AboutIrulan Serena Expertise Able to answer any question dealing with Greco-Roman mythology. Experience comes from teaching classical literature in all levels of the school curriculum from middle school to university level for thirty-eight years.
Question How were Greek myths told in the time of their creation? Who told these stories and who did they tell them to? Were most of the Greek population aware of these stories and did they believe them? What was the purpose of creating these myths? How come Greek and Roman myths are the ones our society have embraced the most?
How come Hercules is the greatest Greek hero and yet Orion has the most prominent star constellation? Did the Greeks account for why some stars are brighter than others in their myths? Do you have any sites or books you could recommend to me to learn more about Greek star myths and how they reveal insights of the Greek people and culture?
Thank you!
Answer Hello Vivian,
How were Greek myths told in the time of their creation?
Word of mouth – that is one person told the story; those who heard it retold it and so forth.
Who told the stories and who did they tell them to?
Greeks were very gregarious people except for the Spartans, they loved to hear stories which were told at meetings, parties, schools, homes, public places like the agora [market], etc….. all heard the stories /myths, adults as well as children.
Were most of the Greek population aware of these stories and did they believe them?
Yes, the population were aware of and shared belief in the myths mainly because the stories that we call ‘myths' today was the religion of the Greeks. Perhaps our religions will be the myths of tomorrow.
What was the purpose of creating these myths?
The purpose of the myths was varied:
1 Give the people lessons in the fundamental differences between right and wrong and the consequences of doing wrong knowingly.
2 To inspire the population and give them a sense of national unity and pride by telling the stories of heroes such as Hercules, Odysseus, Theseus, Orion, etc.
3 To explain to man the natural forces such as thunder, rain, volcanoes, etc, which were not easily understood by man.
4 To entertain with the telling of a beautiful story such as the stories of famous lovers such as Cupid and Psyche or the recounting of adventure stories such as those of Hercules.
5 To warn the people of the consequences of disobeying the gods and their commands, specially the command of hospitality which was one of Zeus' main rules… no matter who came to your door you owed that person the hospitality of your home and your help.
6 To teach that false pride usually gained one more trouble than it was worth….the story of Daedalus, Midas, Phaeton and other similar stories.
How come Greek and Roman myths are the ones our society have embraced the most?
There is much in our society that originated from the Greco-Roman culture.
EXAMPLES:
1 Police and its structural patter was derived from the Greek city-states to such an extent that the very name ‘police' comes from the Greek ‘polis' which means city.
2 Government – democratic establishment was established based on the democratic philosophies of the ancient Greeks.
3 Vocabulary, drama and literature is based on Greco-Roman culture.
4 Advertising and business borrowed much from the Greco-Roman culture. Take a look at the namer of our cars and products:
Mercury – Odyssey – Navigator – etc = cars
5 Greek and Roman [one and the same with name changes] influences our society quite a lot:
Mythology influences just about every aspect of modern life. To understand art, literature, sculpture, architecture, government, language, etc. one must have a basic understanding of the influence that mythology has on every phase of modern life.
EXAMPLES:
CADUCEUS - Hermes' symbol of healing is used today by
all health care professionals like doctors, pharmacies,
nurses, etc.
Names of the ancient Greek gods are used as symbols for many different business and other facets of our society today:
APOLLO space missions - NASA space exploration
APHRODITE - cosmetics company
WINGED BOOTS AND HAT of Hermes is used by the
International Association of Florists - the wings
symbolize the speed with which the flowers are delivered
all over the world -Hermes was god of speed.
TRIDENT - symbol of Poseidon is used by many fishing
companies as their logo.
HADES and CERBERUS - symbols of the god of the
underworld are used by mining companies as logos.
...........AND SO ON AND ON
VOCABULARY of the English language is full of words derived from mythology:
ODDYSSEY = ODYSSEUS
CEREAL = CERES
VULCANIZE = VULCAN
JOVIAL = JOVE
HERCULEAN - HERCULES
HERMETIC = HERMES
BACCHIC = BACCHUS
TITANIC = TITANS
GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY = GAEA
SATURNINE = SATURN
NAME OF THE PLANETS, MONTHS AND WEEKDAYS
....and so on, in fact, so many it would be impossible
to list them all.
MYTHOLOGICAL ALLUSIONS - references to mythological characters are found in many facets of our lives, however, since time and location will not permit a long discourse on this topic, let me just mention a few:
LITERATURE - All great literature of the past and
present uses mythological allusions in their plots.
EX: Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida and Romeo and
Juliet are based on the story of Pyramus and Thisbe.
EX: Yeat's poem A Prayer for my Daughter makes allusions
to Helen of Troy , Aphrodite, Hephaestus and the Horn of
Plenty [Zeus]
Ex: Hemingway's novels are full of mythological allusions
EX: Works of Frank Herbert, the Dune series, are also
full of mythological allusions
ART - sculpture and paintings - The period of the
Renaissance was nothing else than the resurgence of
Classical mythological themes.
The greatest painters and sculptors used mythological
characters as subjects of their work. These mythological
themes are still being used today by modern artists as
inspiration for their works.
MODERN TV / MOVIE MEDIA - Movie theatre and television
productions CONSTANTLY make productions retelling of the
lives of the heroes.
EX: Odyssey, Jason, Hercules
EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUMS - Mythology is part of the
literary curriculum in universities, colleges, high
schools, middle schools, and elementary grades. All
children in schools today are exposed to the intricacies
of mythology to a lesser or grater degree depending on
the grade and the curriculum. Surely there is a good
reason why our educators continue to tell and retell
these wonderful myths.
MUSIC: Many musical compositions are based on myths Ex:
Black Orphes a Brazilian opera
based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
PRESENT DAY GOVERNMENT AND COURT SYSTEMS are based on
the democratic principles established and used by the
ancient Greeks.
POLICE: The name given to the force of men and women who
protect the public welfare is based on the word "Polis"
a Greek word which means city.
How come Hercules is the greatest Greek hero and yet Orion has the most prominent star constellation?
Hercues was the favorite son of Zeus reason why he is more important on the hierarchy of heroes.
Did the Greeks account for why some stars are brighter than others in their myths?
No.
Do you have any sites or books you could recommend to me to learn more about Greek star myths and how they reveal insights of the Greek people and culture?
Characters in mythology were placed as constellations [not stars] as a reward from the gods, mostly Zeus and Hera. See following sites:
