When he heard the news about the attack on Pearl Harbour, Evander leapt at the chance to finally join the war in Europe and fight for freedom with his country. But things still did not move quickly so he prayed to the sun god Helios, watcher of gods and men, and asked that he might use the sun chariot to get to Europe from his house in Phoenix, Arizona.
Helios, flattered by the words and amazed at Evander’s courage, came down and offered Evander a ride wherever he needed to go. But Evander refused, saying, “I am the descendent of Heracles to whom you lent your chariot. Lend it to me and I will swear on the River Styx to return it as he did.”
Remembering Heracles with fondness, Helios acquiesced to Evander’s request and gave him the chariot after he swore on the River Styx. But he did not entirely trust Evander, so he followed the chariot’s path soon after Evander took off.
Helios, who sees and hears everything, was right. Not long had passed when Evander saw the sunny beaches of Florida from his perch on the sun chariot and decided he deserved a short vacation before risking his life in the war. Helios halted him on a beach in Jacksonville and demanded to know why he betrayed his sacred oath. Not one to be intimidated, Evander explained his desire for a vacation. Helios was not impressed and said, “You are no Heracles. You betrayed your oath on the River Styx and your intentions. I hope you go to war and die a horrible death. You are a worthless excuse for a mortal.”
Outraged, Evander charged at Helios with a cry, catching him off guard and knocking him to the ground. Helios fought back with force, angry that a mortal would dare attack him. Their fight continued until Helios rushed at Evander to pound him into the ground. But his yell of triumph turned into a groan of pain as he stumbled away as ichor poured out of his side and Evander stood triumphant with a knife in his hand. Helios sent a wave of power, knocking the mortal to the ground unconscious.
Still lying on the ground, Helios called on Apollo and told the far-darter: “I am weary of serving the whims of gods and men. I wished to retire long ago but Zeus would not let me. Now, after this disaster, it is time for me to go. You must take my place as god of the sun.” Stunned, Apollo agreed, and the two gods alighted on the sun chariot so Helios could teach Apollo all he knew. When they reached Methana Volcano, Helios instructed Apollo to land the chariot. Helios said to Apollo: “Farewell Lord of the Silver Bow, this is where I leave you. I will rest here in this volcano for all eternity.” Then he walked up to the volcano and vanished into it.
Before Apollo resumed the sun’s course, he taught the people living nearby about Helios and they chose to worship him and send sacrifices into the volcano each year. Thanks to them, Helios was never forgotten, and his divine presence combined with the peoples’ sacrifices caused the volcano to burn with supernatural heat, warming the whole earth and increasing its temperature incrementally each year.
Analysis
My aetiological myth explains the origin and reasons behind global warming. Ignoring the science, my myth tells the story of Helios getting into a fight with a mortal, retiring from being the sun god, and living in Methana Volcano (volcano in Greece) that burns hotter due to Helios’ divine presence and annual sacrifices thereby increasing the temperature of the earth.
Myths in ancient sources are set in ancient Greece, or modern times for the mythographers. I chose the 1940s because the events of that decade (i.e. bombing of Pearl Harbour and the United States entering World War II) are well-known. Also, Evander’s desire to join the war provides a need to travel a far distance quickly, making the sun chariot the ideal mode of transportation. I could have set the myth in ancient times with Evander wanting to join the Trojan War or another conflict in that time, but I still chose the 1940s because the purpose of myth is for it to be remembered years into the future. Today, I think the events of the 1940s are more memorable than the events of Ancient Greece. Furthermore, my myth evokes the image of Evander sitting at home, chomping at the bit to go to war but having to wait for the government’s order and all the preparations required to ship out, showing a lot about his character without putting it in words.
The character of Evander is completely fictional with little basis from ancient texts other than that he is a descendant of Heracles. I chose Heracles and his physical prowess and accomplishments as a mortal to explain Evander’s pride, arrogance, and ego. I also looked to Agamemnon, who went behind Clytemnestra’s back and sacrificed their daughter to Artemis to win the Trojan War (Aesch., Ag. 140-249). Similarly, I decided that Evander would have second thoughts about his noble intentions to join the war and stop in Florida for a vacation, thus going behind Helios’ back.
Ancient sources describe Helios as the sun (Hom., Od. I.1-21; VII.256-366; Hom., Il. XIX.338-424; VIII.438-488; Trzaskoma 189, 209; Eur., Med. 401-409, 741-749, 1251-1272), the god “who sees and hears everything” (Hom., Od. XI.90-149; XII.320-373), the god “who comforts mortals” (Hom., Od. XII.260-319), and the god “who watches both gods and men” (Trzaskoma 171). My myth includes the same descriptions because they fit the plot. To explain global warming, I used a volcano for Helios’ retirement location because it is a similar heat source to the sun. I also chose a volcano (Methana Volcano) that is in Greece because Helios is a Greek god and it makes more sense for him to retire near home. Additionally, I chose to keep Helios’ ability to see and hear everything and watch gods and men so that he could quickly catch Evander going off course instead of waiting for another god to tell him. Furthermore, I decided to not explicitly say that Helios comforts mortals but show it through his actions. In the duel, Helios honours Evander’s limitations as a mortal by not using supernatural powers until he proves unworthy of honour and when Helios does use powers, he only knocks Evander out instead of wiping out his existence. On the other hand, the ancient sources include Helios spying on gods and reporting their wrongdoing but not punishing them (Hom., Il. XIV.292-351; Trzaskoma 170-171) and he complains to gods about Odysseus’ crew stealing his cows and Zeus ends up punishing them for him after he threatens to go to Hades (Hom., Od. XII.374-453). I chose to deviate from this and make Helios willing to interfere with Evander and punish him to limit the number of characters in my myth and give Helios more reasons to retire.
Although Apollo is more involved in human’s affairs than Helios in ancient myth, I chose to keep his role in my myth to a minimum to focus on Helios and completing his story. However, I used the epithets “Far-darter” and “Lord of the Silver Bow” which are commonly used in ancient sources to describe or refer to Apollo (Trzaskoma 178-179, 181-183, 188, 191-196, 200, 203-204, 207; Hom., Il. I.22-52, 428-487; II.760-810; V.431-518, 705-766; VII.54-119; IX.527-605; X.515-579; XXI.200-297; XXIII.740-797; XXIV.1-76, 552-620, 718-775; Hom., Od. VII.1-77, 256-366; XV.405-492; XVII.204-253). In addition, I drew inspiration from a common description of Apollo as the sun or sunlight (Aesch., Ag. 501-509, 645-659, 1255-1269, 1321-1330) and made him take over Helios’ role as the sun god. On the other hand, one thing I made up about Apollo is his willingness to teach people about Helios so that I could use sacrifice to explain why the volcano gets hotter. My impression of him from ancient sources is that he is more concerned about himself than helping others despite his involvement in the Trojan War. Therefore, I made this change to ensure that my explanation for global warming makes sense.
In my myth, Evander borrows Helios’ sun chariot and refer to Heracles’ tenth labour where he shoots and arrow at Helios, who admires his courage and lets him borrow the sun chariot (Apollod., The Library 2.5.10). It did not make sense for Evander to shoot an arrow at Helios so I chose a quest that Helios would think is courageous and hinted that the prayer included a hefty amount of flattery to persuade the god. I also chose this reference to emphasize the differences between Evander and Heracles in both their reasons for using the chariot and their characters. Since ancient sources describe Helios and his chariot as the sun (Trzaskoma 189, 209) it makes sense that he would not lend the chariot to just anyone, explaining why he would first offer to give Evander a ride rather than giving him the chariot outright and his strong reaction to Evander’s stop in Florida. Furthermore, I added an oath on the River Styx to the transaction to add more gravity to the situation because in ancient myth, the goddess Calypso calls such an oath “the blessed gods’ greatest most dreadful oath” (Hom., Od. V.148-191). I chose to use the severity of this oath to further justify Helios’ actions when Evander breaks his promise.
In the climax of my myth, Evander and Helios fight much like Paris and Menelaus (Hom., Il. III.1-120, 245-461) and Hector and Ajax (Hom., Il. VII.1-312) in ancient sources. However, I chose for the fight in my myth to be a spur-of-the-moment event rather than prearranged to make the plot move quickly. I also chose for the fight to be between Evander and Helios rather than Evander and another mortal to provide Helios with reason to retire. If another mortal fought on Helios’ behalf, he would not have been as affected by defeat. In addition, Hector calls Paris a coward for refusing to fight which causes Paris to agree to fight Menelaus (Hom., Il. III.1-120). Likewise, I chose to use insult to spur Evander to attack Helios when he calls Evander a worthless excuse for a mortal. However, ancient myths are not completely devoid of direct conflict between gods and men. Also in the Iliad, Diomedes gets god-like strength and the ability to see the gods from Athena to help turn the tide of the Trojan War to the Achaeans’ side. Hera and Athena end up fighting with Diomedes while Apollo and Ares fight with Hector and Diomedes ends up wounding Aphrodite and Ares (Hom., Il. V.84-909). I chose to keep the physical conflict between gods and men, but it did not make sense for Evander to have supernatural powers. Instead, I decided that Evander would have human strength and just catch Helios off guard because I could not find an instance in ancient myth where a mortal attacks a god without supernatural assistance. Furthermore, ancient sources mention that gods bleed ichor (Hom., Il. V.297-430, 846-909; Ap. Rhod., Argon. 853). I chose to keep this detail and have Helios bleed ichor when Evander stabs him with a knife to win the fight.
Although ancient sources describe both Helios and Apollo as the sun (see earlier references), the two gods are clearly separate and remain that way (Hes., Theog. 10-14, 90-94, 345-349, 371-374, 920-924, 955-959, 1010-1014). While I chose to keep the two gods separate, Helios is better than Apollo for fueling the volcano because he is more synonymous with the sun whereas Apollo is also known for archery (see earlier references), healing (Aesch., Ag. 140-155, 510-520), and prophecy (Aesch., Ag. 1198-1204, 1270-1279). Moreover, I chose to not kill off Helios and have him retire instead because he needed to teach Apollo how to be the sun god and it would not make sense for his divine essence to superheat the volcano if he died.
In ancient sources, sacrifice is a popular means for mortals to appease and/or buy the help of the gods. For example, many people made sacrifices during the Trojan War as means to end the war, either by asking a god or goddess for help or asking them to stop thwarting them (Hom., Il. I.53-147, 285-317, 428-487; II.278-332, 394-483; III.58-120, 245-309; VI.72-118, 237-311; VII.313-378; VIII.212-272; IX.162-221, 307-605; X.254-298; XI.655-803; XIX.238-281). Since sacrifice was particularly important to both the gods and men, I chose to include it in my myth but as a method of worship rather than a plea for help so that it would help explain global warming.
Overall, my myth includes many of the same elements as ancient sources including the gods Helios and Apollo, conflict between gods and mortals, and sacrifice while making changes and additions to explain the origins of global warming.
Bibliography
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 140-249, 501-520, 645-659, 1198-1204, 1255-1279, 1321-1330. Translated by G. Theodoridis. Bacchicstage. 2005.
Apollodorus, The Library 2.5.10. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. Perseus. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D5%3Asection%3D10
Apollonios Rhodios, Argonautica III.853. Translated by Peter Green. University of California Press. 2005.
Euripides, Medea 401-409, 741-749, 1251-1272. Translated by George Theodoridis. Bacchicstage. 2005.
Hesiod, Theogony 10-14, 90-94, 345-349, 371-374, 920-924, 955-959, 1010-1014. Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Pereus. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0130
Homer, Iliad I.22-147, 285-317, 428-487; II.278-332, 394-483, 760-810; III.1-120, 245-461; V.84-909; VI.72-118, 237-311; VII.1-378; VIII.212-272, 438-488; IX.162-221, 307-605; X.254-298, 515-579; XI.665-803; XIV.292-351; XIX.238-281, 338-424; XXI.200-297; XXIII.740-797; XXIV.1-76, 552-620, 718-775. Translated by A.S. Kline. Poetry in Translation. 2009.
Homer, Odyssey I.1-21; V.148-191; VII.256-366; XI.90-149; XII.260-453; XV.405-492; XVII.204-253. Translated by A.S. Kline. 2004.
Trzaskoma, Stephen et. al., editors and translators. Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary Sources in Translation. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company. 2004.
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