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Greek Mythology Of Ancient Greece

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Beautiful architecture, democracy, theatre, and the Olympic games; these are just a few of the many wonders Ancient Greece had to offer. However, one of the most memorable creations of Ancient Greece would have to be Greek mythology. These myths included hundreds of stories and teachings that would have a lasting effect on Greek culture for centuries to come. When taking a deeper look into some of these myths, one may notice gender and sexual behavior to be themes that occur quite frequently. One also cannot help but notice that some social conditions in Ancient Greece, such as the importance of beauty, the treatment of women, and beast-like sexual behavior, revolved around sex and gender. It is because of the use of gender and sexual …show more content…

Many of these myths regarding sexual behavior include sexual relations with some sort of animal. An example of this is the story of Leda and the Swan. Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome, a book by E.M. Berens, explains that Zeus came down in the form of a swan to consort with Leda (Berens 34). The result of this encounter was the birth of Helen and Pollux. Leda was one of the many mortal consorts of Zeus which gives an idea of how common this was in Greek mythology. Another example of bestiality in Greek myths is the story of Pasiphae and the bull. As told in Apollodorus, after disobeying the word of Poseidon by not sacrificing a bull he was sent; Minos, ruler of Crete, was punished. However, his punishment was not cast upon him, rather Pasiphae, his wife. Pasiphae became passionate for a bull and with help from Daedalus, an architect, created a contraption to assist in achieving sex with this animal. The contraption was a success and Pasiphae gave birth to Asterius, who is then named the Minotaur (Apollodorus. 3.1.4). In this story bestiality is taken a step further. Not only does Pasiphae have intercourse with the bull, but she goes as far as leaving her human form to do so. This beast like sexual behavior rippled from these stories into the culture and society of Ancient Greece.
One way we see this ripple effect is the occurrence of incest in Ancient Greece. In “Consubstantiality, Incest, and Kinship in Ancient Greece,” a

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