Theogony

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22 March 2007

Theogony of Hesiod : The Nature of the Gods

The Greek gods that Hesiod describes in his Theogony are not incorporeal manifestations of powers in the universe unknown to man , but rather they are ideal bodies which personify scientific and natural phenomena , emotions , motivations , and concepts . When interacting with each other , or with human beings , they tend to characterize whatever concept they represent . They are much like humans in their actions jealous and deceptive , loving and caring . They war

with each other , vie for power with each other , and ally themselves with one another , but they are not always limited to the same mortal constraints of human development , education , and death

The Greek gods do differ from human beings in a number of ways . Some of them reproduce through parthenogenesis : But Hera was very angry and quarrelled [sic] with her mate . And because of this strife she bare without union with Zeus who holds the aegis a glorious son , Hephaestus (ll . 929a-929t ) When gods do couple with each other , they do not maintain rules against incest , or really follow any sorts of gender or incubation restrictions . The gods are sometimes even born older than children , like Aphrodite : a white foam spread around [Ouranos ' severed testicles] , and in it there grew a maiden (ll . 176-206

Though many of their actions and decisions can be viewed from a human moral perspective to be deceptive , or evil , they seem more than most religious icons , to be neither explicitly good , nor evil , but existing in the gray area between , moving back and forth according to circumstance . This is perhaps an overlooked insight into human morality showing it not to be such a black and white concept as we would like to think . The Greek gods conduct themselves somewhat exaggeratedly and more rashly than properly functioning humans should . They can , at times , be a paragon of morality , and at other times show even their morals to be ruled by their emotions and desires . This is not so different from the struggles humans face within the moral realm , and was perhaps meant to be more of a religious commiseration than a model . The philosophy of the time was better suited to providing ethical and moral guidance for the people than the religion seems to have been

Works Cited

Evelyn-White , Hugh G . The Theogony of Hesiod ' Wikisource . 21 October 2006 . Wikimedia . 22 March 2007

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