Meredith Monroe Greek Mythology and the Issue of Divinity Many religions classify gods as divine beings because they have knowledge of the universe and have with powers such as creating life and take it away. Many of these religions believe that their gods give rewards for sacrifices and worship of them, and give punishment for neglecting or challenging them. These gods act in the best interest of their people and many of them practice what they preach about moral codes. Gods are considered in many religions to be above such things as, human emotion. However, after reading many Greek myths written by authors such as, Homer and Ovid, these qualities are not seen in most of the Greek gods. The fact of the matter is, Although Greek gods are not above human emotion that they very often give into, they are none the less divine because they possess special powers and have only each other to answer to. In many Greek myths, Greek gods have been shown to show feelings such as love, hate, lust, sorrow, anger, and joy. The fact that they feel these emotions is not the problem; the problem is that, many times, they act on them and don t consider the consequences. There are myths of gods out for revenge, giving unfair punishment, giving into lust and taking advantage of unsuspecting mortals, letting their sorrow get in the way of helping others, and playing tricks on both mortals and each other for their own amusement. Hermes, the child of Maia and Zeus, is a god of trickery. His first day as a baby Hermes kills a tortoise, steals cattle from the Greek god Apollo, and lies to Zeus, his father, about stealing.
Believe my tale (for you claim to be my own father), that I did not drive his cows to my house --so may I prosper-- [380] nor crossed the threshold: this I say truly. -Homeric Hymns 376-380) This is clearly a lie that Zeus can see right through. Hermes gives into the desire in this myth when he steals Apollo s cattle. A god should be able to stop himself but Hermes doesn t and then lies about. This shows that he knew that it was wrong. Very often in Greek myths, mortals either challenge gods or find themselves in competition with gods. In these contests, the mortal has no chance to win even if they are truly better at the task. Three myths illustrate this point very well; the story of Arachne, Niobe, and Marsyas. Arachne s story is very well known; she challenges the goddess, Minerva, to a weaving contest saying that she is no doubt the best. Before the contest Minerva warns Arachne by saying, Your work is good, and you are proud, and should be. And yet do not presume. Never annoy the gods and goddesses. Nothing good can come of it (Ovid VI: 34-37). Minerva weaves a tapestry with the founding and naming of Athens. Arachne s tapestry is undoubtedly the better of the two, depicting the sex escapades of Zeus, Apollo, Neptune, Saturn, and Bacchus. Unfortunately, poor Arachne learns the hard way not to challenge a god; Minerva beats her with a loom-shuttle and then turns her into a spider as punishment for her ignorance. The next myth involves a mortal woman Niobe who boasts that she is a better mother than the goddess Leto, mother of the god Apollo and goddess Artemis, because she has more children than Leto. Bad idea! In retaliation, Leto sends her two children to kill all of Niobe s children and then turns her into a rock that seeps water. The last story is about a mortal man Marsyas who finds
himself in competition with the god Apollo in a lyre-playing contest. Needless to say, he loses, not based on his talents but in his status as a mortal and is skinned alive by Apollo. These three stories all have the same thing in common, the Greek gods were not willing to face defeat or forgive the mortals for challenging them. Instead, they punished them unmercifully. An example of the unaccountability aspect of the gods is a disregard for moral codes, such as all of Zeus sex escapades. Throughout Greek mythology, Zeus has taken advantage of unsuspecting moral woman by disguising himself, mostly as different types of animals. The most popular myth of one of his escapades is the rape of Europa, in which he disguised himself as a bull and carried her out to sea where he had his way with her. Zeus was not held accountable for this rape and many others. Other gods have also been involved in the rapes of mortals such as Apollo and Daphne, and Salmacis and Hermaphrodites. Rapes between a god and mortal are mostly regarded as good rapes because of the involvement of a god. In Ovid IV, a mortal, Tereus, is punished by the gods for raping his sister-in-law, Philomela. Tereus locks Philomela in a cabin where he repeatedly rapes her and when she tells him that she is going to tell her sister, he cuts out her tongue. When his wife discovers what he has done, she kills their son and serves him to Tereus in a soup. Tereus goes crazy when he finds out and begins chasing him them. The gods transform the two women into birds so that they can escape Tereus and punish Tereus by transforming him as well. These two stories of rape contradict themselves; although rape is not acceptable in either case, how is it okay for Zeus to rape a woman and not okay for Tereus? The answer is, Zeus divinity. Being a god, Zeus has no one to
answer to for his actions; unlike Zeus, the mortal Tereus is punished by not only his wife, but also the gods. There are also many incidents in Greek mythology, where a god lets his or her anger get the best of them. Ovid tells a tale of a man named Acteon, who is out hunting one day and accidentally sees the goddesses Artemis bathing in a river. Outraged Artemis transforms him into an animal and allows his hunting dogs to rip him apart piece by piece. Another myth involving a god, who could not control their anger, is the myth of Teiresias. Teiresias was turned into a woman for seven years for hitting a pair of copulating snakes. After his punishment he was returned to his original state as a man; he was then called upon by the goddesses Juno to answer the end a silly debate about whether a woman or man has more pleasure in lovemaking. He responded that in his opinion a woman has more pleasure than men. You would think that that would be the end of it, but nope. Juno infuriated by his answer strikes him blind. The third myth that wraps into this issue of the gods uncontrollable anger is the myth of Dionysus and the pirates. One day Dionysus is walking along a beach when a group of pirates kidnap him. As the crew begins to sail on, the boat begins to smell of wine and the mast sprouts grapes. He then turns into a bear and as the crew begins to jump off of the boat he turns them into dolphins. Though these incidents differ in magnitude, they all clearly confirm the inability for a god to control their anger. All of the myths shared give some aspect of a god giving in to human emotion. Zeus acts off of his lust for mortal women, Hermes a need foramusement, Apollo, Minerva, Leto act out of pride and a need to prove themselves, and Artemis, Juno, and Dionysus let their anger get the best of them.
In conclusion, many cultures define divinity as having special powers and authority over mortals. Greek gods do fall into this category; the fact that they feel and act on their human emotions, unlike other gods in other cultures, only makes them more human, not less divine.
Works Cited Evelyn- White, Hugh G., trans. "Homeric Hymns." Tufts. 23 Apr. 2007. Perseus. Apr. 2007 <http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=hh+4+1>. Lombardo, Stanley, trans. The Essential Homer. Indiapolis, Indiana: Hackett Ompany, Inc., 2000. Slavitt, David R., trans. The Metamorphoses of Ovid. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins UP, 1994.