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Umar Qattan

Professor Gallucci

Classics 40

August 24th

, 2012

Summary to -- Classical Mythology: A very short introduction:

Within Classical Mythology: A very short introduction, the introduction gives the

reader information about what myths are as well as its breakdown. Myths, by definition,

appeal to the reader or listener in terms of ideology, pleasure, and lore. The main idea

behind myths is that first, they have collective recognition so that a group of people can

understand from where the myth came, and second, they have psychological importance

to the community of which the myth is either heard or read. Specifically for the class,

classical myths impact civilizations of both ancient and western cultures. Normally,

people associate myth with the Greeks and the Romans.

As the first chapter of the book begins to unfold, it talks about the importance of

mythology and how the entire continent of Europe today utilizes it among the most

common things around: currency. The currency in Europe, the euro, has an image of a

half naked woman riding a bull on the center, which signifies the myth of the Rape of

Europa, and within the myth, Zeus turns himself into a bull and infatuates Europa. Not

only does it represent an actual story, but also it represents the allegorical concept of both

old Europe and new Europe, that is, from their cultural origins to their innovation. People

interpret the Rape of Europa myth not as myth and story, but rather as a symbol or

emblem of change.

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Greek mythology, in terms of chapter two, was an essential part of not only a

Greeks life, but also Romans. Greeks taught myth through religion, arts, and the

humanities. One of the aspects of this chapter that was interesting was that people taught

their children censored versions of Greek myth so that the children could learn the

different morals and apply them to their own lives. This goes to show that myths from the

past were edited a lot and conform to the ethical standpoints of a particular society.

However, some myths have been edited so much to the point that their original meaning

has been distorted and, in turn, become useless to share. Another idea from chapter two

was that myths are much more than just a narrative or a story to entertain its audience;

myth is a pedagogical tool used to enhance and accelerate the transition process of

children and young adults alike so that society can easily learn from the misfortunes of its

heroes and anthropomorphic gods.

Chapter three emphasizes the views of myths such as the disparity between

polytheism and morality; that is, in what ways do these topics come into direct contact

with the reader or listener? Within Greek mythology, Zeus is the chief god, but his power

is limited to an extent; moreover, gods arent the controllers/arbiters or morality, and

humans goal is to please the gods. At the same time one human pleases one god, another

god grows jealous of the humans favoritism of one god over the other. This ferocity

develops to the point of widespread punishment of mankind. Also, the Greeks believed

that any possible virtue a human possesses during his lifetime, whether that virtue is good

or evil, makes that particular human susceptible to punishment on Earth. Gods within

Greek mythology attain their powers and abilities through their behavior from birth to

adulthood; so, were Hermes a liar and a thief as a child, his future would be determined

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already in that he would develop the powers and abilities associated with those of a thief

and trickster. No god is born with a set of powers; instead, each of them develops a

particular set of powers or attributes. The make up of a hero in Greek mythology was

their character foil; that is, most of the heroes had a lot of hubris. In other words, they

were very prideful and as a result, their fate was incredibly bad, so bad to the point of

death or detrimental misfortune. By the chapters end, the reader gets insight and a brief

overview of who Zeus and his wife, Hera, are and what their denominations are; in other

words, Zeus was the chief god of the first generation of Olympians, whom lived on

Mount Olympus, and Hera was the wife of Zeus as well as the goddess of marriage and

family.

Mythology played multiple roles in the lives of the Greeks and the burgeoning

religions of the modern age. It was double faceted in the sense that one could interpret

myth in terms of religion and another could interpret in a philosophical context. In

Christianity, myth was the religion, whereas in philosophy or in a philosophical context,

myth had its origins in philosophical though such as a humans/heros ethics and virtue,

which inevitably lead him to his downfall or doom (hamartia). An example of a story in

Greek mythology was the incestuous mix up between Myrrah and her father, Cinyras,

king of Cyprus. Aphrodite casts a curse on Myrrah to fall in love with her father, and

without his understanding, Cinyras has sex with his daughter. Feeling extremely

sorrowful and ashamed, Cinyras kills himself and leaves Myrrah alone; however, due to

this incestuous encounter, Myrrah turns into a Myrrh tree, and after nine months, the tree

splits open, birthing Adonis, whom both Aphrodite and Persephone loved. Aphrodite

loved Adonis so much, she watched over the aggressive hunter like a hawk to the point at

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which Adonis became extremely annoyed. Nonetheless, Adonis loved seeking wild

game, no matter how big the game was. Ignoring her warning, Adonis was killed by an

enormous boar, because it sank its teeth into Adonissthigh, making him bleed to death.

Whereas the religious aspect of Greek mythology covered the storyline and the basic

moral of the myth, the philosophical aspect explored the controversy among feeling,

emotivism, virtue, ethics, and morality.

Later on in the book, the author talks about how Sigmund Freud coined the idea

that humans have both an unconscious and a subconscious mind; that is, humans suppress

their sexual drives and desires to appear normal and humane. The psychoanalyst went on

to develop the Oedipus Complex, which is a complex of emotions aroused in a young

child between the ages of four and six, by an unconscious (between unconscious and

subconscious aspects of Freudian theory) sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex

and a wish to exclude the parent of the same sex. In other words, the child would grow

jealous of the father, that is, if it were a boy, because it wants the mother all to himself.

That Freud came up with the Oedipus Complex notion many years after the myth of

Antigone, people today can relate to the idea by foregoing the motions of actually putting

oneself in the position of a child, whom of which is jealous of his father. Thoughts like

that are far-reaching and revolutionary in the field of psychology.

The finale of the book explains how Greek mythology is filled with many loops of

incestuous relationships and courtships, wherein rape is rampantly involved. It turns out

that rape is caused by the existence of women, and that because women exist, males

become so attracted and animalistic (causing temptation) that they, too, become filled

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with evil. Not only is rape mentioned, but also the fact that it is glorified to emphasize

the stories that myths portray.