FREE ESSAY ON RICHARD THE LION HEARTED

RICHARD THE LION HEARTED

Greek Mythology played a very key role in the lives of the Greeks. Through the many
legends about the gods, the Greeks were able to find reasons for all the laws of nature
in a supernatural form. These legends were passed down from generation to generation
until the spread of Christianity. On top of giving the Greeks reasons for nature's
action, their religion also gave them a faith that thing were going to be okay, which is
something that all humans crave. 
The Greeks had 13 major gods. They often used these gods in their myths and prayed to
them for particular needs. The head of the gods was Zeus who was also the god of the sky.
Whenever Zeus spoke, he was listened to and his word was always final. Zeus had two
brothers, Poseidon and Hades. The three brothers drew straws to decide who would control
the skies, who would control the seas, and who would control the underworld. Zeus gained
control over the skies and became king of the gods. Zeus used his mighty thunderbolts to
punish all those who disobeyed him. Zeus married Hera, making her the queen of the gods.
The sky god was extremely unfaithful to his wife and slept with women from queens all the
way down to peasants. Since Zeus was king of the gods Hera could rarely force Zeus to do
any penance, so she took out her wrath on the women Zeus slept with. Zeus's symbols were
thunderbolts and eagles. 
When the three brothers drew straws to determine what area they would control Poseidon
got the sea. His wife was Amphritrite who was a Nereid. Like Zeus, Poseidon was not very
faithful to his spouse and had many affairs with the nymphs. Poseidon fathered several
children who were extremely cruel and wild. Among his children were Orion the giant and
the Polyphemus Cyclops. In art, Poseidon is generally featured holding a trident and
accompanied by a dolphin. Also, Poseidon was said to have created many animals. He
accidentally created such animals as the zebras while perfecting the horse. 
Hades was the god of the dead. When he and his three brothers divided up the universe, he
ended up with the underworld. Hades rarely came out of the underworld to Mount Olympus,
the place where the gods resided, because he was not welcome there. Persephone, whom
Hades had abducted in order to get her to the underworld, was Hades' queen. Hades was a
pitiless god who never paid attention to prayer or sacrifice. But Hades was not an evil
god. He was often referred to as the Lord of the riches because his kingdom was believed
to be the reason for precious metals and crops. Hades wore a helmet and a cape that made
him invisible. 
Hera was the queen of the gods. She was both the wife and sister of Zeus. Hera was a
jealous goddess who never forgot an injury and always remembered to retaliate at the
source of the injury with vengeance. She was the mother of Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus.
Hera was extremely displeased at the way that Zeus often treated children. Hera was the
protector of marriage, married women, and children. Many people think that Hera was an
ugly god that had no life outside of harassing here husband about his other
relationships, because she was always after Zeus's mortal partners, but this is not true
for she was thought to be one of the most beautiful gods, and many god were attracted to
her. 
Demeter was the goddess of harvest. When her daughter, Persephone, was abducted to the
underworld, Demeter became depressed. As a result Demeter produced no harvest and caused
a famine. Zeus had to step in to correct the situation. Zeus ordered Hades to allow
Persephone to be released. Hades obeyed his brother but before he let Persephone go, he
forced her to eat pomegranate seeds that would cause her to come back to him for four
months each year. So during the months Demeter was with her daughter she produced great
crops; during the months Hades was with Persephone there was only death among the crops.

Hestia was the goddess of the hearth and everyday life. She was also Zeus's sister. Most
Greek people prayed to Hestia each day. In most homes there was a hearth that was not
ever allowed to be put out because the fire was devoted to Hestia. These fires that
burned in everyone's home created a unity between the people. 
Ares was the son of Zeus through Hera and was perhaps the only son they had together.
Both Zeus and Hera hated their son. Ares was the combat part of war. Ares is often looked
on as an inspiration for people fighting for their life with odds heavily against them.
The vulture and dog were the two animals associated with Ares. Both describe his
character extremely well. 
Athena or Athene was the goddess of wisdom and the other god of war. Role as a war god
was to give strategies guidance and wisdom to the warriors. She was Zeus's daughter and
had no mother because Zeus had created her from the earth. Athena is often called
"gray-eyed" because of her deep colored eyes. She was by far the favorite child of. Zeus
even let her carry his aegis and use his thunderbolts. She created the olive tree, which
became known as her tree. The owl was her bird because they both were thought to have
great wisdom. 
Cecrops was the king of Attica and had plans to build a magnificent city. The gods saw
the plans for the building of this city and were greatly interested. The gods foresaw
that this city would become a great city, so they had a dispute over which god should be
the city's patron. After a many long arguments, it became obvious that either Athena or
Poseidon would be the city's patron. A contest was held to end the dispute in which both
Athena and Poseidon would give a gift to the city. Whoever's gift was greater would
become the patron of the city. Poseidon created a four-mile salt spring that extended to
the city and promised a might navy and great trading vessels. Then gray-eyed Athena
planted a small bush that was laughed at by many. She said that it was the olive bush and
poor men could flavor their bread and milk, and rich men could feast on oil created from
these olives bushes. Many gifts of this oil would be used as a sacrifice to the gods. The
judges were so pleased with the olive that they declared the city Athens and built a huge
temple in honor of the city's new patron Athena. 
Apollo was the son of Zeus through Leto. Many of the gods loved Apollo because he
displayed his great musical talents before them. He was the god of healing and archery.
It was said that when a mortal got sick it was because Apollo had shot him with one of
his arrows. When a mortal healed it was credited to Apollo because he had first taught
man how to heal. Apollo was also the god of light (not sun) and truth since he never told
a lie. The animals sacred to him were the crow and dolphin. 
Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and daughter of Zeus. She was like an untamed
animal that loved to hunt. Artemis was the goddess of wild women, the moon, and untamed
animals. Artemis was the protector (along with Hera) and the hunter of the gods. She
seemed to almost have a split personality because at times she could be the most gentle
and loving of the gods, usually when she was around children, and at other times she was
the most ferocious and angry of all the gods, often when someone killed an animal on her
sacred grounds. The deer was the animal most loved by Artemis. 
It is unsure whether Aphrodite is another daughter of Zeus or born from the sea. Most
stories state that she was born from the sea. Aphrodite was the goddess of beauty and
love because she was by far the most beautiful of all the gods. She was in the love
triangle between her lame husband Hephaestus and Ares the god of war. The swan and dove
were two of the birds sacred to her. 
Maia was the son of Atlas and a nymph. The son of Zeus and Maia was Hermes. Hermes was
the messenger god and ended up in most all tales of mythology. Hermes ran messages for
all the gods, but mainly for Zeus. Hermes was the god of trade and commerce. He was also
a master thief and protector of traders. Hermes stole Apollo's herds when he was a day
old, but earned his forgiveness by giving Apollo the lyre he had just made. During Hermes
last message he was led to the underworld by Hades where he had to stay for eternity much
to most of the gods displeasure. 
Through these gods and the legends surrounding the gods, the Greeks found reasons for
everything they did. They were also always able to find a god to motivate them to
continue through the day and to use as inspiration. Even though the gods would eventually
be nearly forgotten after the spread of Christianity, they would be studied for
generations to follow.
End Notes
Bibliography
Coolidge, Olivia E., Greek Mythology, Mifflin Company, New York, New 
York, 1977.
Graves, Roberts., Greek Myths, Penguin Group, London, England, 1981.
Patrick, Richard., All Color Book of Greek Mythology, Octopus 
Books Limited, London, England, 1972.
http://myth.fsn.net.html