Nuba Wrestling, The Original Art

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.

First stop will be to learn the history of wrestling. As stated “Early Egyptian and Babylonian reliefs show moves still used today” (http://www.athleticscholarships.net/history-of-wrestling.htm). Wrestling was used by the Ancient greeks for soldier combat training. Due to Greeks worry over the sports history,

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.

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

The origins of wrestling go back to 15,000 years ago Wrestling is one of the oldest sport played. The Greeks feared the true history of the sport would be lost therefore Greco-Roman wrestling was born from that one type of wrestling many forms were elaborated. The first real traces of the development of wrestling date back to the times of the Sumerians which is 5000 years ago. Drawings , as well as many other vestiges, witness the existence of corporations of wrestlers in Ancient Egypt, wrestling rules and refereeing codes. Fights were similar to those of freestyle wrestling, as shown by drawings and inscriptions from that time. The most famous of all wrestlers was Milon of Croton, six times Olympic champion, ten times winner of the

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

“I knew (Miller) was good (before Kent State’s camp),” DePalma said. “I came in ready to brawl with him. Then he whooped me the first time wrestling. I didn’t know what to think. I’m like, ‘I can’t believe they’re even recruiting me still.’”

“ It could be that a number of gods and goddesses whom we think of as purely Greek

The Greeks were a civilization whose lives were controlled by kings and gods. There were many gods that the Greeks believed in, each of them were prayed for many reasons, blessings, goodwill, war, and help. Athena was one of the many gods that the Greeks prayed to, she was feared for the deed she did to a young woman. She turned this women, Medusa, into a Gorgon. The creature that had snakes for hair, and who could turn people into stone when they looked at her. This deed lead to the Greeks trying to please Athena in various ways.

An example would be how the Egyptian god?s have different body parts with other bodies and the Greek gods are humans. Hamilton states that the Egyptians made gods they thought up and made them in a way that no one has seen before. The Greeks therefore made their gods in there own image. That made it easier for them to understand them and know how they act. The major point Hamilton is showing in this introduction is that Mythology is a new to look at life and to understand it under a different light. Another point she states is that Greek Mythology it?s self, is so unique that it showed extreme beauty yet fear at that same time. The gods were not to be completely feared, but respected to the point where you didn?t anger them. Greek Mythology is also unique, because it doesn?t have many of the things that are in most religion or folklore. Hamilton states that Greek Mythology didn?t contain Magic or Witches, and in reality didn?t fear the dead, they actually pitied the dead. Hamilton?s main point in this whole introduction is that Mythology itself is completely and totally different from any other religion or folklore ever. Mythology was written in such a beautiful way that upon reading it, it seems real and it begins to take shape. She is also saying that Greek Mythology was in a way different than normal Mythology and therefore changed the face of Mythology forever.

The primary source that I’ve decided to read and analyze is Hesiod’s Theogony and Cosmogony, which is found under Greece’s Religion and Myth. The reason why I ended up choosing this particular excerpt as my primary source analysis because not only I am interested in religion but I have always been interested in Greek mythologies. Now that I have been studying about ancient world especially Greece and its religion as well as its myths, I figured this would be the perfect time for me to learn and dig deeper about the origin of Greek’s mythologies, how the gods came into being and the creation of myth itself as well as the famous theologian at that time, Hesiod.

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

These men and others went to Egypt and studied with Egyptian priests and students and returned to Greece with these teachings and ideas and passed them off as their own. When Alexander invaded

The history of Greek mythology is an extravagant chronicle of tales of heroism, tragedy, and tradition. The Greeks had an extreme talent with fine arts, and these abilities are strongly reflected in their