Essay Examples on Greek Gods Essay Example

Essay Examples on Greek Gods Paper 1st Essay Sample on Greek Gods The Greek gods that lived on mount Olympus were a very central part of Greek society.There was a very large array of different deities. These deities could account for almost every facet of the day-to-day lives of Grecian men and women.The Grecians connected their feelings, circumstances, situations, fate, and consequences to the gods. Most Greeks thought of the gods in a very involved and direct way, while others may have seen them more distantly. The Greeks, I believe, sought to understand the world.I feel that they could not come up with a clear reason for many events and feelings that happened around and to them, so they created a religion to explain those things.For instance, if a man was feeling the pangs of love for a woman, the goddess of love, Aphrodite, was affecting him.I saw this clearly throughout the story of the Iliad. In the very beginning of the Iliad Chryses, the priest of Apollo, goes to the Achaeans to try to ransom his daughter.Agamemnon is the man that is holdi ng his daughter captive.Agamemnon is very fond of her and refuses to give her back.Chryses then goes and prays to Apollo to avenge him.Apollo hears his prayers and the text says, He came down furious from the summits of Mount Olympus, with his bow and his quiver upon his shoulder, and the arrows rattled upon his back with the rage that trembled within him†¦.first he smote their mules and their hounds, but presently he aimed his shafts at the people themselves, and all day long the pyres of the dead were burning. What I gather from this part of the story is that the Achaeans had fallen under a plague not from Apollo, but from some natural occurrence.Because of the close relationship between god and man in Greek mythology the only answer for the plague was the thought that they had angered a god somehow.Any occurrence in the Greek society, either a positive or negative event can be attributed to the gods. 2nd Essay Sample on Greek Gods What we know today of the Greek gods today come from stories and myths. The Oldest of these that we know of are the Iliad and the Odyssey that come from Homer. Other poets we know of are: Virgil, Ovid, Hesiod, Aeshylus, Apuleius, Apollonius of Rhodes, and Theocritus. These people told stories about the Gods, heroes, and their adventures. In these stories the Gods have lives much like soap operas. We will write a custom essay sample on Essay Examples on Greek Gods specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Essay Examples on Greek Gods specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Essay Examples on Greek Gods specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The creation of the world started with Chaos. Out of him came Gaea, Tartarus, Eros, and Erebus. Gaea was the Earth goddess and without help she had Uranus, Mountains ,and Pontus. Gaea Mated with her son, Uranus, and had five more children. These children were Cyclope, Hecatonchires, Chronos, Coeus, and Oceanus. Uranus was The sky god and thefirst ruler. Chronos later became the ruler when Gaea advised him to castrate Uranus, who died from the wound or left the earth. Chronos and his wife Rhea gave birth to thefirst Olymians. To ensure his safety as ruler, Chronos ate his children. To protect her children, Rhea tricked Chronos into eating a rock instead of Zeus. The rock that Chronos swallowed made him sick and forced him to puke up the other Olympians. When Zeus grew older he overthrew the titans and became the ruler of the Zeus was the lord of the sky and the rain god. He used the thunderbolt as a weapon against those who displeased him. He married Hera, his sister, but had many affairs. Hera was the protector of marriage. Hera had tried to revolt against Zeus but failed and was and was punished. She never revolted again. Zeus and Heras brothers and sisters were Hestia, Hadis, Poseidon, and Demeter. Hestia was the virgin goddess, the goddess of the hearth. She doesn’t have any notable personality and played no parts in myth. Hades was the lord of the underworld.