Prometheus’ Revenge
Oh mortal, have you heard of how the glory of Olympos is chipping away? Its marble floors have been wearied with rust and its gold no longer shines as bright as it once did. At first the gods did not worry - why should they? They were immortal, so they did not need to think about these things. But as the rust spread and their gold grew black, Zeus’ heart filled with anger and he sought to find - and destroy- the cause of these disruptions.
As Zeus searched earth, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. The mortals’ hearts were filled with greed from the Lovely Evil of Pandora’s pithos. They consumed the resources of the earth without care, yet always came back to an empty house and an empty heart. The son of Kronos was pleased with this for this sorrow kept the mortals in their place.
As he continued his search, he heard the cries of the trickster Titan. Now cloud-bearing Zeus never paid much attention to the wails of Prometheus, but these cries were ones he had never heard before. Prometheus was not in pain, but his voice was filled with anger and ambition. And so Mighty Zeus set for his mountain to put the old Titan in his place.
“Son of Iapetos! What is the cause of your anger? Your fate was determined when you gave the mortals fire.”
But the wearied Titan knew the reason for Zeus’ pain and the fading of Olympos.
“ Oh, great and mighty Zeus! My mortals suffer because of that Lovely Evil that you cursed them with long ago. You and all the gods sit on Mount Olympos, amused by their suffering, ignorant to your own. Lovely Evil lives, trapped among my mortals. She was made, alongside Pandora, in Olympos by divine hands. For all of eternity, she has craved to return home yet you gods have never heard her cries!”
“Watch your tone, Titan! Remember who you speak to!” Zeus did not understand the Titan’s anger - but his rebellion was enough reason for Zeus to kill him. As he rallied the skies against Prometheus, the Titan explained softly,
“Do you know why, oh cloud-bearing Zeus, your heart is filled with sorrow? Why your palaces of marble rust? It is because of Lovely Evil. She has been trying to get your attention to ask for but just a day to spend at home in Olympos. She is lonely with the mortals and so I, being the only one who heard her cries, told her to fill the hearts of mortals with greed and selfishness so that they might use that gift of fire and consume the earth. Do you know how Gaia is sick? Her eternity is wearing off, and so Olympos is fading away. Lovely Evil has made the humans consume Gaia with fire, just to get your attention. Yet because you have never listened, Gaia remains sick and Lovely Evil continues to plague her until you answer her.”
An Analysis of Prometheus’ Revenge
My myth, Prometheus’ Revenge, is an aetiological myth that explains the causes of global warming. Its story is rooted in both the myth of Prometheus giving humans fire (Hesiod, Theogony 507-573), as well as Zeus’ retaliation to this act through the making of Pandora and her pithos which releases evil upon humankind (Hesiod, Theogony 572-620). Prometheus’ Revenge highlights the societal issues in Ancient Greece that persist today and explains how these same issues have led to the phenomenon of global warming. This paper aims to first examine the purpose of personifying evil as a goddess named ‘Lovely Evil’, as well as how the myths of Prometheus and Pandora (Hesiod, Theogony 507-620) play important roles in the construction of Prometheus’ Revenge. It will then explore the role of hubris that is seen in the downfall of many great Greek heroes, as well as its role in humanity and in global warming today. Finally, it will explain the irony in the personification of Lovely Evil, and how this irony sheds light on the concepts of evil, women and greed in both ancient Greek tradition as well as in modern-day society.
The personification of natural phenomena can be seen all throughout Greek mythology. Instead of describing the first light of day as the sunrise or as a natural process, Odysseus describes it as the appearance of “rosy-fingered Dawn” (Homer, The Odyssey 12.1-35). Evil in my myth is personified in this same manner. In Theogony, Hesiod first describes this evil as a “lovely evil”(Theogony 588), and so it was this adjective that I chose to be Evil’s epithet in my myth. Additionally, Gaia, the primordial earth god, is also the earth itself (“GAIA”). In my myth, Prometheus explains to Zeus that Gaia is sick because of the way that humans have been consuming her with his gift to them; fire. This is allegorical to the unsustainable manner in which fossil fuels are being burned and used in today’s world. The over-consumption of these resources is depleting the earth and harming its overall health. Additionally, I changed Gaia’s realm of power to encompass both the earth and Olympos, instead of solely the earth. Although this strays from the Greek tradition, I chose to make this change to demonstrate how global warming, an act that harms the earth (and therefore Gaia), will inevitably have an effect on the state of Olympos’ eternality.
Evil’s personification also serves to demonstrate the concept of hubris and how it often leads to one’s own demise. In Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, the chorus exclaims that “an old hubris tends to bring forth […] a young hubris and […] Recklessness, and for the household black Curses” (763-770). In another translation, this line is sung as “Arrogance… will bring forth not only a young arrogance, but, as well, the other evil, the unconquerable, the irresistible, the unholy, Impudence” (763-771). In this tragedy, Aeschylus highlights that Agamemnon’s death is a result of his own hubris or his arrogance and disregard for the gods, which is displayed as he walks on the purple carpet and accepts his wife’s deceitful praise (Agamemnon 951-965). Hubris is also seen in the Homeric epics when Odysseus pridefully identifies himself after blinding the cyclops Polyphemus (The Odyssey 9. 413-479), and when Agamemnon pridefully refuses to give his war-bride Briseis back to her father, despite being offered a generous gift in exchange (The Iliad 1. 101-147). These two acts, both motivated by excessive pride, are what lead to the curse of Odysseus and the suffering of the Greeks at the hand of Apollo. In Aristophanes’ Frogs, Dionysus’ arrogance is often contrasted with his cowardice, as he repeatedly switches from being disguised as the heroic Heracles to being disguised as his own slave, Xanthias, to avoid any confrontation (Frogs 460). Even Xanthias himself exclaims that among “Gods and men, [Dionysus is] the biggest coward” (460). Dionysus embodies hubris and Xanthias’ rebuke of this character flaw demonstrated how this over-excessive pride can result in not only harmful consequences but shame and dishonour.
In Prometheus’ Revenge, hubris is the downfall of not only the mortals but also of the immortal Zeus. This breaks tradition once again since the gods are usually exempt from matters concerning morality. However, I chose to inflict Zeus with the problem of hubris to further demonstrate the devastating consequences that can arise from excessive pride and arrogance, such as the irreversible damage brought about by global warming.
My myth attributes global warming to the greed in the hearts of humans which causes them to continually harvest and deplete the earth of its natural resources (eg. consumption of fossil fuels and nuclear energy). However, these actions are the results of the personified Lovely Evil, as she manipulated the hearts of mortals to burn the earth (or Gaia), in an attempt to capture the attention of the gods. Hubris in my myth is both reflected in the acts of mortals, as they are filled with greed and selfishness, always consuming and depleting the earth’s resources, but also in Zeus. Zeus’ sorrow and the wearying of Olympos is caused by the Lovely Evil that the gods, long ago, released into the earth. This reflects the themes previously explained in The Odyssey, The Iliad, Aeschylus’ Agamemnon and Aristophanes’ Frogs.
In Hesiod’s Theogony, Pandora (and womankind, as she is the first woman or wife on earth) was designed by Zeus to be a curse upon humanity (572-620). Hesiod describes Pandora as “irresistible to men” but also as “a curse for mortal men, [as] evil conspirators” (Theogony 593, 605-606). This description is inherently misogynistic since it views women as only capable of tormenting men while also objectifying women; explaining that their beauty is but a mere cover-up for their evil. The epithet of “Lovely Evil”, as well as the decision to personify her as a woman, plays into Hesiod’s description of Pandora and womankind. However, instead of being a curse for men (which was Zeus’ original intent for evil), Lovely Evil in my myth takes matters into her own hands. With the help of the bound titan Prometheus, Lovely Evil uses her influence on men to slowly destroy the eternality of Olympos and of the gods, including Zeus.
My myth ends with a cliffhanger, as Zeus does not respond to Prometheus’ explanation of how Evil is crying out to the gods by destroying the earth. This open ending leaves the story up to the reader to interpret whether or not Zeus is willing to accept his pride and listen to the cries of Lovely Evil, or whether he will ignore her and keep his pride, at the cost of the earth and Olympos. This ending also serves as an explanation for the increasing severity that global warming has had on the earth and humanity in the past years.
In conclusion, through personifying evil as a woman goddess who is trapped on earth, Prometheus’ Revenge provides an etiology for the causes of global warming. By incorporating themes of hubris while also modifying aspects of traditional Greek mythology, such as the eternal state of the gods and the power of Gaia, my myth emphasizes the drastic effects of global warming on not only the earth but also on Olympos. It also highlights the danger that excessive pride can cause in humans, as reflected in the actions and arrogance of Zeus in this myth. Prometheus’ Revenge ends with a cliff-hanger, leaving the reader to decide how Zeus’ actions in response to this myth will affect the state of our current world, as the effects of global warming continue to negatively impact the earth.
References
Aeschylus. 1926. Agamemnon. Translated by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1926. 763-770.
Aeschylus. 1889. Agamemnon. Translated by Robert Browning, vol. 13. London: Smith, Elder and Co. 763-771.
Aristophanes. 1995. Frogs. Translated by Matthew Dillon, Ph.D. Medford, MA: Tufts University. 460.
“GAIA.” GAEA (Gaia) - Greek Goddess of the Earth (Roman Terra, Tellus), www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Gaia.html.
Hesiod. 1914. Theogony. Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 507 - 620.
Homer. 1919. The Odyssey. Translated by A.T. Murray Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 9. 413-479.
Homer. 1924. The Iliad. Translated by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1. 101-147
A fire-like sunset, which could be interpreted as Prometheus' anger through Lovely Evil.
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