Mythology: Edith Hamilton Archetypes

Both of these two main characters were different symbols for two ways of human nature but in the end, Dionysus seemed to be much more credible because of his actual divine power and his ability to manipulate the mind of

King Acrisius was king of Argos. He had an amazingly beautiful daughter, but he wished deeply for a son, so he prayed to the gods for them to give him a son. Apollo,the god of culture and prophecy, told him that he will never have a son in all his days and that the son of his daughter will slay him. Acrisius thinks of just killing his daughter,Danae, to prevent his prophecy, but fears of the punishment he will receive from the gods for this act, so he instead locks his daughter in an entirely bronze house and guards it closely. What he did not expect is for the king of the gods Zeus to come directly to his daughter and impregnate her. From this comes a son named Perseus. When Acrisius learns of his daughter's offspring, he puts both Perseus and Danae in a trunk and sets it off into the ocean. By luck or by the will of Zeus Perseus and Danae wash up onto a small island, where a kind hearted fisherman named Dictys takes in the two strangers. They live contently with Dictys until Dictys' brother, King Polydectes, fell in love with Danae. He decides to construe a plot to get rid of her son,Perseus, so that he can have her. The plan he comes is to convince Perseus to go and slay the woman-beast Medusa. He thinks this feat impossible by a mortal man, because any man who lays eyes upon her turns to stone. To aid him on his quest Hermes gives him a sword stronger than that of Medusa's scale. He also told him he would need equipment from the nymphs of the north, who's location was unknown by all except the Gray Women who are ray and live in gray.The three sisters share one eye between them all and

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

The Heroes - the most celebrated being Hercules, Achilles, Jason, Perseus, and Theseus however including a large number of increasingly - all have divine guardians and in this way cross over any barrier amongst mortals and divine beings. They seek after awesome enterprises and typify perfect qualities, for example, tirelessness e.g., Hercules' twelve works, or devotion e.g., Penelope sitting tight reliably for Odysseus' arrival. Saints likewise added distinction to a city by being credited as its author, e.g., Theseus for Athens, Perseus for Mycenae, or Kadmus for Thebes. The legends and occasions, for example, the Trojan War additionally spoke to a past brilliant age when men were more noteworthy and life was less demanding. Legends at that point were cases to hope for, and by doing incredible deeds a specific interminability could be come to, either totally (as on account of Hercules) or through celebration in myth and custom.

Dionysus is the god of wine and fertility, however also became considered a patron of the arts. Along with the variety of things Dionysus was associated with, he is associated with some important concepts. These are, being able to bring a dead person back from the underworld, rebirth after death represented through the symbol of his tending to vines to bear fruit for the making of his wine. There is also the feeling of being possessed by a greater power – which he demonstrated via the influence had from wine. This means that the greater power is the wine – that at these times a man might be greater than himself and do works he otherwise could not.

The myth begins with Perseus rashly promising king Polydectes the head of Medusa. However this is not an easy task, as anyone who looks at Medusa is turned to stone. Later on, Perseus uses Medusa’s head for both the good and evil; the good to turn a sea monster to stone which saves princess Andromeda from certain death, but the evil to turn Polydectes to stone which consequently kills him. Due to the fact that Perseus’ sight is extremely limited when fighting Medusa, he is at a huge disadvantage. It takes a great deal of wit to have to go into battle blind and this shows Perseus’ perseverance in the face risk and proves his courageousness.

He opened the chest and let both of them out and Danae had raised Perseus at the kingdom. “Polydectes was in love with Danae. He wanted to marry her and fall in love for ever with her; but she wouldn’t because she wanted to stay close with Perseus.” Polydectes knew that Perseus was in the way so he thought of a good plan to get rid of him. Polydectes decided to send Perseus to the end of the earth where he would find a created that was evil and can turn any person into stone by the look in the eye.

Dionysus is a greek god mainly known for being the god of wine and grapes. But, is also a god of festivals, agriculture, fertility, and the patron god of the greek stage. In greek past, when the vines starting growing leaves a festival was held for Dionysus who was also known as Bacchus. The festival included many plays since he was considered the patron god of the stage. Many of the renowned greek plays were intended for the feast of Dionysus.

Dionysus is an important figure of Greek mythology. He is the Olympian god of wine, vegetation, festivity and pleasure. He represents humanity’s longing for pleasure and desire to celebrate. Dionysus is also the god of hallucination, theatre, reincarnation and homosexuality. He is called: “the youthful, beautiful, but effeminate god of wine. He is also called both by Greeks and Romans Bacchus (Bakchos), that is, the noisy or riotous god…” (Roman 201).

Bácchus – Roman god of wine, also known by the Greek name Dionýsus. Book III of Metamorphoses includes the story of the conception of Bácchus by the union of Júpiter and Sémele, the latter being a human woman.

The story of Cupid and Psyche centers on the powers of true love- “So all came to a most happy end. Love and Soul ( for that is what Psyche means) had sought and, after sore trials, found each other; and that union could never be broken” (132). Psyche loved her unseen husband, but on condition of their marriage, Cupid (though she did not know his true name) made Psyche swear to never see him in the light, where his identity could be revealed. Psyche was overcome with love for her husband, and- prompted by her conniving sisters- revealed his face with a candlestick. Her curiosity and recklessness sent her beloved away to where she could not

Dionysus is the god of wine and parties. He is the son of Semele, a mortal, and Zeus, god of the sky and ruler of all the gods. There have been many similarities between Dionysus and Jesus made by people throughout history yet we have to wonder why do we need Dionysus? He is not exactly the most moral god ever. Is he actually important and necessary in Greek mythology? Does his danger outweigh his importance and necessity? What is the play telling us about sanity and insanity?

By analysing the dialogue provided and considering the religious atmosphere in ancient Greece at the time it is easily deduced the true nature of Dionysos. The Dionysos I have explored is the Dionysos most easily understood due to his lack of human morals, that because of his anthropomorphic nature, cannot be discounted in modern analysis of his character. Overall Dionysos has proven to be cruel and lacking compassion. His relationship to mortals is that based on obedience as Cadmus states, “Angry gods should not act just, like

His main strengths revolved around wine, but there was also a down side to this. In Dionysos by Kristi Thompson she says "Dionysos is the wine-god, and thus should be a pleasant fellow, a benefactor. But wine has both positive and negative aspects. It makes people drunk, causes them to behave in strange ways. The Greeks were well aware of the dual natures of wine, mirrored by the dual nature of its god.". He could free people from self-consciousness and doubt but could also steal peoples identities and send them into a drunken haze. Dionysus was a destructive god as well as a beneficial one. He often times would drive people mad, but at the same time could make people over joyed and full of ecstasy. In Dionysos it states that "In general, most of the Olympian gods seem to disapprove of murder and cannibalism...Dionysos, by contrast, seems to revel in human sacrifice.". Dionysus also was the only god who could bring people back from the under world. Dionysus was more known for his followers than being worshiped. His followers were called maedans which translates to "raving ones" as he would make them go crazy.(Dionysos 5 & 10)184