FREE ESSAY ON INFLUENCE OF MYTHOLOGY ON LITERATURE AND SOCIETY

INFLUENCE OF MYTHOLOGY ON LITERATURE AND SOCIETY

Anthony Roldan P3
3-282 1/4/01 
The Influence of Mythology on Literature and Society 
Part One: 
Edith Hamilton is the author of the book Mythology. This book is about the Mythology of
the Romans and Greeks through her eyes and the way she interprets it. In the beginning of
the book Hamilton writes an introduction to Classical Mythology and how, and why it came
about. She starts off by writing that Greek and Roman Mythology is meant to show us how
people felt about the human race and about where they came from many years ago. She
points out that Mythology describes the Earth when it was young and people cared for the
Earth more than today. This is true, because in today's world not many people are caring
about the Earth and its going by us fast. 
She also points out that these stories in Mythology and the characters are describe in
such great detail that even through you cannot see them, that maybe just maybe they are
real and believable. Mythology is the way the Greeks and Roman saw and understood the
world around them and it is written in which a way that we may never truly understand it.
Hamilton now describes the Mythology of the Greeks as a totally different picture than
the one described in Classical Mythology. She describes it as being vile, and savage, but
the reason for this is because the Greeks wrote about themselves when they had a brutal
and poverty filled life. They wrote like this to show you how they came to power and what
they went through to get there. Not only was Greece coming to power, but also they
changed the world as it was back then and forever. The reason for this was, because when
Greece came to power so did mankind, and because they finally saw how powerful they could
be, mankind was born. 
Greek originally obtained their gods from the Egyptians when they traveled into Egypt and
saw the statues of their gods. The Greeks then took the same idea and changed its meaning
around. An example would be how the Egyptian god's have different body parts with other
bodies and the Greek gods are humans. Hamilton states that the Egyptians made gods they
thought up and made them in a way that no one has seen before. The Greeks therefore made
their gods in there own image. That made it easier for them to understand them and know
how they act. The major point Hamilton is showing in this introduction is that Mythology
is a new to look at life and to understand it under a different light. Another point she
states is that Greek Mythology it's self, is so unique that it showed extreme beauty yet
fear at that same time. The gods were not to be completely feared, but respected to the
point where you didn't anger them. Greek Mythology is also unique, because it doesn't
have many of the things that are in most religion or folklore. Hamilton states that Greek
Mythology didn't contain Magic or Witches, and in reality didn't fear the dead, they
actually pitied the dead. Hamilton's main point in this whole introduction is that
Mythology itself is completely and totally different from any other religion or folklore
ever. Mythology was written in such a beautiful way that upon reading it, it seems real
and it begins to take shape. She is also saying that Greek Mythology was in a way
different than normal Mythology and therefore changed the face of Mythology forever. 
PART TWO:
Aside from mortals and immortals in Mythology there were many heroes in it as well. There
are heroes such as the well-known Hercules and Hermes and Apollo, but there are many not
as famous. Two examples of these are Prometheus and Io. Prometheus is a god who was the
first to introduce fire to mankind. Zeus was very anger when he first learned of this and
punished Prometheus for what he had done. Many other gods accommodated Prometheus for his
courage to go against Zeus and do something that was right. Zeus sent Prometheus to the
rock peak of Caucasus where he had to stay there till Zeus ordered him back down, but
during this time other gods called him daring and enduring. 
Upon first going to the rock peak he had a strange visitor. The visitor took shape of a
heifer, at that Prometheus knew who she was. She was Io, a young princess who Zeus fell
in love with, but hid her due to his jealous wife, Hera. One day Zeus was with Io and
covered the earth with a huge cloud to hide Io from Hera, but Hera was smart and went
down to earth and ordered the cloud to be moved. After that happened Hera saw Zeus with
Io, but Zeus had changed Io into a heifer so Hera wouldn't know it was Io. Hera was
smarter than Zeus though and made Zeus give Io to her. Hera then made Io walk the earth
as a heifer for the rest of her life. As Prometheus was sitting upon his new rock peak Io
was telling him her story. Prometheus had no answers to give to Io, but had some small
advice. He could only tell her in what direction to go, which was along the shore of the
sea named Ionian after Io. The Prometheus told her to travel to the Nile where Zeus would
find her, change her back to normal, and give her a child named Epaphus, and is a
descendent of Hercules. Whom Prometheus would owe his freedom to. I understood in this
story that two who are in need of something can help each get what they want. This is
want exactly happened in this story, Prometheus told Io where to get help and that help
which Io would get helps Prometheus become free. This relationship is Mutualism and both
Io and Prometheus were heroes to each other.
PART THREE: 
Much like most people across the world, people are proud of their heritage. Americans
especially are proud of who they are and have showed it by fighting in wars, making the
Declaration of Independence, and by becoming the strongest nation in the world. As
Americans and most people we have many things to look back on and to be proud of that
makes us who we are. The Romans take great pride in who they are and they're past
accomplishments, because they were such a powerful nation. The Adventures of Aeneas is a
prime example of why the Roman people are proud of who they are, the reason is that in
the story the founder of Rome, Aeneas, is seen a very strong man and for that the Romans
are proud. In the Adventures of Aeneas, Aeneas is the son of Venus and he was a famous
hero who fought in the Trojan War. He escaped Troy with his father and his little son to
Italy in search of a new home. After long traveling and adventures they finally reach
Italy. There Aeneas married the daughter to a powerful king and founded the great city of
Rome. For that the Romans are extremely proud of. Aeneas was a true man and a true
soldier; he showed great courage and made the Roman people proud to be Romans. Aeneas
throw his journey fought many battles and was always against Juno who would constantly
try to stop Aeneas from doing what he had to do at the moment. Juno played many tricks
against Aeneas, but Aeneas had help from many other gods such as, Venus, Apollo, Neptune,
Mercury, and Cupid. Aeneas upon reaching Italy was told in a dream that his great city
would be far to west and he would need to make a long journey to get there. On his way to
the far west he was told that he would need to go the underworld in order to get a golden
bough in order to see Pluto. Upon seeing Pluto he would take him to see his father
Anchises who will give Aeneas advice for his journey. At once he set off in search for
the golden bough and Pluto. He found the golden bough with ease like a true hero and went
to Pluto immediately. Then Pluto took him to his father who told him many things and
helped Aeneas grow more confidence to continue his journey. When Aeneas returned to the
surface he had heard news about war in Italy. Juno and one of the Furies started the war
in order to stop Aeneas' journey from becoming complete. This did not slow down Aeneas;
instead he joined the Trojans against the newly formed Latins and Rutulains, due to Juno
and the Fury. Aeneas and his men bravely fought the Latins and Rutulains in battle upon
battle that lasted for many days. The war was described as a bloodbath and the land
smelled like blood for days after the battle. Aeneas and his fellow Trojans won the
battle and build the city of Rome. Aeneas is the father of Rome and the founder of the
Roman race, he married Lavinia and made Rome what is was today. For that the Roman people
are proud of who they are, because is shows that a great man like Aeneas went through
terrible times all for a dream that he believed in and he made that dream come true by
making the powerful city of Rome. 
PART FOUR: 
Through out Mythology there are many Heroes, Omen, and Myths, but there are also many
families. These families lived in big house and the number of family members in each
house is large in amount. There are three major royal houses, The House of Atreus, The
House of Athens, and the House of Thebes. Each house has its own story to tell and that
story defines the way that family is. In each house there are many conflicts and
adventures and these add up to the story of each house. The story about the House of
Thebes starts off with King Laius of Thebes; he was the third in descent from Cadmus.
Apollo's oracle at Delphi play's a big part in the families' fortune through the story.
As the story goes Apollo tells Laius that his son will kill him in the future. To make
this prediction false Laius and his wife Jocasta tied their son to a mountain in order
for him to die, despite this Laius was killed and Apollo's prediction came true. Back in
Corinth Apollo made another prediction; his prediction was that Oedipus was going to kill
his father. To stop the prediction Oedipus traveled to Thebes in order to get away from
his father. During this the house of Thebes was under turmoil due to a mysterious Sphinx
that kills any man who does not answer her riddle correctly. So as Oedipus gets to Thebes
and learns of the Sphinx and he is curious to challenge the Sphinx's riddle. As Oedipus
travels the countryside he comes across the Sphinx, the Sphinx asks the riddle and
Oedipus answers it correctly. At that moment the Sphinx kills herself and Oedipus returns
to Thebes as a hero and it's new king. As Oedipus is king he tries to solve the mystery
of the death of Laius and who killed him. As Oedipus investigates more into the matter he
finds the killer. When Oedipus names the killer he goes to a room to find his mother
Jocasta, who he thought was his wife, dead on the floor. Oedipus in extreme depression
cut out his eyes to live in darkness once he saw his dead mother on the floor. Oedipus
did not throw away everything he had by doing this, no; he had four children, two boys
and two girls. The boys are named Polyneices and Creon, who was the heir to the throne.
The girls were called Antigone and Ismene. This now separated the family, because his son
Creon drove his father out of the city along with his sister Antigone. Antigone was her
father's only friend and tended to his needs. Ismene stood back in Thebes to let her
father learn of any news concerning her father. The brothers now were fighting for the
throne at Thebes, and this completely separated the family of the house of Thebes. The
brothers ended up killing one another in a duel for the throne that put the family's name
to shame. The family of Thebes had a strong and powerful house that had potential to
succeed greatly, but selfishness and greed destroyed the family name. That was the men of
Thebes fault, but no fault should be laid on the women of Thebes. In reality they helped
make the house of Thebes die with honor by burying their brothers despite orders telling
them not to be buried. By the sisters burying their brothers they helped put their
brother's souls to rest. The reason the house of Thebes fell was that the family was
dysfunctional and the family turned against itself. 
PART FIVE: 
Mythology has many topics in it and their range is very deep. One important topic in
Mythology is Myths. There two major categories of Myths, which are: Norsemen and
Greco-Roman Myths. The differences between these two Myths are few in numbers, but they
are essentially different. Greco-Roman Myths deal with the history of Greek and Roman
Mythology, and the Norseman Myths deal with the history of Norseman Mythology.
Differences between these two is slim and really of no importance due to the fact that
the only differences are of names and how the world and man were created. The differences
are slim, but there is one major difference between the two Myths, and that is the way
each look on a certain subject. That subject deals with honor, courage, and power. The
Norseman gods are good and they fight evil, but unlike the Greco-Roman gods they do not
always win against evil. The Greco-Roman gods are seen as unbeatable and extremely
powerful, and they never even thought about even losing a battle. The Norseman gods on
the other hand fought against evil with great courage and with honor, but did not fight
with the same courage as the Greco-Roman gods because they knew of a possibility of them
might losing. The Norseman gods were not afraid to die, because if they died fighting of
good they knew that they were doing something good and that they would go to their
heaven, which was called Valhalla. Valhalla was the Hall of the Slain where dead heroes
who died in combat would go to when they died. This was the greatest honor for the
Norsemen gods to achieve, but they knew it came at a heavy price. Apart for this the
similarities between these to Myths are undisputable, because they basically have the
same gods, but with different names or maybe different jobs to do. The Norsemen gods were
gods of pride and gods that were not afraid to die and who wanted to fight the good
fight. I believe that the Norsemen gods had something to die for, where as the
Greco-Roman gods had everything to live for. The Greco-Roman gods were gods who indulged
in their delights and who were in a way stuck up. 
Both Greco-Roman and Norsemen Myths are similar in principal, but are different in
meaning. The Norsemen gods seem more like people who are struggling for a common goal,
and go through a lot to get their desired happiness. The Norsemen gods' way of life is
the way most people think of Mythology when they hear of it. That would be the whole good
versus evil battle that supposed to take place between Heaven and Hell, but even though
the Norsemen gods are not as strong as the Roman-Greco gods they are stronger in faith
and that's more important than any incredible power that the Greco-Roman gods will ever
have.