Characteristics Of Greek Myths

The Greek mythology is perhaps the greatest manifestation of the ancient interpretations of Existence. Faced with the phenomena of natural reality and the enigma that conscious existence itself represents, throughout history there have been elaborated all kinds of explanations, all of them the product of experience and intelligence, but always with a strong dose of imagination.

Reflection on reality as a whole has always taken two aspects, which are aimed at answering the two great questions that every human being asks: "It's me?" Y "What is this world?"... these two aspects are called Anthropology Y Cosmology respectively, or Sciences and Humanities, and more or less we can delineate the fields and handle the study of Nature as relatively independent of the field of the human properly speaking, which is thought and culture.

But this differentiation is typical of a historically evolved consciousness; For primitive men, the world and the Self are more or less the same thing, thought and feeling are projected towards the nature and reflect from it a form of interpretation that has been called "animism", because the things of the world are explained from of the

belief that they possess an anima; that is, soul or consciousness, so the phenomena of Nature are humanized: things think, feel, have impulses, intentions, passions ..., Everything that happens, then, is the effect of that "soul life" that moves things and men in the same process.

In this way stories, legends, traditions and religions are born, all characterized by the fact that the phenomena of nature are acquiring a "personality" more and more elaborate and complex, until they become literary characters very elaborate that are typified as gods and relate to each other to create a great fantastic novel that gives shape and content to all reality, including the human being within that reality.

Characteristics of Greek Mythology

Greek Mythology is distinguished by its transcendence, both in the Eastern and Western world; both in the past and in the present. It is a great cultural heritage of Humanity, and has particular characteristics that consolidate it as a brilliant Mythology.

Human traits are assigned to the existent

Greek Mythology explains the interactions of Natural Events turning them into Gods. For example, Zeus is the God of thunder and Weather events; Poseidon is the God of the Sea, the tides; Demeter is the Goddess of Agriculture and Fertility.

When Farmers Suffered crop shortages, offered tribute to Demeter to support them with better soil fertility. In the same way, when there were droughts, they offered tribute to Zeus to make it rain to feed the crops or for the rivers to regain their water level.

According to Greek Mythology, when Creation occurred, the the beginning was with the Primordial Gods, like Nix, the night; Erebus, the darkness; Uranos, the sky; Gaia, the Earth. Ether, the light; Hémera, the Day. All of them interacted to run Existence.

Many Stories have been created to explain the events of Creation. The Gods have come into conflict, they have fought and they have positioned themselves so that the humans have priority to them in terms of the veneration that they bestowed upon them.

Reflects the Human Virtues and Lownesses

Greek Mythology, by projecting Nature as a set of human characteristics, is also allowed to show both the goodness and the lowliness of human beings. It is a true reflection of who we are and what Existence would be like if Nature behaved exactly like humanity.

Greek Mythology demonstrates in an impressive way the reactions that human beings have to various circumstances. One of the most prominent is the emergence of infidelities and love conflicts.

Has defined hierarchies

Among the Greek Gods, each had a function to perform, but also a position and relevance. The supreme leader is Zeus, who rules the heavens and is the leader of the Olympian gods.

The Gods of Olympus They are the highest ranking and are in charge of the fundamental needs of the World and Humanity; to make the pertinent decisions for the good of Olympus and all that exists.

There are Lesser Gods who are in charge of serving the Olympians or supporting them in various tasks. For example, the goddess Hebe, who is the goddess of Youth, is in charge of pouring Ambrosia to the Gods of Olympus, so that they would preserve their youth. The God Asclepius, god of Medicine, sometimes Olympic and sometimes Minor, he was in charge of curing the gods wounded in battle.

There are also lower deities who had rather more specific functions, such as the Muses, that inspired the Artists; the Cárites or Thank you, who brought charisma and enthusiasm to humanity; theNymphs, feminine creatures of Nature that balanced life in forests and bodies of water; the Hours, which defined the Seasons of the Year; the Moiras, which defined the moment of death of each human being to send his soul to the underworld and knew the succession of past, present and future events.

The Demigodsthey were conceived through sexual encounters of the Gods with human women. Zeus had many demigod sons, such as Perseus and Heracles (Hercules). They were part human and part God, and if they accomplished memorable feats, they became worthy of ascending Olympus.

Define a Heaven, a World and an Underworld

The ancient Greeks had already established the separation between the Divine World, constituted by Olympus, the World of the Living, which was Earth, and the World of the Dead, or underworld, ruled by God Hades. Unfortunately, only the demigods could aspire to ascend to Olympus to enjoy a wonderful and luxurious eternal life. Human Souls, upon death, were destined to spend eternity in the underworld, in a trance of suffering.