Myth:
Once the goddess of persuasion, daughter to the titans Oceanus and Tethys, Peitho’s reputation grew among the gods for her skills of persuasion, able to turn the opinion of even the most stubborn kings. She could smother her words in the sweetest honey and the softest melody would flow from her lips. The goddess used her voice to bring peace and harmony to the land.
As the gods grew tired and weary from meddling in mortal affairs, Zeus would force Peitho to spin lies that very few would see past. “They’re not interested in the truth. Only what’s comfortable. Nobody needs to know everything. It’s not lying, it’s the truth from a different perspective.” With her voice, life blossomed upon the land below Mount Olympus. But soon, Peitho too grew tired.
Angered by her forced subservience and dissatisfaction with her role as shepherd, the goddess was seduced by power and turned to evil, trading her morals for prestige. Peitho used her strength and spoke a nearby populace into infinite chaos. Unable to determine the truths from the lies, their minds shattered like glass. Soon, they lost the ability to feed, defend, and reproduce. Believing that Peitho had gone too far, Zeus and the rest of the gods shackled her into the deepest pits of Tartarus and left both Peitho and her victims to waste away.
Seeing those around her consumed by darkness and driven insane, Peitho decided to escape. Now choosing the name Phthisis, the goddess of persuasion cast off her former title and rebranded herself as the personification of corruption. He entranced the dungeon’s guards, dispersing their minds into insanity, compelling them to unlock the gates and cut down their allies, opening a clear path to the surface. Walking out easily, Phthisis chooses to continue wearing the broken shackles as a warning that no one can truly contain him.
Forever a fugitive, Phthisis is now sentenced to spend countless eons alone, forever bound to walk the earth disguised in many different forms. As such, Phthisis remains subtle and mischievous, hoping to not catch the attention of the gods and mortals. Still angered by the betrayal of the pantheon, Phthisis decided to whittle away at the societal institutions created by the gods and in doing so cause distrust amongst them and the mortals, knowing the consequences will be long-lasting. He will continue to do so when all the world’s modern civilizations have moulted away into ash and dust. He continues to live his days as an enigmatic nomad, spreading disinformation and sowing distrust among the world.
Analysis:
In summary, Peitho begins as the lesser goddess of persuasion and important
companion of Aphrodite. She appeared in Hesiod's Works and Days where she “put necklaces of gold upon [Pandora], [...] at the will of loud thundering Zeus. Since that was all, there was a lot of room to grow for her character in the myths and it's impossible for the goddess of persuasion to always use her powers for good. In addition, she was the daughter of titans so it seemed possible that she could be as strong as the main pantheon of Greek gods. Using her skills of persuasion, it seemed most plausible that she would be able to cause such widespread disinformation today.
In art, like “a pointed amphoriskos (oil flask) in Berlin, VP 16 (fig. 4.2), dated to the 420s. Here [...] Peitho (Persuasion) [...] [joins] mother and daughter just moments before [Helen]'s abduction by Paris. Peitho consoles and persuades Helene, who is seated in Aphrodite's lap” (Smith, 44). Ancient Greek art shows Peitho present with Aphrodite during the abduction of Helen of Troy. Smith’s perspective on the oil flask is that Helen needed to be persuaded to follow Paris back to Troy. Whether or not regular mortals were able to resist Peitho’s persuasive abilities is still being discussed today. The myth assumes that mortals were not able to resist her persuasion. Knowing this, Peitho's ego starts to grow.
Eventually, she catches the attention of Zeus who uses her to maintain order on the humans. Although she is given an important role, she does not have the same level of worship as the twelve Olympians. Some sources "say Peitho, was the daughter of Aphrodite"(Sappho, Fragment 200), but according to Hesoid, "They are Peitho (Persuasion), Admete, Ianthe [in a list of names] . . . Now these are the eldest of the daughters who were born to Tethys and Okeanos (Oceanus)" (Hesiod, Theogony 346 ff). I chose to have Peitho be the daughter of Oceanus because there needed to be a reason for her strength. Because she was born of titans just like Zeus, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, Peitho believes she deserves as much worship as the others. This lack of respect compounded the problem as she now holds an arguably tougher and greater responsibility of maintaining order. This theme was chosen because of its similarities to a very human problem. A worker becomes frustrated by being given more responsibilities without a raise or promotion.
To lash out at Zeus, she essentially tortures a small town and kills them slowly. This is an example of anthropomorphism. Peitho experiences anger and distrust which are emotions commonly associated with humans rather than a heavenly being. As expected, Zeus and the other gods are horrified by what she has done. Deeming her too dangerous and as punishment for her crimes, she is locked in Tartarus, an abyss used as a dungeon to torment the Titans and the enemies of the Olympians (Hesiod Theogony 868). Locking a god in Tartarus as a result of Zeus’ anger was not unheard of. When Apollo kills the Cyclopes, In Bibliotecha, "Zeus was about to throw Apollon into Tartaros, but at the request of Leto, he ordered him instead to be some man's servant for a year" (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 118-122). Zeus was not above sending Apollo, his own son and one of the Twelve Olympians, to his death in Tartarus. For a lesser-known goddess, it’s entirely plausible that Peithos is thrown in Tartarus.
In Tartarus, Peithos transitions into Phthisis, a nosoi and the personification of corruption. In the Roman play with Greek content Oedipus, "The ghost of Laios (Laius) demands the expulsion of Oidipous (Oedipus) from Thebes before he will recall the pestilent daimones plaguing the land [...] Tabes (Corruption) [Phthisis] shall all depart together” (Seneca, Oedipus 647 ff). The transition to Phthisis, the personification of corruption was made possible because next to nothing is known about him. This made it easy to grow his character. Corruption was chosen because that’s what’s causing the post-truth era. Widespread corruption combined with all sorts of media being readily accessible makes it a lot harder for the public to trust any news given to them.
Phthisis then chooses to escape. As described in the myth of Pandora’s box, "[Pandora] took off the great lid of [Pandora’s Box] (pithos) with her hands and scattered all these and her thought caused sorrow and mischief to men. [...] Countless plagues (lugra), wander amongst men; for earth is full of evils and the sea is full. Of themselves diseases (nosoi) come upon men continually by day and by night, bringing mischief to mortals silently; for wise Zeus took away speech from them"(Hesiod, Works and Days 90 ff). In the myth I wrote, Phthisis escapes Tartarus rather than Pandora’s box though the other details are similar. After escaping, he decides to attack social and physical institutions built by the gods which sets up the world for mass disinformation and the post-truth era. Just like in the original myth, Phthisis causes great sorrow and trouble on humans through invisible means - exactly like a disease.
The post-truth era refers to a period where anybody can lie with zero consequences and still have the message spread as if it was a fact. Here’s how the myth explains the phenomenon of the post-truth era. Phthisis has caused government officials and company executives to be increasingly corrupt. Thanks to the internet allowing the spread of misinformation at a rapid pace, institutions seem to be a lot more transparent than they were before. Now, it’s common for people to know about the inner workings of different organizations. The caveat now is that people will believe that they are right when they could be misguided (Harari et al.). Phthisis caused the decay of public vigilance and a large part of the population is now complacent. Combined with the fact that public trust in those institutions is decreasing, there’s a lot of room for disinformation to spread. Although we strive to make rational decisions using facts, we’ve started straying towards allowing our emotions to lead us. This is similar to what Phthisis does. Rationally, getting back at the gods by attacking humans is irrational and causes more harm than the alternatives.
Works Cited
“Polis and Personification in Classical Athenian Art.” Polis and Personification in Classical Athenian Art, by Amy C. Smith, Brill, Leiden, 2011, pp. 44.
“Polis and Personification in Classical Athenian Art.” Polis and Personification in Classical Athenian Art, by Amy C. Smith, Brill, Leiden, 2011, pp. 101.
Sappho, Fragments
Hesiod, Theogony
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3
Seneca, Oedipus
Hesiod, Works and Days
Harari, Yuval Noah, et al. “Are We Living in a Post-Truth Era? Yes, but That's Because We're a Post-Truth Species.” Ideas.ted.com, 7 Sept. 2018, ideas.ted.com/are-we-living-in-a-post-truth-era-yes-but-thats-because-were-a-post-truth-species/
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