Ancient Greek Values

The most we can learn about the values of Ancient Greece through the study of Greek myths is power, especially the power of conquering the nature which is highly advocated and admired by the ancient Greeks. Such a power exhibits in many aspects in the stories of Greek myths, including Herakles who has the sheer strength since he was born and the great courage accomplished twelve challenging tasks, Odyssey who has been through tribulation and eventually back home, reuniting with his family, etc.. These great heroes do have a relationship with power without exception. It is obvious that the ancient Greeks are full of desire for strength which can be used to dominate their life and the nature, even the world. Greek myths is just the reflection
For example, Zeus’ father devoured almost his children in fear for his children may usurp his throne. However, in Chinese values, such a story will never appear because of morals, which regulate our behavior and restrain our desire so that the whole society will reach a level of harmony and full of atmosphere of kindness and comity. On the other hand, the Greek god is more close to the human while Chinese god is in a far distance from mankind, which means having neither emotions nor desires and always keeps its mystique. Therefore, we could find that the Greek myths exhibits more spirit of adventure and Chinese myths concentrates more on spirit of sacrifice and ethics. Furthermore, the value of Chinese myths advocates harmony with nature, not to try to conquer it. Besides, the value of Greek myths defines human as original sin while the value of Chinese myths considers human nature is kind. So, to some degree, in Chinese value, those who are altruistic deserve much reputation and respect.
In conclusion, what decides the difference between Greek values and our own is the way we view the relationship between human and