Greek Mythology And Its Impact On Modern Culture

The Greek society believed in polytheism. They believed that their were many gods and that each god has the power to control different aspects of nature. In this paper I will be explaining why this has come to be. I will also tell you about the fact that no matter what the Greek Gods do it will affect the Greek Society, and no matter what the Greek Society does it will affect themselves or the Greek Gods.

Greek mythology is one of the coolest things anyone could think of. The ideas of gods and goddesses coming down to earth to interact with the human race, is quite an amazing thing. In many cultures, gods are very important. The ancient greek culture is an example where mythology is very important to the people, the gods are everywhere in daily life. Yet with the made up mythology, they needed a place to begin with and the greeks are no exception, but the story of the gods beginning is very interesting.

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.

In both Greek and Roman civilizations, mythology played an important part in their empire’s success. Both of these civilizations were polytheistic religions. Likewise, they had major and minor gods and goddesses as part of their religion as well. However, since the Roman Empire conquered many cultures including the Greeks, their gods blended with many similarities with the gods that the Ancient Greeks worshipped.

Ancient Greek society fell over 2000 years ago but despite this, its mythology still continues to influence our western society. References to Greek mythology can be found all through time and in our western culture. The influence of Greek mythology can be found in our science, arts and literature and our language. When Ancient Greece fell to the Roman Empire, Rome adapted its mythologies which still influence us today as they have through history. That is not to say that Greek mythology wasn’t influenced itself – Greek mythology has links with the bible and the early Mycenaean’s. It has also been recognised as one of the earliest forms of paganism.

A polytheistic Greek religion is surrounded by numerous gods. Each represented a certain aspect of human problems including abstract ideas, such as justice and wisdom. This was the religion most devout Greeks followed and believed in. The most important gods were Olympian gods led by Zeus. These gods were: Athena, Apollo, Poseidon, Hermes, Hera, Aphrodite, Demeter, Ares, Artemis, Hades, Hephaistos,

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.

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece. Modern scholars refer to, and study, the myths, in an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece, its civilization, and to gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself.

The ancient Greeks thought the gods affected everything. They believed that Mount Olympus was where the gods lived, earthquakes were a message from the gods, and their first olive tree was a gift from Athena. Mount Olympus was assumed to be home to the gods because the mountain rises 9,570 feet in the air. The entrance to Olympus was a “...great gate of clouds, kept by the Seasons.” (Document 2) Another important geographic feature the Greeks made into a religious belief was the landscape and environment. Greece is “...smack-dab in the middle of a very active volcanic zone,” (Document 3) so the Greeks formed a religion called oracles, and the belief was “Oracles are the gods speaking to people, often in the form of minor earthquakes,” (Document

The start of believing in the gods and goddesses started as a way to explain daily life and to give life a purpose . Without a reason for living majority of people would descend into madness with no morals. Unlike other religions that had a holy text, mythology was based primarily on word of mouth. The stories were passed down from generation to generation to create the outlandish but captivating mythology that we have in modern society. While there were countless gods and goddesses, students do typically learn the 12 that are called the “Olympian Gods” . This group was led by Zeus, who is perhaps is the most well known Greek god. The next 11 were named as followed, Athena, Apollo, Poseidon, Hermes, Hera, Aphrodite, Demeter, Ares, Artemis, Hades, Hephaistos, and Dionysus. I have attached a family tree to help showcases how majority of the gods and goddesses were related . Each god had their own followers and were all considered the god of something. For example, Athena is known as the Goddess of Wisdom and Hades is the God of the Dead or God of the Underworld. Greek citizens built large temples to honor a particular god where the god was thought to live.

Classical Greek culture had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire, which carried a version of it to many parts of the Mediterranean region and Europe. Greek culture influenced the development of Roman civilization because at first Rome absorbed ideas from Greek colonists in southern Italy, and they continued to borrow from Greek culture after they conquered Greece. Ancient Greece has had an enormous amount of impact on culture in the western world. For this reason, Classical Greece is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of Western civilization. Rome conquered the Greek empire and its civilization, but Greek culture conquered imperial Rome. Furthermore, the Romans willingly

Greek Mythology played a monumental role in the structural development of ancient Greece, not only as a society, but as individuals. Surprisingly, their religion was not exactly one of originality. In fact, their religion was loosely based on earlier cultures’ religions. It bears many strikingly similar resemblances to some of the oldest recorded religions in history. Ancient Greek religion is a type of polytheism called “Monarchial Polytheism.” That is, they believe in several different gods and deities but there is a supreme ruler above all of them. In order to fully understand how similar the mythological systems of religions have been throughout the years, you must look back towards the earliest of recorded civilizations. Polytheism

Religion was a big thing in ancient Greece. It was personal but also present everywhere in Greece. The Greeks were polytheistic which means a belief in many gods. Each god that the Greeks believed in was in charge of an emotion or some piece of nature. The main gods lived in Mount Olympus. The main gods and goddesses were Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hestia, Demeter, Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, and Hephaestus. Athens was named after the goddess Athena who is the goddess of war, arts, crafts, and wisdom. During this time goddesses were dominant so Greek woman had a big influence on religion. Since women were more soft spoken and had a higher voice than men they would whisper to the gods or sing softly to them. Women in ancient Greece were seen as oracles because of this.

"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.

Throughout the course of time, different civilizations across the world hold one thing in common by which a society or culture can be based upon or help influence the structure. The one common thing that has help a civilization grow throughout the period of time would be the formation of a religion. Religion is a center point for many societies throughout history. As the center for the different civilizations, it helped form their different traditions and customs. The same could be said about the people of ancient Greece, where religion or mythology played an important role in their lives as it was the pedestal of their culture and how they base their lives upon. The formation of a religion across the large number of regions of Greece, help the different locations mold themselves by the customs that were created from the adaptation. During what was known as Ancient Greece, the people would hear tales of the twelve Olympians and how their actions influence the world around them. Within this period of time for the people of Greece was that of growth, as they sought to bring new ideas into light as they exited from a dark period within their own history.