Nina Sealtiel
CLAA06H3
March 31 2021
Myth-Making: Final Draft
There once was a time where there was no sun. Darkness invaded the entirety of the universe, with the only illumination coming from the moon and smaller stars. Earth was cold and lifeless. Astraeus, the god of the stars, and Erebos, the god of darkness, decided that there needed to be change in order to create existence on the dreary planet. They came together with Zeus and asked him to birth a new god, who shall look over the most important star in the galaxy, in which Zeus complied. Zeus named his creation Helios, and labeled him the god of the sun. Along with the creation of Helios came Hemera, the goddess of day. They worked together with Phanes, the god of creation, and life on earth was created. Years and years went by, with mankind constantly evolving. As time went on, Helios and Hemera became more envious of Nyx, the goddess of night, taking over their daytime in order to switch to nighttime. Helios and Hemera came up with a plan to influence humans into making their days longer by tricking them into thinking that the fossil fuels they discovered were the key to eliminating Nyx and Erebos, therefore getting rid of night and darkness. Helios and Hemera brainwashed humans into thinking that the smoke after burning the fossil fuels would reach Nyx and Erebos, and that the more smoke they inhaled, the weaker their god-like powers became due to the toxicity. Humans then would burn fossil fuels without a thought, believing they would be able to extend their days and lose the feeling of being tired in order to fulfill their wants all day long. Nights did get shorter, allowing for the sun to shine brighter and extend days on earth. Nyx and Erebos noticed they had become more frail, feeling their powers drift away from them day by day. They noticed how much longer days had become, only leaving minutes of nighttime for humans to encounter. Zeus got word of what Helios and Hemera’s plans were, and punished them. He struck them with lightning, knowing his powers would overthrow theirs, and withdrew their powers of brainwashing humans. It was too late though, as humans had become so selfish and still believed in the extension of days when burning fossil fuels, even after Helios and Hemera were stripped of their powers to brainwash them. They did not notice their nights became as long as they used to be, and continued to burn fossil fuels without the care of others. The carbon emissions that accumulated in the air due to the burning of fossil fuels is what turned into what is known to be global warming.
Analysis:
Most of my myth is fiction and the origin stories of the gods I have mentioned are completely different than their actual stories in ancient sources. I wanted to bring in gods and goddesses that had to do with creation, planets and such, and found quite a bit to work with. I was intrigued by the idea of “the father of the stars”, Astraeus (Aratus, Phaenomena. 96). I liked the idea of having the god of stars want to create the sun, which is why I included it in my myth. Erebos is another god that caught my eye while doing research. I wanted to incorporate the idea of him being the god of darkness (“Erebos”, Theoi Project. n.d.) into my myth. Including him in my myth allowed for a sense of more completeness to me, since it would not have just referenced the god of night, but also darkness. Zeus’ part in my myth was very significant to me. Since he is “the Father of gods” (Homer, Odyssey. 22-43), I wanted to use that power he had to create another god that is crucial to my myth, being Helios. I also wanted to include the significance of what Zeus does with lightning when he is angry, which is explained in this quote: “Then Zeus no longer held his might; but straight his heart was filled with fury and he showed forth all his strength. From Heaven and from Olympus he came forthwith, hurling his lightning: the bold flew thick and fast from his strong hand together with thunder and lightning, whirling an awesome flame.” (Hesiod, Homeric Hymns. [687]). I feel like this really showed his anger towards Helius and Hemera in my myth, since he only strikes people with lightning when he is angry and the person deserves to be punished. In this case, Helius and Hemera truly deserved it, but I do not think they needed to die. Helios, the god of sun (“Helios”, Theoi Project, n.d.), is significant in my myth as he is one of the main characters. I also wanted to reference this quote: “...for the god Helios never passes by that beauteous dance, but stays his car to gaze upon the sight, and the lights of day are lengthened.” (Callimachus, Hymns. [170]). I wanted to use this in my myth, showing how Helios has the power to make days longer. Hemera is as important to my myth as Helios is, being that she is the goddess of day. In classical myth, she is actually the daughter of Erebos and Nyx (“Hemera”, Theoi Project. n.d.), but I wanted to change this since in my myth, she is envious of them. Although it would have been even more interesting to leave their origin family story the same, I did not want it to affect the way my myth was told, so I had changed it. I briefly mentioned Phanes in my myth, who was the generator of life (“Phanes, Theoi Project, n.d.). I wanted to include him somehow, since a life was literally being created. In classical text, his daughter is actually Nyx (“Phanes”, Theoi Project, n.d.), which I did not mention in my myth. I wanted it to be less formal and more fictional. Nyx, being the goddess of night (“Nyx”, Theoi Project, n.d.), was someone I wanted to include in my myth as she gives contrast to my other characters. As mentioned before, she is the parent of Hemera in classical text. In this quote, “Celestial stars, the progeny of night [Nyx], in whirling circles beaming far your light, Refulgent rays around the heav’ns ye throw, eternal fires, the source of all below.” (Psuedo-Orpheus, Orphic Hymns. [6]), it literally describes that Nyx is a descendent of the night. I love how all of these gods and goddesses intertwine in classical text, even though I did not take some of the details into my own work. Some of the gods and goddesses I have mentioned are actually primordial gods, these being Erebos, Hemera, Nyx, and Phanes. This means that they were “fully-formed at creation”, and included earth with them (“Primordial Gods”, Theoi Project, n.d.). I decided not to follow this since I wanted the sense of darkness overpowering the world at the beginning of my myth, and that there was no sense of light at all until Helios and Hemera were created. All in all, I wanted to stray away from the formality of the classical texts and sources that I had referenced. I wanted to see what I could do in order to make the characters - the gods and goddesses - have a connection to each other without needing the backstory they already had. It was nice to be able to have fun and do what I wanted to do, but still keep in mind the importance of the origin stories these gods and goddesses had. There were little things that I was not certain about changing, such as spelling of the gods and goddesses names, but I do not think this mattered as much as I still kept their original names. Some things I did want to change were the power Helios and Hemera had, and the connection Helios had to humans compared to ancient myths. I felt like adding this source of power allowed for the gods to look more prominent in the world of gods and goddesses, since they are not heard of as Zeus or Athena would be. I chose to base my myth on global warming as it is a huge problem in today’s society, and I thought it would be fun to be able to put my own spin to it. I did not know how I was going to start this myth, whether it be formal like prose, or informal like the Rick Riordan books. I feel like I did a little bit of both, keeping the classical texts in mind but still letting myself wander off and make a few changes. I had to remind myself that this was an aetiological myth, so I had to make it somewhat believable that global warming actually did come from humans believing that the toxicity of smoke could affect the gods or goddesses’ health. From having done the readings and discussion posts, anything can happen in Greek mythology. Since Odysseus was able to make up some characters, for example the lotus-eaters (Homer, Odyssey. 9) and make them believable, I think my attempt was decent as I did not make up any characters, I had just changed their origin stories. In terms of my works cited, it was quite challenging to find ancient sources for all of the gods and goddesses I had mentioned, so I tried my best at finding whatever I could.
Works Cited
Aratus, Phae. Callimachus, Hymns and Epigrams. Lycophron. Aratus. Translated by Mair, A. W. & G. R. Loeb Classical Library Volume 129. London: William Heinemann, 1921. [96]
Callimachus, Hymns 1-3. Callimachus, Hymns and Epigrams. Lycophron. Aratus. Translated by Mair, A. W. & G. R. Loeb Classical Library Volume 129. London: William Heinemann, 1921. [170]
“EREBOS.” EREBUS (Erebos) - Greek Primordial God of Darkness, Theoi Project, EREBUS (Erebos) - Greek Primordial God of Darkness
“HEMERA.” HEMERA - Greek Primordial Goddess of the Day (Roman Dies), Theoi Project, HEMERA - Greek Primordial Goddess of the Day (Roman Dies)
Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica. Translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. [687]
Hom. Od. 1. 22-43.
Hom. Od. 9.
“NYX.” NYX - Greek Primordial Goddess of the Night (Roman Nox), Theoi Project, NYX - Greek Primordial Goddess of the Night (Roman Nox)
“PHANES.” PHANES - Greek Primordial God of Creation & Life, Theoi Project, PHANES - Greek Primordial God of Creation & Life
“PRIMORDIAL GODS.” Primordial Gods & Goddesses | Theoi Greek Mythology, Theoi Project, Primordial Gods & Goddesses
The Hymns of Orpheus. Translated by Taylor, Thomas (1792). University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. (Current edition). [6]
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