Saturday, September 29, 2012
We talked a lot about the gods and their, ironically, ungodly behavior. As Mrs. King bluntly and rightfully stated, the male gods just went around raping women and having demigod children. I forgot where, but I read something about the conflict between the demigod children and their god parents got so bad that Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon had to make a pact to no longer have any children. The gods overall were extremely mischievous and troublesome, for example the goddess Rumor literally went around causing problems. Throughout mythology, the gods really never had any agreements and each one would intervene in certain things and tell the hero to do what they want them to do. I think it is oddly accurate to imagine the Greek gods as infants in togas running a muck (do it... it really is pretty funny).
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Haha, you make a pretty good point Tyler, which is why i find it funny that the Greeks depicted Greek Gods with extreme perfection. This seems counterintuitive given that Greeks typically knew the famous stories of all the gods. However, this is actually quite fitting as the Greeks envisioned Gods as beings that were subject to the same obstacles humans face, ie: emotions. The Greeks conception of the Gods, as 'ungodly" was sort of their way of justifying the supernatural world as they had become increasingly focused on humanism and rational thought as the 5th century BCE came to an end.
Firstly, I think the pact between the gods was part of the plot of a book series (Percy Jackson, I think). But I agree with you that the gods are insanely unfeeling towards the people who worship them. Even though the gods help heroes sometimes, they probably do the heroes more harm than good in most cases. I mean, Odysseus probably would have gotten home much faster if it weren't for Poseidon. Most cases of the gods helping are because the gods have their own personal investment in the situation. (in the case of Aeneas, he receives help from his mother and from Jose so he can fulfill his destiny og founding Rome).
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