Health Care Information System Reflection Essay

In my previous job with a medical clinic there were two main technology systems that were used on a daily basis. These systems were CITRIX and MainFrame and were a necessity for the medical clinic in order for all to communicate. Of course there was also email that was used a daily basis throughout the medical clinic. On the CITRIX system is where all the patients’ information was stored from their office visits to the billing information as well as the demographics. All employees that dealt with any of the patient’s information had access to this system and they were able to update it for the patient in real time so that everyone who needed access to the most current information had it. On the MainFrame portion of the main system that the medical clinic used is where the claims were able to be adjusted and all of the billing information was stored. This is also where the employee would be able to transfer medical records or any other information that was needed by the insurance company to the insurance company for further claim processing. There were also other systems that the employee would have to log on to in order to review medical records on a patient but employees had limited access to this health care information system due to the privacy of the patients. This system was the Allscripts system that the medical clinic used. The information within this system was the medical records of any visits that the patient had and also the medications that were prescribed to the patients. Information was shared throughout the organization as all employees that had to receive this information or obtain it would be able to do so from their computer in their office or at their desk. The departments that used these systems the most would be the doctors’ offices and the billing departments. They needed to have access to this information in order to treat the patients correctly and to make sure that the claims were billed properly to the insurance companies  so that the providers could receive reimbursement for their services in a timely fashion. It was also used in order to handle patients calls regarding any issues they may have with the billing information they had received in the mail.

Formal Education Vs. Informal Education Essay

Are you or your child receiving an education that fits your element? If not then when would now be a good time to look into that? Adults and children today or mostly unaware of how education is being presented do to the fact that they are only aware of one type of education. Of course most of us all are all born and raised on the â€Å"ladder system† which is another way of saying formal education, but many people don’t realize that there is an abundance in different types of education. We have all heard of private schools and charter schools, but those are just schools not education. Yes they are education to a degree but there are only two types of education, and they are frequently fought and argued about which one is better. Those two types of education are formal education and informal education. In todays society people are built mainly on morals and beliefs that are passed down through the government and high end white collard business men. Unfortunately people are becoming more and more unaware of informal education. Informal education is better than formal education do to the constant environment change and open curriculum that a education lacks. Informal education is better and should be blended in with formal education to get a real world experience. The year two thousand and thirteen today we thought to have evolved in our educational practices. Even now people are becoming more intelligent in formal education through the years that the â€Å"ladder system† was introduced. Unfortunately though with that we also have been developing lower and lower common sense. That is mainly to do with formal education. Many people ask what is formal education? Formal education is education presented in a prestiges matter in which there are different levels completed. The levels being Elementary school, Middle School, High School, and finally college. Seeing that there are different levels to be completed makes a more focused approach on education which in the long run will increase your intelligence, do to wanting to complete the final task which is college. Even by doing this many people blindly rush into college only forgetting what they have learned in middle school and even high school. Formal education is also very narrow and not open in many other experiences. Formal education schools are often decided what to teach based on what the state wants. With most of the formal educations power going to the government and states. That leads formal educated schools to having a very closed curriculum and not being able to learn outside the box or have any other experiences. With formal education being a ladder system and a narrow curriculum, you can see that in terms of college expectations you are intelligent, but in realistic experiences you are not. Now what is Informal Education. Let me share an idea with you before i tell you. You probably know what a formal event is right? You wear a formal garment such as a suit or a dress and you go to a very on point social event, but whatever when you are not dressed formally? You tend to have more creative freedom and you start to be educated on different types of apparel. Informal education the informal clothes appose to formal clothes such as a dress or suit. In the world of informal education there is no Ladder system. It is in short basic education but in a progressive form. And with being no ladder system the states are not involved with the curriculum which means you get to learn outside the box and experience far more than formal education could ever teach you. Many people argue which is better when most people really lean more towards formal education, but really for an educational stand point informal education is better. There are many factors to bring into play when explaining the reason informal education is better than formal education. First let me explain environmental reasons to this. Looking at formal education you see that every day you are in the same blocks of classes and you are constantly surrounded by the same people. With that you are not really experiencing different types of people because you are built upon having the same people through out the school year. You are not exposed to different personalities or characteristics do to people adapting to your own and becoming more like you. Informal education on the other hand you are exposed to the same class room, but there are usually different people in your class daily, and frequently even different teachers. With that your are not adapting to certain personalities but you are adapting to a realistic way of life which is being surrounded constantly with different people. Another thing argued strongly is the experience range. Formal education gives you a very narrow curriculum not allowing you to experience other things that are more valuable outside of school. Most of the things in formal educated school apply only to school and not in the real world although english, science and some math is an exception. Informal education allows you to see many different prospectives on certain subjects and you really get to experience a lot more than what the state narrows it down too. Experience such as different people usually everyday, different subjects everyday and when a subject is ever retaught, it is taught by a different teaching making a different point of understanding. The education in an informal school is usually basic things that you would learn in middle school, but going more into formal education it starts to be applied to many different areas in a real world circumstance, and applied several different ways. In a formal education school you are taught more advanced things that help develop the brain, but has no use in the outside world. In todays formal educated schools we are all taught that knowledge is power but that is really an understatement. What use do you have of acquired knowledge if you don’t even know how to apply it in a real world circumstance? Point proven. Formal educated schools today are focused to much upon how to help you get to the next step of the ladder rather than helping you understand the use of the information provided. While formal education has a great affect on the brain development wise, it lacks many uses outside of its buildings. In formal education on the other has many experiences that are less advanced and may not enhance or develop the brain much. But if knowing how to use one piece of great information acquired and it making you become very successful. Then all the other information obtained that had no transformational value was just a waist of time. Even today many people see education beyond high school as a waist of time, and the ones that adore formal education argue greatly on the belief. The biggest thing that affects people differently in formal or informal schools is the mindset that is carried through out the course. When begging a regular ladder system school which starts at elementary school we are all familiar with the different cards used to display behavior status. The blue card representing excellent behavior. The green card representing good behavior. The yellow card representing behavior that needs attention, and finally the red card representing bad behavior. What people do not know is the physiological effects that the cards hold towards the child. When growing up we are all taught right from wrong, but it is now human nature to focus only on the problems. With that said many times in elementary school kids are often punished more than rewarded, and many times barely acknowledged for the good they have done. When still developing at a young age there brains start adapting and internalizing what they are surrounded by. Many times do kids get yelled at for there miss behavior and even punished frequently. And not so often do the kids get praised with the same amount of energy they were being punished for. With so little energy going towards the good and rewarding, and so much going towards punishing there starts to become an imbalance of emotions. In the long term the students feel like they are useless and not worthy enough for whats to come. With that they start growing up with these feelings and in the long run do not have the emotional uplift to conquer any dreams or goals. While during informal education every student is treated equally and is not so much punished as they are rewarded. This in the long run carries the opposite effect than in formal education.

Effect of Nutrition on Cardiovascular Disease Essay

Effect of Nutrition on Cardiovascular Disease - Essay Example Exercise as well benefits the heart while having the added benefit of weight loss and strength gain. According to a study conducted at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (2005), "The more fast-food restaurants in a neighbourhood, the higher the prevalence of cardiovascular disease or death" (Taggart 2005). Such outlets offer menus with foods extremely high in fat and cholesterol, therefore avoiding such foods can only be good for the heart and the body overall. Eating more fish and fish oil, which increases omega-3 fats, and ingesting more fresh fruits and vegetables, will lower one's risk of heart disease (Massey 4). Although alcohol is looked upon by many as part of an unhealthy lifestyle and a decadent pleasure, wine has been found to have a beneficial affect on mortality for those individuals with CVD, as well. A 1995 study indicated that "there was a does-response relationship between the frequency of the intake of wine and mortality; the maximum effect was observed with a daily intake" (citing Gronbeak, et al.; Bygren, Carstensen, Engfeldt, & Theobald 652). Another decadent delight, chocolate, can have health benefits as well when eaten in moderation. It is the flavonoids in dark chocolate that appear to have some benefit on risk factors for cardiovascular disease when consumption is limited to approximately and ounce a day (Tufts 3). A risk that is almost unavoidable ... A risk that is almost unavoidable in today's industrial-age lifestyle is pollution. No matter where one lives, factories and vehicles have created air quality issues, and "several medical studies have suggested a link between air pollution and heart disease in people who are already at risk because of high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure" (Massey 4). Researchers discovered that this is because pollution combined with a high-fat diet results in a quicker build up of "atherosclerotic plaque in the arteries" (4). Another enormous CVD risk is obesity and abdominal adiposity as reported in one recent study. Researchers determined that "a changing waist circumference affected the cardiometabolic riskboth waist and BMI change, together, were related to change in systolic blood pressure and hypertension" (Balkau, Fezeu, Picard, Vol, et al. 1901 & 1904). A lifestyle conducive to a healthy heart is one that includes regular exercise and weight loss. "A person who leads a sedentary lifestyle is two times as likely to develop heart disease as an individual who is physically active" (Ebony 122). Aerobic exercise promotes cardiovascular fitness and can be accomplished through cycling, jogging, walking for extended periods of time, etc Other "heart-smart" activities include resistance training, "which increases strength, decreases body fat and helps regulate blood cholesterol. Conclusion With a change in lifestyle, including a healthy diet and regular exercise, the possibilities of reducing or eliminating cardiovascular disease is great. Unfortunately, lifestyle changes are difficult and take enormous will and commitment to successfully obtain. However, when individuals realize that a change in habit can dramatically lengthen their

Nakheel Communication Strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nakheel Communication Strategy - Case Study Example Nakheel has so far undertaken its entire developmental works in Dubai only. After having consolidating its position in the real estate sector, the company has established Nakheel Hotels & Resorts, a new hotel and resort investment company since February 2006. With the kind of professionalism that Nakheel has displayed in the real estate business, it is sure to percolate down to this new venture as well. 'Communication' as such is defined as an art of developing an understanding between people, communities, societies, civilizations etc. Communication therefore forms a crucial part of managerial activities. Marketing communication in turn helps a company in building a brand, creating brand loyalties, increase in sales, cutting costs, etc. Dubai, a very attractive destination for anyone around the world, has been shaped by the beautiful developmental projects that Nakheel built on the reclaimed lands. Dubai market is a very diverse market in general which caters to customers/ consumers from different walks of life, different cultures, ethnic groups and age groups. There are very high profile customers that have expressed faith in the abilities of Nakheel. Having a satisfied customer base, in general, helps in spreading good words about the company. This forms part of the communication strategy of any organisation. In today's market driven economy concept, the art of communication to e xisting consumers as well as prospective consumers takes a great deal out of the managerial brain storming sessions. Some of the projects of Nakheel, like The Palm and The World have attracted people from different countries with varying degrees of interest. Buyers on The Palm Jumeirah include many high personalities like David Beckham, Michael Owen, and Shah Rukh Khan. These people, in a way become brand ambassadors for the company, which pays rich dividends in the long run. Now a days Corporations are supposed to remain in continuous touch with their customers, suppliers, bankers, government and the general public. This requires appropriate communication techniques with different groups or segments. Some of the communication happens to be casual, some is made to be informative while some other is designed to be persuasive (Kotler, 1974). If a company can master the art of communication, it can very well take on its competitors. Some of the videos that the company has put up on its website appear to be shot at interesting angles and are very appealing and attractive for anybody desirous of having a look at the company. Though it requires a good amount of money to produce such videos, which are rich in content and quality, but once produced, these types of corporate communication strategies prove to be worth the efforts. In order to remain in touch with its internal and external partners, Nakheel has developed a BrandHub, an easy-to-use project communicat ion tool. In order to leverage the economies of scale and operations, the company has strategic tie-ups with companies like The Trump Organization, IFA Hotels & Resorts, Kerzner International, Island Global Yachting, Greg Norman Golf Course Design, Taj Luxury Hotels, The Fairmont, Mvenpick, Kempinski, Jumeirah Hotel Operators etc. This way the company can forge a mutually beneficial

Knowledge Management ACADEMIC REPORT Coursework

Knowledge Management ACADEMIC REPORT - Coursework Example The following report is a critical analysis of the A&E knowledge management (KM) strategies. The report also reveals how different organizational factors in the department affect the hospitals strategies of managing knowledge. St Mary Hospital aims to provide specialized patient-centered care to all its clients. The hospital personnel strives to optimize the experience of the patient by facilitating the provision of innovative health care. The staffs of the hospital takes part in training and research and use the evidence they gather to offer quality care. Every other day, experts in the medical field, discover new methods of managing patients. Researchers need to disseminate the knowledge to the people on the ground to increase its usefulness. In St Mary Hospital, the management of the hospital provides enough resources for training and updating the A&E nurses. However, there are no changes in patient outcomes, and mortality rates are still high. One of the objectives of the organization is to improve clinical outcomes of patients. Hence, a critical appraisal of the organizational factors breaking the chain of KM is necessary for the survival of the hospital. In today’s world, ineffective use of knowledge in an organization could be detrimental to its performance. Knowledge is crucial to the survival and success of every hospital, firm, company, and project (Hislop, 2013). There are new health care providers, enterprises, hospitals, entrepreneurs and service providers flooding the market every minute of every day. Therefore, every firm desires to gain competitive advantage over the others to secure and a place in the global market. The purpose of managing knowledge in the company is to maximize its learning related effectiveness (Greiner, et al., 2007). Likewise, in medical centres, knowledge is of utmost importance. Today’s disease patterns are unique and becoming

General Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

General Psychology - Essay Example Focusing on ways to prevent sleep deprivation and moving toward practices of healthy sleep can assist one with mental, physical and emotional activities through daily life. The importance of sleep begins with the stages of sleep which occur as well as how this affects different stages that one goes through with the activities in the mind. The main cause of sleep is based on wave patterns in your mind that balance the sleeping and waking systems. When the wave patterns slow down, it communicates to the mind that the body should also move slower, which leads to sleep. The result is a slower pattern of brain waves which is required for certain periods of time each night. There are four stages of sleep that are a part of the cycle. Stage 1 is a light sleep where the heart rat slows down and breathing is irregular. Relaxation and alpha waves, a slower brainwave, are the two features of stage 1 sleep. Stage 2 leads to a drop of temperature and spindles of brainwave activity. Stage 3 leads to delta waves in the brain which are larger and slower than other brainwaves. Stage 4 is deep sleep and is typically reached after 1 hour. This is a slow wave of delta and can lead to a lack of consciousness from the brain (Coon, Mitterer, 186). The stages associated with sleeping are an indicator of why sleep is needed as well as what occurs when one gets enough sleep. If one doesn’t receive enough of stage 4 sleep, it can become detrimental to health, both physically and mentally. The body requires the brainwaves to move at a slower pace for a given period of time and to begin to change and relax for given periods of time. Learning, memory and functions that are associated with mental capacity aren’t able to function at full capacity if one doesn’t receive enough sleep. The complications occur with neuronal

Children's Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Children's Rights - Essay Example There is a need to create an atmosphere where the children could voice opinions and exercise their rights. "In passing, it may be salutary to remind ourselves, at this point that the role of children's rights in philosophical debate has more often than not been as a testing ground for theories of right whose main significance is held to lie outwith the world of the child," Alston et al (1992, p.3). This happens because adults have created this world without any voice inclusion of the child. "Many factors seem to be influence the way children are included in decision making. This could be classified into factors relating to children, factors relating to adults, and factors relating to situations," Thomas and Campling (2000, p.156). And under more or less all the circumstances, it is mainly the adults who make decisions with hardly any contribution from the children. "Underlying this is a concern that according children their 'rights' may involve adults relinquishing their 'power' and control;" Morrow (1999). In a way this could tend to overburdening children with pressure of decision making. Children's rights should have clear boundaries, separateness and proper divisibility to make them more coherent. As the adults are making laws, laying the rules and doing research without involving children's opinion, it remains mostly from the point of view of the adults. abo "In other words, children's perspectives on their rights might be a useful starting point for finding out what they already know and understand about 'citizenship', 'participation', and politics" Morlow (1999). It is also necessary to take into account the social and cultural background of the region and the limits of children's autonomy. Children, as they grow up, need more information about sex, drugs, alcohol and they have a right to know to protect themselves. Unfortunately in some societies children are discouraged from knowing them. Other factors that could influence are age, gender (this is very important in certain cultures and developing countries), and social diversities make enormous difference here. Children usually feel that they are not trusted; their opinions are not tolerated or even heard, or overruled. Participation in decision making will definitely decrease this assumption. "Article 28 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that all children and young people have a right to a primary education, which should be free, and those wealthy countries should help poorer countries achieve this". http://www.unicef.org.uk/tz/rights/index.asp The child has a right to depend upon the parental responsibility throughout the childhood. "Parental responsibility lasts until the child is 18, although at that upper end of childhood it should only be exercised in a way, which is consistent with the child's evolving capacity and maturity". http://www.yourrights.org.uk/your-rights/chapters/the-rights-of-children-and-young-people/parental-resposibility/aquiring-parental-responsibility.shtml Real encroachment of children's right prevails in the poverty-stricken and war-torn areas of the world. United Nations Report says: "In the last decade, an estimated two million children have been killed in armed conflict, many of them by some of the 100 million landmines thought to be

Co-operative entreprises Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Co-operative entreprises - Essay Example Different Expectations One of the common and the most disastrous problems of working in a co-operative is that different members may come together in the team having different expectations. I will present here the simple example of doing an assignment together. Some group members may be satisfied with nothing but an A whereas others may settle with just a passing grade. Different expectations can lead to different attitude, work ethics and priorities (Barton, 2011). Thus it is very important in a co-operative to have a common goal and shared values. Each member should identify with that goal. It may even be necessary to scale down the expectations of some of the members and scale up the expectations of others in order to arrive at a goal which is expectable to all the members. Lack of Communication A co-operative is formed when one member cannot fulfil all the roles himself. Thus a co-operative entails division of work. Some members may be made in charge of marketing, others will hav e to handle the finance and some others are tasked to handle operations of the co-operative. The biggest challenge here is the lack of communication among members responsible for different tasks. A marketing guy may make a very ambitious sales plan but may not be aware that there are no finances to support his plan. Lack of communication causes numerous problems but is relatively easy to handle. The problem can be handled b having regular meetings with different group members (Nilsson & Ollila, 2013). These meetings might seem like a drag but they help everyone to come up to speed and also remain misunderstanding that may crop up. Regular communications among different teams is the most important means of solving problems in a co-operative working environment and ensure positive interdependence among the team members. Ego/Personality clashes In my personal experience of working on a co-operative project ego clash is the biggest challenge which is very difficult to solve. The operati onal and logistic problems can be solved easily if all team members put their minds to it but ego clashes not only demoralize other team members but may even ruin the whole project (Cooperatives UK, 1965). These clashes may not be even related to the project that we are undertaking but members may have brought them in to the team from their past history. The best way to avoid these clashes is to ensure that each member of the co-operative is allowed to speak his or her mind. No one should be given more weight age as compared to others. However this does not usually happens and team members end up taking sides which is disastrous for the co-operative. I have personally seen that secret voting on topics of contention is a good way to prevent these clashes and help the group move forward. Cultural Differences Each one of us has a different way of working even if we have the same goals. Some members of the group like to work alone, some like to work under pressure whereas others like to plan ahead. I call these problems as cultural differences among the members of the team. These differences

Cryptography Application Methods Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cryptography Application Methods - Research Paper Example This led to the emergence of debit and credit cards whose applications have since become widespread. This age of information has witnessed the emergence of cryptography a major protection method of applications. This paper will investigate some of the application methods of cryptography together with the systems application in a college university. In a university setup, cryptography has applications in ensuring secrecy in storage, integrity in transmission, authentication of identity and integrity in storage. The maintenance of the secrecy in storage requires a one key system whereby the user is responsible for the provision of the computer key at the start of the session. After this, the computer takes care of the decryption and encryption during the entire course of its normal use. Indeed, there are numerous hardware devices for automatic encryption of personal computers of all the information that the disk stores. Upon turning on a computer, a user must provide the encryption hardware with a key. Otherwise, the information will be meaningless even in the event that the hard disk is stolen. However, secrecy in storage is not without problems. In an event that the user forgets the key, then the encryption information become unusable. Apparently, encryption only occurs while the information is in storage and not when it is in use. The electronic money transfer has the danger of invasion by criminals who can tap a system and make false transfers. However, to realize integrity in the transfer of funds, there is need to perform an information checksum before submitting it in the form of encryption. Upon the receipt of this encrypted information, another checksum takes place for comparison after decryption. An agreement of the checksum is an indication that an alteration had occurred to the message. Forging this kind of information is easy. Since a lot of publications and intellectual works occur in universities, integrity in the

Faith and Health Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 25000 words

Faith and Health - Thesis Example with the health of the individuals during the contemporary era, where the diagnosis and spread of fatal diseases in almost all regions of the globe have created grave challenges for the political, social and cultural authorities on the one side, and for the people associated with the fields and professions of religious services on the other. Since the mental and physical well-being is one of the most dominant aspects of individual and collective life of the people, which is imperatively essential for performing their personal and professional duties and obligations in an effective manner, health and fitness of the clergy is particularly necessary for the religious guidance and spiritual uplift of the entire society. The following hypothesis has been developed for the present study: Superior healthcare measures being adopted and exercised within a social establishment for the mental and physical well-being of the clergy turns out to be highly supportive ones in respect of their rendering religious services to society in a better and more effective manner The present research has been supported with the Social Organism Theory by Spencer (1857) and Theory of Religion by Durkheim (1912); both of these perspectives maintain direct association with the topic selected for this study. The study will be conducted in North-East Mississippi Region, where the pastors, church ministers and other members of church administration will be the universe for the present research. The data for this study will be gathered on the basis of probability sampling. Questionnaire and Content Analysis will be applied as the tools for data collection in the present study. At the end, the research findings will be arrayed, and interpretation will be made in the light of the findings. The research findings will be presented with the help of tables and graphs in a precise and organized manner for the comfort and convenience of the readers. Religion is rightly claimed to be an essential part of

Attachment theory Essay Example for Free

Attachment theory Essay Attachment is an important factor in a childs life. It makes them feel safe and secure.  The infants tendency to seek the closeness to particular people and to feel more secure in their presence. (Erikson 1976)  I think that when Erikson made this statement, what he was actually saying was that an attachment is when a child is more comfortable in a setting if they are with the people they are closest to and the people that they like to be with and seek attention of these people more than others. Attachment is like a piece of invisible string that binds individuals in a way that allows a healthy development (psychology for AS level).  This statement in my opinion states that an attachment which forms a bond between the people involved is important for good development for the child.  What happens if there isnt a bond or an attachment in the childs life? I am going to look into three different psychologists theories on attachment and see what their opinions on the subject are. The first psychologist I am looking into is Bowlby. Bowlby had very strong opinions on attachment and the long term affects a lack of a bond or attachment can have on a childs life. Bowlby believed that a child should form one and only one strong attachment which should be with the mother of the child. This is known as monotrophy. The father in Bowlbys eyes was there for the making of the baby only and would show no input or importance in the childs upbringing. Bowlby came to the conclusion that children who failed to form this bond with their mother in the first three years of the childs life would have problems in later life bonding with people and trusting people. He also described a child with a lack of bonding to be an affectionless psychopath, which he described to be someone who shows lack of guilt when done something wrong has difficulties showing emotion to things around them or someone with behaviour problems. Another affect of not having an attachment in this critical period as it was also known in Bowlbys eyes was development retardation which meant the child may grow up with learning difficulties or slower intellectual skills. The next psychologist I am going to discuss is Mary Ainsworth. Ainsworth investigated bonding and broke it down into different sections. She broke it down it to three different types of attachment. These were secure attachments, anxious avoidant attachments and anxious resistant attachments.  Secure attachments were described as the strongest of the three. This is where the children know they are loved and cared for and they feel secure with the person they have bonded to. When they are left without their attachment figure for the first time they will show lots of distress and upset. However after time they will get used to being left and they will not be as distressed as time gos on. Anxious avoidant attachment is not as strong as the secure attachment and the bond it weaker. These children seem more independent and can manage small tasks on their own. This may be due to a change in the attachment figures attitude or behaviour towards the child which may be caused by death or separation from a partner. This can also be caused by separation from child and attachment figure due to illness or separation at birth. This attachment is usually weaker because of the lack of full trust from either party.  Anxious resistant attachment is similar to anxious avoidant attachment but the child often is more clingy and seeks more attention to people as well as the attachment figure but when people tries to comfort them they will often not accept the comfort. The last psychologists I am going to look at are Shaffer and Emerson. Shaffer and Emersons theory is the one Ainsworth used to conclude her investigations. They looked more at children with multiple attachments which contradicts Bowlbys theory which said only one strong attachment can be made. They broke their findings down in to four sections. These sections are Asocial stage which is children of 0-2, the indiscriminate stage, children of 2-7 months, specific stage which is children of 7 months plus and then finally multiple attachment. Asocial stage is described to be where the children aged 0-2 months will respond to human faces but will not show any main distress towards whom it is they are with. This means that if you placed a 0-2 month baby in a day care setting then they will not really kick much of a fuss when their mother leaves them they will usually be happy and content as long as they are getting some attention. On my placement while I was working in the 0-2 room the youngest child there at the time was only 6 weeks old she would come to nursery with no hassle every day after her nap she would sometimes cry a little bit until she got some attention. She was happy when her mum came to get her but she didnt cry for her when she wasnt there. Where as one of the oldest children who was nearly 18 months used to cry for her mum nearly all day, she only seemed happy when she was eating. The indiscriminate stage is for children from 2 month up until 7 month. These children are more aware of what is happening and they know who they prefer to spend time with usually in most cases it is the main care giver, but they will still be ok and not too worried around strangers and unknown faces.  The specific stage is where one strong attachment is clear and the child becomes very weary and anxious around unknown people. This is usually why when a child over 7 months is brought into a child care setting, they take a while to settle and cry for their carer. Multiple attachments are where the child is close to or has an attachment with more than one person. This is often when they spend a lot of time with these people as well as their care givers. These people can include grand parents, extended family, neighbours and realistically people who they spend a lot of time with and they feel safe around.  As some of the theorists mentioned above said they would be distress when a child was left or was separated from their attachment figure its is important that children get used to a setting before being brought and left alone. In some child care setting they hold visits for the children where they can come with their attachment figure and see the setting and play with the other children to see what it is like and to get to know the care workers faces first. In my placement they do this over a period of 6 visits(longer if child is very unsettled) to avoid too much stress and upset for the new children coming to nursery each time a visit takes place the attachment figure will stay a little bit less than the time before leaving the child with the other children and care givers. This way they feel that the child gets used to not having their mother there all the time and also gets to know the other people in the setting and environment.  Another way the children help settle in the nurseries or child care setting is they are allowed to bring with them a transitional object with them to comfort them when they get upset. One child in my placement had a pink cushion which she has all the time when she is upset. When she settles down she often puts it down a leaves it on the floor, at this point the care worker picks it up discreetly and puts it in her box. They do this because they feel if she is playing nice and contently then she sees the cushion she will pick it up and carry it round again where as if it is out of the way the child will hopefully play for a longer amount of time. The child gets it back if she asks for it or if she becomes distressed on upset in anyway. In my placement to avoid too much stress and upset for the new children coming to nursery, they have an induction period. This is where the child will come in to the nursery with their parent to have a look around, meet the staff and the other children in the setting. The child gets to play with the toys and will start to get used to the setting so when its time for their parent to leave then it wont be so distressing. When a child is in the setting some of the parents come and visit the child during lunch time or if they get a break at work. This was good for some children as it reassured the children that their parents were coming back for them and they hadnt just left them forever. For some children however this was not beneficial and the situation was more distressing for them having to say bye to their carer all over again.

Conflict and culture Essay Example for Free

Conflict and culture Essay Conflict is an integral part of human culture. When a number of people of interact with their own individual perspectives, view points, ideologies, cultural and social backgrounds and intellectual development then differences and debates are bound to arise as a logical and inevitable consequence of the interaction (Killian and Pammer Jr. 2003, 3). These differences, acted upon by incompatible interests of attaining personal goals, change into conflict within groups, societies and nations. (Rahim, 2001,1) The greater the diversity and richer the profile of a society, the greater is the scope and range of its embedded conflict. Therefore it is essential to educate people on understanding and handling conflict and treat as an integral component of a democratic society that is important for developing a healthy social life (Killian and Pammer Jr. 2003, 3). In every conflict, whether it is individual or at social scale, culture has always an important role to play. Depending upon the actors involved and the context of conflict, the role of culture in conflict can be direct or subtle, but it is always present as the ultimate factor in deciding the scope of conflict, its direction or its outcome. Culture even decides the existence of conflict, for people who are embedded in the culture of seeing world as a harmonious entity, may not be aware of any conflict through their life. In all the major disputes, debates and disagreement taking place around world, differences in cultural identities and perceptions are fundamental causative factors. A further evidence of the role that culture plays is evinced by peace and harmony existing among societies that have same culture, such as observed between USA and Britain, sharing same historical and cultural roots. Every conflict, whether it is trans-generational, geographical, religious, organizational, or personal, has a cultural component involved. People enshrined in their own culture often react with hostility against any cultural identity that appears contrary to their thought process and ideas. It follows therefore that any effort of conflict resolution needs to incorporate cultural understanding and acknowledge the existence and necessity of diversity (ibid).

Dimensions of Word Meaning

Dimensions of Word Meaning NGUYEN QUANG NGOAN Introduction The issue of defining and clearing the meaning of the words is by no means an easy talk. In other words, words are names or lables for things. Besides, linguists also realize the need to distinguish what a word or expression denotes from what they can be used to refer to, we will identify the difference between denotation and reference. There are many different ideas that the meaning of a word reflects reality or express human conceptualization of reality, as it were. However, we will discuss about various attempts designed to define probably one of the most difficult issues of semantics -meaning. Problems Depending on what it is understood by meaning, we can distinguish two main semantic theories: the referential / denotational approach-meaning is the action of putting words into relationship with the world; the representational /conceptual approach-meaning is the notion, the concept or the mental image of the object or situation in reality as reflected in mans mind. The two basic types of meaning were first mentioned by S. Stati in 1971- referential definitions which analyse meaning in terms of the relation symbol- object /referent; conceptual definitions which regard the relation symbol- thought/reference. 2.1 .Denotational /Referential Theories of Meaning. Before describing the characteristics of these theories, a clarification of the terms used is necessary. All languages allow speakers to describe or model aspects of what they perceive. In semantics the action of picking out or identifying individuals/ locations with words is called referring/denoting. To some linguists the two terms, denote and refer are synonymous. J. Saeed (1997: 23) gives two examples of proper names whose corresponding referents are easily recognizable e. g. I saw Michael Jackson on TV last night. We have just flown back from Paris. The underlined words refer to/denote the famous singer, respectively the capital of France, even if in some contexts they may be used to designate a person different from the singer, or a locality other than the capital of France. To John Lyons the terms denote and refer are not synonymous. The former is used to express the relationship linguistic expression- world, whereas the latter is used for the action of a speaker in picking out entities in the world. In the example A sparrow flew into the room. A sparrow and the room are NPs that refer to things in the world.; room, sparrow denote classes of items. In conclusion, referring is what speakers do and denoting is a propertyof words. Denotation is a stable relationship in a language, it doesnt depend on anyones use of the word unlike the action of referring. Returning to the problem of theories of meaning, they are called referential/ denotational when their basic premise is that we can give the meaning of words and sentences by showing how they relate to situations- proper names denote individuals, nouns denote entities or sets of individuals, verbs denote actions, adverbs denote properties of actions, adjectives denote properties of individuals-.In case of sentences, they denote situations and events. The difference in meaning between a sentence and its negative counterpart arises from the fact that they describe two situations e. g. There is a book on the shelf. There isnt a book on the shelf. Referential theories consider meaning to be something outside the world itself, an extra-linguistic entity. This means reducing the linguistic sign, i. e. the word to its material aspect, be it phonic or graphic. The impossibility of equating meaning with the object denoted by a given word can be explained considering three major reasons the identity meaning-object would leave meaning to a large extent undefined because not all the characteristic traits of an object as an extra- linguistic reality are identical with the distinctive features of lexical meaning; not all words have a referent in the outside world; there are: non- referring expressions so, very, maybe, if, not, etc. referring expressions used generically: e. g. A murder is a serious felony. words like nouns, pronouns with variable reference depending on the context: e. g. The president decides on the foreign policy. She didnt know what to say. words which have no corresponding object in the real world in general or at a certain moment: e. g. The unicorn is a mythical animal. She wants to make a cake this evening. different expressions/words that can be used for the same referent, the meaning reflecting the perspective from which the referent is viewed e. g. The morning star is the same thing as the evening star. The president of the USA/ George Bush/ Barbara Bushs husband was to deliver a speech. Besides the referential differences between expressions, we can make useful distinctions among the things referred to by expressions-referent thing picked out by uttering the expression in a particular context; extension of an expression = set of things which could possibly be the referent of that expression. In Lyons terminology the relationship between an expression and its extension is called denotation.(Saeed 1997: 27) A distinction currently made by modern linguists is that between the denotation of a word and the connotations associated with it. For most linguists, denotation represents the cognitive or communicative aspect of meaning (Schaff 1965), while connotation stands for the emotional overtones a speaker usually associates with each individual use of a word. Denotative meaning accounts for the relationship between the linguistic sign and its denotatum. But one shouldnt equate denotation with the denotatum.What is the denotation of a word which has no denotatum. As far as the attitude of the speaker is concerned, denotation is regarded as neutral, since its function is simply to convey the informational load carried by a word. The connotative aspects of meaning are highly subjective, springing from personal experiences, which a speaker has had of a given word and also from his/her attitude towards his/ her utterance and/ or towards the interlocutors (Leech, 1990: 14). For example dwelling, house, home, abode, residence have the same denotation but different connotations. Given their highly individual nature, connotations seem to be unrepeatable but, on the other hand, in many instances, the social nature of individual experience makes some connotative shades of meaning shared by practically all the speakers of a language. It is very difficult to draw a hard line between denotation and connotation in meaning analysis, due to the fact that elements of connotation are drawn into what is referred to as basic, denotative meaning. By taking into account connotative overtones of meaning, its analysis has been introduced a new dimension, the pragmatic one. Talking about reference involves talking about nominals- names and noun phrases. They are labels for people, places, etc. Context is important in the use of names; names are definite in that they carry the speakers assumption that his/ her audience can identify the referent (Saeed, 1997: 28). 2.2.The Relationship Between Sense And Reference The referent of an expression is often a thing or person in the world. The sense of an expression is not a thing at all it is an abstraction that can be entertained in the mind of a language users. Its difficult to say what sort of entity the sense of an expression it isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is useful to think of sense as that is a part of meaning of an expression that is left over when reference is factored out. Its much easier to say whether or not expressions have the same sense. Connotation and denotation revisited We have discussed the meaning of a word, it helps to know the difference between denotation and connotation. These two terms are easy to confuse because they describe related concepts. Moreover, both denotation and connotation stem from the Latin word. The connotation of a word is the additional meaning that the word has beyond its denotative meaning. It shows peoples emotion and/or attitudes towards what the word refers to. The Denotation of a word is the core, central or referential meaning of the world found in a dictionary. In English, a content word may have its denotation described in term of a set of semantic features that serve to identify the particular concept associated with the word For example, the words home and house have similar denotations or primary meanings: a home is a shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household, and a house is a building in which people live. However, these terms carry different associations or secondary meanings, also known as connotations. Many people would agree that home connotes a sense of belonging and comfort, whereas house conveys little more than a structure. The connotation of a word depends on cultural context and personal associations, but the denotation of a word is its standardized meaning within the English language. The change and development of meaning 3.1 .Change of meaning The development of vocabulary is the first of all reflected in the development of semantic structure of the words: new meaning of the words appear, some old meanings drop out of the language of coexist with the new ones. The first is extending the meanings of existing words or acquisition of new meaning by existing words based on the occurrence of a relationship between the old and new meaning. For example: 1. She turned a cold face to me 2. My brother is a pig => Semantic extensions Occurrence of a relationship between the old and new meaning 3.2. Causes of semantic change The factors accounting for semantic changes may be subdivided into three main groups: a. Extra-linguistic causes : various changes in the life of the speech community changes in economic and social structures changes in culture, knowledge, technology, arts changes of ideas, scientific concepts, way of life b. Linguistic factors : Ellipsis a change of meaning when the meaning of a word-combination is given to only one word of this combination For example: daily daily happening every day a daily newspaper daily a daily newspaper Discrimination of synonyms conflict of synonyms when a perfect synonym of a native word is borrowed from other language. For example: tide OE tide 1)time 2)season 3)hour from French time, season, hour Modern English tide regular rise and fall of the sea caused by the moon c. One more linguistic cause of semantic change is called fixed context. E.g. the word token brought into competition with the word sign and became restricted in use to a number of set expressions, such as love token, token of respect etc. and also became specialized in meaning. 3.3. Nature of semantic change: a. Restriction of meaning (narrowing) restriction of the types or referents denoted by the word. It can be illustrated by the semantic development of the word hound which used to denote dog of any breed but now denotes only a dog used in the chase. If the word with a new restricted meaning comes to be used in the specialized vocabulary of some limited group within the speech community it is usual to speak of the specialization of meaning. b. Extension of meaning (widening ) application of the word to wider variety of referents It may be illustrated by the word target which originally meant a small round shield but now means anything that is fired at. If the word with extended meaning passed from the specialized vocabulary into common use, the result of the semantic change is described as generalization of meaning. The connotational meaning may be changed in two ways as follows: Amelioration (elevation) of meaning implies the improvement of the connotational component of meaning, e.g. the word minister originally denoted a servant but now a civil servant of higher rank, a person administrating a department of state. Deterioration (degradation) of the meaning implies the acquisition by the word of some derogatory emotive charge, e.g. the word boor was originally to denote a peasant and then acquired a derogatory connotational meaning and came to denote a clumsy or ill-bred fellow. Transference of meaning 4.1. Definition of metaphor: The other perspective from which we can approach semantic change is the nature of the change or the connection between the new and the old meaning. We also call this feature a transfer. The meaning can be transferred from the original to the new position via three main types of association: Metaphor is the semantic change based on the association of similarity between referents the meaning is transferred on the basic of the fact that the two referents resemble on onother. The basic structure of the metaphor is very simple. There is a thing we are talking about and that to which we are comparing it. The transference may be based on similarity of Shape. E.g: head of a cabbage, crane bulb, the teeth of a saw Position. E.g: the foot of mountain Movement. E.g: caterpillar of a tank. Function. E.g: the key to the mystery Colour. E.g: orange, rose. Size. E.g: midget, elephantine The names of the parts of human body are transferred to others objects ( the nose of a plane, the leg of the table) The names of animals are also often transferred to the human beings ( A cunning person is a fox, a spiteful person is a snake, a rude person is a bear, a hard-working person is a bee or a beaver, birds view, crocodile tears) Proper names transferred to common ones( a jealous person is called an Othello, an eloquent speaker is a Cicero.) 4.1.2. The differences between similes and metaphors Both compare things that are essentially unlike. Metaphor implies the comparison hidden comparison ( no formal element of comparison) Simile expresses the comparison by the use of some word or phrase like, as, than, similar to, resembles, seems. For example My love is a rose -> metaphor My love is like a rose -> comparison 4.1.3.The classifications of metaphor Living ( poetic, individual) when a word is used in unusual meaning and metaphor is felt E.g: Peace is our fortress. Faded (trite) metaphor is one which lost its freshness because of long use and became habitual E.g: Fruitful effort, golden youth, to fall in love Dead metaphor where metaphoric sense is not felt. Dead metaphor are words which lost their direct meaning and are used only figuratively E.g: To ponder originally meant to weigh, but it is used now only in the meaning to mediate, to consider thoughtfully 4.2. Definition of metonymy Metonymy (contiguity of meaning) the name of an attribute of a thing is used instead of the thing itself. In other words, metonymy can be defined as the substitution of one word for another with which it is associated. For example Hollywood is used as a metonym (an instance of metonymy) for American cinema, because of the fame and cultural identity of Hollywood, as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars. Proper names as metonymy can be illustrated by : read Shakspeare, listen to Mozart, it was a Waterlooà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Major cases of metonymy: Use the name of container instead of the thing contained: E.g: to drink a glass, 2. Names of parts of human body may be used as symbols E.g: clever head, kind heart, 3. The concrete is used instead of abstract E.g: Let me give you a hand; to go to bed 4. The materials are used for the things is made of the materials E.g: glass 5. The name of the author is used for his works. E.g: Picasso, Ampere, Watts 6. Part is used for the whole and vice versa E.g: We all live under the same roof. She is wearing a fox. 7. The instrument which the doer uses in performing E.g. she is a good piano, 8. Other types: E.g: He always running after the skirt. ( a woman or girl) Other types of meaning tranfer are: Eponymy (functional change) common words are derived from proper nouns, e.g.: sandwich, china, rugby, White House (American government). Personification assigning human qualities to things, e.g.: the paper saysà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Euphemisms the need for a less expressive word, substitution of words which can be harmful for words with milder connotations, e.g.: restroom (toilet), pass away (die), sleep with à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (have a sexual intercourse withà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) Hyperbole exaggeration of meaning, statement not to be taken literally, e.g.: wait for ages, weight a ton, Ill kill him when I see himà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Litotes the opposite of hyperbole, the understatement which can be often ironical or moderating, e.g.: It wasnt bad (in the sense of It was good), Shes not stupid (Shes rather smart)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ REFERENCES Hoa Nguyen, (2004). Understanding English Semantics. Hanoi: Nxb.Ä HQG Hà   Nà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢i. Lyons, J (1968). Introdution to Theoretical Linguistics. London and New York: CPU Lyons, J (1995). Linguistic Semantics: An introduction. London : CUP

The Art of Sculpting :: Sculptures Greek Greece Essays

The Art of Sculpting Sculpting is the art of working with stone, bronze, and wood by chipping at it to form a beautiful piece of art. The art of sculpting was known thousands of years ago in the time of â€Å"THE OLD STONE AGE.† During this time the people thought that they would make the sculptures to praise their gods, kings, queens, and goddesses. The people also made sculptures of animals they believed that the animals would see this and protect them from other harmful animals. In the 7th century Assyrians became powerful and they to started inventing rich designs to decorate the walls of the palaces and temples. Then the Greek began there sculpting in the 6th century BC the sculptures of this time and place had there own way of art. They gave their pieces life by making the face of the person with a smile; they gave it arms and eyes rigid legs. The Greek wanted statues and stories of their gods to decorate the temples and other buildings. The Greeks were not interested in exact pictures. They made their figures godlike. When the Romans conquered the Greeks they themselves were conquered by Hellenistic art. With the downfall of Rome in AD 410 and the rise of Christianity sculpture declined. Early Christian carvings were only confined to decorations with hidden meaning. Roman art grew and it was called â€Å"Romanesque†. Sculptured scrolls and elongated figures enriched the doorways of churches, and the doors themselves were used as frames for sculptured pictures of the Bible stories. Sculpting grew more rapid into what was later called the â€Å" Gothic†, the Medieval. The sculptors became more skillful in carving human figures. Artists used animals and plant life for decorative details and ideas. In Italy the Gothic style underwent a change, called the â€Å"Renaissance† the rebirth of the classic. Sculptures reached great heights during the 15th century. The Renaissance spread throughout Western Europe and the art went with it. In the 17th century the Renaissance came to an end. The beautiful and unique sculptural style that followed it was called â€Å" baroque† meaning â€Å"false.

A Comparison of Dulce et Decorum est and The Charge of the Light Brigad

A Comparison of Dulce et Decorum est and The Charge of the Light Brigade â€Å"The Charge of the Light Brigade† written by Lord Alfred Tennyson and â€Å"Dulce et Decorum est† written by Wifred Owen have different perspectives of the wars as they are two different wars written at different times. Tennyson was not at the battle and never saw or experienced anything, which occurred. On the other hand Owen was present and experienced everything; he saw a friend dying knowing he was helpless to save him. Tennyson was only able to write the poem as he read a press report and expanded on it; the press report was written as propaganda, glorifying the British soldiers and making out that they were all able to die for their country as their sergeant ordered them to. Tennyson’s use of language is very different to Owen. Owen uses more death scenes and uses imagery to show he was there, however Tennyson was not at the battle, and so he wrote a poem less personal. Tennyson uses repetition frequently to show the power and force of the cavalry, he also uses several powerful images trying to put the British in as the winning people. In comparison Owen uses many different rhythmic lines. â€Å"Bent doubles, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-need, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our back And towards our distant rest began to trudge.† The rhythm of the language changes according to what the soldiers are doing, there they are tired and finding it difficult to walk, their steps are slow and laboured like language. Owen is putting across that it is sweet and honourable to die for your country, but it is ironic, it is a very distressing place to stay and the horrific imag... ...nt styles and with different perspectives to two different wars. Owens â€Å"Dulce et Decorum est† and Tennyson â€Å"The Charge of the Light Brigade† are both showing what happened in two different wars where you have a first person perspective and a 3rd persons perspective. Owen is trying to show that all young people may think it is a honour to die for your country, but it is also an horrific sight; Tennyson is trying to show that it is an honour and memorable to fight for your country. No one should be forced to fight in a war against his or her own will; war can cause a great deal of suffering and horrific consequences. Owen wants to show the people what war is really like and would like to help people and stop them from dieing however Tennyson just wants the young lads to go and fight and be honourable for their country never the less wants them to help.

Philosophy of Education Essay -- Education Teaching Careers Essays

Philosophy of Education I want to become a teacher. I must be out of my mind. At least that is what I am told by almost everyone when I tell him or her my plans for the future. Maybe I should become a doctor, lawyer, or own a business. No, I am going to fulfill my dream that I have had since I was in elementary school. I always ask a question to answer, â€Å"Why do you want to be a teacher? Are you out of your mind?† I ask who shapes the minds of the children of these doctors, lawyers, and businessmen while they are working. I also ask how these people would become doctors, lawyers, and businessmen without teachers to present them with the gift of education and the skills needed to perform their jobs. I am not out of my mind. I want to shape the minds of others. When I was in the third grade, I had to write a paper entitled, â€Å"What I Want to be When I Grow Up.† I wrote about becoming a teacher. From that point on, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to be. Growing up, teachers have had a big influence on my life, and I hope that I can do the same when I become a teacher. There are a few reasons that I decided to become a teacher. First, a teacher’s salary is not as horrible as it seems. Also, the benefits, such as the insurance and retirement make up for the low salary. Another thing that I considered when weighing my options is the vacation time and the hours, which will allow me to spend time with my family, to travel, and to do other things that I enjoy. The final and most important reason that I chose to become a teacher is that it will be a rewarding experience to watch children learn and use the things that I teach them. I have had some great teachers in the past, and I have had some that werenâ€⠄¢t so great. ... ...to the day when I become Mr. Hartwell, English/Language Arts teacher. In conclusion, I do not believe I am out of my mind at all for wanting to become a teacher. No matter how many people try to talk me out of it, even if he or she is a teacher, I am going to fulfill my dream and become a teacher. I will never discourage anyone from becoming a teacher. Teachers help boys and girls become men and women, the little boy that stained the carpet with his chemistry set to become a world-renowned scientist or a pharmacist, the little girls who cook with their easy-bake ovens into owners of successful restaurant chains. I want to be the teacher that students write about in an essay about the teacher that had the greatest influence on their lives, or to be named teacher of the year, or to be complimented with a simple â€Å"Thanks Mr. Hartwell. You’re pretty cool. ¨

Greek Mythology

Greek mythology in western art and literature With the rediscovery of classical antiquity in Renaissance, the poetry of Ovid became a major influence on the imagination of poets and artists and remained a fundamental influence on the diffusion and perception of Greek mythology through subsequent centuries. [2] From the early years of Renaissance, artists portrayed subjects from Greek mythology alongside more conventional Christian themes.Among the best-known subjects of Italian artists are Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Pallas and the Centaur, the Ledas of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, and Raphael's Galatea. 2] Through the medium of Latin and the works of Ovid, Greek myth influenced medieval and Renaissance poets such as Petrarch, Boccaccio and Dante in Italy. [1] In northern Europe, Greek mythology never took the same hold of the visual arts, but its effect was very obvious on literature. Both Latin and Greek classical texts were translated, so that stories of mythology becam e available. In England, Chaucer, the Elizabethans and John Milton were among those influenced by Greek myths; nearly all the major English poets from Shakespeare to Robert Bridges turned for inspiration to Greek mythology.Jean Racine in France and Goethe in Germany revived Greek drama. [2] Racine reworked the ancient myths — including those of Phaidra, Andromache, Oedipus and Iphigeneia — to new purpose. [3] The 18th century saw the philosophical revolution of the Enlightenment spread throughout Europe and accompanied by a certain reaction against Greek myth; there was a tendency to insist on the scientific and philosophical achievements of Greece and Rome.The myths, however, continued to provide an important source of raw material for dramatists, including those who wrote the libretti for Handel's operas Admeto and Semele, Mozart's Idomeneo and Gluck's Iphigenie en Aulide. [3] By the end of the century, Romanticism initiated a surge of enthusiam for all things Greek, including Greek mythology. In Britain, it was a great period for new translations of Greek tragedies and Homer, and these in turn inspired contemporary poets, such as Keats, Byron and Shelley. 4] The Hellenism of Queen's Victoria poet laureate, Alfred Lord Tennyson, was such that even his portraits of the quintessentially English court of King Arthrur are suffused with echoes of the Homeric epics.The visual arts kept pace, stimulated by the purchase of the Parthenon marbles in 1816; many of the â€Å"Greek† paintings of Lord Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema were seriously accepted as part of the transmission of the Hellenic ideal. [5] The German composer of the 18th century Christoph Gluck was also influenced by Greek mythology. 1] American authors of the 19th century, such as Thomas Bulfinch and Nathaniel Hawthorne, believed that myths should provide pleasure, and held that the study of the classical myths was essential to the understanding of English and Americal literatu re. [6] According to Bulfinch, â€Å"the so-called divinities of Olympus have not a single worshipper among living men; they belong now not to the department of theology, but to those of literature and taste†. [7] In more recent times, classical themes have been reinterpreted by such major dramatists as Jean Anouilh, Jean Cocteau, and Jean Giraudoux in France, Eugene O'Neill in America, and T.S. Eliot in England and by great novelists such as the Irish James Joyce and the French Andre Gide. Richard Strauss, Jacques Offenbach and many others have set Greek mythological themes to music. [1]References 1. ^ a b c d â€Å"Greek Mythology†. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2002. 2. ^ a b c â€Å"Greek mythology†. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2002. * L. Burn, Greek Myths, 75 3. ^ a b l. Burn, Greek Myths, 75 4. ^ l. Burn, Greek Myths, 75-76 5. ^ l. Burn, Greek Myths, 76 6. ^ Klatt-Brazouski, Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology, 4 7. ^ T. Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythol ogy, 1 Greek Mythology Greek Mythology,  set  of  diverse  traditional tales told by the ancient Greeks about the exploits of gods and heroes and their relations with ordinary mortals. The  ancient  Greeks  worshiped many gods within a culture that tolerated diversity. Unlike other belief systems, Greek culture recognized no single truth or code and produced no sacred, written text like the Bible or the Qur’an. Stories about the origins and actions of Greek divinities varied widely, depending, for example, on whether the tale appeared in a comedy, tragedy, or epic poem.Greek mythology was like a complex and rich language, in which the Greeks could express a vast range of perceptions about the world. A  Greek  city-state  devoted itself to a particular god or group of gods in whose honor it built temples. The temple generally housed a statue of the god or gods. The Greeks honored the city’s gods in festivals and also offered sacrifices to the gods, usually a domestic animal such as a goat. Stories about the gods varied by geographic location: A god might have one set of characteristics in one city or region and quite different characteristics elsewhere. II A A1PRINCIPAL FIGURES IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY Greek  mythology  has  several distinguishing characteristics, in addition to its multiple versions. The Greek gods resembled human beings in their form and in their emotions, and they lived in a society that resembled human society in its levels of authority and power. However, a crucial difference existed between gods and human beings: Humans died, and gods were immortal. Heroes also played an important role in Greek mythology, and stories about them conveyed serious themes. The Greeks considered human heroes from the past closer to themselves than were the immortal gods. GodsGiven  the  multiplicity of myths that circulated in Greece, it is difficult to present a single version of the genealogy (family history) of the gods. However, two accounts together provide a genealogy that most ancient Greeks would have recognized. One is the account given by Greek poet Hesiod in his Theogony (Genealogy of the Gods), written in the 8th century BC. The other account, The Library, is attributed to a mythographer (compiler of myths) named Apollodorus, who lived during the 2nd century BC. The Creation of the Gods According  to  Greek  myths about creation, the god Chaos (Greek for â€Å"Gaping Void†) was the foundation of all things.From Chaos came Gaea (â€Å"Earth†); the bottomless depth of the underworld, known as Tartarus; and Eros (â€Å"Love†). Eros, the god of love, was needed to draw divinities together so they Greek Mythology might produce offspring. Chaos produced Night, while Gaea first bore Uranus, the god of the heavens, and after him produced the mountains, sea, and gods known as Titans. The Titans were strong and large, and they committed arrogant deeds. The youngest and most important Titan was C ronus. Uranus and Gaea, who came to personify Heaven and Earth, also gave birth to the Cyclopes, one-eyed giants who made thunderbolts.See also Creation Stories. A2 A3 A4 Cronus and Rhea Uranus  tried  to  block any successors from taking over his supreme position by forcing back into Gaea the children she bore. But the youngest child, Cronus, thwarted his father, cutting off his genitals and tossing them into the sea. From the bloody foam in the sea Aphrodite, goddess of sexual love, was born. After  wounding  his  father and taking away his power, Cronus became ruler of the universe. But Cronus, in turn, feared that his own son would supplant him. When his sister and wife Rhea gave birth to offspring—Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon—Cronus swallowed them.Only the youngest, Zeus, escaped this fate, because Rhea tricked Cronus. She gave him a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow in place of the baby. Zeus and the Olympian Gods When  ful ly  grown,  Zeus forced his father, Cronus, to disgorge the children he had swallowed. With their help and armed with the thunderbolt, Zeus made war on Cronus and the Titans, and overcame them. He established a new regime, based on Mount Olympus in northern Greece. Zeus ruled the sky. His brother Poseidon ruled the sea, and his brother Hades, the underworld.Their sister Hestia ruled the hearth, and Demeter took charge of the harvest. Zeus married his sister Hera, who became queen of the heavens and guardian of marriage and childbirth. Among their children was Ares, whose sphere of influence was war. Twelve  major  gods  and goddesses had their homes on Mount Olympus and were known as the Olympians. Four children of Zeus and one child of Hera joined the Olympian gods Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, and Ares. Zeus’s Olympian offspring were Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, and Athena. Hera gave birth to Hephaestus. The Offspring of ZeusZeus  had  numerous   children by both mortal and immortal women. By the mortal Semele he had Dionysus, a god associated with wine and with other forms of intoxication and ecstasy. By Leto, a Titan, Zeus fathered the twins Apollo and Artemis, who became two of the most important Olympian divinities. Artemis remained a virgin and took hunting as her special province. Apollo became associated with music and prophecy. People visited his oracle (shrine) at Delphi to seek his prophetic advice. By the nymph Maia, Zeus became father of Hermes, the Olympian trickster god who had the power to cross all kinds of boundaries.Hermes guided the souls of the dead down to the underworld, Greek Mythology carried messages between gods and mortals, and wafted a magical sleep upon the wakeful. Two  other  Olympian  divinities, Hephaestus and Athena, had unusual births. Hera conceived Hephaestus, the blacksmith god, without a male partner. Subsequently he suffered the wrath of Zeus, who once hurled him from Olympus for coming to the aid of his mother; this fall down onto the island of Lemnos crippled Hephaestus. The birth of Athena was even stranger. Zeus and Metis, daughter of the Titan Oceanus, were the parents of Athena.But Gaea had warned Zeus that, after giving birth to the girl with whom she was pregnant, Metis would bear a son destined to rule heaven. To avoid losing his throne to a son, Zeus swallowed Metis, just as Cronus had previously swallowed his own children to thwart succession. Metis’s child Athena was born from the head of Zeus, which Hephaestus split open with an axe. Athena, another virgin goddess, embodied the power of practical intelligence in warfare and crafts work. She also served as the protector of the city of Athens. Another  of  Zeus’s  children was Persephone; her mother was Demeter, goddess of grain, vegetation, and the harvest.Once when Persephone was gathering flowers in a meadow, Hades, god of the underworld, saw and abducted her, taking her do wn to the kingdom of the dead to be his bride. Her grief-stricken mother wandered the world in search of her; as a result, fertility left the earth. Zeus commanded Hades to release Persephone, but Hades had cunningly given her a pomegranate seed to eat. Having consumed food from the underworld, Persephone was obliged to return below the earth for part of each year. Her return from the underworld each year meant the revival of nature and the beginning of spring.This myth was told especially in connection with the Eleusinian Mysteries, sacred rituals observed in the Greek town of Elevsis near Athens. The rituals offered initiates in the mysteries the hope of rebirth, just as Persephone had been reborn after her journey to the underworld. Many  Greek  myths  report the exploits of the principal Olympians, but Greek myths also refer to a variety of other divinities, each with their particular sphere of influence. Many of these divinities were children of Zeus, symbolizing the fact that they belonged to the new Olympian order of Zeus’s regime.The Muses, nine daughters of Zeus and the goddess of memory, Mnemosyne, presided over song, dance, and music. The Fates, three goddesses who controlled human life and destiny, and the Horae, goddesses who controlled the seasons, were appropriately the children of Zeus and Themis, the goddess of divine justice and law. Far different in temperament were the Erinyes (Furies), ancient and repellent goddesses who had sprung from the earth after it had been impregnated with the blood of Uranus’s severed genitals. Terrible though they were, the Erinyes also had a legitimate role in the world: to pursue those who had murdered their own kin.A5 Disruptive Deities Human  existence  is  characterized by disorder as well as order, and many of the most characteristic figures in Greek mythology exert a powerfully disruptive effect. Satyrs, whom the Greeks imagined as part human and part horse (or part goat), led liv es dominated by wine and lust. Myths depicted them as companions of Dionysus who drunkenly pursued nymphs, spirits of nature represented as young and beautiful maidens. Many of the jugs used at Greek symposia (drinking parties) carry images of satyrs. Equally  wild,  but  more threatening than the satyrs, were the savage centaurs.These monsters, Greek Mythology depicted as half-man and half-horse, tended toward uncontrolled aggression. The centaurs are known for combat with their neighbors, the Lapiths, which resulted from an attempt to carry off the Lapith women at a wedding feast. This combat was depicted in sculpture on the Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena in Athens. The  Sirens,  usually  portrayed as birds with women’s heads, posed a different sort of threat. These island-dwelling enchantresses lured mariners to their deaths by the irresistible beauty of their song.The seafaring Greek hero Odysseus alone survived this temptation by ordering his compani ons to block their own ears, to bind him to the mast of his ship, and to ignore all his entreaties to be allowed to follow the lure of the Sirens’ song. B B1 B2 Mortals The  Greeks  had  several myths to account for the origins of humanity. According to one version, human beings sprang from the ground, and this origin explained their devotion to the land. According to another myth, a Titan molded the first human beings from clay. The Greeks also had a story about the destruction of humanity, similar to the biblical deluge.The Creation of Human Beings Conflicting  Greek  myths tell about the creation of humanity. Some myths recount how the populations of particular localities sprang directly from the earth. The Arcadians, residents of a region of Greece known as Arcadia, claimed this distinction for their original inhabitant, Pelasgus (see Pelasgians). The Thebans boasted descent from earthborn men who had sprung from the spot where Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, had sown the ground with the teeth of a sacred dragon. According to another tale, one of the Titans, Prometheus, fashioned the first human being from water and earth.In the more usual version of the story Prometheus did not actually create humanity but simply lent it assistance through the gift of fire. Another  tale  dealt  with humanity’s re-creation. When Zeus planned to destroy an ancient race living on Earth, he sent a deluge. However, Deucalion, a son of Prometheus, and his wife Pyrrha—the Greek equivalents of the biblical Noah and his wife—put provisions into a chest and climbed into it. Carried across the waters of the flood, they landed on Mount Parnassus. After the waters receded, the couple gratefully made sacrifices to Zeus.His response was to send Hermes to instruct them how to repopulate the world. They should cast stones behind them. Stones thrown by Deucalion became men; those thrown by Pyrrha, women. The Greek People According  to  myth,à ‚  the various peoples of Greece descended from Hellen, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha. One genealogy related that the Dorian and the Aeolian Greeks sprang from Hellen’s sons Dorus and Aeolus. The Achaeans and Ionians descended from Achaeos and Ion, sons of Hellen’s other son, Xuthus. These figures, in their turn, produced offspring who, along with children born of unionsGreek Mythology between divinities and mortals, made up the collection of heroes and heroines whose exploits constitute a central part of Greek mythology. C C1 C2 C3 Heroes Myths  about  heroes  are particularly characteristic of Greek mythology. Many of these heroes were the sons of gods, and a number of myths involved expeditions by these heroes. The expeditions generally related to quests or combats. Scholars consider some of these myths partly historical in nature—that is, they explained events in the distant past and were handed down orally from one generation to the next.Two of the most important of the semihistorical myths involve the search for the Golden Fleece and the quest that led to the Trojan War. In other myths heroes such as Heracles and Theseus had to overcome fearsome monsters. Jason and the Golden Fleece Jason  was  a  hero  who  sailed in the ship Argo, with a band of heroes called the Argonauts, on a dangerous quest for the Golden Fleece at the eastern end of the Black Sea in the land of Colchis. Jason had to fetch this family property, a fleece made of gold from a winged ram, in order to regain his throne.A dragon that never slept guarded the fleece and made the mission nearly impossible. Thanks to the magical powers of Medea, daughter of the ruler of Colchis, Jason performed the impossible tasks necessary to win the fleece and to take it from the dragon. Afterward Medea took horrible revenge on Pelias, who had killed Jason’s parents, stolen Jason’s throne, and sent Jason on the quest for the fleece. She tricked Peliasâ€⠄¢s daughters into cutting him up and boiling him in a cauldron. Medea’s story continued to involve horrific violence.When Jason rejected her for another woman, Medea once more used her magic to avenge herself with extreme cruelty. Meleager Jason  and  the  same  generation of heroes took part in another adventure, with Meleager, the son of King Oeneus of Calydon and his wife Althea. At Meleager’s birth the Fates predicted that he would die when a log burning on the hearth was completely consumed. His mother snatched the log and hid it in a chest. Meleager grew to manhood. One day, his father accidentally omitted Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, from a sacrifice. In revenge Artemis sent a mighty boar to ravage the country.Meleager set out to destroy it, accompanied by some of the greatest heroes of the day, including Peleus, Telamon, Theseus, Jason, and Castor and Polydeuces. The boar was killed. However, Meleager killed his mother’s brothers in a quarr el about who should receive the boar skin. In her anger Althea threw the log on to the fire, so ending her son’s life; she then hanged herself. Heroes of the Trojan War The  greatest  expedition of all was that which resulted in the Trojan War. The object of this quest was Helen, a beautiful Greek woman who had been abducted by Paris, son of King Priam of Troy.Helen’s husband Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon led an army of Greeks to besiege Troy. After ten Greek Mythology years, with many heroes dead on both sides, the city fell to the trick of the Trojan Horse—a giant wooden horse that the Greeks built and left outside the gates of Troy while their army pretended to withdraw. Not knowing that Greek heroes were hiding inside the horse, the Trojans took the horse into the city. The hidden Greeks then slipped out, opened the city gates and let their army in, thus defeating Troy. The Iliad, an epic poem attributed to Greek poet Homer, tells the story of the T rojan War.The story continued with the Odyssey, another long poem attributed to Homer, in which the Greek hero Odysseus made his way home after the Trojan War. Odysseus returned to his faithful wife, Penelope, whereas Agamemnon returned to be murdered by his faithless wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover. Historians  considered the Trojan War entirely mythical until excavations in Turkey showed that there had been cities on the site of Troy and that fire had destroyed one of these cities at about the time of the Trojan War, sometime from 1230 BC to 1180 BC. C4 C5 Heracles and TheseusThe  deeds  of  the  heroes Heracles (see Hercules) and Theseus exemplify a central theme in Greek mythology: the conflict between civilization and wild savagery. Each hero confronted and overcame monstrous opponents, yet neither enjoyed unclouded happiness. Heracles  had  been  an  Argonaut but left the expedition after being plunged into grief at the loss of his companion Hylas. In anoth er story, a fit of madness led Heracles to kill his own wife and children. But he is best known for his feats of prowess against beasts and monsters, which began soon after his birth.The most difficult of these feats are known as the 12 labors, which are believed to represent efforts to conquer death and achieve immortality. Although Heracles died, his father, Zeus, gave him a place on Mount Olympus. Theseus  successfully  slew the Minotaur, a monster that was half man and half bull. On his voyage home to Athens, however, he forgot to hoist the white sails that would have signified the success of his adventure. According to one tale, Theseus’s heartbroken father Aegeus, seeing black sails, believed his son had died, and committed suicide. The Aegean Sea in which he drowned is presumably named after Aegeus.Oedipus No  hero  of  Greek  mythology has proved more fascinating than Oedipus. He destroyed a monster, the Sphinx, by answering its riddle. Yet his ultimate do wnfall served as a terrifying warning of the instability of human fortune. As a baby, Oedipus had been abandoned on a mountainside by his parents, King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes, because of a prophecy that the child would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Saved by the pity of a shepherd, the child—its identity unknown—was reared by the king and queen of the neighboring city of Corinth.In due course, Oedipus unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy, matching the horrific crimes he had committed with the equally ghastly self-punishment of piercing his own eyes with Jocasta’s brooch-pins. Greek Mythology III A Gods and Goddesses B THE NATURE OF GREEK GODS AND HEROES In  many  respects  the  gods and goddesses of Greek mythology resembled extraordinarily powerful human beings. They experienced emotions such as jealousy, love, and grief, and they shared with humans a desire to assert their own authority and to punish anyone who flouted it.How ever, these emotions and desires took supernaturally intense form in gods and goddesses. As numerous literary descriptions and artistic representations testify, the Greeks imagined their gods to have human shape, although this form was strongly idealized. The  Greeks,  moreover, modeled relationships between divinities on those between human beings. Apollo and Artemis were brother and sister, Zeus and Hera were husband and wife, and the society of the gods on Mount Olympus resembled that of an unruly family, with Zeus at its head. The gods could temporarily enter the human world.They might, for example, fall in love with a mortal, as Aphrodite did with Adonis; Apollo with Daphne; and Zeus with Leda, Alcmene, and Danae. Or they might destroy a mortal who displeased them, as Dionysus destroyed King Pentheus of Thebes for mocking his rites. Not  all  Greek  divinities resembled human beings. They could also be uncanny, strange, and alien, a quality made visible in artistic re presentations of monsters. For example, the snake-haired Gorgon Medusa had a stare that turned her victims to stone. The Graeae, sisters of the Gorgons, were gray-haired old crones from birth.They possessed but a single tooth and a single eye between them. Typhoeus was a hideous monster from whose shoulders grew a hundred snakeheads with dark, flickering tongues. Even  the  major  deities of Olympus showed alien characteristics at times. A recurrent sign of divine power is the ability to change shape, either one’s own or that of others. Athena once transformed herself into a vulture; Poseidon once took the form of a stallion. This ability could prove convenient such as when Zeus assumed the form of a swan to woo Leda. Zeus turned Lycaon, a disrespectful king, into a wolf to punish him for his wickedness.The ability to exercise power over the crossing of boundaries is a crucial feature of divine power among the Greeks. Heroes Greek  mythology  also  told how divini ties interacted with heroes, a category of mortals who, though dead, were believed to retain power to influence the lives of the living. In myths heroes represented a kind of bridge between gods and mortals. Heroes such as Achilles, Perseus, and Aeneas were the products of a union between a deity and a mortal. The fact that the gods often intervened to help heroes—for example, during combat—indicated not the heroes’ weakness but their special importance.Yet heroes were not the equals of the gods. With  a  logic  characteristic of Greek myth, heroes typically possessed a defect to balance out their exceptional power. For example, the warrior Achilles, hero of the Trojan War, was invulnerable except in the heel. The prophet Cassandra, who warned the Trojans of dangers such as the Trojan Horse, Greek Mythology always prophesied the truth but was never believed. Heracles constituted an extreme example of this paradox: His awesome strength was balanced by his t endency to become a victim of his own excessive violence.Nevertheless, the gods allowed Heracles to cross the ultimate boundary by gaining admission to Olympus. IV A B THE FUNCTIONS OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY Like  most  other  mythological traditions, Greek myths served several purposes. First, Greek myths explained the world. Second, they acted as a means of exploration. Third, they provided authority and legitimacy. Finally, they provided entertainment. Explanation Greek  myths  lent  structure and order to the world and explained how the current state of things had originated. Hesiod’s Theogony narrated the development of the present order of the universe by relating it to Chaos, the origin of all things.By a complex process of violence, struggle, and sexual attraction, the regime led by Zeus had eventually taken over. Another poem by Hesiod, Works and Days, explained why the world is full of trouble. According to the poem the first woman, Pandora, opened a jar whose lid she had been forbidden to lift. As a result of her disobedience all the diseases and miseries previously confined in the jar escaped into the world. Such a myth also makes a statement about relationships between the sexes in Hesiod’s own world.Scholars assume that he composed the poem for a largely male audience that was receptive to a tale that put women at the root of all evil. One  of  the  commonest  types of explanation given in myths relates to ritual. Myths helped worshipers make sense of a religious practice by telling how the practice originated. A prime example is sacrifice, a ritual that involved killing a domesticated animal as an offering to the gods. The ceremony culminated in the butchering, cooking, and sharing of the meat of the victim. Hesiod recounts the myth associated with this rite.According to this myth, the tricky Titan Prometheus tried to outwit Zeus by offering him a cunningly devised choice of meals. Zeus could have either an apparently unappetizing dish—an ox paunch, which had tasty meat concealed within—or a seemingly delicious one, gleaming fat on the outside, which had nothing but bones hidden beneath. Zeus chose the second dish, and ever since human beings have kept the tastiest part of every sacrifice for themselves, leaving the gods nothing but the savor of the rising smoke. Exploration Myths  charted  paths  through difficult territory, examining contradictions and ambiguities.For instance, Homer’s Iliad explores the consequences during the Trojan War of the Greek leader Agamemnon’s decision to deprive the warrior Achilles of his allotted prize, a female slave. Achilles feels that Agamemnon has assailed his honor or worth but wonders how far he should go in reaction. Is he right to refuse to fight, if that means the destruction of the Greek army? Is he justified in rejecting Agamemnon’s offer of compensation? One of this poem’s themes explores the limits of ho nor. Greek Mythology The  dramatic  genre  of tragedy provides the clearest example of mythical exploration (see see Greek Literature; Drama and Dramatic Arts).The great Athenian playwrights of the 5th century BC— Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides—wrote tragedies that explored social questions by placing them, in extreme and exaggerated form, in a mythical context. Sophocles’s tragic play Antigone concerns just such an extreme situation. Two brothers have killed each other in battle: Eteocles defending his homeland, and Polynices attacking it. Their sister Antigone, in defiance of an edict by the city’s ruler, attempts to bury her ostensibly traitorous brother Polynices. Sophocles raises several moral issues. Is Antigone justified in seeking to bury her brother?Which should prevail, a religious obligation to tend and bury a corpse, or a city’s well-being? The answers to these moral issues are far from clear-cut, as we might expect from a wo rk whose subtlety and profundity have so often been admired. C D V A Legitimation Myths  also  had  the  function of legitimation. A claim, an action, or a relationship acquired extra authority if it had a precedent in myth. Aristocratic Greek families liked to trace their ancestry back to the heroes or gods of mythology. The Greek poet Pindar, who wrote in the early 5th century BC, offers ample evidence for this preference. In his songs Pindar raised the exploits of current victors in the Olympian Games by linking them with the deeds of their mythical ancestors. In addition, two Greek city-states could cement bonds between them by showing that they had an alliance in the mythological past. Entertainment Finally,  myth  telling was a source of enjoyment and entertainment. Homer’s epics contain several descriptions of audiences held spellbound by the songs of bards (poets), and recitations of Homer’s poems also captivated audiences. Public performances of tr agic drama were also hugely popular, regularly drawing some 15,000 spectators. ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF GREEK MYTHOLOGYOur  knowledge  of  Greek mythology begins with the epic poems attributed to Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, which date from about the 8th century BC even though the stories they relate probably have their origins in events that occurred several centuries earlier. Scholars, however, know that the origins of Greek mythology reach even farther back than that. Origins of Greek Mythology Linguists  (people  who study languages) have concluded that some names of Greek deities, including Zeus, can be traced back to gods worshiped by speakers of Proto-Indo-European, the common ancestor of the Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit languages.But it would be misleading to regard the people who may have spoken this language as originators of Greek mythology because many other elements contributed. Greek Mythology Archaeologists  have  shown that many of the places where mythical events presumably took place correspond to sites that had historical importance during the Mycenaean period of Greek history (second half of the 2nd millennium BC). Scholars thus consider it likely that the Mycenaeans made a major contribution to the development of the stories, even if this contribution is hard to demonstrate in detail.Some scholars have argued that the Minoan civilization of Crete also had a formative influence on Greek myths. The myth of the Minotaur confined in a labyrinth in the palace of King Minos, for example, might be a memory of historical bull-worship in the labyrinthine palace at Knossos on Crete. However, there is little evidence that Cretan religion survived in Greece. Nor have any ancient inscriptions confirmed that Minos ever existed outside of myth. Scholars  can  demonstrate influence on Greek mythology from the Middle East much more reliably than influence from Crete.Greek mythology owed much to cultures in Mesopotamia and Anatolia, e specially in the realm of cosmogony (origin of the universe) and theogony (origin of the gods). To take one example, a clear parallel exists in an early Middle Eastern myth for Greek poet Hesiod’s story about the castration of Uranus by his son Cronus and the subsequent overthrow of Cronus by his son Zeus. The Middle Eastern myth tells of the sky god Anu who was castrated by Kumarbi, father of the gods. The weather and storm god Teshub, in turn, displaced Anu. Scholars continue to bring to light more and more similarities between Greek and Middle Eastern mythologies.B Development of Greek Mythology Our  knowledge  of  Greek myths comes from a mixture of written texts, sculpture, and decorated pottery. Scholars have reconstructed stories that circulated orally by inference and guesswork. Homer’s  epics,  the  Iliad and the Odyssey, stand at the beginning of Greek literary tradition (see Greek literature), even though they almost certainly depended on a lengt hy previous tradition of oral poetry. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War; it focuses on the consequences of a quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles, two of the leading Greek warriors.The Odyssey is about the aftermath of the Trojan War, when the Greek hero Odysseus at last returns to his home on the island of Ithaca following years of wandering in wild and magical lands. The Trojan War later provided subject matter for many tragic dramas and for imagery on countless painted vases. Hesiod’s  Theogony,  composed in the 8th century BC at about the same time as the Homeric epics, gave an authoritative account of how things began. The creation of the world, described by Hesiod in terms of passions and crimes of the gods, is a theme that later Greek philosophers such as Empedocles and Plato developed but took in new directions.This connection serves as a reminder that mythology was not a separate aspect of Greek culture, but one that interacted with many other fields of ex perience, particularly the writing of history. For example, in the 5th century BC Greek historian Herodotus employed numerous themes and story patterns from Greek epics and tragedies in writing his historical account of the war between Greeks and Persians (see Persian Wars). Although  the  authority of Homer and Hesiod remained dominant, the poetic retelling of myths continued throughout antiquity.Myths were constantly remade in the light of new social and political circumstances. The Hellenistic period of Greek history (4th century to 1st century BC) saw many new trends in the treatment of myths. One of the most important was the development of mythography, Greek Mythology the compilation and organization of myths on the basis of particular themes (for example, myths about metamorphosis). Such organization corresponded to a wish of newly established Hellenistic rulers to lend legitimacy to their regimes by claiming that they continued a cultural tradition reaching back into a g reat past.Artists,  too,  portrayed myths. Statues of gods stood inside Greek temples, and relief sculptures of scenes from mythology adorned pediments and friezes on the outside of these temples (see Greek Art and Architecture). Among the best-known examples are the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens. These reliefs include depictions of combat between centaurs and Lapiths. Other  visual  representations of mythology were more modest in size and scope. The best evidence for the use of mythology in Greek painting comes from painted ceramic vases.The Greeks used these vases in a variety of contexts, from cookery to funerary ritual to athletic games. (Vases filled with oil were awarded as prizes in games. ) In most cases scholars can securely identify the imagery on Greek vases as mythological, but sometimes they have no way of telling whether the artist intended an allusion to mythology because myth became fused with everyday life. For example, does a representation of a woman weaving signify Penelope, wife of Odysseus who spent her days at a loom, or does it portray someone engaged in an everyday activity?The  Greeks  retold  myths orally, as well as preserving them in literary and artistic works. The Greeks transmitted to children tales of monsters and myths of gods and heroes. Old men gathered to exchange tales in leschai (clubs or conversation places). Storytelling, whether in writing, art, or speech, was at the heart of Greek civilization. VI A THE LEGACY OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY Mythology  formed  a  central reference point in Greek society because it was interwoven with ritual and other aspects of social existence.Yet the question of how far people believed the myths is a difficult and probably unanswerable one. Some intellectuals, such as Greek writer Palaephatus, tried to interpret the myths as having figurative (nonliteral) meanings. Writing in the 4th century BC, Palaephatus interpreted the stories of Diomedes, a king devoured by his own mares, and of Actaeon, a hunter torn apart by his own hounds, as concealing perfectly credible accounts of young men who had spent too much money on their animals and so been figuratively eaten alive by debt.Other  thinkers,  such  as the 4th-century-BC philosopher Plato, objected to some myths on moral grounds, particularly to myths that told of crimes committed by the gods. Yet such skepticism seems hardly to have altered the imaginative power and persistence of Greek myths. As late as the 2nd century AD, the Greek traveler and historian Pausanias described the myths and cults in the places he visited as if they constituted a still-living complex of religious discourse and behavior. Ancient Rome and Early ChristianityThe  ancient  Romans  eventually took over Greek civilization and conquered Greece. In the process, they adapted Greek mythology, and myths remained a vehicle for reflecting on and coping with the Greek Mythology world. In his poem the Aeneid, wri tten in the 1st century BC, Roman poet Virgil used the theme of the wandering Trojan hero Aeneas and his eventual foundation of a settlement that became Rome. The Aeneid not only continues story patterns developed in Homer’s epics, but it also makes frequent and detailed allusions to the texts of Homer and other Greek writers.The long poem Metamorphoses by Roman poet Ovid embraces an enormous number of Greek myths, reworked into a composition that later had unparalleled influence on European culture of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Greek  mythology  survived during Christian antiquity by its interpretation as allegory (expressive of a deeper or hidden meaning). Early Christians incorporated pagan stories into their own worldview if they could reinterpret the story to express a concealed, uplifting meaning.In the 5th century AD, for example, Latin mythographer Fulgentius gave an allegorical reading of the Judgment of Paris. The Greek myth told of a young Trojan shepherd faced with a choice between the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Each goddess tried to bribe Paris to name her the most beautiful: Hera offering power, Athena offering success in battle, and Aphrodite offering a beautiful woman. Fulgentius explained that the choice was actually a moral one, between a life of action, a life of contemplation, and a life dominated by love.The allegorical approach to the myths has never died out; we find it today in the writings of those who regard myths as expressions of basic, universal psychological truths. For example, Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, borrowed from Greek mythology in developing his ideas of human psychosexual development, which he described in terms of an Oedipus complex and an Electra complex. Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung believed that certain psychic structures he called archetypes were common to all people in all times and gave rise to recurring ideas such as mythological themes. BEuropean Art, Music, and Lite rature The  influence  of  Greek mythology on Western art, music, and literature can hardly be exaggerated. Many of the greatest works of painting and sculpture have taken myths as their subject. Examples include the Birth of Venus (after 1482) by Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, a marble sculpture of Apollo and Daphne (1622-1625) by Italian baroque sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini, a terrifying Cronus Devouring One of His Children (1820-1823) by Spanish painter Francisco de Goya, and Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (about 1558) by Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel.In the Bruegel painting peasants continue with their daily toil oblivious of the mythological drama being played out in the sky above. Musicians  too,  especially composers of opera and oratorio, have found inspiration in ancient myths. Operatic dramatizations of these stories begin with Orfeo (Orpheus, 1607) and Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses to His Homeland, 1641) by Italian comp oser Claudio Monteverdi.They continue into the 20th century with Elektra (1909) by German composer Richard Strauss and Oedipus Rex (1927) by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. The  impact  of  Greek  mythology on literature has been incalculably great. In the 20th century the story of the murderous revenge of Orestes on his mother Clytemnestra (for killing his father, Agamemnon) has inspired writers as diverse as American dramatist Eugene O’Neill (in Mourning Becomes Electra, 1931), American-born poet and playwright T. S.Eliot (in The Family Reunion, 1939), and French philosopher and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre (in Les Mouches [1943; The Flies, 1946]). Among the Greek Mythology most notable of all literary works inspired by Greek mythology is Ulysses by Irish writer James Joyce. In this intricate novel, Ulysses (Odysseus) becomes Dublin resident Leopold Bloom, while Bloom’s wife, Molly, combines characteristics of faithful Penelope (wife of Odysseus) and seducti ve Calypso (a sea nymph who holds Odysseus captive on his journey home).The  influence  of  Greek mythology shows no sign of diminishing. Computer games (see Electronic Games) and science fiction frequently use combat- or quest-oriented story patterns that have clear parallels in classical mythology. Greek myths developed in a specific ancient society, but the emotional and intellectual content of the stories has proved adaptable to a broad range of cultural contexts.