What Are The Similarities Between Greek And Roman Mythology

Origin myths deliver stories explaining how the world, humans or objects came to existence. Describing where the nation comes from, they are very important to the culture of given region. Therefore, each nation developed its own stories and beliefs; however, there are many similarities between myths of various religions and cultures. A good example would be Native American stories about origin and their resemblance to Greek mythology or to the Bible. Similarities can be seen in different spheres such as creation of humankind or even in the story about flood.

The ancient world was comprised of mysteries. There were no scientific explanations for the structure of the world, the existence of humans, or the meaning of life. To explain these dilemmas they turned to religion and mythology. However, as were often isolated geographically there was no universal answer to any of these questions, though many cultures many have derived similar solutions to certain questions, despite being separated by large physical distances, such as the Greeks and Egyptians. Although there are minor differences, Greek and Egyptian mythologies share many similarities.

Greek mythology and Roman mythology both have an importance in both ancient history and the modern world. People often confuse the two and mistake them for each other. They may be similar on paper but they are very different. Greek mythology is more original, had a bigger influence on the ancient people, and has a bigger influence on the modern world.

In many cultures there are flood myths that normally pertain to angered Gods who release their anger by flooding the world to cleanse whatever caused the anger in the first place. In the Roman culture, one of the flood myths mentioned states that Jupiter had been angered by the evil that came with humanity and had wanted to burn the Earth. However, Jupiter had feared by doing so Heaven would be set ablaze as well and thus, with Neptune's help, flooded the Earth. The hero Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha had been the only two to survive. Jupiter had recognized their religious lifestyle had let them live and retracted the flood. Deucalion and Pyrrha had then repopulated the world by throwing stones behind them. In the Murato culture, there is a myth in which a man had been fishing in a lagoon of the Pastaza river, a crocodile had swallowed the fisherman’s bait and the man killed the crocodile. The mother of crocodiles had been angered by this and had slashed the water with her tail creating a flood in the area and drowning everybody except for one man who had climbed up a palm tree. After the flood had subsided the man climbed down from the tree, cut off a piece of his flesh, planted it in the soil, and had grown a woman. He had then married the woman and begun to repopulate the world.

In Roman religion it was crucial “to serve the gods and ensure goodwill” (The Roman Republic). The English word “Religion” comes from the Latin word “Religio” (Overview of Religion). Latin was the ancient language of Rome, but for the Roman’s the translation meant something very different from what we understand it as today. To the Romans, “Religio” translated to “ the fear of gods” (Overview of Religion). Romans invested much of their time serving the gods, performing rituals and sacrifices in honor of them. On the contrary Greek religion did not prefer to execute rituals as much as the Romans. Greeks were more lenient when honoring the gods. They did not have a theological dogma: a part of theology dealing with truths of faith concerning God and God's work. Their many gods had different purposes and works they performed. The Greeks relied more on the verbal spread of the religion rather than having a written form. Although different, both religions had forms of praising and honoring their gods. Greek and Roman religion have many differences and similarities that impacted each group of people.

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.

Select the sentence that contains no semicolon errors. (Note that some of the sentences may not require a semicolon.)

Throughout Aristophanes’ “Clouds” there is a constant battle between old and new. It makes itself apparent in the Just and Unjust speech as well as between father and son. Ultimately, Pheidippides, whom would be considered ‘new’, triumphs over the old Strepsiades, his father. This is analogous to the Just and Unjust speech. In this debate, Just speech represents the old traditions and mores of Greece while the contrasting Unjust speech is considered to be newfangled and cynical towards the old. While the defeat of Just speech by Unjust speech does not render Pheidippides the ability to overcome Strepsiades, it is a parallel that may be compared with many other instances in Mythology and real life.

With man and nature, there is seemingly a constant curiosity that of which compels many to contemplate questions and to ultimately seek answers for those questions. In modern day, man seeks science, logic, and mathematics to name a few in order to search for those compelling thoughts. However, it was seemingly not that easy in the era of the Ancient Greeks. The Ancient Greeks did feature mathematics, however, to explain natural phenomenon, there was not a reference to science and logic, and like other nations it was rather, mythology.

The Greek and Genesis creation stories resemble each other in many ways but also they have their differences too. Imagine two stories that come from two different places could have so many similarities, but it also has it’s differences.

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

Mythology is the traditions that have been passed down orally, among a culture, for many generations. Myths can include several different elements, often varying slightly. Most include fantasy or unnatural characters, such as monsters, dragons, gods and goddesses. Myths generally tell a story which is the basis for many beliefs among a culture. Greek and Roman myths encompass the gods that the cultures worship. Myths often serve to teach a lesson or play on superstitions. The origin is unknown and because it has been handed down orally, there are variations in the story. The story often travels around to other cultures also. This leads to similar myths among cultures. Similar situations and characters

When looking at mythology in the eastern and western world one has to understand the different aspects that each mythology believed in. this aspect shows how the people who study this culture and believe in this culture have to do. This focuses on the aspects of individualism and cosmic law. The east follows cosmic law while the west normally follows individualism. Some examples are how in the Greek mythology they believe that everyone should be a hero in their own world and should try and best the heroes before them, which can be considered to be individualism, while in Indian culture they believe that they are all a hero and no one hero is better than the other or the person before them which follows the belief in the cosmic law of the universe.

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.

I have been raised in a family that values logic and reason, but one that also appreciates other people’s morals and beliefs. Among these have been individuals of different Christian denominations, Hindu, and Islamic beliefs. Sense a predominant number of religious beliefs and logical ideas stem from early civilizations, I often wonder the extent to which logical ideas differ from religious tenants-sense both manifest from the human mind. To engage this research question, I have specified my topic to compare and contrast the ideas of Greek philosophers (such as Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and Pythagoras) to the ideas of Greek Mythology. Logically, it makes sense to focus on Greek ideas because they laid the foundation for modern government and religious tenants.