Gendering the Mythic World - Term Paper Example

Gendering the Mythic World In the world of myths that was developed in the story of Theogony, characterization of myths played an important role so they could be aptly described and identified. The gender roles each myth portrayed in this poem, Theogony, described how each other moved and reacted in the whole episode. Analyzing the gods and goddesses’ gender roles and values thru episodes of “Theogony” would give reader an insight to culture and civilization. As a background, the mythic world was very well illustrated in the epic poem by Hesoid. Hesoid was an early Greek writer in 700 b.c. who was said to have been bestowed with powers by muses to write rhetorical poems but was asked to put in writing stories about immortal gods. He introduced the muses in the story as daughter of the main character and god, Zeus and Mnemosyne goddess of memory, but very little was written about her. This becomes an important insertion as Hesoid became known to reciting long poems with mastery and it is theorized that Mnemosyne granted the power of memory to him. Hesoid claims he had been authorized by the goddesses to tell their stories, and it is like putting the words in his mouth. (Frazer translations, n.d). As there were no other means of communications at that time, Hesoid recited Theogony as an oral composition wherein he had to use impressive metaphors and comparisons so that audience can visualize and feel the actions and emotions. Theogony was done in eloquent and fascinating fashion, like a fantasy, and has similarities in religious beliefs and history. As the title suggests, Theogony is about birth of gods. It is a blend of Greek tradition that deals with gods and universe, told as a story that starts with the creation of the world, the cosmos and the universe. But the gods in his creation behaved in confusing ways. In many approaches, Theogony has a resemblance with book of Genesis of the Hebrew and the Christian Bible. The poem listed the early generations and genealogy of gods, heroes and titans since the beginning of the universe. The dynamics or the vibrant lives of the myths constituted a large role in this epic poem, as Hesoid introduced them as our religious roots they become keys to understanding our culture. Myths in the story deals with “supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as explaining aspects of the natural world or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of society.(web definition) The race of myths, all told in the story, jog the memory of mankind of its responsibilities to the universe, tells the weak point and strengths of humans, emotions, rivalry and conflicts, the role of men, women, children, the good and evil, love and hate, right and wrong behaviour, nature, conflicts, family-relationships, origins, explanations of nature and the physical world, attitudes on heroism and courage, and explanations of the mysteries of life. Hesoid told Myths in form of fantasy, adventure and violence, but should not be treated as simple stories but rather to teach humans on unacceptable behaviours to gods. Hesoid sometimes used personification of ideas that are difficult to understand. He described myths as gods having similar characteristics to man, both good and bad, portrayed gods as man or woman having special powers that they could use to one another or to humans, for vengeance or pleasure, and that offerings and sacrifices at the temple are important to them as a token of gratitude (Mason, Moyak, n.d). As this poem recited deities and supernatural, Hesoid, who was a master of this craft, was able to typify each one of them with a personality and capably designated a responsibility for each character. Hesoid begun by introducing a male character he named as Chaos. Chaos is a supernatural that was the beginning of everything, and was present in the elements of water, air, earth and fire. He did not need a mate to produce another element because from him, he created a female he called Gaie. Chaos also produced other deities as Eros the cupid, that is a symbol of the fundamentals of love; and then Tartarus, which represents a place of punishment but the story did not elaborate what their participations were. Gaie became an important character because she was earth and fertility mother in the story. Gaie on her own, was able to produce another god, in the character of Uranus who later on, she took as her husband. Thru characterization, the relationship of male and female started in a conceptual sexuality fashion. This is an important scene in the story as it showed the sacred marriage of the earth and sky. Hesoid used earth as a symbol of feminity and sky as masculinity; Gaie as earth and Uranus as sky. This “marriage” produced several deities, such as gods of the sun, moon, dawn and water Eventually it was pointed to as the beginning of division of the universe as more and more diverse and complex beings are created. As gods are depicted as immortals, this union transcended in many ages that surpassed the ages of gold, silver, brass, iron and heroes. The age of gold was depicted with contentment where it was filled with leisure, joy and relaxation until the fall of men brought by lack of gratitude of man (Moyak, Mason, 2014.) The union of Gaie and Uranus also gave way to the coming of several characters that consisted of Cyclops, monsters and titans. Among these titans were six brothers, and six sisters who mated with each other. It is presumed that they had male-female unions to be able to produce elements and beings. Relationships of parents and children in this episode were not very pleasant as there was hatred and revolt. Two of the Titans, Rhea and Cronus had several children but, for some reasons were all devoured by Cronus before they grew up for fear of being overthrown by them. So when Zeus (Jupiter), was born, Rhea hid him somewhere, far from Cronus, until he grew up and overthrew Uranus, a scene that completed the prediction that ended his reign. Zeus became the god of the sky and ruler of the Olympian Gods in a fair manner. He won this thru a draw of lots with his brothers Poseidon and Hades when they decided to divide the government. Poseidon had the sea, Hades, had the lower world, and for Zeus, the heavens and the upper regions, so in this division, Zeus became the supreme ruler of the gods. Zeus married his sister Hera, and they peacefully reigned as king and queen of the gods. Because of this union, Hera was called goddess of marriage. Analyzing the myths from perspectives of gender includes: From among the goddesses row, study is done to Gaia, Rhea and Hera, and Zeus in the male gods. Gaia is the first personification of a female in the story. Very little is written about her personality since she belongs to nature. The genealogy showed her to be the mother of mankind since her unification with Uranus, of her own creation, gave way to the birth of other deities. As this is only a personification, there was no real physical satisfaction of male-female relations in the marriage of earth and sky, except that this union is forever remembered by mankind when one sees the constellations in the sky, bodies of water and earth. (Greek Mythology) The second diety, Rhea, was a titan married to another titan. Rhea was a mother to several children brought by a male-female relationship. Features endowed to her as a female is her ability for childbirth, love for her children, fear and hatred. Rhea hated her husband for being cruel to her children. She was weak since she had no strength to fight for her rights. She was portrayed as helpless and fearful so she kept her misgivings to herself until finally she gathered courage to defend her children. She showed motherly love in protecting her last son and took the nerve to get away. Rhea showed her fear when she made a dangerous ploy to trick her husband for the safety of her son, Zeus. (Greek mythology) Taken in today’s standpoint, hatred and fear melts whatever love there is that exists between relationship, and the reaction to get away is an expected decision, so that we could digest this as the root of separation of a married couple. Next, is Hera, Zeus wife, another male-female relationship. Hera, as a woman, is endowed in this story of a feeling of insecurity because of a jealous emotion towards a philandering husband. She was always filled with hatred to persecute mortals who had sex relations with Zeus, as she had powers over them. She displayed weakness of powers in front of supernatural goddesses and learned to accept defeat. As a personification of goddess of marriage, Hera would move mountains to fight for Zeus. (GreekmMythology) Zeus was chosen from the set of male myths in the story because of his intriguing supernatural powers and a big part of story circled on him. Zeus was presented as god of the universe, held sovereignty of heaven and earth, was regarded by the Greeks, as the god of all aerial phenomenon; the personification of the laws of nature; as lord of state-life; and as the father of gods and men. As god of the aerial phenomenon, he could produce earthquakes, storms and darkness. He could command thunderbolts and lightning, and clouds to pour out rains to fields, rivers and streams. As god of nature, he instituted a harmonious and unchanging order of seasons, such as day and night and planted sun, and moon and stars to illuminate the earth. As lord of his kingdom, Zeus had the powers of the king, ally of bodies connected to him. He is a friend, adviser and adviser of princes, a protector of the welfare of his people and the myths’ community..(theoi.com/n.d) He was a fair ruler as he was kind to all in his domain, whether they are mortals or gods but punishes them for wrong doings. He wanted that all his subjects to be charitable, friendly and respectful. He was concerned with the condition of the less fortunate. Zeus’ behavior as a lover was adventurous, witty, and full of suspense. Zeus was portayed as a man of charms and had powerful powers of the sky so on this note women were easily attracted to him. Although in stature of a king, he had a feeling of fear that soon his offspring would also overthrow him. The illustration of this episode is comical as he appeared to be a monster who swallowed his first wife to prevent her pregnancy. He married seven times, all of which gave her sons and daughters, but none proved to fulfill his fears. They were all given names to fill the genealogy of his family. Each name meant virtue such as goddesses of the hour, peace and prosperity, and so on It seems Hesoid had used all the values and characteristics to personify the children of Zeus in his many wives.( “Zeus and his...” But in his extra-marital affairs with mortals, we will see that he used force, trickery and powers in all of his romantic affairs and advances. He abducted raped, and abandoned a princess. The second time, he disguised himself as a friendly bull to sweep Europa, his love interest, away into the seas and hid her in a cave where he grew up. This union brought many sons. He fell in love for another time, to Princess Lo whom he seduced. To keep her away from the jealous eyes of Hera, Zeus covered her with a thick blanket of clouds, but later, sensing that this ploy was discovered by Hera, he transformed princess Lo to a beautiful white cow. Hera grew fond of it, as it was a first time for her to see a white cow, so she arranged for a creature with many eyes named Argus, to keep watch. Argus was killed by a someone hired by Zeus, and as a memory, he took Argus’ eyes and set it on the tail of Hera’s favorite bird, hence the birth of peacock. Today, we see a peacock in beautiful colors, with a round design in its tail resembling an eye. Lo suffered long agonies in cow’s form, wandered in many places until finally Zeus found her in the Niles, then transformed her into a human being. Her relations with Zeus bore several descendants in eleven generations. This was the first god-mortal relations. His next love was Semele, a mortal who had a god as parent. Semele was killed by Hera because of jealousy, but her child by Zeus was rescued and was allowed to live in Mt. Olympus. Hera was able to persecute Zeus’ affairs to mortals, but she had little power to godddeses when Zeus lay with them which he did often. Zeus was not punished with this because they are symbolic creatures that were univeral and natural, as in his relations with Dione (moisture) and Juno(atmosphere). It is observed that all his relations with women gave him children that assured him of descendants. But in this myth, Zeus at one time, took the role of pedophile, something that is not acceptable to our society in our generation. He took under his wing, transformed as an eagle, Ganymeade, a handsome boy, abducted and swept him away into the Mt. Olympus, home of the gods, a place that almost penetrated heaven. Later, this boy became his cupbearer and a lover. Again this was an accepted practice in the olden days and was judged as a normal behaviour. Zeus, due to his magical powers could easily transform into other being just so to get reach of his target love ineterest, and then would take advantage of this situation. This, he did to the Callisto, Daughter of Lycaon, King of Arcadia, transforming himself as one of her trusted attendants, took advantage of her, a union that gave him a son. To cover up his guilt from Hera, he transformed Callisto into a large bear. He later on turned her to be part of the constellation of stars. Zeus had several extra-marital affairs, but as a god, there was no punishment for him and his actions were accepted as a normal action. Almost all of his relations produced children, but Zeus apparently did not know how to court or flatter women as he used abduction, seduction, rape and powers in all of his love affairs. His affairs were not restricted to women as he abducted a young handsome boy. Disguised as an eagle, he swept the boy and took him to Mt. Olympus. Later, the boy became his cupbearer and a sexual partner. This behaviour of abduction would be a shocking news to our society today but Athenean practice of pedastry in the olden days was normal. This custom, wherein an older male citizen would take under his arm a young man in order to introduce him to the adult society while conducting sexual relations, was a necessary part of young man’s puberty lessons. (Greek mythology) It would appear from the very beginning that women in this story had discriminating roles and society had double standard. For women, it was rape, but sex with a young boy was considered a meritorious act of a responsible older mate. Reflection (how are relations depicted, featured values for each gender) The values of each gender are shown by how one speaks, behaves, dresses and thinks in the perspective of the society. These gender designs are rooted in framework of what we call masculine and female identity. These ideals are greatly reinforced by environment, society, and peers. The embodiments designed by Hesoid in Theogony would take the reader in the world of fantasy where male behaved dominantly, strong, muscular and rulers, while women always inferior. Hesoid pictured the Greek gods with amazing powers, yet they were like people who held passions such as pride, jealousy, love and a penchant for revenge. The gods were shown to be lonely, so they often leave Mt. Olympus, the heaven of gods and goddesses, to mix with people, interact with them as patrons, enemies or lovers. Their behaviours were disorderly as they used tricks and disguises to pressure events according to their pleasure. Primarily, male-to female relations at the beginning were done without the context of love, and was designed for procreations only. There was also a feeling of loneliness and emptiness of gods at the start so behavior of need for companions was established. The emotional feeling of love, and hatred started when humans were incorporated in the story. These behaviours are common with people but should be beyond the nature of supernaturals. These were displayed in the attitude of Heras who was overwhelmed with jealousy. The males were figured out as an icon of masculinity to defeat enemies, but has softness in heart in defending the oppressed. Male to male relations was judged as a normal behavior and a civic duty. The male to male relationship at that time was not a “gay” affair, as it is only now that society took note of LGBTS. This means, lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender that describes people with different gender identity. None of these describes Zeus that although he took fancy of a young boy, his act was considered a civic duty. The ancient philosophy subscribed that male to male particularly young boys was an educating process and part of preparation to adulthood. People would scoff at the idea if this thing happens to us now. Women were also endowed with tender heart, values of love and compassion to save her children from harm as what Rhea did to Zeus when he was young. However, women could not endure unfaithfulness that showed attitudes of jealousy and hatred. The bias and discrimination of Hesoid to women is apparent in his writing as he created women for child bearing and weak in powers. Note that he gave powers to women to give birth to monsters who would later on be killed by the male gods (heroes) to show supremacy of men over women. It is possible that this was Hesoid ‘s own view to impress on the differences of men and women. Hesoid presented gods having relationships with male-female and a male-to male relationship. Mother earth is alluded to its feminity while sky is for its masculinity. In the latter part of the story, kinship was not a hindrance for marriage as there were brothers -to sisters relationship. It appears that gender roles of male was for sex, lust, and pleasure as displayed by Zeus in many times. Heisod made the males looked strong, caring and shielding when he was provoked, and women weak, succumbing to pressures and submissive . Perhaps there are some truths on the poem of Hesoid, as there are archaeological evidences found in Greek mainland wherein figurines of female characteristics lay, because it is known that goddess worship was widespread in Europe during the stone age (“Greek history and the gods”) The context of the story which was written centuries ago still reflects some of the morals of society today. War, hatred and revolt are ravaging several countries. We are locked in a gender society, yet today, so-called third sex relation is becoming a norm. Discrimination to women still prevails in history to present civilization. This culture pervades in countries evoked by religious beliefs. Written centuries ago, episodes of Theogony still captivates imagination of readers as this is a synopsis of Greek traditions that is related to gods and universe. It could be considered as a source of information on the dynamic tradition of myths at that time as Hesoid claimed the muses put the words into his mouth and to retell it. . REFERENCES Martin, Luke. “Classical literature”. Ancient Greece – Theogony. At Ancient Literature.com. n.d. web. 10 Nov. Frazer translation. “Hesoid.” at faculty.gvsu.edu. n.d. web. 10 Nov. 2014 “Greek history and the God.” at faculty.gvsu.edu.n.d. web. 10 Nov. 2014 Greek Mythology.com. Myths and Zeus lovers. n.d. 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 November 2014 Moyak, Mason,. “Heisods Theogony, Myths and meaning” at Moyak. com. n.d. web.l0 Nov. 2014. Theoi.com. “Zeus”. N.d. web. Nov. 2014-11-10 “Zeus and his extra marital affairs” at ancientgreece.com. n.d. web. November 2014 The Theogony of Hesiod. Trans.by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. 1914. At Sacres Texts.com web. 10 Nov. 2014 Read More