Fries 1

Hailey Fries
Mr. Conrad
ERWC P.5

18 April, 2016

Greek Mythology

Greek mythology, as in other ancient cultures, was used to explain the environment in
which people lived, the natural phenomena they witnessed, and the passing of time through the
days, months, and seasons. Myths were also connected to religion in the Greek world and
explained the origin and lives of the gods, where humanity had come from, and where it was
going after death, and gave advice on the best way to lead a happy life. Myths were also used to
retell historical events so that people could keep in contact with their ancestors, the wars they
fought, and the places they explored. Greek Mythology is a patchwork of stories, some
conflicting with one another. Many have been passed down from ancient times in more than one
version.

Fries 1

Many generations and peoples after Homer have continued to look at these stories
because they address issues common to humanity. These tales were told to explain the
surrounding world, human behavior, and problems common to all societies. In addition to
explaining natural and religious origins, myths also provided humans with a history of their
people and their neighbors. The Greeks created myths to explain basically every element of the
human world. There are so many different myths for practically anything, you have myth that
explains creation, such as Chaos and Geia, then you also have Demeter and Persephone that
explain seasons, and the list goes on. Persephone was the beautiful daughter of Zeus and
Demeter. While gathering flowers in a field one day, she was abducted to the Underworld by
Hades. Demeter, goddess of the harvest, was heartbroken, and while she wandered in search of
her daughter, the crops withered and it became perpetual winter. There could have been different
reasons why the crops withered, like drought but the Greeks wanted to believe that the gods
caused these things to happen.

Fries 1

Greek mythology is often looked as something that is fake. It is seen as trivial information, but
what you dont know is that greek mythology is in our everyday life. Businesses named after the
gods and even English words made from them. They are everywhere even if you may not notice
it. The Greek gods may not have many direct impacts on our culture but they are there, hidden in
our society and only by knowing how to look for these small, subtle references and knowing
Greek Mythology can you recognize them. So many names come from the Greek gods; Such as
volcano which originates from the Roman god Vulcan who was god of the forge. Atlas the book
of maps comes from the greek Titan who carried the heavens on his shoulders. Cereal comes
from the goddess of agriculture, Ceres because cereal is made from wheat. Medicines come from
them too. Morpheus, the god of sleep, influences the name Morphine, a powerful drug used to
relieve pain. Many consumer products get their names from Greek mythology. Nike sneakers
are the namesake of the goddess of victory, for example, and the website Amazon.com is named
after the race of mythical female warriors. Many high school, college and professional sports
teams (Titans, Spartans and Trojans, for example) also get their names from mythological
sources. Ancient Greeks believed gods and goddesses controlled nature and guided their lives.
They built monuments, buildings, and statues to honor them. Stories of the gods and goddesses
and their adventures were told in myths. The Greeks did not believe that gods and goddesses

Fries 1

were all-powerful. They did have special powers, but they were just as flawed as humans. The
gods and goddesses married humans, had children, fought wars, and argued with each other. The
12 most important gods and goddesses lived on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in
Greece. Zeus was the king of all the gods. Each god and goddess ruled over some aspect of life
and was represented by certain objects or animals. To honor their gods and goddesses, ancient
Greeks practiced rituals to please them and to ensure their good fortune. They built altars,
prayed, presented gifts, and dedicated festivals to them. The Olympics was a festival created to
honor the god Zeus, held in the city of Olympia.

Fries 1

The Greeks worshipped in sanctuaries located, according to the nature of the particular
deity, either within the city or in the countryside. A sanctuary was a well-defined sacred space set
apart usually by an enclosure wall. This sacred precinct, also known as a temenos, contained the
temple with a monumental cult image of the deity, an outdoor altar, statues and votive offerings
to the gods, and often features of landscape such as sacred trees or springs. Many temples
benefited from their natural surroundings, which helped to express the character of the divinities.
For instance, the temple at Sounion dedicated to Poseidon, god of the sea, commands a
spectacular view of the water on three sides, and the Parthenon on the rocky Athenian Akropolis
celebrates the indomitable might of the goddess Athena. The ancient Greeks were a deeply
religious people. They worshipped many gods who they believed appeared in human form and

were gifted with superhuman strength and ageless beauty.

Greek mythology is both beneficial to us in our everyday lives, and influential in many
ways. Areas that Greek mythology and culture has influenced and changed over time are
psychology, medicine, and language, many words in the English language are derived from the
myths of the Greeks. In addition to these areas, Greek mythology has also influenced astronomy,
astrology, and weather, for example, many Greek heroes, gods, and mythological creatures have
given their names to constellations found in the night sky. All of these topics, including

Fries 1

psychology, language, medicine, astrology, astronomy, and weather, we can see that Greek
mythology and culture have greatly influenced, changed, and modified daily life today. All of
these areas have been slightly or majorly influenced by the Greeks and who knows where we
would be without the Greeks today.
So, in the end, why did the Greeks believe in mythology? What did they benefit from it?
It gave them something to believe in, which everyone should have. It gave them imagination and
led them to do great things. Without mythology, the world could have been very different today,
good or bad? Well never know. Also, you should learn to sign of your computer when you put it
away ;) #bae?fam?

Work Cited
Greek Mythology
Gale
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPag
e/ReferenceDetailsWindow?
failOverType=&query=&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&displa

Fries 1

yquery=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&u=eldora
do&currPage=&disableHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&so
urce=&search_within_results=&p=SUIC&action=e&catId=GALE
%7C00000000MOAA&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE
%7CEJ2134050185
History
www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/greekmythology
Getty
www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroomresources/curricula/mythology/background.html
Met Museum
www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grlg/hd-grld.htm
Odyssey Adventures
www.odysseyadventures.ca/articles/greektemple/gre
ek-temple.htm
Greek Mythology Today
greekmythologytoday.com

Fries 1