Cmoneyspinner
I was sitting attentively in a Bible study several years ago and mention was made about the contrast between God and “the other gods”. I contributed to the discussion by saying that I had watched a documentary about the Greek and Roman gods and it seemed as if the gods enjoyed playing with humans like they were toys. That was my unscholarly observation. However, I didn’t really have a specific example to further expound on my statements.
It’s only about 10 years later, but I found an example!
“According to the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, when Zeus was asked to grant prince Tithonus eternal life, the god consented. Nonetheless, there was no request for eternal youth, so for thousands of years, Tithonus grew old and withered.”
Man! I mean … god! Emphasis on the small letter “g”. That’s jive!
This proves that my point. If Zeus wasn’t the type of god that made sport of people and toyed with them, he would have at least warned that Tithonus was not going to stay young forever!
* * *
Edith Hamilton (1867 – 1963) was a distinguished American educator and a classical scholar, whose claim to fame was her thorough knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman mythology. We are in agreement with our understanding of the god and goddesses, but she expresses her observation much more eloquently.
“For the most part the immortal gods were of little use to human beings and often they were quite the reverse of useful: Zeus a dangerous lover for mortal maidens and completely incalculable in his use of the terrible thunderbolt; Ares the maker of war and a general pest; Hera with no idea of justice when she was jealous as she perpetually was; Athena, also a warmaker, and wielding the lightning’s sharp lance quite as irresponsibly as Zeus did; Aphrodite using her power chiefly to ensnare and betray. They were beautiful, radiant company, to be sure, and their adventures made excellent stories; but when they were not positively harmful, they were capricious and undependable and in general mortals got on best without them.”
* * *
Have you ever read the story of Tithonus?
* * *
Quote Sources:
Bertalan, Dr. Meskó. What If We All Lived Beyond 130 Years? – The Medical Futurist. The MedicalFuturist Institute, June 2018
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New American Library,1942.
* * *
Related Virily Links:
The Ultimate Greek Mythology Quiz
* * *
Excellent entertaining read. I love Greek/Roman mythology, not just because the stories are so good, but because of all the symbolism – really, the point made by so many of the myths is to be very careful what you wish for, isn’t it? Trying to overreach yourself and being greedy is often what causes a lot of suffering in life.
Warnings against overreach and greed are definitely what I glean from the myths.
When the gods truly wish us to suffer, they answer our prayers…
LOL. Be careful what you pray for. I learned that lesson the hard way. Won’t do that again!
Now whatever happens in my life, I’m just thankful I lived to tell. LOL.
Truly it is best to make do with what you have
That was very interesting to read, thankyou. =)
Thought=provoking, but I think that writing about the gods in your own voice would be more interesting than a quote … I’d say you should write more, and quote less. What do other readers think? Maybe you could do a poll??
With the exception of one post, all of my posts submitted have been quickly reviewed, approved and made available online to the public. There are many members who have already done other posts on mythology. That’s why I shared some of their links.
Also, Virily is a place to share your thoughts. Since my submission was approved by the editors then they deemed that it’s perfectly OK to share my thoughts along with a quote by someone else who expressed my own thoughts even better than me.
I’m still experimenting with the type of content I want to present at Virily. Each time I get ready to do a post, I think about what to do. Poll? Quiz? Discussion? List? I’m still trying to find “my groove”. LOL. Thanks for your comments. I took them to heart.
I like your attitude. 🙂
The ancient Greeks made their gods in their image and likeness.
Well! When you put it that way, that explains a lot! LOL.