How Does Edith Hamilton Use Violence In Greek Mythology

They are called Olympians because they live in Mt. Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece which is located in Thessaly in North East of Greece

In the epic called The Odyssey there are multiple violent and graphic scenes. These three examples will prove this belief.

Now Hera, who is married to Zeus is on the side of the Greeks during the war. She is shown to be the jealous wife in the story. She never submits to Zeus, as a matter of fact, she is not unopposed to tricking him to get what she desires. The whole war might have stopped with the duel between Paris and Menaleus, had it not been for her. But she wanted nothing more than to see the city of Troy burnt to the ground and wouldn’t stop until that task was completed. She blatantly defies Zeus in front of the other gods and entices them to side with her in arguments against her husband. For these reasons are why I like to call her a “vindictive bitch”.

At the beginning of the story, the gods are debating what to do with the Greeks after they pillaged Troy, but more specifically, violated Athena’s shrine. Athena asks for help and says to Poseidon, “I want to help the Trojans who were my enemies, and make the Greek army’s homecoming a bitter one.” (Euripides 63). To which Poseidon replies, “You’re so fickle. Your mind leaps here and there: now you hate, and now you love, and both in excess.” (Euripides 65). Even Poseidon admits to the “fickleness” of the goddess since her allies during the war were the Greeks. This lends itself to show that Helen could be telling the truth about the goddesses having an argument about the beauty of each other and Aphrodite forcing Helen to run away with Paris. Helen also helps her argument by pointing out that the fight was preordained by the gods based on the prophecy about Paris, and then blames Paris’s mother and father for letting Paris live, rather than slaying Paris and trying to stop the prophecy from coming true. Through the many effective arguments, Helen shows that she did not ask to be carried away by Paris and that she liked Menelaus. Menelaus seems very weak compared to Helen, especially since he seems to not be able to make up his mind whether to kill her or not. In the end, Menelaus seems to decide on letting her live, though he still tells

In ancient Rome and ancient Greece, myths were an oral tradition of storytelling that served to answer two primary purposes. The first role was to create stories that responded to unanswerable questions such as “Why is there thunder?” and the second function of myths, about gods, goddesses, monsters, and heroes, was to give structure to their society and culture in psychological manifestations. In addition, the gods and prophecies served as a reminder to the characters that they don’t ultimately have any control over their lives. This epic poem by Homer is not just a simple story of an argument between Achilles and Agamemnon or the well-known story of the war but also has a psychological theme incorporating anger, especially Achilles’ as

In Homer’s work, the Trojan War is fought not for conquest or wealth but for the honor of the Spartan king Menelaus after he had his wife taken by Paris of Troy. In the eyes of the Greeks, this was a slight on his honor worthy of war. Early on in the work, Helen despairs at being the cause of the war. She laments

According to the Odyssey, and Agamemnon, ancient Greeks value violence as a way of maintaining their society because the stories showcase how violence functions in ancient Greece polis system. The stories indicate the structure of ancient Greece society and the ideal principles that held the people together. Because works of Homer and works of Aeschylus represent a different period of ancient Greek culture, the form of society differs. However, the fundamental principles of ancient Greek society remain similar. Regardless of what period of ancient Greece, the admiration of violence by the ancient Greek can be seen from both Homer and Greek Tragedy.

Depicted to be the most important theme within Edith Hamilton 's Mythology, Moira is the decided fate of mortal man chosen by the Gods that tower above in Mount Olympus. Thus, fate is a reoccurring theme within Greek storytelling. The Greeks needed an explanation for the elements in their life, such as earthquakes, thunder, storms, the moon and the sky. Human nature dictates that an answer must be nominated for the unknown, for that emptiness to be filled. Even in the tale of the Argonauts, this curiosity must be fed. Therefore Gods and Goddesses were a perfect fit within their lives. For example Zeus, king of the Gods was able to launch lightning from his hands at the Earth below. A man is unable to flee from his Moira, or his destiny.

In Edith Hamilton's Mythology, the behavior of the Greek gods illustrates that in Greek society, the Greeks understand the fundamental nature of having flaws. The Trojan war started due to the actions of a Greek goddess of discord Erin who was not invited to a banquet, “Resenting this deeply, [Erin] determined to make trouble—and she succeeded very well indeed” (Hamilton 254).Erin's jealousy and wrath cause her to disrupt the peace among the gods and start the Trojan War. The Greeks recognized this ability to be imperfect and evil among humans as well as gods. The understood this significance so much that they created gods that were evil or impure in nature like Erin, rather than making every god perfect. Another example of a god exhibiting

In Virgil’s “The Aeneid” and Homer’s “The Iliad” two men start catastrophic wars over one woman. “The Iliad” depicts two armies, the Greeks and the Trojans, who go to war over Menelaus’s kidnapped wife, Helen. Also in “The Iliad”, Achilles is having an altercation with Agamemnon over a maid Achilles won, who was taken from him. Achilles refuses to stand by his countrymen and fight the Trojans until she is returned to him. Meanwhile, in “The Aeneid”, Turnus goes to war with Aeneas over the loss of his bride Lavinia. The wars of each epic result in a great amount of bloodshed; bloodshed that each hero tried to prevent by

It begins with the warriors “racing, one escaping, one in pursuit” (Iliad. XXII. 188-190) around the walls of Troy, with the warriors “[running], weaving circles at a loss/ this way and that” (Aeneid. XII 743-44). Afterwards, the warriors confront each other. In the Iliad, Hector stops running to fight, telling Achilles, “Now kill [me] or be killed!” (XXII. 300). Contrastingly, Turnus concedes to Aeneas, mentioning that he “clearly earned this” (XII. 932). Following each confrontation, the superior hero decides the other’s fate. Homer displays Achilles’ need for vengeance and glory through Achilles’ horrible response. Virgil, on the other hand, shows the more real depiction of war, letting Aeneas remain indecisive of his

His brother Hector and he were on a peace mission in Sparta on behalf of Troy visiting the king, Menelaus, when Paris ran off with Menelaus’ wife, Helen. This action divides the Gods who constantly meddle with the mortal’s lives. Naturally, Aphrodite is on the Trojans’ side, as was her lover and God of War, Ares, and Apollo. Although Zeus, King of Gods, tried to be neutral, he was pro-Trojan. Hera, Queen of Gods, and Athena help the Greeks because they were mad that Paris chose Aphrodite. Poseidon, God of the Sea and Zeus’ brother, also sided with the Greeks whenever Zeus was not looking. An example of this constant intrusiveness of the Gods in the Iliad was when King “Menelaus hurls his spear, lightly wounding Paris. Paris’ helmet strap becomes caught at his chin and Menelaus has nearly dragged him away before Aphrodite intervenes, breaking the strap. She then wraps Paris in a mist, sets him in his own perfumed bedchamber, and hurries to catch Helen” (Bloom 13). Of course, in the movie version, when Paris becomes wounded he crawls to Hector’s ankles. King Menelaus becomes angered and says Paris is not worthy of royalty nor his wife Helen. Hector is then forced to defend his little brother and kills Menelaus. The elimination of the Gods from Troy, although unsatisfactory, does simplify the movie compared to the complicated plot of the Iliad. Wolfgang Petersen may have had motivation to remove the Gods because it

The cultures and eras in which the stories were told and written down were violent and warring times. Both books were written about nations who were constantly invading and defending cities. The stories were told before the invention of guns so war was waged with weapons such as swords, knives, and spears. Anyone who fought in close combat as people did back then would have a violent mind and malicious feelings toward their enemies. Even the Greek gods acted violently toward one another. The books describe some gruesome scenes such as when Beowulf ripped Grendel’s arm off and Achilles killing Hector. Violence such as this also served as a moral boost for other soldiers of these eras. Killing was not the only violence in the epics. Achilles showed violence toward Agamemnon after he had taken Briseas as his own, calling him names and insulting the

The suspected start of the war- over the abduction of Helen, Queen of Sparta- was caused entirely by a godly conflict over who was the most beautiful- Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, was selected to judge. He chose Aphrodite, who in turn gave him Helen, who was her equivalent in beauty amongst humans. In both versions, Paris is portrayed as a wife stealing, thief in the night. His brother Hector and he were on a peace mission in Sparta on behalf of Troy visiting the king, Menelaus, when Paris ran off with Menelaus' wife, Helen. This action divides the Gods who constantly meddle with the mortal's lives. Naturally, Aphrodite is on the Trojans' side, as was her lover and God of War, Ares, and Apollo. Although Zeus, King of Gods, tried to be neutral, he was pro-Trojan. Hera, Queen of Gods, and Athena help the Greeks because they were mad that Paris chose Aphrodite. Poseidon, God of the Sea and Zeus' brother, also sided with the Greeks whenever Zeus was not looking. An example of this constant intrusiveness of the Gods in the Iliad was when King "Menelaus hurls his spear, lightly wounding Paris. Paris' helmet strap becomes caught at his chin and Menelaus has nearly dragged him away before Aphrodite intervenes, breaking the strap. She then wraps Paris in a mist, sets him in his own perfumed bedchamber, and hurries to catch Helen" (Bloom 13). Of

There is a gathering with the people of Troy and the people of Greece that hold a toast to being allies with no intention of war of any sort. But when Paris expresses his love for Helen, the wife of Menelaus, she sails off with the Trojan army is secret. Hector is oblivious to wrongdoing of his brother Paris. He knows that with that incident, the Greek army will go into battle with the mighty Troy. Before the Trojans can return Helen to Menelaus, Greece has already set their mind on war. That being said, this will be the greatest war ever fought. The Trojan war.