Week 6 Extra Reading: Crash Course Mythology
This week, for my extra reading points, I decided to watch the Crash Course mythology videos in the Ancient Mediterranean unit. These three videos included Pantheons, Greeks and Romans, and Hercules. Here are my notes and thoughts on each video.
I think my first thought when learned about pantheons is that I thought I knew what pantheons were going into the video, but it turns out I had no idea. I didn't initially know that pantheons were godly families, I thought they were buildings (I know realize I had the words pantheon and parthenon mixed up in my head). Learning about the ancient pantheons of Mesopotamia and Egypt was really interesting. It's clear that the creation of pantheons helped humans find meaning in the existence of everything in their world. It's really interesting, too, that pantheons have existed for so long. People have always needed something, or someone, to believe in, and I think that's kind of cool.
The next video talked about the pantheons specific to Greek and Roman mythology. Of course, Greek mythology was covered more heavily because the Roman pantheon is basically the Greek pantheon but with different names (thieves). It was interesting to me to see the major Mount Olympus family tree laid out, because I think while studying Greek mythology, it's easy to forget how each of the gods are related to one another. For many gods, apparently, it's just easy to remember that Zeus is their father. I also thought it was interesting that scholars thought that the Greek pantheon is the way it is because the Greeks wanted it to reflect human nature. Not only do the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus serve as a way to explain everything that has happened on earth, they also serve as a model for the richest and most powerful Greek family, full of drama and arrogance. Kind of like the Kardashians today. Or maybe The Mob (if The Mob is actually like it is in movies where it's one giant family).
The last video talked about Hercules. I've read his story before, so I was really interested to see what Crash Course would have to say. It was cool to hear about all of the labors Hercules had to go through during his lifetime. The story I read was just about what happened after Hercules went through all those labors-- he finally gets killed by Nessus and a poisoned shirt. Hercules definitely wasn't the role-model hero I thought he was though. He was crazy, volatile and murderous for much of his story. But, he still gets placed on the pedestal at the end. Maybe people still hero-worship him because they believe his mortal side is what made him such a nutcase? Who knows. All I know is that I like the Disney version of him better (seriously, Disney's Hercules is absolutely the most underrated Disney movie of all time). Who puts the "glad" in gladiator? HeRcUlEs.
I think my first thought when learned about pantheons is that I thought I knew what pantheons were going into the video, but it turns out I had no idea. I didn't initially know that pantheons were godly families, I thought they were buildings (I know realize I had the words pantheon and parthenon mixed up in my head). Learning about the ancient pantheons of Mesopotamia and Egypt was really interesting. It's clear that the creation of pantheons helped humans find meaning in the existence of everything in their world. It's really interesting, too, that pantheons have existed for so long. People have always needed something, or someone, to believe in, and I think that's kind of cool.
The next video talked about the pantheons specific to Greek and Roman mythology. Of course, Greek mythology was covered more heavily because the Roman pantheon is basically the Greek pantheon but with different names (thieves). It was interesting to me to see the major Mount Olympus family tree laid out, because I think while studying Greek mythology, it's easy to forget how each of the gods are related to one another. For many gods, apparently, it's just easy to remember that Zeus is their father. I also thought it was interesting that scholars thought that the Greek pantheon is the way it is because the Greeks wanted it to reflect human nature. Not only do the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus serve as a way to explain everything that has happened on earth, they also serve as a model for the richest and most powerful Greek family, full of drama and arrogance. Kind of like the Kardashians today. Or maybe The Mob (if The Mob is actually like it is in movies where it's one giant family).
The last video talked about Hercules. I've read his story before, so I was really interested to see what Crash Course would have to say. It was cool to hear about all of the labors Hercules had to go through during his lifetime. The story I read was just about what happened after Hercules went through all those labors-- he finally gets killed by Nessus and a poisoned shirt. Hercules definitely wasn't the role-model hero I thought he was though. He was crazy, volatile and murderous for much of his story. But, he still gets placed on the pedestal at the end. Maybe people still hero-worship him because they believe his mortal side is what made him such a nutcase? Who knows. All I know is that I like the Disney version of him better (seriously, Disney's Hercules is absolutely the most underrated Disney movie of all time). Who puts the "glad" in gladiator? HeRcUlEs.
Hades, from Disney's Hercules. Source: Giphy.
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