Edith Hamilton's Mythology Questions and Answers
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What is the moral of the myth of Narcissus in Edith Hamilton’s Mythology?
In Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, the myth of Narcissus illustrates that excessive pride leads to disregard for others and eternal unfulfilled want. According to Psychology Today, a narcissist or...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What is the moral of the Greek myth Pyramus and Thisbe?
I would suggest that one dominant moral from the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe would be that adults should not transfer their bitterness to children. Pyramus and Thisbe are victims of their parents'...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What are some companies,stores, and modern day places named after Hephaestus? (He was the God of Fire) How dso they...
We can find many companies that take their names from ancient mythology. Trojan, Argus, Amazon and Ajax are just a few. As far as the god Hephaestus is concerned there are a few major companies...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What happened to Helen of Troy after the Trojan War?
In the chapter of Mythology entitled, "The Fall of Troy," we learn that Aphrodite helped Helen by getting her out of the city of Troy, taking her back to her first husband, Menelaus. "He received...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Who is left behind to tell the Trojans the lie?
The Greeks knew that they could not win unless they took their enemies by surprise within Troy itself. Odysseus, ever cunning, devised a plan: he had a worker craft a large wooden horse with a...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What is the moral of the myth Europa and the bull?
The myth of Europa is the story of how Zeus, king of the gods, kidnaps and seduces Europa. To do this he turns himself into a tame white bull to encourage her to come close. She pets him, then...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What do myths reveal about the values of ancient Greek society?
Hamilton, writing in an earlier era less sensitive to cultural difference than our own, contrasts Greek myths to those fear-based myths of "primitive man," such as in "New Guinea," where human...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What is the theme, what are some quotes, and what is a thesis sentence from the greek myth Baucis and Philemon...
Baucis and Philemon are an elderly couple who offer hospitality to Jupiter and Mercury, two gods who come in disguise, seeking to determine how hospitable the people of Phrygia are: Hospitality...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What did the myth of Echo and Narcissus try to teach Greek/Roman society about how they should or shouldn't act?
The myths of Echo and Narcissus are wonderful and do have a moral lesson. Let me first give a short summary. Echo was a beautiful nymph that loved to talk. One day, Hera was looking for her...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Revenge as a means of obtaining justice was more acceptable in Homer's society than in our modern society, which has...
Hamilton's depiction of Greek Mythology features a complex understanding of revenge as justice. Revenge in mythology comes out of a character having experienced an egregious wrongdoing....
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Who was Pentheus? Why was he doomed by Dionysus? What fate did he suffer?
Pentheus was the king of Thebes. His mother was Agave, who was the daughter of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes. When Pentheus became the king of Thebes, one of his actions was to ban the worship of...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
The hero of an epic is generally larger than life. He is stronger, braver, and more clever than the other characters....
This is a lot of question. I don't have the space in this format to address each item completely, but I'll do what I can in the space allowed. Hercules, one of the heroes written about in Edith...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Who was Night's and Erebus' child?
Erebus (aka Erobos), the son of Chaos, was the primeval god of darkness. His sister-wife was Nyx (aka Night), also born of Chaos, who cast mists throughout the heavens and the earth to create...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What role did Sinon play in the demise of Troy?
Sinon has two key tasks in Book 2 of Virgil's Aeneid: it is his job first to confirm the rumor that the horse is a gift for Athena and persuade the Trojans to bring it into the city, and then to...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What favor did Phaethon ask of his father?
Greetings! I have only two things to add to the previous answers. Well, make that three! First, that the myth is an example of the "Rash Promise" theme, that is making a promise before you know...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
I need some help with allusions to Greek mythology in literary works like novels and poems.
I'll suggest some works you could read and study that contain mythological allusions: Shelley's Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus: read up on Prometheus and you'll catch the allusion. William...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Compare and contrast Orestes and Medea. Both are characters in plays that deal with vengeance, but why is one...
In Mythology by Edith Hamilton, she puts together the myths and stories told about various figures from Greek and Roman mythology. The two accounts you are asking about, Medea and Orestes, are from...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
In terms of the myth as a whole, with respect to heroes, what is unusual about Hercules/Heracles' character? Does...
One thing we need to keep in mind about the term hero is the difference between literary heroes and our modern day notion of what makes a hero. In our modern world, we think of a hero as someone...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
How did Psyche feel about going to meet her destined husband? How did the rest of her family feel? Why?
You can read the story in full in the work, Golden Ass. Psyche did not want to leave her family to meet her new husband (Cupid). This is reasonable, because she was very close to her immediate...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
what are some important theme quotes from the myth perseus? greek myth
I think that it is a challenge to find exact quotes from myths because the translation and recitation of myths always changes. It is this human quality to them where their thematic application...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Discuss the role of love in mythology. How does love motivate the characters? What kinds of love exists in the myths?
Hamilton depicts different kinds of love in Greek mythology. In each of these cases, sacrifice becomes a critical element of love. This sacrifice motivates the characters to love and endure the...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Why are mortals better off without the interference of the gods?
At the beginning of the story "The Two Great Gods of Earth," which concerns Demeter and Dionysus, Edith Hamilton argues that humans are better off without the gods' interference. She begins by...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Who is Patroclus?
Patroclus is Achilles's friend. Achilles holds him in very high esteem; Edith Hamilton notes that Patroclus "of all men on earth was dearest to [Achilles]." To settle a debt, Agamemnon takes from...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What are all of the greek heroes, their parent that is a god, and the monsters they killed. Also their relation to...
It is flat out impossible to name all the Greek heroes. There are too many and more importantly, their lineages differ greatly. If you read the ancient sources, sources will differ (sometimes a...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What is more powerful in the myths that Hamilton features- fate or free will? Do the characters have any control over...
Hamilton shows that mortals are always subject to a fated condition that is larger than individual free will. Hamilton's collection of myths shows that mortals who suffer when they believe their...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What's Hamilton's theory about the personification of the Earth and Heaven?
Edith Hamilton's theory can best be summed up thusly: Earth was the solid ground, and yet vaguely a personality, too. Heaven was the blue vault on high, but it acted in some ways as a human being...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Why is Helen of Troy sometimes referred to as the face that launched a thousand ships?
Helen, married to the King of Sparta, Menelaus, was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world. She was also half divine, being the daughter of Zeus and Leda. When the goddess Aphrodite told...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What are some quotes about appearance is decieving in the myth Baucis and Philemon? analyze
I think that exact quotes in any retelling of a myth are challenging because translations always vary. It is important to keep this in mind in understanding how to pull details from myths. I do...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Name the two divisions of the elder gods
In Edith Hamilton's Mythology, Chapter I entitled "The Gods," is divided into The Gods and The Lesser Gods. Unlike other races, the Greeks believed that the heavens and earth were formed before the...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What real life examples are named after the Gods/Godesses of Greek Mythlogy and why are they named after that certain...
This is fairly interesting. The florist FTD uses the symbol of Hermes, the god of messengers, to imply their ability to delivery quickly. The winged and fleeted feet is also a symbol of FTD....
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
The role of the Trickster Specifically, Loki. Early legends had him being the god of fire, but his role changed to...
Interesting. I recall reading some theories that actually put Loki as being an earlier god (before Odin/Woden was worshiped) and he was sort of retconned into the outcast role. But his becoming the...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Where does the word "panic" come from?
The word "panic" is derived from the Greek god Pan (Πάν). Pan was a rustic god, and the center of his cult was in the region of Arcadia. He was associated with wild beasts, hunting, and shepherds,...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What is the myth about Aphrodite trying to explain?
There can be many explanations being offered through this myth. The first would be how beauty and the goddess of beauty entered the world. Arising from the sea and the domains of Poseidon, the...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Where can I find the goddess Ate? Looking for a page number or section.
For the goddess Ate (pronounced "Ah-tay"), I would look early on in the book where she discusses the early origins of the world and the gods. You might also consider checking the index in the back...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Is the Poseidon Underwater Resort named after Poseidon? If so, why did they choose to name it after Poseidon and what...
I'm assuming you're talking about the place in Fiji that comes up on Google... It doesn't say that it is named after Poseidon, but it surely must be. The way you can tell that is that A) it's an...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What connections do the myth Europa and the bull have?
Th story of Europa and the Bull is a story best known from Greek mythology in which Zeus, king of the gods, plans to seduce Europa. To do so he turns into a tame white bull. She comes close to him...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
What is the process of creation of mankind as the Greeks saw it ? How were the world and mankind created ?
According to Greek mythology, the world was created out of nothingness -- out of chaos. The goddess Eurynome then had a child, Eros, the god of love with either a giant serpent or with the north...
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
How did Zeus come to Danae, the imprisoned daughter of Acrisius?
King Acrisius of Argos has been told by an oracle that he will never have a son but that his daughter will. But before Acrisius can start celebrating, the oracle goes on to tell him that this...