365 Days of Reading All Foreign Literature: One Foreign Literature Question a Day

Author: Wang Ping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
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Why does Greek mythology possess enduring charm on January 1? In his "Introduction to the Critique of Political Economy," Marx discussed the significance and achievements of Greek mythology, saying: "Greek mythology is not only a treasure trove of Greek art but also its soil." In other words, on one hand, due to the high level of both its ideological and artistic qualities, Greek mythology is widely recognized as an integral part of Greek literature; on the other hand, all literary and artistic works of ancient Greece, from epics and tragedies to architectural art, extensively adopt mythology as their subject, making it the "soil" of Greek art.
In the same article, Marx highly praised Homer's epics: as a masterpiece of humanity's childhood, Homer's epics retain the innocence of "childhood's nature" and exhibit "enduring charm." Moreover, this artistic allure does not conflict with the "childhood" that produced it, bringing joy to people of all ages. Homer's epics "still provide us with artistic enjoyment and, in certain aspects, serve as a norm and an unattainable model."
The ancient Greeks, in humanity's childhood, created rich and beautiful myths. Marx said that mythology is "the natural and social forms themselves, processed unconsciously through the people's imagination in an artistic way." Due to their low level of productivity, the ancient Greeks struggled to understand natural disasters and phenomena, so they resorted to imagination to offer various explanations. They believed that all natural phenomena were controlled by divine power and were the result of the will of the gods. At the same time, the ancient Greeks intertwined their social life into their imagination of the gods, blending clans, families, and human joys and sorrows into divine figures. They imagined the gods in the heavens to be like ordinary people—having clans and families, emotions, and desires. This gave rise to a variety of mythological stories.
Greek mythology was the earliest ideology of the ancient Greeks, reflecting the primitive society's understanding of the world. Among the myths of all ethnic groups in the world, Greek mythology developed particularly perfectly, with its own distinct characteristics.
First, as Marx said, the ancient Greeks were "normal children," and ancient Greece was the "most beautiful period of childhood when human nature unfolded." Greek mythology was less influenced by religion, thus typically embodying the innocence, liveliness, and romanticism of humanity's childhood, filled with an optimistic spirit of active progress and a firm confidence in overcoming difficulties. Greek mythology reflects humanity's tenacious will and noble ideals in childhood to conquer and transform nature, setting it apart fundamentally from the medieval Christian mythology based on idealism.
Second, Greek mythology features the anthropomorphic and anthropomorphic nature of gods and humans. The gods in Greek mythology possess human personalities, appearances, and emotions, just like humans, experiencing joys, sorrows, and all forms of human happiness and sorrow. They are also as willful, vain, and self-indulgent as humans, not only having the physiological needs of eating, drinking, wearing, and sleeping but also the emotional needs of humans, even engaging in romantic relationships. The gods in Greek mythology are not unreachable idols or the absolute force that governs human destiny. On the contrary, some even oppose the gods.