Greek Mythology and Story Telling
The ancient Greeks had a very rich hero tradition. Homer wrote some of the most famous stories in the world that still endure to this day and are regarded as some of the best literature ever written. They are the Iliad and the Odyssey. He also wrote about the siege of Troy and the wanderings of Ulysses. The Greek capacity for story telling was second to none. The famous Greek tragedies are still being played out today. There were playwrights like Aeschylus who wrote the first tragedies in 498 BC, Euripides who was born in 480 BC, Sophocles, perhaps the most famous playwright of the ancient Greeks, who was born in 497 BC and wrote at least 123 plays, yet only seven can be found. Last is Aristophanes born somewhere around 440 BC. He was famous for writing the Greek comedies.
Since Sophocles was so famous, I think it might be important to know what plays of his survived. The plays that survived from Sophocles are:
1. Electra
2. Trachiniae
3. Ajax
4. Oedipus at Colonus
5. Antigone
6. Oedipus Tyrannus
7. Philoctetes
Ancient Greek mythology contains many interesting stories of heroes that accomplished the seemingly impossible. There were many different types of heroes. Hercules was the strongest hero, Jason was the most adventurous hero and Odysseus the most cunning. Let’s take a quick look into the stories and legends of ancient Greece.
Hercules was the strongest man on Earth. Well half man anyway. His father was the god Zeus. In a fit of madness caused by the goddess Hera he killed his wife and children. Apollo told him he had to serve under the king of Mycenae and Tiryns for 12 years as punishment for what he had done. But this wasn't the entire punishment. The rest of it consisted of performing 12 labors. He had performed 10 labors, the original amount required but two were not counted by Eurystheus, the king, as labors. Those were killing the hydra and cleaning the stables, so 2 more were assigned.
Here are the labors Hercules had to perform:
1. Obtaining the skin of a lion that was terrorizing the country side.
2. Killing the Lernean Hydra.
3. Bringing the Hind of Ceryneia to the king. The Hind was the pet of the goddess Diana.
4. Bringing the Erymanthian Boar alive to the king. This boar was particularly vicious.
5. Cleaning the stables of King Augeas in one day.
6. Driving away the Stymphalian birds which were in a huge flock.
7. Capturing the Cretan Bull.
8. Capturing the man eating horses of Diomedes.
9. Bringing the belt of Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazon Tribe, to the king.
10. Bringing the cattle of the monster Geryon, who lived at the end of the world, back to the king.
11. Bringing back golden apples from Zeus that were given to him by Hera.
12. Entering the underworld and capturing the beast Cerberus also known as Kerberos.
Hercules accomplished all of the tasks.
Jason was the son of the king of Iolcus. He had been sent off in secret by his mother who made believe he was dead to protect him from his uncle who had stolen the throne and imprisoned his father. He was raised by a Centaur. He had a kind heart and when he decided to return to Iolcus to take back the throne he carried an old woman across the river and she turned out to be Hera testing him. He was tricked by his uncle in going on a quest for the Golden Fleece. He left on a ship named the Argo and the crew was made up of his friends who were called Argonauts. On the trip he had many trials. He was attacked by the Harpies, sailed between the clashing rocks, challenged by King Aeetes who disliked strangers. He was attacked by bulls that breathed fire, hit with the curse of the dragon’s teeth and attacked by the dragon that guarded the fleece.
Odysseus was responsible for building the famous Trojan Horse. The Greeks had been trying to capture Troy for ten years and Odysseus suggested they build a giant wooden horse and hide soldiers inside it. The rest of the Greeks were to hide leaving the horse. They figured the Trojans would think the Greeks left and to celebrate, pull the horse into the city. They did and after the Trojans were done celebrating the Greeks sneaked out of the horse and opened the city gates and Troy fell.
Ulysses is usually not listed when one mentions ancient Greek heroes. The reason for this is he is believed to be complete fiction, at least that is the impression I get. But if I am right than why is Hercules listed and why do I call this piece Greek Mythology and Story Telling, it is all very confusing isn't it? The funny thing is so much in Homer's tales has turned out to be true. It may turn out some day there really was a Hercules, not half god of course, and even a Ulysses. Troy was believed to have been found and before that it was believed to just have been fiction. This has given hope to many Atlantis believers.
Greek story tellers had quite an imagination. While this was also true of some of the other ancient races, the Greeks seemed to take this to a higher level. Some of their stories could be compared to those of science fiction writers today. A lot of their stories had to do with magic. The reason for this was probably the fact the ancient people believed in it, so for them this was not fantasy but rather a possibility. The other thing they wrote a lot about was war. Again, there was a very good reason for this as the Greek states were constantly at war with each other and with outside forces such as the Persians. When Alexander conquered the known world, this led to the Greeks becoming the strongest army on Earth and probably led to even more stories about battles and war.
What I have always found strange was the fact the Romans loved everything Greek and held it in high esteem. If you had a Greek teacher for your children that was considered the very best education they could have. The Romans copied the Greeks in many ways and I guess the saying which states Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery was certainly true on the part of the Romans who even adapted the Greek gods and renamed them.
