Download Greek Mythology

Greek Mythology
Greek Mythology
Noor Alhathal
Writing & Research, COMM 1312
Prince Mohammed University
Dr. Hala Asmina Guta
28/12/2011
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Greek Mythology
Table of Contents
Introduction: ................................................................................................................................... 3
Literature review: ............................................................................................................................ 4
The term mythology: ................................................................................................................... 4
Worshiping gods: ......................................................................................................................... 6
Conclusion: ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................... 9
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Introduction:
“All the gods are dead except the
god of war” (cleaver, 1982). Do you
believe in goddesses? Have you ever
heard about the Olympian Goddesses?
The Twelve gods and goddesses that
ruled the world from the top of Olympus-mountain in Greece-which they were named
after. The twelve goddesses came to power since the Titans, the war of gods which
Zeus led them to victory in. those goddesses are ruler gods and goddesses in Greek
mythology. These goddess’s stories are now present not only in history books but now
they’re being used in movies, songs and fashion brands. Roman methodology has
adopted most of these Greek gods but the used a different names to them.
My passion to know more about Greece culture and the different goddesses
became no coincidence with the new movies and song inspired by this culture. I have
always wondered how brands found these odd looking logos, like Versace for example it
has a logo of a women with really thick hair I constantly has doubt if it does stand for
something. After watching a movie called Percy Jackson & the Olympians which talks
about the twelve Olympian gods and the theory that they are half human and have gods,
along with the battle they had and what is going to happen if they came back to life. At
first I thought it’s just a movie and everything that being said is a figment of imagination,
however after listening to the feedback of my friend about the movie I knew that this
Olympians gods has a story in Greek culture. After what I heard I was more excited to do
a research about these goddesses as well as where dose worshiping goddesses started.
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Literature review:
The term mythology:
Refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myth
(Encyclopedia Britannica,1987, p8). Greek Mythology is the art of belonging to the
ancient Greek history along with the gods and heroes in old Greek. Ancient Greek
civilization granted the foundations of Western culture. Philosophically, artistically,
scientifically and politically, the Greeks reached an amazing level of sophistication. The
Greek mythology is so rich that its legacy has endured to these days. Moreover, Roman
mythology has adapted a lot of the Greek mythology in intention to get its legacy; most
of Roman goddesses are inspired by Greek goddesses but worshiped in different
names. Greek mythology has plenty of goddesses, heroes and legends they worship,
but only twelve of them called the Olympians were the main rulers.
The Olympians are the twelve gods and goddesses that ruled after the overthrow
of the Titans -enormous war of gods-. The twelve main Greek gods lived on Mount
Olympus north Greek. They were by Zeus god of the sky and thunder who led them to
victory in the battle. The rest were his wife Hera goddess of marriage and their siblings
Poseidon Lord of the seas and earthquakes, Demeter Goddess of fertility and agriculture
Athena Virgin goddess of wisdom, Dionysus God of wine and celebrations, Apollo god of
music and poetry, Artemis Virgin goddess of the virginity and childbirth, Ares god of war
and violence, Aphrodite Goddess of love and beauty, Hephaestus god of fire and
Hermes god of commerce. However, when the ancient Greeks refer to the Olympians
gods they write the word god with small “g”, but when they refer to the real and one god
they use a capital “G”. We know the Olympians from Homeric hymn - a collection of
thirty three anonymous Ancient Greek religious songs celebrating individual gods-, in
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addition to the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey. Subsequently, philosophers are constantly
in a lookup for the fact of their existence and their real identity.
Greek name
Roman name
Image
Functions and attributes
Zeus
Jupiter
King of the gods and ruler of Mount Olympus; god
of the sky and thunder.
Hera
Juno
Queen of the gods and the goddess of marriage
and family.
Poseidon
Neptune
God of the seas, earthquakes and tidal wave.
Symbols include the horse, bull, dolphin and
trident.
Demeter
Ceres
Goddess of fertility, agriculture, nature, and the
seasons.
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Since there are many versions of their story, I have found many different
explanations. Some stories say they are real supernatural gods, some say they are
aliens and others claim that they are just fictional stories that doesn’t connect to reality in
any way. Nevertheless, According to the Historical Theory all the persons mentioned in
mythology were once real human beings, and the legends relating to them are merely
additions of ancient people. Therefore, studying mythology is not that simple due to the
diverse versions of these legends. Consequently, worshiping these gods and goddesses
in not straightforward, since there is no sufficient information concerning them.
Worshiping gods:
People used to worship gods for many reasons, perhaps originally because this
gave them the feeling that they can have control over their lives even if it’s a small
power. For instance, if someone in a crisis and need help, in a war and needs a victory
or just they want their god to ensure a crop for them, they could call on their god to
ensure the help for any worthwhile purpose. As well, the people who believed in the
Greek gods and goddesses and the Olympians did so for pretty much the same reason.
Many of the goddesses in Greek were referring to earth elements. Consequently, when
the weather is very hot in a day they can ask god of the rain to make it rain and soften
the weather that day. Moreover, I previously mentioned that in that era the Romans also
started to adopt the Greek gods changes some of their names and continued to worship
them for the same motivations.
According to my research, I think that as people now getting more educated and
having written documents they developed a new apparition when it comes to ancient
mythology. In addition, now people are more civilized and exposed to different cultures
and religions, therefore they have a lot more choices than before. While studying Greek
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mythology I have found some weak spots. For example, the Olympians at most times
they were acting as humans not as gods. Also, they ruled people but never taught them
how to live and control their lives and how to improve these souls. Olympians never
talked about morality and how u can be better in your life, more to the point many of
them were immoral themselves even in ancient culture. For instance, Zeus was cheating
on his wife Hera with beautiful Greek human girls all the time, and Hera on her side was
turning her husband’s mistresses into monsters as revenge.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the main intention of this research paper was raising knowledge
about this great ancient civilization that’s pearly remembered today. In addition, to find
out more about the goddesses in this culture, what dose each god symbolizes for and if
there is people still believe and worship these legends. Furthermore, I tried to find out
the real identity of these gods and whether their stories were true or just an ancient
fairytale. Moreover, I found a lot of good sources that helped me to distinguish Greek
mythology very clearly.
One of my biggest motivations of doing this research was to know whether
people still believe in Greek mythology or not. As a result to my research I found the real
reason of people believing in legends and worship them until this time. For instance,
paganism is a religion bases on Greek mythology that worships the same old Greek
gods up till now, they even sucrfies animal to their goddesses for the cause of obtaining
their demands; it’s a part of their religion.
What’s more, this research paper contains a brief idea about the ancient Greek
civilization, and the stories of the main ruler goddesses that lived in that era. Studying
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this civilization is important to have well rounded education as most great literature work
refers back to ancient Greek history, like William Shakespeare’s most plays was
referring in more than one position to goddesses from Greek mythology. Therefore, to
properly understand what the greatest authors of all time were saying you should have a
general idea about this ancient civilization. Finally, I hope that this research paper will
answer important questions and to benefit the largest number of people, as I believe in
this Greek saying” Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity”
(John, 1960)
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Bibliography
John. (1960). Greek Art. Greeks History , 45-89.
Journy, F. (1985). Olympics History. The Saven seas , 88-175.
Thomas, M. (1970). Grees Myths. Greek: The leons.
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