roman and ancient greek mythology

Greek myths are epic legends about overcoming difficult challenges and stories about gods and goddesses ruling the world. To others, they are legends of humans clashing with gods, with the winner or loser ending up bloodied, burned, or transformed into animals or plants. A causal interpretation of the tales would yield only a few outstanding stories of battles, conflicts, and romance told by old storytellers. A deeper perception, though, reveals more than the prevalent misconception. A closer examination of the legends exposes morals, philosophies, doctrine, and so on.
These tales were possibly written thousands of years earlier. Talking about myths providing vivid images and visions of epic battles, the quest of legends and gods in a time when monsters roamed the earth freely and terrorizing the humanity. Myths features in some disciplines such history, literature, philosophy, and religion.

Myths were developed by the narrators who were recognized as a poet. The narrators used to present a unique version of a story each time. At times, the stories were considered as unacceptable to the public and hence they were never repeated.

The works of historians, e.g., Herodotus, Hippocrates, were different than that of a poet. Historians presented the facts, incidents which had taken place.

The epic poem "Iliad" written by Homer was an oral tale long before it was penned, the version which is available to us. Historians agreed the poem was written in between 800 to 500 B.C. When any historical fact is presented the writer tries to focus on the fact. But like other poets, Homer continuously provided the audience with the improvised version of the oral tale. Some myths had also created some additional myths thus leading to a chain of legend

The historians, authors, share varied views, and researchers about the concept of myth, while some think that these are some fancy tales to entertain the audience, others attach a level of importance to it. Another school of thought is these allegorical poems have some deep inner meaning which has moral, social and cultural values. . The Roman Empire was one of the largest and influential civilizations in ancient time. In many societies, ancient religious notions have performed a major role in developing cultural and social values.

The Roman Empire was not an exception. The Roman myths are based on history and heroes of Rome and those who built it the empire. Romans had their pantheon of gods and goddess. These deities are mostly associated with Greek mythology. Romans added the Greek gods and other foreign cults to the deity collections as the Roman Empire expanded.

From the founding of the Roman empire to its fall in A.D. 476, Rome dominated Europe and much of North Africa, the Near East, and Asia Minor. Although this sprawling empire encompassed many cultures with their myths and legends, the mythology of the Romans themselves revolved around the founding, history, and heroes of the city of Rome. After the conquest Greece, however, their deities became increasingly associated with the figures of Greek mythology. Disconnecting the history of Rome from the myths is difficult. Until 510 B.C. Rome operated a monarchical system of government. Then Rome became a republic government administered by officers. The foundation of Rome is associated with the national epic of poet Virgil name 'Aeneid.' The mythologies were developed during the early stage of the empire (20 B.C. to A.D. 20). Virgil and Ovid, who wrote metamorphoses, drew myths linked with the city's founding deities and Greek legends. Ovid collected the near eastern and Greek myths and wrote in a unique way which portrayed the legends of founding city. In ancient times, the Roman religious view was polytheistic both in Roman and Greek civilization. Different from today's monotheistic view the god and goddesses hold different types of power for various aspects of life. The gods ruled over the region’s natural phenomenon and events, differing from today's Messiah, salvation, and faith-based religion. The role of Greek myths and religion has a pervasive influence on society and every aspect of life.

In the Lower Peninsula Romans adopted many Greek gods as their own as a result of colonial. The religious view was no different. The Greek and Roman Gods were more anthropomorphic with human feelings such as love, hate, anger, wrath, and jealousy, etc. Though adopting the Greek gods in religion the practice of rituals was different and had set rigid rules to avoid the hazardous religious zeal.

The fusion of Greek and Roman deities influenced the life of Rome in many ways. Although only entertainment was the main function of these stories, poets were inspired to develop more characters interlinked with the previous plot and characters.

In Greek society, these myths serve many functions. The characters and plot of the stories give a view of the history of that time. Though the characters are fictional, the allegorical description provides more meaning when compared to actual historical texts. To understand the influence of these mythical heroes, there is a need to can look at the names of the days and planets, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, etc.

The western culture and civilization have altered the religious views and science has also overruled the factual accuracy of these events. But mythology can be used to relate to the actions of past. Many historians have confirmed that some facts about Homer’s “Troy” were real. There may have been a war, and the war was fought for a runaway wife. These myths also serve an inspiration for further studies.

People had fancy on gods; they believed that deities could be called upon as occasions demand The need of these god’s help is the result of human sufferings and helplessness. In the events of the war, the Greeks call for the support of Ares, Romans ask support from the mars. In many stories, there are examples of response from the God. Therefore people were made to believe that power of prayers resides in humans. The willpower of human was symbolized by thunder, storm, and destruction, etc.

Myths have their explanation of the creation theory. It is fascinating to read the fancy stories of the clash between Supergiant and Gods. Prometheus the creator of mankind, Zeus the supreme power, every figure has some characteristics human mind for which always craved. Pandora’s Box is an excellent example of an allegorical story which explains how the sufferings have come to earth.

There are some similarities between the biblical theories and the Greek myths. In both texts, it is found that curiosity was the reason behind the human sufferings. In Bible, Eve was curious about the forbidden fruit, on the other hand, Pandora was curious about the wooden box which was also prohibited from opening.

People try to understand the world and phenomenon in their ways and most often their questions were answered through stories, myths, and fairy tales. By the flow of time, some of these stories become a proverb and set moral notions in cultural tradition. Change of season, day and night and other natural phenomenon were mysterious in ancient time due to lack of scientific research and explanation.

People created superpowers and asked them for help, however, in recent times, Polytheistic religions have become obsolete, while Monotheistic God based religion has gained popularity and acceptance among the people. But there are some basic similarities which will never be changed. The human quest for spirit and consciousness colors these stories in many ways. The creation myth was a complex process regardless of the long explanation. Erynome the goddess bore Titans, Uranus; the father had the power of government over the planets. Saturn was ruled by Rhea and Cronus, Cronus rebelled against his father Uranus and castrated. When the drops of his blood fell on earth, it brought life to earth.

This is an abridged version of the creation myth. Another puzzle in the minds of people includes answers to the question of “what will happen after death?” In Greek mythology, the deceased descend into the underworld. There is a river known as Styx Sharon has to be paid to cross the river. So after death, two gold coins were put on the closed eyes of deceased to pay Charon. The God of the underworld is Hades. The deceased souls can go into three places. Dreadful creatures protect the place from outside, so the living persons are unable to visit the place. The underworld was placed into a bottomless abyss.

Unlike the Greeks, the Romans were more imaginative when drawing the images of the God. The Roman traditions were based on ceremonies and the worship of God. The culture of Rome was not developed in one or a few days. Culture holds a nation’s art, literature, religion, etc. In ancient Romans, some gladiators fought in arenas for the entertainment of people. Romans haunt people and make them slaves.

This literature also influences the medieval centuries in many ways. Language is the medium for the flow of information from one age to another. Mythologies of every separate region hold a special place. These stories have been told for thousands of years and from one generation to another. Sometimes myths legitimize a claim to a land or a city which gives the right to rule the land or city. These types of myths are called founding myths.

It is still a mystery that how people get the idea of such as disciplined myth series which had begun even the basic understanding the human life. In ancient time people were busy in collecting food and hunting animals. They strive to secure their generations from any form of outside threat. People lived by tribes they fought for their land and their shelter. Ancient Greek and Romans also fought for their land. The uncertainty of living, the fear of unknown encouraged people to come up with such tales, offers answers give courage to youth to protect their families, encourage them to be a hero like Hercules.

When analyzing the myth comparing the daily life, mythic stories suggests thinking in between the “Fact” and “Myth” as a linear spectrum radically contrasted by the black and white. There are many “Gray areas” which are investigated in many pre-modern cultures have not been prioritized as scientific analysis. Metaphysical characteristics do not hold the ground of science rather these are interpreted as visions and symbolic expression.

Despite having the differences between fantasy and mythic stories and daily life, these have several standard features. It becomes very difficult to tell whether the story deals with more interesting than the typical everyday life when there are some real characteristics which can be found in reality. Most of the storytellers developed and narrated these stories in their families and communities. Human actions are encouraged through similar characters, situations, and events. Sometimes the characters are real but the place is imaginative, and sometimes the characters are fictional.

Outsiders do not understand the mythic stories and assume it as fictional and fairy tales required for psychological satisfaction. The critics from outsider consider these stories as unconnected from the real world and somewhat nonsense folk tales. The authors of mythology argued that the accuracy of the mythology had never mattered to the people the audience.

Many powerful symbols and messages conveyed through these stories were perceived by the keen listeners of that time. Most of the time the storytellers mixed their stories with other stories but the messages were the same, and enthusiastic people were quick to catch it. People may find some conflicts between the plots which give a different perspective somewhat a higher truth.

Time has changed we do not live in ancient times. So for the modern readers, it is difficult to contextualize the concepts of myths. Researchers have found much proof of mythical incidents although they are not like the fancy tales they have significant similarities and hints. For ordinary people, these stories are still an excellent source of entertainment. Books are yet being written, and movies are being made on these myths. Mythology still has the same appeal to people. Some people find moral messages; some find entertainment. We are still captivated by ancient stories irrespective of how old there they are.

Bibliography



Diaz, Marta Gomez, and Gregory Nagy. "Greek Mythology And Poetics". Language 68, no. 1 (1992): 237. Doi: 10.2307/416404.

Graves, Robert, Rick Riordan, and Ross MacDonald. The Greek Myths. New York: Penguin Books, 2012.

James, E. O. The Ancient Gods. Edison, NJ: Castle Books, 2004.

Laing, Jennifer. The Greek and Roman Gods. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1982.

Miller, Walter. "Roman History and Mythology. Henry A. Sanders". Classical Philology 7, no. 1 (1912): 97-100. Doi: 10.1086/359620.

Stark, Rebecca, Karen Birchak, and Nelsy Fontalvo. Mythology. Hawthorne, N.J.: Educational Impressions, 2001.















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