Comparing Greek and Norse Mythologys
Comparing Greek and Norse Mythologys Greek Mythology and the Norse Mythology are very similar in basic concepts and structure. Many other groups used myths but nothing can compare to the Greek and Norse myths with their great meaning and reason for everything. Both Greek and Norse Mythology are alike from the creation to the same power structure to the belief have having a preset faith. The Main difference is the mind set and personality of the stories and characters within them. The creation story, as told by Greek mythology, is very different to the Norse.
In Greek mythology, the gods did not create the universe, they were created by the universe. The first descendants of Chaos were Night, Day, Heaven, and Earth. The gods were then descendants of Mother Earth and Father Heaven. Within Norse mythology, the gods were responsible for building the universe. Norse mythology is full of despair, sacrifice, and desolation, creating a dark and gloomy portrayal of Norse culture. The only bright spot in Norse mythology is remarkable heroism. Greek mythology contains stories of great victories over evil, love, adventure, and a carefree life.
The hero inevitably wins and mankind is always celebrated. Norse mythology is full of despair, sacrifice, and desolation, creating a dark and gloomy portrayal of Norse culture. The only bright spot in Norse mythology is remarkable heroism, which is characteristically marked by the death of the protagonist. Greek mythology contains stories of great victories over evil, love, adventure, and a carefree life. The hero inevitably wins and mankind is always celebrated. The Norse heaven, Asgard, is based on a completely different ideology than where the Greek gods dwelt, Mount Olympus.
There is no joy or bliss in Asgard, merely a dismal sense of doom. Accompanied with Asgard is the unceasing threat of inevitable and complete destruction Mount Olympus, by contrast, is a place full of merriment and carefree celebration, never does any thought of devastation or doom cross their minds, the gods of Mount Olympus cannot be brought down. A major difference between Greek and Norse mythology is found in the personalities of Zeus and Odin. The Greek Zeus is Lord of the Sky and ruler over all the other gods. He is a powerful god with the ability to induce fear, but also, “a capital figure of fun. Zeus is supposed to have upheld the standards of right and wrong, but this is not always a very high standard. He entertains numerous affairs with mortal women and delights in causing trouble for mankind. Zeus is often pictured as amorous, joyful, and comic. Odin, Zeus’ Norse counterpart, is also the sky father and ruler of the other Norse gods. Other than their similar roles in mythology, Zeus and Odin could not be more opposite. Odin is described as being strange, solemn, and detached, a probable result of his constant grapple with threatening doom.
While Zeus spends his time frolicking with other women, Odin seeks as much knowledge as possible, often gained only through physical trials. He alone bears the brunt of the day of complete destruction and the responsibility for delaying it as long as possible. The Greeks and the Norse mythologies had a lot of basic common ideas. They each had only one ruler of the gods and man, Zeus and Odin, and they each had wives, Hera and Frigg, that had a little less power then their husbands but more then the other gods.
Each had the certain realms such as a god of, war, love, seas/water, underworld/death. This might not seem like a big thing but if you look at other myths from different groups you will find only one god or creator. The Greeks and the Norse had gods for almost every different realm possible. Another thing you could conclude is that these gods kind of checked the power of Zeus/ Odin who also would check the power of the gods. These Mythologies as similar and as different as they both are have shaped a lot of the aspects of our common modern world.
