Myth
Grey-eyed Athena stood beside Thunderbolt Cronides, setting their gaze upon the earth. The god like, born from Zeus, populated the lands even beyond Ithaca. However Zeus was not pleased, “ Look at the humans, born from clay. They make cities and structures, but they remember their creator no more, spending their days surrounded by blessings with no sacrifice. Look at the rich and powerful, they are god-like, but not gods. Yet they behave like one, ordering around slaves and courting the lovely-haired.” Athena found the statement ironic, but keep silent as she watched human life flourish. “They take Gaia for granted, slaughtering the animals and Demeter’s crops. They pollute the realm of the earthshaker with grime and toxic, endangering all that dwells within it.” Thus, Zeus left his spot overseeing the land, to pay a visit to his siblings.
Poseidon sat with his one-eyed sons on the coast lines of Sicily, tending to the sea creatures that he rules over. Turtles came trapped in green fishnets, seagulls with bloated stomachs and beached dolphins. Blind Polyphemus and his fellow men heaved the beached marine life back into the sea while Poseidon made the physical hazards leave the creatures which come up to him. Zeus descended as a bright thunderbolt when the sky was still clear and blue, scattering the animals that have gathered. Poseidon was furious, “Why such haste, brother. You have traumatized the marine life, now they will be in a state of frenzy and it will cause trouble to my efforts!” He hit the waves with his trident, the cerulean waves began to grow to the height of Zeus, creating a tsunami that crashed into the seashore. Zeus gestured towards the heaps of plastic washed ashore by the waves, “Look at the waste humans create, ruining the lands created aeons ago. How could we just stand by and watch them continue this?” And so Zeus gathered his siblings, in discussion on how to resolve this defaming of the earth. Demeter swept when she heard the catastrophe, causing widespread drought. Poseidon brought more earthquakes upon the land and Zeus oversaw it all.
This did not escape the bright-eyed Athena nor titan Prometheus. Both loved human kind dearly and did not want to punish them with long term anguish. However they were both wise, and knew opposing half a pantheon would not be feasible for two gods alone. So they devised a plan and set into action. Prometheus, like when he brought wisdom and fire to men, planted awareness for the environment in humans and the wisdom to pursue ways to remedy the damage they did to the environment. Athena remained within mount Olympus, she had Hermes the trickster distract Zeus and his siblings with tricks, feasts and lovely-haired women. The two generations of gods continue to fight against and for humans, their influence sways as more humans convert to a more environmentally friendly or not lifestyle.
Analysis
Global warming is the issue I decided to choose for this aetiological myth composition. Global warming is a phenomenon that effects the entire world in many ways, from climate change to increased natural hazards. However it is also a natural phenomenon that occurs naturally regardless of human intervention, but will exacerbate if humans continue to exploit the current environment at the current rate. Since myths typically tackle issues related to nature and creation myths usually make the most impression on people, I thought a myth explaining global warming would work very well with the topic.
Global warming can lead impact many aspects of the earth. According to NASA, there will be the melting of ice caps, increased droughts and heat waves, rising sea levels and continued rising of temperature. The consequences include increased natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes, extreme temperatures and flooding. Since these effects sound quite drastic on paper, it will be easy to point a finger at the gods and say it happened because of humans wrongdoings, especially how Poseidon is affiliated with earthquakes, he seems to be a suitable candidate to get irritated at ocean pollution and decide to cause an earthquake as punishment.
The myth references Ithaca. It is the Ithaca appearing in the Odyssey and I used this location as the setting since it has high mountains and seashores as mentioned in the Odyssey. While Ithaca is a real place, knowing that it was a location where some of the important events of the Odyssey were set shrouds the location in a bit of mystery and curiosity, hence the choice.
Additionally, Sicily is also mentioned, which is the island where Polyphemus and the other cyclops dwell and where Odysseus encounters them in the Odyssey (Homer, Odyssey 9. 110 ff). The location is mentioned to explain why Polyphemus and the other cyclops appear.
Gaia, who is mother earth, is mentioned passively. (Hesiod, Theogony 117) While the earth has been responding to humans lack of regard towards the planet with increased natural disasters, Gaia stood on the side of change in the succession myth, destabilizing the cosmos with the younger “birth” generation against Ouranos and the older deities. (Hesiod, Theogony 137-147, 177-188) This shows Gaia would be in support of the ones who want change to stability, which might mean siding with Athena and Prometheus to go against Zeus, but she is also the earth herself, which means she may want to side with Zeus to restore herself. Her position is somewhat conflicting, and since she wasn’t mentioned to possess power as influential as Zeus or Poseidon, she simply plays a passive role in this myth.
For the cast of this myth, I chose Zeus, Poseidon, Polyphemus and the cyclops, Demeter, Hermes, Athena and Prometheus to star in this myth.
Athena is a wise goddess born from Zeus swallowing his first wife Metis in fear or her wisdom (Hesiod, Theogony 890-896) and giving birth to Athena from his head (Hesiod, Theogony 929-931) and that the Homeric Hymns mentions how she saves people from battle to bring them home (Homer, Homeric Hymn 11) thus I think she would be a perfect candidate for a god who would stand on the side of humans and help them out. Some of Athena’s epithets was Grey-eyed and Bright-eyed. Grey-eyed was used simply because it was a descriptive line to create Athena’s image in the listeners mind. Bright-eyed references her wisdom.
As for Prometheus, he is the titan whom Zeus ordered to create men (Plato, Protagoras 320c - 322a) so he made men from clay and Athena breathed life into them. Prometheus loved his creations so much he stole fire from the heavens and gifted it to humans, leading to his life of torture until freed by Heracles. (Hesiod, Works and Days 42. ff) Athena and Prometheus are both involved in the creation of men, due to this, I think Prometheus and Athena are the perfect duo to stand up for the humans when Zeus and Poseidon intend to obliterate the population with exacerbated natural disasters and global warming.
Zeus is the king of Olympus, wielding a thunderbolt which is typically his symbol. (Hesiod, Theogony 885-890) Since Zeus is not one to stay away from extreme measures when he is displeased, deducing from how he eats Metis (Hesiod, Theogony 890-896) I don’t think he is afraid to cause harm to humans on earth. He isn’t really the one who causes rising sea levels or droughts but since he’s the leader of the gods he has the authority to command others to do so, hence his role in the myth.
His sibling Poseidon is the ruler of the sea and earthquakes (Homer, Homeric Hymn 22) hence him helping the sea animals in the myth, a good ruler has to help their citizens after all. Since he rules over the sea, he would certainly be concerned with the effect and pollutions humans have caused to the ocean, so he would rightfully have a reason to want to punish humans for their deeds and thus siding with Zeus when he decides to punish them. Additionally, he is affiliated with earthquakes (Homer, Homeric Hymn 22) which is a natural hazard. Earthquakes near the coastline can also lead to tsunamis which are large waves that costs mass destruction. Poseidon causing them in his anger isn’t really mentioned in Greek myths, but I think it is a logical deduction. Additionally, a trident is a symbol of him, hence the appearance of it in the myth written.
Hermes is the cunning trickster god in the Hymns who pulls tricks and causes troubles, so he is here to cause more chaos and distraction to the gods. (Homer, Homeric Hymns 4) Hermes also delivers the dead to the underworld to Hades, so I added that he also brought women to entertain the gods although it isn’t exactly true in the Greek myths.
Demeter is the goddess of agriculture ( Homer, Homeric Hymns 2d-f) who regulates the crops and in turn the seasons. Demeter’s role in Greek mythology is more focused on agriculture and the success of harvest. In the myth I wrote I kept the fact that she effects the crops, when she cried the land dried up, making it unsuitable for agriculture.
Lastly, Polyphemus the cyclops (Homer, Odyssey 9. 110 ff) who was blinded by Odysseus in his visit is the son of Poseidon (Homer, Odyssey 1. 68 ff) so he is helping his dad with helping the marine life. In the Odyssey cyclops were depicted as a wild tribe of people devoid of culture and lives by each man for their own, but I decided to depict them as helping Poseidon with helping animals in my myth instead since they give me the impression that they care for the natural life regardless.
Bibliography
Trzaskoma, Stephen, editor, translator; Smith, R. Scott, 1971- editor, translator; Brunet, Stephen, 1954- editor, translator; Palaima, Thomas G., writer of supplementary textual content. (2004) Homer, Homeric Hymns. Indianapolis : Hackett Pub.
Homer, The Odyssey
Lamberton, Robert.; Lombardo, Stanley, 1943-
(1993)Hesiod, Theogony. Indianapolis : Hackett Pub. Co.
Lamberton, Robert.; Lombardo, Stanley, 1943-
(1993) Hesiod, Works and Days Indianapolis : Hackett Pub. Co.
Plato, Protagoras
Theoi Project, Prometheus, Theoi Project (2000-2017), https://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanPrometheus.html
Theoi Project, Athena, Theoi Project (2000-2017), https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Athena.html
Theoi Project, Zeus, Theoi Project (2000-2017), https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Zeus.html
Theoi Project, Poseidon, Theoi Project (2000-2017), https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Poseidon.html
Theoi Project, Demeter, Theoi Project (2000-2017), https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Demeter.html
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2020, February 5). Cyclops. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cyclops-Greek-mythology
NASA, Climate change: Vital signs of the planet, https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/
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