Intro to Greek Mythology Influence

Introduction: In order to understand the impact of Greek mythology on Western culture one must understand what Greek mythology itself is. Greek Mythology is the belief, tales, and stories of ancient gods who ruled the ancient world as well as heroes who challenged the gods or some who fought for them. Many of these tales include moral stories and shaped humanistic values of what and what not to do. The ancient Greece Empire was located around the Mediterranean Sea and touched parts of what was called minor Asia (Howstuffwork 2010). In these times the belief was that ancient gods were a part of everyday life. Supposedly the gods rules all aspect of life such as the production of food, domestic life, war and social life such as fortune and love. The people mad sacrifices to these gods to “please” them and many died fighting for these gods, which no one actually saw because of their home on Mount Olympus. Greek mythology was more than just stories to these people it was actually a religion, which formed and shaped political nature of Ancient Greece as well. Greek mythology attempts to explain the origins of the world and the reasons for occurrences in the world. The time period of when Greek mythology began is not really confirmed it is estimated around 800 BC, but there have been accounts of earlier pottery and artifacts which show images of the gods. These mythical stories have stood against the sands of time and even today are used in modern language and societies.

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