“Whenever you see a large building with many columns holding up a roof, you are looking at an imitation of a Greek temple.”

•Copies of “classical” temples:
–The Capitol building in
Washington, D.C.

Capitol – Washington, D.C.

New York Public Library

The White House

The White House

Other imitations:
•Post offices, town halls, banks, & churches
•Tall columns resemble the structures that were once built in Greece and Rome to honor the gods.

Why Know the Myths?
•The myths are tied to
Greece and Rome.
•Greece and Rome were important to our development as a society.

Contributions:
• Astronomy
• Mathematics
• Philosophy
• Architecture
• Medicine

Contributions:
•Monetary
(money) system
•Systems of government &
Law

Contributions:
• Democracy comes from the
Greek word people.” demokratia meaning “rule of the
• This government, our government, first flourished in the ancient city-state of Athens.

Why Know the Myths?
•People no longer believe in the Greek & Roman gods
& goddesses.
•Still fascinating as literature.

Why Know the Myths?
•Myths may reveal truths about who we are and why we behave the way we do.

What is a Myth?
•Mythology – the study of myths.
•Myth – from the Latin word
and the Greek word
, meaning
“story.”

What is a Myth?
• Stories that are always in some sense religious.
– Represent the deepest wishes and fears of “primitive” human beings.
– Originated to help these people understand the universe.

Understand What?
• Seasonal changes
• Fire
• Lightening
• Drought
• Floods
• Death

Understand What?
•“Myth-makers” might have been wise old men and women who had a talent for telling stories to explain the natural world.

Myths
• Stories about gods & goddesses.
• Gods were powerful, capable of cruelty, jealousy, lying, murder.

Myths
•Gods & goddesses lived on
Mount Olympus.
•Traveled down to spend time with ordinary people.

Myths
• Originated in area around
Mediterranean Sea.
• Early myth-makers could not write.
• Myths were passed down orally from generation to generation.

Myths
• Written down many years later.
• Poets: Homer &
Hediod
(both lived 800 years before Christ)

Where the Romans Come In…
• 2 nd Century B.C.
• Romans conquered Greeks
• Adopted Greek myths as their own.
• Added new tone
• Roman Poets: Ovid & Virgil

Romans
•Roman gods are same as
Greeks, but with different names.
•See blue book, page 459 or handout

What’s It Good For?
•Give us insights into the nature of our world.
•Classical mythology is used:
– To explain creation of the world

– To explain natural phenomena
– To give story form to ancient religious practices
– To teach moral lessons
– To explain history
– To express, as dreams do, the deepest fears and hopes of the human race