Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

Hamilton begins her introduction by dismissing the idea that Greek and Roman myths represent an idyllic time when humans were more connected with nature, presumably a critique of Romanticism and the Neoclassical movement. “Primitive” people could never have created the Greek and Roman myths, according to Hamilton, because “primitive man, whether in New Guinea today or eons ago in the prehistoric wilderness, is not and never had been a creature who peoples his world with bright fancies and lovely visions” (4). “Primitive” people practiced (or practice) magic and human sacrifice. Whenever the Greek myths were created, Hamilton argues, it would have been a time when “primitive life had been left far behind” (4). These descriptions speak to Hamilton’s romanticized view of Western Civilization as a leaving behind of “[h]orrors” and “[t]error” (4). Critics of this view have pointed out that one can find many “magic rites,” “horrors,” and “terrors” in the Greek and Roman worlds, however, including, to name a few, dependence on oracles, the use of curse tablets against one’s perceived enemies, Roman gladiatorial sports, and the torture of Christians for public entertainment.