Verified Document

Greek Mythology And Zeus

Related Topics:

ABC/123 Version X Divine Roles Across Cultures

HUM/105 Version

Divine Roles Across Cultures

Select one common divine role that recurs in world mythology. Possible options of divine roles include the following: father or mother divinities, divinities of war, home or hearth divinities, divinities of love, divinities of wisdom, divinities of medicine or health, divinities of the wind, divinities of agriculture, divinities of the sky, ruler of all the gods, and so on.

Identify the role in the title of your table.

Select two myths, each from a different culture, in which the divine role appears. Identify the divinity names and cultures in columns A and B.

Complete the table by answering each of the five questions for both selected divinities.

Title:

Column A

Divinity Name: Zeus

Culture of Origin: Greek

Column B

Divinity Name: Ra

Culture of Origin: Egyptian

How is this divinity portrayed? Describe the divinity's role within the myth.

In Greek mythology, Zeus is the king god and creator of all gods. He lives on Mt. Olympus and he is also the sky god. Zeus' wife, Hera, is the goddess of Earth. Being the lord of the sky, Zeus has power over thunder, rain, winds, clouds, light and all other related phenomenon. More importantly, Zeus is portrayed as the god of justice. He protects those who cannot protect and acts to punish those who are evil. He is also at the same time merciful.

In Egyptian Mythology Ra is the creator of the earth and everything....

He is also referred to as the sun god. Similar to Zeus in Greek mythology, Ra is the king god and ruler of the Egyptian pantheon. Being the creator of everything including life itself, Ra is often merged with Amun in ancient writings as Amun-Ra.
2. Is the divinity male or female? What function does this gender play?

Zeus is a male divinity. He is the king of all gods in Greek mythology. He is the most powerful deity in Greek mythology and an important part of the ancient Greek patriarchal society.

The same is true with Ra. He is a male divinity. He is the creator and ruler of everything. He is also the most powerful god. This is similarly characteristic of the ancient Egyptian society which was patriarchal.

3. What are the divinity's attributes, such as divine powers or characteristics? What objects does the divinity possess, such as a weapon or animal that assists him or her?

Zeus is the god of the sky and controller of all elements of weather. He can gather clouds and cause storms and heavy rains. He is depicted as using the thunderbolt every now and then at those who displease him. Those who break oaths or lie also face his wrath. He is also portrayed using the oak tree, an eagle and his royal scepter.

Ra was depicted in several different ways in the ancient Egyptian society, the most common being as a lion or hawk. Ra is also the god of the sun. His chief responsibility was to ride around the sky in his gold ship to fight the darkness and evil. As the sun god, he brought light and warmth to human beings and animals that lived on earth. During sun set, he descended into the underworld and brought light and air to the individuals who lived there.

4. Within the myth of origin, how does this divinity compare with other divinities? How does this divinity interact with or compare to divinities of the same gender and to divinities of the opposite gender?

Zeus is depicted as the last born child of Cronus and Rhea, both of whom were titans. Cronus was cruel. He swallowed all his children almost immediately after they were born. However, in the case of Zeus, his mother, Rhea, saved him by hiding him away from his…

Sources used in this document:
REFERENCES

Eisenhower, S. (2013). Divine Roles across Cultures. Retrieved October 4, 2016 from Academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/15704328/Hum_105_Divine_Roles_Across_Cultures

Jewell, R. (2002). Mythology- Stories of Who We Are. Retrieved October 4, 2016 from the University of Minnesota: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~jewel001/humanities/book/4mythology.htm

Larkin, A. & Kingston, G. (2016). Zeus. Retrieved from the Department of Education, Early Learning and Culture: http://www.edu.pe.ca/gulfshore/Archives/heroes/html8imm/zeus/zeushist.htm

"Ra (Re)." Myths and Legends of the World. Retrieved October 04, 2016 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/ra-re
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Greek Mythology Limits and Domesticates a Previous Notion of Power...
Words: 1958 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Greek Mythology and Feminine Divinity Hesiod's Theogony tells of many goddesses who were wily, powerful and ruled many significant aspects of life. However, the Homeric Hymns to Demeter and Apollo show how limited and domesticated goddesses had become. Though the goddesses retained powers over human beings and their own fertility, they were nevertheless considerably weakened when dealing with other gods. Greek Mythology Limits and Domesticates a Previous Notion of Power in the

Greek Mythology Identification a Heroic Greek Myths in a Modern Movie...
Words: 1318 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Greek and Roman Greek Mythology: Identification of Heroic Greek Myths in Modern Movies There are many effective and functional parallels in modern movies to ancient myths. They make us feel and think about many things. Modern movies that have been successful at the box office are inspired by Greek myths. We see common themes, characters and motifs of myth in the modern movies. The goal here is to identify the mythic elements

Greek Mythology Is a Collection
Words: 2211 Length: 7 Document Type: Term Paper

There were many other gods and goddesses and other supernatural beings in both mythologies (Meeks 2002). There were godlings, demigods, river nymphs and tree dryads and other mythical creatures, such as satyrs, comprising the entire belief systems. These systems were polytheistic as well as animistic. The system held that every tree, river and every part of nature had a spirit or energy behind it. Hercules was a famous demigod (Meeks).

Greek Mythology and the Human
Words: 614 Length: 2 Document Type: Assessment

Using this as a foundation, the Ancient Greeks built a society in which women had few rights and were basically the property of men. But women were only one aspect of Greek culture, a culture that seemed to be based on pessimistic beginnings. Hesiod's "The Five Ages of Man" describe a period in which the world slowly devolved from a paradise into the chaos and horror of the ancient world.

Greek Mythology in Ancient Greek, the Word
Words: 1023 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Greek Mythology In ancient Greek, the word "myth" literally means "word" or "story." It refers to authorless tales perpetuated by ancient Greek communities. The characters in Greek myths are typically gods and heroic humans. Each story contains moral lessons for humans on earth that they learn from the immortal gods and various kinds of tragic human heroes. Most often, these lessons either concern morality or an explanation of how a feature

Greek Mythology Predestination and Free
Words: 848 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Thus, the idea of the Morai combined predestination and free will to suggest that a person could choose the actions he or she would take, but was predestined to face the consequences of those choices. In the Oedipus trilogy, however, this view is questioned. Although Oedipus does suffer from a character flaw -- pride -- and he does kill his father and sleep with his mother, he does not know

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now