Classical Mythology - Thesis Example

? The purpose of myth has never been uniformly defined. By the ical period, Plato presents the Myth of Er in the Republic as a way of intimidating or scaring people into behaving correctly or morally. Plato understood that some individuals who cannot really think for themselves, need to be provided incentives such as the fear of eternal damnation. Thus, in his famous of 'myth of er' he creates or appropriates one of the purposes of mythmaking and that is to teach morality. The following is an analysis that will focus on the importance of nature in mythology. It will be argued that among the most powerful myths and functions for myth, narratives surrounding nature are important as they likewise have often evolved around various cultural practices and rituals. In other words, the power of nature myths is the very capacity to bring together a social practice or ritualized form of behaviour, such as a fertility rite, with a 'narrative' about nature or how a particular element in nature came into existence. Ovid's Metamorphoses is a good example of the centrality of nature, change and transformation in mythology. It is a Latin version of essentially Hellenic myths, and they largely concern stories where a key transformation of an individual takes place – as the term or concept of a metamorphoses suggests. The work as with Hesiod's Theogony begins with an account of how the universe began, and outlines the transformations from the various epochs of the Gods and the onset or creation of the universe. That is, the “Four Ages” the “Giants”, “the Flood” and the “Council of the Gods” [Ovid, Book, I., p. 5ff.] are all basically Greek or Hellenic creation stories retold by Ovid. While the focus of the following analysis will be on the original creation myths and the influence of nature in Hellenic mythology, it is worth noting at the outset that the influence of these types or forms of myths endured to become a central theme in the Roman adaptation of these myths. What is assimilated in Ovid from Hesiod, are those narratives that explain natural phenomenon. That is, how the universe itself was created with its distinct elements, and how various changes take place in nature. Changes that include the seasons that come and pass away, but also the passing of human life itself. It will be demonstrated that these elements of myth as connected to the power of nature – and as an explanation for nature, have their origins in the oral tradition of the Hellene's or Greeks. In turn, the oral tradition of mythologies and transformation in nature, was first written down by the poet Hesiod. It is in Hesiod that the formation of the universe, and the various transformations in nature become articulated in the written form for the first time in the Western tradition. In Hellenic culture during the pre-classical or arcane period, here was a strong and pervasive emphasis on agrarian values, indeed, as the following will demonstrate, this is taken to extremes. As with most primitive societies, the Greeks were a culture whose existence was dependent on the cycles and seasons of nature. They farmed a number of products such as grapes, figs, wheat, and various livestock, and they also fished. Central to their system of values, and reflected in their mythology, was the “four-fold”, earth, air, fire and water. These were known as the primary elements, and they were primary to the extent that they were necessary for survival, and more so, they were primary to the extent that each one of these elements became deified in the ‘pantheon’ of Greek gods. The following will examine the Greek creation myth with these elements, and their relationship to one-another in mind. It will be argued that these myths both reflected their agrarian society, but also their religions, which were ‘fertility’ oriented – and fertility was viewed as central both for the cultivating the land, but also for the procreation of the ‘race’, so to speak. Greek mythology began as an oral tradition, as was generally believed to be the case with Judaism. By the seventh century B.C., these myth’s had been collected and written down by an author named Hesiod. His principle work was titled the Theogony, which literally means the ‘story of the god’s’. The following outline of Greek creation is taken from the Theogony, and it must be mentioned at the outset that there are a number of variations on Hesiod’s stories which have been accounted for since his time, and many of these are radically different both in emphasis on particular god’s, but also in terms of content. This said, Hesiod’s account of creation, is generally regarded as the most definitive, and given that this is one of the earliest written records of Greek mythology, it is also one of the most read and therefore, influential of all narratives concerning creation. The Theogony, as mentioned, begins primarily with the deification of the basic elements found in nature. At the outset, there is nothing but “void” or “chasm” until the earth and eros (love or desire) emerges [Theogony, pp. 6-7]. Love or ‘eros’ and the ‘earth’ copulate producing both night, and day, but also the sky and air. In turn, the sky and the earth copulate in order to produce the oceans, and also, thunder and lightning, from which some fire [Theogony, pp. 6-7]. The elements are deified as gods, and also have distinct properties. For example, earthly things move downward, fire moves upward, and both water and air find a middle ground – that is, they are capable of moving both up and down – for example, it was known that water evaporates as well as it is capable of moving downward. Central in importance was the Earth. The earth in the early account of the creation was a figure named Gaia, and she is often referred to as ‘mother earth’. In Greek mythology, and before the clash or battle of the Titans which established the male-god Zeus at the top of the hierarchy, women were very much the central gender in mythology, and this has much to do with fertility. It should be noted that this is the opposite of Judaism which was much more patriarchal than Greek culture, and surprising, given that they too were an agrarian society. Fertility was an important value in Greek society. It was viewed as the means in which bountiful crops could be produced, but also numerous offspring for humans. Fertility was so central that two of the main religions emerged as ‘fertility cults’. These were the Dionysian and Eleusinian cults. The former cult was centered around ‘wine’, and Dionysus was the Greek god of wine. The former cult was centered around ‘wheat’. And, the goddess who symbolized this was Demeter – Demeter and her daughter Persephone were thought to be responsible for the change of seasons, and also the relative success or failure of the crops in any given year. Thus, ‘fertility’ was an important aspect of the creation myth, and this led directly to the establishment of the two main religions of Greece, namely, the Eleusinian and the Dionysian. It should be mentioned that bread/wheat and wine were also important Christian symbols, and during the last supper, Jesus used these two items to articulate his body and his blood – a ritual which extends to the present day, and whose origins are essentially Greek. In keeping with the notion of a ‘proximity’ with nature, the Greek or Hellenic creation story is much more concerned with nature than Judaism, and even more so when compared with Christianity. For example, although Judaism expresses a concern with nature, and Yahweh’s creation of this, it does not deify nature itself. The theological extension of Greek creation stories, is the standpoint of pantheism – that is, the belief that all of the elements and beings in nature, are a god or a manifestation of a god. In the Theogony, for example, there is a seemingly endless list of gods and how they relate to a particular being found in nature. In other words, there is a sky-god, a god of the oceans, a god for particular rivers, particular mountains, types of animals and so forth. Further, there are gods that represent various human acts in relation to nature. For example, Diana is the goddess of hunting, and Prometheus is the god who brings man fire. The point beyond this, is that nature is central for Greeks, and this reflects their dependence on nature for their survival, and indeed, their indulgences, such as for sex (eros) and wine (Dionysus). It is being argued that the emphasis on nature and procreation can be understood as pervading all of the myths discussed above, and with the exception of the later Christian story taken from the ‘Gospel of John’. Aside from their function in terms of the human struggle for survival, the myths in question also reflect for a desire for ‘order’, and this sense or desire for order is reflected in the ‘patriarchal’ authorities that pervade the above myths. Myth’s were part of an oral tradition, and as such, they emerged at a time when communities were being formed, and a community by definition, needs some order for the sake of a collective survival. In many senses, the above myths reflect the need to survive within an ordered community, and generally speaking – with the exception of the Greeks before the advent and dominance of Zeus, these ordered communities were represented by a Male God at the head. The main differences between the myths, is the relative proximity to nature, and arguably, this proximity with nature has much to do with the contrast with culture or society. In other words, the more advanced the society (e.g. Christianity), the less nature seems like a threat and provider who must be worshiped. The respective differences in regard to an emphasis on nature, can be articulated in terms of how much a given culture had to depend on nature, rather than each other (e.g. as a community) for their collective and individual survival. Having outlined some of the core creation myths, and in turn, how this is an expression and articulation of the processes of nature, the following will present an interpretation of the use of these forms of myth. It can be argued that mythological explanations of natural phenomenon are essentially attempts at explaining the unexplainable. By providing a mythological explanation, the Hellene's provided for the first type of causal explanations that would eventually be more scientific. That is, after the age of Socrates through Aristotle, the emergence of rational and natural explanations of phenomenon began to emerge. Rather than explaining 'causality' through mythological explanations or narratives, the Greek philosophers beginning with Thales through to Aristotle, began to explain nature by the causes that preceded them, and further, philosopher's began to posit single explanations for the cause of change in nature. For instance, the first natural philosopher, Thales, maintained that the basic substance of the universe was water and Heraclitus, a later philosopher, maintained that fire was the basic constituent of nature and Empedocles maintained that 'love' and 'strife' were the basic elements of change or transformation in nature [Kelly, 2004, p. 34]. In other words, natural explanations or using nature to explain nature began to replace the types of stories that are re-told in figures like Hesiod and his Roman equivalent, Ovid. In other words, mythological explanations can be argued to be the precedent for scientific or natural explanations. And, the inclination or motivation is the same. In sum, this analysis has examined how natural phenomenon are explained through narrative. It has been argued that one of the most powerful uses of myth is in the area of creation and transformations in nature. It has been argued that the function of myth begins much in the same way that scientific or rational explanations eventually dominate. Myth was used initially to explain what was unexplainable, but also what was revered and regarded as important. The focus of this analysis was presenting these themes as they emerge in Hesiod who was the first to write down the origins of the universe and the early evolution of nature. Works Cited: Hesiod, 1999. Theogony and Works and Days. Translated by M.L. West. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kelly, Eugene. 2004. The Basics of Western Philosophy. Westport CT.: Greenwood. Ovid. 2010. Metamorphoses. Translated by Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett. Plato. “The Myth of Er”. From the Republic. (Course Readings). On Creation and Nature in Hellenic and Roman Mythology. Read More