Examples Of Human Traits In Greek Mythology

Greek Mythology and Human Traits

Greek myths usually reflect humans as a toy to the gods. They are shown as stupid and as loyal servants to the gods. To portray the message that humans should stay in their place, Greek myths often show how human curiosity overpowers fear of punishment and often leads to catastrophe. Through myths like Arachne, Eurydice and Orpheus, Pandora’s box, and Daedalus and Icarus, it is constantly portrayed in Greek mythology how human traits like pride and curiosity can have drastic effects on the humans. These myths are a sort of warning for humans to show the danger, pride, ego, and curiosity can have. It is important for humans to think before they act and to be aware of the consequences that actions can have.

Firstly,

Orpheus is an extremely talented musician who fell in love with a nymph named Eurydice. Unfortunately, shortly after their marriage, Eurydice was bitten by a venomous snake and died. Orpheus, out of sheer desperation decides to head down to the underworld to try and reunite with Eurydice. After passing through the underworld and escaping obstacle after obstacle, Orpheus finally reaches Hades and asks to get his wife back. Hades is mesmerized by his music and agrees as long as Orpheus doesn’t look back at his wife as he travels back up to the underworld. Orpheus has gone through trials and tribulations to get to this point. However, as Orpheus is nearing the entryway to the underworld he becomes more and more curious to see her. Just as he is reaching the surface, Orpheus’s curiosity gets the best of him and he looks back at Eurydice, and “immediately she disappeared into the underworld”(Wickersham). Orpheus slipped into times of grief and was later killed for ignoring a group of women. This myth is a classic tale of tragedy. Orpheus’s curiosity and eagerness to see his wife was once again the root cause of cataclysm. It shows parallels to so many other Greek myths, revealing a common theme of human traits like curiosity and pride being seen as a bad thing in these

They were father and son and imprisoned on the island of Crete. Daedalus, a master craftsman, crafted an escape plan by making wings out of wax and feathers. Daedalus warns Icarus not to fly too close to the sun as the wings could melt. To start, the wings worked incredibly well, however Icarus began to get confident in his flying abilities. Out of curiosity Icarus begins flying closer and closer to the sun. Icarus continues to ignore his father’s warnings and soon enough the wings fall apart and Icarus drowns to death. As the article states, Icarus cried out to his father for help, but Daedalus could only watch helplessly as he fell into the sea(Moulton). Daedalus gave Icarus all the tools to escape and all Icarus had to do was listen. But, Icarus’s pride and confidence gets in the way and hence catastrophe happens and he drowns. Icarus didn’t think of what his father said and out of curiosity flew up. His pride and confidence override his fear and lead to