How has classical mythology influenced contemporary literature, science, and media?

Answer 1

Because myths, especially Grecco-Roman mythology, are of such distant origin, they are perhaps our oldest means of looking at ourselves and others. The story of Sisyphus, for instance, contains in it the notion of eternal recurrence that would later be codified as such by Nietzsche as a fully explicated philosophical idea. But what grips us about these myths is perhaps what they don't say, more than what they do. It should fascinate us that Nietzsche's idea, which he sought to articulate as philosophy, belonged first to the Greeks in the form of myth.

In literature, we need not look far. For instance, take the Marvel films. The choice to have large casts, sudden twists of fate, and a team of super powerful people working together against a common enemy are all straight from Homer. We should not forget Gilgamesh, the story which is the progenitor of the story of Noah's ark. Even more clearly than either of Homer's surviving stories, Gilgamesh takes us through the motions of the so-called "hero's journey." There is hardly a more common theme in literature than the struggle to live, often still the struggle to live forever.

Classical mythology, therefore, is recognized as a real "power;" that is, when we use allusions to myth in stories, in philosophy, and even in science, their immovability within culture can be imparted on to new ideas, thus bolstering them. We see this in the media produced by Renaissance artists like Michelangelo, whose patriarchal God takes after the Greek Zeus and Roman Pluto. He may not be contemporary, but fairly it can be said that the images of Michelangelo live on in fame, and thus, the ancient and venerable father-figure of mediterranean mythology has even become face of newer religion.

Although our scientific methods have little to do with the mythology that survives, we might say that researchers would be wise to invoke myth in their descriptions of our problems. The primal imagery of myth helps connect all people to apparently simple, but really complex problems. It is one thing to say researchers are trying hard to learn more because knowledge is power. But what if we say instead, we wish to become like Prometheus ourselves, to follow his example and bring to civilization knowledge which beautifies and brightens life. We can compare the dangers researchers face to the danger Prometheus faced by disobeying the Gods, and at once, we are all on the same page. This is the power of myth as an ethical and rhetorical tool.

When we consider mythology, we might come to realise that words change far more often than meanings. For each new era and each new religion, different masks are placed where the old ones went, but we have hung close to the meaning of the originals, just as the Romans did when they took after Greek culture. By understanding the respect these stories continue to command, as well as their significance as rhetorical and philosophical ideas, we can begin to see the philosophy, aesthetics, and feelings associated with myth in contemporary literature, philosophy, and science.