Greek mythology encompasses the ancient Greeks' stories about their gods, heroes, and the origins of the world. It is characterized by supernatural creatures, mortal heroes engaged in epic adventures, and themes of fate and human behavior, including traits like hubris. Key figures include gods like Zeus and Aphrodite, as well as heroes like Odysseus and Hercules.

1. Greek Mythology

2. What is Greek mythology? Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and the importance of their own culture and ritual practices. Greek mythology is embodied mainly in collective narratives, arts (such as pottery) and through poetry. Greek myth explains the origins of the world and details the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines and other mythological creatures. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology

3. What are the elements and themes in Greek mythology? Supernatural creatures Greek myth is characterized by the presence of magical and mystical creatures which were responsible for the course of events in a story; the hero’s victory and defeat depended on such creatures, mainly gods and goddesses. Theses deities were used to explain human behavior and actions. (e.g.- when a human falls in love Eros, the god of love is the cause of it). Some other examples of Greek mythical creatures are satyrs, gorgons, centaurs, nymphs etc

4. Names of some Greek gods and goddesses Aphrodite-the goddess of love Zeus- the king of the gods

5. Hades- god of the underworld Athena- goddess of war Artemis-goddess of hunting

6. Hermes- Messenger of the gods Hera- the goddess of marriage and birth Poseidon-god of the sea http:// etc.usf.edu/clipart/index.htm

7. Heroes and Heroines In myth there is a mortal man or woman who plays the part of the protagonist in a story. A hero faces many epic adventures and challenges; often they had direct relationships with the gods who either assisted them or punished them while controlling their destinies. Heroes took part in great battles and tasks, for instance Odysseus, Hercules, Perseus etc. such heroes demonstrated qualities such as honor, patriotism and fraternity.

8. Man’s relationship with the gods Greek mythology involved stories about the attributes of their gods and goddesses. These deities were presented as fallible and human-like and their interactions with humans were often motivated by jealousy, physicality and other trivial feelings. Can you try and compare the nature of the ancient greek gods with the nature of god in monothiestic religions? Fate Greek mythology deals a lot with the concept of fate and whether or not people can change or escape from it. Many characters go to great lengths in attempts to alter fate, even if they know that such a journey is futile. In most stories, a protagonist does everything in his power to prevent a negative fate, but falls prey to it instead. Can you think of any character from a myth that tries to defy fate?

9. Human qualities and behavior. Greek myth often explores the nature of humans and their qualities. These myths mainly deal with the traits of arrogance and hubris. In many stories, mortals who display arrogance and hubris end up learning, in very terrible ways, the out come of overexerted conceit. Can you think of any hero from a greek myth which demonstrated hubris? What other qualities and feelings are dealt with in greek myths?

10. The end References http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/index.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology Created by sweetsoulsista