Theogony

Prometheus tried to outwit Zeus in Hesiod’s Theogony, but like me, Zeus saw through his cunning attempt. Achilles uses his cunningness to fool me into being left without a prize of my own. I will not let myself be tricked by he who is lesser than I. If the Achaeans are unable to find me such a prize, I shall take Briseis, who I offered to Achilles as his prize, as my own.…

To start off, I personally like Greek and Roman mythology. I find the fact that so many gods were made for so many reasons fascinating. The main reason for the Greek and Roman gods being explain things that the Greeks and Romans didn’t know or for things they felt needed something to represent. Zeus was for lightning and thunder, Nike for sport. Those are just two of so many more. We can thank Ovid for preserving many of the mythological stories we have today, but he appeared later in time,…

"For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (1 Timothy 2:13-14). In Classical Myth, Barry B. Powell notes that both the Holy Bible and Ancient Greek mythology were "composed by males for males in an environment utterly ruled by males" (119). As only males in Ancient Greece received an education and the ability to read and write, we can collect male values through the narratives. After all, the function of myth is to…

nature of the universe, the world, and humanity. Although there is some dissention among critics about specifics, it is generally agreed that this search began in the ancient Greek world during the sixth century B.C. Even before this, however, in the Theogony (725 B.C.), in which the poet Hesiod retells the myths of the gods, the origins and order of the universe were subjects of speculation. One characteristic of early Greek philosophy is that it began to focus decreasingly on mythological…

According to Walter Burkert, historian of Greek Religion, “myth is a traditional tale with secondary, partial reference to something of collective importance”, meaning that, myths were told and used for the specific purpose of informing the cumulative population of certain events, ideas, and or lessons. Myths were pre-scientific ways the Greeks used to explain natural phenomenon and were often tales of morality; acting as the guide of how people should behave and conduct themselves within social…

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…

The underworld is one of the most interesting and mystifying ideas of Greek literature. There are various myths of the location to this world, what souls experience there, and how to access it. Multiple authors and bards contributed to the creation of the underworld, each adding or tweaking previous portrayals. In particular, Homer and Hesiod spoke of the underworld in many of their works. Hesiod focuses more on describing the creation of the underworld, its roots, and primary rulers. Homer’s…

relationship holds true for the cosmos in Greek mythology. Recognizing the need to combine his strength with wisdom, Zeus took as his first wife Metis, “wisest of all, of gods and men”(Theogony 888). And, when Metis was about to give birth, Zeus “deceived her mind / ...and thrust her down / into his belly” (Theogony 890-92). When he consumes Metis, Zeus embodies wisdom in unity with his strength, giving birth to order in the cosmos. In the Odyssey, Odysseus possesses duplicity and strength, but…

rather romantic, mystical way” (Dowden, 1992, p. 22). Certain opposing views of Ken Dowden on the Freudian school of interpretation can be refuted efficiently when this psychoanalytical approach is applied to Greek mythology, specifically Hesiod’s Theogony and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Considering, even Dowden recognizes the influence of Freud’s concept of “ethnic imagination” as he claims, “Psychoanalytic…

for a much easier time when creating something as important as our world. The Greek creation story on the other hand is much different from the Hebrews peaceful creation. From Theogony the Greek world starts out as emptiness and chaos. The personified Gods are constantly fighting with one another to gain control (Theogony, 12-13). The Gods backstad and fight each other for their own personal gains. The Gods constantly make rash decisions that they do not fully think through causing a lot of…