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    Gods Goddesses and Heros

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    The ancient Greeks worshipped many powerful gods and goddesses said to live on Mount Olympus. Greek myths featuring these gods were written by poets like Homer and Ovid, and were used to explain natural phenomena and provide lessons. The gods acted very human, with emotions and flaws, but also had special powers. Myths helped Greeks understand the world and explained beauty and suffering through stories of figures like Pandora and Hercules.

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    Gods Goddesses and Heros

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    436 views4 pages
    The ancient Greeks worshipped many powerful gods and goddesses said to live on Mount Olympus. Greek myths featuring these gods were written by poets like Homer and Ovid, and were used to explain natural phenomena and provide lessons. The gods acted very human, with emotions and flaws, but also had special powers. Myths helped Greeks understand the world and explained beauty and suffering through stories of figures like Pandora and Hercules.

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    gods goddesses and heros

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    The ancient Greeks worshipped many powerful gods and goddesses said to live on Mount Olympus. Greek myths featuring these gods were written by poets like Homer and Ovid, and were used to explain natural phenomena and provide lessons. The gods acted very human, with emotions and flaws, but also had special powers. Myths helped Greeks understand the world and explained beauty and suffering through stories of figures like Pandora and Hercules.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    436 views4 pages

    Gods Goddesses and Heros

    Uploaded by

    api-291662375
    The ancient Greeks worshipped many powerful gods and goddesses said to live on Mount Olympus. Greek myths featuring these gods were written by poets like Homer and Ovid, and were used to explain natural phenomena and provide lessons. The gods acted very human, with emotions and flaws, but also had special powers. Myths helped Greeks understand the world and explained beauty and suffering through stories of figures like Pandora and Hercules.

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    The ancient Greeks used myths to help explain natural phenomena and provide lessons about human behavior.

    Athena was the goddess of wisdom, Hermes had winged feet and was the messenger, Aphrodite was the goddess of love, Ares was the god of war, Poseidon ruled the sea, and Apollo brought the sun across the sky while Hades was in charge of the underworld.

    The myth of Pandora's box explains that all human evils like sickness and sadness came out of the box when Pandora opened it against warnings, with only hope remaining inside.

    Ancient Greece: Gods, goddesses and

    heroes
    By USHistory.org, adapted by Newsela staff on 04.06.17
    Word Count 754
    Level 690L

    A painting by René-Antoine Houasse shows the gods Athena and Zeus. In Roman mythology, these gods were known as
    Minerva and Jupiter. Image from: Wikimedia Commons.

    The ancient Greeks worshiped many gods. These powerful beings were said to
    live atop Mount Olympus, the tallest mountain in Greece. Greek myths feature
    these gods and goddesses. In these stories, the gods often get mixed up in the
    lives of humans.

    Many of these myths are from a book called "Metamorphoses." It was written by
    the Roman poet Ovid. Homer was another ancient poet who wrote about the gods.
    He tells about their part in the Trojan War and the adventures of Odysseus, a
    Greek hero.

    This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1


    Lessons And Explanations

    The Greeks used myths to help explain the unknown. For example, Zeus, the king
    of the gods, used lightning as a weapon. During strong storms, the Greeks said
    Zeus was angry and throwing lightning bolts.

    Some Greek myths offer lessons. They may warn about being greedy, for example.
    Some show heroes using their courage and wits to triumph.

    Gods Acted Human, But Had Special


    Powers

    Greek gods were powerful, but they also


    acted very human. They fought among
    themselves. They acted selfishly and were
    jealous of each other. Zeus, for example,
    often treated his wife Hera badly. In return,
    Hera plotted against Zeus and punished the
    people he loved. The gods, heroes and
    humans in Greek myth were a mix of heroic and cruel.

    There were many other gods worshiped by the ancient Greeks. They had special
    powers, kind of like superheroes. Athena is recognized as the goddess of wisdom.
    She was born directly from Zeus' head. Hermes, who had winged feet, was the
    messenger of the gods. He could fly anywhere with great speed. Aphrodite was
    the goddess of love. She was described as the most beautiful being in the
    universe. Her brother Ares was the god of war. He was dangerous, violent and
    mean. Poseidon ruled the sea from his underwater palace. Apollo, the god of the
    sun, rode his chariot across the sky, bringing the sun with him. Hades was in
    charge of the underworld. The underworld was where people went after they
    died.

    This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2


    Pandora And Hercules

    Myths helped the Greeks understand their


    world. The stories explained the beauty and
    pain of life. In one myth, Zeus created a
    woman named Pandora. She was very
    curious. Hermes, Zeus' messenger, gave
    Pandora a golden box. He warned her never
    to open it. If she did, terrible things would
    happen, he said.

    Pandora could not contain her curiosity, of


    course. Eventually she opened the box. Out
    flew all the evils that still curse humanity:
    hunger, sickness, sadness and other
    miseries. Only one thing remained in the box: hope. That was a good thing
    Pandora was able to keep. This myth gives an explanation of where human
    suffering came from. At the same time, it teaches a lesson by warning of the
    dangers of being too nosy.

    This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3


    In addition to myths about gods, the ancient
    Greeks also told thrilling stories about
    heroes. One of the most famous of these was
    Hercules, the world's strongest man. He
    was also the son of a human woman and
    Zeus.

    In one story, Hera, Zeus' wife, was angry at


    Zeus. She decided to punish Hercules to get
    back at Zeus. She tricked Hercules into
    believing his entire family were dangerous
    beasts. Trusting her, Hercules killed his
    family members. He was heartbroken when
    he found out the truth. To make up for it,
    Hercules agreed to perform 12 tasks. He
    battled monsters and completed impossible
    tasks to win back his honor.

    References to ancient Greek myths often


    show up in art today. These stories are very
    old, but they still hold many lessons for
    people in the modern world.

    This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4

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