Personification in Greek Myth

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

Hey all, it's been a while but I'm studying philosophy and mythology again so I figured it would be a good time to come back.

So I'm reading up on Greek mythology and what I'm having a hard time comprehending is what exactly ancient Greeks were picturing when they imagined their many different gods, particularly those gods that are personifications of the aspects of the natural world? Take Helios, the sun god, for instance. Helios is described as this dude with a flaming chariot drawn by four flying horses. But obviously if you look at the sun you won't see this. You'll just see a glowing orb. So did they think that Helios and his chariot was invisible, with only the flames being visable?

Or take Gaia, aka Mother Earth. She's described as having a humanoid form and does things that humans do like speak, procreate, etc. But at this same time she's supposed to be the actual earth that we all inhabit. How were these two seemingly incompatible things compatable in the minds of the Greeks?

Was it meant literally? Or was it all just metaphorical language? Or did these beings actually exist in humanoid form in some other plane of existence with the natural world being some very imperfect representation of them? What were Greeks thinking?

[brewer]

To much time at the Oracle of Delphi. Or shrooms.

http://www.livescience.com/4277-theory-o...-high.html

[LastPoet]

Hey again TEGH. Hmmm, BennyBoy and Emjay are all the rage in philosophy. I, can't bother in thinking about thinking.

[abaris]

Was it meant literally? Or was it all just metaphorical language? Or did these beings actually exist in humanoid form in some other plane of existence with the natural world being some very imperfect representation of them? What were Greeks thinking?

You realize that the Egyptian Ra or Re is doing the same. Travelling the underworld at night and the sky by day. I guess they all personified them. They all, according to Greek mythology, were born to reside on Mount Olympos. They also mingled with humans in their earthly matters. Homer's Ilias reporting on an actual war between the gods, taking sides with the attackers or the defenders.

So it's a good guess that they all were personas in the Greek's minds.

[The Grand Nudger]

Or take Gaia, aka Mother Earth. She's described as having a humanoid form and does things that humans do like speak, procreate, etc. But at this same time she's supposed to be the actual earth that we all inhabit. How were these two seemingly incompatible things compatable in the minds of the Greeks?

You're talking about magic, and wondering how a person who believed in it could gloss over awkwardness in their stories? 

Was it meant literally? Or was it all just metaphorical language? Or did these beings actually exist in humanoid form in some other plane of existence with the natural world being some very imperfect representation of them? What were Greeks thinking?

Yes.

[Edwardo Piet]

Hey again TEGH. Hmmm, BennyBoy and Emjay are all the rage in philosophy. I, can't bother in thinking about thinking.

I definitely prefer philosophy to mythology.

This is the totality of what I like about mythology:





The best introduction to philosophy that I know of is The Story of Philosophy by Bryan Magee:

https://www.amazon.com/Story-Philosophy-...0751333328

[Neo-Scholastic]

I'm don't know much beyond the myths themselves. They read like a little bit of both. They probably understood alot of it as allegory, take Cupid and Psyche for example. Otherwise, I would say they also did not exclude the possibility of the gods presenting themselves in human form as avatars.

[ignoramus]

All I know is that the 12 gods of Olympus taught the Greeks one valuable lesson.
ALWAYS GET A DISCOUNT FOR CASH AND DO NOT PAY ANY TAX!

working out pretty good for them I see.....

[Minimalist]

Hello again, TEGH.

Probably best to remember that "Greek" refers to a lot of disparate cultures sharing (probably) a linguistic base with numerous dialects and extends for an immense period of time.
We know from Evans' discovery of Linear-B tablets (and Ventris' subsequent deciphering of them) that they were in common use at the Palace of Knossos c 1450 BC and since language/written script does not develop overnight it can be assumed that they had been in general usage for some time prior.  In addition, there is Linear A which may well be an early form.  Linear B is a primitive form of Greek which means these myths developed over at least 1,500 years ( assuming the re-founding of the Palace culture on Crete after the Thera eruption c 1625 BC ) down to the beginning of the Common Era.

The thing is unlike Sumeria where we have tantalizing excerpts of ancient mythology going back to the Early Bronze Age (c 3000 BC) we have no hard evidence for the beginnings of the Greek mythology.  Even Linear B does not seem to have been used for literature as we know it but more for record-keeping which would have been exceedingly important to a commercial culture like the Minoan.  That leaves open the probability of oral tales being passed down from generation to generation and we know what happens with that.  To make matters worse the likelihood of syncretism as the various tales spread around the so-called Greek world means that ideas would have been adapted to fit local designs and usages and we are not likely to ever find any record of such. 

Probably easiest to think of it in terms of primitive peoples trying to make a modicum of sense out of the world given their limited ability to explore it.

[Mr Greene]

I would view the humanoid incarnations as being analogs of the Hindu Avatars, merely a portion of the deity and they show frequent alterations of form.
Another way of seeing this would be EDI/Normandy in the Mass Effect games.