Narratives. All cultures encode and transmit their values to later generations in the form of narratives. The ancient Greeks are certainly not exceptions to this rule. Before the development of rational thought and expression, they turned to traditional stories or myths for answers. Cosmogonic myths addressed broad questions about the source and nature of the world. How did the universe originate? How is it structured? Who controls its operation? Other myths addressed more specific questions about observable events. What causes storms? Why do crops grow from the earth? How do adult beings create new ones? Where does disease come from? What makes thunder? What exactly are those bright objects that move—some slowly, some rapidly—across the sky by day or night?

Zeus and Poseidon. For the most part, the traditional answers to such questions involved the assumption...