Zeus is a dictator of the Earth; he is very lazy, so he assigns different people to do different things for him to lessen his burden. Zeus loves feeling powerful and above everyone else, so when ordering others to do his work for him it fuels this thirst for power. He found that his land in one of his countries called Mankind was barren and there was nothing to feast on and all his worshipers seemed weak. To deal with this problem, Zeus had hired a world-renown farmer called Prometheus, Zeus had heard that Prometheus is very handy and can fertilize any barren land.
Prometheus had come the very next day to assist Zeus with his country of Mankind. Zeus told Prometheus that he could do whatever he needed to get Mankind in order. Prometheus took Zeus’s word and started his work. With his expertise the land was fruitful, filled with different crops, and animals in just a few months, the citizens of Mankind were happy and celebrating. Zeus saw the fruitful land and delicious animals and was excited, so he ordered a feast. Zeus had taken the citizens hard earned harvest for the year, and took their chickens, goats, and cows, to feast on for him and his counsel. Prometheus was infuriated that all his hard work was stolen from the people of Mankind and into the hands of Zeus. Zeus had invited Prometheus to this feast, so Prometheus had devised a plan to trick the counsel into giving the best part of their feast to the people of the land. He had given the stomach and bones covered in fat to Zeus and the counsel and gave the intestines, skin and simply the best parts for the people. After achieving this, Zeus had realized what Prometheus had done so Zeus ordered his men to steal all the firewood from the people, so they are not able to warm up, cook food, or use as light. Prometheus had found this out and had decided to steal back all the firewood and give it back to the people. Upon achieving this, Zeus had become infuriated with Prometheus and decided that he must be tied up to a pillar in front of their kingdom. Everyday an eagle would come and slowly peck at Prometheus, at first, he could use his voice to scare it away but soon after he lost his energy, and the eagle would peck at him.
Zeus’s counsel had helped him avenge his citizens for betraying him. They had told Zeus of their plan called “climate change” which will slowly hurt them, by draining their wells, killing their plants, killing their animals, and so on. They though to do this because thought if it was done all at once Prometheus may escape and help his people fight back, whereas if its subtle the citizens may never catch on. Zeus loved this idea and so climate change began on Earth and ruined Mankind.
Analysis
This myth was created to showcase the origin of climate change and show the effects of climate change in a creative and mythological way. This myth looks at Prometheus and dives deeper into a part of this titan’s life story. The myth begins by introducing Zeus who is the dictator of the Earth, he is described as a power hungry and egotistical dictator. On one part of Earth called Mankind, the land is barren, and the people were suffering. So, Prometheus was brought to help with this problem as he was a world renown farmer. Prometheus had helped Mankind become fruitful again and brought happiness back to the people. Zeus had tried to take advantage of that and so Prometheus had devised a sneaky plan to help the people of Mankind. In doing so, Zeus was infuriated and decided to steal all of Mankind’s firewood which then made them lose access to fire which helped them cook, see, and warm themselves up. Prometheus had then stolen back what Zeus had stolen from the people which infuriated Zeus more. Zeus retaliated by tying up Prometheus to a pillar in his kingdom for all of Mankind to see what happens when you go against Zeus. Zeus then went to his counsel to help him get back at his citizens for betraying him and his counsel had told Zeus to get back at his citizens slowly but surely by slowly draining their wells dry, giving them fertilizer that kills their crops and animals, and so on. They said that by doing this the people will be unaware of what is happened and will not try and overthrow their government. They had called this plan “climate change”. This plan showed on Earth in real life, climate change is slowly by surely occurring and destroyed mankind and the earth. This story or myth was created to show the origin of climate change and what had happened to create such a painfully slow demon eating away at mankind and earth.
In the myth, there are two main characters which are Prometheus and Zeus, and they are modernized for the myth, but their stories and personalities are somewhat parallel to classical mythology. Prometheus is the titan of “forethought” and was given the task of moulding mankind out of clay (PROMETHEUS - Greek Titan God of Forethought, Creator of Mankind, Theoi Greek Mythology). When he creates mankind and assists them in creating a fruitful life, he grows a fondness for his creation and wants to better the lives of his creation, and so he thought to oppose Zeus with prudence. When there was a dispute between the gods and mortal men, which is the creation of Prometheus, Prometheus had still decided to side with the mortal men by giving them the great portions of the ox and deceiving Zeus (Hesoid, Theogony 535).
In the myth Zeus was showcased as this power hungry and egotistical dictator, however, this is not necessarily parallel with this classical mythological story. Zeus is the youngest child of Kronos and he had escaped from his father as he had devoured every child he had (ZEUS - Greek God of the Sky, King of the Gods, Theoi Greek Mythology). Zeus is the king of Gods and the god of sky, weather, law and order, destiny and fate, and kingship (ZEUS - Greek God of the Sky, King of the Gods, Theoi Greek Mythology). The power-hungry aspect of him in my myth had come from him eating his wife Metis as she was pregnant, but he was told that her son was destined to replace him as god. This seemed like he was selfish and wanted to be the almighty powerful god. This action done by Zeus was like what Kronos had been doing to his babies as he did not want to be overthrown either (KRONOS – Greek God of Time, King of Titanes, Theoi Greek Mythology).
Zeus had also seemed like a god who wanted to be invincible but still perceived as wise, so when he was wronged he may not show his wrath right away but rather do it in private to protect his wise image. In Hesiod’s Theogony, it states that Zeus’s wisdom helps him look past Prometheus’s deceit and chooses the bones covered in fat, which is the worse portion (550). In Hesiod’s Theogony, it states “men as the price of fire” which is referring to the fire that Zeus stole from the mortal men as revenge to Prometheus and his deceit (570). However, Prometheus had stolen back the fire in a hollow tube and given it back to the mortal men, his creation (PROMETHEUS - Greek Titan God of Forethought, Creator of Mankind, Theoi Greek Mythology). Zeus was infuriated by this and had arrested Prometheus and had chained him to a mountain with an eagle to torment him by eating his liver in the daytime, which was restored again every night (ZEUS - Greek God of the Sky, King of the Gods, Theoi Greek Mythology). This was portrayed in my myth to show the demise of Prometheus and to give an origin to the creation of climate change, which was another plan devised to hurt his people slowly and painfully for betraying him with deceit.
References:
Hesiod. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn
White. Theogony. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William
Heinemann Ltd. 1914.
KRONOS – Greek God of Time, King of Titans,
https://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanKronos.html.
PROMETHEUS - Greek Titan God of Forethought, Creator of Mankind,
www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanPrometheus.html.
ZEUS - Greek God of the Sky, King of the Gods. Theoi Greek Mythology,
www.theoi.com/Olympios/Zeus.html.
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