On the other hand there are many instances that show that Greek mythology still pulses through our veins and in our society; it’s only in a efferent form that what how we normally see the Greek myths. The stories we know from history have strong parallels in the currently worshiped religion of Christianity. There are several tales and characters in Greek myth that can be paired with books and people from Christianity. First instance is the old Greek god Prometheus; he was the god whom gave us fire and the knowledge needed to allow mankind to grow and survive.
When he did this he was then captured by Zeus and persecuted. His punishment was to be nailed to a rock and every day he’d have a giant eagle eat his liver and regenerate at the setting of each ay to do it again. Prometheus sacrificed himself for the well being of mankind. In a way, this character sound much like Jesus in modern day religion. Jesus was nailed to a cross as a sacrifice for the salvation of mankind. Prometheus is not the only one in Greek mythology that can be represented as Jesus, the later added Olympian wine god Dionysus shares some resemblance.
Dionysus and Jesus are both the ones who game mankind the gift of wine and encourage a blissful lifestyle. The also both share the archetype of rebirth after death. Dionysus traveled to the underworld to search for his mother homo he never met and didn’t know anything about. He wanted to bring her to Olympus since he was now considered a Olympian god. Dionysus went to the underworld to save a person he didn’t know. Much like how Jesus went to hell after taking on the sins of all the humans on the earth.
Then in a sense both Dionysus and Jesus rose up and were reborn from the place of the lowest level of existence. Almost all have heard the Flood story when Noah built a large boat to save himself, his family, and a pair Of all the animals in the world. Well in Greek mythology, there is also a flood story These religions also share the idea of giants and monsters once ruling the earth. In the Greek creation stories there were Cyclopes, Hysterectomies (hundred handlers) and the Titans. In Christianity there is a similar story with giants and large monsters that fight over the power of the world.
Not many know of this book from Christian religious text because it was forbidden from the bible: the Book of Enoch. These giants in the bible were called Oenophile; they were half angel, half human, their fathers were renegade angels who fought god in order to help humanity, but in reality only lusted for human women. These beings that sprawled on every corner of the earth. Their appearance was similar to that in the Greek creation story as being these grotesque deformed creatures with great power.
In the Book of Enoch, it states that God sent the Flood to dispose of these enormous beings that rivaled in power of god himself, much like how Zeus rivaled his father Crocus or how Crocus rivaled his father Chaos. Not only in common religion is there reminiscence of classical mythologies, they are also advertised, Worn, used, and distributed all over the globe. Almost everyone has used or at least seen an atlas, which was named from he titan that was forced to forever hold the world on his shoulders.
Many people have also worn Mike products, the creators named there brand after the Greek god of victory. Then there is the Honda Odyssey and the Volkswagen Goes, named after the ten year long story of Odysseus and the Goddess of Dawn. Our culture even has sayings and terms like the Achilles Heel and having the Midas touch which are famous characters from Greek mythology. There are many more allusions and connections with Greek mythology to our culture. As was shone, Greek mythologies are alive and still a heavy influence on our ultra.
Greek terms and names are thrown around everyday even if the meaning is not well known, many have the grand idea without the story behind it. So some people with this knowledge would argue with the belief that mythology is dying out They also are the people who may see the relations between classical mythology and currently worshiped religion. I use to say that mythology is nothing but a forgotten religion, but now I see that its really not all that forgotten. Which is why agree with professor Joseph Campbell when he said that “Myth is much more important and true than history.