In my time, I have come across a fair share of commonly believed misinformation.
Since Greek mythology is so famous, it seems inevitable that there would be a ton of misconceptions surrounding it.
Myths about myths...so to speak.
Here is how Mythology Worlds sets out to clear up these commonly believed falsehoods about the gods and myths of Ancient Greece:
Confusing Greek myths and Roman myths
While the Romans did inhale quite a bit of influence from the Greeks, they also had a fair share of extra gods from around their empire, such as...
Cybele from Asia Minor (what is now Turkiye)
Epona from the Gaulish culture of what is now France
...as well as the native Roman Janus
This is further elaborated on in the word boxes of the Roman section of the Greek and Roman mythology page of this website.
Referring to Herakles as "Hercules"
This is a very common mistake, and even I sometimes do it myself.
Hercules is actually the Roman name for this laboring hero; Herakles is the original Greek form of his name.
The portrait above places the Greek name at the top in great big text, and the Roman name at the bottom, "if you prefer the Roman name".
I never saw the Disney Hercules movie...but if I had, I would have a lot to say in that regard.
Casting Hades as the villain
That is just unfair; villainizing a god of the underworld just because of his role and his domain!
The way I depict the Greek god of the dead here on Mythology Worlds is as an emo-looking gentleman, representing his domain and role.
He is not a bad guy; he's just managing the dead is all!
...and he's lonely for his beloved Persephone.
By the way, I drew the Olympian gods collage in the Northern spring.
Since it is currently Northern autumn, Hades should be with Persephone right now.
Hades also helped his siblings including Zeus (and the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Armed Fifty-Headed Giants) fight the Titans in the Titanomachy.
In the depiction of the Titanomachy, Hades is literally on the side of the gods.
He is in the back row between Demeter above him and Hera below him, with Poseidon just in front of him.
"Release the Kraken"
We all remember this quote from Zeus in the movie Clash of the Titans with the robotic owl.
However, the Kraken actually originates from Nordic legend.
This is the famous sea monster attacking a Viking ship.
The monster Perseus fought to save Andromeda was actually a different sea monster called Cetus.
In this depiction of that event, Cetus is designed to look as different from the Kraken as possible.
Greek myths are the same everywhere
Every story from every mythology has different versions depending on who you ask.
Greek mythology is no exception.
Take Medusa, for example.
The different versions of how Medusa became Medusa are listed on the Greek and Roman mythology webpage of this site.
In the earliest tellings, Medusa was always the monster you see before you (in cartoon form, not the actual Medusa).
The story involving Athena referred to here appears in versions presented by Hesiod and the Roman poet Ovid.
And please, for the love of the gods of Mount Olympus,...
Do not draw Medusa and Pegasus together!
Pegasus appeared after Medusa was slain.
Speaking of...
The twelve gods of Olympus are the only Greek gods
If you count Hades and Hestia, there are actually 14 gods of Mount Olympus.
There are multiple other Greek gods as well.
The Greek gods died out with Christianization
This could not be more false in this day and age.
The Greek gods are still very much alive not just in entertainment, but also in a new religious movement called Hellenism, whose followers legitimately pray to the Greek gods in the here and now.
In 2017 C.E., they even received official recognition in--where else?--Greece.
As a huge mythology super-fan, I would be super-excited to see Ancient Greek practices become part of Greek culture again!
One notable Hellenist I have found on the Internet is Aliakai.
This person is devoted to their path that they even use the correct pronunciations of Greek mythology names!
Aliakai is also North American Native (specifically of the Haida people of the Haida Gwaii Islands of British Columbia).
Their avatar is a Greek goddess with wings embalzoned with Pacific Northwest Native art patterns.
This has been a run-down of several commonly-believed falsehoods people still believe about Greek mythology.
In my time, I have also seen other mythologies make their way into the canon of modern popular culture and gaming media...such as Norse, Celtic, Egyptian, Aztec, and (more recently) Chinese, Japanese, Polynesian, African, and Native American myths as well.
Unfortunately, as stated previously, with fame comes a lot of misconceptions.
As such, I would be more than happy to debunk commonly believed misinformation about other mythologies as well as Greek and Roman.
I hope this post has made you a weensy bit wiser.
Have a legendary day!
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