Greek myths: The age of gods and mortals
Bridging the age when gods lived alone and the age when divine interference in human affairs was limited was a transitional age in which gods and mortals moved together.
These were the early days of the world when the groups mingled more freely than they did later. Most of these myths are often divided into two thematic groups: myths of love, and myths of punishment.
Myths of love
Myths of love often involve incest, or in some cases the seduction or rape of a mortal woman by a male god, resulting in a heroic offspring. Most of these stories usually suggest that relationships between gods and mortal women are something to be avoided as things usually don’t end well. Even consenting relationships rarely have happy endings for the mortal women. In a few cases, a godess mates with a mortal man, as in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, where the goddess lies with Anchises to produce Aeneas.
Myths of punishment
The myths of punishment involve the appropriation or invention of some important cultural artifact, as when Prometheus steals fire from the gods, when Tantalus steals nectar and ambrosia from Zeus’ table and gives it to his own subjects or when Demeter teaches agriculture and the Mysteries to Triptolemus. In another tragedy, Euripides’ The Bacchae, the king of Thebes, Pentheus, is punished by Dionysus, because he disrespected the god and spied on his Maenads, the female worshippers of the god.
The influence of Greek mythology
Greek mythology has had an extensive influence on the culture, arts, and literature of Western civilization and remains part of Western heritage and language. Poets and artists in all parts of Europe from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes.
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