Myth: Global Warming
Persephone had been trapped in the Underworld for eons, wallowing away and being forced to spend a third of the year with Hades. While, she was desperate for an escape from her boring life in the Underworld, but the opportunity rarely presented itself and when it did; Hades only had to open another crack in the Earth to bring her back. She realized that she needed a method that would keep her off land until she could find a suitable place to hide.
As she wondered how to escape, Hermes stumbled in, leading a group of men. It was then that Persephone noticed his winged sandals that allowed him to fly freely in the air as well as the hat of the Unseen. She approached Hermes, asking if he would use his scepter to lull Hades to sleep as well as allowing her to borrow his sandals and his hat for some time for a trick she had planned, hoping that he would notice she was lying. Being a trickster himself, he could not refuse.
Donning the hat and the sandals, she flew through one of the many entrances of the Underworld into the open air. Although Persephone was overjoyed that she was now free, she had no idea where to go where Hades could not simply snatch her up again nor would she really have the stamina to go on forever. As she pondered her thoughts, she did not notice that Helios in his golden chariot was passing by and crashed into him. Helios briefly thought he had gone mad and crashed into nothing, until Persephone removed the hat and begged for his help. Helios, taking pity on the desperate Persephone, decided to aide in her escape. He decided on taking her to Calypso’s island, which would be difficult for Hades to travel to given that death did not need to exist in a place where the inhabitants were immortal, and it was quite unreachable. She once again put on the hat, rendering her invisible. Before leaving, he promised her that he would bring her mother to visit whenever he could, though she could never remain too long so it would not reveal her location.
When Hades discovered that Helios had taken his wife out of his reach, he reacted with fuming anger. To punish Helios for aiding his wife, he struck down two of his steeds, Phlegon and Pyrois in a blaze of fire. Whenever Helios attempted to replace them, Hades in his never-ending anger, would strike them down once again and vowed to continue doing so until his wife was returned. When Helios led his chariot into the sky, his remaining horses had great difficulty pulling the weight and they could no longer fly as high. Helios could only fly closer to the Earth. However, as he flew the chariot too low, the Earth scorched below him and burned the land.
As long as Persephone is kept away from Hades; Helios’ chariot will continue to lack half of his steeds and continue to scorch the Earth and its atmosphere.
Analysis
The myth attempted to explain the phenomena of global warming and was described as a result of Hades striking down two of the four horses that pulled Helios’s sun chariot, leading the horses to struggle and fly too low and thus scorching the Earth in the process. Persephone’s disappearance is also often used to explain the cycle of seasons, as Demeter’s grief leads her to ignore the crops causing winter and only when her daughter is returned, does springtime arrive. To account for the erratic seasons and weather caused by global warming like milder winters and warmer temperatures; this myth uses the irregular times that Helios brings Demeter to visit Persephone as an explanation. Without Persephone being trapped in the Underworld, Demeter has more freedom to see her daughter throughout the year leading to unpredictable temperatures.
The abduction of Persephone is a relatively well-known myth and involves Hades abducting her while she was planting flowers and being forced to become his wife (Hes., Theog. 914). In order to abduct her, he tricked her with the flower narcissus, and then the Earth opened and out sprang Hades with his chariot (Diod., Library of History, 5.2.3 – 5.5.1). The myth also references the need to be flying in order to escape, as if she stepped foot on land, it could be possible for Hades to trick her and open another chasm to abduct her once again.
Hades, also, is known to be quite vindictive towards those that attempt to take Persephone away from him as shown in the myth of Pirithous. King Pirithous and Theseus both made a deal to marry daughters of Zeus and Pirithous settled on Persephone. He travelled to the Underworld to seek her hand in marriage or kidnap her and force her to return above ground and be his wife. However, under the guise of hospitality, Hades had both Theseus and Pirithous sit down on the throne of Lethe, causing them to forget their purposes and their bodies began to get stuck on the thrones (Apollod., Bibl. 2. 124). Later on, Theseus was rescued by Hercules, but Pirithous still remains in the Underworld. From that myth, Hades’ character can be ascertained to be rather cruel and possessive, and as such it can be inferred that he would not be entirely happy if someone had taken his wife from him or helped her escape.
Helios’s character is also important as in the original myth about Persephone being abducted, he helped Demeter by telling her that Zeus gave Persephone to Hades (Ovid, Fasti, 4.575). Since he had been a sympathetic figure then, it felt fitting for him to also take pity on Persephone in this particular myth. The myth also makes a subtle reference to the story of Phaethon, Helios’s son who begged for a chance to drive the chariot. However, his inexperience led him to lose control of the horses and the chariot veered too close to the Earth, setting it on fire. Phaethon scorched the plains of Africa turning it into a desert (Ap. Rhod., Argon. 4.598). Phaethon’s story was used as an analogy in this myth for global warming with the sun flying too close being the reason that the temperatures have risen. Although, given Helios’s skill and role as personification of the sun, it made little sense for him to have lost control of the chariot without another reason. Thus, the original myth was changed slightly to fit more in line with the created story.
Abduction as a theme is often used in ancient myths as well. Persephone’s kidnapping by Hades, being only one example. An unrequited love is also often associated with these abductions. Zeus was also known to abduct others for his own personal needs. For instance, Zeus kidnapped Europa when he had become smitten with her and so turned himself into a bull and carried her away (Apollod., Bibl. 3.1.1). Zeus was also known for kidnapping Ganymede, who was known as the most beautiful of mortals; to serve as his cupbearer (Hom., Il. 20.233 – 20.235). One of the most famous examples of this theme is Paris’s abduction of Helen as he fell in love with her beauty (Hdt, The Histories, 113-119). It would appear to be common for abductions to occur, especially in the case of Gods abducting mortals.
Revenge and harsh punishments are also a common theme in Greek myths, and some of which shown the Gods to be rather vindictive. For example, the myth of Sisyphus being forced to push a boulder up a hill for all eternity simply for telling Asopos that Zeus had abducted his daughter, Aegina (Apollod., Bibl. 1.85). The myth of Minotaur also showcases a somewhat unjust punishment with Poseidon angry that Minos did not sacrifice a bull to him and thus made Minos’s wife fall in love with it and ultimately give birth to the Minotaur (Apollod., Bibl. 3.8 – 11). Those who defy the Gods/Goddesses often face some sort of retribution from them. Interestingly, this theme is often used in association with Persephone, like the myth of Theseus and Pirithous. Another example being Minthe, a lover of Hades, being turned into a mint plant after claiming that she was more beautiful than Persephone (Opp. Cyn. 3.485).
Hermes was an important character being one of a few characters that could freely traverse in and out of the Underworld and thus would be someone that Persephone and Hades could easily meet on a regular basis. Not only was he a messenger god that would arrive to deliver messages to Hades, but he was also known as a guide of the Underworld and could led men there (Hom., Od. 24.1). The hat of Aidoneus renders the wearer invisible and his winged sandals allows one to fly (Hom., Il., 24.339). Also, from previous myths, Hermes is shown to be quite mischievous as was the case when, hour after his birth, he stole oxen from Apollo and then denied that he had ever taken them (Hes., HH. 68-104). Trzaskoma et al., (2004) also describe Hermes as a clever, thieving god (168). Aside from his mischievousness, myths about Hermes also show him to be quite helpful as was the case when he helped Perseus defeat the gorgon, Medusa (Apollod., Bibl. 2.37 & 46). As such, Hermes was a logical choice in providing Persephone a means to escape since he was one of the only gods with access to the Underworld and his tools would prove to be incredibly useful.
In reference to Calypso, a goddess-nymph confined to the mythical island of Ogygia; known for keeping Odysseus and forcing him to remain on her island for several years. Ogygia, was described as containing bustling woods with cypress, alder and poplar trees, soft meadows of violet and parsley, garden vines, as well as various birds (Hom., Od. 5.58 – 5.74). Her island is also full of caverns yet lacks any towns or any other humans and as she can offer immortality and eternal youth, death has no reason to visit (Hom., Od. 5.4). Calypso is also rarely visited by either humans or immortals and so only Zeus could order her to return Odysseus to his home. Therefore, as her island appeared to be rather unreachable and had little to no visitors, while also being somewhat of a tranquil place and natural, and thus seem to be a good location not only to hide but to remain in given that Persephone was the goddess of springtime.
To conclude, this aetiological myth attempted to explain global warming while trying to expand on some themes that were present in the original like abduction and selfish love, while also incorporating other ones that are often associated with the Gods, like revenge. Other myths were also referenced to explain the motives and provide deeper insight into the moves of the characters mentioned in the myth.
References
Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History, Volume I: Book 5. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. Loeb Classical Library 279. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1933.
Herodotus. (1996). Herodotus: the histories. London, Eng.; New York: Penguin Books,
Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica. Translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914.
Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald, Anchor, 1963.
Ovid. Fasti. Translated by James G. Frazer. Revised by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 253. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931.
Oppian, Colluthus, Tryphiodorus. Translation by Mair, A. W. Loeb Classical Library Vol 219. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Rhodius, Apollonius, and Peter Green. The Argonautica: Expanded Edition. 2nd ed., University of California Press, 2007. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppw8n. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
Trzaskoma, S., Smith, R. S., Brunet, S., & Palaima, T. G. (2004). Homeric Hymns. In Anthology of classical myth: Primary sources in translation (pp. 168-210). Indianapolis ; Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company.
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