Differences Of Roman And Greek Heroes And Gods

Roman/Greek Heroes and Gods There are many, many different Greek and Roman heroes and Gods/Goddesses, but this is about three in particular: Phaethon, Arachne, and Echo. Phaethon is the son of the Titan of the sun named Helios who wanted to fly his father's chariot across the sky. Arachne is a weaver who got turned into a spider for challenging Athena to a weaving contest. Echo is a nymph cursed by Hera/Juno to only speak the last few words she hears. Phaethon is the son of Titan Helios and the Oceanid nymph Clymene, who had grown up being told by his mother that his father was Helios. He often boasted to his friends, but none of them believed him and therefore challenged him and teased him about it constantly. To prove …show more content…
Arachne was a young girl from Lydia who was a very skilled weaver. She often got carried away with boasting about her talent, even going as far as to say that she was better at weaving than Athena, the goddess of weaving herself. Eventually, she challenged Athena to a weaving contest, to which Athena agreed to. This is where the different versions start to vary: all of them depict Arachne weaving scenes that make fun of the gods and/or making fun of them, but they're all in different ways. For example, one says that Arachne weaves scenes telling of the gods getting drunk and making fools of themselves, and others showed the gods abusing mortals with their power. Athena is also shown weaving different scenes, two of which are the gods punishing mortals who are too proud and boastful and her and Poseidon competing for the city of Athens.Iin most adaptations of the story, Arachne is a better weaver than Athena and make more beautiful scenes than Athena. This is where it differs again: sometimes Athena turns Arachne into a spider out of pure rage, but other times Athena is told to have driven Arachne to hang herself. After Arachne dies, Athena pities her and turns her into a spider so she can weave forever. This goes to show that the gods, even Athena the most level-headed of them get exasperated quite easily when mortals act better than them or …show more content…
Even if they're not the easiest to understand at first, they're always there if you read into it enough. Phaethon teaches that you shouldn't go overboard trying to prove yourself, since it probably won't end well. Arachne shows that you shouldn't boast and try to seem better than people because, that too, will not end well. And finally, the myth of Echo and Narcissus teaches that you shouldn't always want to have the last word. Even if it seems worth it in the moment, it isn't in the long run. It also shows that you should care about more than yourself, and not be conceited because not many people want to interact with you if you're like that. In all, just try to be the best person you can be and learn from every opportunity you can, even if it isn't the most