Which of the Greek Gods am I?

[fajrdrako]

I got this from rjones2818:



Hecate


?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
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This made me wonder which of the Greek gods I really like, and to reflect that I have many Greek heroes (particularly Achilles and Odysseus), there are none of the gods who really ignite that spark of passion - though I am rather partial to some cognate gods of other Indo-European cultures. But Greeks... Ares, perhaps? Athena? This exercise makes me think of Elizabeth Barrett, praying to Minerva in the back garden of her Victorian London home. The Greek gods have beauty but lack gravitas... or do they, really? Until further notice, I'm rather happy with this choice.

Comments

[spherissa.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of the Greek Gods seem to familiar to us, in our culture they have all the mystique stripped away. And to start with they weren't created as Selflss Gods, there's a hollowness to them, a distorted reflection of some of the less admirable qualities of man.

Or maybe I am rambling.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

in our culture they have all the mystique stripped away

That seems to be true, at least to some extent, in my head. I'm not sure why, because the similar cultural influences in childhood didn't destroy the mystique of the Norse gods for me - though that was maybe because I came to them later, much later, when I was mad over Marvel comics and couldn't wait for the next issue of Journey Into Mystery. And isn't that just one of the great title of all time? While Greek gods were something I associated more with Mighty Mouse or Hercules cartoons, which I didn't like.

But that's not the whole story too. On reading Homer, I found the gods fascinating and funny and interesting but on a very human scale. Perhaps this is why they work so well in our culture as superheroes. Maybe that is the problem? They're too human, not distanced enough? Interesting in their psychological and cultural implications, but not in themselves? They don't inspire awe?

I wouldn't mind worshipping Alexander. (That was said frivolously, but is actually a rather profound thought, at least in its insight into my own psyche.) He has a mystique for me - plenty of it, even though I haven't figured him out to my satisfaction.

[spherissa.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think that's a big problem, they don't seem numinous they're just like us only... petty... really petty, selfish... Not the kind of gods I'd worship, but maybe the ones I'd relate to.

Gods serving a different purpose?

Alexander... He does have some very worshippable points though doesn't he? And if you ever did figure him out you'd lose the mystique (to stae the obvious) and what would be left to marvel at?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

A different purpose, certianly. And yet not uninspirational. I think I have to think about (and read about) the Greek relationship with their gods. For all it seems perplexing to me, I think it's deeper than it looks at first.

Alexander... He does have some very worshippable points though doesn't he?

The more I think of it, the more I think so. He was larger than life, and he embodied many fascinating and powerful concepts - beauty, conquest, curiosity, strength, seeking.

I don't think I believe that looking too hard will destroy the mystique. I think it's something you either see (however dimply) or don't - to some extent, choosing to see it or not, depending on how you relate to your concepts of reality.

[spherissa.livejournal.com]

I think you'd have to, it's hard to see what something really means without having it in the context of it's own culture, or at least in as much of it as we can reconstruct.

Yes, he was though he did have faults, but really he is quite a strong mythical character. And I think behind a lot of these Return of the King idea's in fantasy and the myth following. People seem to like the idea of ebing united under One don't they?

I can agree with that view on looking. Looking is all I do with religion and all it does is increase what I get from it, sometimes I wonder how the world would have turned out had Celtic Christianity carried the day at Whitby, or if the Gnostics hadn't been suppresses... or...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, there are numerous archetypal ideas here - the beautiful youth-saviour, the union of peoples, the god reborn, the explorer to the ends of the earth, the succesful conqueror whose people love him, and so on....

One of the joys of living in our century is that we can bypass the years of history that repressed alternate views, and study and enjoy religions of the past, and try to see the outlook of the past. Obviously we can't see it clearly, but what fun to explore.