The Greeks. Tales and mythology (part 1).

 

Greek bireme ship, ca. 500 bC. 
Source: Ancient and modern ships, part 1.
By Sir George Holmes. British Museum, London.

The year 1100 BC. On a showy colored sails vessel, at the distance, the crew begin to glimpse the coast of Attica. They are greek traders, coming from the Hellespont. Everything seems to run according to the schedule. But the Aegean, as the Mediterranean, are quite unpredictable seas. In only a few minutes, the rough swells and the whistling rushes of the wind, announce a sudden storm. Some towering waves, nearly engulf the ship and everyone on board. The captain, thinking it's all over, starts to pray. He offers a healthy big bull to Poseidon, the god of the seas, if he becomes favorable, saving them from the angry ocean. The sailors keep struggling for nobody knows how long, until, all of a sudden, the storm finishes and the sea turns calmed again. They arrive safe and sound...

Poseidon sculpture, at Copenhagen port.
Photo: Hans Andersen. Lic. CC. BY-SA 3.0

As they get to the port, for sure, each one of them has made his own pledges and vows to the gods. Jubilant, they narrate the experience and how they were saved from drowning. Without hesitation, most of them will hurry to pay with any kind of offerings to the deity who kept them alive.

Thunderstorm. 
Photo: fir0002/flagstaffotos

In nature, from time to time, the fury of the elements unleashes. We all know how daunting it can be. Even when it is not of catastrofic proportions, is still worthy of respect and fear. Is not difficult to imagine the primitive men, with their limited comprehension of natural phenomena, assigning those forces, to the superior beings' will. And their gods were certainly moody and whimsical...

Mount Olympus. View from Litochoro.
 Photo by Salonica84, 2006. From en.wikipedia

By night, the former inhabitants of Greece surely used to gather around a bonfire, to share their daily experiences and tales. By adding a touch of fantasy, they should begin to adorn the stories, to make them more interesting. Maybe they started to add an explanation to the things they saw, and did not understand. Later, they also added a true mix of personages and happenings. With time, some of those tales began to pass from parents to children, so becoming part of an oral tradition. Centuries later, some writers and poets compiled and embellished many of those tales. In that way, they opened the door to a fantastic universe. A world full of wonders, which has served as inspiration for thousands of artists and scholars, along time. Its influence over the so called "Western Culture" is unquestionable. Among the most important of those compilers are Homer and Hesiod. 

The Olympian gods. by Nicolas-André Monsiau. 
Source: Deucalonite for en.wikipedia

Certainly, the Greeks were not the only ancient people with an important legacy. However, they were restless travellers. There were many Greek cities all along the mediterranean coasts. Furthermore, to a great extent, their spirit was absorbed by Rome. The latter, ruled over a huge empire, so contributing to keep and spread the Greek culture. Probably, we might consider it as the main inheritance from those nations.

From the creation of the universe, to the first human beings. With gods, demigods, mortals and also many fearful creatures, interacting altogether. They also had an imaginative explanation for everything around, for every natural event. Their tales often contained moral, even phylosophical lessons. 

To add a touch of intrigue, we may find certain remembrances and similarities, between some texts from very different and far apart cultures and religions. Let's see some of their stories... 

Prometheo and Pandora.

The Fall of the Titans. By Peter Paul Rubens, ca.1637.
Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium. 
Source: The Yorck Project 2002.

There was a time, when the world was a desert place. Only the gods existed, always fighting, in pursuit of the throne of power. As a result of these wars, a few deities emerged triumphant, while many others were defeated. The fallen gods, often had to pay eternal punishments. 

At the same time, there were less important, or secondary gods. It was the origin of a great division and permanent intrigues, between the inmortals. And all those conflicts, frequently carried consequences to the life of the defenceless human beings.

Prometheus watches Athena endowing reason to the first man. 
Christian Griepenkerl, 1877.

Prometheus was the son of a titan (one of the fallen gods). His curiosity and ingenuity led him to create the first man, made from mud. But those first humans, carried a primitive and pathetic existence. It seemed to be enough for Zeus, the king of the gods, but not for Prometheus, who loved his creation. So he stole the Heavenly Fire, and taught men how to use it. From that moment, they began to progress in many ways.

Pandora. By Jules Lefevre, 1882.
Source: Art Renewal Center.

Zeus did not accept it willingly, and planned a vengeance. He ordered, also from mud, the creation of another human creature. Was really beautiful and filled with all kind of virtues. But also had two defects: an unhealthy curiosity and whimsicality. She was the first woman, Pandora. The god king also put in her hands an enclosed vessel, making her clear that it should never be opened. She was destined to marry Prometheus. But he suspected something not fair and rejected her. However and despite his brother warnings, Epimetheus married Pandora.

They had a normal life, as any other couple. Yet, Pandora could never forget the misterious vessel. And with time, her curiosity was growing more and more. One day, a distraction of Epimetheus, brought her the best oportunity to open it. Before her stunned eyes, a cloud of plagues, torments and dreadful creatures came out, spreading in all directions and vanishing in just a moment. As her husband hurried to close the jar again, the only thing still inside was Hope... That way Zeus had taken revenge from Prometheus, punishing the humans with pain, sickness and all sort of evils. Still, the precious hope would sustain them, from then on.

It would not be the last time Zeus and Prometheus clashed. Every time, was for something related with the human beings. But the king of the gods was too powerful! Finally, Prometheus lost out: he was sentenced to remain chained at the top of mount Caucasus, for thirty thousand years. An eagle would come to devour his liver... as a god, he would never die and the liver always grew again. On and on, it turned out to be an ethernal torture.

Prometheus and the eagle. By Nicolas-Sebástien Adam, 1762.
Louvre Museum. Photo: Atoma, 2006.

Many years later, perhaps centuries, according to the tales, Herakles, the mighty Greek heroe (named Hercules by the Romans), freed him and also killed the eagle. In reward, Prometheus revealed to his savior, the place to find and how to grab the Hesperides' golden apples... but it is another story. In the meanwhile, Zeus permitted that, only because Herakles was his son. Was a demigod, whose feats filled him with pride.

Eve, by Albrecht Dürer, 1507.
Museo del Prado, Madrid.

This is a striking story. It leaves us thinking about the unquestionable similarity with other nation's beliefs, about human creation from mud. Also, the imprudence of the first woman, a kind of "Original Sin", which leaves on her, the blame for the human suffering. As hard as it may sound, is what these tales are telling us. In addition of its chauvinism, it also occurs in several other cultures. Maybe, it speaks about a common origin.

Going further, speaking about the original clashes of the gods. The condemnation of the defeated, to the dephts of hell, resembles the rebelion of the angels against the Supreme Being, in our religion. Where could the origin of all this be? Possibly, we have to look towards the Near East countries. This turns even more intriguing, when some similarities with the American pre-Columbian beliefs, also appear. Some, may even sustain that it could be the trace of ancient aliens presence.

It seems likely, that the myth of Prometheus may only be a reminiscence from a great personage, come from a more advanced civilization. He shared his knowledge with the still primitive Greeks, helping them progress. In that manner, he became their benefactor. He taught how to use the nature's fire and more important, the internal flame of intelligence. But maybe a powerful ruler was opposed to that progress. His memory should remain, and was transformed into this story. Of course, this is all about a speculation.

The Parthenon, west side view. Athens, Greece.
Photo by Mountain (Wikipedia user), 2006.

We will stay visiting the ancient Greeks, for a little longer. Learning more about their fertile imagination and interesting stories. We should keep in our mind, that inside the spirit of that people, was planted the seed of our civilization.

Further readings. 

Greek Mythology

How true is Greek mythology?

Was Zeus in the Bible?

What exactly is Greek mytholgy?