The myth I have chosen is from the Ancient Greek culture. It is the tale of Perseus and Medusa. From 800 to 500 B.C., this culture flourished in what is now northeastern portion of the Mediterranean region. I believe this myth shows the complexities and difficulties in Ancient Greek culture. The story of Perseus’ journey to face evil arose to give the Greek’s hope and courage. Perseus was the first of many mighty Greek heroes. He was a demigod who was nearly invincible. With extraordinary strength and thinking, there was nothing he could not challenge. One test did however push him to his limits though.
Medusa was an evil Gorgon who had been cursed by the gods. If any person were to look at her face, they would turn to stone. Perseus decided
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She was being sacrificed to a sea monster because her mother offended the gods. Perseus chose to make a deal with Cassiopeia’s parents. If he were to defeat the monster, he could marry Cassiopeia. Perseus then rode Pegasus, a winged horse, and turned the monster into stone with Medusa’s head. The couple then lived happily for the rest of their lives. This myth originates from the archaic renaissance of Greece. This burst of excellence was home to many of the great thinkers of the time such as Archimedes, Plato, Socrates, and Homer. Though they excelled in technology and the arts, their society was rather violent. Greek consisted of many city-states that often fought with each other. This had a major influence on their mythology, which can be witnessed just in this myth. The tale of Perseus represents many values that the Greek’s held dear such as bravery, courage, honesty, and integrity. Perseus helped people by doing what is right despite facing unlikely odds. The ideals presented not only can be viewed as representing the Greeks but also can be seen as a teaching lesson. The main points of this myth can be applied to this modern age. One example is helping those in need just as when Perseus helped the terrorized
Heroes have existed in society for centuries and have been presented in many forms. Whether they were personal idols, literary figures, or real people, heroes represent hope and victory against the evils of the world. People look for heroes in their everyday lives, or often, as characters in tales of extraordinary circumstances. Some of the most renowned literary heroes of all time come from Greek myths. Within these stories about heroic idols, it is common for many main plot points to overlap. Across different genres, locations, languages, and eras the progression of the hero’s journey remains relatively uniform. Generally, it contains three broad components: departure, initiation, and return. The tale of Perseus is a popular tale of an ostracized son of Zeus. Perseus and his mother Danae were nearly killed by Acrisius, Danae’s father, when he sent them out to sea in a chest. They were rescued by a kind fisherman, Dictys, and lived peacefully with him until his brother, Polydectes, decided he wanted Danae for a wife. He tricked Perseus into setting out on a venture to kill the deadly monster Medusa. These events essentially align with the progression of the hero’s journey. Therefore, throughout the myth of Perseus, the character’s quest follows the conventional pattern of the hero’s journey.
Most people have heard a fair amount of stories from Greek mythology, and maybe they even have a favorite. These stories can have any number of different tellings, all with various tones, emotions, and purposes, depending on who wrote them and when they were created. What 's most important to me, however, is not their exact replication, but the idea that these stories can be handed down from generation to generation and still hold relevance. I, nonetheless, do have favorites of my own; they are the ancient Greek myths of Tantalus, Medusa, Achilles, and Icarus.
Greek myths either explain a creation, or tell a moral. The most interesting myths are the ones that have the most interesting story or moral. These myths can explain creations such as the woman, or great wars such as the Trojan War. These myths generally have interesting stories that lead up to what the myth means. Examples of the best myths are Pandora’s Box, Deucalion and Pyrrha, and the Trojan War.
Medusa was a murder victim. Medusa’s head was looked at as a treaured item, her eyes would turn people into stone. Perseus, Zeus’s son, a Greek hero, and a monster slayer was sent on a mission. Perseus’ mission was to chop Medusa’s head off to use her eyes to
Myths and Legends provides readers with values, history, guidelines for living and morals that are relevant to our everyday lives. The myths of ‘Achilles’ and ‘Hercules’ are well-known in Ancient Greek mythology. These myths and legends provide readers to this day with valuable moral and life long lessons, allowing the appreciation for different cultures through ancient storytelling.
Medusa boasted of her beauty causing people to become angry with her. In the end she was cursed and no one, not even her, could say she was
She was the daughter of Phorkys and Keto and their parents were Gaea or Earth and Oceanus or Ocean. She was also one of the gorgon sisters, who were Sthenno and Euryale, but Medusa was the only mortal of the three. " Medusa was represented as a very beautiful female; unlike the other Gorgons"(Britannica Medusa). Medusa had nothing to worry about in her early life but until she fell in love with Poseidon, the sea god.
In ancient Greek times, Perseus was considered a great hero because he exemplified great empathy and great determination. Empathy was one of Perseus’ most prominent traits. He exemplified this on multiple occasions, one of which being when he felt bad for the titan Atlas. The Titan was punished with having to hold up the heavens for all eternity by the gods for being the leader of the Titans in the war against Zeus. Perseus felt empathy for him and turned him to stone because earlier in the myth, Atlas begged to be turned to stone so that he could rest from the great burden. This shows empathy because of Perseus. While he did worship the Greek gods, he still felt that the punishment that was bestowed upon
Before Medusa turned into a monster she was a beautiful girl who happened to be a priestess in Athena’s virgin temple. Athena usually picked women she thought were suited to represent her in a temple made just for her. One day the God of the Sea, Poseidon, saw Medusa and thought she was amazingly beautiful. Seeing that she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen and wanting to pursue her further Poseidon followed her into Athena’s temple. While inside the temple the two became lovers (Gall 38)
There are many different ways the story of Perseus and Medusa are told. One of the ways that is told is that, Acrisius was the king of Argos, the oracle of Delphi told the king that his daughter Danae’s son will one day kill him. Acrisius couldn’t let that happen. Acrisius was scared, so he deprived his daughter with any possible contact with outside world by, locking her in a bronze tower. The tower only had a small
One of the most popular Greek myths is the story of Theseus and the Minotaur, it centres around an early civilisation on the island of Crete, it is a myth told long before Athens became the ruling capital. It is the legend of the Minotaur.
Just like Hercules saved Greece from the monsters that well compared to the Greece reality of freeing the earth from the idea of the inhumane supreme over the human in other word slavery. On that account, Greek Mythology offers us a very interesting, entertaining form comparisons to our world's difficulties that we humans encounter in our daily lives. Nevertheless, unlike Greek Mythology the so-called myths in the present day almost never explain nothing at all for being merely for pure entertainment and, therefore, do not last in our memory
During Perseus and his mother’s stay on the island, the King, Polydectes, had caught wind of Danae, Perseus’ mother, and wished to have her and not her son. Moreover, the King devised a plan to be rid of Perseus, he would tell him of his ‘true want’ to have the head of a gorgon and later invite him to his wedding party where Perseus would be obligated to bring a gift. Because Perseus had no gift, just as the King had known, he declared he'd
Polydectes pretended to marry the daughter of his friend. Everyone that was invited had to bring a present;however, Perseus wasn’t really that wealthy so he promised the king which was Polydectes,that he would do anything for him as a present because he couldn’t afford anything.Even though they both knew how bad it was for him to decapitate Medusa, he was a man of his own word. Perseus set forth on his adventure; he wandered
A myth is a traditional story, concerning the early history of people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon; they typically involve supernatural being or events (Dictionary.com, 2016). Myths certainly had a simple aesthetic function of entertainment; they were presented through the means of visual and theatrical art (Cartwright. M, 2012). Myths provided advice on how to lead a good life. Some myths were purposely composed to be outrageous and wrong because it taught the people what not to do. Myths, however, were also thought to be a reflection of the Greek’s way of thinking; this was depicted through them portraying their deities as humans, giving them human traits (Vandiver. E, 2000). Myths explained the environment in which humankind lived in and the natural phenomena they witnessed (Vandiver. E, 2000). They were also intricately connected to religion in the Greek world and explained the origin of Gods and where humanity had come from and where humans would go after death (Mark. J, 2012).