Truth and Lies
In the beginning, there was nothing. An empty Void in which no living organism could survive. There was nothing but one force. This forced the form in which she resembled a woman her name Eos (dawn) the living embodiment of all things holy and just. She herself was known by Veritas (truth) because she never obscured the truth no matter how terrible or magnificent it was. However, there was another, her twin brother Noctis (night) who was a trickster of mayhem and mischief played nice but had other ulterior motives. He was known by his sister as Ad Sectanda (dishonest), he had a silver tongue and while his sister saw through most of his lies she still loved him all the same. Together they existed in this boundless Void; however, they wished there to be more. Something to wake up to, something to nurture and look after, so they began to work. Noctis put aside his mischief to work with his sister to create the Cosmos. This was not enough as they wanted things that were alive, things that could feel and think as they did. So on a tiny blue planet in one solar system, they laid the foundation for Earth and there they worked.
They worked creating everything from plants to animals from the several phenomena that occur on the Earth. Eos would be the day and Noctis the night. To oversee the earth they created the pantheon of Greek gods from Zeus to Hades, giving each of them authority over each domain of the Earth. Zeus had domain sky and as such would be the ruler of all things under heaven. Whereas Eos wanted to create these beings to be true peacekeepers of the earth, Noctis had his own ideas in mind. To ensure that a part of himself would live on through his and his sister’s creations he gave the gods the ability to obscure the truth. While in the beginning, this was no problem, hundreds of years from that point it would turn the world upside down. While there were some gods who still wished to follow the truth there were those who enjoyed the obscure night of lies. As the humans were born from the direct consummation of gods and goddesses they too inherited their parents’ great capacity for truth and dishonesty. The humans grew too much and inherited the Earth. Soon after they lied and cheated on each other, lie after lie, cheat after the cheat, they soon warred with each other. Great cities such as Troy were toppled because of these lies. Kings like Agamemnon were destroyed because of these lies and these lies continued to persist even after the war. However, it is not all bleak, as Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, stayed with him despite knowing the truth of his affair. So truth no matter how terrible is always better than lies.
Humanity continued the cycle of truth and lies while Eos and Noctis watched as their creations progressed. Within the modern era, so much time had passed since the time of myth and legend that misinformation soon began to overshadow the truth. The news was told not with the intent of enlightening the people, but with suppressing them.
Analysis
I had a lot of fun making this aetiology. In normal classes, I rarely get to make stories; it's usually just academic papers that I am required to do so this is a welcome change of pace. So the first paragraph in a few lines is inspired by the Theogony. Within the Theogony we see that the Cosmos are created from nothing which is referred to as Chaos (Hes. Theog. 116). I did this to set the tone for the type of myth that I am trying to forge. I wanted to world-build so that the reader could get invested in the world I want to build. By doing so it gives insight as to how the world starts out. I then took the goddess’ name Eos from greek myth because I felt it fit the type of aetiological reason for the day. Within Greek myth, she is the daughter of Theia and Hyperion (Hes. Theog. 372), but here she is one of the prime creators of the Cosmos. While in my myth she is meant to embody all that is good and righteous in actual myth she is a bit off. Though this is not entirely her fault as it is a result of Aphrodite’s machinations. Aphrodite causes her to fall madly in love with several people in Greece such as Orion and many more (Apollod. Bibl. 1.4.4). If this were the case in my myth I doubt she would have the time to create the entire universe. In my myth, I think it fits because when people look at truth or honesty they usually associate it with the concept of light or day. People who tell the truth or reveal the truth are illuminating or shedding light on what was originally dark or clouded. So I thought it was fitting as we always see these allusions quite frequently in other myths.
Now as for Eos’s brother Noctis I did not really refer to Greek myth and instead, used the Latin word for dark or night. The closest comparison that Noctis can be made to within Greek myth would be Nyx who is the goddess of the night (Hornblower, Spawforth, and Eidinnow 2012). She is also another figure within the Theogony who, like Eos, is born from Chaos (Hes. Theog. 123). However, within my myth that is where all similarities end. Whereas within Greek myth Nyx is simply just meant to symbolize the night, in mine Noctis is meant to be the antithesis to Eos. Not only that but he is a man instead of a woman just to keep the binary theme running. So instead of representing truth, Noctis represents lies or deceit. What is fascinating is that Nyx within Greek mythology can be considered wrong or evil. She is often seen being called out to in Greek witchcraft by several practitioners within the myth. For instance, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Circe is seen calling out to her in a ritual (14.397). Within the ritual several things that could be considered blood-curdling occur such as blood spurting from the ground. By personifying truth and lie allows the stage to be set for how truth and lie will soon come to interact within the modern era. Truth and lies today are more prevalent than they have ever been as often what we read online is blurred. Within the media, we see this a lot where we try to find the truth beneath the lies. It can even be very difficult to tell the difference sometimes so making them siblings, as well as creators of the Cosmos, allows them to be intertwined with the world.
From there the story follows a very condensed version of the Greek gods coming into existence. The Greek gods in myth are again mentioned within the Theogony, though they are created from the Titans (Hes. Theog. 458 - 490). However here, there is a twist! During the process in which Eos and Noctis create them, Noctis being deceitful decides to make the gods have the ability to tell lies and be deceitful. I also specifically mention Zeus because we see in many myths how his unlawful behaviour toward his wife, Hera, is abundant. For instance, he sleeps with Semele and as a result Hera devices him, vowing vengeance against him (Nonnus. Dion. 124). This is not all bad as they do have the capacity for good. This sets up all the events that occur throughout Greek myth as a direct result of the machinations of the gods. This explains why the gods are not so godly or perfect and instead very much imperfect. This idea of the gods making mistakes and generally ruining life for mortal men and especially women are seen in several stories. I mention how as a direct result of Noctis’ sin, Troy becomes a cesspool of suffering. Lies and dishonesty are what cause the war to occur. Very few just things happen within the war.
After the war, Agamemnon’s house is broken up because of lies and we see this when his wife, Clytemnestra, murders him (Hom. Od. 11.414-429). While to some extent justified she is very deceitful and dishonest toward him in order to meet her own desired end. I mention Odysseus and how he sleeps with Circe (Hom. Od. 10.466) as it is yet again a direct result of Noctis. An affair is something unfaithful and while it may not directly be a “lie” in a sense it blurs the lines of trust. However, Penelope takes him back regardless because of the truth, demonstrating that the truth regardless of how painful it is, far outweighs the lie (Hom. Od. 23.205). As humanity continues to lie and cheat as well as be truthful I moved the story toward its conclusion to the modern era. So within the modern era, we see that as a result of humanity cheating and lying as well as telling the truth, discerning these things is very difficult now. This is why there is all the more reason to seek truth in this day and age.
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