The Origin of Crisis
There it was. A divine universe, spreading beauty and sunshine across all life.
“The Earth was created, split between two elements, each keeping important balance amongst the world. In order to preserve this balance, Gods were born. Uranus (Father Sky) and Gaia (Mother Earth). Uranus kept balance within the sky, and Gaia kept balance on earth. Eventually, humans were created and they spread quickly amongst the planet. Uranus and Gaia found it difficult to keep up with the humans as they began to advance quite fast, continuously affecting the earth’s balance and successfully throwing it off each era. Humans contain greed, you see. Uranus and Gaia had children, each assigned to a new element to keep a hold on. Eventually, after each new god had offspring of their own, I was born, along with my many siblings. My duty was to take care of the sun, raise it each morning and put it to sleep each night. It is a very important job.”
I looked at Helios with a confused expression.
“How were humans throwing off the Earth’s balance? I thought we were created to tend to the earth, why do you claim we are destroying it?”
I asked.
“Well you see, that was the original plan. But humans have greed. Humans run off of chaos, something the Gods did not see coming. Slowly, you are killing the earth. Soon enough you will destroy yourselves too, you’ll see.”
That was a very bold statement… I had heard of pollution and extinction many times in school and in the news, but I never thought it was as serious as Helios is making it seem.
“You’re saying that humans are currently destroying themselves, we’re driving ourselves to extinction?” “Yes my child. Let me help explain by telling you the story of my son, Phaethon.” “As you know, I use my golden chariot to move the sun. One day, Phaethon, who had lived with his mother on earth, swore to prove to his peers that I was his father, by driving my sun chariot across the sky. I had not met my son yet, and as most gods do, I watched him from above until he was ready to see me. I was very excited to meet him, so I told him I’d grant him a wish. Phaethon demanded he be given the chance to drive the sun chariot across the sky for a day – a request I scorned at first, but against his stagnant stubbornness, eventually fulfilled anyway. I warned Phaethon not to use the whip, but of course, his pride took over and he used it anyway. The horses went wild, and Phaethon lost control of the chariot, causing havoc in the sky and earth, throwing it off balance like it had never been before. The chariot eventually swung too close to earth, torching it in an instant. All life was lost, including Phaeton’s mother. Quickly, Zeus struck a lightning bolt at Phaeton to avoid any more damage. This killed him. Your own greed and pride are the origins of future suffering.”
Analysis:
This myth follows a supposed human who is conversing with Helios about the creation of the universe as well as human destruction, specifically hinting at global warming and its potential impacts. Firstly, the myth begins with explaining the creation of the world according to Greek myth. In ancient texts, the beginning of life starts when earth is created. From there, mother earth and father heaven, Gaia and Uranus, emerge (Homer, Iliad 3.104). The story is slightly different depending on various texts. One common theme across all life beginning is chaos. Chaos describes how all creations came to be, including the universe. In Greek myth, chaos means the primeval emptiness of the universe, the time preceding the creation of the universe and also the gap between heaven and earth. Chaos was also the first thing to exist (Hesoid, Theogony 120-125). Eventually, the first gods also emerge out of chaos, which is how Gaia was created (Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.196). The most common version states that Gaia was the first god, who then had Uranus as a son and proceeded to have more children with Uranus, named the Titans. In this myth, Gaia and Uranus appear to have emerged simultaneously. Their story was slightly altered to suggest that Gaia and Uranus were created together. This was to represent that the current damage to earth caused by the human race was not created by one person or group of people, but rather the entire world. Gaia and Uranus embody the beginning of life, and emerging together represents that humans need to come together to help fix, or ‘rebirth’ earth.
Furthermore, in this myth, the timeline in which humans were created was altered. Originally, a few generations of Gods are born before humans exist, including the olympians followed by the titans. In original texts, humans were formed when Prometheus and Epimetheus were spared imprisonment in Tartarus because they had not fought with their fellow Titans during the war with the Olympians. They were given the task of creating man. Prometheus shaped man out of mud, and Athena breathed life into his clay figure. Prometheus had assigned Epimetheus the task of giving the creatures of the earth their various qualities, such as swiftness, cunning, strength, fur, wings. Unfortunately, by the time he got to man Epimetheus had given all the good qualities out and there were none left for man. So Prometheus decided to make man stand upright as the gods did and to give them fire (Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.196). However, in the myth, it was changed so humans were created after Gaia and Uranus, but before Helios and Zeus (Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2.13). This was altered in order to represent the rapid development of humans, much like the industrial revolution and the many inventions that followed in the real world. Explaining that other gods were created in order to help control the thrown off balance emphasizes the rapid development, and destruction, of humans as a species.
Additionally, this myth was made to emphasize that humans are the main source of destruction, or global warming. In ancient myth, there were gods who embodied greed and so do not suggest that humans were the sole creators of greed. Koros was a spirit/god who embodied greed (Herodotus, Histories 8. 77. 1). This was changed because in the modern world, humans are in fact one of the main reasons global warming is advancing so quickly. This myth was made as a lesson to humans that we are the cause of this destruction, so ancient myths regarding greed were left out.
Helios is then talked about in the myth. Firstly, he explains that he was born to keep a hold on the earth’s balance along with his many siblings, which the humans were affecting. Again, the first part is altered because in ancient texts, Helios would have been a part of the Olympians, who were born before the creation of humans. However, the mention of his family was not altered. Helios was born along with many other siblings including Zeus, who is talked about later. Helios is the god of the sun. He was thought to ride a golden chariot which brought the Sun across the skies creating night and day (Homer, Odyssey 12.176-322). In the myth, this description of Helios does not change. This is because his original story is relevant when Phaethon is mentioned. He explains that his job was to raise and set the sun each day, much like the original ancient texts describe.
Also, the description of the gods in the myth follow the long history of anthropomorphism in greek texts. Oftentimes, greek gods are portrayed as human-like with many similar qualities. This almost lessens their divineness. In this myth, it is helpful because it explains that the gods had no control over the human’s actions.
Lastly, the story of Phaeton gets told by his father, Helios. In ancient texts, the story goes that Phaeton begged his father to use the sun chariot. Helios had told Phaeton he would grant him a wish as this was their first time meeting, because Phaeton was born from a mortal on earth. So, Helios eventually allowed Phaeton to use his chariot, but warned him to not use the whip. After disobeying Helios and doing just that, the horses went crazy, and the chariot went up to the sky, causing a global freezing and then swung back down to earth, creating sand dunes and deserts after torching it slightly. When Zeus discovered the destruction that was occurring, he sent down a lightning bolt which struck Phaeton in the chest, killing him, before any more damage could be done (Homer, Iliad 11.735 and Homer, Odyssey 5.479). This story was only slightly altered in the myth, as it explained that Phaeton had actually scorched earth, completely destroying everything including his mother. This was altered in order to represent the true horror that can occur due to global warming. Continuous pollution of the earth has caused a steady rise in earth’s temperature as well as affected the atmosphere. Predictions of the earth’s future go as far as complete extinction if our atmosphere becomes too obstructed. Extinction is still happening as a result of pollution, habitat loss, global warming, and hunting. By explaining that Phaethon had scorched earth completely, it represents what may happen to earth if humans continue to practice destructive habits. Just like Phaethon, humans have deluded themselves into believing that they are able to take advantage of their free will and control the 'reins' of nature, represented by the whip and reins to control the horses on the chariot, even if it means polluting the earth to such a point of destruction. This myth describes life's beginnings and various God’s stories while connecting and representing global warming in today’s world.
Bibliography
Homer, Iliad 3.104
Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.196
Homer, Odyssey 12.176-322
Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2.13
Homer, Iliad 11.735
Homer, Odyssey 5.479
Hesoid, Theogony 104
Herodotus, Histories 8. 77. 1
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