Minoan Culture Analysis

Greek mythology depicts Minoan culture as placid and matriarchal, while Mycenaean culture appears as more aggressive and patriarchal. After the Mycenaeans conquered the Minoans, their beliefs of a woman’s authority and power decimated, along with their culture. In the anthology Mythology and You written by Donna Rosenberg and Sorelle Baker, the Greek myths portray women as inferior to men by emphasizing their vengeance and gullibility. As the myths progress, the variety of stories displays the moderate overthrow of Minoan culture. Although over time the degradation of women diminishes, many cultures around the world still encourage men’s superiority over women, because of the way women feel the need to meet a certain standard. Ancient Greek …show more content…
Uranus fears the giants and the Cyclopes possess the potential to eventually overthrow him. To prevent this from happening, Uranus imprisons his children in the underworld. Gaea becomes angered by this and wants to free her children, so with the help of Cronus, her powerful Titan son, she decimates Uranus. Gaea, the mother goddess, receives help from her son to sabotage his own father and her own husband. Ironically, she receives satisfaction from doing this to one of the most important people in her life, rather than supporting his dominance. Thus displaying that women become impulsive when they want revenge and do not thoroughly think about their actions before executing them. Similarly, in the myth “Arachne,” Arachne possesses excessive pride in her weaving skills, and because of it, she receives revenge from Athena. Arachne denies the fact that Athena possesses more …show more content…
In the myth “Metis and Athena,” Zeus, the king of the gods, tricks Metis, his wise wife, and displays an unexpected stupid side of her. Zeus’s son is destined to overpower him, leading Zeus to outsmart his wife, Metis, by sweet talking her. Metis falls for Zeus’s flirting and fulfills his request of turning herself into something small. Once her transformation completes, he swallows her, therefore interfering with and stopping the birth of the second child. Zeus takes advantage of Metis, the most intelligent women, thus validating his control over women. This demonstrates how sweet talking allows men to easily manipulate women, along with their outlook on a certain situation. Furthermore, women’s lack of observance exhibits their gullibility. In the myth “Nemesis,” Nemesis rejects Zeus’s advances, resulting in Zeus turning himself into a swan. Nemesis, intrigued by the swan, nestles it. Still embracing the swan, Zeus impregnates Nemesis in her sleep. Nemesis’s lack of observance allows Zeus to take advantage of her. Thus providing the evidence that men possess the ability to outsmart women easily. In addition, the myth “Demeter and Persephone” illustrates women as vengeful. Hades is shot by one of Eros’s arrows and immediately falls in love with Persephone. Unfortunately, Zeus thinks Demeter will not approve of the marriage if she hears about it, leading Hades to trick Persephone knowing that she