INTRODUCTION TO MYTHOLOGY

Created by: Taylor English, Micayla McGee, Lakshmi Prakash Jessica Garcia

Mythology• Myths are considered early science

• Result of men’s first trying to explain what they saw happening around them

• The same concepts are universal, even to this day.

Miracle of Greek Mythology

• “A humanized world freed from the paralyzing fear of an omnipotent Unknown”

• Free to live within “what's right” without having the constant fear of pleasing this Unknown being

Primitive Mythology• Use animal heads as gods• Follows rules like that of cave men and

ancient Indians• Believe in peoples of pre-historic time• Believe that God will heal

Classical Mythology

• Portrayed as more humanized• Followed by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans• Much more complex• Believes that gods, animals and plants can all

be “god-like” or possesed

Dark Spots• Were the gods that acted terribly

and were cruel• At one time there were beast

gods that were half man half animal• Ex. Goat men or centaurs • Human sacrifice was also a dark

spot

Question: How are the Greek Gods different from Egyptian or

Mesopotamian Gods?• The Greeks based their Gods on their own

personal image

• These have not entered the minds of man yet.

• Until the Greeks came along, the people had no resemblance of realityExamples-The oceans, the underworld & mother nature

Egyptian outlook on Gods…• The Egyptian people worshiped the bodies of beautiful

women & the heads of animals.

• They would have the heads of sphinx or the body of a cat.

• They had huge temples of human representation, but purposely made inhumanly to show a higher power.

• Different animal heads & bodies represented different strengths & powers. They were meant to scare the living day lights out of all worshipers.

Greek Mythology

• There were 12 main gods that lived on Mt. Olympus.• There were other supporting gods and mythical

creatures such as Cyclopes and centaurs.• Greeks believed that the gods had enormous powers and

could control nature. Strangely enough the Greeks gave the gods these powers but they still feared the gods.

• Each god had a temple on Earth where the Greeks went to worship the specific god. There was usually a priestess that would communicate with the god for the Greek person.

Greek gods

• Greek gods looked like beautiful humans and they were immortal.

• These gods weren’t as intimidating as Egyptian gods in the way that they were more relatable to the people. For instance, a Greek could laugh when a Greek god did something foolish but that would be unheard of for an Egyptian god.

• Greek gods also come down to Earth as humans and interfered with everyday life.

Mythology writers

• Ovid: Wrote metaphorses, a book of 250 myths. He inspired Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare and others with his story of their progression

• Homer: Wrote the Illiad and the Odyssey. Works show gods influence on human destiny

• Hesiod: One of the earliest surviving poets wrote Theogony and Works and Days

• Pindar: Wrote Odes out of myths and legends.• Virgil: A roman who wrote Aeneid, tells a giant

story leading up to Rome.• Aeschylus Sophocles and euripides: All

incorporated dramatic action due to the change from 6th century b.c. to 5th century b.c.

• Plato: Mythteller and myth maker to convey his philosophy

• Aristophanes: Athenian contemporary writer, and was popular then.

Guide

• According to Edith Hamilton, The best guide to Greek mythology is by studying the people who wrote it.