Pandora’s Box Unveiled: Greek Mythology’s Influence on Gender Roles, Explanations, and Traditions

Dating back to around 700 bce, Greek Mythology began influencing and affecting the everyday lives of ancient Greeks and their society as a community. Greek Mythology created gender roles and societal expectations, gave the ancient Greeks an explanation of how and why the world works, and began traditions that Greeks passed on to the next generation.To begin with, Greek Mythology set a standard as to how men and women were supposed to function and interact in their society. Many people believed that the Greek mythology gave the power to the men over the women and created a strict patriarchal society. Men were supposed to be the dominant ones and more intelligent ones and make all the decisions.

At first look, it may seem that way but if you take a closer look at the mythology, mythology gave women an abundance of the power and respect compared to other ancient civilizations around that time that gave women no power or respect. Although male gods were considered superior to female gods for the most part, the female gods still portrayed many characteristics that surpassed male gods such as wisdom and creativity.

A quintessential example of a female god that seemed to take dominance over males, because of her intelligence and wisdom is Aphrodite. Aphrodite, although a female, still carried an enormous amount of power and wisdom; enough that she was actually able to deceive any male, including some of the most powerful male gods. Male gods had a tendency to be strong, brave, and sometimes aggressive, which allowed them to be extremely powerful but they had small minds, with no trace of creativity when a problem occurred and a solution was needed, leading them to make irrational decisions. In the Greek Mythology, a lot of the time when a male god was in charge of making a decision, the decision usually ended with war or violence.

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On the contrary, when a female god was in charge of creating a solution to a problem, thought was put into it and a creative and rational solution was put to use. This juxtaposition between male and female decisions in Greek Mythology proves the idea that society expected males to be more dominant and strong and gave them the power but sometimes giving the males too much power caused war, violence, and complete chaos in the society. In addition to Aphrodite, Athena is another example of females defying the role of women's expectations in the society. Athena beats Poseidon, a male God, in a contest.

The winner of this competition was to become the protector of Athens. When choosing a protector of a very important and valuable city, you would choose the strong and brave man, right? Wrong. At the end of the contest, Athena grew a valuable and needed olive tree while Poseidon burst useless salt water into the air. It was obvious that even though Athena was a female, and she was supposed to have less power and dominance than a male god, she deserved to protect Athens. Athena is known for her wisdom and channeled power and she represents law and order, which only she can find amidst the chaos, that many times the male gods create.

In addition to setting standards for behavior and roles throughout different people in ancient Greece, Greek Mythology provided answers for things that were hard to explain or simply just things that had no explanation and needed an explanation. An example of this would be the many different myths of Greek Mythology which provide lessons through the punishments that Gods give when a consequence is needed. Some popular myths are the Myth of Hercules, Myth of Prometheus, and Myth of Pandora's Box. The Myth of Pandora's Box is an original myth attempting to explain the beginning of something. Explaining the beginning is an enormous role in religions and cultures around the world and is a huge part of Greek Mythology and how it affected the Ancient Greeks. People, dating back for thousands of years, have always wanted to know why and how things happen in the world. In Greek Mythology, Pandora was the first woman on Earth and she is the beginning of a lot of things. When the myth is studied further, it provides an explanation for the beginning of things.

Lastly, Greek Mythology sparked traditions that the Ancient Greeks passed down from generation to generation. Mythology was what initiated myths, oracles and building monuments or statues to honor the gods and goddesses. Each god or goddess had control over a specific aspect of life and they were represented through the society by certain objects or monuments. In addition to building monuments and statues, ancient Greeks practiced rituals to ensure their good fortune and honor their gods and goddesses. Altars were built, praying became something everyone regularly did, and festivals were dedicated to them. The most well known example of a festival that was created to honor a god is The Olympics. The Olympics was a festival held in the city of Olympia, created to honor the god Zeus.

Other than festivals, another tradition that Greek Mythology created was telling the stories of the gods and goddesses and their adventures. These stories were called myths, and they were passed down, either orally or in written form, from one generation to another. Finally, Greek Mythology also created the tradition of going to oracles. The Ancient Greeks believed in prophecy and fate, and wanted to know what the gods and goddesses predicted about their future. Priests and priestesses spoke to the gods, the message was received by the priestess and the priest translated the message. Going to an oracle to find out about their future and to get advice on what to do became a very normal thing in the Ancient Greek's society.

In conclusion, it is very obvious that the creation of Greek Mythology greatly impacted the Ancient Greek's traditions, roles, and everyday lives. The mythology also provided the Ancient Greeks with an explanation and reasons as to how and why earth is the way it is. It allowed the Ancient Greeks to become familiar and comfortable with the basic idea of how the world around them works. Greek Mythology defied the normal gender roles, giving women more power and respect in their society than any other society alive back then. The mythology also gave the Greek society traditions to follow and a way to live their everyday life. Examples that have already been seen of this is telling myths, going to oracles, and holding festivals for the entire city like The Olympics. All in all, Greek Mythology had an enormous influence on the way the Ancient Greeks lived and helped form the society that Greeks still live in today.

Works Cited:

1. Huffman, Katie. "Gender in Greek Mythology." Ultracrepidarian. Ultracrepidarian, 18 May 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2016.
2. Sacks, David. "The Role of Women in the Art of Ancient Greece." The Role of Women in the Art of Ancient Greece. Margaret Bunson, n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2016.
3. "Greece, A History of Ancient Greece, Mythology." Greece, A History of Ancient Greece, Mythology. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2016.
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