Myth in the Ancient World: Greek Mythology - Assignment Example

GREEK MYTHOLOGY A. The Greek Gods According to Hesiod, who are Zeus brothers, sisters, and children? Does Homer agree? According to Hesiod, Zeus was the child of Cronus and Rhea, and he was the last to be born among his brothers and sisters. His wife is Hera in most historical texts, but Homer also considers Dione as Zeus’ wife. According to Hesiod, Zeus’ daughter from Dione is Aphrodite. Zeus is also well regarded for his seductive activities, including a sensual partnership with Ganymede. His erotic activities have led to him fathering many well-known children, including Athena, Hermes, Dionysus, Heracles, Helen, and the Muses. His children with Hera according to Hesiod include Ares and Hephaestus (Hamilton, 1999). Homer generally agrees to the accuracy of the facts being told by Hesiod regarding the life and familial genealogy of Zeus, even though they have different opinions regarding the existence of Dione. 2. To what extent are Zeus and his offspring anthropomorphic? Zeus and his offspring have been connected with distinctive human traits and behaviors to nonliving elements, immovable things, or extraordinary events. Zeus offspring have been related to elemental objects in the Earth, as well as invisible or mysterious sources of opportunity are some of the typical connections of anthropomorphic tendencies of Zeus’ offspring. It is a usual and seemingly basic occurrence for the children of Zeus to be related to animals or non-living things as possessing human traits, one which others recommend gives a channel into the manner in which the Greek gods view themselves (Evslin, 1984). Most stories and accounts of Zeus offspring are almost solely connected with anthropomorphism, where they are able to initiate human emotions that include frustration and happiness. 3. What are the main attributes and functions of Zeus? When talking about Zeus, he is in charge of executing choices and options, however, the stories assert that his critical thinking and immediate evaluations possess some obstacles concerning the knowledge of his people. Zeus is the father and therefore the teacher. He teaches in individual set-ups, as the student of the leader is characterized as essential for the development of the student (DAulaire, 1992). He makes wide utilization of stories, parables, and poetry, and it is stated by Greek historians that Zeus taught regarding the implications that can only be attained through a procedure of searching what is right, and learning of the personal identity. Even though concepts and theories differ among various Greek gods, Zeus teaching and attributes in its entirety are initially concerned with his direct individual experiences. 4. Compare the attributes and functions of the older Olympian generation (ie. Zeus and his siblings) with those of the younger Olympians. One of the more typical differences in the attributes and functions of the older Olympian generation form the younger Olympians is the manner in which the Greek gods view the independent skills and abilities of each other. For example, in the younger Olympian generation, the manner in which the gods view the responsibilities of males and females can inhibit or deny them to particular roles. In majority of situations, how males and females of the younger Olympian generation perform in the public most of the time acts as the foundation concerning how other gods perceive them as potential leaders (Bulfinch, 2000). On the other hand, the interactive capacities in the older Olympian generation, for instance, which are integral elements of an excellent generation, are not the same among males and females. As the interactive mechanisms of male gods are seen to be perfect for leadership positions, men in the older Olympian generation normally are always on the top candidates for highly coveted leadership positions in the society. 5. To what extent does the nature myth theory explain the attributes and functions of the Greek Pantheon? The nature myth theory extensively explains the traits and attitudes of both males and female Greek gods. The nature myth theory explains that the attributes and functions of the Greek pantheon are also not the same from each other and can be identified as a major cause of their diversity problems. Male Greek gods are normally identified by dominant traits, which are the reasons why they are not lacking in self-belief, brute force, coercion, freedom, the will to win and the motivation to succeed (Hard, 1998). These traits of male Greek Gods enable them to utilize an aggressive managerial mechanism, which is helpful in persuading other people and enhancing the special capabilities of the workers. Meanwhile, female Greek gods possess serene traits that stand for love, respect, compassion and understanding. B. Alienation of the human & the divine 1. Describe Prometheus role in humanitys primal history according to Hesiod. Prometheus is the Greek god well regarded for his impressive knowledge, who snatched fire from Zeus and distributed it to the humans for their benefit. His story according to Hesiod has been connected by a number of historical references, wherein Prometheus is charged with or linked with having a critical responsibility in the ancient history of people. Hesiod mentions that the correlation between Prometheus’ critical thinking and the execution of logical reasoning when he chose to stole fire and give to the humans is clearly relevant (Russell, 1992). In every case, Hesiod believes that it is essential for every person to think critically and execute logical decisions so that they will be able to attain excellent results in their decisions. It was a procedure that both Prometheus attained and learned only through perseverance, dedication, and a dynamic desire towards learning. 2. Who is Pandora and why is she created? Pandora is considered as the original female. Zeus commanded Hephaestus to mold Pandora as a component of the consequence that the mortals have to bear for Prometheus stealing of fire, and all the gods connived in giving her sensuous presents. Based on the Greek mythology, Pandora broke wide open the pithos and in the process unleashed all the negative traits of people—dishonesty, treachery, jealousy, bickering— leaving only hope within once she had sealed it closed one more time. Pandora is normally characterized with serene traits, talks with hesitation, manages a simple lifestyle and provide help to others (Martin, 2003). As these traits of Pandora are not really significant components as to the manner that female Greek gods are typically viewed, she was also not the immediate preference for critical responsibilities because she was born out of a punishment. 3. To what extent does she resemble Eve in the Book of Genesis? While Eve has evidently caused widespread rejections and disapprovals among experts and religious sects all over the world because of her inability to fight off the temptation of the devil, Pandora has also suffered the same criticism for opening the pithos that unleashed all evil in this world. Eve’s failure in the Book of Genesis and Pandora’s box continues to exist as an independent body of knowledge no matter how chaotic or similar their stories may be. Sad to say, but their glaring failures have led to various stereotypes of them being the cause of evil. Perhaps, it would take serious understanding of their life stories and accounts in order to remove these bad stereotypes and reverse their reputations as well. On the bright side, both Eve and Pandora’s decision and intelligence was not an easy, systematized, basic procedure that can be learned at an instant (Osborne, 1989). 4. Why do Zeus and the biblical Yahweh try to prevent human beings from acquiring fire and forbidden knowledge (respectively)? Zeus did not want the humans to acquire fire because fire was a sacred gift for the gods during those times and therefore the humans did not deserve to know it secret. On the other hand, Yahweh made the forbidden knowledge in order to test the capability of both Adam and Eve to follow God’s commands and capability to resist temptation. As Zeus and Yahweh are considered as the Supreme Beings of the Greek mythology and the Christian world respectively, they both deserve to be given utmost respect and admiration through obedience to their laws and commands (James, 2003). As it turned out, both the failures of Prometheus and Eve led to the heavy punishments that befell on mankind, and mankind had no choice but to accept the consequence of the sins of Prometheus and Eve. 5. How is Platos Prometheus different from Hesiods? What is the significance of the difference to the myth? Plato’s Prometheus bases the teachings on things and aspects of human life that cannot be deciphered by numbers (such as the purity of the mind and heart) Plato’s accounts of Prometheus actions involve not stopping on the mere stealing of the fire, but the honest intentions of Prometheus as well as the benefits, not the punishment, that mankind has gotten as a result of Prometheus’ bravery and intelligence. On the other hand, Hesiod’s accounts on Prometheus are based on the traditional evil principles, like theft and the consequence of this evil act on mankind (Graf, 1996). Most of the time Hesiod utilized symbolical things like fire and destruction that was hard to be decoded by an ordinary individual to understand these principles. This utilization of symbolical and hard to understand language and images and the presence of various implications by individuals who possessed inadequate knowledge in the acts of Prometheus itself result to the rejections and disapprovals being cast over the authenticity of Prometheus as a component of the Greek Pantheon. C. Divine Women 1. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, what is the fate of Persephone? In Greek traditions, Persephone was the leader of Hades and the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Persephone’s fate has tremendous emotional strength: an innocent virgin, a mothers sorrow at the kidnapping, and the subsequent recovery of her child. It is also mentioned most of the time in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter as a tale of myths that explore basic procedures, with the origin and recovery of Persephone leading to the development of times. Unlike every other god or goddess in the Olympic setting, Persephone has no fixed role at the Olympic setting (Newman, 2007). In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Persephone had to be isolated from the other gods, and she was associated with taking care of the environment. 2. Why does Demeter go to Eleusis? Why does she want to make the child Demophon immortal? Why does she fail? While Demeter was looking for Persephone that transformed into an elderly woman pertained to as Doso, she experienced a great time from Celeus, the ruler of Eleusis. He asked Demeter to take care of his son Demophon. As a present to Celeus due to his great acceptance to her, Demeter had ambitions to transform Demophon as an immortal, by blessing and clothing him with Ambrosia (Dowden, 1992). Demeter failed to finish the process due to the fact that his mother Metanira witnessed her child being immersed in the fire and became hysterical, which infuriated Demeter, who mentioned that stupid humans do not comprehend the process. 3. Why does Demeter demand a ritual at Eleusis? What is the purpose of the ritual? Demeter demands a ritual at Eleusis because this is the proper process approved by the gods in order to make Dempohon immortal. As a gift to Celeus for his hospitable spirit, Demeter had ambitions to transform Demophon as an immortal, by undergoing the ritual of blessing and clothing him with Ambrosia., then breathing carefully upon the child while carrying him in her hands and breast. The purpose of the ritual is for Dempohon to gain immortality, by incinerating his human soul away in the family hearth daily (Burkert, 1982). She immersed Demophon in the fire during the night like an ash without the consent of Celeus. 4. Explain the relevance of this myth to the development of agricultural communities and civilization. According to the myth, because of Demeter’s failure to make Demophon immortal, she opted instead to educate Triptolemus the field of agriculture and, through Triptolemus, the entire Greek societies were able to become knowledgeable in agriculture. Agricultural communities and Greek civilization possessed creative beginnings, essential factors of which are native people, a history of domination and existing and widened transferring of the population from various places and societies (Low, 1985). This myth of Demeter and Triptolemus has led in one of the most varied and differentiated agricultural communities in the globe, with almost a thousand ethnic societies. Every one of these agricultural communities has its own definitive traits and characteristics and as a consequence of the myth. 5. To what extent do the charter and ritual theories of myth help us to understand the myth of Demeter? Can we see in this myth a Jungian archetype? The concept of charter and ritual theories of myth bring us the idea of rules and power of the gods to allow the emergence of a powerful existence of immortals and intelligent gods. The charter and ritual theories illustrate meaningful topics: the implications of being a member of a the Olympian community; the interaction between gods to allow the rituals to be done; and the type and scenario of what needs to be done in rituals and charter (Gantz, 1996). It is possible that this myth can be classified under the Jungian archetype, especially since the charter and ritual theories of myth had a dynamic nature – it functions both in the mental and in the society at large. REFERENCES Bulfinch, T, 2000. Bulfinchs Greek and Roman Mythology: The Age of Fable. Dover Publications Burkert, W, 1982. Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual. University of California Press; New edition DAulaire, I, 1992. DAulaires Book of Greek Myths. Delacorte Books for Young Readers Dowden, K, 1992. The Uses of Greek Mythology. Routledge; 1st edition Evslin, B, 1984. Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths. Laurel Leaf Gantz, T, 1996. Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources. The Johns Hopkins University Press Graf, F, 1996. Greek Mythology: An Introduction. The Johns Hopkins University Press Hamilton, E, 1999. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. Grand Central Publishing Hard, R, 1998. The Library of Greek Mythology. Oxford University Press, USA; New edition James, V, 2003. The Genealogy of Greek Mythology: An Illustrated Family Tree of Greek Myth from the First Gods to the Founders. Gotham Low, A, 1985. The Simon & Schuster Book of Greek Gods and Heroes. Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing; 1st edition Martin, R, 2003. Myths of the Ancient Greeks. NAL Trade Newman, H, 2007. A Genealogical Chart of Greek Mythology. The University of North Carolina Press Osborne, M, 1989. Favorite Greek Myths. Scholastic Press Russell, W, 1992. Classic Myths to Read Aloud: The Great Stories of Greek and Roman Mythology, Specially Arranged for Children Five and Up by an Educational Expert. Three Rivers Press Read More