Greek Mythology: A Guide to Greek History, Gods, and Mythology

By Peter Collins

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

Greek myths, stories, and legends were created to teach lessons and impart meaningful insight into the culture. They weave intricate tales about the gods, goddesses, and heroes that filled the days of Ancient Greece.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ingram Publishing
• Release date: Jul 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781761037153

Peter Collins

Peter Collins is a writer, photographer and joint founder of Auto Italia magazine. This is his eighth book; he also writes widely and contributes material to other international magazines and websites in the UK and abroad. He has an intimate knowledge of the Italian automotive scene and its history and an in-depth knowledge of the history and cars of world motorsport.

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Introduction

Greek myths, stories, and legends were created to teach lessons and impart meaningful insight into a culture. They weave intricate tales about the gods, goddesses, and heroes that filled the days of Ancient Greece.

Myths are often used to explain a naturally occurring event or how a society describes aspects of their culture. No matter their origin, myths are meant to comfort, explain, and entertain. Legends are similar to myths; their difference being that legends are based on events that really happened.

Ancient Greeks believed wholeheartedly that their gods and goddesses had complete control over every aspect of life. They believed that if not prayed to, their gods would become unhappy with them, punish them, and withdraw their protection. It was because of this that great temples were erected to worship the gods and goddesses. Citizens often had special places within their homes solely to pray to their gods.

Temples like the Parthenon in Athens were dedicated to the goddess Athena. The Temple of Poseidon, located on Cape Sounion near Athens, was named for Poseidon. Throughout Greece, there were many places where the Greeks traveled to worship their gods.

Throughout any given year, the Greeks held festivals to pay homage in order to guarantee the aid of the gods.

The Olympic games we enjoy today were originally a competition dedicated to Zeus, the king of the gods.

The Greeks had many gods, and almost every aspect of their lives had a deity connected to it. Their gods and goddesses were set apart, living on the top of a special place called Mount Olympus.

Even though on some levels they seemed to fear their gods’ disapproval, the Greeks still managed to attach more human aspects to them: for example, falling in love, arguing among themselves, making mistakes, and experiencing jealousy.

We look back on these Ancient Myths and think that these are just stories. However, if you were an Ancient Greek, this would actually have been your religion because religion and mythology at this time were closely intertwined. Ponder for a moment when several thousand years have passed how the future will view our current beliefs. Will they also consider them just stories?

Ancient Greek religion was considered polytheistic, meaning that they believed in multiple gods. Even though there were many gods that may have been recognized only regionally, there were Olympian gods that were in charge of everyone and everything. Those gods include Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, Hestia, and Dionysius. We will discover more about them in the next chapter.

As with any myth, the stories may experience changes depending upon the writer. There may be variations of the same tale with different gods, or the same gods performing different things. These differences are largely due to the fact that these myths were primarily passed on orally and were not recorded in writing for a long time.

Roman vs. Greek

Roman and Greek mythology are the most well-known of the various ancient cultures. While it seems that if there is a Greek god, there must surely be a Roman counterpart, there are some notable differences between the two cultures.

First of all, Greek mythology predates Roman mythology by more than a thousand years. The Iliad, written by Homer, was produced seven hundred years before the formation of Roman civilization.

A major difference between the Greek and Roman gods is their physical appearance. The Greek gods' appearance would be woven into the myth itself, describing their physical appearance, strong characteristics, beauty, or ugliness. The Romans put less importance on the characteristics of their gods, and physical appearances often had no depiction.

The way the cultures named their gods was also different. The Romans tended to name their gods after objects, while Greek gods were named based on human characteristics and/or traits.

The Greeks held their deities up to very high standards and believed that mortals would never be able to attain deity-like importance, and of course, the Romans believed that they should aspire to be like the gods they worshipped.

Chapter 1: Greek Gods and Goddesses

Greek mythology has remained unbeatable as far as the backstories, ideas, imagination, and inspiration that it has given to the world. But when did it start? No one is exactly sure when Greek mythology got its humble beginning, but like the Celts, Greek myths evolved from centuries of oral records. There is no single text which Greek mythology originated from,