Download Introduction to Greek Mythology

Introduction
to
Greek Mythology
Sherry Whiddon
Deerlake Middle School
What is Greek mythology?
• The people of ancient Greece
shared stories called myths
with gods, goddesses, and
heroes in which they fully
believed.
• Each god or goddess was
worshipped as a diety and
ruled over a given area of the
Greeks lives.
• These exciting stories, myths,
explained natural phenomena
that could not be explained by
science of the ancient Greek
world. Myths attempted to
teach moral lessons, to explain
traditions & customs, to relate
history
Greek mythology of today was
religion of Ancient Greece.
• The Greeks believed the stories we now
call myths.
• The gods and goddesses ruled the world
and were believed to be responsible for
the success or failure of human life.
• So the Greeks worshipped their gods by
praying, giving offerings, and building
temples.
Why should we study mythology?
• The Ancient Greek culture
•
•
has been kept alive
through oral and later
written stories handed
down over 1000’s of
years.
Modern plays, novels,
movies, advertisements,
and TV programs refer to
Greek gods, heroes,
monsters, etc.
Adventurous and exciting
stories entertain us.
Movies, books, games……
• HISTORY can tell you facts about a
society, but MYTH shows you their
personality – their thoughts, beliefs, fears,
and hopes.
• Relying only on only HISTORY to tell you
about a people is like reading someone's
driver's license instead of meeting him or
her face-to-face.
• CULTURE (noun): the intellectual and
artistic ability, and the works produced by
it, in a particular society.
•
Myths not only tell us about the
thoughts, fears, feelings, and beliefs of
the societies that created them – they
also, like any type of art, help shape the
culture of those who tell the myths.
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Characteristics of a Myth
Purposes
Contents
Modern Implications
1.To explain the
creation of the world
1. Gods/goddesses with
superhuman powers
2.To explain natural
phenomena
2. Gods/goddess with
humanlike qualities (flaws)
1. Modern people places
things, or expressions that
refer to mythology
2. Other stories, movies, TV
shows with same situations
or lessons as the myth.
3.To give story form to
religious practices
4. To teach a moral
lesson
5. To explain history
3. Heroes with admirable
qualities
4. monsters or other
creatures
5. humans who are helped
or hindered by the gods
6. a quest or ordeal that
must be accomplished
6. To express the
deepest dreams, hopes,
and fears of mankind
7. a death followed by a
rebirth or transformation