CliffsNotes on

Mythology

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About Mythology

Introduction

About Egyptian Mythology

Introduction
Principal Egyptian Gods

Summary and Analysis for Egyptian Mythology

The Creation
Osiris

About Babylonian Mythology

Introduction
Major Babylonian Gods

Summary and Analysis for Babylonian Mythology

The Creation, the Flood, and Gilgamesh

About Indian Mythology

Introduction
Main Vedic Gods
Hindu Gods and Concepts

Summary and Analysis for Indian Mythology

Indra and the Dragon
Bhrigu and the Three Gods
Rama and Sita and Buddha

About Greek Mythology

Introduction
The Titans
Other Primordial Deities
The Olympian Gods
Other Gods
Mythical Greek Geography

Summary and Analysis for Greek Mythology

The Beginnings — Creation
The Beginnings — Prometheus and Man, and The Five Ages of Man and the Flood
The Beginnings — Loves of Zeus
The Beginnings — Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hermes, Demeter, and Dionysus
The Heroes — Perseus, Bellerophon, and Heracles
The Heroes — Jason and Theseus
The Heroes — Meleager and Orpheus
The Tragic Dynasties — Crete: The House Of Minos
The Tragic Dynasties — Mycenae: The House Of Atreus
The Tragic Dynasties — Thebes: The House of Cadmus
The Tragic Dynasties — Athens: The House of Erichthonius
The Trojan War — The Preliminaries, The Course of the War, The Fall of Troy, and The Returns
The Trojan War — Odysseus' Adventures
Other Myths

About Roman Mythology

Introduction
The Roman Gods

Summary and Analysis in Roman Mythology

Patriotic Legends — Aeneas and Romulus and Remus
Love Tales — Pyramus and Thisbe, Baucis and Philemon, Pygmalion, Vertumnus and Pomona, Hero and Leander, Cupid and Psyche

About Norse Mythology

Introduction
Supernatural Races in Norse Myth
The Major Norse Gods
Creation and Catastrophe

Summary and Analysis for Norse Mythology

The Norse Gods — Odin, Thor, Balder, Frey, Freya, and Loki
Beowulf, The Volsungs, and Sigurd

About Arthurian Legends

Introduction

Summary and Analysis for Arthurian Legends

Merlin, King Arthur, Gawain, Launcelot, Geraint, Tristram, Percivale, the Grail Quest, and the Passing of Arthur's Realm

Critical Essays

A Brief Look at Mythology

Study and Homework Help

Essay Questions

Cite this Literature Note

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Summary and Analysis for Greek Mythology

The Heroes — Jason and Theseus

Generous, brave, helpful, and intelligent, Theseus still has flaws that undermine his happiness and bring his life to a sad end. For one thing, he has a streak of rashness that harms him. In abandoning Ariadne he seems to lay a curse on all his marital attachments. He wreaks his son's destruction through angry ignorance. He nearly perishes when he goes down to the underworld to abduct Persephone. And his negligence in failing to hoist the white sail sends his father Aegeus hurtling from a cliff, a fact that may have determined the manner of his own death, since he too dies in such a fall.

The Greeks understood character in a way that other cultures failed to penetrate. They grasped how a trait like ambition could turn from a virtue into a bane, and how a noble personality might have serious defects that lead to ruin. They regarded the exploits of Jason and Theseus as worthy of emulation, but they also knew that a price had to be paid for heroism, and they did not flinch at showing that price in these legends.


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