Hera, Goddess of Birth and Marriage

As we come to end of this journey, I saved the best for last. Hera, the Goddess of birth and marriage was the most well know Goddess of them all. Not only was she Zeus' wife, but sister as well (Lindemans). Hera being married to the most important God there is, was constantly jealous of Zeus' affairs with other Goddess and even mortals. Therefore, "causing her children not to be conceived with the help of a man, but by slapping her hand on the ground or by eating lettuce; thus they were born, not out of love but out of lust and hatred" (Lindemans). Even though Hera was a Goddess, she was not a very well respected one. Sometimes, her jealousy got to her so much to the point where she caused evil to happen. Hera did not approve of Zeus' any chidren he had with other women and she tried to murder each of them, but resulting very unsuccesfully. "Most stories heard about Hera are about her jealousy and revenge on Zeus for his infedelities" (Hera). Although, Hera had many person issues with her love life, she was also a very nurturing and caring Goddess who took much care of married women (Hera). Through it all, no matter which Goddess you like or do not like, Greek mythology has changed our world forever. It has influenced literature, art, music and much more. They are century old myth's that keep people wanting to know more.

SOURCES

Lindemans, Micha. "Hera". http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/hera.html. Web. 7 July 2010.

"Hera". http://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Hera/hera.html. Web. 7 July 2010.

PICTURE SOURCE

http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Hera.html

Athena, Goddess of War and Wisdom

A person would assume that Athena, Goddess of War was nothing but violent. However, this was very much untrue. Athena was just as peaceful, if not more, then Aphrodite. Athena only instigated wars if she had to, but otherwise she preferred to use wisdom to calm every situation. It is believed that Athena "was quite literally absorbed by Zeus, who by pure thought brought her to birth from his forehead, fully armed in his own magic goat-skin, the aegis, though Hephaestus cleft his head with an axe to effect the delivery" (Pinsent). In society, this myth "reflects the resentment felt in a patriarchal society for woman's one indispensable function, actually bearing the legitimate children of the father" (Pinsent). The most memorable thing about Athena was "the Parthenon, the grand temple of Athena atop the Akropolis" (Vivante). Athena also planted an olive tree right by the Parthenon and fought Poseidon, her uncle, in order to become ruler of a city in Greece and show worthiness of herself (Vivante). Although there has been speculation and resentment towards Athena's birth, the people of Greece always admired and respected her as a warrior, fighter and strong woman.



SOURCES

Pinsent, John. Greek Mythology. New York, NY: Peter Bedrick Books, 1969. 19 - 22. Print. 5 July 2010.

Vivante, Bella. Events That Changed Ancient Greece. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2002. 35 - 55. Print. 5 July 2010.

PICTURE SOURCE

http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/000Spanish/Atenea.html

Aphrodite, Goddess of Love ♥

For a school project in the fifth grade my class put on a play about Greek mythology, and who else to act out Aphrodite but myself. Immediately I was excited mostly for the fact that I knew she was the Goddess of Love. However, that’s all I ever knew until I did some research of my own, and found out more then I could imagine. Aphrodite was not only the goddess of love but also “sex, pleasure and beauty” (Pirenne-Delforge). Coincidently her name, Aphrodite, has a meaning of “seduction and deception” (Pirenne-Delforge). According to Ancient Greek culture there are two beliefs from where Aphrodite came from. One claimed that she was “born from the severed genitals of the Sky god, Uranus”, while the other one stated she was the daughter of Zeus and Dione (Pirenne-Delforge). The meaning of her name really played into character because she had amazing beliefs such as love and marriage as one, but she believed in love so much as to let Gods fall in love with mortals, which was unacceptable (Pirenne-Delforge). Aphrodite herself also fell in love, but with a mortal, Anchises and had a child, Aeneas (Pirenne-Delforge). Aphrodite has been such an influential character not only to literature but art as well. With the now very well know sculpture inspired by Aphrodite “Aphrodite of Cnidus” it has “set the style for female nudity” (The Hellenistic Period). Being the Goddess of love was not always an easy task, but as we all know love makes us do crazy things!



♥ SOURCES ♥


Pirenne-Delforge, Vinciane. "Aphrodite." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 407-409. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 1 July 2010.


"The Hellenistic Period." Arts and Humanities Through the Eras. Ed. Edward Bleiberg. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 420-425. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 1 July 2010.



♥ PICTURE CITATION ♥


http://find.galegroup.com/gps/retrieve.do?contentSet=EBKS&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28KE%2CNone%2C9%29aphrodite%24&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=DateDescend&searchType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T001&prodId=IPS&searchId=R4¤tPosition=82&userGroupName=txshracd2560&docId=CX3427400369&docType=EBKS&contentSet=EBKS

A Journey Begins..

We've all heard about great names such as Zeus, Poseidon and Hermes, but what about the strong women that also play important parts such as Athena, Aphrodite and Hera? Ever since I was first introduced to Greek mythology in the fourth grade I have been fascinated with it. Even though only fiction, something about studying Greek Gods and mythology always kept me wanting to learn more. With every new character and story introduced to me, I consistently keep wanting to know what is going to happen next. To me, it is a fantasy world where everything is so different and suspenseful. Every story told there is always so much discussion about. Greek mythology has had such a huge impact on us as humans in so many ways, through literature, art, religion and even astrology. Although, as always women never got enough credit for their work. So, who were these women, and what did they do? What is their story? Well let me take you through this journey of every Olympian goddesses and by the end you will know their hardships, accomplishments and everything in between.