The Relationships Between Parents and Children in Greek and Roman Myths

In Hesiod’s Theogony, the Greek family relationships were often a repeated cycle between the husband, wife and their children. Based on the generations including Ouranos, all the men that came to rule automatically loathed their child, because they believed their children would take away their power. Since this behavior was similarly recurring every generation, the women were often forced to create wicked plans involving their children’s rise to power. The cycle of power, deceit and achievement created by the families in the first generation of Greek mythology became dominant characteristics that future generations would inherit.

Oedipus complex stage is a child’s desire of a sexual gratification of the opposite sex of the parental figure. To resolve tis unconscious conflict of fear and erotic desire within one must characterize themselves with whom they want to be and what they desire. Sigmund Freud believed that little girls had penis envy. In later days men had higher rank than women. Girls were thought to first have a sexual attachment to their mother which eventually transferred to the father in hopes to somehow obtain a penis. According to Freud “Classic Theories and Modern

Differently to what is thought nowadays, the Oedipus complex described by Freud goes beyond just the son 's desire to have sex with his mother. The Oedipus complex includes the teenager 's psychosexual idea of feeling jealousy, anger, and above all, competing with his father. Besides, Freud’s theory emphasizes that boys select their mother as their principal object of desire, and subconsciously wish to usurp or even murder their fathers in order to gain exclusive possession of her and become their mothers ' lover.

The relationships between parents and their sons in the Iliad are not relationships we expect to see in today’s society. The Iliad portrays the relationships between fathers and sons as something more than just physical and emotional. It is based on pride and respect for one another. The expectations of their son are more so to pass on their fathers reputable name and to follow in their father’s footsteps of being noble warriors. These relationships are the driving forces in the Iliad, making each son in the Iliad identifiable first by their father’s name. An outcome of the father–son relationships is ancestral loyalty among the characters which play a prominent role in war. Therefore, not only does the Iliad share a major war story, but

The Oedipus complex refers to the thoughts some men have regarding their mother or maternal figures. Many scenes from the play can prove Hamlet did have these thoughts about his mother, such as acts one and three. If the reader knows what he or she is looking for, then these signs can be easily spotted. The story of Oedipus Rex is an

The discourse of “incest” is considered almost universally as taboo and so is the study of the phenomena of sexual relations between closely related individuals in its diverse manifestations. Literary texts at length have tried to explore incest as social and psychological deviance but the discussion moves to the margins of the narrative into unspoken or rather “unspeakable” territory. The mainstream discourse prevents the writers from representing and speaking about the theme of incest explicitly. It remains restricted to a marginal space and can be understood only through a deep exploration of the individual characters and the narrative style of the text.

Numerous mythologies we have read throughout this semester have had an underlying message. Those who are loyal to their beliefs, their spouses, and the gods are rewarded, but those who prove to be unfaithful are dealt with harshly. From the multitude of examples in mythology, I have chosen four to discuss: Cupid & Psyche, Odysseus & Penelope, Medea & Jason, and Antigone & Creon. Each of these characters and their stories exemplify either rewards or punishments for their actions from the gods and fates. First, we must discuss how to define loyalty in a way the Greek and Romans would agree with. Loyalty wasn’t just wives obeying husbands, or servants obeying masters, but also the people obeying the rules of the gods. Obedience is a key part of the ancient concept of loyalty, as you cannot be truly loyal to a person or to the gods without respecting their wishes and being obeying them.

It is inferred that the parents should take care of their children and have their best interest at heart. This however, is not the case in Greek and Roman mythology. The killing of ones own children, or filicide, was not viewed as negative upon in their era. The contemporary times contrast with the ancient Greek and Roman’s because it was justified to use any means necessary to obtain a higher status. The Greeks and Romans valued keeping a high social reputation and having respect for those of great power. The motherly union between their children conflict with the reality that the father strives to retain or gain control. These circumstances cause a tense bond between the members of the family. The strained parent to child relationship in

However, Uranus was afraid that Cronus might overpower him and one day obtain all his power. Knowing this Uranus purposely tried to kill Cronus in multiply occasions, but Gaea would always protect him. One day Gaea and Cronus made a plan to have Cronus challenge Uranus and take over his power. So it happened, Cronnus challenged his father and was victorious during their battle and Uranus was left to rot (Bernard 1) "Now Cronus had become king of gods by killing his father Uranus” (Bernard 3). In both Greek and Roman Mythology, the relationship between parents and children are distorted, strained, and bizarrely transformed, because of their greediness for power and obsessiveness to be better than the other.

In Greek mythology, there is always a perpetual notion of power. The desire for power is associated with the father figure of a family. Furthermore, a father sets the tone for his family by setting rules and establishing their reputation. From the beginning of time, there has been angst in losing power, starting with the Earth and sky. Arising fear occurs when a father finds that one of his children is a threat to his throne. It also develops when a father realizes that since he sabotaged his own father, potentially his child could the same. Taking into consideration both of these cases, it is understood that a male parent in ancient Greek consciousness seeks a role having power. This thirst for power has resulted in the betrayal of wives and the attempt to destroy an upbringing of children. Through the fatherhood of Ouranos, Cronos, and Zeus, it is clear that their role is to exercise dominance, moreover keep away potential threats.

Greco-Roman mythology is rich in names, characters, and events. Dozens of gods, goddesses, and mortal women and men participate in a variety of activities that reflect or exemplify behaviors and power relations in Greek and Roman societies. A wealth of literature was written about the relationships between mortals and immortals in Greco-Roman mythology. Much was written and said about the place humans occupy in the complex mythical hierarchies. However, the role and place of women remain the topic of the hot literary debate. In Greco-Roman mythology, the image of woman is always

In Harry Mark Petrakis's short story "Song of Rodanthe" and Amanda Michalopoulou's short story "The Firefly Hunt" the themes revolve around how parent's decisions affect their children. In "Song of Rodanthe" the main character is not allowed to choose the man she wants to marry unless her father approves. In "The Firefly Hunt" the main character attempts to reconnect with his children after divorcing their mother. The subject of male figures that attempt to control the women around them is common in Greek culture and writing. In Petrakis and Michalopoulou's stories the reader is shown how daughters are influenced by the choices their fathers make.

1) I was intrigued by the map because I myself have a biological father, and a man that I actually look up to as a father. I have been reading the Odyssey and the Iliad over the past couple months focusing on the story telling of the books and never paying much attention to the father aspect. I do remember many times when I was reading, I would start thinking that this sounded somewhat like the bible in terms of is speaking to family lineage so often, but I never really just focused on fathers in this book. I remember in book 9 of the Iliad, Phoenix is speaking to Achilles and says to Achilles “I have made you my son, I tried, so someday you might fight disaster back”. He goes on to try to speak words of wisdom to Achilles. This still lingers in my mind because I am trying to guide my 17-year-old step son to graduation and hopefully he will have a good life. That conversation reminded me of several conversations that I have with him. When I found this map, I figured I would dive in because fathers and father figures are huge issues in todays society, and I thought it would be fun to dive into fatherhood from an ancient standpoint.

Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalytical theories on the unconscious mind, which is where he believed myth to be derived from. His ideas can be used to incorporate a common theme in every myth. This universal idea was in male-female relationships. He believed there to be a power struggle among every relationship: male-female, male-male, and female-female. Freud's explanation for this was that everyone had a mother and father, therefore the subconscious possessed these psychological ideas about sexuality. In applying these ideas to the myth of Io, there is the obvious sexual relationship between Io and Zeus. Zeus, as the king of the gods, is in a place of immense power and Io is inferior to him. According to Freud, Io's submission to Zeus is unconsciously an act to replicate a father-daughter relationship. The daughter is subconsciously sexually attracted to her father and acts out on this desire. Looking at the relationship between Io and Hera, the sexual tension turns to competition. The older wife is jealous of the younger, attractive

     Incest in Greek mythology was a common occurrence. Part of the reason is that the gods themselves set the example, and since everything that happened in society was the result of the passion of the gods, this, of course, gave the characters in the Greek plays the opportunity to also lust after their children and relatives. While the story of Oedipus the King is the delineating play on the subject, Greek mythology is full of incestuous relationships.