Hesiod

Greek mythology is the primary figure of myths and wisdoms that belonged to ancient Greeks. Greek legends fall into the same primary category, legends being somewhat factual, while myths generally convey some sort of truth. These truths usually present themselves as some sort of revelation, where a dilemma is solved, resulting in some sort of moral gain. What chiefly separates both myth and legend from history is that both myth and legend define our knowledge of history. Our first recorded…

In American society a woman’s body is sexualized in the media. Beauty is an image that everyone strives for. There isn’t an exact definitions of beauty, it can be external and internal. What one sees as beauty another can view as ugly. Normally, women in ads/ TV are portrayed as sex symbols. There goals is to get as many buyers to indulge in a certain product and project an image that if you consume what I have you’ll look and feel beautiful. Over the course of class we have read many myths…

mankind. Like other origin myths, Hesiod’s Theogeny contains many layers of subtlety and nuance, which provide invaluable insight on where we come from as a culture and society. Although we have made great technological advances since the time of Hesiod, we remain fundamentally the…

multiple heads, with the tail of a serpent, a mane of snakes, and the claws of a lion. This dog was first mentioned in Homeric poems but was first referred to by name by Hesiod. The dog's duty was to guard the gates of Haides, which is the entrance to the underworld, to prevent ghosts of the dead from existing the underworld, which Hesiod describes clearly: “And before them a dreaded hound, on watch, who has no pity,…

used his unlimited power and used it to punish people and change history. He had flaws like everyone, but was admired for his peace. His temper sometimes got out of hand, but he would have a reason for being upset. According to “Work and Days” by Hesiod, “Zeus was a carefree god who was wise, fair, just, and merciful.” He was also very unpredictable, nobody knew what he was going to do next. This is why there’s so many opinions on him. In one story he could be all peaceful and kind, and in the…

The Archaic period was from 800 BCE - 490 BCE. This was the point at which the order of the Greek letters was definitely designed with vowels and constants. This is additionally when the Greek polis (a small city-state) was created. Individuals were defined by certain geographic regions and not simply by family ties. People created trade roots which in turn stimulated economic development. Trade relied upon the ocean due to the fact that it was one of the only available methods of transportation…

Emerging from the latter half of the 5th century BCE, travelling professional intellectuals called the sophists frequented Athens and the surrounding Greek city-states. These intellectuals would offer an education in “arête” (excellence) – to those who would be able to pay a small fee. Arête, during the second half of the fifth century BCE, was associated by Greek citizens with being successfully influential in the political sphere through persuasive speech whereas before then arête was…

The most common theme throughout myths are all the challenges that gods and goddesses faced. Throughout their lives gods and goddesses came across problems, which either help them become the god/goddess they were, or it allowed them to help others. The first clear example of this was Zeus. The whole problem started because Zeus wanted to overthrow his father and save his brother and sisters from the inside of his father Cronus, where they were capture. So both of them went to war against each…

sources claim Medusa’s parents are Phorcys and Ceto but author Hyginus makes her parents Gorgon and Ceto. She was raped by Poseidon and together they have two children Pegasus, the winged horse and Chrysaor, the hero of the golden sword. According to Hesiod and Aeschylus, she lived and died on an island named Sarpedon, somewhere near Cisthene. Even though Medusa is most known for her head of snakes, she also had the ability to turn people into stone if they looked her in the eye. Medusa was…

Myths are known as stories that have been passed down throughout time. Each culture likely has their own mythologies that is specific to their own geographical and cultural identities. The purpose of myths were to give the people meaning to the life they saw around them. They were created to answer philosophical questions that no one exactly had the answer to, such as “where did the world come from?”. They served many different purposes, but for the ancient Greeks, it was their religion. They…