Hebrew God Vs. Greek Gods

3 Pages 694 Words

Hebrew God vs. Greek Gods

Virgil’s, The Aeneid tells the story of the founding of Rome. When Aeneas leaves Troy and his attempts to return home are thwarted by the Gods, he arrives in Carthage. Here he is greeted with many honors and begins telling the story of the fall of Troy. During this time, he meets Dido the Queen of Carthage and they fall madly love. After a time, Aeneas decided it was time to reclaim his destiny and depart Cathrage. Dido, faced with love unfulfilled commits suicide as Aeneas sails away destroying any chance of Carthage reaching its full potential. Although the story of Aeneas and Dido is consistent with any other modern day romance novel, his struggles with the Gods display great contrasts to the Hebrew Gods. These differences are seen through the choices of heroic figures, overall character, and knowledge.
There are differences in choices of heroic figures. The heroes of the Hebrew religion are ordinary individuals. Although they do not possess a royal lineage nor are they the product of God-Mortal relationships, they still perform many heroic acts. For example, Noah was a common person, but he built an ark that saved specimens of each species on earth during the storm that lasted for forty days and nights. On the other hand, heroes of Greek and Roman mythology were demi-gods (half-man, half-god) and/or of royal lineage. Examples of such extraordinary beings were Achilles and Ulysses. They were both heroes of Greek mythology and both possessed extraordinary physical attributes.
Next, there are differences in overall character of the deities in each religion. The Hebrew God is perfectly good and powerful. He does not abandon humankind when he is displeased and seek to cause people harm. Suffering and death in this sinful world are not without remedy. The only reasonable response to the existence of suffering is confidence in God’s promises for eternity. He forgives moral misjudgments;...