Myths of the Greek and Roman Gods - Report Example

Myths of the Greek and Roman gods

Introduction

Since time immemorial, men and women have been viewed differently. To help paint a clear picture on the issue, the history of the Greeks offers a wide array of information on their view of men and women. Ancient Greece viewed the creation of women as the complex with their mythology showing distinctive traits that make women complex beings. The understanding on both genders through their mythology broadens knowledge about their heritage. While men were viewed as high beings that possess leadership qualities, women were considered negative and troublesome people who brought ill to the world. Hence, this essay will offer in-depth knowledge of the Greek myth about the creation of the women while providing thoughts on why the Greek see men and women differently.

Greek myth about creation of women

The myth of Prometheus and Pandora

The myth regarding the creation of the first woman came into prominence in Theogony an epic poem of Hesiod. The myth is historically termed as ancient as it came to be after the Great War between the Titans and the Olympians (Hesiod, p.14). According to the Greek myth about the creation of women, the gods created the first woman out of clay, and her name was Pandora. All started from a gathering of the gods where the Titans had also been invited. The purpose of the gathering had been to decide who would be favored with the better portion of a sacrifice. However, the situation ended up turning ugly after one of the Titan by the name Prometheus stole sacrificial fire from Zeus and gave it to humanity (W & D, p.73, l.50). Zeus was angered by the situation and decided to revenge towards Prometheus. Zeus spoke to him saying: “Son of Iapetus, all cunning, wily in plots, your are a delighted in you’re stealing of fire and in outwitting me. It would be a great plague, to you, and to a man to come. I too will give them a gift, an evil one, answering fire (Theog, 14).”

As a form of revenge from Zeus, woman found her way into the world. Zeus ordered the god of smiths to create a woman who would be dazzling and appealing to both gods and man (W & D, p.73, l. 60). The creation resulted in a woman named Pandora meaning all gifted. She was endowed with beauty cunning, gifts, curiosity, idle nature, a deceitful mind, and a crafty tongue. “And bright-eyed, Athena, goddess, clothed and adorned her and the Graces, bright goddesses, and the lady persuasion put gold adornments on her and the horae, the lovely-haired seasons crowned her with flowers of springtime (W & D, p.73, l.70)”. The gods also taught her how to sing as well as skills she could use with her hands (W & D, p.73, l.75).

Afterwards, Zeus released Pandora to earth. Zeus gave her a gift that she was never supposed to open. She was then presented to Prometheus` younger brother as a bride. As events unraveled, a wedding was about to happen, and on the wedding day, and one of the gods cleared the air. He claimed that Pandora was a gift from Zeus and a peace offering signifying the end of bitterness in him. The two were leading a happy life as time was passing on, but the thought of the closed kept disturbing Pandora. Finally, she opened the box. Unknowingly the box contained evil and malice that Zeus had enclosed in the box. All wickedness such as sickness, death, hatred, famine, and jealousy were released and became widespread everywhere (W & D, p.73, l. 65).

The myth of the five ages

The myth of the five ages is introduced as another account of the creation of humanity. The myth provides five generations that describe the creation and life of man. The periods include the golden age, the silver age, Bronze Age, age of heroes and finally the Iron Age. In the golden age, the myth has it that, the golden age was supposed to be a time of prosperity and peace, which would allow all living things to live harmoniously. In this age animals and human beings lived together in abundance. The golden age is said to have taken place during the rule if Titans when Zeus began a fight for power with his father who was the ruler by then. The age ended in destruction even after the golden age ended, the race existed, and it roamed the earth with evil spirits. With the end of the war and evil spirits, it was the period for gods to create new silver, a generation of humankind. The silver race was regarded as immature and inferior in all activities. The race was so disobedient to the gods, and Zeus wiped it out on discovering that it was a nuisance. The end of the silver race was the beginning of the bronze race. The bronze race of men was stable for war. The race had weapons made of bronze, and they were so dangerous that they could eat hearts of fellow men. “Their weapons, their houses, were bronze their work was with bronze (Theog.p.76, l.150)”.Zeus later decided to wipe out the race by use of significant floods after he was disappointed by the aggressiveness demonstrated by the race (W & D, p.73, l.66).After the bronze race, Zeus created a superior race known as the race of heroes. The race was noble and respected the gods. Some of the individuals in this race had divine qualities like those of gods. “These men lived like the gods; their heart had no trouble (Theog. p.76, l.145)”. Most of the race of heroes died in a war, but Zeus decided to place their souls in a particular place (Theog. p.76, l.145).

Finally, Zeus created the latest race of humanity called the iron race. The iron race is a period of constant stress and hard work (W & D, p.77, l.175). In this race, immorality has filled the earth; people do not trust each other and man is continuously not on good terms with each other “I wish I had never been borne in this age, but either died first or been born after. For the age now is iron, and neither by day can men rest from labor and sorrow, nor by night, as they perish away, and gods will give more harsh trouble (W &D, p. 77, l. 175).”As it happened in other races, the iron race is expected to heighten their vices. They would be going against the wishes of the gods, and at the peak of it, all Zeus is set to wipe out the race as he did to the other races (W & D, p.77, l. 180).

Why Greek see men and women differently

From both myths, Greeks may see men differently since in the myth of Prometheus and Pandora; a woman is regarded as the cause of bad things that happen in the society today. The woman is viewed as a person who brings trouble. In the myth, Pandora was so curious to know what was in the box give to her by Zeus as a gift. Her curiosity drew wicked spirits in the world since Zeus had planned to use them in revenge against Prometheus. Moreover, from the myth, the characters that the gods gave Pandora are seen as the reason why the Greeks see women as different from men. The role of women is not defined. In the myth of Pandora, the gods gave her skills, but the myth does not show what type of skills she was supposed to do. In fact, she was given a crafty tongue, a deceitful mind, all which contribute to grief in the world.

On the other hand, from the myth of the five races, man is portrayed differently from how the woman was described. Men come up in different races thus bringing about civilization. In the Bronze Age, men start developing materials out of bronze such as bronze weapons. Man is different from the woman as he is a hard worker.

Is the misogyny of the Greek account much different from other accounts?

The misogyny of the Greek account is not much different from the biblical account of creation. The reason why the woman in both accounts was created tends to differ. In the biblical account, the woman was designed as a companion and helper for man (New International Version, Gen.1.18). However, in the myth of Prometheus and Pandora, the woman was created for Zeus` revenge against Prometheus. In both accounts, human beings are seen as individuals full of greed and love for themselves. “Both phases of the conflict between Prometheus and Zeus, the sacrificial disputed theft of fire are concerned with crucial factors in human existence (Theog. 17)”. Similarly, in the biblical account, the man ate the forbidden fruit showing a sign of greed in him (New International Version, Gen. 3.17). In both instances, the woman is full of curiosity. In the misogyny of the Greek account, sin came to the world due to the curiosity of Pandora wanting to know what was in the box given to her by Zeus. In the biblical account, after the serpent deceived the woman, she was curious about what was in the tree of knowledge (New International Version, Gen. 3.6).

Eve and Pandora

A similarity exists between the relationship between Pandora in the myth of the Greeks and the biblical account of creation. Both Pandora and eve were the first women on earth. The stales of the two beautiful women are an explanation of how evil got in the world. God said to the woman that “I will greatly increase your pangs into children bearing (New International Version, Gen. 3.8)”. It is through them that evil found its way into the world (New International Version, Gen. 3.8). Because the world is full of difficulties, it was used as a passage for sin. “Similarly, for mortal men, high thundering Zeus made an evil: women the partners of distressing works (Theog.p.47, l.600)”.Pandora opened the box, which Zeus had instructed her not to open while Eve in the Biblical context ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. However, a difference that exists is that God in the Bible created Eve to be a companion for man while Zeus created Pandora to punish humanity. Then God said, “It is not a good thing for a man to be alone. I will make him partners to be a helper (New International Version, Gen. 2.18)”.

Conclusion

Gender comparisons date back to the era of the Greek. Similar to the situation today, it is still debatable on the differences between men and women. Evidently, no gender can be termed as good or bad as they seem to be equal. The account from the Bible affirms the myths put forth in the Greek`s view of creation. Evil and turbulent forces present in daily life can be attributed to both genders, and therefore none is superior to the other.