Catholicism and Greek Mythology to me are two very separate schools of thought. The funny thing is, these two are blended together most often than not in French architecture and stories. As an ex-Catholic, I was told to believe that there was only one almighty God, and the Greek myths were nothing but silly stories. When I was at the Palace of Versailles I learned that King Louis XIV was very Catholic, and he even built himself his own grand chapel to showcase just that. Louis XIV was also the one to build the rooms that were dedicated to certain Greek gods and goddesses. Now how can an extremely religious man believe in more than one god if he says he is Catholic? That to me just goes against all Catholic teachings. The tour guide mentioned that the king at that time was the only person who could “speak” to their god (or at least that’s what they wanted to make their people believe). They wanted the people of France to believe that they were just as mighty as god(s?).
Since I was so curious about this topic I decided to use the good ol’ google machine. Apparently Greek mythology and Catholicism have some stories and lessons in common that I didn’t realize. The tales of Eve and Pandora, as well as Samson and Hercules have the same story line as well as similar outcomes. I understand that all religions’ ideologies have some similarities but that didn’t answer my question on why the kings would believe that they’re just as mighty (or mightier) than their god. Then I had to remind myself that Catholicism today is very different than it was back then. There was no separation between church and state, so the kings really did believe that they were god-like. I also have to remember that the Louis’ of France built whatever they wanted to because they were so insecure. They wanted to give the allusion of being confident and powerful. Today, people use religion as a safe place, but back then it was a symbol of power.
