How Mythology Explained the Unexplainable

How Mythology Explained the Unexplainable

In ancient times, the Greeks and Romans would tell a variety of stories. These stories became known as Greek and Roman mythology. These myths were not only told for entertainment purposes but were part of the building blocks of ancient religion. Many of these stories also helped the Greeks and Romans to explain a natural phenomena.

In the story of Demeter and Persephone, Persephone is kidnapped by Hades and taken to the underworld. Her mother Demeter is devastated and vows to do whatever she must do to get her daughter back from the dark underworld. Demeter tried to get help from Zeus, but found that he had allowed Hades to take Persephone. Undeterred, Demeter dresses up like an old woman and settled on the earth. While she was there, she kept the crops from growing and the humans suffered from drought and starvation. Zeus, wanting to put an end to this, sent Hermes to the underworld to rescue Persephone. When Hermes arrived he discovered that it was too late. Persephone had already eaten the Pomegranate seeds which meant she would have to stay in the underworld for an entire year. Persephone was allowed to return in the Spring and stay until the end of Summer. When she is reunited with Demeter at the beginning of the Spring, the flowers bloom and the earth is alive with beauty once again. When she leaves the earth in the fall, everything dies, and it's dark and cold. This story helped the Greeks and Romans to understand the changing of the seasons.

In the story of Narcissus and Echo, Hera, the queen of Mt Olympus was tired of Echo talking so much. She punished Echo by allowing her to repeat only what others said. One day, Echo was in the forest and saw the man that she loved, Narcissus, admiring himself in a pool of water. Narcissus was very vain, and while looking at his reflection, said the words "I love you." Echo repeated the words back to Narcissus and meant them, but Narcissus believed it was his own reflection repeating the words back to himself. He stayed there looking at himself for so long, that he died. Echo was heartbroken, and to this day she can be heard in hollow type places, repeating the words of others.

Poseidon lived on the bottom of the ocean and was known to have a bad temper. In one story, during the reign of Cecrops, Athena became the patron goddess of the city of Athens in a competition with Poseidon which Cecrops judged. They agreed that each would give the Athenians one gift and Cecrops would choose whichever gift they preferred. Poseidon struck the rock of the Acropolis with his trident and a spring rose up. The water was salty and useless. When Athena struck the rock with her lance an olive tree sprung up. Cecrops judged the olive tree to be the superior gift because it brought wood, oil and food, and consequently accepted Athena as their patron. Poseidon was very angry and sent a devastating