Interviews
Kathryn Stone (History Teacher at Jackson, Art History Major, Lived in Greece)
My interview was conducted with Ms. Stone who is a history teacher at Jackson and is Art History major. She also lived in Turkey and Greece for a few years giving her a personal background on the subject. During this interview, I learned a few new thing about the relevance of Greek mythology in modern society; an important one being that Greek mythology is not only present in Western culture’s society and philosophy but also in the East as well like with India due to Greek traders going all around Europe and even as far away as Persia and India. Also, because Ms. Stone is an Art History major she know a lot about what we consider to be beauty and its relation to Greek Mythology.
The reason we use statues of the Gods and architecture used in Greek temples on our major landmarks and government building is because Greek philosophers and mathematicians discovered the golden ratio of phi (ϕ) which is the ratio that helps us define aesthetic beauty in nature as it is evident in the human body. Greek architects used phi whenever they created a temple or a statue or a place of worship to the gods. I also learned that a lot of the art that we see has a background Greece and Rome during their golden periods which has set the foundation for art as it is today affecting almost all western artists like Leonardo da Vinci (most famous of them all in my opinion).
We can trace almost everything about our lives back to Greece is because they set the foundation for the society that we live in today. They are the roots of everything that is Western/Hellenistic culture and they are the creators of Democracy themselves which gave the people the power to choose their government rather than be blindly ruled setting the stage for almost all modern governments including communism. Greek mythology isn't just kept alive in our hearts and society because of our roots to Greece but also because all the tales of the Gods and Heroes and Monsters and Quests and Battles interests the darker romance inside of us. We revel in the thoughts of demigods killing off monsters like Heracles (Greek name; Roman name was Hercules) or going to major battles like Achilles in Troy. It brings our darker passion for violence and action and heroes as commonly seen in Hollywood today.
Finally, I asked ‘How can Greek Mythology be seen in everyday life?’ and Ms. Stone told me that everything about our society show parts of Greece like Greek letters and words in math like pi and circumference or how our government relates back to Greece or that even the way we think can be traced back to Greek philosophers like Socrates. Even our societal values relate back to Greece like femininity and masculinity, religion and the afterlife, and family values. I learned that Greek mythology is so relevant in Western culture because it provides the foundation for Western society so if Greece had fell to Persia before their rise to power the West would have never came to be as it is today.
The reason we use statues of the Gods and architecture used in Greek temples on our major landmarks and government building is because Greek philosophers and mathematicians discovered the golden ratio of phi (ϕ) which is the ratio that helps us define aesthetic beauty in nature as it is evident in the human body. Greek architects used phi whenever they created a temple or a statue or a place of worship to the gods. I also learned that a lot of the art that we see has a background Greece and Rome during their golden periods which has set the foundation for art as it is today affecting almost all western artists like Leonardo da Vinci (most famous of them all in my opinion).
We can trace almost everything about our lives back to Greece is because they set the foundation for the society that we live in today. They are the roots of everything that is Western/Hellenistic culture and they are the creators of Democracy themselves which gave the people the power to choose their government rather than be blindly ruled setting the stage for almost all modern governments including communism. Greek mythology isn't just kept alive in our hearts and society because of our roots to Greece but also because all the tales of the Gods and Heroes and Monsters and Quests and Battles interests the darker romance inside of us. We revel in the thoughts of demigods killing off monsters like Heracles (Greek name; Roman name was Hercules) or going to major battles like Achilles in Troy. It brings our darker passion for violence and action and heroes as commonly seen in Hollywood today.
Finally, I asked ‘How can Greek Mythology be seen in everyday life?’ and Ms. Stone told me that everything about our society show parts of Greece like Greek letters and words in math like pi and circumference or how our government relates back to Greece or that even the way we think can be traced back to Greek philosophers like Socrates. Even our societal values relate back to Greece like femininity and masculinity, religion and the afterlife, and family values. I learned that Greek mythology is so relevant in Western culture because it provides the foundation for Western society so if Greece had fell to Persia before their rise to power the West would have never came to be as it is today.
Dr. Gregory J. Miller (Professor of Classical Greek and Rome at Malone University)
The first question I asked Dr. Miller was “What is the origin of ancient Greek mythology, and why did it prevail over other religions at the time?” He answered that at the time, there was no other religion available for them to worship; their only option was to create their own. They began creating mythology and telling its stories to solve their unanswered questions. They also saw that their services to the Gods “worked”, and after they “worked” once, they were determined to make them “work” again. He gave me the example that if a sailor went to sea, sacrificed half of his food to the God of the Sea, Poseidon, and returned alive, he would believe that he returned home safely because of his sacrifice to the God. It gave them a state of peace in their mind knowing that there was an explanation for the world around them. After learning how it began, I realized that with a beginning there must also be an end. I followed with the question, “Why did mythology diminish as the universal Greek religion?” Dr. Miller explained that just as mythology had been brought up based on answers to questions, it also diminished from the same fate. People began to want a home of bliss and happiness after death, instead of becoming nothing in the world of Hades. Christianity and Judaism began to emerge and prevail as the dominant religions. The world was transitioning into an age of reason and began to also look at religion in a more practical way.
My second set of questions was focused more around mythology’s journey into today’s society and its place in our current world. The third question I asked was, “How did it continue to have its myths passed down to our current generation?” His answer was short and simple: they were passed down just like every other fairytale and folklore story. At first they were only passed on through verbal communication, but these famous myths were eventually seen in multiple forms of literature. I continued with, “In what ways is mythology still present today?”He responded that it was everywhere around us. It is in the media, names, architecture, and in our minds. Whether we notice it or not, almost all of the stereotypes and fairytales we imagine are based off of ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Finally, I asked Dr. Miller, “Why do we continue to study and research mythology, even though it was followed thousands of years ago?” He told me that this was his favorite question of mine because mythology is all around us. We can’t avoid something that is everywhere we go. These ancient myths were able to hit us as people in a deep spot because their stories can never be forgotten. These stories have the same plotline as our lives and can never loose relevance. They are able to show us that we are people, and no matter how much time or miles have passed between us, we are all rooted in the same place.
My second set of questions was focused more around mythology’s journey into today’s society and its place in our current world. The third question I asked was, “How did it continue to have its myths passed down to our current generation?” His answer was short and simple: they were passed down just like every other fairytale and folklore story. At first they were only passed on through verbal communication, but these famous myths were eventually seen in multiple forms of literature. I continued with, “In what ways is mythology still present today?”He responded that it was everywhere around us. It is in the media, names, architecture, and in our minds. Whether we notice it or not, almost all of the stereotypes and fairytales we imagine are based off of ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Finally, I asked Dr. Miller, “Why do we continue to study and research mythology, even though it was followed thousands of years ago?” He told me that this was his favorite question of mine because mythology is all around us. We can’t avoid something that is everywhere we go. These ancient myths were able to hit us as people in a deep spot because their stories can never be forgotten. These stories have the same plotline as our lives and can never loose relevance. They are able to show us that we are people, and no matter how much time or miles have passed between us, we are all rooted in the same place.