Divine Roles Essay

Two divine roles such as male and female divinities are the topic in this week’s paper. There are many different divinities to choose from, depending on the myth of origin and the different cultures; they can be very different yet also similar in nature. With regard to the male or father gods, they represent the male source of fertility. The female goddesses are representing a phase of a woman’s reproductive cycle. They are often referred to as the life-bearing representation (Leonard, McClure, 2004). In Greek Mythology, a well-known divinity called Aphrodite was a female Goddess. She was the great Olympian goddess of beauty, love, pleasure and procreation (Atsma, 2000-2011).

Aphrodite was born from the sea foam and said to be the daughter of Zeus, however, in later traditions, she is thought to have been the daughter of Uranus or Kronos (Atsma, 2000-2011). Aphrodite had a beauty in which all she interacted with made everyone wish for her to be their wife. It was said that when she accompanied the other gods, they were stuck with admiration and love. Unlike some of the other Greek Goddesses, she was depicted as a beautiful woman, often nude and was called the Goddess of love and beauty. Some of her attributes included several things. One of which was an apple, a dove, and a scallop shell with a mirror (Atsma, 2000-2011). She was considered to be the mother of all living things as she excited the passion in the hearts of all gods and men (Atsma, 2000-2011). This reminds me of how Marilyn Monroe was portrayed in her time.

Much like Aphrodite, Marilyn was considered to be one of the sexiest women of her time, and icon, and exuded love and beauty for most men at that time. Buddha was the male god for Buddhism. He was known as Prince Siddhartha. Unlike the female Goddess, Buddha was known as the “awakened one” (Violatti, 2013). He Born in India in the fifth century as a Prince. His life was known as a legend and that his mother conceived him from a dream she had about an elephant by her side. He was married and had a son. Then he set out to find the answers for all who suffered with regard to aging, sickness and death. The myth here is unlike the myth of Greek mythology in that Buddha was searching for answers to all of life’s suffering. Through meditation, he was able to overcome all of the temptations to stay wholesome. During this time he spent his life teaching and his life would not be completed until the teachings were complete (Violatti, 2013).

The attributes of Buddha were that of a perfect man. Buddha had golden colored skin, sweet smelling long curly hair, deep voice, blue eyes and strong body. He was also a well-spoken man (Berzin Archives, 2003-2013). It was said that he had thirty-two excellent signs. Naming a few of them; long arms, long fingers and toes, his skin unwrinkled, and his private parts remained recessed and concealed from his strict pledge to secrecy (Berzin Archives, 2003-2013). The one person he reminds me of in that how people think of him is the Pope. They looked up to him as the end all be all of their religion, much like the Pope is today’s religion. In closing, the male and female divinities discussed in this paper are very different. The myths are from completely different origins as well as cultures. The contrast was an interesting switch in that one exuded sexuality whereas the other kept it sacred and secretive, almost mysterious. A male god versus a female goddess can be so much alike yet so different in many ways depending on the culture, the myth, and the time in which it took place. Some are based upon real, factual information, and others on legendary information told over time. Many myths are a belief system in which people live their lives based on their cultures.