Strolling through the streets of Mycenae, Perseus ,who now leads a normal life, saw everyone around him were coughing and sweating. This has been happening for quite some time and only has gotten worse since. Perseus was concerned with the well-being of his citizens so he asked his father, the cloud gatherer Zeus, what is happening to the city. Zeus answered he has no idea what he is talking about and tells him to figure it out himself. Disappointed with his father’s answer, Perseus grabbed his weapons and set off to find the cause. His goal was to reach Athens where he hoped Athena would be willing to help him again. The first pit stop was Corinth where the earthshaker lies and on his way there, he noticed that the weather was continuously getting hotter.
When Perseus arrived in Corinth, he was shocked how cool it was in the city. He guessed that the sea breeze helped to keep the temperatures down. Perseus was at the market to restock his travelling supplies when a man approached him. When Perseus turned around, Helios was there waving at him. Perseus asked him what was going on with the weather and Helios replied that he didn’t know what’s happening and it’s not his doing. Perseus was baffled hearing this. He explained that he is investigating this and is trying to get to Athens to ask Athena. The sun god offered him his chariot so he could get to Athens quickly. Perseus gladly accepted the offer and immediately set forth to Athens.
Upon arriving, Perseus noticed that the situation was the same as in Mycenae. He went straight to the temple where he met Athena and she told Perseus that he should go to Themiskyra where the Amazonians live. He hopped on the chariot with Athena and flew to Themiskyra. At first they were denied entry so Athena told Perseus to tell the Amazonians that he was there in Herakles’ stead. The Amazonians, having a bit of history with Herakles, decided to let Perseus in. He requested an audience with Queen Hippolyte to discuss the rising heat and the queen couldn’t decline because her citizens were also in a sorry state.
Hippolyte showed Perseus a crack that showed up in their temple a few decades ago. Hot black fumes were coming out of it and Athena was shocked to see this. Athena tells Perseus that they can find answers if they go to the hot scorching underworld so with the help of Hermes, they went there hoping they could talk to Hades. After arriving, they cut straight to the chase and asked Hades. Hades mentions the crack that opened because of Herakles’ fight with Cerberus. Athena could tell that the crack managed to reach the earth and caused the smoke from the flames of hell to seep off to the sky above. After leaving the underworld, Athena went back to Olympus and asked Hephaestus if he could fill the crack with molten steel. Hephaestus said he could do it but it would take a very long time as the crack was so deep. Before he could fully seal off the crack, the Greek’s power and rule was declining and they soon were replaced by the Romans. The gods now don’t have power anymore and Hephaestus was unable to seal off the crack.
The myth tries to explain about how global warming happened. Perseus was chosen to be the main character of this story because out of all the Greek heroes, he was the only one that lived a long life and did not die in battle, so I can be a bit more flexible with the plot. He lived with his wife Andromeda in Mycenae where he founded the kingdom (Paus. Description of Greece. 2.15.4) which explains the opening line. The journey from Mycenae to Athens will take around 23 hours by walking and Corinth lies between them, so it is logical to think that Perseus will need to get some food and drink. Corinth was the patron city of Poseidon (Ibid. 2.1.6) and the city is situated near the seacoast so the sea breeze flows to the city which made the city more cooler than its neighboring cities.
Helios, as the all-seeing god, couldn’t see the crack because it originated from the underworld which is a realm out of his reach. He has lent his chariot to multiple people before so he is used to people borrowing it. A few people that have borrowed his chariot include: Herakles, Circe, Medea, etc (Apollod. Bibl. 2.5.10, Hes. Cat. 46, Apollod. Bibl. 1.9.28). Athena has helped many heroes before and Perseus was one of them (Ov. Met. 4.9.)
When Perseus was returning after beheading Medusa, he met and rescued Andromeda who is an Ethiopian princess. This ties in nicely because on his way back, Perseus could’ve met the Amazonians which lived near Themiskyra (Cartwright. 2019.) The Amazonians have never been on good terms with the Greeks except for that one time when Herakles was doing one of his 12 labors. He visited Themiskyra to retrieve the girdle which Hippolyte willingly gave it (Warren. 2016) In some other versions though, it is said that Herakles had to fight the Amazonians because Hera decided to stir up the pot but in the end, Herakles won and managed to retrieve the girdle (Apollod. Bibl. 2.5.9) Either way, this marks the relationship between Herakles and the Amazonians, whether it was based on friendship or fear. The reason why Hippolyte was chosen and not any other queen to be in the story was because Hippolyte had connections with Herakles and by saying that Perseus was sent by him, he could get a free pass in. Hippolyte could have insisted on kicking Perseus out but if Perseus decides to tell this to Herakles, she could get into some real trouble so there is no merit in doing so. She also knows that the crack was bothering her people and the condition in the city was getting worse. It is only natural that the queen wants to help her people so she decided to cooperate with Perseus.
Some inconsistencies I have with ancient texts is that in my myth, Herakles is actually a descendant of Perseus (Eur. Her. 1), but I kept him in the story because I need a cause for the crack to open, and Herakles’ fight with Cerberus was the inspiration for this myth. Another contradiction is that the underworld is a hot place with scorching flames which causes carbon by-products to seep out to the earth so it can explain global warming, but in ancient Greece the underworld is actually a barren and chilly place (The Editors of GreekMythology.com. 2018.) Since the sun is not able to reach the underworld, this is a logical statement for ancient Greeks that did not know about earth’s core. If the Greek underworld is supposed to be understood as a place down below earth, as we go closer and closer to the earth’s core the temperature should rise. In this myth, I require the underworld to be depicted in a more modern way (hot flames on burnt soil and lava everywhere) so that it can make the story happen.
To go to the underworld and return back alive, Hermes’ assistance was needed because he is the god who guides the souls back and forth from the upper world to the underworld (Hom. Od. 24.1-9.) Hermes has helped Perseus and many other heroes on their journey to the underworld so it was natural for him to help out again. During his fight with Cerberus, Herakles grabbed its heads and strangled them all at once until Cerberus gave up (Apollod. Bibl. 2.5.12) but in this slightly modified version, I made it so that Herakles had to fight Cerberus and find a way to make it submit to him. For Herakles who has inhumane and god-like power, the easiest and fastest way to get the job done was to knock Cerberus out cold and then he can drag it to Euripides. In the end of the fight, he slammed Cerberus to the ground causing the crack to appear.
To be able to seal off the crack, Athena needs to somehow fill it. She tries to get Hephaestus’ help since he is the god of metal-working. As the underworld and upper world was separated far away, the amount of materials needed to fill the crack was enormous which is why it took Hephaestus a long time to fill it. But as we know, global warming is still happening up until now so to make it ever-lasting, the Romans came into power before Hephaestus could finish which resulted in the gods losing their powers. Even though Hephaestus is a god, if no one knows or worships a god, they could disappear. I took this premise from a show called Noragami, in which the main character is an old Japanese god, forgotten by modern society. He no longer has power amongst the other gods and goddesses and he can only dwell as an immortal in the mortal realm. Besides that, I think it is an accurate representation on how religion works in real life. When the culture or religion perishes, the gods related to them are forgotten and, in a sense, they fall from power.
Apollodorus.1921.Bibliotheca.Translated by Sir James George Frazer.London:William Heinemann Ltd.
Cartwright, Mark. “Amazon Women”, www.ancient.eu/amazon (accessed Feb 28, 2021).
Euripides.1938.Heracles.Translated by E. P. Coleridge.New York:Random House.
Hesiod.1914.Catalogus Mulierum.Translated by Evelyn-White.London:William Heinemann Ltd.
Homer.1919.The Odyssey.Translated by Murray, A T.London:William Heinemann Ltd.
Ovid.1922.Metamorphoses.Translated by More, Brookes.Boston:Cornhill Publishing Co.
Pausanias.1918.Description of Greece.Translated by Jones, W. H. S. and Omerod, H. A.London:William Heinemann Ltd.
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Warren, Claude de. “The Belt of The Amazon Queen Hippolyta”, https://www.greekmyths-interpretation.com/en/final-labours-heracles-interpretation-greek-mythology/belt-amazon-queen-hippolyta-interpretation/ (accessed Mar 30, 2021).
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