Ancient Greek mythology: very much alive

Is ancient Greek mythology dead, or does it remain a pivotal and integral part of everyday life, surrounding the world we live in?

Images of terrifying creatures, heroic battles, idealized figures comes to our eyes every time we think of ancient Greek Mythology who managed to break the chains of locality and became a universal heritage of humankind. All these mythological stories are alive up to date and one of the many examples of how ancient Greek mythology remains an integral part of everyday life is panic attacks.

A panic attack is a terrible manifestation of anxiety. It is an overwhelming feeling of dread. The perception of danger triggers a reaction that starts in the brain and spreads to different parts of the body. The result is an extreme experience of fear marked by elevated heart beat, Panic attacks create a vicious circle. The sudden change in breathing, sweating and heart beat causes the person to think of thoughts of doom and disaster.

The ancient Greeks believed that panic attacks were caused by Pan, a secondary but greatly respected deity of the Greek pantheon, representing the forces of nature and the wild, protector of shepherds and flocks and companion of the Nymphs. Son of Hermes and Dryope, Pan had a human form with goat-like legs and horns crowning his head. He was very active and full of energy, but also very irritable. He loved music and played a small reed pipe, Syrinx. According to Greek mythology, a mischievous Pan took pleasure in tormenting and terrifying people traveling through the forest. Pan would hide in the bushes, awaiting his unwitting victims. When a person passed by Pan would suddenly appear and cause terror.

The traveler would begin to breathe heavily, and his heart would begin to pound, and the sounds of his own quickening footsteps would be magnified in the stillness of the forest to resemble those of a pursuing wild animal. One more rustle of the bushes from Pan and the traveler would be hurtling as fast as he could run along the dark and narrow forest path. It took no more provocation from Pan to keep the human interloper in Pan’s forest kingdom from fleeing as quickly as possible. Never would the unsuspecting traveler re-enter the forest without experiencing a wave of apprehension. This for the Greeks panic was an intense fear that came on suddenly, and without any visible cause.

Ancient Greek myths have survived to this day due to the fact that their narratives are still valid in contemporary contexts and correspond to situations that occur in our own day and age. We are literally surrounded by ancient Greek myths in today's society.