Long ago, a war between the Fenthirios and the Olympian gods erupted. The Fenthirios were a powerful species of beasts that extracted energy from the moon to wreak havoc on the Earth. Boreas, the god of winter, froze the land in order to slow them down but his solution was not effective for long. Despite the Titans being in Tartarus as a punishment from the Titanomachy, the Olympian gods and goddesses took the permission of Zeus to temporarily release Selene, the ancient moon goddess.
Selene’s release was met with the realization that she cannot defeat the army of beasts with her moon powers when they are draining it in greater quantities. Stuck with a lack of powers, she discussed a strategy with the Olympians: to release her brother, Helios, who might be able to help as the ancient sun god. With some convincing from his sister, Helios agreed to help in exchange for a rendezvous with his sister in their horse-drawn chariots. Helios solved the dilemma by harnessing significant amounts of energy from the sun and blasting the light rays towards Earth with his eyes, which was successful due to the sheer difference in size and power between the sun and moon. As a result of the heat, most of the ice on Earth melted and the beasts drowned painfully; their bodies were discarded and taken to the Underworld, to be taken care of by Hades. The wasteland left of Earth was populated with animals, plants, and mankind again. Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, provided food and fertility to the Earth to feed mankind. Helios and Selene were imprisoned again after completing their end of the deal and for the Olympians, life returned to normal.
However, the draining of the sun led to one dire consequence. The remnants of the ice continued to melt because of the energy imbalance created by Helios’ extraction, with the melting rate increasing in small amounts each year. The blasts of solar energy created holes in the layer protecting the Earth, leading to heat entering slowly but collectively fuelled by increased greenhouse gases from human activity retaining too much heat on Earth. The Fenthirios-Olympians battle was not known for it at the time, but is now the biggest contributor to global warming because of its side effects.
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This myth aims to narrate the reason behind global warming through the story of the Fenthirios-Olympians war which incorporates Titans as well. The solar energy used to melt the ice on Earth and drown the beasts by Helios, the sun god, resulted in multiple holes in the ozone layer and ice that continues to melt centuries later at a slow but increasing rate. Fictional beasts, Titans, and Olympian gods were used to add both real details and made-up elements within the story, blending real mythology and imagination.
Multiple gods and goddesses were referred to within the myth, including some of the Titans. Boreas is the winter god, one-fourth of the Anemoi/wind gods and his character represents the personification of the northern wind (“Boreas”). Northern wind usually represents cold weather as it brings in cold air towards the south, explaining why Boreas is the winter god (“Boreas”). His wind is described as "When Boreas (the North Wind) blows, then winter grips the land with frost" (Verg, G. II. 316). This indicates that his power is strong enough to create frost on land, which is why Boreas was involved in the myth in order to freeze the land for the creatures to be slowed down. Selene also represents personification but of the moon, and is the ancient moon goddess (“Selene”). Her brother, Helios, is the ancient sun goddess and both siblings are symbolized by riding on their chariots; for him, it travels across the sky and for her, it travels across the heavens (“Helios”). The siblings’ chariots represent a possession that is important to them and that they share, as mentioned when she allows him to guide it instead of herself: “The radiant goddess [Luna-Selene the Moon] of the darksome sky burned with love [for Endymion] and, forsaking the night, gave her gleaming chariot to her brother [Helios the Sun] to guide in fashion other than his own” (Sen, Tragedies of Seneca. Phaedra. 309). Selene trusts her brother with her chariot and this trust is a representation of their close relationship, which is utilized in the myth. The chariots are used when Helios asks for a meeting with his sister in exchange for attacking the Fenthirios - they are a part of the myth to symbolize the relationship between the siblings and persuade the audience as to why the Titans would want to help the Olympian gods who sent them to Tartarus as a punishment. The roles of these gods are consistent with their roles in actual mythology, but they did not use their powers to aid the Olympian gods in stopping the fictional Fenthirios. These specific gods were chosen because of the relevance of their powers to the beasts; Boreas’ winter powers would slow them down, Selene would try to prevent them from using the moon with her own moon powers, and Helios would use the energy of the sun to melt the land and drown them. After the situation with the beasts is over, Demeter is responsible for replenishing the Earth with agriculture for humans, which falls into her role as a goddess but she does not actually do in the history of mythology (“Demeter”).
Zeus’ permission was sought in the myth to temporarily allow Selene and Helios to exit Tartarus because of the authority he held over the gods in Olympia (“Tartaros”). He has threatened gods before with the ultimatum of being dragged to Tartarus by Zeus himself. An example of this is during the Trojan War, when the gods were warned that if they tried to help the Trojans or Danaans, they would be personally taken to Tartarus: “And any one I perceive against the gods' will attempting to go among the Trojans and help them... I shall take him and dash him down to the murk of Tartaros” (Hom, Il 8.13). Zeus’ powerful threat makes him the most suitable god for being able to take Selene and Helios out of Tartarus in the myth, which is why the Olympian gods had to seek permission from him to follow through with their plan. The Titans were chained and thrown into Tartarus by Zeus after the battle between the gods and the Titans, as explained, “...beneath the earth to Tartaros... by the counsel of Zeus who drives the clouds the Titan gods are hidden under misty gloom, in a dank place where are the ends of the huge earth (Hes, Theog 617-618). This indicates that Zeus is in control of the Titans’ punishment in Tartarus and supervises the place, explaining why the gods asked him to withdraw Helios and Selene in the myth.
Zeus’ brother Hades, god of death, is mentioned as responsible for taking care of the beasts’ bodies in the Underworld. While he cannot take care of the beasts since they are not real, he is known for being the ruler of the Underworld, also the house of Hades. The house of Hades was mentioned in the context of death, demonstrating what usually happens to dead people after they pass away: "They are dead already and gone down to the house of Aides (Aïdao domoisin)" (Hom, Il 22.52). The House of Hades reference shows Hades’ ruling, with his name being used for the ‘house’ where the dead are sent. This connection makes him the best option to dispose of the beasts’ bodies.
Fenthirios is a made-up species of beasts that uses the moon as an energy source to destroy the Earth and attack the gods. The name is a combination of the words “fengario” and “thirios”, which mean moon and beast in Greek, respectively (“English-Greek”). The depletion of the protective ozone layer is a source of global warming, allowing more ultraviolet radiation to enter the Earth (“World of Change”). This radiation comes from the sun; the sun and moon are often grouped together as a symbol of opposites, thus inspiring the beasts’ source: the moon. Even in mythology, they contrast as male and female figures, with Helios depicting the sun and Selene depicting the moon as a woman. There are no Greek mythological beasts that feed off the moon, which is why the idea of the Fenthirios was brought into the myth in order to add a reason for the melting ice and holes in the ozone layer: the consequences of their defeat. Helios’ attack with rays of light from his eyes are based on a real characteristic that his children possess as well. This feature is explained by the fact that, "All the Children of Helios (Helius) were easy to recognise, even from a distance, by their flashing eyes, which shot out rays of golden light [i.e. like their father's]" (Ap. Rhod, Argon 4.726). The golden light rays further support the usage of Helios to defeat the Fenthirios in the myth.
By using information from real Greek mythology with a few differences along with some fabricated details, this myth explains the major cause of global warming. The Fenthirios-Olympians conflict was resolved with the combined work of the Olympian gods, Boreas, and the two Titan siblings Helios and Selene because of their respective powers and rulings.
Works Cited
Apollonius, Rhodius. 1959. Argonautica. Translated by Emile Victor Rieu. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books.
Hesiod, Theogony 617-618.
Homer. 2011. Iliad. Translated by Richard Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Seneca. 1907. The Tragedies of Seneca. Translated by Frank Justus Miller. London: University of Chicago Press.
Virgil. 1916. Georgics. Translated by H. Rushton Fairclough. Cambridge: Harvard University Press/
“BOREAS.” BOREAS - Greek God of the North Wind & Winter (Roman Aquilo), Theoi Greek Mythology, 20 Dec. 2018, www.theoi.com/Titan/AnemosBoreas.html.
“SELENE.” SELENE - Greek Goddess of the Moon (Roman Luna), Theoi Greek Mythology, 17 Dec. 2018, www.theoi.com/Titan/Selene.html.
“HELIOS.” HELIUS (Helios) - Greek Titan God of the Sun (Roman Sol), Theoi Greek Mythology, 18 Dec. 2018, www.theoi.com/Titan/Helios.html.
“DEMETER - Greek Goddess of Grain & Agriculture”, Theoi Greek Mythology, 18 Dec. 2018, www.theoi.com/Olympios/Demeter.html.
“TARTAROS.” TARTARUS - Pit Beneath the Earth of Greek Mythology, Theoi Greek Mythology, 8 Apr. 2016, www.theoi.com/Kosmos/Tartaros.html.
“English-Greek.” Bab.la, IDM, 29 Oct. 2017, en.bab.la/dictionary/english-greek.
“World of Change: Antarctic Ozone Hole.” NASA, NASA, 10 Dec. 2010, earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/Ozone.
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