Myth:
Above the sky and along the shining bright milky way, the three siblings of Titans Hyperion and Theia - Helios, the sun god, the moon goddess, Selene and her sister, Eos, the goddess of the dawn. The siblings did not get along, each postulating the idea that one’s power is more superior than the other. The Titans challenged the god and goddesses in using their powers to work together and learn that they are stronger together than apart. They agreed to a plan where Eos would make the first appearance in the sky as the dawn, follow by Helios where he would bring light on Earth, and lastly Selene where she would chariot with the moon through the night sky. As the god and goddesses continue to make the mortals have a life, the 3 siblings got into a massive fight about who is more important. Helios believes that mortals need sunlight than darkness to work and grow crops to make a living. He also wants more mortals to worship him. With more sunlight, more mortals have darker skin will appreciate the god giving them light. Selene believes that having some darkness is just as significant as having sunlight because it is a period where mortals can rest and sleep and dream. Selene would gain more worshippers from light skin mortals because she lets them rest easily. This fight led Helios and Selene to lose control of the sun and moon chariot. Consequently, this mistake creates distinct regions of latitudinal sunlight on earth. In other words, instead of the entire earth having the same amount of sunlight and darkness at the same time, some parts of the earth do not receive sunlight at all. This brings the attention of Apollo, the god of healing. Apollo notices that some mortals cannot withstand some harsh conditions such as those with no sunlight and moves those mortals to areas with more light. Now that daylight and nighttime are spread out unevenly throughout the world, places with more sunlight would have more dark skin mortals while places with less sunlight would have more light skin mortals.
Analysis
This narrative is an etiology for the origin of racial difference. This myth shows how some people, depending on which parts of the world they are from, have darker or lighter skin tones. Those with darker skin are closer to Helios’ sun chariot that causes them to have more melanin in their skin. On the other hand, those with lighter skin are closer to Selene’s moon chariot because the moonlight socks into their skin and causing them to become pale. In addition to Helios and Selene, Apollo helps move mortals from difficult conditions that are hard to adapt to and make a living to areas that are more suitable and tolerable temperature. Due to Apollo’s help, it explains why there are areas where humans don’t live in. Such areas include the North pole or Antarctica because there is very little sunlight not only per day but for the entire year the sun only shines 3-4 months out of 12 months and from more darkness comes the freezing cold weather.
It has been told that Helios’ son, Phaethon begged his father to have control over the sun chariot and let him ride on his immortal horses as he crosses the sky from east (Ethiopia) to west (Hesperides) (Cartwright, M. (2021, March 04). Riding the chariot is too powerful for any gods- even Zeus- to do besides the owner which is Helios. (PHAETHON. (n.d.). Helios tells his son, “No, my child, choose something else. You ask for too dangerous of a gift. Even Zeus, the mighty god of thunder, will not drive the chariot of the Sun. The horses breathe out flames and the chariot itself is fiery hot. So powerful are the steeds that I, a full-grown god, can barely restrain them.” (James Parks, Phaeton and the Chariot of the Sun). It would not be a good idea for Phaethon, being just an arrogant boy to ride such a powerful ride and expects it to not have any consequences or affect the mortals. As sadly as the statement suggests, it is in fact the truth. Due to his pride, Phaethon lost control over the horses which set the earth ablaze, making African, a land filled with desert, and the North, a freezing and snowy area. (Helios. (n.d.). This story further proves the myth about the lands being too dry and too hot with too much sunlight like Africa or the lands being nothing but freezing cold with piles of white snow like the North Pole, “poor Phaeton was terror-stricken and could barely hold the reins much less restrain the powerful horses… Closer and closer the fiery chariot came to the Earth. Rivers began to dry up, cities and forest caught fire because of the great heat” (James Parks, Phaeton and the Chariot of the Sun). The consequence of Phaethon’s action brings unbalance to the earth even more than Helios and Selene could do. Furthermore, Phaethon causes mountains, volcanoes, forests, and deserts (PHAETHON. (n.d.).
When inspecting properly, it was irrational and irresponsible for the siblings Selene and Helios to fight over who’s power is more patronizing than others. This is because they both possess the powers of a Titan, meaning they are equally powerful (Helios. (n.d.). Suppose that Helios and Selene cooperated, the accident of losing control of the sun and moon chariot would not have happened and would not bring such unpleasant imbalances amongst the mortals.
Even though Selene is the goddess of the moon, she has the ability to bring light to the night sky with the moonlight. Artemis, Apollo’s sister, uses this as an advantage to hunt for her animals as she is the goddess of hunting and animals (Madeleine. (2019, December 02). This statement supports the myth about the moon having enough light to soak into the skin of the mortals resulting in lighter skin. If the moon is bright enough for Artemis to use it to hunt for her animals, it is bright enough to have some effect amongst the living mortals. Ironically, though Selene wished to have more worshippers especially by the light skin from her letting the light skin mortals sleep and rest, she does not have a temple where people can come and visit. Selene was worshipped in the sky instead and the reason for this is because she is seen from anywhere in ancient Greece (Madeleine. (2019, December 02).
Selene has more powers than she seems. She is the representation of constant change because the moon goes through various different changes each month as it circles around the Earth. Mortals can sometimes get an extra bright night from the bright big moon during a full moon. Moreover, Selene is considered the all- seeing eye of the night because she sees everything that is visible in the night sky, and with that, no one would hide or run from her (Madeleine. (2019, December 02). This is the opposite of her brother, Helios where he can see anything that the sunlight hits or where the light shines too. Selene helps mortals sleep easily because she has the ability to allow mortals to dream and as they dream she would often visit them in their sleep. Mortals are curious creators and would sometimes have questions regarding the lands or even the gods or goddesses. Selene would answer these questions as she visits them in their sleep. Selene is a kind goddess and adores the mortals on earth, “Long ago, darkness reigned over the night. People were afraid and remained inside their shelters from sundown until sunrise. The goddess Selene saw their fear and gave light to their nocturnal world by driving her moon chariot across the starry sky. She followed her brother Helios, who rode the sun and caught his shining rays on her magnificent silver chariot, then cast them down to earth as moonbeams. She felt pride in the way the earthlings were comforted by her light.” (Lynne Ewing, The Secret Scroll).
References:
- Cartwright, M. (2021, March 04). Helios. Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://www.ancient.eu/Helios/
- Helios. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://riordan.fandom.com/wiki/Helios
- Madeleine. (2019, December 02). Selene: Goddess of the MOON Powers. Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://www.theoi.com/articles/selene-goddess-of-the-moon-powers/
- PHAETHON. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://prezi.com/o3m65k7xoms7/phaethon/
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