Part 1: Living Myth
“The data’s compiled my lord, the humans… They hardly worship or make offerings anymore,” Hermes said.
Zeus burnt the papers to a crisp with his lightning bolt.
“You’re telling me, these puny mortals would rather be ignorant and live their life ignoring higher powers?
“Well... They don’t understand how so many in the world could suffer if there truly were Gods.”
“Suffer? They can thank Pandora for that! I told her not to open that thing,” Zeus grumbled.
After all these years, his playthings betrayed him. They always had been untrustworthy. That’s why he had refused them fire.
“Prometheus...?” he asked. Perhaps he was at fault for setting them against him.
“He’s been in Tartarus for at least a millennium my lord. Ever since Heracles killed that eagle. You declared his torment over, and he would be ‘free’ to do as he please there.”
Mortals nowadays… They refused to worship and sacrifice to the Gods? None from this generation would receive gifts close to the immortality he’d granted Heracles. They’d grovel on their knees in the end.
“Hermes, send for my brothers.”
How did you fight fire? With more fire. The entire world would see Zeus’ fury. Then, they’d sacrifice their next of kin just to be in his good graces once more.
***
“Soooo, you want to drive them to extinction…” Hades said.
“Not completely. Maybe kill a few million of them? However many it takes for them to start having religious festivals and sacrificing to us again.” Zeus said.
“And you want us to help?” Poseidon said.
“Yes. It’ll be just like old times brothers,” Zeus said grinning, “remember us giving Cronos the old one-two?”
“How could I forget being swallowed whole by my own father?” Hades said sarcastically.
This wasn’t going how Zeus had envisioned it. He imagined his brothers would join him in his wrath. He’d have to drop the hammer on them.
“The ones who send no offerings, they laugh at us brothers. They drag our name through the dirt and speak ill of us in their University classes.”
“Blasphemy!” Poseidon and Hades said in unison.
“You must bring your seas to them brother. Flood their lands. Shake the land they stand on. Only those who offer worthy sacrifices, may survive.”
“Gaea might not like that,” Hades said.
“Bah, nobody has heard from her in eons. I’m starting to believe she was a myth myself,” Poseidon said. “I will do as you say brother.”
“Good. Hermes tell Helios to shine brighter than ever before. Send Apollo with his arrows to spread the plague to areas it’s never reached. I will bring terror down on earth. Storms with no pattern, no explanation. Hades, there will be a surplus of souls headed your way. Tell Minos you will judge them personally. I expect most to be sent to Tartarus.
Zeus turned to the world and boomed out.
“Mortals! You will once again shower us with sacrifices and gifts like ages of old.”
Part 2: Analyzing Myth
My passage on the aetiological myth of global warming pulls from many areas in Greek mythology.
My aetiological myth begins by Zeus receiving a report from Hermes about many mortals no longer giving the Gods offerings. Hermes is used as a messenger for Zeus when he’s sent to fetch Poseidon and Hades. He’s further used to send word to Apollo and Helios about what Zeus needs them to do. My myth connects with ancient mythology because Hermes is often referred to as messenger of gods (HH to Hermes. 18. 1-5). It is important for my myth that Hermes is running these errands for Zeus as he is named the son to Zeus in the same Greek passage (HH to Hermes. 18. 10-13). It is alluded to in the passage that Hermes is the giver of good tidings. I use irony however, to show that not all messages are about something good.
In my myth many mortals have stopped sacrificing to the Gods because they see how much suffering is going on in the world. The reason they can see this when in Greek times they couldn’t is because of my modern take on things. There is internet now that allows people to see the widespread suffering. Zeus blames Pandora for releasing these sufferings on the world even though he created her. This links to ancient texts that say Zeus created Pandora and gave her two jars. She then opened them and released evil and suffering into the world (Hes. WD. 80-96).
It was important in my aetiological myth that Zeus felt betrayed. His mind automatically went to the last time he’d felt betrayal at the hand of the Titan Prometheus. He questions if it was him because he had previously given humans fire when Zeus himself had kept it from them. This is replicated in ancient myth when Prometheus gave humans fire and Zeus outraged, ordered him nailed to Mount Caucasus. An eagle would peck out his liver every day for his sin, before eventually being freed by Heracles (Pseudo-Apollod. Bibl. 1. 7. 1). Where my myth differs however, is that after being freed, Zeus condemned Prometheus to Tartarus. Tartarus is a pit underneath Hades realm (Ar. Birds. 693-700). The goal was to add more irony to my story. In an ancient Greek text Prometheus wished Zeus had cast him to Tartarus, like what happened to the other Titans, instead of the punishment with his liver being pecked out each day (Aesch. PB. 152-159). Hence, in my myth it’s Zeus’ diabolical humor that gave Prometheus what he had wished for after finally tasting freedom.
My myth shows that Zeus has it in his power to grant mortals extraordinary gifts. Zeus shows this by bringing up how he once gifted his son Heracles with immortality. In an ancient text, it is said that a cloud of thunder wafted Heracles up on his death bed and he was given immortality (Apollod. Bibl. 2. 7. 7). While it’s not specified, the thunder is a symbol of Zeus and so in my myth it’s assumed Zeus is the one who granted Heracles this gift. It’s important because it shows that Zeus is furious at mortals for hardly giving them offerings anymore, to the point he’d take away giving certain heroes any chance at his blessing.
Following this, we are introduced to Hades and Poseidon being Zeus’ brothers. It is clear in ancient texts that these three are brothers, all sons of Cronos (Hes. Theog. 455-465). At this point their father Cronos is brought up in conversation and Zeus asked if they remembered teaming up to take him down. Hades sarcastically is quite sarcastic in saying that he’d never forget being swallowed by his own father. My myth lines up with ancient texts views of these events. In one ancient myth, Metis drugged Cronos so he would throw up the children he had swallowed along with the stone that was supposed to be Zeus. The brothers then fought together to beat Cronos with the aid of the Cyclopes. The Cyclopes made them gifts to help, Zeus’ thunderbolt, Poseidon’s trident, and Hades’ helmet (Pseudo-Apollod. Bibl. 1. 2. 1).
Zeus then tells Poseidon that he must use his power of the ocean to flood their lands and shake the earth they stand upon. This is meant as a connection to global warming and how the icecaps melting will raise sea levels. This will eventually lead to the flooding of cities close to the coast, as well as the more frequent hurricanes and earthquakes happening around the world. In ancient texts it is told that Poseidon is the god of the deep and the mover of Earth (HH to Poseidon. 22). This is clearly shown to translate directly to my myth. Hades is worried how Gaea might not like Poseidon flooding the earth and causing earthquakes, that she might have something to say about it. It’s an important detail as Gaea is the goddess of the earth and might not like the earth being uprooted and having more of it under water (Ar. Birds. 700-704).
Hermes is sent to tell Helios to shine brighter than ever, this will serve the aetiological myth of global warming further as it is the reason that the temperature is rising. There is an ancient text where we see that Helios’ brightness does indeed cause the temperature to rise. In it, he is in a dispute with Boreas about who is more powerful. Helios showers out his warmth on a traveler making him remove his clothing and get in a pond of water to cool down (Phaed. Aesop’s Fables. 183). Helios shining brighter as he traverses the sky during the day explains how the earth is warming.
As temperatures rise in the world due to global warming, plagues spread across the world. Many have previously been contained in hot regions of the world because they need to be at that temperature to thrive. My myth takes this into account by Zeus calling upon Apollo to spread plagues far and wide. In ancient texts that spoke of the Trojan war, Apollo was furious at the Greeks for taking his priest Chryses’ daughter and not returning her. He used his arrows to bring the plague down on the Greeks killing many of them (Hom. Il. 1. 11-14). Using Apollo’s arrows just like in the Trojan War made sense as Apollo had previously taken out mortals due to them not respecting religious actions. Them not sending the Gods offerings will have angered him.
In my myth, Zeus then says he will bring lightning and storms down upon the earth. He is going to create storms that the world isn’t prepared for, that will be impossible to predict. This is to represent that it’s not just the temperature rising in global warming but also more unnatural weather patterns. Zeus has the power in ancient texts of thunder, lightning and his thunderbolt that were all given to him by the Cyclopes (Pseudo-Apollod. Bibl. 1. 2. 1).
The final piece of my myth is Zeus telling Hades many mortals will be dying soon and that he must prepare. Zeus himself tells Hades to act as their judge, which shows that Zeus considers himself King of the God’s even though technically in ancient myth the three brothers split the world evenly after defeating Cronos (Pl. Grg. 523a). In ancient myth, Minos, Rhadamanthys and Aiakos are the judges in the afterlife. Minos though, has the final say on where the person’s soul will go (Pl. Grg. 523e-524a). While I kept this intact for my myth, I did change it in part. I felt it was important the Gods would want the power of sentencing the mortals who weren’t worshiping them or sending them offerings to their fate. They wouldn’t have wanted none deities to be in charge of something they were so angered over, and would have wanted to oversee it themselves.
My myth considered all the different aspects of global warming that we explain by science like rising ocean levels, spreading plague in new parts of the world, unnatural storms, hurricanes, and earthquakes. It then created an origin for these accounts through the usage of gods such as Zeus, Apollo, Helios, and Poseidon. The myth needed to be modernized as global warming has been something that we have only become aware of recently. It was modernized by religion no longer being as prominent for many humans and many believing Gods to be fables. As well as speaking ill about the Greek Gods and some of their horrendous deeds in University classes. The Gods become angered at mortals for no longer being worshipped, sent offerings, and being besmirched. Zeus creates this plan to fight fire with fire as he believes mortals will turn to the higher power when things get desperate. That is my aetiological myth explaining how global warming was created.
Works Cited
Aeschylus. Prometheus Bound. Translated by H. W. Smyth, Loeb Classical Library, Volumes 145 & 146, W. Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by J. G. Frazer, Loeb Classical Library, Volumes 121 & 122, W. Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
Aristophanes. Birds. Translated by E. O’Neil, The Complete Greek Drama, Volume 2, Random House, 1938.
Hesiod. Homeric Hymns. Translated by H. G. Evelyn-White, Loeb Classical Library, Volume
57, W. Heinemann Ltd. 1914.
Hesiod. Theogony. Translated by H. G. Evelyn-White, Loeb Classical Library, Volume
57, W. Heinemann Ltd. 1914.
Hesiod. Work and Days. Translated by H. G. Evelyn-White, Loeb Classical Library, Volume
57, W. Heinemann Ltd. 1914.
Homer. The Iliad. Translated by A. T. Murray, Loeb Classical Library, Volume 1, W. Heinemann Ltd. 1924.
Phaedrus. Aesop’s Fables 183. Translated by L. Gibbs, Oxford University Press (World’s
Classics), 2002.
Plato. Gorgias. Translated by W. R. M. Lamb, Plato in Twelve Volumes, Volume 3, W. Heinemann Ltd. 1967.
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