Mythology Essay

Polytheism is the belief in multiple gods. They used these gods to explain natural phenomenons such as storms, droughts, and floods. In the sumerian religion, there were more than 3,000 different gods, many of them, however, were unknown outside their local area of origin. City-states could create their own gods and way of worship, on top of the standardized major gods and worship practices. Some of the major gods the people of Sumer recognized were Enlil, the god of air, Utu, the sun god, Nanna Suen, the moon god, Nin-Khursaga, the Earth goddess, and Enki, the god of waters. The Akkadian people believed in similar gods, just with different names. For example, the god Utu was known as Shamash to Akkadians, Nanna Suen was known as Sin, and Nin-Khursaga was known is Ishtar. To the west of Sumer and Akkad, ancient Egypt was participating in polytheism. The Egyptians also had a system of a widespread recognition of a company of major deities that would rule over local gods created in each cult center. One of the major gods, Ptah, was responsible for creating the world. Other gods include Osiris, Seth, Isiris, Anubis, and Horus. With all the gods having control of nature, the followers were heavily dependent upon them for the success of their harvests and

The supreme ruler and king of gods, Zeus, is often mentioned as Jupiter and the sender of thunder, lightning, rain, and wind (Britannica.com). “Zeus was the first of the gods and a very imposing figure. Often referred to as ‘the father of gods and men,’ he is a sky god who controls lightning.” (Britannica.com) Although the god is labeled most powerful and the mightiest of all, he is not perfect. Zeus is known for his promiscuous action. Often times he fell in love with one woman after the other and attempted to disguise his infidelity from his wife. Zeus left no woman behind in his crazy love-life, the god married and had children with his sister, Hera and. Hera was not Zeus’ only siblings. He also had two brothers, Poseidon and Hades and another sister named Hestia. His parents are known as Cronus and Rhea. Zeus was not just handed the title “god of the sky,” instead him and his two brothers drew lots. The sea was given to Poseidon, the underworld to Hades, and Zeus was named lord of the sky, rain god, and cloud gatherer. The eagle is considered sacred to this god. Zeus also treasures the oak tree. It is often told that the gods will was revealed by the rustling of the oak tree. (Hamilton 27)

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.

In myths we come across many names of gods and goddesses and strange creatures. All of them have many stories related to them. Different gods represent different aspects of life and the Earth is under their control.

Greek and Roman mythology is well know. The people of that time period were passionate about the gods and did everything in their power to please them. Like most religions the goal is be like one of the gods in order to achieve good fortune or to gain everlasting life. One of the most interesting characteristics about the Greek and Roman Gods is how the gods are not perfect in that they make the same mistakes that the average human would make. These characteristics were put into place to allow ancient Greeks and Romans to effectively relate to the gods making them more believable. This is unlike other religions where the god(s) are shown as the all perfect character making no mistakes. These characteristics relate back to the family and

Hundreds of years ago people did not have the technology to explain different forces of nature. They created gods, each with separate powers, to rule their domains. Some of the gods were merciful, some were wicked, and others were merely servants of more powerful gods. Looking at the gods, it is easy to tell what the civilization most valued. I am going to look at the Greek and the Norse gods to compare what was most important to their societies.

In this paragraph will be information on Greek Gods and Goddesses. There was a governing body for the Grecians. This mythological group was very important. They were usually the reason for war and many believed that they were so superior that they would bring disease and death upon others that they dislike or the people that would try to out shine them. They were called The Olympians. There were twelve Olympians, however before I name them there actually were 13, but Hestia gave up her position for Dionysus. There was Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, Hephatus, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena, Artimes, Dionysus, Aries (Ares or Aris), and Apollo.” (Greek Gods and Goddesses) There was one other God that is also very important to the Olympians. His name was Hades and he was the God of the Dead. He was not considered an Olympian though because he was always to be in the Underworld. Hades had one day decided that he wanted a partner however

With his shield, Aegua, he was believed to be the god able to create any of the Phenomena that the greeks had seen in the sky. He was considered to be the ruler of the realms of the sky and air, and controlled anything that happened within them. Because he was the ruler of the sky, and had helped free the Cyclops, they rewarded him with the thunder bolt, a powerful weapon that allowed him to hurl lightning bolts at anything or anyone he desired. He was known to have a short temper, and to throw lightning at anyone who made him angry, particularly liers and oath breakers. He also used it on anyone who fell in love with his wife, even though he had many affairs. He is generally thought of as “wise, fair, just, merciful, and prudent. He was also unpredictable – nobody was able to guess the decisions he would make”(greekgodsandgoddesses.net). He tried to protect people from wrongdoing, punishing those who did, and is also the god of hospitality and quests, ready to fix any wrong done to a stranger. His main symbol is the lightening bolt, as it is his favorite weapon, but he has also been represented as an eagle, as it sees all, much like him from Mount Olympus, a bull to

Myth is a body of story that matters—the patterns present in mythology run deeply in the human psyche

The relationship between gods and mortals in mythology has long been a complicated topic. The gods can be generous and supportive, and also devastating and destructive to any group of humans. Mortals must respect the powers above them that cannot be controlled. The gods rule over destiny, nature, and justice, and need to be recognized and worshipped for the powerful beings as they are. Regardless of one's actions, intentions, and thoughts, the gods in Greek myth have ultimate power and the final decision of justice over nature, mortals, and even each other.

     The first god that I would like to focus on is Saturn. Saturn was the god of agriculture to both the Roman and Greek. He was, however, known to the Greeks as a different name. His name was Cronus. He had all of

Possible options of divine roles include the following: father or mother divinities, divinities of war, home or hearth divinities, divinities of love, divinities of wisdom, divinities of medicine or health, divinities of the wind, divinities of agriculture, divinities of the sky, ruler of all the gods, and so on.

Edith Hamilton is the author of the book Mythology. This book is about the Mythology of the Romans and Greeks through her eyes and the way she interprets it. In the beginning of the book Hamilton writes an introduction to Classical Mythology and how, and why it came about. She starts off by writing that Greek and Roman Mythology is meant to show us how people felt about the human race and about where they came from many years ago. She points out that Mythology describes the Earth when it was young and people cared for the Earth more than today. This is true, because in today?s world not many people are caring about the Earth and its going by us fast.

In Greek Mythology, perhaps one of the most rudimental yet one of the most important elements are the Greek Gods and Goddesses. The ancient Greeks created the stories about the lives and journeys of the Greek Gods, known as myths, simply as an endeavor to elucidate nature and all phenomena which were difficult to explain using modern science and logic. These myths about the Gods were spread around the world by explorers and storytellers, and later merged with Greek religion. To this day, numerous myths survived through many writings and through much art. Each of these myths is very unique, and moreover, tells us much about the Greek Gods. The Greek myths in particular convey to us that Greek Gods and Goddesses looked and acted like humans,

b. The life of two gods that are associated with one of the same powers are Zeus and Thor. The gods were created to rule their town. Coming from two different backgrounds they have similarities as well as differences among each other. Things that makes them the same and also makes them difference are their background, lightening and powers.