Greeks and Mythology

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Greeks and Mythology

In Ancient times the people of the world were very curios and wondered how things came about in the world they lived in. In order to answer their growing questions, authors wrote myths. These myths explained how a certain thing came about in the world. Some stories explained why it thundered others how the earth revolved the sun, while others told stories of heroes. These heroes were a gateway to the common man and his problems, so everyone wanted to read about them. But as the common man differed from country to country, so did mythology and tales. Two of the countries with a large difference in their ways are Greece and Egypt. While Greek and Egyptian mythology shared the use of gods, creators and stories, the Greeks put more structure into these areas and developed others.

Both Greece and Egypt used gods to portray aspects of life and meaning. For mythology the use of gods are needed so they were created by both of these countries. While the Greeks had more gods than the Egyptians, the Egyptians had more names for these gods. For every Greek god there was an Egyptian god with two or three names, such as the Greek's Zeus was known as Pluto and Atum or Hera as Juno and Venus(-----13). All of the Greek Olympians live atop Mt. Olympus with their set ruler Zeus, but in Egypt the Zeus equivalent did not rule on Mt. Olympus. Egyptian mythology had no one single god who ruled all, but the gods did live atop the large pyramids with a few other entities at their side, just as in Greece(----- 12). "Heliopolis, located in the main pyramid are with the other god villages,"(Cavendish 67) was where the Zeus equivalent prominently dwelled and although he "was a ruler he had no power significa...

... middle of paper ... the Greeks had more structure, rank, and class distinctions their mythology was looked upon as the best and related to most often.

Greek and Egyptian mythology shared many things, including the use of gods, creators and stories, the Greeks however put more structure into these areas and developed these and others. The Greek's culture affected their culture and others because they had such a strong basis for their mythology and life. Many cultures stole what the Greeks had because it was so strong. Even in current life, Greek mythology is still a factor. Mainly because The Greeks are the only culture associated with the word mythology in present life, the other cultures have nearly been forgot about or left out of people's minds. With the use of mythology the Greeks changed not only the lives of their people but also the lives of millions after them.
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