Greek Mythology ~~ The Big Three ~~

I recently realized that, while I’ve mentioned four gods and goddesses so far, I’ve never talked about the Big Three. Mostly, this is because I don’t find them particularly interesting; they may control the sky, the sea, and the Underworld, but their personalities aren’t particularly liked or disliked by me. Still, they are very important to mythology in general, so I’m doing a little section on them.

Zeus, lord of the sky, is very powerful. With his lightning and the fact that he’s the head of all the gods and goddesses of Olympus, he can do almost anything, but since not all those gods follow his lead, he has to control any rebellions on top of any other responsibilities. He’s an interesting character, but his elevated status does little to actually separate him from all the other gods. He can be both merciful and ruthless, but usually makes good judgements.

Poseidon, master of the sea, can do a lot with his power. For the most part, Zeus and Poseidon have major transportation covered: Zeus with airplanes, and Poseidon with ships. Of course, since the two don’t always work together, they can’t make full use of that. Poseidon’s power becomes clearer in The Odyssey, where Odysseus spends years finding his way home.

Hades, ruler of the Underworld, has practically unlimited wealth. I’ve never understood why they’ve never had myths about Eros or Hermes being mischievous and using it to corrupt the economy, but maybe we just never hear about it or they weren’t able to succeed. Either way, Hades’ wealth provides a huge source of power and influences that probably aren’t useful to the gods. I find him quite interesting.

Greek Mythology ~~ Artemis and Apollo ~~

Artemis and Apollo are rather similar, natural given the fact that the two are twins. Their father is Zeus, while their mother is Leto. They’re both closely related to hunting, archery in particular, but they’re not ruthless, either — Artemis is portrayed as caring for young humans and animals, being the goddess of childbirth, while Apollo is the god of light and healing. This, too, is reasonable, as hunters spare the younger animals, who can still grow and have children, in favor of the older ones, who would eventually die of natural causes anyway. One major aspect in which they’re different is their sexuality. Artemis is a virgin, even going so far as to kill a mortal who, unluckily for him, saw her bathing, while Apollo has been known to have other lovers. The two are quite close, however, and both of them protect their mother, Leto, and each other. When Hera sent a snake, Python, after Leto, Apollo dispatched it. Similarly, Niobe’s boast that she had more and better children than Leto did did not go unnoticed, and the twins killed all of her children (or at least the majority of them, as myths disagree about this). I respect their loyalty to their mother, and both are portrayed as accurate hunters. Overall, I like and respect the twin deities.

Greek Mythology ~~ Favorite Gods and Goddesses ~~

I’ve recently become interested in Greek mythology, especially Greek gods and goddesses. I think that each deity is different and all of them have unique, interesting personalities. However, I do prefer some of them over others.

Athena, goddess of the olive, a symbol of peace and victory, and the owl, a symbol of wisdom, mystery, intelligence, protection, and secrets is my favorite goddess. She is cunning and intelligent. For example, Athena tricked Hector so that Achilles could kill him by turning into Hector’s favorite brother, Deiphobus. As Deiphobus, Athena told Hector to face Achilles in battle because Deiphobus would be fighting alongside him. Hector agreed to face Achilles, but as Deiphobus was not actually there, Achilles won the battle. I admire her traits of cunning and wisdom because it means she has a sense of self-preservation, unlike many gods who seem to be focused mainly on brute strength. Furthermore, by being logical and intelligent, she wouldn’t act impulsively based on hatred, but would calculate her decisions and usually achieve her goal. Athena is also sympathetic at times. After Arachne committed suicide because of the guilt Athena tried to give her over the weaving contest, Athena was sorry for being the cause of Arachne’s hanging and turned her into a spider after her death so she could weave eternally. Another example of her kindness was when she gave Teiresias the ability to understand birds after accidentally blinding him because he had seen her naked. She normally considers the feelings of others. However, when she is feeling vengeful, she may forget about other people at times and simply focus on her own target. For example, when Paris insulted her beauty and said that Aphrodite was fairer than her, Athena fueled the entire Trojan War in The Odyssey. Although Athena occasionally feels vengeful, most of the time she is rational and rewards intelligence and cunning with her help. Unlike Ares, she is the god of defensive war and strategy.

My least favorite god is Ares; he likes to fight and destroy buildings, lives, landmarks, and more. He is impulsive and warlike, but he acts on instinct instead of with rational thought. Unlike Athena, he rushes into battle without thinking about how he might be able to avoid it. As the god of war, he is very violent, but doesn’t consider the consequences of his actions or how they might negatively affect other people. As the patron of offensive war, he is easily angered and likes to start wars, not a very good trait for an important person with a lot of power. His symbols are the vulture and offensive weapons. The vulture represents death or impending death, which means that Ares brings death. I do not particularly like the concept of dying, as it can emotionally hurt many people who will not see those that they love again. The people who die will also never have another chance at life, so death in battle can ruin futures that could have helped others or contributed greatly to society. Ares was a god of destruction, and he created mayhem and destruction in his wake. He destroyed many lives, and buildings. I do not think that wanton destruction is a good thing; it tears down meaningful creations that might otherwise have been valuable or rare in the future. Ares is often arrogant and doesn’t usually care for others’ feelings. Unlike Athena, he is the god of offensive war and destruction.