Avidity and Techne
The moving flame named the sun arrives once a day and blesses human civilization with light and energy. In order to see and stay warm during times without the sun, a group of humans journey to the top of the mountains, where the sun meets the peak, every week to take a piece of the sun. Avidity, a curious and skilled inventor, is tasked with this week’s bringing of the flame.
Avidity discussed with her colleagues, “If this small piece of the sun can power the whole civilization, imagine the inventions that such power can create.”
“If so, an invention that carries out these tedious and laborious jobs can be made, and we will be free of the constraints of human work.” Torpor jested as he worked on extracting the flame from the sun.
Avidity laughed and acknowledged the idea, “The possibilities are endless. I just might be able to, and in doing so, I will be revered as a goddess,” she said as she takes the flame from Torpor.
Efthýni responded to Avidity’s claims, “The flame is sacred and should not be tampered with; you do not know of the consequences that may come from such power.”
Efthýni removed the flame from the hands of Avidity and began her trek back to their home. Avidity scoffed at the warnings of Efthýni and extracted another flame piece as Torpor eyed her actions. Without a word, Torpor followed Efthýni as Avidity hid the flame inside her satchel.
Avidity, ever the curious one, analyzed the flame and generated a multitude of plans to use its power. She decided to create Techne, a tool that aids her in tasks and optimizes her energy and time. However, after using techne, Avidity noticed that her tasks could be done by the tool alone if it had an energy source it could draw from. And so, Avidity created energy in liquid form and named it káfsima. With the two inventions, Avidity invented a plethora of devices such as metaforá, ergostásio, and epistími. While working on her new invention, phronesis, Avidity noticed the fast rate that the káfsima decreased. Desperate to create more, Avidity returned to the mountains using metaforá, and with techne, she quickly extracted another flame piece. However, as the techne touched the sun, it consumed some of the sun’s flames and used it as its energy source. As the energy was too powerful, the techne started malfunctioning. Avidity rushed home with the techne placed in her satchel, and unbeknownst to her, techne began to produce multiple devices. As Avidity travelled across the land, techne dropped several inventions. Chióni, a device that produces cold air and crystallized water, landed in the desert. In the tropics, tyfónas, a device that causes swirling winds and water, perched itself. Lastly, techne produced ekpompés, a device that traps heat, and shot it across the sky. As Avidity returned home, she noticed that the techne no longer had any energy and continued with her works and inventions.
Analysis
In the myth, Avidity and Techne, the creation of global warming were explained through the use of characters and symbols. Avidity, the theft of flames, and the creation of Techne present the greed for knowledge and power, which inevitably resulted in the human-caused rising temperature. The tools and inventions created by Avidity is representative of how, through humanity’s design, the causes of global warming were invented. Thirdly, Efthyni, Torpor, and Avidity represent the preemptive actions that could have been taken to elude the ensuing global warming. In Avidity and Techne, the characters, symbols, and motifs, along with their connection to other Greek myths, provide an origin for global warming and its effects on Earth.
Avidity represents the greed of humanity, as seen by her namesake and actions. In the myth, she is displayed as an inventor who desires the power of the sun to create inventions, “Desperate to create more; Avidity returned to the mountains.” Techne symbolizes present-day technology,“ a tool that aids her in tasks and optimizes her energy and time.” The myth can be associated with Prometheus and the Greeks in which Prometheus gifts fire to humanity against the will of Zeus (Hes. Theog. 509-572). The fire represents knowledge and wisdom as it lights the path to future inventions (Ziolkowski 37). In Avidity and Techne, the fire from the sun represents an everlasting source of knowledge, which can be used to enrich the lives of humans but can also result in the creation of unfortunate events. From this knowledge, a multitude of inventions was created, which can be used for the improvement of the lives of humans. However, it can also produce detrimental effects on Earth, such as global warming. In addition, the aetiological myth can be related to Pandora’s box in which Pandora opened a forbidden box and released wickedness unto the world (Hes. Theog. 573-620). Akin to Pandora, Avidity was overcome with her desire and curiosity and stole a piece of the sun’s flames. With this act, Avidity created the invention that would soon cause a multitude of disastrous events. Much like Pandora's box, the tool, techne, unleashed horrible things to the world in which the instigator could not fix. In addition, the myth of Avidity and Techne can be related to the characters Daedalus and Icarus. Avidity is much like Daedalus as they are both talented innovators, challenged the limitations of humans, and due to their egotism, caused their ruin (Apollod. Bibl. 3.338-40). Avidity can also be compared to Icarus, as in the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, Icarus was overcome with his greed, ignored the forewarning of his father, and flew too close to the sun, resulting in his death (Ov. Met. 8. 183-235). In both cases, Daedalus and Icarus were punished for their hubris of greed and trying to surpass the constraints of humans and become more god-like (Ibid.; Apollod. Bibl. 3.338-40). In the case of Avidity, she also committed the hubris of straying from the path of moderation and created inventions that surpassed the intended human limitations. Through the representation of humanity’s greed and the symbolization of fire and technology, the myth presents how through their own device and desire, humanity has unintendedly resulted in the creation of global warming.
Moreover, metaforá, ergostásio, and epistími represent the good that had come from the urbanization of the world; Metforá represents transportation, ergostásio relates to factories, and epistími symbolizes science. While chióni, tyfónas, and ekpompés express the bad that came from urbanization. Chióni (snow) landing on the desert and tyfónas (typhoon) symbolizes the extreme weather that is caused by global warming, and ekpompés (emissions) represents the greenhouse gases that trap the heat in the atmosphere, which is the number one cause for global warming (Houghton 1343). Additionally, káfsima, described as “energy in liquid form,” is representative of fuel; Fossil fuel is a commonly associated term with global warming as years of burning fossil fuels have triggered the rise of Earth’s temperature (Houghton 1343). In the myth, Avidity’s reason for coming back to the sun is due to the limited amount of fuel she had left which is comparable to today’s situation in which a deficiency of fossil fuel is present as it is a non-renewable source of energy (Houghton 1343). Thirdly, Avidity was not able to finish one of her inventions, phronesis, due to the lack of káfsima; phronesis symbolizes wisdom and good judgment. The name phronesis is in relation to Aristotle’s book Nicomachean Ethics in which he describes phronesis as the opposite of intelligence and is the ability to provide sound judgement (6. 1140a-42b). The unfinished creation of wisdom foreshadows the oncoming ruination of the Earth as Avidity lacks the mindfulness and morals needed to make the right decisions. Thus, through Avidity’s inventions, the myth describes the good and the bad of knowledge and offers a warning of the exhaustible energy used today.
Furthermore, the secondary characters, Efthýni and Torpor, represent responsibility and indifference. Efthýni is seen as an authoritative figure that forewarns Avidity. The forewarning of Efthýni can be associated with the myth of Apollo and Cassandra; in which Apollo gifts Cassandra the foretelling of the future, but as Cassandra did not follow Apollo’s wishes, she was punished and is not believed by others (Aesch. Ag. 1202- 1212; Hyg. Fab. 93). In this case, Efthýni forewarned Avidity of the consequences of her actions but was scoffed at, much like Cassandra, who foresaw the ruin of Troy (Quint. Smyrn. 2. 565- 605). Additionally, Torpor symbolizes the ignorance and negligence of humanity. Torpor watched Avidity take another piece of the Sun's flames and ignored it. This can be connected to Prometheus as his ignorance of the consequences of his actions has caused the suffering that befell mankind (Hes. Theog. 509-572). In addition, Avidity can also be associated with the notion of hubris. In Homer’s telling of The Five Ages, mankind began as beings who lived in luxury, but due to the excessive nature of humans and other hubris, the lifestyle of man had become distressful (Hes. Op. 129-244). The lack of gratitude and the eagerness for more knowledge and power presented by Avidity can be considered hubris; in relation to the God of the Sun and Light, Apollo, the principle of Meden Agan (nothing in excess) can be applied as Avidity overindulges herself with knowledge and, does not practice the limitation of things in order to avoid the deleterious consequences of excessiveness (Crawford 128-141). Another example of Avidity’s act of hubris is her arrogance “...I will be revered as a goddess.” In relation to Greek mythology, this scene is reminiscent of Arachne’s hubris against the goddess, Athena; Arachne challenged Athena as she was confident about her skills in weaving, but due to her egotism, she was turned into a spider by the goddess (Ov. Met. 6. 1-145). In the case of Avidity, her impudence did not only affect her but the whole of humanity as the world is punished for her actions. Hence, the characters provide a deeper understanding of the involvement of humans in the origin of global warming and how humanity’s actions and choices have the chance of causing disasters but can also prevent it.
In conclusion, Avidity and Techne utilize the characters, symbols, and references to Greek mythology to create an origin myth for global warming. The main character, Avidity, her thievery of the sun’s flames, and the creation of Techne represents how humanity’s greed is the reason for the creation of global warming. Secondly, the inventions of Avidity symbolizes the good and the bad that comes from acquiring knowledge and the uncontrolled use of it. Lastly, through the secondary characters, it is shown how global warming emerged from the ignorance and self-indulgence of humanity. Thus, the myth provides an explanation and reason for the rising temperatures, which consists of the avarice, excessiveness, and neglection of humanity.
References
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Hyginus. 2007. Fabulae. Translated by R.S. Smith and S.M. Trzaskoma. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.
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Ziolkowski, Theodore. The sin of knowledge: Ancient themes and modern variations. Princeton University Press, 2021.
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