Myths as Roman History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Myths as Roman History - Essay Example Romans also developed few mythological tales such as the story of Cupid and Psyche. (Zipes, 2005) It is fact that classical mythology takes us to the journey of some primary characters and important stories of classical Greek and Roman mythology. As most of the classical myths in form of characters or stories have been carried out form generation to generation form story to story. Even in today's fiction or non-fiction we find good examples of classical myths. The very common myths that we find in study very often are the accounts of the creation of the world in Ovid's Metamorphoses; the gods Zeus or Jupiter, Apollo, Demeter, Persephone, Hermes, Dionysos and Aphrodite; the Greek heroes, Theseus and Hercules; and the famous of all myths, the Trojan War. (Ken, 1992) The classical mythology contains tales of the ancient Greek and Roman myths and literature, which shows great variety and originality that is unmatched even today. Greek mythology has close connection with Greek classical literature, which has universal appeal and had pass the test of time. Most of the Greek myths occurred in the works written between the time of Greek colonisation of the Mediterranean and the fall of the Roman Empire. On the other hand t On the other hand the Roman myth remained largely unwritten until the 1st BC to the decline of Roman Empire. Two great Roman authors, Ovid and Vergil, had used the Roman myths extensively and it is their writings that made classical myths popular. The impact of these writers was so great that it had become norm for the medieval Europe and modern society to use the more popular Roman names for the Greek gods and heroes. Even today the popularity of classical myths is evident in arts and literatures. Classical myths has been divided into four categories: 1. The Pantheon- loads with the information of Greek deities that includes the story of the Creation and host of other myths. 2. The Heroic Age- carries the description of Greek heroes and heroines with their adventures. It includes tales like "Jason and the Argonauts", "Seven Against Thebes", "Trojan War" and the "Odyssey". 3. Royal Houses- contains information of famous families in some of the most powerful cities in Greece. This section includes the stories of the Aeolids, Perseids and the House of Atreus, and of Troy. 4. The Geographia- provides with extra information about the ancient Greece, which mentioned in Greek Myths. (Morford & Lenardon, 1985) Some popular Roman myths: The Creation & Flood The creation myths in Ovid's Metamorphosis are the tales that describe how the earth came into existence. The story, which begins with a universe ruled by Chaos, from which the earth, (Ge, or Gaea) and the sky (Uranus) eventually emerged. Besides other mythological figures like Cupid (love) and Night came into being. As per myth the personified earth and sky mate to give birth to the first generation of godlike beings, the 12 Titans. The youngest Titans, Cronus (Roman Saturn) overthrew his father and ate his own children due to fear that one of his own children would usurp his throne. But one child was saved, named Jupiter, who grew up and forced his father to vomit up his brothers and sisters and then defeated Cronus to establish the pantheon of Olympian