Main Characteristics of the Greek Mythology Gods, Heroes and Mortals - Essay Example

Greek Mythology gods Name: Course: Date: Question: Identify and discuss the main characteristics of the Greek Heroes Introduction The paidea or active learning of classical Greeks began with teachings of myths, which acted as the bedrock of their education. While at first the youths were informed of these myths as stories to enjoy, as they grew older they learned of this in poetry and art. Later on, they would learn of their heroes and legends in serious literature, such as poetry. This poetry on Greek heroes like Achilles, Hercules, Orpheus, Perseus, Theseus, and Odysseus would come to be captured by Homer in his epic poetry; the Iliad, as well as the Odyssey. As the youths beheld the tribulations, triumphs and losses of their heroes, they experienced inner growth, as well as learning to respect life. They were encouraged to pick the virtues of their heroes and disregard the vices. Even though there are many heroes, most of them had similar traits that stood out. By making a thorough analysis of literature on Greek heroes, this essay picks out the main characteristics exhibited by heroes in these tales and discusses them at length. Main characteristics Greek lore is made up of acts of wisdom and valour shown by heroes of days gone. Heroes in Greek culture were seen as men or women that were endowed with unlimited courage, as well as strength who were praised for their courageous deeds. They were mostly of divine ancestry and enjoyed much favour from the gods. It can therefore be argued that the standout characteristic of most, if not all Greek heroes is that they had divine ancestry. In most cases, one of their parents was a god. Hercules, who is best known for the 12 labours, had Alcmene for a mother and Zeus for a father (Bulfinch 1885, chapter 19). Alcmene was a mortal who was married to Amphitron who was an army general. However, while Amphitron was away in battle, the god Zeus disguised himself and made the unsuspecting Alcmene pregnant (Kirby 1986, p. 3). In addition to Hercules, Perseus, another Greek hero, was the son of Zeus and Danae. Perseus was actually Hercules’s grandfather as he was the father of Electryon. Electyon was the father to Alcmene, Hercules’s mother (trans. Mitchell 2012, p. 462). Although Aegeus is credited as his father, it is often believed that Poseidon was the biological father of Theseus (Grant & Hazel 2004, p. 14). Even though most of these heroes had gods as their fathers; other heroes had their mothers to thank for their divine ancestry. The most popular of these is Achilles on whom Homer’s the Iliad is based. Achilles was the son of Peleus and Thetis. Thetis was a sea goddess as her father was a sea god called Nereus (Littleton 2005, p. 1097). In some instances, both parents of the hero had divine ancestry as it happened in the case of Orpheus. Orpheus, the best player of the Lyre in all of Greece, was the son of Apollo the son god and grandson to Zeus. His mother is known to have been Calliope, who was the muse of all epic poetry, from whom Orpheus inherited his skill with the lyre (Bulfinch 1885, chapter 24). Another characteristic inherent in Greek tales of their heroes is the nature of their life’s journey. In most cases, the hero in question faced struggles in his early life before eventually triumphing over the struggle. The struggles the heroes faced ranged from war among mortals to struggles against immortals. In a few cases, the struggle ended tragically with the fall of the hero. For ardent students of Greek heroes and gods, the tales of Hercules stand out among the stories of heroes whose life was a massive journey of struggles. Because of the hostility that the goddess Hera had for her husband’s offspring, Hercules would be besieged by countless struggles since his birth. He angered Hera more when he strangled the serpents sent by Hera to kill him in his cradle. She however made him vulnerable to Eurystheus commands which forced him to do everything that the king commanded. He was therefore forced to perform the 12 famous labours that included killing the Nemean lion and the nine headed hydra. One of his hardest struggles involved obtaining the golden apples from the Hesperides. In the course of this quest, Hercules had to enlist the help of Atlas who bears the weight of the world on his shoulders. Hercules had to carry the world on his own shoulders while Atlas retrieved the golden apples. Other heroes who had to pass through extreme struggle before attaining hero status include Jason and his team of Argonauts. In disquieting detail, Seaton (1912) recounts the stories of these brave men aboard their ship the Argus. The Argonauts included Orpheus, Asterion, Polyphemus, Iphiclus, Hercules and Oileus(Book I). They had to go through numerous struggles which included preparing land using fire breathing bulls, giant waves intend on destroying the ship (Book II. 164-167), a white tusked boar that killed Idmon (Book II. 815-834) as well as overcoming the dragon that guarded the golden fleece. Another character of Greek hero tales is tragedy. On his journey of heroism, Orpheus had to enter the realm of the dead in order to reclaim his dead wife. Eurydice, for that was her name, while walking around with the nymphs after her wedding had to flee the amorous advances of the shepherd Aristaeus. As luck would have it, she stepped on a poisonous snake which bit and killed her. Orpheus was so sad at her passing that he took up his lyre and headed to Tartarus charming mortals, plants, stones and gods as he went. It is said that even the gods shed tears as he asked for his sweet wife back. Eurydice was given back to him on condition that he would not look at her until they were out of the realm of the dead. In a moment of weakness, however, our hero looked back hence condemning his wife to a second death. Orpheus would go on to live aloof from women who, angry at being scorned, would end up killing him (Bulfinch 1885, Chapter XXIV). The greatest tragedy of all is probably the life of Achiles son of Peleus as captured in the Iliad by Homer. Myrsiades (2010, p. 81) points out that the mortality, fallibility and realism of Achilles makes his tragic death great. In the same epic poem, Homer paints a vivid picture of the tragedy of two heroes, one Trojan and another Achean. The fall of Patroclus, cousin and friend to Achilles was a tragedy that changed the course of the war. This was closely followed by the death of Hector, prince of Troy, a hero of the Trojans (trans. Butler 1898, Book XVI). Agamemnon, Hero of the greeks, after his triumphant return home after the fall of troy, was also tragically murdered by his wife’s lover Aegisthus (trans. Butler Book I P. 4) The presence of flaws in the character of most heroes can be considered another characteristic of Greek heroes. Hercules, strongest of all men renowned far and wide for superhuman strength and courage (March 2008, P. 184) wasn’t without flaws. Heracles is said to have lacked the mental sharpness bestowed among other heroes like Theseus. Even though he was brave, strong and courageous, Hercules was not considered very bright or clever. He also possessed a fiery temper that got him into trouble often. He is said to have killed his wife and six children when under one of his rages (Nardo 2011, p. 21). Odysseus one of the most beloved of Greek heroes has his own flaws. When he gorges out the eye of Polyphemus the cyclop son of Poseidon, he is full of praise for himself. He laughs inwardly at the helpless Polyphemus and congratulates himself for being so clever. He is even scornful of Poseidon’s ability to cure Polyphemus’s eye (trans. Butler 1898 Book IX, P. 31 & 40). Achilles is seen throughout the Iliad to be ill tempered and arrogant while Paris sleeps with Menelaus wife Hellen. This adulterous act would spell the beginning of the Trojan War. Conclusion In highlighting the above character traits, it could be argued that some of the most common traits have been left out. Character traits like great beauty or handsomeness have been left out intentionally because they are traits that are associated with all heroes and not only the Greek heroes. Other traits shown by our heroes that have been left out include their great strength and unlimited courage as well as bold exploits. It can be satisfactorily concluded that due to their distinguishable characteristics, the Greek heroes stand apart from other heroes. Not many cultures created heroes with such diverse characteristics as the Greeks did. Of note is the tragic nature of these tales. It could be argued that had the tale of Jason been from another culture, the tale would have ended on a happier note. However, the Greek hero had to contend with losing his children and death. The various Greek legends by virtue of their dynamic and complex characterization offered different lessons to the youth who used these tales as the basis of their education. Even though they exhibited similar characteristics, the Greek heroes are shown to have different motivations and circumstances that they adapt to. Even though Odysseus was a brave, loyal, courageous soldier his moral contribution to society would be argued to be completely different to Perseus, even though they possess the same character traits. It is therefore important to study each of the heroes and gods in totality without skipping any of their similarities or differences. References Bulfinch, T 1885, The Age of Fable or Stories of Gods and Heroes. Available at < http://www.greekmythology.com/Books/Bulfinch/bulfinch.html> Grant, M & Hazel, J 2004, Who's Who in Classical Mythology, Routledge, London. Homer 1898, The Iliad, trans. S Butler. Available at < http://www.greekmythology.com/Books/Iliad/iliad.html> Homer 1898, The odyssey, trans. S Butler. Available at < http://www.greekmythology.com/Books/Odyssey/odyssey.html> Homer 2012, The Iliad, trans. S Mitchell, Simon and Schuster, New York. Kirby, PF 1986, The Autobiography of Hercules, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Mundelein IL. Littleton, CS 2005, Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology vol 2 , Marshall Cavendish, New York. March, J 2008, The Penguin Book of Classical Myths, Penguin Adult, Melbourne. Myrsiades, K (ed.) 2010,Approaches to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Peter Lang Publishing Inc, New York. Nardo, D 2011, The Heroes and Mortals of Greek Mythology, Capstone, Wisconsin. Rhodius, A 1912, Argonautica, trans. RC Seaton. Available at < http://www.greekmythology.com/Books/Argonautica/argonautica.html> Read More