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Mycenaean Greece's relationship to Crete during the two centuries between 1600 and 1400 B.C. is complex, as both civilizations competed for control of the Mediterranean Sea. "To judge from the known tablets, there appear to have been a number of distinct kingdoms within Mycenaean Greece, all of which seem to have been independent" (Stanley 277). Following the destruction of Knossos in or about 1400 B.C., supremacy was given to the Myceneaens, and the Minoan culture and tradition dominated the mainland (Taylour 1964 57).
In Mycenaean culture chaos reigned while Cronus fought his offspring. In mainland Greece and its environs, political chaos appeared to reign, finally resulting in one powerful, unified group who agreed that the son of Cronus, Zeus, should rule the pantheon ("Uranus" Encyclopedia Mythica). At last, Greek dominance over the lands, and thus over the religion, seems to have stopped the creation of creation stories some time during the 13th century, B.C. according to dating of the writing system of Linear B. tablets (Ventris 1973: 42).
In the cosmogony of Mesopotamia, the god, Enki, who lived underwater, created the limited human to serve the gods and goddesses during their short lives. This underwater god, Enki, may have also been the original of the god Poseidon, ruler of the seas. Also, as in Mycenae, the Minotaur existed in Sumerian cosmology. Ishtar, the morning and evening star, was the goddess of love and war (Venus) and in her Sumerian personification is shown holding weapons, with her foot on the head of a http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/gods/explore/images/queen_im.jpg
Above: In one depiction from Mesopotamia, an unknown goddess, probably Ishtar, is shown with birds' feet, standing on two lions, holding symbols that resemble the Greek "Alpha" in her hands, with the drooping wings representing holiness, flanked by two owls. In many ways she reminds one of the fearless Greek goddess, Athena, whose symbol was the owl.
The goddess Lama, considered the protector of Sumerian individuals, is familiar in Mycenaean culture as the goddess in the tiered skirt shown leading humans into the presence of other gods and goddesses. At (h)anapotnia is her name in Knossos. In Knossos she is shown with snakes in her fists, who presence denotes the their rule over the earth. She is known as Athena in Delphi, according to scholars such...
Godart and J. Chadwick, experts in analysis of ancient documents, who substantiate the similarity of their names.
The classical Greeks, as scholars came to know them through their writings, professed faith in their pantheon of gods and goddesses, whose characteristics are strikingly similar to the chief gods and goddesses of ancient Sumer, Akkad and Babylonia. Zeus is the son of Cronus, whose origin may have been in Bel, who created order out of chaos and peopled it with humans. Ishtar or Lama may have become Athena or Demeter or both, being the symbol of earth, yet a fighter with owls at her side. Enki the god of the seas in both cultures, became Poseidon to the Greeks. Given more time and space, one could expound more fully on other similarities among the Greek gods, Apollo, Zeus, Hephaestus, Ares, Poseidon, Hermes, Hestia, Hera, Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter, and Athena, and the ancient gods of the Mesopotamian lands.
Much of Greeks cosmogony appears to have come from the Fertile Crescent, made up of the lands between the Tigris and Euphrates, a cosmogony which continued to evolve as the ages progressed, even until much later, as trade and other intercourse continued between the lands of the Fertile Crescent and the Greeks. Throughout history, through migrations of peoples, influences of the religions, through wars and more friendly mutual associations between these countries, they have each profoundly influenced the other.
Bibliography
Aeschylus (ed. Smith, Herbert Weir). Prometheus Bound. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1926.
Drury, Nevil. Dictionary of Mysticism and the Occult. San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1985.
Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, 1979.
Homer (ed. Butler, Samuel). The Illiad. With an English Translation by a.T. Murray. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924.
Stanley, Phillip V. "KN Uc 160 and Mycenaean Wines" American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 86(4) Oct 1982, pp. 577-578.
Taylour, Lord William. The Mycenaeans. London. 1964.
Uranus." Encyclopedia Mythica from Encyclopedia Mythica Online. http://www.pantheon.org/articles/u/uranus.html [Accessed March 25, 2008].
Ventris, M. And Chadwick, J. Documents in Mycenaean Greek. (2nd edition) Boston, MA: Cambridge. 1973.
Bibliography
Aeschylus (ed. Smith, Herbert Weir). Prometheus Bound. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1926.
Drury, Nevil. Dictionary of Mysticism and the Occult. San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1985.
Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, 1979.
Homer (ed. Butler, Samuel). The Illiad. With an English Translation by a.T. Murray. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924.
Uranus." Encyclopedia Mythica from Encyclopedia Mythica Online. http://www.pantheon.org/articles/u/uranus.html [Accessed March 25, 2008].
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
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).
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 "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
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
The Everlasting Influence of Greek Mythology Greek mythology has permeated various facets of our modern world despite being rooted in stories that are millennia old. This ancient framework of gods, heroes, and epic adventures not only served a religious and mythological purpose for the ancient Greeks but also now impacts today�s society through language, entertainment, psychology, and various other spheres of contemporary life. One of the most prominent legacies of Greek