Greek and Roman Mythology and Legends
Greek mythology is the body of myths and stories developed by the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and their own cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars referred to the myths and studied them in an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of ancient Greece and, in general, on the ancient Greek civilization.
Greek mythology consists in part of a large collection of narratives that explain the origins of the world and detail the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines. These accounts were initially fashioned and disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition; the Greek myths are known today primarily from Greek literature. The oldest known literary sources, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths are also preserved in the Homeric hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Homeric Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians of the 5th century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age and in writers of the time of the Roman Empire, for example, Plutarch and Pausanias.
Monumental evidence at Mycenaean and Minoan sites helped to explain many of the questions about Homer's epics and provided archaeological proofs of many of the mythological details about gods and heroes. Greek mythology was also depicted in artifacts; Geometric designs on pottery of the 8th century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle, as well as the adventures of Heracles. In the succeeding Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear to supplement the existing literary evidence.
Greek mythology has had extensive influence on the culture, the arts and the literature of Western civilization and remains part of western heritage and language. Greek mythology has been a part of the educational fabric from childhood, while poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in classical mythological themes. Therefore, western literature is diachronically heavy with allusiins to the heritage of the ancient Greek myths.
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Copyright: Nikki Burke 2000-2008
Website Last Updated: January 03, 2008
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