Mythology For Dummies

Gods and Goddesses of Greek and Roman Mythology

The predominant mythologies handed down through the ages are those of the Greeks and Romans. The mythology of each culture includes gods and goddesses who interacted with humans, with good, bad, and indifferent motives. Each culture ascribed to deities with comparable powers and spheres of influence, and the following table shows those areas and the names of the important deities in each mythology:

A Timeline of World Civilizations for Mythology

Mythology seeks to explain the world and thus reflects the culture, events, and history of the societies that create the stories handed down as myths. Egypt’s Nile River and its cycle of overflowing its banks leaving fertile ground as it receded became the basis for Egyptian religion that demanded that the people help the gods prevent anything from interfering with the cycle.

Myths form around the founding of cities, including Athens and Rome — about 10,000 to 2,500 years ago, respectively — and the founding of civilizations, including the creation myths passed down in virtually every culture.

Chinese and Native American myths account for astrological occurrences as well as for more earth-bound events such as the Toltec invasion of the Mexican city of Teotihuacan in 900 CE. The myth of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, grew from this victory.

Famous poems, such as Beowulf and the Saga of the Volsungs are combinations of history and legend. The stories of the mythical Br’er Rabbit, who won every encounter despite his subservient position, inspired hope in African-American slaves in the Civil War era.

And don’t assume that all the myths are hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. The mythical city of Brigadoon, a Scottish village that appears once every hundred years was essentially the invention of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe who wrote a play in 1947.

The following table offers historical highlights from 3,000 years before the common era to the eve of the 20th century.