Norse mythology

The divine presence and intervention of the gods from the Odyssey and Genesis not only serves as narrative techniques to produce a riveting story but also as an alternative lens when analyzing human nature. The relationship between the gods and humans can be summarized as a relationship between a parent and a child. Within these stories, the gods serve to deliver guidance and attempt to reinforce their teachings and beliefs through physical intervention just as a parent attempts to teach a child…

Ares making love and the following events prove that the weak can outsmart the strong, a woman’s beauty can control a man, and jealousy is a strong force. Hephaestus is the god of blacksmiths and the son of Hera. Per Ron Leadbetter, a mythology…

1. The title of this sculpture is The Goddess Coatlicue. She stands at eight feet, six inches, and is located in the Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Mexico City. An Aztec sculptor created her out of an igneous rock called basalt. This black or gray colored rock is fine-grained and forms from lava as small amounts shoot out of volanoes and cool quickly. This statue was originally discovered in 1790, but was immediately reburied due to its terrifying nature.…

The Rage of Two Homer begins one of his most notable epics, The Illiad, with the word “rage” a word that properly describes one of history’s most memorable heroes: Achilles. Another character whose rage is notable is the King Agamemnon, an enemy of Achilles although they fight on the same side of the war. The first interaction between Achilles and Agamemnon at the beginning of the epic truly sets up the rest of the tale, giving the reader a glimpse of the infamous rage that is to come. As a…

In the story of Oedipus, there are several examples that show man’s relationship with the truth. The oracle predicts the truth about the future of Laius, Jocasta, and Oedipus. Killing his father and marrying his mother are both examples of what the oracle predicted about them. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles shows that, in the case of finding truth, if a man starts in search for the truth, he must find the whole truth, but if a man never starts in search for the truth, he can stay ignorant of the…

“A Hero and a Coward” The period in which the events in The Iliad took place were different than the times of today. Back then, the Greeks and Romans most important characteristic of life was to be a remembered hero. In the present day, this concept would be thought of as irrational or egotistical. Pride created the downfall of all characters in Homer 's epic poem, The Iliad. In the epic, two generals face off in the Trojan War. Leading the Greeks, Agamemnon proves to be incapable and inept at…

Yet, Pious Aeneas does not question Apollo’s oracle and is able to avoid utter calamity by the hands of these menaces, in which he differs from another hero in Greek mythology. Indeed, Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey also is warned about similar risks, and yet, Odysseus fails to save himself and his crew from mishaps and death. In regards to Scylla and Charybdis, Odysseus foolishly decides to engage in battle with them, although…

The definition of the word religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. The Greeks and Romans, during the Trojan War, prayed, and made sacrifices to their gods, to better their chances of winning the war, or simply beating their opponent; in literature, the relationship between gods and devotees are portrayed much differently. Even though the stories contain different religions, Euripides’s the Bacchae, Homer’s the Odyssey, and…

The calling for gold is actually the hidden calling for Milkman’s hero’s journey “Road of Trial” (Campbell). Milkman’s hero journey started out as a quest looking for gold, but instead he encounters trials that ultimately brought him to a higher stage of mind. On his trip to the Deep South, Milkman encounters “a series of tests, tasks, or ordeal that the person [hero] must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests” (Campbell). Furthermore, the…

than the author intended. This seems like a bad idea, however in some cases, these types of readings can be extremely useful. In particular, archetypal / mythological readings are a type of literary criticism that is shaped by cultural mythology, usually Greek mythology, considering the origins of the word archetype are Greek. With the root words being archein and typos, archein meaning ‘original or old ' and typos meaning ‘pattern, model or type ' - hence giving archetype. A perfect example of…