Alqahtani 1 Alqahtani 2 Greek Mythology Student: Abdullah Alqahtani Professor: Dudley Date: 12/5/2016 Student: Abdullah Alqahtani Professor: Dudley Foundations of the Western World Date: 12/5/2016 Greek Mythology In the whole of Western culture, the most fertile and rich collection of stories is found in Greek mythology. This is if the Bible is excluded. These stories are diverse; however, they try to share a similar outlook on life (Slater, 2014). The Greeks believed in living life to the fullest since they cherished it. Death was a fact that was inevitable to them. There were small groups that believed in the idea of resurrection, such as mystery cults. It was dismal to homer death. Life in its way was glorious, thrilling, and dangerous in certain ways. Perishing of an ordinary person was believed to be accompanied by that of the mightiest heroes and the great royal dynasties. However, this idea of death did not make the Greeks be sad because it contained the Babylonian scribes that were written of Gilgamesh. The response of Greeks was enthusiasm. According to them, the only answer to death was to make carve of the legend that is imperishable by magnificent deeds. Throughout the five centuries, that is, from Homer to Alexander the Great, the Greets directed much of their effort and attention on pursuing fame. The astonishing energy was used to pursue fame. They were a unique race since they were imaginative, hard-living, ambitious, restless, and tough. They were very touchy about their honor due to the lust for their reputation. Most of them were vengeful and feisty. All of these traits in abundance are very clear in their stories. The Greek qualities are mirrored faithfully in the Olympian Gods. Some of these qualities are fornicating, banqueting, unforgiving deities who liked warring, and quarrelsome. They were shown in the form of humans with powerful and beautiful bodies. They were very pleasing to the eye and also humanly intelligible. These people had a strong admiration for intelligence, beauty, and strength. The man was the measure of all things according to them (Dowden, 2014). There are a few mythologies that have managed to produce a similar wealth of heroes. This was because the Greeks had a very strong urge for fame. Their heroes had desirable characters. They were fighters and adventurers. They were also bold, clever, strong, fierce, and experienced. The accomplishments of these heroes were far beyond that of ordinary humans. Irrespective of being perfect, there were some failings. Some of them were ruined by the failings. Some of these failings are cruelty (that emerged from their success), over-ambitious, overweening pride, and rashness among others. Ambition was very intense in the Greek heroes. There those who aspired godlike powers. All these were a model of human excellence because they gave the youths in the society standards to imitate. This same ambivalence is evident in the legend of the tragic dynasty. .

1. Alqahtani 1
Alqahtani 2
Greek Mythology
Student: Abdullah Alqahtani
Professor: Dudley
Date: 12/5/2016
Student: Abdullah Alqahtani
Professor: Dudley
Foundations of the Western World
Date: 12/5/2016
Greek Mythology
In the whole of Western culture, the most fertile and rich
collection of stories is found in Greek mythology. This is if the
Bible is excluded. These stories are diverse; however, they try
to share a similar outlook on life (Slater, 2014). The Greeks
believed in living life to the fullest since they cherished it.
Death was a fact that was inevitable to them. There were small
groups that believed in the idea of resurrection, such as mystery
cults. It was dismal to homer death. Life in its way was
glorious, thrilling, and dangerous in certain ways. Perishing of
an ordinary person was believed to be accompanied by that of
the mightiest heroes and the great royal dynasties. However,
this idea of death did not make the Greeks be sad because it
contained the Babylonian scribes that were written of
Gilgamesh. The response of Greeks was enthusiasm. According
to them, the only answer to death was to make carve of the
legend that is imperishable by magnificent deeds. Throughout
the five centuries, that is, from Homer to Alexander the Great,
the Greets directed much of their effort and attention on

2. pursuing fame. The astonishing energy was used to pursue fame.
They were a unique race since they were imaginative, hard-
living, ambitious, restless, and tough. They were very touchy
about their honor due to the lust for their reputation. Most of
them were vengeful and feisty. All of these traits in abundance
are very clear in their stories.
The Greek qualities are mirrored faithfully in the Olympian
Gods. Some of these qualities are fornicating, banqueting,
unforgiving deities who liked warring, and quarrelsome. They
were shown in the form of humans with powerful and beautiful
bodies. They were very pleasing to the eye and also humanly
intelligible. These people had a strong admiration for
intelligence, beauty, and strength. The man was the measure of
all things according to them (Dowden, 2014).
There are a few mythologies that have managed to produce a
similar wealth of heroes. This was because the Greeks had a
very strong urge for fame. Their heroes had desirable
characters. They were fighters and adventurers. They were also
bold, clever, strong, fierce, and experienced. The
accomplishments of these heroes were far beyond that of
ordinary humans. Irrespective of being perfect, there were some
failings. Some of them were ruined by the failings. Some of
these failings are cruelty (that emerged from their success),
over-ambitious, overweening pride, and rashness among others.
Ambition was very intense in the Greek heroes. There those
who aspired godlike powers. All these were a model of human
excellence because they gave the youths in the society standards
to imitate.
This same ambivalence is evident in the legend of the tragic
dynasty. The royal families of Athens, Thebes, Mycenae, Crete
turned out to be badly affected by their faults, which made them
become vulnerable to disasters. The fault that these families had

3. were sexual conflict, stubbornness when it comes to pursuing
some goal, ruthlessness in getting revenge, and pride of power.
The Greeks are the race that has clearly gotten that character is
destiny. Also, they also came to understand that same source of
crime can produce achievement.
Looking at the tale of Trojan War, two elements that are
blended are the tragic and heroic element. Out of Greek culture,
this turns out to be the finest legend. The main heroes or
characters in this story were doomed to death that was violent
and premature. These were Hector and Achilles. What emerged
from their defiance of fate as well as a code of honor was a
measure of grandeur. In the war, there was no winner since most
of their survivors also suffered so much (Graf, 1996).
Add in how these served as warnings to humans.
The Greek Gods
The Titans
Titans among other beings were produced by Gaea (the earth)
as well as Uranus (the heavens). Uranus was the son of Gaea.
Titans were the old gods. They were later replaced by Olympian
gods. The mother of Titans, Gaea was a Neolithic earth-mother.
She was forced into the background during the second
millennial B.C. by the patriarchal gods of the Indo-Europeans
(Schedlitzki, Jarvis, & MacInnes, 2014). These patriarchal gods
of the Indo-Europeans invaded Greece during the time.
However, the worship of Gaea went on even during classical
age.
There was also Cronus who was the chief Titan. Cronus got his
power as a result of castrating his father. The father was
Uranus. Cronus married his sister called Rhea. The union of the
two produced the Olympian gods. Cronus Swallowed the
Olympian gods at birth to prevent them from taking the throne.

4. Cronus and the other Titans were later on defeated by Zeus (the
son of Chronus). They were sent to the underworld after the
defeat. Saturn is the Latin name for Chronus.
Rhea was the wife of Chronus. Seeing Chronus swallowing their
children, she hid Zeus and gave Chronus a stone to swallow
instead. Another Titan was the Oceanus. “Oceanuswas the
unending stream that encircled the world, a Titan, who with his
wife Tethysproduced the rivers and the three thousand ocean
nymphs" (Siempos, Ntaidou, & Samonis, 2014, p. 1337)
Other Titans were:
· Hyperion (Titan of light) – the father of the dawn, the moon,
and light
· Mnemosyne – the Titaness of memory
· Themis – the Titaness of order and justice
· Lapetus – was the father of Atlas, Epimetheus, and
Prometheus
· Furies – looked after and punished sinners
· Giants – produced by the blood of Uranus during the time that
he was mutilated by Cronus
· Hecatoncheires – were monsters produced by Uranus and Gaea
· Cyclopes – were children of Uranus and Gaea. They were
monsters with one eye. They represented thunderbolt, lightning,
and thunder.

5. · Eros – was the child of Chaos together with Gaea.
The Olympians
As per the Greeks, he was the supreme god. The Greeks
depicted him as a mature and robust man having flowing beards.
Zeus at the beginning was a storm-god who produced
thunderbolt. Later on, he became all-father that populated the
earth and heavens. He managed to populate both places through
his promiscuous liaisons. Eventually, he ended becoming the
grand dispense of justice. Mount Olympus was where the palace
of Zeus was found.
Another Olympian god was Hera, who was the sister and wife of
Zeus. She was the protector of childbirth and marriage. Stories
say that she was cruel to those fell in love with Zeus. Jono is
her Latin name.
Poseidon was another Olympian god. He was the brother of
Zeus, god of horses and lord of the sea. He was always in the
company of monsters of the deep and sea nymphs. Poseidon was
a moody and wrathful god. The Latin name for this god is
Neptune.
Demeter was a goddess of fertility and vegetation. She was the
sister of Zeus. The earth becomes fruitful when the daughter of
Demeter returns every sixth month of a year. The earth became
barren when she grieved.

6. The other Olympian gods were:
· Apollo – was son of Zeus and god of the art, healing,
intelligence, and light
· Artemis – daughter of Zeus and twin sister of Apollo. She was
the goddess of chastity.
· Aphrodite – was the goddess of beauty and love. She was a
representation of the power of attraction, affection, and sex,
which blind people.
· Athena – she was the goddess of wisdom
· Hestia – was the goddess of peace, the family, and hearth
· Ares – was the son of Hera and Zeus and the bullying god of
war.
The lessor Gods
There were other gods. Below are some of these gods:
· Hebe – act as the cup-bearer to the gods. Was also the god of
youths. Hebe the daughter of Hera and Zeus.
· Iris – the messenger of gods and also the goddess of rainbow
· The nine Muses – these were Polyhymnia, Euterpe, Erato,
Thalia, Calliope, Terpsichore, Melpomene, Urania, and Clio.
They were the goddesses of inspiration.
· Persephone – was the goddess of Springtime

7. · Dionysus – the god of vine and fertility. Also inspired men
with joy and liberated their emotions.
· Pan – was the god of flocks. He was the son of Hermes
· Centaurs – was half man and half horse. Turned out to be the
savage beast.
Greek Heroes
There were a number of Greek heroes according to Greek
mythology. The first hero was Achilles. He was the most fearful
and strongest warrior in the war of Greeks against Trojans. He
was invulnerable everywhere apart from the heels since he was
dipped in river Styx by his mother while he was an infant. His
heels were not invulnerable since that is where he was held with
while being dipped in river Styx. In the Trojan War, he was the
greatest hero for a period of ten years until the time that he was
injured on the heels by the son of Trojan King called Paris.
Currently, the tendon that links heel bone and muscles of a calf
is termed as the Achilles' tendon.
The second hero is Hercules (Herakles). Among all the Greek
heroes, he was the most loves. Hercules was powerful and
brave. He was the son of Alcmene and Zeus. Alcmene was the
daughter of Perseus. Hercules grew and became a famed
warrior. The jealous wife of Zeus made Hercules become
insane. She also went ahead to kill the wife and children of
Hercules. Hercules was forced to carry out impossible labors as
punishment. The punishments, later on, became the subject of
many works of drama and art.
Another Greek hero was Jason. He was the leader of fifty heroes
who sailed searching for the Golden Fleece. These heroes were
called Argonauts. The kingdom that was to be held by Jason was

8. stolen by his uncle who promised to return the throne to him
only if Jason brought the Golden Fleece. The Golden Fleece was
wool from the magical winged ram. On their journey, they met a
number of dangers, such as the deadly Sirens. They were
successful at the end of their journey since they succeeded in
capturing the fleece through the help of a sorceress called
Madea. Later on, Madea became the wife of Jason.
Odysseus was another Greek hero. He was a celebrated warrior
and king of Ithaca. He helped the Greeks achieve victory during
the Trojan War. He went through a journey that took him ten
years so as to return to his wife Penelope and his home Ithaca.
He together with his men encountered man-monsters along the
way, but his cleverness and courage helped them. Some of the
monsters they encountered were Scylla and Charybdis, the
Sirens, and Cyclops Polyphemus. At home, he managed to prove
his identity to Penelope and ruled his homeland once again.
There is also the Persues, who was the son of Danae and Zeus.
As a warrior, he managed to complete dangerous
accomplishments with his talent and quick thinking. His most
famous achievement was killing of the Gorgon Medusa. No ___
was able to look directly at Medusa since he or she would turn
into stone. Persues was able to kill Medusa by looking at her
reflection in the mirror (Schedlitzki et al., 2014). He took the
head of Gorgon Medusa in his satchel after beheading her. Also,
he managed to save princess Andromeda from sea monster that
wanted to eat her. He succeeded in turning Medusa to stone
after pulling her head.
The final hero is the Theseus. He was known for his many
victories against the monsters. The monster that is well known
is the Mimotaur. Mimotaur resided on the Island of Crete in a

9. labyrinth. The people of Athens were forced to take fourteen
people to Mimotaur each and every year so as to eaten alive
(Slater, 2014). Theseus managed to get his way into the
labyrinth where he killed the monster. This was possible
through a ball of magic thread that he received from princess
Ariadne. Theseus is believed to be either the son of Poseidon
(the god of the sea) or Aegeus (the god of Athens).
Greek Creatures
Below are the Greeks creatures:
· Cyclopes – were one-eyed monster that were gigantic. They
were three in number representing lightning bolt, lightning, and
thunder. They were given the names Arges, Stropes, and
Brontes. They were off spring of Uranus and Gaea.
· Hecatoncheires – these were creatures with 100 hands each
possessing so much strength as well as 5 heads.
· Giants – were produced from the blood of Uranus. They got
power and tried to remove Zeus and the Olympians from their
seat. They lost and were imprisoned.
· Ash Tree Nymphs – these were also produced from the blood
of Uranus during the castration (Dowden, 2014).
· Typhoeus – this was a fire-breathing dragon that had a total of
one hundred heads. This creature never rested. It was produced
by Gaea as an effort to prevent Olympians from getting to her
children, the Titans.
· Cerberus - it guards the entrance to the underworld. It was a
dog that had dragon trail and three heads. It allowed those who
died to enter, but not to leave. The last labor of Hercules was

10. fetching Cerberus.
· Sirens – these were sisters who used songs of the Sirens to
lure sailors to their death. The songs of the Sirens were
irresistible (Graf, 1996). They were found beyond reefs that
were impassable. When sailors try to reach the Sirens, there
boats are destroyed by the reefs.
Work cited
Dowden, K. (2014). Death and the Maiden (Routledge
Revivals): Girls' Initiation Rites in Greek
Mythology. London, UK: Routledge.
Graf, F. (1996). Greek mythology: An introduction. Baltimore,
MA: JHU Press.
Schedlitzki, D., Jarvis, C., & MacInnes, J. (2014). Leadership
development: A place for
storytelling and Greek mythology?. Management Learning,
1350507614560303.
Siempos, I. I., Ntaidou, T. K., & Samonis, G. (2014). The Art of
Providing Resuscitation in
Greek Mythology. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 119(6), 1336-1341.
Slater, P. E. (2014). The Glory of Hera: Greek Mythology and
the Greek family. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press.