Gods and Goddesses of Greek Mythology Essay Example for Free

Gods and Goddesses of Greek Mythology Essay The book Mythology by Edith Hamilton is a novel devoted to the legends of Greek Mythology. Such legends tell stories of mighty heroes, ghastly creatures, and Gods and Goddesses with amazing powers. In order to fully understand these myths, a reader must examine each of these Gods or Goddesses individually and identify the unique Characteristics they have. The first humanoid Gods that appeared in Greek Mythology were the Titans, or the Elder Gods. They were the children of Mother Earth and Father Heaven, and due to their enormous size and strength, they ruled over the universe for eons. Some of the most famous Titans were: Atlas, who carried the world on his shoulders; Prometheus, who brought fire to mankind and then was famously chained to a mountain; and Cronus, the king of the Titans. The Titans were in complete control of the heavens and earth, and it would have stayed that way if it weren’t for their own children. The children of the Titans were the Gods and Goddesses of Olympus, or also known as the twelve great Olympians. The king of the Gods, and the God who overthrew Cronus to take his power, was Zeus. Zeus was the supreme ruler after the fall of Cronus, as well as the Lord of the Sky, the Rain-god, the Cloud-gatherer, and the wielder of the awful thunderbolt. His power was greater than all of the other Gods combined. Zeus was also a lover of many mortal women, and had many demigod (half-god half-mortal) children. Zeus’s bird was the Eagle, his symbols of power the thunderbolt and his breastplate Aegis. Hera was Zeus’s wife and sister. She was the Goddess of Marriage. She was always venerated in the home, and it was she married women turned to with their problems. Ironically enough, Hera was also well known for her hatred of the women who Zeus had affairs with, punishing them for mercilessly in blind anger. Poseidon was the God of the Sea, and was the most powerful God besides Zeus. He could calm the waters with his golden chariot, or create mighty storms. He carried beside him a three pronged trident that could cause earthquakes. Besides being honored for the lord of the water, he also created the first horse and gave it to man. Hades was the God of the Dead. Not to be confused with the God of Death itself, who was Thanatos; Hades ruled the underworld. His kingdom was under the surface of the earth, so all the precious metals under the ground belonged to him; therefore, he was also the God of Wealth. He did not often leave his dark realm, and he was not a welcome visitor when he did. Athena was often recognized as a ruthless war Goddess. She was born from Zeus’s head fully grown and clothed in battle gear. She has been called gray-eyed and the protector of civilized life. She was a symbol of wisdom, purity, and reason. The city of Athens was her special city, honorably named after her; the olive invented by her was her tree. Apollo has been known as the Archer and God of Truth. He was also the Healer, who first taught men the healing art. He was the master musician at Olympus, and delighted the Gods with his beautiful golden lyre. The Laurel was his sacred tree, and the Dolphin and Crow his most sacred animals. Artemis was a Lady of Wild Things, huntsman in chief to the Gods. She was known as the Moon Goddesses, and carried silver arrows that could pierce an animal as harmlessly and quickly as moonlight. Notably, all animals were sacred to her, especially the deer. Aphrodite was the Goddess of Love and Beauty. She was said to be born of the foam of the sea near the islands of Cythera and Cyprus. Where ever she goes, beauty follows and men succumb to her love. Her husband was the disfigured God Hephaestus; however she was often portrayed as in a love affair with Ares. Hephaestus was the God of Fire; also known as the Master of the Forge. He was the only ugly and lame Olympian. He built furnishings and weapons for the Gods, and it was said his forge was under a volcano. He was a kindly, peace-loving, and popular on earth and on Mount Olympus. Hestia was the God of the home and hearth. Though she had no distinct personality, when a baby was born it was always carried around her shrine, and every meal started and ended with an offering to her. Every city had a hearth dedicated to her that was never allowed to go out. Hermes was a messenger, trickster, trader, and thief. Before he was even a day old, he stole Apollo’s herds; then, as recompense, he invented Apollo’s lyre for him out of a tortoise shell. He was a God to all traders and merchants, and was Zeus’s personal messenger. He was the most cunning and shrewd out of all the Gods. The God of War was Ares. He was a fierce cruel son of Zeus and Hera, both who detested him. He delighted in bloodstained battles and the fury of fighting, yet was also described as a coward, who ran away moaning when he was wounded. His bird was naturally the vulture. The twelve great Olympians listed above were not the only Gods in Greek Mythology. In addition to these Olympians, the Greeks also had many minor Gods that they worshiped as well. They lived on the Earth rather than on Mount Olympus. The two most important minor Gods were Demeter and Dionysus. Demeter was originally the Goddess of Corn, though she grew to represent the Goddess of all harvests. She was the one who brought summer and spring to the earth, and who brought every fall and winter when sorrowed for her daughter. She was very important to Greek culture had many mortal like qualities, such as grief and sadness. Dionysus was the God of Wine and drunken revelry. He had a strong dual personality, where he could make men ecstatic and oblivious to their troubles, but then also make them hostile and insane. He traveled the world, hardly staying on Mount Olympus, discovering the secrets to winemaking. He was a welcome visitor at any party, and Greek Culture loved him. Another minor God that was well known was Pan. He was the shepherd and goat herder’s God. He was not divine, glorious, or radiant, but rather ugly because of his goat hooves and horns. He was an excellent musician and famous for the sweet nature melodies he played on his reed pipes. In addition to Gods and Goddesses, the magical creatures of Greek Mythology are also important to know. Satyrs were half-goat half-man dwellers of the forest. Centaurs were a half-horse half-man creature; The Gorgons were three dragon-like creatures who turned men to stone; The Sirens lured seamen to their deaths with enchanting songs. The Gods, Goddesses, and creatures of Greek Mythology were fascinating. The unique characteristics of each god and goddess are what supported entire cultures, as well as made the timeless tales of so remarkable. With help from Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, a person really can understand who the Gods and Goddesses of Greek Mythology were, and gain knowledge about how each of them was different but important individually.

Comparing Love after Love and This Room Essay -- Derek Walcott Imtiaz

Comparing Love after Love and This Room The two poems with which I compare each other are both poems of celebration. Celebration of life, love and your identity. The first is â€Å"Love after Love† by Derek Walcott. This poem is about self-discovery. Walcott suggests that we spend years assuming an identity, but eventually discover who we really are - and this is like two different people meeting and making friends and sharing a meal together. Walcott presents this in terms of the love feast or Eucharist of the Christian church - â€Å"Eat...Give wine. Give bread.† And it is not clear whether this other person is merely human or in some way divine, this is also an imperative which would suggest that they are divine and so have a right to give orders. But it could just be advice. The second poem, with which I will be comparing â€Å"Love after Love† is Imtiaz Dharker’s â€Å"This room† a poem again, about the joys of life and how it should be enjoyed and absorbed. This is a quite puzzling poem, if we try to find an explicit and exact interpretation - but its general meaning is clear enough, it suggests that Imtiaz Dharker sees rooms and furniture as possibly limiting or imprisoning one, but when change comes, it is as if the room â€Å"is breaking out of itself† this line is obviously a metaphor, which I believed to mean that the room is alive and it is liberating itself.., I think this means that if the mere room is doing this, that you should liberate yourself. She presents this rather literally, with a bizarre or surreal vision of room, bed and chairs breaking out of the house and rising up - the chairs â€Å"crashing through clouds† suggesting upward motion. The crockery, meanwhile, crashes together noisily â€Å"in celebration†. And... ... â€Å"This Room† In the poem our homes and possessions symbolize our lives and ambitions in a limiting sense, while change and new opportunities are likened to space, light and â€Å"empty air†, where there is an opportunity to move and grow. Like Walcott’s Love after Love, it is about change and personal growth - but at an earlier point, or perhaps at repeated points in one's life. In my opinion, both poems do an excellent job of encouraging a love of life, and making it seem very attractive and using metaphors for it to make it seem less serious. This is definitely a good thing. Both tell that you should live your life as you wish and should take advantage of every second of it. To conclude, I believe these poems both hold a strong moral point. Why should you become someone else to satisfy society’s needs? The resounding answer from both poems? You shouldn’t.

A home away from home

Fate simply got me here.. As thrilled as I was at the prospect of finally becoming a university student I was equally depressed for not knowing anybody, I was at a crossroads simply caught in the struggle of finding myself, flung who am I and who I want to be. It was a tough experience I won't Ill yet It was worth It and It still isle Every day Is a new adventure, a day simply never ends without learning something new, meeting a new friend, and coming a better version of myself.You know as a teenager all you are Is a reckless human being that's looking for themselves in this life and well, as for myself, I thought that finding myself would be by traveling to some other country and wandering freely. But I never thought that a university can show you what home truly means. Palestine, peace are all encompassed in my definition of â€Å"home† _ Describing the friends that I have made here are beyond words. Why did I relate this to home? Simply, because some friends are family and mine are truly that.Palestine is all about unity, and Bethlehem university is all about that. You see a Christian setting with a Muslim, studying, talking, laughing, making a lifetimes worth of friendships, and simply living In an atmosphere of both Christian and Muslim students without the judgment or racism because we are one and Palestine is unity and peace. Well, unity is what gets you to peace. What is peace if you have the slightest bits of hatred in your heart? I am a Muslim, but I honestly don't think this matters if you look at it from the concept of humanity.Whether you're Christian, Muslim, Jew or whatever is it that you believe in, it doesn't matter as long as you're a good one, a one with the resemblance of humanity. I'm from Hebrew and yes It takes time to get to university everyday and to get past all the flying checkpoints that you never know when they'll surprise you with, but it's worth the struggle every day. Being a Palestinian student under oppression Isn't easy at all, however I try my best as an Individual to get closer to peace and freedom. And for myself, the only way to get there is education.With education you can do anything you want. You can conquer the world if you set your mind to it. No one can deny what you did for the know I'm Just a student, but if you look at it from another point of view, trifles are what make a change. Life has much yet to give you, you Just got to be patient. For me Bethlehem University is how life is awarding me. It's my home, the place where I feel like myself, the place that I know is my first step to making a change and have myself leaving my footprints in this world. Bethlehem University truly is a place of opportunity. Mira Aimer

Success with Orgination and Time Management - 963 Words

Success With Organization and Time Managment Returning to college after having been out of the school system for seven years has been quite a challenge. For me, high school was relatively easy; I had a teacher there to hold my hand every step of the way. The college scene is completely different as O Keeney states, You re really on your own when it comes to passing courses. Having strong organization and time management skills has helped make my time at college successful thus far. I owe a great deal of gratitude towards my work experiences. Without them, I would be having an extremely difficult time in college because As a college student, you will be in complete control of your time and how you use it (Surviving Freshman†¦show more content†¦I also make it important to have personal time blended in nicely with homework and studying. My husband and I usually pick a night of the week to have date night; this is our opportunity to spend quality time with each other as we ll as catch up with all the things that have been going on during the week. I cannot express how much help it has been for me to keep organized and manage my time properly. So far, I have been able to keep up my grades and have managed to complete my duties outside of school. Organization has also helped me to have a positive attitude towards everything; in other words, A positive attitude is the key to everything else Ââ€" good study habit, smart time scheduling, and coping with personal difficulties (O Keeney). I suggest that anyone who may be struggling right now take the time to get organized and see if that makes a difference. Works Cited O Keeney, Brian. How to Make It in College, Now That You re Here College writing Skills with Readings. Ed. John Langan. New York: McGraw, 1985 Surviving Freshman