The Myths And Rituals At Mycenaean And Minoan Sites

The Ancient Greeks believed in many gods and heroes during their time. Each one had a sole purpose in a mortal’s lifetime. Greek mythology had a huge impact on religion in Ancient Greece. The Greeks performed rituals in order to honor their gods. Mythology affected the Ancient Greeks in many ways. The origins of mythology, the influences of mythology through a human’s lifetime and lessons taught in the ancient myths will be examined.

Ancient art and literature and overall life was filled with influence of mythological gods and goddesses. These gods and goddesses were part of everyday life in early history. The citizens would tell stories about the divine to one another and pass them on from generation to generation. A myth, or a traditional story, concerning the early history of a people or explaining natural or social phenomenon typically involving supernatural beings or events, was part of everyday life in the ancient world. The people would pray to the divine for help with all aspects of life from childbirth and farming to war and death. Interaction between mortals and the gods was a very common daily occurrence.

This quote helps explain the essential question of “Why did Neolithic people develop myths that paleolithic people didn’t need?” because it highlights what was important and sacred to the Neolithic people. In contrast to the Paleolithic people, gathering the harvest or tilling farms brought the Neolithic people to a sacred realm. Encountering the sacred through products the earth had to offer, Neolithic people thought of agriculture with a religious wonder. The Paleolithic people regarded other activities as sacred, and had a different way of entering the sacred realm. According to Armstrong, Paleolithic people were brought to a sacred state through Dreamtime: “It is only when he experiences this mystical unity with Dreamtime that his life

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.

The birth of the Aztec and Roman religion was influenced in different ways. As polytheistic civilizations, they both had many gods, each having special abilities. Both the gods of the Aztecs and the Romans could help or harm people. Although contrary to popular belief, the Romans were first animistic, believing that spirits inhabited everything and everyone around them. But as Rome grew, the beliefs of those who were conquered slowly influenced the Roman culture and religion. However, the line between religion and myth was blurred due to the presence of Greek colonies on the Lower Peninsula as many of the Greek gods were adopted. The

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.

Phyllis, L. M., & Minkel, W. (2000). Greek mythology. School Library Journal, 46(10), 75-76. Retrieved

1C. He uses many different sources, including pictograms and written references from Mesopatamia from 4000 B.C.E, Archaelogic expirements, Egyptian records, Summerian depictions, The Epic of Gilgamesh,

The Minoans were a civilization who flourished from 3000 BCE until 1100 BCE on the island of Crete, were greatly influenced by the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Syrians and the Anatolians (Britannica Encyclopedia). This civilization made major contributions to Western European development in the areas of language, architecture and art. It was the famous archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans who made the astounding discoveries at Knossos in the early 1900’s that introduced to the world the fascinating and wonderful sophistication of these early Greeks (Britannica Encyclopedia). The history of the island has been molded by its proximity to the Aegean Sea. Its geographical location gave it control over the sea and the lucrative trade routes. The Minoans traded with Egypt, the Levant, the Aegean, and beyond to Italy, and Sicily.

In order to comprehend Geoffrey Keyte’s theory concerning the lost continent of Atlantis, it is vital to comprehend the Atlanteans. According to Keyte, the Atlanteans were of extraterrestrial basis and came to Earth above fifty thousands years ago. Keyte believes the Atlanteans were above eight to twelve feet with blonde hair and blue eyes. These people were extremely fair-skinned and had life-spans of above eight hundred years. These seven to twelve foot humanoids were believed to be a myth not until a location with eight to twelve foot skeletons was excavate (Keyte). According to Keyte the Atlantean’s knowledge was far more elevated than modern technology. The Atlanteans utilized crystals such as quartz to store and transfer energy. Keyte

Ritual purity and ritual pollution are nearly the same concept, when looking at the reason for why they are followed. They are both categories used in Greek religion used so that homogeneity would be held among the everyday Greeks that was only supposed to be used during or immediately before rituals. Both categories were also only applied during situations that could be contributed to a divine being, like being struck by lightning after having sex in a religious area during the day. Both purity and pollution were also the opposite of “normality,” and would not be expected to follow during all times, especially since the Greeks seemed eager enough to gain pollution if they wanted or needed something enough. On top of this, both were used in times of distress (like a city-wide plague) in order to treat or end the plague, for example by blaming a murder for the pollution and by purifying the city through killing, sacrificing, or banishing the murderer.

These myths were first developed in a visual form, because only the elders knew how to read and write, they passed these stories down to the next generation in an oral form (“Greek Mythology” 2017).

Even though there are so many similarities between these religions, the ancient Greeks did not just start out with an almost exact parallel to the Mesopotamians. The earliest of the ancient Greeks were agriculturalists living on the Balkan Peninsula. They used Animism and assigned a spirit to virtually every aspect of nature. When tribes north of the peninsula invaded and conquered them, the spirits of nature either fused with the new pantheon of gods based on power, battle, force and conquest or faded into insignificance.

As Christopher Vogler quoted in The Writer’s Journey, “A myth... is a metaphor for a mystery beyond human comprehension. It is a comparison that helps us understand, by analogy, some aspect of our mysterious selves.” Various countries have myths that connect to their personal background culture. When it is compared, each myth has a different perspective of how things were created in the daily life of a person. This includes countries such as Greece and Egypt and how their backgrounds influences their cultures. Cultural backgrounds play an important role in society. One moral lesson that is learned in Greek myths is about mother and daughter relationships. Egyptians also included Ma’at in their myths as a symbol of harmony and peace.

Since the dawn of time, people have necessitated explanations for various natural phenomena, such as rain, earthquakes, and death as well as human characteristics of love, wisdom, and anger. Societies, thus, began to formulate unique beliefs of deities with great power that explained any unknown territories. They worshiped these divine beings trusting in their abilities and fearing their fury. However, no two cultures ever had the same beliefs; each system of belief - each mythology - was designed to reflect the individual societies, who practiced it.