Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Alqahtani 1 Greek Mythology Student: Abdullah Alqahtani Professor: Dudley Date: 12/5/2016 Alqahtani 2 Student: Abdullah Alqahtani Professor: Dudley Foundations of the Western World Date: 12/5/2016 Greek Mythology In the whole of Western culture, the most fertile and rich collection of stories is found in Greek mythology. This is if the Bible is excluded. These stories are diverse; however, they try to share a similar outlook on life (Slater, 2014). The Greeks believed in living life to the fullest since they cherished it. Death was a fact that was inevitable to them. There were small groups that believed in the idea of resurrection, such as mystery cults. It was dismal to homer death. Life in its way was glorious, thrilling, and dangerous in certain ways. Perishing of an ordinary person was believed to be accompanied by that of the mightiest heroes and the great royal dynasties. However, this idea of death did not make the Greeks be sad because it contained the Babylonian scribes that were written of Gilgamesh. The response of Greeks was enthusiasm. According to them, the only answer to death was to make carve of the legend that is imperishable by magnificent deeds. Throughout the five centuries, that is, from Homer to Alexander the Great, the Greets directed much of their effort and attention on pursuing fame. The astonishing energy was used to pursue fame. They were a unique race since they were imaginative, hard-living, ambitious, restless, and tough. They were very touchy about their honor due to the lust for their reputation. Most of them were vengeful and feisty. All of these traits in abundance are very clear in their stories. Alqahtani 3 The Greek qualities are mirrored faithfully in the Olympian Gods. Some of these qualities are fornicating, banqueting, unforgiving deities who liked warring, and quarrelsome. They were shown in the form of humans with powerful and beautiful bodies. They were very pleasing to the eye and also humanly intelligible. These people had a strong admiration for intelligence, beauty, and strength. The man was the measure of all things according to them (Dowden, 2014). There are a few mythologies that have managed to produce a similar wealth of heroes. This was because the Greeks had a very strong urge for fame. Their heroes had desirable characters. They were fighters and adventurers. They were also bold, clever, strong, fierce, and experienced. The accomplishments of these heroes were far beyond that of ordinary humans. Irrespective of being perfect, there were some failings. Some of them were ruined by the failings. Some of these failings are cruelty (that emerged from their success), over-ambitious, overweening pride, and rashness among others. Ambition was very intense in the Greek heroes. There those who aspired godlike powers. All these were a model of human excellence because they gave the youths in the society standards to imitate. This same ambivalence is evident in the legend of the tragic dynasty. The royal families of Athens, Thebes, Mycenae, Crete turned out to be badly affected by their faults, which made them become vulnerable to disasters. The fault that these families had were sexual conflict, stubbornness when it comes to pursuing some goal, ruthlessness in getting revenge, and pride of power. The Greeks are the race that has clearly gotten that character is destiny. Also, they also came to understand that same source of crime can produce achievement. Looking at the tale of Trojan War, two elements that are blended are the tragic and heroic element. Out of Greek culture, this turns out to be the finest legend. The main heroes or Alqahtani 4 characters in this story were doomed to death that was violent and premature. These were Hector and Achilles. What emerged from their defiance of fate as well as a code of honor was a measure of grandeur. In the war, there was no winner since most of their survivors also suffered so much (Graf, 1996). Add in how these served as warnings to humans. The Greek Gods The Titans Titans among other beings were produced by Gaea (the earth) as well as Uranus (the heavens). Uranus was the son of Gaea. Titans were the old gods. They were later replaced by Olympian gods. The mother of Titans, Gaea was a Neolithic earth-mother. She was forced into the background during the second millennial B.C. by the patriarchal gods of the Indo-Europeans (Schedlitzki, Jarvis, & MacInnes, 2014). These patriarchal gods of the Indo-Europeans invaded Greece during the time. However, the worship of Gaea went on even during classical age. There was also Cronus who was the chief Titan. Cronus got his power as a result of castrating his father. The father was Uranus. Cronus married his sister called Rhea. The union of the two produced the Olympian gods. Cronus Swallowed the Olympian gods at birth to prevent them from taking the throne. Cronus and the other Titans were later on defeated by Zeus (the son of Chronus). They were sent to the underworld after the defeat. Saturn is the Latin name for Chronus. Rhea was the wife of Chronus. Seeing Chronus swallowing their children, she hid Zeus and gave Chronus a stone to swallow instead. Another Titan was the Oceanus. “Oceanus was the Alqahtani 5 unending stream that encircled the world, a Titan, who with his wife Tethys produced the rivers and the three thousand ocean nymphs" (Siempos, Ntaidou, & Samonis, 2014, p. 1337) Other Titans were: - Hyperion (Titan of light) – the father of the dawn, the moon, and light - Mnemosyne – the Titaness of memory - Themis – the Titaness of order and justice - Lapetus – was the father of Atlas, Epimetheus, and Prometheus - Furies – looked after and punished sinners - Giants – produced by the blood of Uranus during the time that he was mutilated by Cronus - Hecatoncheires – were monsters produced by Uranus and Gaea - Cyclopes – were children of Uranus and Gaea. They were monsters with one eye. They represented thunderbolt, lightning, and thunder. - Eros – was the child of Chaos together with Gaea. The Olympians As per the Greeks, he was the supreme god. The Greeks depicted him as a mature and robust man having flowing beards. Zeus at the beginning was a storm-god who produced thunderbolt. Later on, he became all-father that populated the earth and heavens. He managed to populate Alqahtani 6 both places through his promiscuous liaisons. Eventually, he ended becoming the grand dispense of justice. Mount Olympus was where the palace of Zeus was found. Another Olympian god was Hera, who was the sister and wife of Zeus. She was the protector of childbirth and marriage. Stories say that she was cruel to those fell in love with Zeus. Jono is her Latin name. Poseidon was another Olympian god. He was the brother of Zeus, god of horses and lord of the sea. He was always in the company of monsters of the deep and sea nymphs. Poseidon was a moody and wrathful god. The Latin name for this god is Neptune. Demeter was a goddess of fertility and vegetation. She was the sister of Zeus. The earth becomes fruitful when the daughter of Demeter returns every sixth month of a year. The earth became barren when she grieved. The other Olympian gods were: - Apollo – was son of Zeus and god of the art, healing, intelligence, and light - Artemis – daughter of Zeus and twin sister of Apollo. She was the goddess of chastity. - Aphrodite – was the goddess of beauty and love. She was a representation of the power of attraction, affection, and sex, which blind people. - Athena – she was the goddess of wisdom - Hestia – was the goddess of peace, the family, and hearth - Ares – was the son of Hera and Zeus and the bullying god of war. Alqahtani 7 The lessor Gods There were other gods. Below are some of these gods: - Hebe – act as the cup-bearer to the gods. Was also the god of youths. Hebe the daughter of Hera and Zeus. - Iris – the messenger of gods and also the goddess of rainbow - The nine Muses – these were Polyhymnia, Euterpe, Erato, Thalia, Calliope, Terpsichore, Melpomene, Urania, and Clio. They were the goddesses of inspiration. - Persephone – was the goddess of Springtime - Dionysus – the god of vine and fertility. Also inspired men with joy and liberated their emotions. - Pan – was the god of flocks. He was the son of Hermes - Centaurs – was half man and half horse. Turned out to be the savage beast. Greek Heroes There were a number of Greek heroes according to Greek mythology. The first hero was Achilles. He was the most fearful and strongest warrior in the war of Greeks against Trojans. He was invulnerable everywhere apart from the heels since he was dipped in river Styx by his mother while he was an infant. His heels were not invulnerable since that is where he was held with while being dipped in river Styx. In the Trojan War, he was the greatest hero for a period of ten years until the time that he was injured on the heels by the son of Trojan King called Paris. Alqahtani 8 Currently, the tendon that links heel bone and muscles of a calf is termed as the Achilles' tendon. The second hero is Hercules (Herakles). Among all the Greek heroes, he was the most loves. Hercules was powerful and brave. He was the son of Alcmene and Zeus. Alcmene was the daughter of Perseus. Hercules grew and became a famed warrior. The jealous wife of Zeus made Hercules become insane. She also went ahead to kill the wife and children of Hercules. Hercules was forced to carry out impossible labors as punishment. The punishments, later on, became the subject of many works of drama and art. Another Greek hero was Jason. He was the leader of fifty heroes who sailed searching for the Golden Fleece. These heroes were called Argonauts. The kingdom that was to be held by Jason was stolen by his uncle who promised to return the throne to him only if Jason brought the Golden Fleece. The Golden Fleece was wool from the magical winged ram. On their journey, they met a number of dangers, such as the deadly Sirens. They were successful at the end of their journey since they succeeded in capturing the fleece through the help of a sorceress called Madea. Later on, Madea became the wife of Jason. Odysseus was another Greek hero. He was a celebrated warrior and king of Ithaca. He helped the Greeks achieve victory during the Trojan War. He went through a journey that took him ten years so as to return to his wife Penelope and his home Ithaca. He together with his men encountered man-monsters along the way, but his cleverness and courage helped them. Some of the monsters they encountered were Scylla and Charybdis, the Sirens, and Cyclops Polyphemus. At home, he managed to prove his identity to Penelope and ruled his homeland once again. Alqahtani 9 There is also the Persues, who was the son of Danae and Zeus. As a warrior, he managed to complete dangerous accomplishments with his talent and quick thinking. His most famous achievement was killing of the Gorgon Medusa. No ___ was able to look directly at Medusa since he or she would turn into stone. Persues was able to kill Medusa by looking at her reflection in the mirror (Schedlitzki et al., 2014). He took the head of Gorgon Medusa in his satchel after beheading her. Also, he managed to save princess Andromeda from sea monster that wanted to eat her. He succeeded in turning Medusa to stone after pulling her head. The final hero is the Theseus. He was known for his many victories against the monsters. The monster that is well known is the Mimotaur. Mimotaur resided on the Island of Crete in a labyrinth. The people of Athens were forced to take fourteen people to Mimotaur each and every year so as to eaten alive (Slater, 2014). Theseus managed to get his way into the labyrinth where he killed the monster. This was possible through a ball of magic thread that he received from princess Ariadne. Theseus is believed to be either the son of Poseidon (the god of the sea) or Aegeus (the god of Athens). Greek Creatures Below are the Greeks creatures: Cyclopes – were one-eyed monster that were gigantic. They were three in number representing lightning bolt, lightning, and thunder. They were given the names Arges, Stropes, and Brontes. They were off spring of Uranus and Gaea. Hecatoncheires – these were creatures with 100 hands each possessing so much strength as well as 5 heads. Alqahtani 10 Giants – were produced from the blood of Uranus. They got power and tried to remove Zeus and the Olympians from their seat. They lost and were imprisoned. Ash Tree Nymphs – these were also produced from the blood of Uranus during the castration (Dowden, 2014). Typhoeus – this was a fire-breathing dragon that had a total of one hundred heads. This creature never rested. It was produced by Gaea as an effort to prevent Olympians from getting to her children, the Titans. Cerberus - it guards the entrance to the underworld. It was a dog that had dragon trail and three heads. It allowed those who died to enter, but not to leave. The last labor of Hercules was fetching Cerberus. Sirens – these were sisters who used songs of the Sirens to lure sailors to their death. The songs of the Sirens were irresistible (Graf, 1996). They were found beyond reefs that were impassable. When sailors try to reach the Sirens, there boats are destroyed by the reefs. Alqahtani 11 Work cited Dowden, K. (2014). Death and the Maiden (Routledge Revivals): Girls' Initiation Rites in Greek Mythology. London, UK: Routledge. Graf, F. (1996). Greek mythology: An introduction. Baltimore, MA: JHU Press. Schedlitzki, D., Jarvis, C., & MacInnes, J. (2014). Leadership development: A place for storytelling and Greek mythology?. Management Learning, 1350507614560303. Siempos, I. I., Ntaidou, T. K., & Samonis, G. (2014). The Art of Providing Resuscitation in Greek Mythology. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 119(6), 1336-1341. Slater, P. E. (2014). The Glory of Hera: Greek Mythology and the Greek family. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.