Greek Mythology
Progressing from the beginning of the world until today, a society's survival has been dependent upon a sound political system. During the time of the ancient Greeks, there was no such system. Their daily actions were governed by the sole will of the gods. Little did they know, this hierarchy of gods was a well-oiled political regime. These ancient Greek polytheistic beliefs were very similar to the structure of our present day democratic aggregation.Just as our government has a president, the president of the Greek gods was Zeus. Zeus was the most powerful god in Olympus. In The Odyssey, he was recognized as, "the master of heaven and high thunder" (Hom., Od. V. 4). The rulings that were made by Zeus were recognized and obeyed by all other gods, semi-gods, and mortals. An example of this was when he ruled that Kalypso must allow Odysseus to leave her island. Hermes went to Kalypso with the words of Zeus: "Now the command is: send him back in haste" (Hom., Od. V. 118). Kalypso knew that because this was the command of Zeus, she had to obey. She replied, "But now there's no eluding Zeus's will. If this thing be ordained by him, I say be it, let the man strike out alone on the vast water" (Hom., Od.
It is obvious, however, that message delivery has not always been so easy. Upon examination of Homer's The Odyssey, one finds only one source of messaging, the god Hermes. Hermes's primary responsibility was delivering messages, whether it was from god to god or god to mortal. A fine example of Hermes' messaging came when Kalypso conveyed a message to Odysseus concerning his fate, as was sent to her from Zeus through Hermes. (Hom., Od. XII. 492-498). Many other messages, too numerous to list, were all carried by Hermes, and can be found throughout The Odyssey. In order for a president, vice president, or any other politician, to gain support on any issue, they need to communicate with their supporters. In our modern, fast-paced society, this occurs through the mass media. In its many forms (TV, Radio, Newspapers, etc.), media is the best way for a politician to deliver their message to the largest audience. The best part is that the message reaches the audience at its members' convenience through the use of commercials, repetitive programming, attractive articles, etc. Only a small effort is required from the actual politician to produce this political contact. Zeus advised Poseidon on how to punish the Phaiakians: "Here is how I should do it, little brother: when all who watch upon the wall have caught sight of the ship, let her be turned to stone- an island like a ship, just off the bay. Mortals may gape at that for generations! But throw no mountain round the sea port city" (Hom., Od. XIII. 193-198). Had Poseidon acted without the consent of Zeus, he would have paid dearly for his defiance. Another aspect of politics that can be compared with the ancient Greeks is an independent party. An independent political party's main purpose is to thwart the efforts of the more established political parties. This is shown by Poseidon's attempts to make Odysseus's journey home more troublesome than the other Gods wish. These independent parties do not follow any rules or boundaries set forth by the other parties, but choose to operate "outside the lines". Odysseus's continual defiance of Poseidon, and overcoming of the obstacles set forth, kindled Poseidon's
Some common words found in the essay are:
Od XII, Athena Zeus, Hom Od, Od III, Od XIII, Odyssey Athena, Athena Telemakhos, Mythology Progressing, Radio Newspapers, Pylos Odyssey, hom od, greek gods, help odysseus, zeus help, zeus help odysseus, odysseus return, city hom od, vice president, campaign contributions, political parties, od xiii, odyssey athena, help odysseus return, hom od xiii,
Approximate Word count = 1479
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
