"We all want a place to live, a place to die, and a way to love"

Greek mythology was the last of my Rome seminar Saturday adventures. Thinking about Greek mythology takes me time traveling back to the 6th grade once again. That was the year I realized my love for history. I had become captivated by Greek mythology, remembering every story and reciting them to anyone who would listen. The four sixth grade classes all participated in a “Greek Olympics” at the end of the school year. I had never been so willing to study in my life. I was quite the Renaissance gal, I ran in all of the girls races, participated in every academic game, and even drew posters for our events (though I am no Michelangelo). So upon hearing that Greek mythology was one of our seminars I became instantly excited. It has been some time since the 6th grade and I was glad I would be able to refresh forgotten tales hidden somewhere in the back of my mind.

I woke up Saturday morning with Walter, a rambunctious poodle lying on top of me, and Ella, a four year old I babysit every now and then saying in shock, “Walter! What are you doing? She’s sleeping!” in her adorable trying to whisper voice. I had woken up laughing; I knew it was going to be a good day.

I came running into Sacramento High School trying to avoid the rain. Since I had never had Mrs. White as a teacher before I made my way to her room unsure of what to expect. We all sat down and Mrs. White just dove right in. One thing I had always liked about Greek mythology is the atmosphere it is always taught in: nothing is so serious; it is as if you are sitting down to coffee with a friend and just chatting. It is all so important but it is relaxing. We discussed why it is important to study Greek mythology if we are going to Rome. Rome, just like many other religions and countries, realized a good way to get others on Rome’s side is to intertwine others beliefs to fit Rome’s. Throughout Rome’s history, religion, mythology, and art we find many old Greek myths. Romans took the Greek God’s and just changed the name and made them a little less extreme. Sound familiar? How about, Christmas being so close to Yule, in an effort to convert Pagans to Christianity? Practically the same thing.

The Greeks had their own ideas of how man was created. A story everyone in this world is still looking for today. Creation began with Chaos, Gaia, Tartarus, and Eros: Chaos, Earth, the underworld, and love. As Mrs. White put it, “We all want a place to live, a place to die, and a way to love,” it is true. The Greeks constructed this family line of Gods that fit with what everyone wanted to hear. From these four Gods come the details: death, fate, sleep, doom, night, light, sky, sea, and so on and so forth.

Eventually the Olympians come into Godly power. We all have heard something about the Olympians, it is so prevalent in our pop culture today it’s hard not to realize it. The picture at the beginning of this blog is me dressed up as Athena (my favorite Greek God) for Halloween a few years back. Some may think that these old stories mean nothing to us nowadays, but really they mean everything. Kids dress up as these characters for Halloween, people produce movies about these Gods, car companies are named after the God of travel, and many have rewritten books and plays about them. Pyramus and Thisbe, the story of two lovers running away to secretly meet, because their families forbid them to be together, does that not sound like: Romeo and Juliet, the story of two lovers running away to secretly meet, because their families forbid them to be together? Every fable in Greek mythology is used today. We may not be sacrificing horses into the sea so Poseidon will grant us a safe journey, but we still look up to some of these characters as heroes or entertainers. Some of these God’s were scum, some were inspiring, and some just let people enjoy a good story. Greek mythology was a way to find meaning in everyday life. To understand why the seasons change, to have an excuse to why people get punished for no good reason. We still use these excuses. It is such a good form of entertainment; why not use something that has worked for so long? Sure, we have changed certain aspects of these stories: in today’s world it is no longer appropriate to create Gods that rape innocent people.

That is the major thing I walked away with after my last seminar, that we are all just looking for answers to life’s questions, and that we will keep revising stories to help put our minds at ease. We have been doing it since the beginning of time. We may have differences in belief but one thing is the same, we all want to know there is a reason for us and everything else in this world.

I have learned a lot from these past few Saturdays. The joy of traveling through others eyes, dusting off thousands of years of history and art work, laughing and eating donuts with peers that all have the same hope in mind, and to really think deeper about everything I had been hearing. I greatly appreciate Mr. Sullivan, Mrs. Everett, and Mrs. White for giving us their Saturdays to share their knowledge. Thank you all.


Kathleen Snook