By: Shayamikka Ravichandran
Myth Final Assignment: Narrative
Thea stands in the middle of dry land, stretching pale and cracked like skin. Her mind rang with the morning news of droughts in Nemea.
“If only King Lycurgus wasn’t dumb enough to imprison Dionysus, he wouldn’t have been angry enough to strike the city with a drought.”, she sighed.
Theia looked back behind her shoulder. Sweeping over her spine, an emerald serpent tilted his head. The Nemean Dragon snarled and slithered down her body toward the water canteen. Realizing that it would take days to find another water source, she paces towards her camel. She suddenly felt the dragon yank her, its fangs digging into her rib cage. She shielded her face with her arm when suddenly, she heard an ear-piercing screech. She looked up to see a spear through the neck of the dragon. Theia’s head perked up as she heard the shouts of an angry mob. It was the Seven Against Thebes. She quickly thrusts her leg against the dragon as it falls backward from a cliff. Theia collapses from exhaustion.
Theia wakes up to hear the cheers of a crowd rooting for a Nemean race match. Sitting beside her is Adrastus, casually drinking ambrosia as if he hadn’t killed the Nemean Dragon. She looks at her stomach and sees that she has been healed. She immediately notices the beads of sweat on her forehead as the scorching heat of the sun intensified. In the distance, she could see a forest fire that began to spread towards the grove. The sudden rise in temperature was immediately followed by looming grey clouds and a thunderous rumble.
“Zeus won’t be happy when he finds out we killed his guardian”, said Adrastus nervously.
Abruptly, a flash of lightning jolted from the sky. Emerging from the storm clouds was a golden chariot brighter than the sun, and a boy no younger than Theia, who was whipping the horses in front. As the wind and rain around the stadium picked up so did the chariot, as it zig zagged to dodge the lightning strikes. Theia recognized the boy to be Phaethon, the son of Helios.
“He should have never whipped those horses, much less drive the chariot! That forest fire won’t end anytime soon!”, yelled Theia.
Unfortunately, Phaethon didn’t get too lucky when a deafening lightning bolt struck the side of his chariot. Everyone stood in awe as he tumbled out of the chariot and into the sea.
Theia and Adrastus raced to the coast of the sea, but it was too late. Phaethon was already submerged in the crashing waves. As they stared off into the distance, watching the large offshore drilling machines drill into the sea, Adrastus began to explain.
“Polyphemus attempted to stop Odysseus and his offshore drilling platform. He explained how marine life and fossil fuel emissions have been impacted by offshore drilling. And Odysseus blinded him in response. Ever since, the sea has been restless, plotting for revenge against Odysseus.”
“That’s what I came here for. To warn everyone. Cassandra told me we only have 18 days left before the carbon emissions from the offshore drilling destroy Earth. You need to help me!”, begged Theia.
Adrastus began to laugh hysterically. “You need to stop believing Casandra and start worrying about whether you will beat me in our next match.”
Myth Draft Assignment: Analysis
The constructed aetiological myth contains many of the epithets, powers, events, and characters present in Ancient Greek Mythology to emphasize many of the issues that arise with climate change and to help readers interpret the origin of global warming in the perspective of Greek mythology. Multiple mythical elements were used in this narrative to provide a rich parallel with modern elements of climate change while showcasing the fact that there is more than one factor that contributes to climate change.
For example, the myth’s geographical location takes place in Nemea where the Temple of Nemean Zeus and the Nemean Dragon is located. The constructed myth refers to an event presented in Homer’s Iliad, where he talks about a drought caused by Dionysus. This event was used to explain the phenomenon behind barren land as a result of extreme droughts, a common consequence of global warming. In the Iliad, Homer suggests that after King Lycurgus imprisoned Dionysus when he came across Nemea, Dionysus decided to inflict a drought after he escaped (Hom, Il.6.136–137). The aetiological myth above uses this reference to showcase the parallel between Dionysus’s greedy need for revenge, and the greed behind human activities revolving around the origin of global warming. Oftentimes, we as humans ignore the outcome of our actions because we choose what is most convenient for us. For example, humans are driven to use excess fossil fuel for their everyday needs, which is a primary cause of global warming. However, these irrational decisions are motivated by greed and often dismiss the environmental consequences of global warming such as droughts. Likewise, Dionysus focuses on the fact that King Lycurgus imprisoned him, which led him to make an impulsive decision. The impulsiveness and dominance of emotions displayed by the gods is a common theme presented in Greek mythology and is used in the newly constructed myth to explain how our emotions of greed and impulsiveness are associated with the origin of global warming, specifically how droughts are caused.
The aetiological myth also incorporates some aspects of the eight ‘motifemes’ during combat in mythical narrations. Theia, the protagonist, is initially in combat with the Nemean Dragon. She then becomes defeated by the dragon as it bites into her. However, she ends up getting help from another individual, Adrastus. The dragon loses its advantage when it gets speared. Finally, Theia defeats the dragon by pushing it back from a cliff. These motifemes are also found in other Greek myths such as the battle between Zeus and the snakey, hundred-headed monster Typhon. Similarly to Theia, Zeus is initially defeated by his opponent. He then receives aid from a mortal helper, Zeus’s son, who tricks the Typhon. The opponent loses his advantage and Zeus defeats him. Both mythological narratives use the motif of heroism and the hero’s quest to represent one of the highest ideals of ancient Greek culture. Furthermore, the combat between Theia, Adrastus, the Seven Against Thebes, and the Nemean Dragon is similar to the myth present in Bibliotheca, where Adrastus preys on and kills the Nemean Dragon after it had killed Opheltes in its search for water (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 64). This myth was used to draw an emphasis on how significant the impact of the drought had on Nemea, which is parallel to the significance of the origin of global warming in today’s society.
One other common theme of heroism included in this myth is the framework of a hero’s quest to accomplish an impossible task while facing their fate. Therefore, the framework of a hero’s quest in the newly constructed myth is used to emphasize how resolving climate change is seen as an impossible task and why there is a lack of action towards resolving global warming. It also brings forward the origin behind real-world events such as Greta Thunberg’s protest towards the top contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Towards the end of the myth, Theia mentions that her quest is to warn the gods at Nemea about the carbon emissions coming from offshore drilling. Unlike most Greek myths, female heroism was used in order to portray characteristics such as self-sacrificing, determination, and patience. These characteristics were used to contrast the traits portrayed by non-believers of global warming; impulsiveness and irrational. The concept of using female heroism and the structure of a hero’s quest highlights the perspectives involved. The motif of a hero’s quest is also present in myths involving Hercules, who also showcases important values present in Ancient Greek culture; strength, bravery, and courage. However, unlike most Greek myths, a female character was used to portray these traits, while a male character (Adrastus) was used to illustrate human emotions such as ignorance and arrogance. The choice of characters was relevant in explaining the rationale of global warming because humans often portray themselves as superior to other beings and often act selfishly by putting their needs first, in the same way, Greek myths depict male characters as superior to females. Therefore, a male side-character is essential in emphasizing how ignorant actions that are a result of humans putting their needs first, are the root of the origin of global warming.
One particular myth that was used to explain the phenomenon of global warming is the narrative from The Library Books. In the Library Books, Helio grants his son, Phaeton, one wish. Phaeton demands that he gets the chance to ride the sun chariot. After Phaeton promised that he would not use the whip on the horses, he was provided with the chance to drive the chariot. However, Phaeton disobeyed his father and ended up using the whip, which caused the horses to get out of control and create chaos between the sky and Earth (Diod. Sic., Library of History 5. 23. 2). This myth was incorporated as a reflection of the origin of global warming. This myth is a striking resemblance to reality because Phaeton represents the selfishness and irrationality of humans who believe they can control nature because they want to take advantage of the opportunities that provide comfort, convenience, and money, even if it means destroying the planet. Phaeton’s impulsiveness and irrational decision-making are a reflection of the decisions humans have made to cause global warming.
Furthermore, the common depiction of gods and their emotions were also translated into the constructed narrative. Symbolizing weather and natural processes as a form of anger from Greek gods emphasizes the similarities between themselves and mortals. The constructed narrative depicts Poseidon’s anger in the form of crashing waves. Crashing waves was used as a reference to Poseidon's anger in the Odyssey In both the constructed myth and in the Odyssey, Poseidon is depicted as a god that uses the natural forces of water to showcase anger and revenge against Odysseus after he blinded his son, Polyphemus (Hom, Od.1.44). Not only is this symbol used to instill fear in readers, but it is also used in the narrative to explain the origin behind rising sea temperatures from global warming in the narrative.
Additionally, in the constructed myth, Adrastus laughed in response to Theia when she mentioned that an oracle from Casandra stated that the world was going to end due to greenhouse gas emissions from the oil rig. This reference is from the myth The Fall of Troy. In this text, Cassandra was cursed by Apollo to speak truthfully about the future, however, no one would believe her. This myth reference was included in the narrative to make a parallel between the way the origin of global warming is perceived and to the oracles suggested by Cassandra. No one believed Cassandra when she warned others about the fall of Troy (Quint. Smyrn., Fall of Troy 16. 411). Likewise, there are many non-believers in today’s society who don’t consider global warming to be an issue and react in the same way as Adrastus. The perception everyone had of Cassandra is similar to the attitude presented towards the phenomenon behind global warming.
The parallel between the elements used in the incorporated myths and the elements presented in the narrative alludes to an important theme that provides an explanation of the etiology for climate change. Hubris is one common theme that ties all factors together because the arrogance and ignorance behind human actions explain the origin of global warming. King Lycurgus’s impulsive decision and Dionysus’s greedy need for revenge from the Iliad were used as a comparison to greed for the pursuit of money-making practices that cause droughts. Furthermore, Phaeton’s irrational decision to whip the horses was used to emphasize the consequences that result from hubris. The greed and impulsiveness presented in both narratives are correlated with the origin of global warming because these emotions provide humans with the mindset of prioritizing their immediate concerns, such as money and comfort, first before global warming. Thus, greek mythology showcases that human emotions such as arrogance, impulsiveness, and pride play a significant role in explaining the activities that lead to the etiology of global warming.
Bibliography
Apollodorus, and Christian Gottlob Heyne. Bibliotheca. Olms, 1972.
Homer. 1924. The Iliad. Translated by A.T. Murray. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann.
Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by A.T. Murray. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press;
London, William Heinemann.
Siculus, Diodorus, and Charles Henry Oldfather. The Library of History. Harvard University
Press, 1954.
The Fall of Troy. 14. 411 Translated by A. S. Way. Harvard University Press, 1954.