This week we examined the history and purpose of mythology. To emphasize the enduring effects of Greece upon Western civilization and culture, we look at where it appears today, even in American pop culture.
Post One: I told you to reflect on mythology as a metaphor. Select one way in which mythology is "Something else." What countless facets of life do these engaging stories represent? Explain your answer in detail.
Post Two: What have you personally learned from our introduction to mythology? What surprised you, awed you, interested you, etc. Do you have any questions? Are these ideas at odds with any of your own spiritual beliefs?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Mythologies today are a metaphors about ancient cultures and an entertaining way to past the time. In the age when these myths were created they were not myths but truths that were at the centers of their lives. It answered the two most important questions people have: Why am I here? and What will happens to the world after I die? Without these answers many would have been emotionally shattered, unable to keep living through the endless disasters that must have plagued their lives.
ReplyDeleteI haven't learned anything new about myths but I have learned a new version of certain myths, such as the myth of Aphrodite's birth from Uranus' penis instead of Chronos' penis. The Greek myths are different from mine in many ways but the essential values are similar except for their views on hospitality. My myths teach that one must be wary of strangers for they might end up as unwelcome guests.
Lauren A.
ReplyDeleteMythologies are a great way to symbolize beliefs. It is also a great way to see how the people of anciet Greece thought. These myths gave the people something to believe in. Almost all people crave this need to believe in something. And the people of Greece could easily relate to the gods which is why the myths were so easily taken to.
Lauren A
ReplyDeleteEverything I have learned this past week is new to me. I never felt the need to learn about mythology, but now that I am learning about it,I am very glad. It is a great way to see into history. The myths are different from my beliefs because the gods were not idealistic.
Lauren V.
ReplyDeleteMythology not only is a metaphor but life lessons and gives reason explaining why events happen the way they do. These stories can represent everything occurring in life, from good to bad omens. The Greeks used these stories to explain their religious beliefs, morals and values, as well as to entertain.
Lauren V.
ReplyDeleteI learned that the Greeks told stories in order to give reason to events that occurred in their lives, whether they felt cursed or praised by one of the gods. I was surprised to hear about how the gods intermarried with each other, like the story where one child grows up to marry his mother and kill his father. Some of the ideas are at odds with my spiritual beliefs because I believe in one God. But I am open and looking forward to learning more about mythology.
Mythology is a mirror to human emotion and struggle. The great amount of emotion and violence in the stories show and explain why we feel the way we do by making the gods and heroes seem human. The mythological stories explain the flaws of humanity by making our struggles seem less important than to those of the rest of the world and showing them through the actions of the gods.
ReplyDeleteWhat surprised me was that the emotions of the people and deities in myths are meant to make them seem more human. I personally learned that mythology is a metaphor for human behavior,which I did not know.
ReplyDeleteThe stories are not in conflict with my spiritual beliefs because the mythology in my religion was shaped to meet this style in some ways. I have no Questions at this time.
Mythology are metaphors passed down from generation to generation to teach family morals. Myths would tell the story of another living thing's life and the conflicts that they face. The stories are not real, but they stand for something. If someone tells another a story they are trying to teach them a valuable life lesson and keep them from doing the same thing the character in the story did. Mythology is a way to teach the younger generation right from wrong in a way that they will understand.
ReplyDeleteI knew the basics about myths, but I did not know about all the Greek Gods. It surprised me that they had a god for almost everything and how they were all related in one way or another. It was interesting to learn that they created these gods in their myths to make normal people feel better about themselves. They made it so that people can relate to the gods on a personal level, and think that they handled the situation better by not overreacting that much. These myths are not part of my spiritual belief, but they do send out a good message that everyone should know.
ReplyDeleteMythologies are ways to express emotion and feeling. Myths were about revenge, love, lust, control, and so on. Each feeling was expressed in one way or another and just like in the world today, people express themselves in many different ways. Greek mythology is the foundation of life as the Greeks expressed their beliefs, morals, and values.
ReplyDeleteMythology was a way of life to the Greeks back then. They explained everything in their lives by creating a god that would reflect whatever they were doin at that time. Mythology is going to be an exciting and fun topic to study.
ReplyDeleteI have also learned that it is a metaphor and I personally never knew that. I am surprised that all of the gods originated from one god which is Chaos of the Void.
I have learned the all of the Greek gods originated from one god and I was surprised to learn about some of the conflicts of the gods and that there were so many. The myths do not go with my spiritual beliefs, but learning about the different gods will be interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMythology is life's many experiences. In these stories, we learn all the qualities of a human being. Our flaws and our beauties, all the many imperfections we have, these stories have it all. Though the stories involve gods, the gods have human qualities which are expressed in extreme levels.
ReplyDeleteIn the introduction, I learned the complicated relationship of Greek gods. I also found out that the Greeks used myths to answer all questions to life. Though I am not catholic, I don't dismiss the idea that these myths can be true. Greek gods interest me and I want to learn more about them.
ReplyDeletemythology was used to explain what could not be explained back then. they would make up stories and use them as the reason why everything happened the way it did. mythology is a metaphor also
ReplyDeletei never really learned about mythology so its all new to me. i was surprised to hear how most of the gods were made. i was also surprised to learn that each god is a god over a different emotion or object
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating and reflective commentary. This shows much insight into the metaphorical example as well as some curiosity. This fascinates me.
For those of you continuing to post your comments. Please look at the question(s) and answer accordingly. These require some consideration and not duplicate thoughts in both questions.
ReplyDeleteMythology is life that would never end. The stories will always teach people new things and allow people to realize what life is all about. It would never be gone from this world beacause people always have something to learn. These stories represent the connection of human with nature. These stories give answers to questions that cannot be explained by facts only.
ReplyDeleteMythology can be seen as an explanation for many things we wonder about. Things that can not be explained are given explanations from what the human mind can imagine. You can see today with the thousands of words that have been brought up from mythology, to describe many concepts of emotion.
ReplyDeleteBefore, I saw mythology as just fiction that was made up for the entertainment of reading. Noe I was able to see how big of an impact it has on the world and language around us. I now know how important it is and I wonder how different our language would be without it.
ReplyDeleteNot only is mythology a metaphor but it is used to explain human nature. All of the gods and goddesses in mythology possess human qualities and express how we are all the same and experience the same things. Stories in mythology have all emotions (e.g. love, jealousy, sadness, etc.) that everyone experiences in their lives.
ReplyDeleteI have never really studied mythology before, so many things were new to me. I learned that myths were told to give reason to objects and life. I was surprised that the Gods in the stories were being related to human emotions and behaviors.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing new I learned about mythology was that myths were metaphors. My dad has a couple of books on mythology and I took a liking to the stories from a young age. The stories not only have valuble lessons to them but have lively characters and creative plots that entertain everyone who reads them. I have always enjoyed reading about the twelve Olympians and the many other gods in Greece. I am also looking forward to further studying mythology in class.
ReplyDeleteMythology is a metaphor for life lessons. Myths explained the unexplainable. The stories could portray a life lesson for the people so they wouldn't make the same mistakes as the characters in the stories. Myths could also express emotions that everyone can relate to even today.
ReplyDeletemythology is a way to answer questions in life. when people wanted to know why certain things were how they were, they would look to mythology for answers. mythology was also how people would explain how they felt. it was like stories and poems and songs today.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know much about mythology until now. I always thought they were just fictional stories but I learned that many myths can be connected to life today. I learned about the many Greek Gods, and how they all came from one god, Chaos. That was interesting to learn.
ReplyDeletei learned that mythology took place of science for the greeks. i learned about mythology at my old school so i knew the basics about mythology, but i was not aware of how deep it was. i did not know about how mythology is a metaphor for people's feelings or parts of everyday life.
ReplyDeleteMichael P.
ReplyDeleteMythology is a way of expressing life lessons. Ancient mythology can still be found in our everday life. In, the past mythology was used to explain why things happened in life. Today, we still relate to the underlying messages within the ancient stories. Mythological stoories from the past about love, envy, greed, and war are relateable to our lives today.
Michael P.
ReplyDeleteDuring our introduction to mythology I learned that mythology was a way of life for the greeks. I was surprised at how unrealistic the stories were, but how relatable the underlying message is to our lives today.
Myths are the experiences of human beings. They represent lessons in the form of stories. Myths informs mankind on how the earth came to be and why we act a certain way. They allow us to learn more about ourselves and the reasons for our actions. Humans relate to the myths and can compare themselves to the characters in the stories.
ReplyDeleteMythology is a metaphor for self identity and life lessons. These stories taught that even the Gods made mistakes and are not perfect, which taught people how to not make the same mistakes. Self identity was found by how people could connect themselves to the Gods and base their actions on how they perceive the moral of each story. The stories were meant to be not only entertaining, but educational to show that the Gods may have been supreme, but they were exactly like normal people.
ReplyDeleteBefore our introduction to mythology, I did not notice how mythology is a metaphor of human lives and how they teach us more about ourselves. It is interesting to know that the Greeks created all of these myths to give reason for why and how the earth was created. It is amazing how intelligent they were for realizing that all humans are related and united in some way. Myths help us gain a better understanding of human kind. I cannot wait to actually begin reading the Greek myths. Since I am not religously affiliated, I have no objections to the beliefs of the Greeks.
ReplyDeleteThis week, I learned that the Greeks were skilled at writing bizarre stories that had a personal impact on the readers of the time. I know a little about mythology from studying it in 6th and 7th grade, but I did not realize how complex the family tree of the gods is. I thought it was interesting to hear the story about Cronus eating his children because it is such a fanatical plot, and yet it had an important moral that the Greeks followed. I am looking forward to learning more about mythology.
ReplyDeleteMythology is a way of expressing human nature and teaching life lessons. These stories show us what not to do and also how we shouldn't be through the actions of the gods. Myths are simply a way of making human more knowledgeable through life lessons. Myths are guidlines to the journey of life.
ReplyDeleteMythology is not just storytelling. It was a way for the Greeks to make sense of anything they found inexplicable. I believe that mythology served as a method to explain natural occurrences such as lightning, as well as emotions felt by every human.
ReplyDeleteDue to our introduction to mythology I have personnely learned that the stories of the gods hold more lessons about real life than I realized. What interested me was the minor stories, the less common stories, that added onto my knowledge of the gods. At the moment I do not have any questions, but my curiousity will definatly arouse a few later. I'm not too familiar with the greeks spiritual beleifs, but one sure difference is that they beleaved in many gods not one. I absolutly love the topic of mythology and I want to know more!
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to learn how human some of the Gods are. They were not depicted as perfect, powerful creatures. Instead, these Gods had flaws and temptations. I was somewhat shocked to learn that they were capable of feeling strong emotions such as love, jealousy, and fear.
ReplyDeleteMythology is a never ending answer. Mythology is an answer to every question that was unknown by the Greeks. Mythology was a way for Greeks to explain the unexplainable, to solve the unsolvable. It was a way for them to feel value in their lives.
ReplyDeleteMythology is a metaphor for things that happen in life and it explains lessons and morals. The Greeks believed that there needed to be a reason for every thing that happened so they created mythology.
ReplyDeleteI never knew that there were so many gods and what the Gods stood for. I found it very interesting to hear the stories.
ReplyDeleteThe stories in Greek mythology are most often if not always metaphors. Mythology is like a religion, it gives us answers to the unknown.
ReplyDeleteThey help us connect and relate our problems in all aspects of life, no matter how gigantic or microscopic one may be. They give us understanding to where and how things in this world are created. They relate to society in many ways, obvious or not. And most importantly, they give guidance on how to face these problems and teach us that there is nothing to fear, we are all the same.
I was interested just on the fact of how deep myths' themes can actually be. I was inspired by many of the stories imperatives, the mystical being the most intriguing. It is amazing how us humans can come together and solve most of society's moral and ethical issues with the help of myths.
ReplyDelete