Myth
There once was a king named Pelagius, he was the son of Poseidon and a water nymph. Since he was a demi-god, he had the power to somewhat manipulate the temperature to his liking. Pelagius kingdom was very small; it was located close to the Aegean Sea in which Poseidon resided in. Pelagius was a very arrogant king; he believed he was the most beautiful man in the world. Everyone in his kingdom believed he had absolutely no flaw, that he was perfect. However, one of Pelagius’s weaknesses was that he always had to remain cool. If his body became too hot, his skin would be completely wrinkled. The weather had to be the perfect temperature for Pelagius. If it became too hot, Pelagius would make a cool breeze from the sea to blow on his kingdom; this would ensure his palace is always cool. Due to his power, the people of his kingdom began worshiping Pelagius like a god. Some even went as far as thinking he was better than the gods themselves. King Pelagius had a misconception that the weather and the sun’s heat do not affect him and his people in any way, he believed that the sun god Helios and Zeus, who also controlled the weather, were “no match for him”. He was so blinded by his arrogance that he started to believe he was stronger and more powerful than both of the gods combined!
Undoubtedly, when Zeus and Helios found out about this, they were not happy. The two gods became incredibly furious with Pelagius’s behaviour. They began sabotaging king Pelagius and his people. Zeus challenged Pelagius to a competition in which they had to manipulate the weather. Since Pelagius was overconfident, he was sure he would win. However, when it came to truly competing against Zeus, Pelagius was powerless. Naturally, Pelagius lost. As punishment for his arrogance, Zeus conjured up a storm so strong that it completely destroyed Pelagius’s kingdom and killed all of his people. Pelagius was terrified and completely distraught, there were no people left in his kingdom. The palace was completely destroyed.
Helios’s punishment was to make the sun rays that hit Pelagius’s kingdom hotter. However, before Helios’s punishment could strike him, he fled his kingdom. Since he had no kingdom now, Pelagius’s plan was to keep running from Helios’s hot rays. He thought if he never settled down in one place, the punishment would not affect him. As a result, Helios became blinded by rage; he could not believe Pelagius would evade his punishment! From that day on, Helios vowed that the sun will get hotter and hotter so Pelagius receives his punishment from anywhere in the world. Pelagius was frightened; he began to consider how he would preserve his charm if the world became too hot. He would eventually lose his beauty if his skin shriveled up! Pelagius slowly began to lose his sanity. Pelagius’s mistake caused all of humanity to suffer.
Analysis
Aetiological myths explain a phenomenon or explain its origin. The phenomenon that is explained through this myth is global warming. The key points that are included in this story about global warming are: the earth is becoming hotter and the changes in weather around the world. The punishment of Helios, who is the sun god and one of the gods Pelagius angers, declares that the heat of the sun will keep on increasing. Since Pelagius does not settle down in one place, the heat of the sun will increase all around the world so that it is guaranteed Pelagius receives his punishment. Pelagius’s mistake caused all of the earth to suffer. Although Zeus does not make all of earth suffer from awful weather, the consequence of the heat increasing because of Helios has caused parts of the earth to experience extreme weather and certain changes in the usual weather are also observed.
The character that is used in this myth is fictional. The name “Pelagius” means the sea in Greek (Campbell). This specific name was chosen since king Pelagius' fictitious kingdom is near the sea. His kingdom is near the Aegean Sea, this is of significance as Poseidon resides here (“Poseidon”). Pelagius is a demigod, son of Poseidon, who is able to slightly alter the temperature of the wind that flows in his kingdom. This minor power makes him believe he is all-powerful. The people of his kingdom also believe he has more power than the gods. They begin worshiping him instead of the gods. In the end, they also pay for their mistakes as their homes are destroyed and they are killed. Pelagius was a very arrogant man who was also delusional. This myth does not directly adopt any existing myth; however some themes and elements that are seen in most myths are used. The first theme is the harsh and cruel punishments if the people defied the gods. Most of the time, this theme in myths almost always involves evil people. One of the myths that was an inspiration for this story is the myth of Sisyphus.
Sisyphus was the king of Ephyra. He was known for his trickery and wicked behaviour. Sisyphus was also evil and treated people horribly. Although many sources mention Siyphus’s punishments, they all claim different reasons as to why he is punished to begin with. The one reason that is used as inspiration for this myth is the treachery towards Zeus and cheating death twice. One tradition states that Zeus carried off the nymph Aegina, who was the daughter of Asopus. Sisyphus was witness to this and betrayed Zeus by informing Asopus. He was rewarded by Asopus, however Zeus punished him for his disloyalty in the underworld (Pausanias 5.1). Zeus sent Thanatos, the personification of death, to Sisyphus as punishment. Sisyphus however did not want to die, so he tricked Thanatos by chaining him up and went back among the living. Eventually, Sisyphus died, however he informed his wife to not have a proper funeral and burial for him. This allowed him to trick Hades and Persephone into going back among the living to punish his wife. Eventually, he was forcefully carried by Hermes to face Zeus. He finally received his punishment. For all of eternity, Sisyphus’s task was to push a boulder up a steep hill. This task was proven futile as the boulder never reached the top of the hill, it will always roll back down (Horace 24.30).
This myth was an inspiration as Pelagius also defies the gods and receives punishment. Zeus is known for punishing those who committed a crime, as he watches the affairs of all men (Eustathius 213). The parts of this myth that I adopted were that the main characters are kings. They are unsuitable to rule as they do not care about anybody else other than themselves. They also evade punishment by tricking the gods. Evidently, they both pay for their trickery. However, with Pelagius’s myth, all of humanity has to also suffer the consequences of his actions.
Another theme that is seen in most myths that result in punishment is hubris towards the gods. This theme almost always leads to cruel and unusual punishments. The other myth that was an inspiration for this story is the myth of Arachne. She was the daughter of Idmon of Colophon which was in Lydia. Arachne was gifted in weaving, however she was extremely prideful. She was so blinded by her arrogance that she challenged Athena to a weaving contest. Athena weaved and her work depicted the gods who were gloriously seated on their thrones. Arachne however weaved the cloth so that the affairs of the gods were shown. Even though there was no fault in Arachne’s work, Athena was fairly outraged (Aelian 1.2). Athena eventually tore up the cloth Arachne weaved. Due to this, Arachne became so overwhelmed with guilt that she tried to hang herself. Athena took pity on her and loosened the rope in time and saved Arachne. The rope by which Arachne was attempting to take her life was transformed into a cobweb. Arachne was then transformed into a spider so she can continue to weave for the rest of her life (Virgil 246). This story explains why spiders exist and why they weave.
This myth was also an inspiration for this story as Pelagius believes he is worthy enough to compete with the gods. As with Arachne, Pelagius is proven wrong and eventually punished for his actions. Arachne and Pelagius both hold a competition with the gods, believing they would be the ones who are victorious. Zeus is the god that competes with Pelagius to determine who holds the most power. Both Arachne and Pelagius are very arrogant and delusional; they believe they can win over gods who hold much more power than them. Arrogance and being prideful are two themes that are very important when it comes to myths like Arachne and Pelagius. The myth of Arachne also explains the origins of something, in this case, it is spiders and why they weave cobwebs. This was also adopted into the myth of Pelagius to explain the phenomenon of global warming. The similarities between these two stories are that they are both aetiological myths. The only difference between these stories is that Arachne is the only one punished for her deeds. However, with Pelagius, the entire earth has to pay.
References
Aelian, Historical Miscellany. 1.2
Campbell, Mike. “Meaning, Origin and History of the Name Pelagius.” Behind the Name, www.behindthename.com/name/pelagius.
Eustathius, Commentary on Iliad. 631, 1702
Horace, Carmina ii. 24.20
Pausanias, Description of Greece ii. 5.1
“POSEIDON - Greek God of the Sea & Earthquakes.” Theoi Greek Mythology, www.theoi.com/Olympios/Poseidon.html.
Virgil, Georgics iv. 246
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