Thursday, May 6, 2010

Myths Align And Define?

How do the read myths on pages 411-423 align with our definition of Greek Mythology?  What characteristics really distinguish themselves as patterns that we note in other myths?  Reflect, comment, and critique. 

11 comments:

rileighe said...

I think that these myths mostly align with our definition because they contain mythical or magical and divine happenings. The gods are vengeful and they fall in love and will do anything to fulfill that love which seems to be a characteristic of myths. So I do think that these myths align with out definition for the most part. The only thing that doesn't line up is the hero aspect, there isn't really any heroes in this myth like Odysseus or Achilles and so on.

SpiritFilledBelievers said...

These myths are titled as "less important" but I believe they show the characteristics that most Greek myths have. In the Midas story, there is a guest-host relationship and there is a foolish king who gets paid back for his dumb request. In the story of Aesculapius, a mortal woman is killed in spite of the god's anger. The Danaids are forced to forever complete the impossible task of filling leaky jars with water. as punishment for killing their husbands. Scylla was turned into a horrible monster because of Circe's jealousy. All of these myths show common Greek elements of human flaws and responses of the divinities that should be in all myths.

Ryan Brookes said...

the gods in this myth take all precautions necessary to get what they want, weather that be love or power it doesnt matter. this seems to be a common characteristic in our myths and continue to show up in what we read. the only thing that is unique about this myth is the lack of the heroes journey.

carlos s said...

I think that the roles of the gods' in these myths do align with our definitions of Mythology because gods/supernatural beings are affecting the life's of people. All the myths show jealousy and anger of a god, Apollo for not winning the musical contest, in Aesculapius Apollo was angry at Coronis for cheating on him, Circe was jealous of Scylla for taking Glaucus from her, Ceres was angry at Erysichton for cutting the tallest oak, Vertumnus was jealous that he couldn't have Pomona. All theses myths demonstrate that even the gods have human qualities and that demonstration of human qualities should qualify them as myths.

jlebel said...

I do think that these myths align with our definition of mythology due to the content of them. They contain fiction characters and there is usually a hero in each one. They also explain why things happen the way that they do in a story which we have seen in other myths such as Demeter. Another thing that we have seen in many other myths is how the gods interact with the humans a lot in each story.

Mara L. said...

These myths have divine interaction. There are gods and they have human characteristics. All though there are gods, it does not have heroes or anything to do with the heroic code.

aj said...

I think that these two myths connect with the definition of mythology by showing a common motif in them, which is love. the gods in these show jealousy/hatetred twards other people.

Maddy F said...

The myth of the hero usually have the same characteristics. The pages 411-423 show how repetitive and how we continue to see the guest host relationship throughout the stories in which we encounter. That is one of the many characteristics seen in Greek mythology. The divinities have a certain present and it is another thing seen through the myths.

SGetz said...

These myths are less important because they lack the major common elements of most other myths. However they still share important information of the god's characteristics. They contain the consequences of stupidity. In love or just decisions made by a hopeless king. These mistakes made many suffer when it was not their fault, such as, Aesculapius.

beckyg said...

These myths do seem to align with our definition of mythology. In all of the myths the gods or goddesses influence the lives of the people a lot. They also have the typical mythological passionate and impulsive reactions by both people and gods that they quickly regret. As in most myths the gods also do whatever necessary to succeed and to get what they want now even if in the long run it would not be the best thng for them.

Chai said...
This comment has been removed by the author.