Justifying Greek mythology....please read for more information.?

Question

I have an assignment where I have to explain the value of studying mythology to a doubtful parent. The only problem is both of my parents love mythology, and so do all of my friends' parents. Does anyone have any ideas why a parent would be doubtful about their child learning greek mythology, and any ways to justify the value? Thanks!

Answer 1

My father told me the stories of the Greek myths in place of stories like Little Red Riding Hood when I was little and my mother, while not into them, never had a problem with it. However, a few of my friends' parents had major problems with mythology and it was understood that if I was to be friends with their children, I was not to mention my father's bedtime stories. At all. The reason had to do with religion. My friends' parents felt that stories about "false" gods would cause their children to stray from their faith. (One of my friends got a severe whipping when she made the mistake of mentioning the Iliad to her dad. They were extreme people, to say the least. I never met a family that odd before or after them, but that's not to say there aren't some more of them like that out there.)

There are a lot of ways to justify the value of Greek mythology. One would be the origin of words. Arachnid, aphrodisiac, cereal, echo, narcissistic, panic, tantalize, volcano, insomnia...All of these words came from Greek (or Roman) mythological figures. Greek mythology also has a lot to do with basic astronomy since all the constellations are named after Greek mythological figures. Many of the symbols that we see in day to day life come from mythology, such as the symbol for the medical profession, the Caduceus. (It was the staff of the messenger god Hermes.)

Cultural references aside, each of these stories teaches a valuable lesson. The story of Arachne, in addition to explaining the origin of spiders, cautions against arrogance to one's superiors. The story of the Trojan Horse cautions against accepting a gift from a known enemy. And so on.

To be denied the chance to learn about Greek mythology is to be forced into cultural illiteracy. In the west, much of our language, culture and even values are derived from ancient Greece and Rome.

Answer 2

Parents might be doubtful about it if they are overly practical. Greek mythology is very significant because it teaches about Greek values and morals. Also, it conveys so many messages that we can link to this super modern high-tech world. It's timeless. It also influenced the religions such as Christianity, which didn't formulate until the time of the Romans.
Here are some connections to the modern world I found when studying Greek mythology in English:
In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is a hypocritical tyrant who is foolishly blind to his own wrong-doings, like President George W. Bush.
In Prometheus Bound, Prometheus is crucified for the sake of humans, much like Christ.

Just read some of the most well-known myths and the links will suddenly come to you. It's fabulous!

Answer 3

Some parents might be hostile to studying someone else's religion, in case the child might like it better than the parent's religion. For some people Greek myths are religion.
Some mightsee it as superstition.
The value is that the deities have human traits and so studying myths is a way of learning about human nature and life phases.

Answer 4

When I was in high school, we had the option of taking a mythology class as an elective. A former classmate of mine chose to take it our freshmen year, and his parents about had a coronary over it. Their first gripe was that it was "pointless" to take a class that wasn't going to help him in the real world. They thought it was foolish of him to take what they considered a "fantasy" class, because according to them, "those gods and goddesses never existed. They were simply works of fiction." When he explained that he would gain some insight into different cultures and time periods, they were aghast that he would be interested in learning something he had no understanding of, countries and places he would never see. When he tried to tell them that there were lessons to be learned in most of the mythologies, and how he thought it was fascinating to read about different heroes and heroines, different gods and goddesses, they told him polytheism (the belief of more than one god) was against their religion, because there was only ONE god. He ended up dropping the class as one of his electives.

So there are some examples of how a parent could be doubtful of their child learning about mythology.

Answer 5

Keep this in min next time you pick up a book, or next time you watch a movie. ITS ALL ABOUT MONEY Publishers and movie makers want to create books and movies that will sell. The best books and movies are the ones that deal with human emotions (other than the fantasy realm which seems to be more of what could be as its fascniation) books and movies are best when they realy envelope the reader/viewer. This means more sales, and more profit for them. Understanding that, should bring about the idea that you are reading a product that is geared to generate as much income as possible. Be the facts true or false, it doesnt matter. Look at the DiVinci code. clouded facts, but a nice story that got its job done. IT MADE MONEY. It caused controvery that made it more money. Was the facts absolutely correct? No....but if thats what they wanted it to be, they would have made that into a documentary. Theres no real money in documentaries, so they make a movie. The problem is that too many people base their facts on what they see on tv, and in movies. thats just plain ol ignorant in the very meaning of the word. Money is the bottom line. Now, if you cant grasp that every novelist, and every movie maker is going to edit their work to make it as intrguing as possible to absorb you into there fantasy world for the sole purpose of making a profit then its you who have lost all sense of reality. Theres nothing wrong with wanting to know facts. Its when those facts or lack of consume you, is where the problems would arise. You have a structured way of thinking -- well next time -- go to a cartoon. Or just like people who stay up at nights dont go to horror movies -- because all a horror movie is is a means to give people what they want in the best way that will keep their attention for 90 minutes. ultimately to make money. So, maybe dram or contemporary fiction is not your cup of tea. No problem - for there are thousands of works in different areas that will suite your taste and take you to that fantasy world they wanted to -- ALL INTENT ON MAKING MONEY SOMEHOW To sum it all up -- loosen up some

Answer 6

Here are four reasons explaining the value of the myths:

1. The Greek myths are at the dawn of Western civilization, which was built upon the remains of Greek-Roman civilization, which was in turn built upon the ruins of the Mycenaean civilization.
2. Homer, who emerged around 800 BC, is regarded as the author of the first work of literature that Western civilization may count as its own.
3. Large sections of Western culture and art—music, painting and literature—refer to the Greek myths or have been inspired by them.
4. The Greek myths are concerned with fundamental and imperishable life issues.

"We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts, have their root in Greece." [Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792-1822, Hellas]

See also:
http://www.maicar.com/GML/Munificence.html

Answer 7

Some parents maybe would not like it because it can talk about sex, violence, incest, murder, war, child sacrifice.

Greek mythology is basically meant for an adult or mature teen. I would not let my kid know any of the main stories like the illiad and odeipus rex, etc until they were older. They hit on some really touchy topics that a child should not know about until they reach a certain level of maturity. Kind of like keeping your kid from watching the R-rated movies until they are about 15 or 16.

Hope that this helps.

Answer 8

As a parent, I think learning about past cultures is a good way to understand not only how those cultures contributed to ours, but also what their good and bad points were. As most if not all cultures are both reflected in and shaped by their myths, you can not truely understand the culture without understanding its myths/beliefs. And by the way understanding that what are myths to us were religious beliefs for them.

Answer 9

There are those adult religionists who believe that tales of Gods and Goddesses that enjoy life and have true names and love between each other and their worshipers, just might lure some away from these adults' religious beliefs.

Answer 10

Mainly if they are Christian, they would be worried you would lose faith in God the further you delved into the Greek mythology....