From: rogue@ucrengr.ucr.edu (ed zeamba)
Newsgroups: alt.mythology
Subject: REPORT: Greek Myths
Date: 9 Jan 93 07:49:14 GMT
Organization: University of California, Riverside

Since I just joined this group, I dont know if this is standard practice...
Btu here is a short paper that I did in my upper div. Mythology class.
I got a 'B'  btw :)
[Sorry about the format...but thats what WP's are for...]

------------------------------CUT HERE----------------------

		Ed Zeamba
		Myth 160
		2/21/92
		page 1

Ancient Greeks.  Their myths, cosmos, and society

	The Ancient greeks were a tough, ambitious ,and imaginative race.  But 

they were also feisty and vengeful as a result of their hunger for fame.  The 

Olympian gods mirrored these human qualities and are shown to be 

quarrelsome, unforgiving deities who enjoyed warfare, feasting, and sex.  The 

Ancient Greeks cherished life.  They believed in living it to the fullest degree 

because life is too short.  To them death was not a tragic fate, but simply the 

inevitable end to all life.  While this is a simple philosophy all by itself, the ancient 

greeks developed it one artistic leap further :  Only through a man's 

accomplishments can he earn immortality in legends.  Greek heroes are the 

epitome of this simple philosophy, and their magnificent deeds have carved for 

themselves a permanent record in mythology.  To begin to understand this 

philosophy, one best start with the foundation for Greek myth: the gods and 

creation.

"First came the Chasm; and then broad-breasted Earth..." (Theo. line 116) These 

words are the beginning of the creation myth of Hesiod's Theogony.  Hesiod is 

one of the earliest known Greek poets.  His Theogony, written in the late eighth 

century B.C., shows the creation of the world and the genealogy of the Greek 

gods as well as their early conflicts.  The empty void of Chaos gives birth to 

Gaea, the Earth, to Tartarus, the underworld, and to Eros, the handsome God of 

love and attraction.  The darkness of the netherworld and the darkness over the 

earth produce the Heavenly light, and Day.  Gaea gives birth to the Sea, and 

Uranus  the sky god, who then becomes her mate.  Together this primordial 

couple produced the twelve titans, the three great cyclopes, and the three mighty 
Hecatonchieres with a hundred arms and fifty heads each.  The youngest of the 

Titans, Kronos, hating his lusty father, castrated the sky god with a sickle his 

mother crafted.  The severed genitals fell into the sea and a goddess was 

created from the foam.  She was Aphrodite, meaning "foam born", goddess of 

lust and beauty.

	This poetic scene of gods creating the earth and the other immortals is 

more than just a basis for early greek religion.   Hesiod's work is most importantly 

a reflection of society and their early values and beliefs.  These first entities are 

unclear in definition.  They are the forces of the cosmos and nature suggesting 

insubstantial beings or ideas.  They are also personified with human qualities, 

traits, feelings, and possess gender.  This shows the male-female relations of 

that time.  While the men are dominant and all-powerful, females have control 

over life, specifically giving birth.  In this sense women hold a high station and are 

respected.  The female elements give birth to newer forces.  The primordial 

forces create their opposites.  From the nothingness of the Chasm springs the 

Earth.  The land (Earth) creates the Sky and the Ocean and is joined with it.  

Darkness creates Light.  The hatred of Kronos in the mutilation of his father 

creates the goddess of love.  This myth show the importance of the hierarchical 

view of power as well as family tensions.  Uranus fearing for his position as sky 

god, hides his most powerful children in Gaea's body.  But a younger child puts 

down his older superior and assumes control, as the new generation of Titans 

rise to power.  Then Kronos, fearing for his own position, swallows his children.  

Once again, his son Zeus, in turn dethrones him.  Zeus then establishes his own 

supremacy by fighting the Titans and other beasts who oppose him.  Whether 

this is representative of typical true-life Greek power struggles, is a question best 

left to historians.  What is important is these power struggles are not presented 

as pessimistic, for in each generation of deities there is an improvement over the 
previous generation.  Zeus, might and wisdom personified, is proven the ablest to 

survive and rule.

	The creation of mortal man is presented later in the Theogony.  

Prometheus and his brother were not imprisoned in Tartarus with the rest of their 

Titan-kin because they were neutral in the conflict between the Olympians and 

Titans.  One myth states that Prometheus created man from clay and the 

goddess Athena breathed the life into them.  Prometheus tried to trick Zeus by 

hiding oxen meat in the ugly hide of the beast, while hiding the bones in 

appetizing fat.  Prometheus, meaning "Fore-thought" planned for Zeus to choose 

the fat-covered bones thinking it meat, while mankind would get the real meat 

hidden in the hide.  (Theo. line 539)  This trick angered Zeus and punished 

mankind by taking fire away from them.  Prometheus loving his creations more 

than the Olympians, stole-back the fire from the heavens and gave it to man.  For 

this Prometheus was chained to a rock and tortured until eventually freed by 

Heracles.  This theft greatly angered Zeus, so in retaliation "he made an affliction 

for mankind to set against the fire."  (Theo. lines 571-572)  Ambidexter created a 

mortal of stunning beauty, but Hermes gave it a deceptive heart and a lying 

tongue.  Thus the first woman, Pandora, was created.  Up until this time mankind 

was free of the evils of the world, disease, distress, etc., but the woman Pandora 

released these all on the world when she opened the jar that contained them. 

Man's progressive degeneration began when Prometheus's provocation of Zeus 

involving the sacrifices.  That is why the Greeks burned only the bones of 

the animals in their sacrifices to the gods.  (Kirk 227)

	"He [Zeus] told renowned Hephaestus at once to mix earth with water, to 

add in a human voice and strength, and to model upon the immortal goddesses' 

aspect the fair lovely form of a maiden.  Athene he told to teacher her 

crafts...Aphrodite to shower charm about her head, and painful yearning and 

consuming obsession; to put in a bitch's mind and a knavish nature..." (W&D 

lines 60-67)

	Hesiod claims his gift of poetry and godly lore was imparted to him by the 

Muses, the goddesses of singing.  It seems more likely that he was a simple 

man, possessing no enlightenment, but rather a great rare talent for poetic flare.  

After all, when one writes to glorify his gods, and Hesiod praises Zeus most 

frequently, what harm is there in what Hesiod might call "artistic enhancement" 

to the mythos of old..?

	Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days present more than an early 

genealogy and hierarchical structure of the Greek deities.  More than a story of 

creation or an answer as to why their is evil in the world, Hesiod's works show 

the thinking of his time, and Greek culture in general.  Ancient Greeks held

great respect for the elements, thinking them the gods themselves.  In writings 

there is sometimes little distinction made between the god and his sphere of 

control.  For instance, it would be fair to say based on the Theogony creation 

myth, that Oceanus is the Sea as well as a separate entity.  Gods were important 

in every aspect of Greek society, as patron protectors of cities, bestowers of 

wealth, luck, and fertility.  And they were omnipotent entities, though not perfect, 

to be feared, and appeased with kinds words and sacrifices.  Political power must 

be held through both might and wisdom, as shown by Zeus's success.  Wisdom 

is praised throughout Greek Mythology,  and personified in hero and god alike.  

Metis was the first goddess of wisdom whom Zeus swallowed to produce Athene.  

Females were of paramount importance in the creation myths, as they gave 

birth to the myriad of deities, heroes, and creatures throughout history.  This 

reflects the opinions of ancient Greek society.  While women held no political 

power, save for obscure legends of remote matriarchal societies, they were respected for their life-birthing abilities and charming power over men.  Family 

was of great importance to early Greeks.  Loyalty to one's elders and kind 

treatment of children is a theme emphasized several times in the Theogony.  

Finally while Greek mythology makes woman out to be the bane of mankind, and 

are responsible for all of humanities evils, they are also given desirable qualities.  

Women are said to be a counterbalancing evil for single men, a marriage trap, 

and somebody to love and care for an old man.  Hesiod ends in saying that a 

man who has a good sensible wife gets a mixture of both good and evil.

(Kirk 229)  I suggest that Hesiod added this last semi-complementary comment 

to prevent his precious poetic-self from being helplessly throttled by hordes of 

angry women (grin) !!!  

--------------------------------------

             "I'd rather be an obscure thief than a famous fool..."
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rogue@ucrengr.ucr.edu		UC Riverside -- home of the Guildsman
-- 
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