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Greek Myths and Human Nature
Ancient Greek myths represent the view of a previous culture that has influenced current beliefs. Greek culture was one based on the stories and moral lessons told and learned from older generations to more recent generations. The destruction of human kind and the honorable lessons learned from those myths define what human nature is all about; these destruction myths highlighted the positiveness of human nature. Although it may seem counterintuitive and difficult to think of destruction as a positive notion, the idea of cleanliness, rebirth, and immortality allow for this exact interpretation to be made. In Greek destruction myths, it is not about the destroying involved in the myth itself, but it is instead about the aftermath that this destruction may bring to its people, community, and society.
As is well documented in many Greek myths, there is one God that overpowers all others: Zeus. He was a supernatural being that was the most powerful God of all Gods; his word was final. In many occasions, Zeus made the decision to cleanse society by flooding it (Lefkowitz 2005). Floods are known to be representative of a rebirthing process. Although this is a destruction myth provided to us by various different Greek myths, it is one often associated as being a negative and evil one. A Greek destruction myth dealing with floods in the end is to create a positive ambiance for a world that had up to that point been destroyed morally and ethically...
The positive highlight in this destruction process comes from the application to human nature. As was stated previously, floods and destruction associated with them, come into notion when one thinks of the rebirth and restart of an entire society (Dewey 2005). While the killing of hundreds of thousands or even millions of individuals seems like it is a negative aspect, the redesigning of a new world, and the cleansing of all that is made out to be bad, is the ultimate goal in these destruction myths. The idea that no matter how much is destroyed, there is always the opportunity to start all over -- to get a fresh start into a world that may have seemed impossible to live in.
Greek destruction myths are also representative of the supernatural. This along with many religious and cultural structures allow for individuals to feel comfort in knowing that not everything is in the control of the individuals going through the specific situation (Lefkowitz 2005). In other words, there are notions that are out of one's hands, and these destruction myths allow for people to think of someone as watching over them and protecting them. These destruction myths set a moral and ethical guide for all to follow. From the beginning, all consequences for immoral or unethical acts are to be known in order for people to stop and think before they actually go through with something (Dewey 2005). As aforementioned, this notion reinforces the…
References:
Lefkowitz, M. (2005). Greek gods, human lives: What we can learn from myths. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Dewey, J. (2005). Experience and nature and human nature. Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing, LLC.
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