本文主要是一篇对于神话和人类从地狱和黑社会的解释规则的范文。文章主要从神话的形成及各类神话故事来阐述作者的观点，英语论文范文，进一步从中突出是神话一个非常有价值的遗产,值得关注和探讨。同时它讲述了哲学和人类世界的基本规则，英语毕业论文，指导人们如何更好的在现实生活和珍惜他们的生活。
Myth comes into being on the base of primitive religious belief and popular folklores, representing the wisdom and intelligence of a group of people. Some people may prejudicially regard myth as some ridiculous, strange and bizarre stories fraught with queer and absurd characters and plots which will never actually happen in the real world. If everyone is harboring this disdainful kind of view on myth, it is definitely a great loss culturally and aesthetically. Graf points that “a myth makes a valid statement about the origins of the world, of society and of its institutions, about the gods and their relationship which mortals, in short, about everything on which human existence depends”. (3) Greek myth, an indispensable component of the myth world, has long enjoyed a reputation for its unique artistic charm and philosophical implication behind. Greek mythology mainly consists in two parts, namely stories of gods and legends of heroes. Interpretations of Greek myth may assist modern readers in the understanding of human traditions and orders which even still exert influence on west civilization.
Compared with myths created by the rest of the world civilizations, Greek myth easily distinguishes itself through the display of an enormous family of gods that live in the highest mountain of Greek—Mount Olympus, with Zeus as their leader. These gods lead a life very close to mundane life. They not only serve as examples of virtues and traits but also contain a lot of shortcomings such as jealousy, vanity, revenge, extravagance as well as passion for power fight and love affairs. In stark contrast to Greek myth, gods or goddesses in some Chinese myths are perfect and flawless. The well-known Goddess of Sky-patching has devoted herself entirely to the welfare of people on the earth with the least pursuit of individual happiness and felicity. A complexity is characteristic of Greek gods who own mighty and power but still are troubled by limitations. The protagonist this is going to focus on is such a god with complicated characteristics.
Hades was the God of the Underworld, son of Cronus and Rhea. He gained his power over the Underworld through drawing lots with his brothers—Zeus, the ruler of the sky, and Poseidon who was in charge of the world of sea. The usual image of Hades was a strong, bearded middle-aged man with a bident, sometimes a spear as his weapon. Hades was never popular and welcome god image in Greek. In Harrison’s eyes, “the reason is simpler and primarily has nothing to do with death. It is merely that more people worship the rising sun than the setting sun”. (13) Beside the dark and hateful ruler of the Underworld is Persephone, “no longer young and happy as she played with the nymphs in the bright fields of Sicily, but stern and cruel on the thorn beside her black lord”. (Tatlock, 103) As a matter of fact, the meeting and ensuing stories between Hades and Persephone was as dramatic but never romantic as ordinary people had ever expected. From the outset to the end, there was very slim chance of mutual interest and love between the two who were seemingly in harmony but actually at variance. Persephone was said to have been abducted by her uncle, Hades. Demeter, the mother of Persephone, was so grief-stricken that the corps failed and mankind was in danger of perishing. Eventually, after the intervention of Zeus, Persephone was allowed to spend half of the year in the upper world with her mother, but had to spend the other half in the Underworld with Hades. This arrangement, to many readers’ surprise, implies some delicate and sensitive plight between sexes. Morales stated that “it is an important myth, too, for feminist theorist Luce Irigaray, who interprets it to express the universal condition of mother and daughters, who were forbidden to enjoy the eroticism of their bond. It is, for Irigaray, a founding myth of patriarchy”. (Helen, 98)
In fact, Hades was the name of both the god who dominated there as well as the underworld. In the Odyssey, Homer tells of a land far to the east, by the river Ocean, beyond the setting of the sun, where in eternal darkness and mist lived the souls of the departed; but generally people thought of this gloomy land as being far beneath the earth, in the darkness of the lower world. A volcanic region near Vesuvius was said to be the entrance to the bleak and lifeless Underworld. “Near Cumae, in the vicinity of Naples, where volcanic vapors, hot springs, and strange upheavals of the ground suggest the nearness of mysterious powers below the earth, a cave with unexplored depths offered entrance to the land of the dead, and Avernus, a lake whence rose deadly vapors, was thought to be but the overflow of the rivers of Hades”. (Tatlock, 102) According to Greek myth, the Underworld was the only destination for all creatures after their death, regardless of their behaviors when they were alive. The difference lied in the specific region where they were judged to live. The Underworld was generally divided into three realms: the ordinary realm, Tartarus and the Elysian fields. Those who led lives having nothing to do with virtues such as babies who died at birth would go to the ordinary realms. Tartarus, a place of torment, was especially designed for Titans whom Zeus had overthrown, the rebellious giants and wicked men who here paid the penalty for their crimes against the gods. The Elysian Fields were originally regarded as the last home only of a few favored heroes, sons of the gods, but afterwards men thought of them as peopled by others too, those who, through their noble lives or perhaps through participation in the Mysteries of Demeter, were admitted to the glorious companionship. This, to some extent, reveals Greek views of death. The Greeks were deeply fond of the interesting, beautiful and lively world and therefore feared the coming of death as well as the unknown future where they headed. They had faith in a life after death but it was a shadowy and unreal one, not to be compared to the most humdrum existence on the sun-lit earth.
There were three remarkable figures in Tartarus: Ixion, Sisyphus and Tantalus. Impious Ixion for his inhuman cruelties was bound to a fiery wheel and racked and torn by its swift revolutions. Tantalus, who abused the hospitality of the gods, ever tortured by hunger and consuming thirst, tried in vain to reach fruits hung just above his head, or stooped to drink the water which always eluded his wrinkled lips. The most famous one might be the story of Sisyphus. As a Greek tyrant, Sisyphus was tempted to escape from death, so he deceived Hades into putting on his handcuffs stop Hades from returning to the Underworld. He then had to receive the punishment that he must forever roll up-hill a heavy stone which ever rolled down. Nowadays, this story was usually used to describe seemingly endless torment and pain. If explored further, it contained the eternal topic of the existence and evolvement of human beings. Segal has commented on this point that “rather than embodying the fate that awaits those few human beings who dare to defy the gods, Sisyphus symbolizes the fate of all human who find themselves condemned to live in a world without gods. He is admirable because he accepts the absurdity of human existence, which is less unfair than pointless”. (44) Although Sisyphus was fully aware that his endeavor and attempt would prove futile, he did not choose to give up or commit suicide but toiled on. Sisyphus’s dilemma exactly resembled human conditions. In many occasions, people had no alternative but to carry on something which may eventually be of on meaning or influence. For example, people in their daily life have some dream to chase, big or trivial. In the process of realizing the dream, sweat and tear are always loyal companions. Once the dream comes true, people are likely to be haunted by irresistible emptiness and solitude apart from ecstasy. Then, the second round of chasing dream begins and on and on just like a circle. Only death will be the key to fleeing from this magic circle. Abandoning dream will lead to the earlier ending of lives. That may account for people’s constant struggle in harsh conditions.
Myth, as a very valuable heritage from ancestors, deserves attention and study. Form myth, people have access to some contents pertinent to certain history and institution. Moreover, it tells the philosophy and basic rules of human world. Hades and the Underworld, despite their contents about the world after life, actually instruct people how to better live and cherish their lives in reality.
Works Cited
Graf, Fritz. Greek Mythology: An Introduction. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press. 1993.
Harrison, Jane E. ‘Helios-Hades’. The Classical Review. Vol. 22, No. 1 (Feb., 1908), pp. 12-16.
Morales, Helen. Classical Mythology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2017.
Segal, Robert A. Myth: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2017.
Tatlock, Jessie M. Greek and Roman Mythology. Beijing: Central Compilation & Translation Press. 2017.
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