Mythology in Contemporary Culture - Essay Example

Perhaps the most famous of mythologies in the world is the one that Ancient Greece created. While most mythologies in other parts of the globe dealt with the macabre, the mythology of Greece lavished in stories of love and honor. Unlike other gods, the Greek gods were like humans; with good and bad qualities. They often fell in love and sometimes felt jealousy and hatred. Roman mythology is not far from the Greek one since they derived their stories from them. They merely changed the names of the deities but the stories remained the same.

Popol Vuh, on the other hand is a book that contains the records of the mythological narratives and lineage of the rulers of the Quich Maya kingdom of highland Guatemala. This paper deals with contemporary things that echoes the influence of mythology from past times. In writing this paper, we can learn some of the things that are still rooted to common mythology and its impact to society's everyday lives. One of the most enduring of all human practices that has to do with mythology is our use of them in naming heavenly bodies.

Let's start off with the planets. The first planet from the sun is Mercury. In Roman mythology, Mercury (Hermes in Greek) is one of the twelve primary gods (Dodekatheon) that reside in Olympus. As messenger of the gods, he is known to be the swiftest of them. It is no wonder that the fastest planet would be named from the fleet-footed Mercury. Another of these planets is Venus, known as the morning star for its brightness. As the goddess of beauty, it is quite explicit that the most brilliant star would be named after her.

Our very own planet Earth is personified as Gaea (mother earth). Long before the emergence of the gods, the earth was inhabited by the Titans. Gaea was one of them and she is married to Uranus (the heaven). Uranus in turn is where the name of the seventh planet is derived. One of Gaea and Uranus' children is Saturn, often identified with the Greek deity Cronus (time). Saturn is also known as the god of agriculture. After it was foretold that one of his children will vanquish him, Cronus devoured each of them after they are delivered.

His sixth child, Zeus (Jupiter) was saved by his mother. When Jupiter was strong enough, he saved his siblings from the dreaded body of Cronus and became the leader of the Gods. As the king of heaven and earth and the strongest of them all, it is just obvious for people of modern times to name after him the largest of the planets in our solar system. The fourth planet from the sun, known as Mars, is named after the Roman god of war. It is part of the mythology that Venus fell in love with Mars; thus popularizing the symbols and , which are the symbols of Venus and Mars respectively.

It is not hidden knowledge that these are the symbols for the feminine and the masculine; and commonly these symbols complement each other, the way the two deities complement their selves. The eight planet is named after Neptune, the Roman god of the sea and he is the brother of Jupiter. The last planet in our solar system is the Pluto. A small, cold, dark, rocky planet, it's identity is still a mystery to most scientists. However, it is not a mystery to us that the planet is just aptly named since Pluto