Myth
Ever since the day that Prometheus stole fire from the gods, humanity has progressed at an exponential rate. While it was the Titan that gifted humanity this “power” of fire, it was they that took full advantage of this gift and used it to progress. Fast forward to the modern day, and faith in the Olympians has never been lower. In a new age, where technology has essentially become a necessity, and humanity relying on science for their explanations of the world, the belief in the gods have diminished greatly. In fact, it is not uncommon to find people who would consider these entities to be simply myths or fictional stories. Because of this, the influence and power of the gods have greatly diminished. With so little faith in the gods, they have begun to lose their power. A god is no longer an all-powerful being if they lose the faith from the very people that enabled them to hold such power. The gods have had enough of waiting for their people to come to their senses, and have decided that they need to awaken humanity’s belief in them once more, and they would show them through their wrath. Athena thought of a plan: the gods will use their powers to create changes in the Earth, eventually making the humans believe that their planet is endangered. Many of these effects will be subtle, with some extreme ones every now and then. Eventually, without any way to explain these phenomena, humanity’s faith in these gods will be restored. They will pray for the bad days to go away, and they will send offerings to Zeus to make the weather great again. Little did they know, the very gods they would pray to, were the source of their problems.
As time passed on, humanity started to feel the effects of this phenomenon they would eventually call, “global warming”. Slowly but surely, they started to notice that the average temperature of the Earth was increasing annually. While it was intended to mess with the humans' way of life, such as making the summer weather more painful than it already is, Helios went a bit overboard, and as a result of that, he did some permanent damage to the Earth. The oceans and the seas started to become warmer (which angered Poseidon), and this indirectly affected many lifeforms that relied on temperature, both in the waters and land. Vegetation was also affected, because while most plants would enjoy warmth over cold, many plants started withering as a result of too much warmth, also known as droughts. Some forest trees had it worse though, as they were set on fire due to the increase in heat, and thus were burnt down alongside the rest of the forest. Zeus would occasionally create thunderstorms and hurricanes to give humanity a fright. These events would coincidentally happen whenever Zeus got drunk, and humans noticed that these hurricanes seemed more dangerous than previous ones. These were only a few of the many effects that the gods created on Earth. Scientists believed that this global warming phenomenon was caused by the actions of humanity, and in a sense, they were right, but not for the right reasons. Due to their forgotten traditions, these gods will continue their actions until one day, humanity comes together, become aware of the issue, and restore their faith in the gods once more.
Analysis
Global warming at this current moment in time is a fairly known topic by the majority of people who have had basic education. It is a problem that is affecting everyone, which is including all living creatures on Earth. It is important to note that the effects of global warming used in the story represents both the effects of global warming and climate change that people know today. While there are some differences (Shaftel), the terms are used interchangeably enough that people will know what it is despite whichever term is used. It is important to note that this story which involves global warming can only serve to make people aware of the problem, not how to fix it. By creating a fictional story that is informational, we allow people to educate themselves on the basics of global warming or climate change, while also making it light-hearted so the problem can be acknowledged but not ruin anyone’s day. The truth can sometimes hurt, so being aware of the issue while enjoying a short story can be blissful. Aetiological myths are stories that attempt to explain a phenomenon, and they were often used to teach children using a form of media that entertains as well as educates. This was the intention for my myth as well/
According to ancient Greek mythology, humans originally obtained fire through Prometheus, who stole this “power” from the gods, and gifted it to humans (Plato, Protagoras 321d). While it is not exactly relevant to the topic of the story, which is global warming, it serves as an introduction of the very beginning of mankind, and their progress towards the present. Fire was a crucial factor in humanity’s survival, after all, as it serves many purposes, such as warmth, cooking food, light, and many others. It would not be farfetched to say that fire was an essential discovery, or gift, to ensure humanity’s survival.
Fast forward to the modern day in the story, the gods are quite frustrated with the current situation of the world. Understandable, they were once great power beings that were worshipped by everyone in their society, and now they are reduced to mere fairy tales and myths in children's books. While it makes sense that they would be angry at their current circumstances, their decision on how they will punish the humans for their negligence could be seen as an accurate portrayal of how the gods were depicted in ancient mythologies. The gods, specifically, Olympians, were known to share traits with humans. It could also be said that these gods possessed very extreme versions of human emotions, especially negative ones. What they decided on doing could be considered an over exaggeration, but to them, it probably feels justified. Their decision to cause global warming is comparable to the events in the Homeric Hymns, where Hera summoned Typhaon because of her anger at Zeus (Homeric Hymns, 184). Their more human-sided nature can be seen in many parts of the Homeric Hymns.
Zeus, famously known as the god of the sky, was said to have the ability to summon storms and tempest by shaking his aegis (Homer, Iliad 17. 593-596). Because Zeus was considered the most powerful god (Homer 19. 258), he would naturally be well respected, as well as feared whenever anyone could sense his wrath. It also makes sense that the wrath of Zeus can be seen as the most devastating for the short term, as hurricanes are known to cause a lot of damage to communities that are affected by it. If anything, repeated usage of Zeus’ aegis alone could force humanity to have faith in the gods again, but at the cost of destroying everything material and alive on the planet. The reason why Zeus specifically was chosen for this myth is because he is the god of the sky, and that relates to the idea that global warming not only increases the temperature of the earth, but it also may lead to more intense natural disasters, including ones related to storm (The Rising Cost Of Natural Hazards). While global warming is clearly an issue that many who were educated at a young age are aware of, some still choose to deny its effects, and this could be due to its slow impact on the Earth. As a result, these people require more “instant” evidence, and more frequent and intensive natural disasters could be one way to convince these non-believers. Naturally, Zeus is an expert at creating these storms and terrorizing any that stands in his way (Aristophanes, Birds 1240), and he is also one to be short-tempered, so he would gladly enjoy punishing incompetent humans.
Helios, known as the god of the sun, is not as known as some of the Olympian gods, but his role in this story can be said to be the most important. Global warming is associated with the increase in the Earth’s temperature, and usually, humans will associate warmth with the sun. A gradual increase in the Earth’s temperature should eventually lead people to correlate the two together, and faith in the Greek god of the sun, Helios, will slowly return. His power was so terrifying, that even wax melted quickly under the “strong pressure and rays of the Lord Helios Hyperion” (Homer, Odyssey 12. 176).
With all these effects from what we call global warming, humanity will eventually have no choice but to believe in the gods once more if they ever wish to stop this phenomenon. With no concrete evidence supporting their theories for global warming, and with no solution available, people will once again send offerings to the gods, and offer their prayers to stop the very events that were caused by the ones they’re worshipping.
References
Aristophanes, Birds 1240
Homer, Iliad 17. 258-596
Homeric Hymns 168-210.
Homer, Odyssey 12. 176
Plato, Protagoras 321d
Bibliography
Shaftel, Holly. "Overview: Weather, Global Warming And Climate Change". Climate Change: Vital Signs Of The Planet, 2021, https://climate.nasa.gov/resources/global-warming-vs-climate-change/. Accessed 08 Mar 2021.
"The Rising Cost Of Natural Hazards". Earthobservatory. Nasa.Gov, 2021, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/RisingCost/rising_cost5.php. Accessed 28 Mar 2021.
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