Homer in describing the
army pictured on the shield of Achilles adds, "Ares and Athena led the
army, both clad in gold, beautiful and great, as becomes the gods, for
men were smaller." Greek gods are men; they have clothing, palaces,
bodies similar to ours; if they cannot die, they can at least be
wounded. Homer relates how Ares, the god of war, struck by a warrior,
fled howling with pain. This fashion of making gods like men is what
is called _Anthropomorphism_.
=Mythology.=--The gods, being men, have parents, children, property.
Their mothers were goddesses, their brothers were gods, and their
children other gods or men who were half divine. This genealogy of the
gods is what is called the _Theogony_. The gods have also a history;
we are told the story of their birth, the adventures of their youth,
their exploits. Apollo, for example, was born on the island of Delos
to which his mother Latona had fled; he slew a monster which was
desolating the country at the foot of Parnassus. Each canton of Greece
had thus its tales of the gods. These are called myths; the sum of
them is termed _Mythology_, or the history of the gods.
Pages:
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167