.