Anna Fragassi Professor Sturge Classical Mythology 9/13/21 Assignment for Week 3 Prompt 1: The Gender roles in Greek Mythology show serious misogyny. In the myths depicting the creation of the titans, Uranus pushes his titanic children back inside of Gaia. The Earth Mother cries out to her son Kronos to save her and to overthrow her husband. Then in the creation of the gods, Gaia turns on her son Kronos in favor of her grandson Zeus. These two myths show the classic Greek trope of the damsel in distress being saved by the male heroin. In the myth of Pandora’s creation, mankind was living in harmony with no women or hardships. Then Zeus punishes them for Prometheus’ transgressions by sending Pandora, a beautiful woman, to mankind. Zeus sent down a sort of container with Pandora filled with the embodiments of pain, suffering, and the like. When curious Pandora opened the box, she released all the pain and suffering contained inside the box into the happy world of men. In this myth, Pandora represents women: the temptations of men on the outside, the downfall of men on the inside. Overall, the gender relations in Greek mythology seem to be that men are heroic and strong while women plot and cause harm to men. Prompt 2: Zeus is a dynamic being whose character ranges from proud and selfish to just and moral, and this can be seen in many of the stories that are told about him. During the first of Zeus and Prometheus’ quarrels, Prometheus tries to trick Zeus into choosing vile pieces of meat at a feast. Although Zeus does not fall for this ploy, he grows so enraged that he punishes both Prometheus and mankind for the titan’s attempted joke. Similarly, in the tale of King Lycaon, Zeus is offered a meal in the palace of Arcadia by the ruler, Lycaon. Because he was a wicked king, Lycaon tries to feed Zeus, the king of the gods, human flesh. Zeus is not beguiled by the human king, yet he still becomes so furious at the audacity of a mere human trying to make a fool of him that he floods the entire world, wiping out all but two members of humankind. Although Zeus seems to be cruel at times, from a religious vantage point, he is the epitome of justice and virtue. The king of the Olympian gods is the upholder of morality which is in complete contrast with his selfish nature. Zeus shows this selfish side of himself in the many affairs with both mortals and goddess which he participates in. When his wife, Hera, inevitably finds out of his indiscretions and seeks revenge, she punishes the woman whom Zeus slept with, because she cannot punish Zeus himself. Zeus does nothing to stop her and only helps the women after Hera has avenged herself. Throughout Greek mythology, Zeus’ character is always uncertain, quite like the ever-changing nature of his domain.
