Mythical Story
On a bright summer day, one of the most horrific natural disasters approached the small island on the southern shore of Thera, a volcanic eruption. Nobody was ready for what the gods had in store for them, specifically the god Hephaestus, who initiated the eruption while hammering away with his new tool. There was one individual who can stop the volcano from causing many casualties, his name was Niko. To other individuals, Niko showed many god-like attributes. His strength was compared to someone like Heracles, his wisdom among the likes of Athena, and his leadership was said to be even better than Odysseus. Niko knew that there was a way to save Thera from this disaster, but nothing came to his mind, this was the first time Niko could not think of a plan… and it came at the worst timing possible. When Niko was struggling and confused on what to do, he heard someone speaking in his head, the voice said, “You are the one, you will be looked at as a hero, I will help you”, Niko’s stress raised even more, but he managed to say “What will you have me do”, the voice finished the conversation by saying “You must complete three tasks, I will guide you on where to go, you must do the rest yourself. If the three tasks are completed Thera will be saved”. For the first task, Niko was to find and retrieve a sea horse. The voice guided Niko to an island that he has not seen before and within the island he saw a sea horse that had been captured by a snake-like creature. Niko never thought the day would come where he was standing face-to-face (eyes closed) with Medusa. For Niko to retrieve the sea horse, he must keep an oath to Medusa that he will uncurse Medusa from Athena’s spell, he promised Medusa and retrieved the sea horse. For the second task, Niko was to venture to Olympus and collect the sceptre from Zeus. In order to complete the task, Niko needed Hera’s help. Hera decided to lure Zeus away from his sceptre by using Aphrodite’s girdle that can make anyone fall in love. Niko took that opportunity and stole Zeus’s sceptre and completed the second task. For the final task Niko was alone, the voice stopped guiding him. Using the wisdom that many people compared to Athena, Niko realized that the sea horse is significant to one Greek god alone, Poseidon. When Niko approached the destination with the sea horse, Poseidon spoke, and Niko realized that Poseidon was the one guiding him all along. Poseidon gave Niko his Trident and said, “You will stop the eruption using thunder, rain and water”. Niko hustled back to Thera using thunder, rain and water to stop the eruption from approaching the island. Although Niko stopped the volcanic eruption from taking over Thera, the residuals of the lava that touched the ocean made the temperature of the sea levels extremely warm and started to rise. Niko thought that he had saved a whole island, but now Niko must save the entire world from the dangerous ocean temperatures that have just begun.
Analysis Portion
I decided to follow the works of Odysseus and Heracles to portray myself as the main character since many “heroes” possess very human-like traits, for example, Athene mentions “But my heart aches for Odysseus, wise but ill fated, who suffers far from his friends on an island deep in the sea.” (Hom. Ody. i. 47-48). Odysseus was portrayed as a hero since he was able to last 20 years without being able to go home to Ithaca, but many do not know that Odysseus started to feel homesick and was put under a lot of stress to be able to survive and go back to Ithaca safely. Many people growing up now, like myself, feel the exact same way when I do not have people around me that I can rely on. Being able to portray yourself as the hero of the story also shows that many heroes do not live perfect lives and inevitably could end up harming yourself. Heracles, for example, was shown as a hero who could do anything by himself, but there are many instances where Heracles needed the support of someone else to complete his challenges. Heracles had to use his nephew, Lolaus, when trying to defeat the Hydra (Apol. Biblio. 2.4.8-2.7.7). I decided to have my character receive help to complete the tasks like Heracles and his labours because many people in modern day, and in recent history, believe that they can rely on themselves to complete difficult tasks. In the end, individuals realize that they do need help from other people in order to achieve their goals which is what my character, Heracles, and Odysseus endured when faced with challenges that they could not achieve by themselves. Also, In Euripides’ work, after Heracles had finished all of the labours, he realizes that he has become mentally ill when he murdered his entire family, “Herakles merely turned his wild, monstrous gaze at him and, since the boy was too close for him to use the bow and arrow, he raised his huge club above his head and, like a blacksmith hammers his hot iron, brought the club down hard upon the boy’s blond head and smashed his skull.” (Euri. Herakles. 986-990). Even though many people saw Heracles as an immortal god and a hero who was extremely determined, Heracles was suffering and bottled up his emotions so no one would perceive him differently which many people in modern day do as well. Making myself the main character made me realize how much expectation others have of you. When I opted to choose god-like characteristics for my character, I realized that all those traits could also be a burden when something does not go according to plan and could put a lot of stress and anxiety for someone who is generally seen as a hero. I decided to use the island of Thera to portray the volcanic eruption since the Thera eruption, also know as the Minoan eruption occurred around 1500 BCE that wiped out the entire Minoan civilization (The Thera Eruption). I wanted to portray what could have happened if there was an individual who could use god-like powers in a real-life phenomenon. A lot of the Minoan civilization history was lost due to the eruption, if there was a hero that could have changed the narrative of the Thera eruption, then we would know more about the Minoan civilizations. The type of challenges that my character endured directly correlates to the challenges that Heracles endured when trying to complete the labours. Instead providing a total of 12 tasks, I decided to give my character three. I wanted to emphasize the gods and goddesses and their symbolic items and stories. The overall focus was to portray what type of actions the gods would perform in this chaotic situation. During one of the tasks with Zeus, I mention that Aphrodite has a magic girdle that can make anyone fall in love, Homer mentions the girdle in the Iliad when Hera states, “Grant me Love and Desire, with which you subdue mortals and gods alike. I am off to the ends of fruitful earth, to visit Oceanus, source of all the gods, and Mother Tethys.” (Hom. Il. xiv. 175-178). This girdle symbolizes how important Aphrodite is to many gods and how she is mentioned in many honourable stories. The girdle that Hera used on Zeus in the Iliad becomes extremely beneficial as it turned the tides of the war to favour the Greeks. Within this narrative, I wanted to show the importance of Aphrodite’s presence in changing the outcome of the story. The success of Aphrodite’s girdle leads to Niko collecting a crucial weapon that helped him save Thera, Zeus’s sceptre. Zeus’s main power the “lightning bolt” is an extremely symbolic power that is generated from his sceptre, the importance of the sceptre in this narrative significantly gives Niko the advantage in stopping the eruption (Hes. Works. 467-470 ). I also wanted to signify Medusa’s backstory of how she became a gorgon, this was also another task that Niko had to complete to save Thera. In Hesiod’s Theogony Medusa was described as “Medousa (Medusa), whose fate is a sad one, for she was mortal, but the other two immortal and ageless both alike. Poseidon, he of the dark hair, lay with one of these, in a soft meadow and among spring flowers.” (Hes. Theog. 270). Athena and Poseidon have had many conflicts with each other, when Medusa had an affair with Poseidon, Athena was enraged and turned Medusa into a mortal gorgon. One of Medusa’s most symbolic abilities as a gorgon is turning people into stone with her eyes. The integration of Medusa’s abilities helped Niko understand the consequences when looking into the eyes of Medusa, in the end, helping Niko retrieve the sea horse from Medusa. Also, the integration of Poseidon and the significance of the sea horse and trident helped Niko save Thera. Also, Poseidon’s role during the story of Troy was to help the Greeks defeat the Trojans, as well as motivating the Greeks to conquer their land (Hom. Il. 352-401). I used Poseidon to act as an oracle just like Poseidon did during the conquering of the Trojans since it helped Niko complete the tasks within a limited amount of time. The trident, in my opinion, is the most useful weapon out of any of the god’s symbolic items. That is why I decided to prioritize Poseidon as the guide for Niko because of the attributes Poseidon’s trident holds. I also indicate Athena and her wisdom that Niko similarly acquires. I wanted to prioritize Athena’s wisdom since making quick decisions helped Niko understand why the sea horse was so significant. In addition, I wanted to show how humans could also be as smart as, or even smarter than gods in order to show heroic traits when the main character does not naturally have god-like attributes.
Reference List
Apollodorus, Bibliotheca. 2.4.8-2.7.7. Translated by Sir J. G. Frazer (1921 Loeb)
Euripides, Herakles. 986-990 Translated by George Theodoridis © Copyright 2012, all rights reserved - Bacchicstage
Hesiod, Theogony. 270. Translated by H. G. Evelyn-White (1914 Loeb)
Homer, Iliad 14. 175-178. Translated by A. T. Murray (1924 Loeb)
Homer, Odyssey 1. 47-48. Translated by A. T. Murray (1919 Loeb)
Homer, Works and Days 467-470. Translated by H. G. Evelyn-White (1914 Loeb)
“The Eruption of Thera.” | Forbes and Fifth | University of Pittsburgh, 2017.
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