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Major Conflicts In Hesiod's Theogony

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Major Conflicts In Hesiod's Theogony
Major conflicts in the Theogony
(Essay)
Having read the Theogony, I can briefly say that Hesiod tries to portray the similar connections of three generation of gods; as well as emphasizing the major conflicts between the matriarchal and patriarchal systems. When we look through what has come into existence first, we encounter with Chaos, which indicates the complication of things for a while. After Chaos, the great goddess Gaea, who is the head of the matriarchal system (symbolizing fertility), comes to life. She gives birth to the universe without the help of man, what we call parthenogenesis. This demonstrates her magnificent power as a deity. In the matriarchal system women are considered magical because they are the only creatures that …show more content…
Hera becomes very jealous as Zeus continues to cheat on her. Due to her anger, she bears Hephaistos without the help of Zeus. However, Hephaistos is not glorious in some ways becuase he is crippled from his leg. This shows that women’s (the matriarchal) power is not enough to bear children soundly anymore. Her power has been diminished by the men. Seeing Hera challenging him, Zeus wants to take revenge. He makes love with Alkmene and she bears him Herakles. The reason why he gives the name Herakles to him is because it includes the word Hera in it, which makes Hera spiteful. Even in the name occasion, we observe the clash. I’ve tried to emphasize how the patriarchal gains power and becomes the leader of the universe. As you see, there are many examples of the conflict, which is scattered in every level of the cosmos. The matriarchal tries many ways to hinder it, yet all its efforts are in vain. If we look at it from another perspective, it’s also because men takes over most of the hard jobs which requires tremendous energy such as fighting, hunting, trading and women comes after him (secondly in rank) mostly engaging with growing up children and doing housework. This changes the balances of the world and the
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