The Fascinating Legacy of Greek Gods and Goddesses
The Greek myths are quietly, stubbornly present in modern culture. We are admittedly fascinated by them but have a difficult time stating why. If you’re like most people, you find the whole of Greek mythology somewhat amusing and absurd. You may have memories of spending some pocket of your secondary education memorizing seemingly inane facts about the strange assortment of ancient deities and wondering why these imaginary relics of the past hadn’t dissolved into insignificance ages ago.
It’s easy to think that the Greek mythological figures endure only because of their eye-catching, ludicrous origin stories — the chaotic narrative that they’re all entrenched in. Of course, we recognize that Greek mythology is obsolete and its tales relegated to the fictional realm. But what is harder to pinpoint — and what stands as reason for its permanence — is the striking degree to which it has shaped art, personality, and religion over the course of the Western world.
Prior to the sprawling pantheon of Greek gods and goddesses that emerged thousands of years ago out of a tiny coastal country jutting into the Mediterranean, there loomed over human societies just one essential deity. She was known as the ‘Great Mother’ or ‘Great Goddess’, a swallowing presence that commanded the territory of both creation and destruction. She was loved and…
