Each week we build on the ideas presented in prior discussions. The themes of classical mythology build and intermingle: chaos and order, beauty and ugliness, male and female, and now, light and darkness, or more specifically, gods and goddesses of the sun and moon. Apollo and Artemis are the most obvious representations of the sun and moon; however, there are numerous other gods and goddesses that have some tie to these celestial bodies. This begs the question: why are there so many different gods and goddesses associated with the sun and moon? And, moreover, what are we to make of the duplicitous nature of these gods and goddesses? As has been discussed throughout the quarter, the gods and goddesses are a projection of humankind, and like humankind, they possess duplicitous characteristics. More than anything else, the plurality of the sun and moon gods and goddesses highlights the importance of the sun and …show more content…
The plurality of sun deities is a reflection of the importance of the sun to daily life. The duplication of these major and minor gods makes sense because the sun is a source of sustainability for all people. The sun gods and titans tend to represent that constancy. Although no gods or titans are completely predictable, these divinities tend to exhibit more convention behavior than many others. These figures, such as the Titan Hyperion and his sister and mate Theia, fit with the conventional behavior of such deities: they dwell in the east, cross the dome of the sky and descend in the west, creating the path of the sun all via chariot. Like Hyperion and Theia, Apollo, the most prominent of the sun gods, had the important daily task of harnessing his chariot and ushering the sun across the sky. The sun does cast shadows; however, it is more associated with light, and consequentially, the deities of the sun are associated with