While sitting in my Greek and Roman mythology class today, I began to wonder how such crazy ideas could be believed by so many. From the amount of Gods and Goddesses they believed to exist, to the things these beings could do, the topic itself becomes harder and harder to find true. However, the more I learned about the topic, the less fantasy like it seemed.
Zeus, also known as the “all mighty god,” could be the equivalence to Jesus Christ (if looked at in a certain frame of mind of course.) He is considered the God of Gods and if the Greek and Roman people had been monotheistic, Zeus would have been their one man to worship. Furthermore, Zeus is not the only reason I found this type of mythology to be more of a version of a truth than completely a myth.
Just as the Christian religion has a devil and he is Hell’s main resident, the Greeks and Roman told stories about Hades, the God of the Underworld. Hades was known for being evil and in a way he was sort of the “ruler of the dead.” The bible teaches the idea that if one is not worthy of Heaven, they are sent to Hell. In Greek and Roman mythology some people are sent to the underworld just as a soul could be sent to Hell.
Lastly, the myths these ancient civilians left behind not only told of their religious beliefs, but also they explain why things are the way they are, for lack of a better phrase. Scientists have discovered why the earth experiences seasonal changes. They have reasons like the degree of tilt on our axis and the rotation of the earth on said axis. Although I now understand why those facts are true, long ago the people had no clue to the tilt and rotation the earth is on. So, the fact that when Persephone was stolen by Hades and taken to the underworld only to return for a few months a year created season, the idea still seemed radical. It was not until I learned that Persephone’s mother was the Goddess of harvest and was so sad when her daughter was away that nothing grew, did I fully understand how such a story could be perceived as factual.
Turning to the last page of the chapter, I was graced with a few facts of how the myths came to be. Just as I was starting to see how ancient Greeks and Romans could believe such myths, the author throws in the fact that mythology writers had a love for facts. In fact, they wanted people to believe their stories so much that they tried to incorporate real facts into them to make myths more believable. After reading that, I closed my book thinking “Wow, what a waste of time.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdv1tLCgsMA
I find Greek Mythology extremely fascinating, although I don't believe it either. The characters and plots were created with such an amazing imagination that they are still widely read and studied today. I also like how the stories reflect on the morality and evil nature of humans. When I first begin reading Greek Mythology, I also noticed the similarities to the Bible. It would be interesting to have a discussion of analysis and comparison of the time periods of the creation of the Greek Mythology stories in relation to some of the time periods of the Bible passages.
ReplyDeleteI’ve always found the similarities between religious beliefs quite interesting. In Ancient World History Class, my teacher would show us these similarities like the story of the great flood, which, in our country, can most commonly understood to be Biblical. However, the flood has been featured in many different religions’ stories, such as that of the Ancient Chinese culture, different African cultures, and Greek and Roman mythology, if I’m not mistaken. This fact could even support the belief that this flood did happen, and if these various cultures knew this, then they had to include the flood in their beliefs. Also, you picked an interesting way to end your blog.
ReplyDeleteI find history of the Greek and Romans to be extremely interesting. Both cultures left there mark on history. I find the stories in Greek mythology to be more interesting. For example Hercules story, a man with so much courage and sacrifice. I could see how Zues could be compared to Jesus. He was the most supreme then like Jesus in todays age.
ReplyDeleteIts very strange how modern christian beliefs have a very prominent connection with the beliefs of the greeks and romans. IF you look really close, a lot of their traditions are quite similar to that in which christians practice. Since Zeus progressivly spawned the belief of one supreme god, it could be concluded that some of our modern religious beliefs could have just been a progression from those of the greeks.
ReplyDeleteI find that Mythology is just entertainment to me. I no myself that none of it is real, I just find it interesting to see how culture can effect the way people think things. It is also interesting to look at how the philosophers explained and reasoned how the gods were created and how they worked. even though in the end it is just a fictional story.
ReplyDeleteI also find the stories of Greek and Roman mythology to be interesting, but I don't believe they are true. I hadn't really realized until you mentioned it that they are very similar to the stories of the Bible. It is understandable that they could believe such outrageous stories. Obviously since we have progressed much farther in science, then we know they are false. Their stories were starting to make sense when she threw that little tidbit in about the stories having facts in them, just like for you apparently.
ReplyDelete