World Literature Studies for the CSET English Part 2

Mar
04

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This is part 2 in our review of World Literature studies for the CSET.

Greek Mythology

Myths were told or written to answer some of the biggest questions a person could ask — Who are we? Where did we come from? Why do these things happen? A myth is often a story of gods and goddesses, heroes, great deeds, and supernatural powers. It may explain things that are mysterious or unknowable to us. In ancient times, myths sometimes explained things that we now understand through science, like the movement of the stars and planets and the changing of the seasons.

We see the evidence of ancient Greece around us every day — in the constellations we identify in the heavens or the Olympic games held every four years; in the stories we tell and in the movies we see; in the architecture of our houses, churches, and public buildings and in our democratic system of government.

Monsters, gods, and heroes, the stuff of Greek mythology. But Greek mythology offers so much more: inspiration for many works of art (both written and visual), insight into human nature, a glimpse at an ancient people trying to make sense of phenomena they could not explain, and the source for many names and terms we use today.

Although myths convey exciting stories about gods and heroes, they are not equivalent to “stories” either in the modern sense of a deliberate fiction or the traditional sense of a folk tale or tall story. Rather, myths are traditional narratives that are passed down through various textual and visual sources and convey commonly held beliefs in a particular society about natural phenomena, historical events, and proper behavior.

In their mythology, poetry, and plays, the Greeks held characters accountable for their own choices, actions, and behavior. Therefore their stories teach lessons about behaviors that were considered disagreeable or foolish by the Greeks.

Greek myths often attempted to explain mysterious elements of the natural world. How did the Echo story explain what causes an echo? How did the Phaeton story explain how the sun moves across the sky and why the land of Libya is a desert? Spiders have adapted to catch prey through the creation of webs. How does the story of Arachne explain the origin of spiders? Many of the constellations, such as those associated with the astrological signs, are named after characters from Greek myths.

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By Peter Lorison
http://www.ACEtheCSET.com
Peter Lorison

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