Origin of Global Warming
Ever since I was born, my dad told me I was a smart kid. I got good grades and I was especially good at solving puzzles and creating strategies to win games. I was living my ordinary life; going to school, coming back home and playing League with my friends, but that was before I knew I was a demigod. About five months ago, hundreds of people including me got telepathic messages from the Olympian Gods. Hermes, the messenger of the Gods, came into our minds and told us that the Gods urgently needed our help. I read some of the Percy Jackson series, so I knew a bit about them, but that still didn’t stop me from getting shocked. I didn’t ever imagine that they would actually be real. Apparently, I was the son of Athena and likewise all the other people who got the message were also sons and daughters of some God. In her message, Athena told me that she needed my help to prepare for war. The Titans were secretly planning to attack the Gods and regain control and if they succeeded, chaos would come upon the mortal world. She said that whatever us mortals call “global warming” was actually caused by these Titans. The Titans were stuck in a place called Tartarus which was guarded from above by Gaea, the Earth Goddess . The problem was that the Titans were attacking Gaea to try and escape Tartarus and regain control from the Gods. As they attacked Gaea and she became weaker, us mortals felt more of the heat and fire coming from Tartarus. The Gods knew that this was a serious threat, so they were trying to get everyone involved in this fight. Poseidon supplied everyone with horses and Dionysus was put on a strict drinking ban so that he could lead the satyrs to war. My mom, Athena was in charge of putting together a war plan directing everyone. Hephaestus was making all the weapons in his workshop. He had the Cyclops, Brontes, Steropes working with him. The mortals were pretty clueless about the dangerous incoming threat. They knew global warming was a pretty bad thing since as the heat increased, ice glaciers were melting and more forest fires were happening, but they didn’t know about the terrifying Titans that were causing this chaos.
Analysis
In my piece, I explained the origins of global warming in a similar fashion to Rick Riordan’s style by alluding to ancient Greek myths. My piece centralizes on the idea of global warming being caused by the Titans trying to escape from Tartarus to try to take back power from the Gods.Tartarus has been described as a place that unjust souls would go to for punishment[1]. This is similar to the concept of “Hell”, a place of punishment for the dead. Additionally, Hesoid describes Tartarus as a place that is, “as far below the earth as heaven is from the earth.”[2]. I took both of these ideas to make a connection between global warming and the Titans escaping from Tartarus. The idea behind it is that Hell is commonly associated with fire and we know that Tartarus is somewhere below the Earth surface. Using these as inspiration, my myth takes a look at the world in layers- with Gaea as the Earth and the “mortal world” and Tartarus being somewhere underneath it. Even though Tartarus is known to have a gate that blocks the entrance[3], I ignored that and focused on the layers. This way, my myth explains that as the Titans attack Gaea and try to come out from Tartarus, Gaea weakens. As the Titans become more and more successful, the heat emitted from Tartarus becomes more apparent to the “mortal” world and once they succeed, the Titans will have unleashed all the chaos and fire from Tartarus into the “mortal” world. This way, global warming is represented as the fire and heat the Titans bring upon the world as they try to escape from Tartarus. My idea of having the Titans trying to regain control from the Gods stems from the beginnings of the Gods and their fight with the Titans. All the Gods except Zeus were swallowed by their father Kronos, but Zeus managed to get them out and forced the Titans into Tartarus[4]. In my myth, I allude to the Gods and their roles as they prepare to fight back against the Titans. The first God I reference is Athena. In fact, my main character in this myth is supposedly one of Athena’s sons. He is described as being a really smart kid who likes solving puzzles and is able to strategize and win games. I gave these traits to my character to show his connection to Athena since she is known to be the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. For the same reason, I also made Athena in charge of planning the war strategy in my myth. However, Athena having many offspring is entirely my creation as Athena is actually known to be a virgin goddess, similar to Artemis[5]. After Athena, I also alluded to Poseidon. In my myth, Poseidon provides support by supplying horses. This connection was made since Poseidon is regarded as being the creator of the horse, and of having taught men how to manage horses[6]. In my myth, I also refer to Dionysus and Hephaestus. Dionysus is the god of wine, pleasure, festivity, madness and wild frenzy[7] and is known to be accompanied by satyrs. Satyrs are described as creatures that are fond of wine, playing musical instruments and other sensual pleasures[8]. Using these characteristics of Dionysus and the satyrs, I tried to add humour into my myth by saying that Dionysus and the satyrs had been put on a strict drinking ban so that they could also help prepare for the war instead of just drinking and enjoying pleasures. Next, my allusion to Hephaestus as the weaponsmith comes from the fact Hephaestus is known as the god of smiths, metalworking and stonemasonry. In Olympus, Hephaestus had his own palace with his own workshop and anvil and bellows[9]. In later texts, Hephaestus has been described as having workmen and servants which were made up of Cyclops, Brontes, Steropes and others[10]. In addition to all the Gods above, I also alluded to Hermes. Hermes is described as the herald of the Gods, of being skilled in speech and as the public speaker in assemblies and other occasions.[11]. Moreover, Hermes is described as a God with the power of giving or taking away good sleep. This is because Zeus could make dreams but Hermes was in charge of conducting these dreams to men[12]. In my myth, the Gods are sending telepathic messages to their kids in order to gather everyone for help in the war. I use the fact that Hermes is the messenger amongst the Gods and mortals to incorporate his role in my myth. Overall, my myth explains global warming as a result of the Titans trying to escape Tartarus. As the Titans attack Gaea and try to escape from the underworld, Gaea becomes weaker and more of the heat and fire from Tartarus become more apparent in the “mortal” world causing the increase of heat in the world. The “mortals” in my myth are described as being unaware of the true cause of the phenomenon. Most of my Greek mythological references come in the form of the Gods taking up different roles in preparing for the war against Titans. Poseidon supplying horses, Hephaestus creating weapons with his Cyclopes and other mythological creatures, Dionysus trying to lead his group of satyrs, Hermes coordinating messages amongst the Gods and Athena making a plan for the war. Through these roles, I was able to give the readers allusions to the Gods and it coincides to the dynamics of the Gods in Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, the Gods are given distinct roles and represent them, so I played into that and incorporated it in my etiological myth about global warming. I also tried to incorporate a style of humour and writing similar to Rick Riordan so that my myth would appeal to younger audiences. My myth is told from the point of view of a young teenage boy who thinks he is normal until he receives this telepathic message from the Gods. I also make references to League and the Percy Jackson series to create interest for the target audience of my myth. In conclusion, my myth describes the origins of global warming while including references to Greek mythology in a similar fashion to Rick Riordan’s writings.
Bibliography
1. Macquire, Kelly. "Tartarus." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 07 Jan 2021. Web. 05 Apr 2021.
2. Hom. Il. viii. 13 &c., 481; comp. Hes. Theog. 807.
3. Hom. Il. viii. 13 &c., 481; comp. Hes. Theog. 807.
4.Hesiod, Theogony 462 ff
5. Hom. Hymn. ix. 3
6. Hom. Il. xxiii. 307, 584; Pind. Pyth. vi.50 ; Soph. Oed. Col. 712, &c.
7. Bacchyl. ap. Athen. ii. p. 40; Pind. Fragm. 5; Eurip. Bacch. 772.
8. Apollod. ii. 1. § 4; Horat. Carm. ii. 19. 3, i. 1. 30; Ov. Met. i. 692, xiv. 637; Philostr. Vit. Apoll. vi. 27 ; Nonn. Dionys. xii. 82.
9. Il. xviii. 370, &c.
10. Virg. Aen. viii. 416, &c.
11. Il. i. 333, iv. 193, vii. 279, 385, viii. 517, xi. 684; comp. Orph. Hymn. 27. 4; Aelian, H. A. x. 29; Hor. Carm. i. 10. 1.
12. Hom. Hymn. in Merc. 14, Il. ii. 26, xxiv. 343, &c.