A Short History of Greek and Roman Myth: Gods, Goddesses and Heroes By USHistory.org, adapted by Newsela staff on 03.10.17 Word Count 773 Level 790L An 1866 illustration of the Roman god of the seas, Neptune, who the Greeks called Poseidon, being pulled through water by two horses, with two nymphs alongside him. Library of Congress. The ancients Greeks worshiped many gods. These gods and goddesses lived at the top of Mount Olympus. It is the highest mountain in Greece. Myths, or stories, described their lives. The gods were involved in the lives of humans. These myths helped to explain why things happened on earth. For example, Zeus, the king of the gods and lord of the skies, carried a thunderbolt when it rained. So the ancient Greeks believed that thunder and lightning were Zeus showing his anger. Some stories about the Greek gods are found in the works of the poet Homer. He created two long poems. The first was the Iliad, which was about the Trojan War. The second was the Odyssey, about the hero Odysseus. These two poems were passed down in story-telling from parents to their children. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1
Greek myths were like daytime TV soap operas The Greek gods fought among themselves and were often jealous. Zeus, the king of the gods, cheated on his wife Hera. She punished him for not being a good husband. The Greek gods got angry and fell in love very easily. The gods, heroes and humans of Greek mythology made many mistakes. But, sins were often punished and lessons were taught. Zeus and Hera were important gods in the Greek religion. Athena, the daughter of Zeus, was the goddess of wisdom. Aphrodite was the goddess of love, but her brother, Ares, was the god of war. Hermes, who had winged feet, was the messenger of the gods. Poseidon ruled the sea from his underwater palace. Apollo rode his chariot across the sky, bringing the sun with him. Hades was in charge of the dead in the underworld. The gods punished those who were bad. For example, Tantalus killed his son. Tantalus was sent to Hades and made forever thirsty and hungry. A pool of water was at his feet, but it dried up when he tried to get a drink. Fresh fruit hung above him but if he reached for it, a wind blew it away. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2
Greek myths packed with important lessons Myths also taught lessons. In one myth, Pandora was given a golden box. The gods also gave her a warning: "Do not open the box." This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3
But Pandora's curiosity made her open it. Out flew all that was evil in the world, including pain, jealousy, anger and sadness. Only one thing stayed in the box: it was hope. This myth explains where bad things came from. It also taught a lesson that being curious can have disastrous results. Myths also told stories about heroes. One of the most famous Greek heroes was Heracles, the world's strongest man. Heracles was the son of Zeus and a woman who was human. Hera, Zeus' wife, was jealous that Zeus had a son with another woman, so she wanted to punish his son, Heracles. She tricked Heracles into believing that his whole family were all dangerous beasts, so he killed them. Later he realized his mistake. Heracles agreed he must be punished for what he did. The gods gave him 12 tasks to pay for his crime. One task was to slay the nine-headed monster called the Hydra. Another task was to clean the Augean stables, which were filled with cows, bulls, goats, sheep and horses and had been filthy for 30 years. So Heracles changed the course of a river to wash away the mess. In the end, he completed the 12 tasks, called the Labors of Heracles. Romans adapted Greek mythology for themselves The origins of Greek Mythology are thousands of years old. By around 900 B.C. the different gods had been put together into a real religion. At that time the Greeks already had many citystates, but the Romans were still building their civilization. The Greeks and Romans were neighbors and the Greeks had built colonies on the Italian Peninsula. The Greeks had a huge influence on the Romans, who adopted Greek religion and mixed it with their own. The Romans changed all of the names of the gods, except for Apollo. For example, the Romans had Venus, the goddess of birth, while the Greeks had Aphrodite, the goddess of love. So, Venus also became the goddess of love. The Greeks had Heracles, the son of Zeus, who performed many deeds of strength, but the Romans claimed him as the son of Jupiter (the Roman name for Zeus), and named him Hercules, who demonstrated different deeds of strength. The Greek hero Odysseus became Ulysses in the Roman myth. The following chart lists some of the Greek and Roman names for some of the gods and goddesses. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4
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Quiz 1 What is a MAIN goal of Greek myths? to mix with Roman religion and mythology to teach lessons and explain why things happen to punish humans who disobeyed the gods to entertain and scare young children 2 Overall, the article is organized around: a civilization and its poetry a god and his followers a religion and its stories a myth and its characters 3 How is the structure in the introduction [paragraphs 1-3] different from the structure in the section "Greek myths were like daytime TV soap operas"? The introduction gives background on what Greek myths are and who wrote them, and the section "Greek myths were like daytime TV soap operas" explains the purpose for most myths. The introduction gives background on Greek religion and introduces an important god, and the section "Greek myths were like daytime TV soap operas" provides details about several gods and goddesses. The introduction describes the origin of ancient Greek myths, and the section "Greek myths were like daytime TV soap operas" explains why the myths were passed down from parents to their children. The introduction describes the king of the gods in Greek mythology, and the section "Greek myths were like daytime TV soap operas" explains his wife's role as an important goddess. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 6
4 Which detail would be MOST important to include in a summary of the article? Zeus often behaved badly and was punished by his wife, Hera, for cheating on her. Greek mythology included a story about Tantalus, who killed his son and was sent to Hades. When Pandora opened the box she was given, she let out all of the evil that is in the world. The ancient Romans changed the names of all of the Greek gods, except for Apollo. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 7