Response: D'aulairies book of Greek Myths

     Now, recently, I've happily been treating myself to flipping through the pages of what is probably my favorite work of literature. "D'aulaires Book of Greek Myths." For years now I've been reading this book (on and off) and it just never seems to get boring.  D'aulaires book of Greek myths is a collaboration of what to me almost seems like an infinite amount of myths. They consist of both Gods and Heroes, but I like reading about the Gods. To me, their lives just seem so much more complex and intriguing, and that's what I wanted to write a response about.

      What I've come to notice about the Greek gods is that, the Greeks created them as imperfect creatures. Non of them have it all, they all have their flaws, and thats what defines them. I feel like that's what makes their stories so complex. Zeus, is ruler of the universe and has all the power possible, but can't control his temper which causes him to compromise many of the lives of the people who worship him. He does not have a good state of mind... Aphrodite, the goddess of love herself doesn't even have what we would call an "idealistic" marriage. She was forced to marry Hephaestus, who she'll never love and because of that she ends up having affaires with Ares which leads to having her caught and humiliated by the other Gods. And Ares God of war, was not only strong and courageous, but also a coward, he retreated his battles the instant he started to get hurt. He also was ruthless and had no value of life destroying others without even realizing it.

      What I love about these interpretations, is that they resemble reality. Life isn't perfect and it never will be, so if we had to place beings that rule and create our universe it just wouldn't make sense to have them be perfect specimens. If they were, life would be perfect too. Wouldn't it? I mean, power is overwhelming and can make you go crazy, make you lose control, like Zeus. And love can't be "Idealistic" or perfect. It's flawed and difficult and risky, like Aphrodite's relationships. And, wars don't only consist of victories, there's defeat, and after every war lives are lost, innocent people are killed, and there's destruction that never was meant to happen. I think Ancient Greeks were brilliant because they were able to create characters that do resemble the elements of life. They weren't fake.

      These fantasy's aren't just meant for entertainment. I really do believe that they can create an incredible state of mind in culture. I think if we did believe in gods like this, we would have a better mentality. A mentality of imperfection, and acceptance. As Americans, many of us (not all of us) grow up with Disney and Fairy Tails and I hate to say it but, a God that's "perfect" (well at least for me when I went to sunday school we learned that god makes no mistakes ex...). Maybe I'm wrong, but what I'm trying to say is that this whole ancient Greek conception of having imperfect Gods creating a flawed universe is interesting to me because I think that allows people the answer to happiness. Don't expect perfection and don't have an ideal symbol/god/whatever that idolises perfection. Because, if you do you'll never be happy. nothing will ever be enough. 

       Thank you D'aulairies!