Mythology of Ancient Greece

In their effort to understand their environment and the forces of nature, the Ancient Greeks invented stories to account for the things that went on in their lives. These tales, known as myths, were spread around by travelers. The ancient Greeks were the greatest myth-makers in Europe. Myths involved superhuman feats performed by superheroes.

The Greeks were also polytheistic in their religious beliefs. Polytheistic means they believed in and worshiped many different gods. In Greek mythology, the gods often represented different forms of nature. The myths told tales about powerful Olympian gods, sea gods, woodland gods, sky gods, underwater gods, half-gods, human heroes, courageous or romantic adventures, betrayals, battles, wanderings, and so on.

Their religion/mythology had no formal structure with the exception of various festivals held in honor of the gods. There was no sacred book or code of conduct to live by.

The most powerful Greek gods were known as the Olympians. The Greeks believed the Olympians lived on the highest mountain in Greece, Mount Olympus. The Olympian gods included: Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hades, Hermes, Hephaestus, Poseidon and Hestia (later she was replaced in some lists by Dionysus). The Greeks pictured them as a family, with loves, hates, rivalries and loyalties.

Father was Zeus, whose dominion was the sky. He governed the winds and clouds, rain, thunder and lightning. By striking his aegis he caused storms and tempests to rage, but equally, he could calm the elements and brighten the sky. As the father of the hours, he governed the changing seasons. Zeus bears his aegis, symbol of his sovereign power over all forces of nature and all other gods.

Mother was Hera, Zeus’s wife and sister, and goddess of women and marriage. Their brother Poseidon ruled the sea and another, Hades, was sovereign of the Underworld. The sister, Hestia, was goddess of hearth and home. Zeus and Hera’s children were:

· Ares - god of war;

· Hephaestus - god of fire and metalworking;

· Hebe - goddess of youth;

· Eileithyia - the goddess of childbirth.

Heracles was the greatest of all the Greek mythological heroes. His most famous exploits were the Twelve Labours, a punishment imposed by King Eurystheus for killing his family in a fit of madness brought on by goddess Hera. She was jealous of the affection between Zeus, Heracle’s father, and his mother Alkmene. Heracles accomplished the Twelve Labours - all extraordinary feats of stamina and strength - but was still afflicted with lust, drunkenness and gluttony.

These labours began with the killing of the Nemean lion, which could not be harmed by arrows. Heracles had to fight it with his hands and a wooden club. The last exploit of him was the most testing, for it meant a descent into the underworld, the realm of the dead. From there the hero managed, with some help from Persephone, queen of the underworld, to bring briefly back to Tiryns the three-headed hound Cerberus. As a result of his labour, hard-working Heracles attained immortality for himself.

Realizing that his death was near, Heracles consulted the Delphic Oracle, which told him to build a funeral pyre in Thessaly. When the dying hero climbed on to it, there was a great flash of lightning and Zeus took his son to join the immortals.

Another famous mythological figure was Theseus. He killed the Minotaur, a man – bull hybrid in labyrinth and terrorized Athenian youth.

King Minos trapped his stepson in the great Labyrinth kept the Minotaur feeding him 14 young men and women who were sent as tribute from the Athenians. According to one version of legend, this tribute was made every nine years. However, other versions suggest the tribute was annual. The Minotaur was probably about 30 when the Athenian hero Theseus came to Knossos, entered the maze-like Labyrinth where the Minotaur lived and killed it.