Growing Up With Greek Literature Essay -- Greece Mythology Essays

Growing Up With classical LiteratureSay Greek Tragedy to an English major and youre likely to elicit a groan, or even perhaps a screech of terror. For me however, Greek tragedy, as well as Greek mythology, has always fascinated me. When I was littleer, the Greek gods always captured my interest, and I could never get enough of them. As I grew older, I became interested in the much refined aspects that Greek lit had to offer. Sophocles and The Three Theban Plays in particular, left me awestruck. I quickly began to realize that many of the new and inventive books and movies I had seen, had actually been written in single form or another, generations ago.I suppose my interest was first piqued when my father brought home the movie Hercules in the early 80s. As a juvenile boy, I was entranced by the idea of a god-like man, with superhuman powers, doing remarkable things on earth. Of course, my knowledge of Greek gods and goddesses was limited, but watching Hercules fight myth ical creatures and effect heroic acts was all it took to get my young mind interested. While other kids read comic books about Superman and Spiderman, I delved into the world of Greek mythology. I was entranced by the idea that people believed that gods actually played a first hand role in peoples lives. Unlike superheroes in the comic books, which I knew from an early age didnt really exist, these Greek gods were an everyday way of life centuries ago. Although I didnt think they were real, it fascinated me that others did.Thus began my journey into the Greek culture. Of course, as a kid, I was mainly interested in fantastic stories of gods with superhuman powers who either helped mankind, or fought against them in some form or ano... ...mocracy, Pericles was a great leader who was eventually impeached. Oedipus life, while being much to a greater extent tragic then Pericles, made sense to me finally. The democratic themes presented by the chorus began to take on new meaning , and I had an entirely new perspective on the plays.An awakened mind is wondrous thing. Although I was fascinated by Greek mythology and writings as a young kid, I never understood the complexness involved in them until entering college. Perhaps it was maturity, or a well rounded education that opened my eyes to the reality that Greek literature is intentional not only to tell a story, but to open the hearts and minds of the reader. Like a fine wine, Greek literature only gets better with time. The neighboring time some champion mentions the subject, instead of groaning, ask what they thought of it, and you may just be step into a whole new reality. Growing Up With Greek Literature Essay -- Greece Mythology EssaysGrowing Up With Greek LiteratureSay Greek Tragedy to an English major and youre likely to elicit a groan, or even perhaps a screech of terror. For me however, Greek tragedy, as well as Greek mythology, has always fascinated me. When I was younger, the Greek perfections always captured my interest, and I could never get enough of them. As I grew older, I became interested in the more refined aspects that Greek literature had to offer. Sophocles and The Three Theban Plays in particular, left me awestruck. I quickly began to realize that many of the new and inventive books and movies I had seen, had actually been written in one form or another, generations ago.I suppose my interest was first piqued when my father brought home the movie Hercules in the early 80s. As a young boy, I was entranced by the idea of a god-like man, with superhuman powers, doing remarkable things on earth. Of course, my knowledge of Greek gods and goddesses was limited, but watching Hercules fight mythical creatures and work out heroic acts was all it took to get my young mind interested. While other kids read comic books about Superman and Spiderman, I delved into the world of Greek mythology. I was entranced by the idea that people believed th at gods actually played a first hand role in peoples lives. Unlike superheroes in the comic books, which I knew from an early age didnt really exist, these Greek gods were an everyday way of life centuries ago. Although I didnt think they were real, it fascinated me that others did.Thus began my journey into the Greek culture. Of course, as a kid, I was mainly interested in fantastic stories of gods with superhuman powers who either helped mankind, or fought against them in some form or ano... ...mocracy, Pericles was a great leader who was eventually impeached. Oedipus life, while being much more tragic then Pericles, made sense to me finally. The democratic themes presented by the chorus began to take on new meaning, and I had an entirely new perspective on the plays.An awakened mind is wondrous thing. Although I was fascinated by Greek mythology and literature as a young kid, I never understood the complexity involved in them until entering college. Perhaps it was maturi ty, or a well rounded education that opened my eyes to the reality that Greek literature is designed not only to tell a story, but to open the hearts and minds of the reader. Like a fine wine, Greek literature only gets better with time. The close time someone mentions the subject, instead of groaning, ask what they thought of it, and you may just be step into a whole new reality.