Western Civilization
Essay Preview: Western Civilization
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Throughout Homers Iliad there are several instances that give readers the notion that ancient Greeks viewed the Gods as having human qualities. In the first selection of the Iliad Zeus and Hera are looking down at the Greeks siege of Troy. Paris the prince of Troy had chosen Aphrodite (the Goddess of Beauty and Love) the fairest between Athena (the Goddess of Wisdom) and Hera (wife to the God Zeus). He chose Aphrodite because she promised him that if he did than in exchange he would give him the most beautiful woman in the world. Helen of Sparta was the most beautiful woman of the world, but she was married to the Spartan King. Aphrodite made Paris and Helen fall in love. This act is what is said to have caused the war between the Spartans and Trojans. Athene and Hera were infuriated that Paris chose Aphrodite to be the fairest. Hera therefore wants to help the Spartans win the war just to get revenge for the embarrassment of losing the “fairest woman” title. She know that Zeus would not allow her to interfere with mortal affairs so she wants to distract him long enough so that she can set her plans into motion. She wants her brother Poseidon the god of the Sea to knock down the great walls of Troy. Hera is described in the Iliad as hateful, which means the Greeks saw the Gods as having the same qualities of mortals. Hera decides to seduce Zeus in order to distract him from the battle. She fixes herself up with a beautiful robe and does her hair. As she is walking down to earth Zeus, feeling lustful, begs her not to leave. Instead Zeus wants Hera to stay home to make love with him. At first Hera played hard to get so that she can be more appealing. Zeus eventually has his way, and the two make passionate love. When they finish Zeus falls asleep. It is during this time that Posiedon carries out Heras wishes and aids the Spartans so that they can conquer Troy. In the part II of the Iliad Athene, who is still bitter towards Paris for choosing Aphrodite, has her own plot against the Trojans that she wants to carry out. Athene promised to help Hektor in his fight against the great warrior Achilleus. Not known to Hektor that Athene is indeed plotting against him because she plans to aid Achilleus. She fuels Achilleus rage towards Hektor for killing his cousin Patroklos. She is portrayed as mischievous and as a backstabber. During the fight Hektor pleads Achilleus that the victor of the battle allow the loser to be buried by their family. Achilleus refuses, and tells Hektor that his body will be eaten by birds and dogs. In the battle Achilleus is aided by Athene when he throws his spear and misses but Athene brings his spear back to him. As Hektor is dying he realizes that he was betrayed by the Athene. From the Iliad you can tell that the Gods simply looked at mankind as their puppets. Mortals were easily manipulated by the Gods either directly or indirectly. The way that Homer wrote the Iliad and the descriptions of the Gods that are in the story lets us know that the Greeks knew that the Gods were very manipulative. Also the Gods were very selfish, if a mortal did not do something to their wishes than they would be punished.
Mystery Cults all shared the same characteristics. They appealed to emotions, they were central doctrine accepted on faith, they had secret rites or prayers, intiations, they believed in life after death and the fertility. The most important characteristic was the fact the mystery cults appealed to the members emotions. Mystery cults were created to fill the void emotionally left by the Olympian religon. Before the cults, Gods were not loving towards their believers. Mortals were simply servants to the God and nothing else. But when cults came together they expressed to their members that the Gods cared about them, they really loved their believers. In Apuleuis Metamorphoses the characteristic that most evident is the fact that the Gods love their subjects. Gods loving their subjects fueled the mortals to love them even more and build massive memorials and shrines in their honar.
In Plutarchs Life of Lycurgus he states the reform the Lycurgus implanted. He first created the senate which was important because it gave steadiness and safety to the commonwealth people. The senate would prevent one person from having too much power. Division of the lands was the next reform the Lycurgus implanted. Before Lycurgus the division between the lands was extremely unjust. He wanted to divide the wealth up and not have it concentrated on just a few people. The rich had to announce their holding and consent to a new division of the land. Also they would have to live together with poor people. The third law he put into place was that the rich had to do more for their country. Up to this point they would only lay at home. Lycurgus wanted them to be active in the city. Lycurgus regulated marriages, in which Plutarch views this as the most noblest work by Lycurgus, in order to promote the good education of their youth. Also the wives of the men that were away at war for most of the time was looked at as somewhat equals. As soon as boys were seven years old they were sent to military school. This was to ensure that their army stayed strong and that they would breed the best warriors.