The Earth’s Power & Wrath
The scene opens to a group of women gathered around, doing their duties for Thesmophoria, preparing the fruits and the pigs, talking amongst themselves as they work.
Woman 1: The seas are so rough these days, the sun far too blazing on our fields - my husband and his crewmates have been dreading the storms; the gods must be angry about something.
Woman 2: it is not their wrath, but a display of power. Some time ago, the gods were feasting and drinking wine upon Olympus; and the gods of the sun, the sea, and the north wind were boasting to each other the amount of power and influence they hold over the earth. They goaded each other to the point where they decided to compete over this matter!
Woman 3 (shaking her head): If it’s a matter of showing who has more influence over the Earth, who else would fit that more than Deo, our Earth mother for whom we prepare these sacrifices?
Woman 2: To think those Thessalians would blatantly show their support for only Poseidon, when Earth is the one who provides them with their grain and bread!
Woman 1: I have heard that our great Goddess of the Earth has also joined in the competition to show her position as Horaphorus, Bringer of Seasons, blessing lands with bountiful harvests and fertility! She is truly the Giver of wealth! (they all chuckle and nod, continuing with their tasks)
At that moment, a group of armed men rush in, surrounding the women.
Chorus of women: What is the meaning of this! What ignorance have you that you trespass the holy grounds of Deo during Thesmophoria!
Men: Our lord Erysichthon has been consumed with an eternal hunger and greed; he’s ordered us to slaughter all beasts so that he may satiate the curse placed upon him by Demeter herself, and to cut down all the trees so that they may fuel the fires to cook the beasts!
Priestess of Demeter (arriving to the scene): Your lord has disrespected Demeter, the Bringer of Law - and you intend to further his disrespect? You were already warned once, and did not heed her words, leading to grave consequence. You all rushed into her sacred grounds and chopped her sacred pine tree, while your lord cried out that he did not care if it was the goddess herself, claiming that Poseidon was the one with greater power. Now you wish to further defile the land?
After a moment of tense silence, the men surge forward, attacking the women, cutting down trees and slaughtering the pigs. There is screaming and among it, the women are calling out to Demeter.
Suddenly, there is a bright spotlight, Demeter is lowered into the scene, floating above the mortals.
Demeter (booming voice): Who dares violate Thesmophoria and this land? Were you mortals not grateful that I have been blessing these lands with grain and wheat, that I spared your lord? Defiling the Earth like this again, I will make it so that you may never have wheat to eat! The earth will become infertile and you will starve for this asebeia.
The men tremble in fear, kneeling down and crying out prayers: Poseidon, please save us - you are the one who holds our lives in the palm of your hand, the one with the most influence over the earth! Our lord committed his offence in order to bring your name justice, Petraios please help us!
Helios, Poseidon, Boreas appear similarly to Demeter, with bright spotlights on them and lowered into the scene, each holding a wine cup as if they had just come from a feast.
Poseidon: Demeter, sister, did you think we would not notice that you were trying to win this competition by using a famine? (laughter, his tone light in a jesting manner)
Boreas: I, Boreas, can create an even larger disaster! There shall be winds whipping the oceans into storms! (sound of howling wind; a wind blows across the stage, knocking some of the mortals over)
Helios: (laughter) I, Helios, can create an even larger disaster! There shall be blazing forest fires and constant heat! (the sound of fire crackling; the light onstage increases as if the sun is shining brighter)
Poseidon: I, Poseidon, the Earth Shaker, can create an even larger disaster! There shall be hurricanes, droughts, and the ocean will rise up to meet the land! (sound of a rainstorm and waves violently hitting the shore)
Helios: We shall see which one of us four the mortals revere in greater power!
Boreas: And we shall feast in their name!
The three gods raise their cups and laugh, while Demeter looks down at the mortals in anger. The sound of rumbling and destruction is heard, while the stage lights dim until it is dark.
Analysis:
The Earth’s Power & Wrath is an aetiological myth explaining the cause of global warming. In a general sense, the cause of it is due to the acts of impiety committed against Demeter, as well as the pride of the Gods. Intertwined throughout are the stories of Boreas’ competition with Helios, the offence of Erysichthon against Demeter, and the festival of Thesmophoria.
This myth was written as a play to be performed during the Great Dionysia - since it is inspired by the comedic play the Thesmophorazusae, written by Aristophanes, also meant to be performed to celebrate Dionysus. For this reason, to show madness and drunkenness - one of the themes of the celebration (Great Dionysia, n.d.) - the gods decide to compete after becoming inebriated - not caring for the wellbeing of individual mortals and more concerned about their pride. In the Thesmophoriazusae, it details hypothetical rituals that this ceremony for Demeter and fertility of their lands (Callim. Hymn 6) would require, since it was something only the women of Demeter’s cult could participate in (Ar. Thesm). This celebration was chosen to show the support and power Demeter has over the mortals, and also is where one of the acts of impiety against Demeter will occur. The fact that it is also meant to be performed during the Great Dionysia means that the audience will be stirred to feeling their emotions and reflect on it.
The inclusion of pigs was important as they are Demeter’s sacred animals, and were sacrificed during the ceremony (DEMETER, n.d.), a grave offence to have them eaten for one’s pleasure instead of sacrificing them.
The Thessalians were followers of Poseidon since their city had many river gods and nymphs (THESSALIDES, n.d.), all under the power of Poseidon and their epithet for him is “Petraios” since he separated the rocks, allowing the Peneius river to floor to sea (Pind. Pyth. iv. 246). It was important to connect the Thessalians with Poseidon and to replicate Erysichthon’s offence so that he would have a motivation to disrespect Demeter in the name of another god as a vessel to represent deforestation and meat consumption, and also so that his men would call upon Poseidon to the scene.
In the classical myth as described by Callimachus, he ignores the words of Demeter’s priestess, ultimately ignoring the words of Demeter herself (Hymn 6. 65; Ov. Met. 8. 739). The priestess was added in the play to represent Demeter’s final warning to this group of mortals who have already disrespected her, and to also explicitly show Demeter as her epithet of Bringer of Law (Ar. Thesm). This is significant in The Earth’s Power & Wrath because as the play unfolds, there are layers of disrespect and impiety against Demeter that one has to have knowledge about the cult of Demeter in order to understand.
Demeter’s epithets, Deo, is used in Thesmophoriazusae (Ar.), and Bringer of Seasons (Hes. Hom. Dem.) were included to show how much the women in her cult worshipped her, as well as the extent of her powers as the Earth’s fertility. Most of the myth is centered around Demeter, since she is the Earth Mother (DEMETER, n.d.).
Demeter joined in the competition in the first place because her position and time as the Goddess of the grain compelled her to prove herself as the god with the most influence over the earth, as well as the asebeia, impieties, committed against her by some of the mortals.
We have seen the wrath of Demeter before, in the Rape of Persephone, and the violation of her tree, resulting in famine, infertility of the earth, and endless hunger (Hes. Hom. Dem.; Callim. Hymn 6. 65; Ov. Met. 8. 739). Here, the endless hunger could be interpreted as bottomless greed for resources, leading to deforestation and the increased consumption of meat - both human-contributing factors to global warming. Demeter had a love for trees, and her favourite was cut down by a Thessalian king, leading into punishments for deforestation and the depletion of natural resources.
The natural disasters on the other hand are caused by the other 3 gods with their powers over the elements. I chose to include Poseidon, Helios, and Boreas specifically because their powers are what can explain the effects and results of global warming like the increase of global temperature, the natural disasters, and the ocean levels rising. It is also why Poseidon’s epithet of Earth Shaker (Aelian, On Animals. 12. 45) was included, since it shows the magnitude of his power to be able to be the partial cause of global warming. All four gods’ work together to cause global warming as a whole. The sounds described near the end are the gods’ powers taking effect, causing the natural disasters they mentioned.
Furthermore, these three gods have been depicted to have had rivalries and competitions in myths such as the Contest of Helius and Boreas (Aesop, Fables), and the Contest of Helius & Poseidon for Corinth (Paus. Description of Greece. 2.1.5). In this play, instead of competing for land, they are competing for their reputations.
The bright light when Demeter and the other gods come into the scene represents their sometimes depicted ‘true forms’ that mortals have a hard time looking at (ps.-Apollod. Bibl. 3. 26-27), as well as the way they were lowered into the scenes using pulley machines, conveying a sense of superiority and size; since they are larger in some myths - walking down from Olympus. It is an example of the usage of deus ex machina, a theatrical device used in plays (Mulvey, n.d.), like Euripedes’ Medea to move the plot along by the interference of a god.
The ending of the play is cynical because I wanted to show the inevitability of mortals’ entanglements with immortal affairs - even though they had nothing to do with the gods’ competition, the mortals were the ones who suffer in the end and the gods don’t care for their individual livelihoods and wellbeing. In the beginning, even though Demeter was helping them by giving them more food, after they commit impiety multiple times, she stops.
In sum, global warming is the result of Demeter’s wrath and the egos of Helios, Poseidon, and Boreas; the three gods not wanting to be one-upped by Demeter as depicted in the play The Earth’s Power & Wrath.
Bibliography
Primary Sources:
Aldrich. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3 (ps.-Apollod. Bibl. 3. 26-27)
Aristophones, Thesmophoriazusae (Ar. Thesm)
Euripides, Medea (Eur. Med)
Evelyn-White. Hesiod, Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter (Hes. Hom. Dem.)
Gibbs. Aesop, Fables (Aesop, Fables)
Jones. Pausanias, Description of Greece (Paus. Description of Greece. 2.1.5)
Lattimore. Homer, Iliad (Hom. Il.13.43.)
Mair. Callimachus, Hymn 6 to Demeter (Callim. Hymn 6)
Melville. Ovid, Metamorphoses 8 (Ov. Met. 8. 739)
Pindar, Pythian (Pind. Pyth. iv. 246)
Schofield. Aelian, On Animals (Aelian, On Animals. 12. 45)
Secondary Sources:
“BOREAS.” BOREAS - Greek God of the North Wind & Winter (Roman Aquilo), www.theoi.com/Titan/AnemosBoreas.html.
“DEMETER - Greek Goddess of Grain & Agriculture.” Theoi Greek Mythology, www.theoi.com/Olympios/Demeter.html.
“Great Dionysia.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Great-Dionysia.
“HELIOS.” HELIUS (Helios) - Greek Titan God of the Sun (Roman Sol), www.theoi.com/Titan/Helios.html.
“POSEIDON - Greek God of the Sea & Earthquakes.” Theoi Greek Mythology, www.theoi.com/Olympios/Poseidon.html.
“Thesmophoria.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Thesmophoria.
“THESSALIDES.” THESSALIDES - Thessalian Naiad Nymphs of Greek Mythology, www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NymphaiThessalides.html.
Mulvey, Caitlin. “Euripides and Deus Ex Machina.” UVM, www.uvm.edu/~jbailly/courses/tragedy/student%20second%20documents/Deus%20ex%20Machina.html.
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