From Hercules, a man with the strength of ten men, to Medusa, the queen of the gorgons with the ability to turn someone to stone with a single glance; these well-known entities belong to a category of ancient history called Greek Mythology. It is filled with monsters and heroes fighting to the death, Gods and Goddesses ruling over the land, and mystical beings with powers beyond our imaginations. The Greek Gods themselves are at the center of Greek Myths and were formed in the image of man, therefore, they were believed to have emotions like jealousy, anger, depression, spitefulness, and hatred just as man does. This in turn, results in killing, affairs, betrayal, and other adult themes. Despite how long ago it was brought up, Greek myths are still relevant today. They have become the forefront of American media and literature such as movies, books, videogames, and television shows. Creators of media use the prefabricated tales as the base of their content and then twist the work with their own plot. Other times, instead of using the idea of a Greek myth, authors use the Greek myth itself, but reinvent the myth to the point that all of the adult themes like violence, sex, and bigotry recorded in Greek mythology as a whole are cropped out. This process is deemed re-adaptation and after the myths have been reinvented, they are reintroduced into the media of today. This way, the audience will not be blinded by the heinous crimes or actions made by a character in the original telling of the myth and will instead focus on the moral or lesson that the myth is portraying; it also makes the material appropriate to everyone and not just the older audience of America, for example, the country’s youth. Although some parts of the myth are left for entertainment reasons, such as quarrels or battle scenes between the mythical beings that are being utilized, these re-adapted Greek myths display right and wrongs of the world and influence American youth greatly. The youth of today are highly impressionable to what they view on screen and/or read in books. They tend to find characters they like or relate to and copy the behaviors of said character or unconsciously learn messages, whether it be negative or positive, and apply it to their everyday life. As Greek Mythology is now a part of the media shown to our youth, it influences the average American child in an all-around positive way as it teaches them history, builds an optimistic perception of themselves, develops their knowledge of morals, and inspires action toward lifelong goals. 

Greek Mythology did not form from a single text such as the Christian Bible or the Islamic Torah. It was formed by different recollections, storytelling, and fables that make up Greek Mythology as a whole. It was created to answer the questions of how the world was made and what makes it go around. This made the mythology important in everyday ancient Greece because it gave meaning to the world people saw around them (History). It explained religion, the cosmos, the creation of the world, death and the afterlife, the weather, man’s existence, and many other events that occurred in life that the Ancient Greeks believed needed an answer to. For example, Paleontologists believe that to comprehend dinosaur bones found at the time of Ancient Greece, Greeks created the mythical beasts of Greek Mythology such as Hydra, a sea monster with multiple heads, and the Minotaur, a creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull, both created by the Greek Gods (Wilford). There are twelve major Gods of Olympus who were tasked with every occurrence of the life of man. These twelve divine beings were Zeus, Hera, [Hades], Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Hermes, Poseidon, Athena, and Ares (YouTube). The actions and behaviors of these deities are described as selfish and petty as they are written as having the ability to feel human emotion. The outcome of their interactions with each other and the world they ruled became reasons the Greeks pinned for certain aspects of life, such as the myth called the Rape of Persephone. Persephone was the goddess of Spring. She was a beautiful maiden that captured the eye of Hades, the ruler of the underworld. He was so ensnared by her beauty, he kidnapped her and dragged her down to the underworld to become his wife and spend an eternity at his side. Demeter, Persephone’s mother and goddess of harvest wealth, saddened by her daughter’s disappearance withdrew her gifts to the world, creating barren lands with no harvest. The cries of the people who were starving below, pressed Zeus, ruler of the gods, to demand Hades to return Persephone and cease Demeter’s disregard of the Earth. Hades agreed, but tricked Persephone into eating fruit of the underworld which still allowed her to be with the gods and her mother, but only throughout the seasons of Spring, Summer, and Fall. At the end of third season she has to return to the underworld, in which Demeter will grieve her loss again and by making fields barren, the season of Winter ensues until she sees her daughter again (Hamilton). This myth gave explanation to how the four seasons came to be and it was passed down generation to generation until Greek Mythology was abandoned and replaced by new reasoning. Greek Mythology has lost its role of logically explaining the causes of natural phenomena, but has now taken on the task of reshaping how audiences of America view the media today. 

A big proportion of American media’s audience is youth. When stating youth, it corresponds to children between the ages of two to the tween year of thirteen. This group varies on what level of complexity the media should be for the youth to understand it. For example, toddlers two to five would need media with an obvious message that requires no thinking to grasp. Tweens twelve to thirteen do not need such straightforward messages to understand the media’s purpose. Either way, from the simplest to the more complex, all children get an inkling of what to receive out of watching, reading, or playing a piece of media with a re-adapted Greek Myth, such as gratitude, humility, and integrity (Knorr). They educate youth about not only themselves but the world around them. 

Greek mythology teaches youth about world history. It is difficult enough to teach a group of uninterested children about math or science or any subject that is not physical education, but with these re-adapted Greek myths integrated into films of animation or relatable storylines, it makes it easier for youth to grasp a concept of history. For instance, in the book Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief and the movie adaptation, underneath all the action and drama, youth are learning facts about Greek Mythology that they may not have learned or heard about in their history classes. To cite an instance, the plot that multiple of the main twelve gods of Olympus mated with humans and produced demi-gods, individuals which are half human and half god, who wield a portion of their parent's ability is a part of actual Greek Mythology. There is presence of demi-gods in Greek myths such as the original Hercules, who is the son of Zeus and a mortal woman, and Perseus, who is also a son of Zeus but by a different mortal woman. The franchise of Percy Jackson also introduced multiple mythical creatures that are not typically paid much attention to like Hydra, centaurs, satyrs, harpies, and hellhounds. Children do not realize they are being taught facts until it becomes obvious that they recognize the answer to a question they did not acknowledge that they knew. 

Media involving reinvented Greek Myths have embedded lifelong lessons that contribute to everyday life. These lessons are pieces of knowledge that every child needs when growing up. They can acquire behaviors such as bravery or valiance as they are exposed to heroes who do not hesitate to stand up for those who are weaker than they. Children learn to take responsibility for their actions and how to believe in themselves as they watch films such as Disney's Hercules where Hercules works to become strong enough to defeat monsters threatening the existence of the city of Athens, but has to take blame for those injured after he sacrifices said strength to save another. Works like this also teach youth about topics such as death and acceptance, which are subjects that cannot not be taught in a classroom or easily communicated by parents. When experiencing a piece of media, an individual is made to feel as if they are being exposed to the events occurring in the content. Character death to an individual immersed in a form of media, can feel as heartbreaking, if not, slightly less than that of someone close to that individual. Like topics, despite being difficult to discuss, are needed for a child's growth. This why reinvented Greek myths are important for American youth as they introduce children to certain ordeals that have a high probability of a child experiencing in their lifetime and contribute to how a child acts and interacts with the world around them. 

To add onto the former point, heroes of Greek mythology teach youth to not be afraid of new developments in life. As they get older, they come across new problems or new stages in their lives that make them feel like everything is out of their control, like a little girl's first period or when a little boy begins puberty. The first reactions to both of those events, is fear. As they watch the hero run across the screen of their television and face a terrifying monster, they may find themselves able to be confident enough to face their own problems head-on instead of shying away. Self-confidence is a factor that dwindles in the years of youth. During their youth, a child might encounter peer pressure to be someone they are not to fit in or do something that they are not accustomed to, to be liked. There are also celebrities that corner the media that are defined as the standard of attractiveness and if the child does not meet that standard, they are not labeled attractive. To extend on that, if the child does not meet that standard, it gives reason to others to harass or torment said youth because of so. Heroes of Greek myths show audiences that they need to be confident in themselves as their own person and not bend to the will of others. In Disney’s Hercules, Hercules believed that changing his outer appearance and status among the people would grant him access to Olympus, but at the end of the film he discovers that it is the size of his heart that truly mattered and not the size of his muscles or the amount of fame he had acquired. A message like this teaches youth that they need to be true to who they are and not what they think they need to be based on the opinions of others. This example in behavior gives them a new perspective on life and what they can accomplish if they believe in themselves. 

High Self-esteem corresponds to the fact that youth will make more confident decisions and put more effort into reaching their goal. They will be sure enough in themselves to the point that they are positive they will succeed, no matter the obstacle. This outlook on life gives them more possibilities to where their path will take them. When they believe they can do anything, nothing can stop them from achieving any goal they set their mind to. Children with low self-esteem doubt their abilities to do well on the task they take on. They are less sure of themselves and might feel not as valuable as the people around them. This limits their future because they will not reach for their goals or act on any opportunity pushed their way. Self-acceptance assists kids trying new challenges, coping with mistakes, and trying again so that sooner or later they will flourish (Lyness). This outlook is needed for youth to be successful in life. 

Concerned parents could find a flaw in the logic that readapted Greek mythology is beneficial towards children. A possible comment would be that the only behavior these re-adapted stories influence is violent behavior which would affect their children in a negative way by telling the child that it is okay to answer a problem with violence as the Greek heroes do. The reply to this argument would be firstly, that violence is portrayed all over media, so ones with re-adapted Greek myths should not be singled out. Secondly, although their concerns are valid because most films, books, or television shows that include the influence of a Greek myth have a sword fight or a battle scene of the sort such as Hercules, Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, Clash of the Titans, etc., the purpose of these battle scenes is not to introduce children to violent behavior. They are to capture their attention, so that the child receives the full message that the media wants to portray in the first place. Another issue that would arise would be that even though most of the grotesque features of Greek myths have been taken out, a good portion still remains as illustrated in the video game trilogy, God of War. The game involves a character named Kratos who gains abilities by slaying mythical creatures in a detailed and gory fashion until he is able to seek his revenge on the Greek gods who betrayed him. Also, in each game included in the trilogy, Kratos is able to engage in intercourse with two women at a random point in the quest. This game displays major adult themes and is not appropriate for children. That said, this game was not intended for the eyes of children. It is rated M for mature and is intended for more adult audiences. ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) recommends that games such as this should only be played by audiences seventeen years of age and older as M ratings tend to include content descriptors for blood, gore and intense violence, which is obviously not child appropriate (Engber). Media intended for the eyes of children have Greek Myths that have been reshaped and transformed in a way that does not portray any adult themes such as killing, sex, or anything else that would not be beneficial to being viewed by a child. 

Despite what some might say about Greek myths being used in media intended for youth, media that relay such strong messages as these should not be kept from children as they are needed for their growth. It shows them things that cannot be taught in a classroom or learned on their own. It builds their character, shows them right from wrong, and opens their world to new possibilities. If any negative qualities of these re-adapted Greek myths should arise, the positive qualities outweigh the negative as Hercules wielding a plastic sword shows youth that they can be whatever or whoever they want to be and what life lessons to apply to get there. 

 

 
