Greek Mythology – Ancient-Greece.org

Intorduction

Scene from amphora depicting the blinding of Polyphemus.

The ancient Greek spiritual beliefs, religion, and oral tradition are all reflected and formulated through rich myths and legends that besides entertainment provided an articulation of Greek culture’s moral fiber.

Taken as a whole, what we call “mythology” today represents the bulk of what we know as pagan religion mixed in with the ancients’ heritage (the concept of “History” was born later in the 5th c. BCE). As such, it was later suppressed in favor of other religions. But it was so interwoven in Greek culture, and it’s so rich in literary and moral value that it survived over the centuries in bits and pieces embedded in literature and art for centuries. With its original religious meaning defused, it reemerge in the last few hundred years under a safe title: “mythology”.

In ancient times these stories and characters appear often in all cultural activities, from art and architecture, to theater and the written texts.

For the following 2000 years they have become the subject and inspiration for countless paintings, sculptures, books, comics, animation, games, and movies. Our night sky is alive with heroes and legends from Ancient Greek mythology enacted by constellations, stars, planets, and moons. Man flew to the moon on an Apollo chariot.