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Greek Mythology |
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Greek mythology
is the body of stories belonging to 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 shed 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, heroines, and other mythological creatures. 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 Epic 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. It 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. |
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Mythological Legends |
| Medusa |
Medusa, one of the three Gorgons,
daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. She was the only one of the
Gorgons who was subject to mortality. She is celebrated for her
personal charms and the beauty of her locks. Neptune became
enamoured of her, and obtained her favours in the temple of
Minerva. This violation of the sanctity of the temple provoked
Minerva, and she changed the beautiful locks of Medusa, which
had inspired Neptune’s love to serpents. According to
Apollodorus, Medusa and her sisters came into the world with
snakes on their heads, instead of hair, with yellow wings and
brazen hands. Their bodies were also covered with impenetrable
scales, and their very looks had the power of killing or turning
to stones. Perseus rendered his name immortal by his conquest of
Medusa. He cut off her head, and the blood that dropped from the
wound produced the innumerable serpents that infest Africa. The
conqueror placed Medusa's head on the shield of Minerva, which
he had used in his expedition. The head still retained the same
petrifying power as before, as it was fatally known in the court
of Cepheus
Some suppose that the Gorgons were a nation of women, whom Perseus
conquered. |
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