Homer began his song revealing to his audience that Hades had permission from Zeus to abduct Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter. One day, a glorious narcissus sent by Earth to lure Persephone to her abduction while she was playing and gathering flowers with the daughters of Oceanus. With cur...

In ancient Greece there was once a matriarchal society. We know this because it is evident in the literature that has passed into our hands and from the religions of these ancient peoples. While this evidence is before us the reason for the change to a patriarchal society is not so evident. Very li...

Golden Aphrodite "Muse, tell me the deeds of golden Aphrodite the Cyprian, who stirs up sweet passion in the gods and subdues the tribes of mortal men and birds that fly in air and all the many creatures that the dry land rears, and all that the sea: all these love the deeds of rich-crowned Cythere...

Aphrodite: Goddess of Love Aphrodite was loved and wanted by many. She was not only the Goddess of Love, but the Goddess of Laughter, as well. She was known for her beauty and fertility. Aphrodite could have anyone or anything she wanted. Aphrodite had unique powers, she could char...

There are two stories of the birth of Aphrodite. The first says that she was born from the foam surrounding Uranus's casturated genitals when they feel to the sea. The second story says that Aphrodite was the daughter of a minor goddess Dione. Aphrodite was known for her many different p...

DIONYSUS Dionysus, or to the Romans, Bacchus, was the son of Zeus and Semele, a mortal woman. He is the god of wine, cheer, wild behavior, dancing, fertility, resurrection, drama, song, vegetation, and all-around merrymaking. He was a very popular god because of his jolly dispositio...

In the begining, there was Chaos. From Chaos and Mother Earth came the first race of Greek deities, the Titans. These first gods were ruled by Saturn, who had received the prophesy that his son will over throw him. Well, he ate all his children save one, the one his wife, Mother Earth (Gaia) place...

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature,"...

When the ancient Greek craftsmen and builders toiled away in 550 BC, they knew that their labors would not be in vain; they knew that they would be blessed. To the early Greeks, the legends of the Greek gods were more than legends; they were beliefs that most Greeks shared. Greek mythology is a myst...

In Ancient Greece, boys go to school, while the girls stayed at home to help their moms cook and look after the household. In Athens, it was a man's world. In the family, the father was the head of the family. The wife stayed at home and ran the household. The husband could divorce, if the wife wa...

Women in Greek history have had many roles. In Ancient Greece the mythological stories tell of very powerful women. Some archeological finds hint at the same suggestion. Women also represent some of the most powerful of deities. In the Classical Age women were subservient and primarily homebound. W...

Women in Greek history had many roles. In Ancient Greece, mythological stories tell of very powerful women. Some archeological finds hint at the same suggestion. Women also represent some of the most powerful of deities. In the Classical Age, women were subservient and primarily homebound. Women did...

The goddess of war, handicrafts, wisdom and self-realization. The portrait of Athena found in poetry and art is exceptionally accurate for the Greek people as a whole, perhaps because Greek poets and artists tended, like Athena, to belong to society and civilization and not like Artemis, like the w...

Homeric Hymns to Hermes and Demeter The Homeric Hymns to Hermes and Demeter each tells the story of the conflicts Hermes and Demeter face upon birth. The ancient Greek Myths served to explain the unexplainable. Before modern advancement in technology and scientific research, natural phenomena ...

The Danger in Self-Sacrifice In his second novel, To a God Unknown, John Steinbeck explores his protagonist's relationship with and worship of the land. While the use of the land as a character in itself is nothing unusual in Steinbeck's work, this novel is somewhat different in that it explores...

"To some extent, mythology is only the most ancient history and biography. So far from being false or fabulous in the common sense, it contains only enduring and essential truth, the I and you, the here and there, the now and then, being omitted. Either time or rare wisdom writes it." - Henry Davi...

Religion over the ages has served the purpose of trying to explain creation and life to the people who follow it. Religion, particularly that of ancient peoples, has used Gods to explain life, creation, and morals among other things it followers. Religion also sought to explain the unexplainable. B...

Children as well as adults are always curious as to the origin of their existence. As little ones, we are often subjected to tales of long beaked birds traveling far distances to place us on the doorsteps of our parents or other inconceivable explanations as to how we came to be. Hesoid's creat...