The comparison of Greek mythology and Christianity Essay

Anyone can prove that the fall of Rome was credited partly to the rise of Christianity, and the Christianity that we know today had to start from somewhere. What if the myths were changed to suit the Christian belief system? (Burns)

Most Christians believe in the stories told in the Bible. These stories are usually regarded as actual historical accounts of important people, events, and concepts of the Christian faith. Ontheotherhand, stories of Greek and Roman mythology are regarded as nothing more than fictional or fantasy stories. (Burns) The Ancient Greeks viewed these stories to be their religion. That idea seems insane to many people of Biblical Faith. It casts a stigma of irrationality, almost ignorance, upon the Ancient Greeks. Although placing this stigmatism on a longdead culture may seem to be unimportant in much of the contemporary world. It is important because this longdead culture represents the history of a large portion of the world. The Ancient Greek Empire was much vaster than modernday Greece we see today. Just as many Americans would find it offensive to have their history thought of as irrational and ignorant, it seems logical that Greeks might as well. It is necessary to try to understand that both Ancient Greeks and Ancient Christians may have held similar beliefs about the world they were living in. The fact is Greek myths contain unrealistic and unbelievable characters, events, and other elements. When you compare Greek mythology stories with different Biblical accounts, it is apparent that some parallels between the two do exist. The Ancient Greeks view of the events of the early world are very similar to the views of both ancient and contemporary Christians.

The similarities begin with the creation stories, although these are minimal. In both the Christian creation story, Genesis, and in many accounts of the Ancient Greek creation story, the earth began with darkness and nothingness. There was a void, or Chaos, as known to the Greeks. (Genesis 12 Tripp 159) This Chaos was the bearer, meaning that he gave birth to, of Ge/Gaia or Earth Tartarus or underworld Eros or love and sex Erebus or darkness and Nyx or night. (Tripp 159) In the Christian creation story, God is the parallel to the Greek Chaos in that he invents the same things, with the exception of an underworld. He also is responsible for the creation of Adam and Eve and their later reproduction could be comparable to Eros as Chaos bore. (Genesis 1118) However, unlike Chaos, God is not a void of nothingness. He is the beginning of all things. God also remains the ruler of the entire world in Biblical stories, while the Greek Chaos is displaced by several actual divine beings. The most important and permanent of those beings is Zeus who is the chief god of the ancient Greeks. (Tripp 606 Hesiod 23).

There is also a slight similarity in the separations or fall in mans relationships with God and Zeus. Although the offenses in each case