From an early age, we have been taught that honesty is one of the most important things in our lives. "Tell the truth" is one of the phases we hear over and over again when we are little. But, is truth really so important? Is knowing the truth or telling the truth really one of the most important th...

The heroic journey abroad of Telemachos is the exact opposite of the journey back home of his father Odysseus. Telemachos starts as a very timid, undeveloped and resourceless young man and returns as an older, wiser, and stronger man, it's his journey into adulthood. Where as Odysseus one of the gre...

To the Greeks, as with my ancient cultures, religion was an important part of everyday life. Consisting of a multitude of gods and goddesses they were used to tell stories, impart knowledge and bring about cautionary tales of how life and love played out. They did this with the use of an immortal st...

Achilles is the main character in Homer's epic work The Iliad. The Iliad can be seen as the story of Achilles' character development, as he first allows himself to become consumed by his own flaws, and then becomes aware of his own flaws and is able to overcome them. This will now be looked at fur...

While Homer's The Odyssey, Virgil's The Aeneid, and Dante's "The Divine Comedy" share the characteristic of being epic poems, they each offer different accounts and opinions of what lies in Hell. While Homer's account of Hell is largely filled with encounters of different personalities, the ...

According to our understanding of Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman created by the gods and given to the humans. According to various versions of the myth she was a true gift to them, or a trap, or even a punishment for accepting forbidden fire. One way or another, she was gift...

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...

Comparison of Creation Myths It is in the nature of humans to wonder about the unknown and search for answers. At the foundation of nearly every culture is a creation myth that explains how the wonders of the earth came to be. These myths have an immense influence on people's frame of reference. Th...

The Greek and Roman spirit influenced the book Aeneid in many ways. Virgil made Aeneas' behavior such that he was fully qualified to be called a Roman hero. Aeneas reflected very few Greek traits. He was very much the "Roman hero."Greek heroes were very different from Roman heroes. Will Durant, auth...

Greek Afterlife " Who knows if to live is to be dead, and to be dead is to live? And we really, it may be, are dead; In fact I once heard Sages say that we are now dead and our body is our tomb..." (Socrates, Plato, Gorgias 492e) Everyone agrees that one day all man will die, however...

Zeus Zeus was the god of the sky and his weapon was the thunderbolt. His sisters where Hera, Demeter, and Hestia his brothers where Hades, and Poseidon. His symbols are the eagle and the oak tree. He married Hera but had many affairs. Hera Hera was goddess of gods. She rebelled against Zeu...

The Minoan city of Knossos on the island of Crete is one of mythological and legendary stature. Up until the early 1900s, the Minoan civilization only existed in Greek myths and legends. Sir Arthur Evans, along with an excavation crew, discovered the ruins of the city, and a large structure, which...

Heroes If a hero is properly defined as somebody who does something dangerous to help somebody else, then the heroes of Greek mythology do not qualify. They were a pretty selfish and arrogant bunch, --in other words, not exactly role models for the younger generation of today. The funny thing a...

After Eurystheus received the cattle of Geryon he imposed to Hercules the 11th labor, which is more grave than those which we told before. For he [Eurystheus] ordered him to bring back the apples from the garden of Hesperides. Hesperides however, were the most beautiful nymphs, who lived in a remote...

A hero to most would be someone who has courage and has risked or sacrificed his life for others. To others a person that has discovered or achieved something outstanding was considered a hero as well. In ancient Greece a hero was considered a man, often of divine ancestry, who is exceptionally clev...

The Analyses of The Odyssey Most of the poetry that we read today have only one theme in them. But as in the case of the Odyssey, we can see that it has more then one theme. Although The Odyssey has many themes, loyalty has to be the best theme that is shown in the poem. In the second stanza of...

In Homer's "The Odyssey", Odysseus is portrayed as an epic hero like Everett McGill in the movie O Brother Where Art Thou; however, Odysseus' role as a hero is a more aggressive and authentic one, whereas Everett McGill's role is more of a common character who is portrayed a...

The Modern Prometheus Throughout Frankenstein, the author, Mary Shelley uses common mythological and biblical reference to deftly connect the reader to her continuing theme in the novel. Mary Shelley refers to these well-known figures so that the reader may better understand and interpret the tru...

Of all the roles assigned to the women of Greek theatre, the most prevalent and seemingly most accepted is that of the sacrificial heroine. Religion was a cornerstone of Greek mythology, and sacrifice was presumably the only way for a female to gain praise that was typically accorded to men. Eurip...

The Trojan War was over, and Odysseus tricked the enemy into bringing the huge wooden horse inside the city walls of Troy. The Trojans had no idea that the Greeks were hiding inside. That night, while their enemies slept Odysseus and his men snuck out of the horses' belly, they let in their fellow ...

Oedipus the King is an example of Sophocles' belief that fate controls a mans life despite his capability of free will. Tragedy can be described in many different ways. "A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin of suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a...

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...

Zeus is known as the supreme ruler of both gods and men, as we can see is depicted in both the Iliad and Prometheus Bond. Each story shows a different perspective as to how the immortals view Zeus, and how Zeus views both the immortals and men. For instance, the daughters of Oceanus feared th...

Of Woods and Fields The great Arcadian god Pan is probably one of the most well known gods in Greek history. Everyone has heard of Pan, and would more than likely recognize him if they saw him today. His unmistakable physique distinguished him from all other gods: "He had the feet of a goat...

The Iliad is the quintessential epic. It is full with gods, goddesses, heroes, war, honor, and glory. However, for just a short while near the very conclusion, Homer avoids all of those epic qualities. The banquet scene in Book XXIV is the most touching, the most "human" scene in the entire poem...