Death and mortality present themselves often in Greek Mythology. One interesting aspect of mortality is that there is a great disparity in how the deaths of men and women are presented. Men typically get much more honor and die in a battle, whereas the girls are typically sacrificed or commit suicide. Another important fact is that there is a major discrepancy in how much value humans place on a life, and how little the gods think of it or how easily they will take a mortal life. The subject of mortality is discussed constantly and plays a significant part of myths as it is commented on by the many different stories that focus on it.

One interesting aspect of mortality that is presented in Greek Mythology is the difference between what is considered an "honorable" death for men and what is considered one for women. There are countless accounts of a man dying as a hero in myths as most of them die in battle of some sort. Achilles, one of the greatest war heroes in Greek Mythology, keeps the Greeks fighting throughout the Trojan War and is one of their main leaders. He is a force to be reckoned with until Paris of Troy shoots him in his one vulnerable spot during battle, and he dies (Horner). But this was seen as a respectable death because he was such a great fighter for all the time leading up to his death, and with his death, he was making a sacrifice for the greater good of his country. This type of earned respect for a male figure is also seen in the Odyssey. Odysseus was a great warrior during the Trojan War and was sent on a quest home after the war was over. He was tested countless times in his interactions with other creatures such as the cyclops and sirens. Odysseus has been well respected in Greek mythology because even after all of his men had perished on their journey, he was the only one to survive. At the end of his life, he is killed by his son in battle with a spear tipped with poison because he does not know his father’s identity (Horner). Even with such a tragic death, Odyssesus is seen as one of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology because of all his masculine accomplishments and ability to defeat so many others in battle, even when the rest of his crew dies. Because he has fought and had so many great conquests in his life, that is how he is remembered and not by the way he died. This greatly contrasts how female death and mortality are seen and viewed in Greek mythology. Most women who die in Greek myths normally die from being sacrificed or from suicide. Women cannot die in battle or be a revered war hero to earn honor when they die.

Instead, the only honorable death women are able to have is by being sacrificed. The two examples of this that were discussed a lot were the death of Polyxena and Iphigenia. Iphigenia was sacrificed by her father Agamemnon so that they would have wind for their sails and could go to war (Aeschylus). This was the way in which she could contribute to the cause and make her death meaningful as she could not physically fight. This one story in particular spirals into a cycle of vicious murders in order to gain vengenance for the person who died before them. It starts when Iphigenia's mother Clytemnestra kills Agamemnon after he gets back for sacrificing their daughter (Aeschylus). Polyxena is also sacrificed and put to death after Achilles because she is the one who tells Paris of Achilles' weakness and he asks that she be sacrificed at his tomb once Troy is defeated. Again, a female is being sacrificed and dies by the choice of a man rather than on a battlefield or in some other honorable way. Another example of a woman's death that is not on the battlefield is that of Phaedra. When she catches feelings for her stepson due to Aphrodite's manipulation, rather than dealing with the situation at hand, she kills herself and says that he raped her so that she does not have to feel ashamed (Euripides). This gives the appearance that she is chickening out and doing something for her own good, even though it ends up harming someone else. She does not have an honorable death but will not be remembered for a shameful thing. It is not common in Greek mythology to see a man sacrificed or put to death by others for the greater good, rather they get to die and be remembered as magnificent heroes. This aspect of mortality in Greek mythology is intriguing and makes readers think about how the masculine perspective of women was incorporated into these myths since it was written when society was heavily male-dominated. Another thing that is striking about mortality in Greek mythology is how significant it is to mortal lives and how it makes them rethink its worth much more than the gods who are immortal. Since the gods do not die, they are much less affected by death and do not place significant value on mortal life. One example of this is in Hippolytus. Since Hippolytus praises Artemis and is negligent to praise Aphrodite because of what she stands for, Aphrodite sets out to punish him. Aphrodite has enough power that she decides she is going to make a horrible situation for Hippolytus that ends in his death. After she makes Phaedra fall in love with him, she kills herself because she does not want to be seen as a bad person, and instead claims her death        was due to the fact that Hippolytus has raped her (Euripides). Even though this is untrue, because of Aphrodite's manipulation, Theseus does not believe his son and instead curses him. After he is badly injured and on his deathbed he has a reconciliation with his father in which they forgive each other (Euripides). Clearly, the divine place little value on the lives of mortals as they view them as pawns to play with. Aphrodite sets out to punish Hippolytus just because he does not worship her and has a very petty reason for causing his death. In the end of the play when Hippolytus and Theseus make up, Artemis tells him that she will get revenge for him by punishing one of Aphrodite's worshippers (Euripides). This further shows how little value they place on human life. Not only does Aphrodite take someone's life for a petty reason, but Artemis is going to do the same thing since it was done to one of her worshippers. Another example of the gods not caring about human life is when Zeus decides to wipe out the entire planet besides Deucalion and Pyrrha (Ovid). He was upset about the terrible things he saw going on on earth, and decided to only save Deucalion and Pyrrha so that there would be someone who could still worship the gods. By wiping out the entire planet, he gets rid of people who were inherently evil and causing destruction, but he also wipes out numerous innocent and good people to do so which shows again how little value the gods place on human life. This was an extreme case where the gods decided to end all lives except for two people. It is very interesting to see how fast they are to kill humans because they are upset with them or for their own selfish reasons. It would be interesting to see how differently the Greek gods might act if they knew what it was like to experience death or to lose a loved one. A change in their view on living and life could greatly shift their dynamic with humans. Mortality is a constant topic of many Greek myths and it plays a significant role in Greek culture. There are two major inconsistencies in the myths, however. Men are typically given a much more honorable and warrior-like death, while women are usually sacrificed or commit suicide. There is also a major discrepancy in how the divine views death in a trivial way, but for mortals it is extremely important and gives their lives more worth as they see it as treasurable and do not take it for granted. The distinction between mortality and immortality is significant in many aspects of Greek culture, especially in terms of religion and the stories told about it.