Neil Matt Hamilton - Greek Mythology: Fascinating Myths and Stories of Greek Gods, Heroes and Monsters

Greek Mythology is one of the great mythologies of the world. Tales of Greek gods and heroes have inspired countless generations in the Western world, and this trend shows no signs of letting up. These myths even inspired the Ancient Greeks to be better than they often were, even though the gods did not always set the best example. Today, Greek Mythology is taught in schools as part of an introduction to the West. Why? There are a number of reasons, but the struggle against the whims of life and the apparent fickleness of the gods so embodied the Greek experience as to make their mythology almost a representation of the human experience. In Greek mythology lay the foundations of Western art, literature, and philosophy.

Of course, to the Greeks, their mythology was merely the way the world was. The gods could be fickle and unkind and so too could life. Daily experiences were frequently rife with calamities that seemed to run contrary to reason, and this was also true for the heroes and mythological characters who would have their stories told in drama. To us, Oedipus may seem like a strange unfathomable character, but to the Greeks, he was man himself, burdened by the woes that characterized the life of men on Earth.

This chasm between ancient life and today is part of what makes mythology so interesting to study. When you take the time to learn about the gods and goddesses of a foreign people, you learn not only about who the people were and why they were, but you may even get a little glimpse at who you are. The drama of your life unfolds in ways that would have been understandable to people of the past even if they are occasionally not understandable to you.

In Greek Mythology : Fascinating Myths and Legends of Greek Gods, Heroes, and Monsters you will be introduced to the formative tales and characters of Greek myth. This introduction will allow you to understand how a people who lived more than two thousand years ago understood and experienced the world. These people may have been different from you, but it can be argued that the basics of life have not changed much in two thousand years (if at all). Human beings still experience the same loves, rages, and disappointments much as they did back then. These types of emotions were well encapsulated in Greek legend, which often takes the form of an elaborate drama.

To be honest, the drama is the best way to describe Greek myth and legend. Perhaps this is why the Greeks were the inventors of drama as we understand it today. The relationships between the gods, and between gods and mortals often had an emotional character that is seldom found in other mythologies. The Greek gods were jealous and vengeful. They loved and hated. They projected their frustrations onto others. In Greek Mythology : Fascinating Myths and Legends of Greek Gods, Heroes, and Monsters , you will learn of the loves of Zeus and of Apollo, and of the jealousies of Hera and Mars. These gods played out their emotions in a highly human fashion.

But some of the most interesting characters are actually the human ones. Few tales are as fascinating as that of Theseus and the Minotaur. There was also the love of Theseus for Ariadne and Phaedra. Of course, there was Perseus and Andromeda, and Andromedas mother Cassiopeia who was placed among the stars. The Greeks were very familiar with the tale of how Perseus slew the gorgon, Medusa. These were stories that children of the time were well-versed in just as children of today can recount the exploits of their favorite cartoon characters.

Naturally, Heracles was a character that the Greeks often wrote about. His exploits were dramatized in the theaters of their cities and large towns. His labors were reenacted at religious festivals as sort of a reminder that life was hardest of all for the great. The twelve labors of Heracles, indeed, seemed to be another representation of life itself, embodying the reality that life was a constant struggle and one that was sometimes lost. Perhaps all mythologies had this underlying message.

Everyone reading Greek Mythology : Fascinating Myths and Legends of Greek Gods, Heroes, and Monsters to learn about Greek myths and legends has their own reason for doing so. Some read because they hope to better understand how people of the past thought, perceived and lived. Reading about Greek myth allows one to understand in this fashion because the exploration of myth is practically a journey into the mind of another. When one thinks of the great compendium that is mythology and all of the men whose words and ways of storytelling contributed to this myth and legend, it really seems to be the mind of many others. Mythologies are created by men, by people, and they give a strong indication of the manner in which such people perceive the world.

What one learns from Greek myth is that the Ancient Greeks saw the world as filled with good things as well as bad. They saw man as engaged in constant struggle with himself. Man loved too much and this love often roped him into trouble, trouble that was not easily escaped from (just ask Zeus). Man struggled against fate and in so doing caused that fate to become a reality. It seemed that Man was destined to always be fooled in his attempts at peace, and many Greek myths (if not most) seem to end unhappily. But then we read about Odysseus and how he managed to return home to his wife Penelope, showing that loyalty - the loyalty the twain had for each other - was rewarded by the gods.