[bronxville]

- Athena’s magnificent temple, the Parthenon, is the national monument of Greece (Figure 1). From 447 to 432 BC, during the Classical Age, the ancient Athenians built for Athena one of the most superb architectural works of antiquity. Featuring more sculpture than any other Greek temple, the Parthenon dominated their Akropolis—the high place of the city. Inside stood her forty-foot-tall gold and ivory idol-image. Later in this article, we are going to take a close look at Athena’s famous Parthenon statue as it has been reconstructed in the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, from ancient replicas and descriptions of it. We are not going to be able to understand very much about Athena’s idol-image, however, unless we see where she fits into the history of humanity as the Greeks saw it. We need some background. Fortunately, the Greeks provided it in their myths and art.

[GeronL]

Why are Greek Gods so incestuous?

We should ask Antigone about it. lol.

[Celtic Cross]

Bump for later.

[count-your-change]

That's kind of a nice looking building but the yard could use a little clean up and the building sure does need some maintenance, you know,........ some caulking and a good coat of paint.

[Artemis Webb]

Published in the year 2911 huh? (just poking fun)

Really though I’m sure this is all very interesting to somebody somewhere. All I know though is that my first reading “obsession” was in elementary school and was Greek Mythology. I consider it to be my first delvings into epic fantasy, which I still love today. Never in my life did I consider it from a theological perspective. I don’t see anything wrong with doing that mind you if it’s your cup of tea but for me it’s just a lot of terrific stories that still hold up thousands of years later.

[HungarianGypsy]

Two subjects I like to study are religion and mythology. I have noticed nearly every culture has mythology that has some relation to the Creation story in Genesis.

[sasportas]

It sounds like the ancient Greek Mystic system was derived from Gnostic ideas. Or was it the other way around? Lots of similarities. Satan being the enlightener and not the redeemer, for instance.

By the way, from what perspective is this article written? What faith are you?

[TruthConquers]

The story of Pandora has reminded me of the Genesis story of Eve and the apple. I don’t know how this fits with this Athena.

Pandora was told she would become like the God, just like the serpent told Eve the same. And when she opened the box, the ills of the world were loosed, just like Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Life to toil the rest of their days, with suffering and death. And the hope at the end, that was the promise of Messiah.

It has been awhile, but when I was homeschooling my young daughter and we read these stories, I was amazed at how they did echo the Bible. Distorted, but with clear echoes.
It had left me with the impression that man after the flood did know the truth, and there were stories to remember it by, in many cultures, with many distortions.

[Oztrich Boy]

Where does Greek myth come from?)

[cradle of freedom]

Very fascinating look at Greek mythology. Have you ever heard of the book “The Gospel in the Stars” written by Joseph A. Seiss? Gospel in the Stars states that the constellations in astrology were originally given by God as a guide explaning the story of mankind and salvation. The astrological signs were later paganized but originally they had a Judeo-Christian meaning.

[Del Rapier]

Athena,Alpha and Allah.

Different names,same........

I make my own conclusions.

[Future Snake Eater]

Where does Greek myth come from?

From these folks:

BTW, where's the Greek temple for this guy?

[dangus]

I’ve typically found that people trying to relate ancient mythologies usually grossly exaggerate the similarities, and ignore the obvious irreconcilable differences. But it’s worth noting that a LOT of Greek and Roman mythology came about long after the Jewish faith. Often, such similarities are presented as supposedly pagan origins of Christianity and Judaism*; I’m glad this article doesn’t do that. Frequently, Romans would find certain aspects of Christianity appealing, and attach such elements to older mythologies, making them appear to have older Roman origins.

(*for instance, Christmas predates the move of Saturnalia to the December equinox; Easter even predates In Sol Invictus by centuries; Isaiah predates Scorates.)

[arrogantsob]

Greeks understood the Gods as malevolent forces which could be irregularly propitiated by sacrifices on occasion. But the best way to live was to try and not be noticed by them.

There was no heaven in the Greek religion and Hell was essentially just not living as more. Their conception was that this life is all there is after which existence as impotent shades was all there was. An existence dominated by desire for blood, the sustainer of life.

[RegulatorCountry]

Spend some time pondering I Enoch as well as a few other Apocryphal books, and you just might come away with the conclusion that many of the so-called "gods" of the ancient world were the offspring of rebellious, fallen angels cast down to Earth, from their large physical size to their occasionally bizarre, seemingly inter-species appearance.

From reading that book and those few others, it seems that dabbling with and corrupting Creation was one of the primary reasons behind the world being practically wiped clean with the flood, save Noah, his immediate family and hand picked breeding pairs of uncorrupted species.

You can catch occasional glimpses of I Enoch in canonical Old Testament books of the Bible. Noah was, and I paraphrase, "perfect in his generations." Those who would be gods were great men of old, men of renown. The Canaanites. Anak. Goliath of Gath. Running with that interpretation, many of the strange mythical figures of the Greek, of India and others wouldn't have been myth at all. They were fantastical and unnatural, yes, but a very old book given an apparent high amount of credence by Old Testament authors would seem to point in a more tangible direction.

Some have gone so far as to speculate dinosaurs were wiped out by the flood because they were never intended to be by our Creator, that they were the unnatural product of rebellion by way of genetic engineering of a sort. Sounds weird but these texts tend to support more than refute such an understanding.

[supercat]

Ancient Greek religion, what we call mythology, tells the same story as the Book of Genesis, except that the serpent is the enlightener of mankind rather than our deceiver.

In Genesis, the Tree is not called the "Tree of Poison", but rather the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil". That would seem to share some commonality with the serpent being an enlightener.

In Act One of the musical Children of Eden, Eve has an insatiable desire--the "spark of creation"--to go "beyond". Later, Cain is possessed by a similar desire. Although some parts of the show are decidedly non-Biblical, I find this central premise interesting: that the Fall came about not because mankind was evil, but because mankind had an inherent need to make a difference. Prior to the Fall, Adam and Eve could have done just about anything (other than eat the Fruit) and it wouldn't have mattered. Their lives could have gone on forever, but even with all the time in the world, they wouldn't have been able to do anything of significance.

I think the real story of humanity is found in Luke 15. The younger son was possessed by the same "spark of creation" as Eve. The farm was wonderful and good, but the son could not be happy until he had seen the world. Having seen the world, he had a renewed appreciation for the farm upon his return.

God attempted to create a paradise for Adam and Eve. Paradise 1.0 wasn't really a paradise, for Eve's insatiable desire to go "beyond" could not have possibly been satisfied except by leaving it. I believe Paradise 2.0 ("heaven") will actually not be much different from Paradise 1.0, any more than the farm was different upon the Prodigal Son's return, but by the time mankind returns to Paradise mankind will have hopefully gained the wisdom and appreciation to be happy there.