Greek mythology is where the people of ancient Greece share a whole span of stories and tales of the Greek gods, goddesses and heroes of whom they believed in. Although centuries have passed by, these gods and goddesses are still instilled in the people’s mind.
Each god and goddess is worshipped as a deity who ruled over different regions in ancient Greece. Some of these gods and goddesses have both Roman and Greek names as in the past, Greece was once taken over by Rome and the people of Rome had in one way or another adopted the Greek beliefs and myths.
There exist many stories on Greek Mythology, such as the story of the Titans overthrowing Uranus, the battle between the Titans and Olympians, the Trojan War, and the social life of each god and goddess. All of these stories are mostly centred on the gods and goddesses of the Pantheon on Mount Olympus which are Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hades, Demeter, Hestia, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite and Hermes.
Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, Demeter and Hades are children of Cronus whereas Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, Ares, Hermes, Aphrodite and Hephaestus are children of Zeus. These gods and goddesses each symbolises something unique. For example, Zeus is the god of the sky and Hermes is the god of mischief and messenger of the gods.
Nowadays, our life is widely influenced by Greek Mythology. The obvious example would be the Olympic Games. The ancient Greek culture has been kept alive through various sources of media, such as movies, literature and pop culture. Architecture and art that can be found in many parts of the world has features that were affected by Greek Mythology. Besides that, the naming of days, months, planets, and even various words and expressions have originated from Greek Mythology.
Greek Mythology is an important factor in our daily lives. However, most of us are ignorant of its great influence. One of the most obvious example in which Greek Mythology has played a significant role is the founding of the Olympic Games.
Back in the olden days, the Olympic Games were held in Olympia, a city which was situated in Elis, Ancient Greece. The ancient Olympic Games were held in honour of Zeus, the God of Sky and Thunder and also the Supreme God of Greek mythology. During those times, Zeus’ most sacred place, the Altis was situated in Olympia. The Altis was referred by the Greeks as the Sanctuary of Zeus, whereby a visit to this place is seen as a way of honour to Zeus.
The poet Pindar has attributed the founding of the games to one of the best-known heroes of Greek myth, Herakles. Herakles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, a mortal woman. According to the legends, Herakles’ had completed one of his twelve labours and had initiated the first games in honour of Zeus with the purpose of celebrating his successful accomplishment.
Greek mythology is also known to influence historical Greek literature. The only general surviving Greek literature handbook, which is the “Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus” contains all stories on Greek Mythology, including the Titans, the Gods, and the Olympians. Moreover, this source of literature also provides a summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends.
Greek Mythology has also managed to seep into our entertainment industry. Many of us still read Greek myths, either as a study or as a form of entertainment. Some famous stories include the tales of Perseus, Theseus and also Heracles. In this day and age, many people are fascinated by Greek Mythology to the extent of using Greek myths as a basis for publishing novels and screenplays, i.e. Walt Disney’s production of the cartoon ‘Hercules’, and Warner Bros. production of ‘Clash of The Titans’. One of the recent bestselling novels, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series have also been adapted from Greek Mythology.
In fact, one of the most famous movies, ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ has been influenced by Greek mythology. Fluffy, the three headed dog in the movie was obviously referring to Cerberus, the three headed dog that Hades, the ruler of the Underworld had. In Greek Mythology, Cerberus who guards the gate to the underworld is "a three-headed, dragon-tailed dog, who permits all spirits to enter, but none to return.
Greek Mythology can also be seen to influence what we now know as classical art. This form of art was created by the ancient Greeks. Indeed, many of the Greek sculptures and designs, especially Vase Painting were widely influenced by Greek Mythology. Majority of the Greek sculptures that can be found nowadays tell us stories about the Gods, Heroes, Events, Mythical Creatures and Greek culture in general. The Vase Paintings mentioned portrayed the life of heroes and Greek gods.
Besides that, temples were constructed as an offer of thanksgiving to the patron deity of a city for successes in war, i.e. the construction of the Parthenon in honour of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom. At the present time, many of America’s governmental buildings have been designed with this form of classical art.
The naming of days has also been influenced by Greek mythology. Each of the seven days in a week has been named after Greek gods or goddesses. The Greeks even called the days of the week Theon hemera, which literally means “Days of the Gods”. For example, Sunday was named after Helios, God of the Sun and Monday was named after Selene, Goddess of the Moon. However, due to Roman influence, certain names have been substituted with variations in equivalent of the original gods or goddesses, i.e. Tuesday originated from ‘Tiu’, which was the Anglo-Saxons equivalent of Ares, God of War.
As with the naming of days, the names of various months were also influenced by Greek mythology. All the months except July through to December were named after gods and goddesses alike. For example, January was named after Janus, God of Doorways, Gateways, and Beginnings, May was named after Maia, Goddess of Earth, Honour and Reverence, June was named after Hera, Goddess of Women and Marriage and others.
Celestial bodies in space often have names with origins of Greek Mythology. In the Western World, names for the planets are derived from the naming practices of the Romans, which indirectly have Greek origins, as Roman Mythology is greatly influenced by Greek Mythology and has many common characteristics. For example, Jupiter is the Roman equivalent of Zeus, and Saturn is the Roman equivalent of Cronus.
Most of the constellations have names of Greek mythology origin, i.e. Centaurus (the centaur), Hydra (creature), and Pegasus (a winged horse born from Medusa’s head when she was killed).
Some asteroids such as Demeter and Apophis, which was predicted to impact earth in the year 2036, all have names which originated from Greek Mythology. Even space exploration missions were named after Greek Mythology. The most famous example is Apollo 11, the spaceflight that landed the first humans on Earth’s Moon.
As is common knowledge, the Greeks were the pioneer to use an alphabet. In actual fact, there exists some common vocabulary that originated from Greek Mythology. One of the examples is Cupid. In Greek mythology, Cupid is the god of desire and love. He is the son of goddess Venus, Roman equivalent of Aphrodite and god Mars, Roman equivalent of Ares. In the modern culture, Cupid is used to symbolise love and is always shown shooting his bow to instigate love.
There are also many companies and games with names that have been influenced by Greek Mythology. For example, Nike, as most of us are familiar is a well-known public trade company of sportswear and equipment supplier. Its name actually originated from Nike, Winged goddess of Victory, who can run and fly at great speeds. Furthermore, the name Odyssey, which according to Greek Mythology is the 10-year sea voyage endured by the Trojan War hero, Odysseus, as he sought to return home to Ithica, has been used as names for a well-known travel agency “Odyssey Travel”, and even cars, “Honda Odyssey”.
Greek Mythology has indeed shown its influence in our daily lives, albeit inconspicuously.
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