Greek Myths
2 When it comes to the tales of the Greeks, it is easy to forget that these stories were the foundation of the religion at the time. 2We have become so familiar with the characters and scenarios that this fact is often overlooked. 3So although these stories and archetypes are being included in this section, they represent a strong spiritual tradition in a way the other myths may not. 4A little more concerning the actual faith of the ancient Greeks is discussed in the alternative religions section.
5it s impossible to put a time frame on these stories as they were originally not written down, but were passed down through oral tradition during the time of ancient Greece, which dates as far back as 800 BeE. 6it was much later on that many stories were recorded permanently so their origins are still vague.
7Some myths are fragmentary and are stories that perhaps only contain a few sentences of text, describing a single moment or scene. 8Others are epic-length and contain dozens of separate tales within them. gin any case, there are several dominant themes that stand out in all the Greek myths.
Punishment for Crossing the Gods
10This is the major theme, these stories being used to reinforce the supremacy of the deities and to remind people that they will suffer if they do not worship or respect the Gods.
11Whilst angering the Gods often coincides with bad behaviour on the part of the character, this isn t always the case. 12Many myths do reinforce positive morals but sometimes the story does nothing more than tell people not to anger the Gods.
Story of Arachne
13Arachne was a wonderful weaver who created beautiful decorative clothes with images in the weaving. 14She grew prideful of her skill and claimed that she was a better weaver than the Goddess Athena. 1SThe Goddess heard the boasting and challenged Arachne to a weaving contest. 16They both created elaborate tapestries to see who wove better.
17Not only did Arachne do a better job, she brazenly created a scene that showed the Gods in many embarrassing situations. 18Athena flew into a rage, destroyed the weaving and the loom and then turned Arachne into a spider.
19This myth shows the punishment for pride against the Gods as well as for general disrespect. 20Perhaps if Arachne had been more modest, Athena wouldn t have reacted quite so harshly. 21Actually, it probably wouldn t have mattered. 22The Gods never liked it when humans declared themselves better than deities or triumphed over them in any way. 23This sort of pride seemed to be the one the ancient Greeks most feared.
King Tantalus
24There are actually several different stories involving King Tantalus and they all have him doing something foolish to make the Gods angry. 25The most notable (and odd) was that he cooked up his own son to serve to the Gods when he was invited to their banquet table on Mount Olympus. 26He was punished by having to endure torment in the underworld, where he was always just out of reach of fruit and water. 27We don t really know why Tantalus did such a thing but the moral is quite obvious: when the Gods are showing you favour, you must always be thankful to them.
Explaining the Natural World
28The ancient Greeks were an amazing people but they still had a long way to go when it came to scientific understanding. 29Whether they took these tales literally or not, many myths contain stories that explain the origins of natural events that were otherwise a mystery. 30These themes are not seen as often in more modern myths because they were not necessary once science had shed some light on the world around us.
31Natural phenomena would be tied to the individual deities rather than to a mythical story. 32For example, lightning came from an angry Zeus who threw bolts down from Mount Olympus, and Poseidon caused earthquakes from deep under the sea. 33The story mentioned earlier about Arachne is a good example of this as well, to explain the remarkable weaving skill of the spider. 34Here are two myths with a notable scientific theme.
Demeter and Persephone
35This story was very important among the many Greek myths, because it explained the changing of the seasons and control of the crops and harvest. 36The secret ceremonies of the Elysian Mysteries grew from this story so it is much more than your typical mythic tale.
37Demeter was the Goddess of the harvest and Persephone was her beautiful daughter. 38Hades, the god of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone and kidnapped her to be his wife. 39She wasn t happy with the arrangement, and refused to marry Hades. 40She also refused to eat because once you ate any of the food in the underworld, you would never be able to leave.
41Without her daughter, Demeter was sad and the crops of the Earth all died. 42This could not be allowed to continue for long, so Zeus demanded that something be done. 43Hades reluctantly admitted that the girl had to be released, but it turned out she had grown hungry during her stay after all. 44She had eaten six pomegranate seeds, which meant she was trapped. 45Demeter refused to accept this and they had to make a deal. 46Persephone would stay with Hades for six months of the year (one for each seed eaten), and she would be free to live with Demeter on the Earth for the other six months. 47As Demeter s mood shifts from one period to the next, we get the change in seasons because her sadness brings winter and the death of the crops when Persephone leaves.
Echo the Nymph
48Another natural phenomenon that the Greeks tried to explain through myth was the echo. 49There was once a beautiful and talkative nymph named Echo, who did a favour for Zeus by distracting his wife with conversation while he was having an affair. 50When Hera found out, she punished poor Echo by taking away her voice. 51She was only able to repeat the words she had just heard spoken by others.
52This is about how sound echoes but it is also another good example of how the Gods will punish those who cross them.
Heroic Epics
53The Greeks loved a tale that told of great courage and heroism, so there were many long epics among the myths that were filled with such adventure. 54They typically involved a great hero who was on a quest for some object or purpose, and who had a great number of other adventures along the way. 55This classic story line is seen in the Arthurian myth of the Holy Grail, among other literary works.
56Here are a few of the main epic tales:
i. Jason and the Golden Fleece – our hero seeks the Golden Fleece and has to battle the Harpies, sail through the Clashing Rocks, plough a field with fire-breathing bulls and conquer an army of soldiers who grew from planted dragon teeth.
ii . Perseus and Medusa – Perseus has to find and kill the snake-haired Medusa, trick three witches to find out how to do it, rescue Andromeda from a sea creature and then fight to win Andromeda s hand in marriage. This particular epic is known today through the Clash of the Titans movies.
iii. Labours of Hercules – Hercules has to complete 12 tasks, including the slaying of the hydra, the capture of three-headed Cerberus, defeating the Cretan Bull and retrieving a belt from Hippolyta of the Amazons.
57The ultimate in epics were the Iliad and the Odyssey, written by Homer around 850 BCE. 58The Iliad tells a number of tales surrounding the Trojan War, and the Odyssey has the character of Odysseus suffering through 10 years of adventures after the war is over. 59The stories are filled with supernatural creatures and seemingly endless interference from the Gods. 60Some are based on earlier myth, but the story as a whole is a creation of Homer.
61Today, the stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey are often lumped together with the other Greek myths even though they are not the same type of tales. 62In other words, most of these works would have been new stories for the Greeks of the time rather than the true age-old myths we ve mentioned here so far.
63Because each of these epics is filled with many separate tales, it's hard to generalise about the morals and themes that are common. 64The most obvious is the importance of strength, courage and bravery to the ancient Greeks. 65But brute strength was seldom enough: wits and cleverness were just as vital to solve many of the tasks that these heroes were up against. 66As with the European fairy tales (Chapter 7 below), you will see many instances where trickery is used as a method for winning a challenge or escaping a trap.
67Virtuous traits like these are emphasised and the stories show that reward comes to those who possess them, whereas more ambiguous moral lessons are not presented at all. 68Perhaps the Greeks didn t put as much value on right versus wrong, or simply didn t look to their myths to guide them in this respect.
Accessibility of the Gods
69Another common theme seen in so many myths is that the Gods and Goddesses interacted with Earthly beings on a regular basis. 70Stories are not just about deities and how they relate to each other. 71There are many that involve humans, and not always with us being punished. 72Various deities came and walked among the common people , enjoyed having affairs and fathered children with humans.
73Unlike most modern religions that set God at a distance from us, the Greeks really wanted to emphasise that their whole pantheon of Gods and Goddesses were just around the corner at all times. 74Not only did they take part in many people s lives, the Gods themselves also had all the shortcomings of a human as well. 750verall, there was a strong connection to the deities as being people in many ways.
761n addition, they stand out as one of the few cultures that didn t create a home for their deities in a distant astral realm. 77The gods of Greece resided on the top of Mount 0lympus, which was a physical and relatively near location. 781t s just another way in which the Greeks kept their gods close to their hearts.
Love of All Things Beautiful
79This may seem like an odd theme to find in myth, but it was a very important one to the Greeks. 80Many stories have an element of beauty to them, often with beautiful women capturing the hearts of men and Gods. 81There was constant commentary about how attractive the Gods and Goddesses were, as well as beautiful objects or fine music. 821t may have been a literal appreciation for beauty, though it could also have been a more metaphorical way of illustrating an ideal.
Conquering and Control
83As mentioned above, there are many myths that sought to explain the workings of the natural world. 84And though we see a similar trend in African or Native American myth (below), there is a distinct difference in attitude in the Greek world. 85The Greeks clearly saw themselves in a position of power or control over much of the natural world, as opposed to other cultures that were in harmony with their surroundings.
86Many stories concerned characters and heroes who did battle with monsters and beasts, symbolising man s conquering of the natural world. 87Just take a quick look at the examples listed in the various epic quests above and you can see this to be true.
Advanced Civilisations
88This is a separate topic, but deserves mentioning. 890f the mythical eras included in this book, the realm of ancient Greece is one that would be considered part of an advanced civilisation. 900ther civilisations such as the Egyptians and even the Norse show very similar themes in their myths because they all fit into the same place of development. 91To keep from repeating too many thematic points, the myths from these cultures haven t been included since the same ideas are already presented above.
92You can see how the attitudes of people change in a more advanced culture when compared to older eras. 93For spiritual growth, seeing how these beliefs evolve can help you to find a true path of your own.