The
account of the creation of the world was taken from the Theogony by Hesiod, a
poor Greek farmer in the ninth or eighth century before Christ. He is perhaps
the first writer in mythology to wonder about the origin of the universe and
humankind. For the first part of the story, read How the World was Created.
The ancient Greeks believed that the Earth
was a flat, round disk. It was divided in the middle by the Mediterranean Sea
(which literally means, ‘in the middle of the earth’). Around the disk of the
Earth flowed the river Ocean. Beyond this river, in a place no one knew, lived
the Cimmerians. They lived in a place of endless night, when the sun and the
stars never shone and was always covered in mist. But in the North lived the
Hyperboreans, an exceedingly fortunate people. Near them lived the Muses. In
the South lived the Ethiopians, whom the gods visited during their banquets.
Beyond Ocean’s banks too was the land of the blessed dead.
With the defeat of the monsters by the Gods,
the Earth was now ready to be populated by human beings. One story states that
the task of creating humans was delegated by the Gods to two Titans, the
brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus. Epimetheus, whose name means
‘afterthought’, was one who had no thoughts about the future. He gave all the
excellent characteristics to the animals, such as strength and speed, courage
and cunning, wings, feather, fur, claws, teeth, shells, and fins. But when he
began to create Man, there were no more good characteristics left. Man could
not fly and was weaker than the animals. So Prometheus, whose name means
‘foresight’, took over the creation of Man. He gave man a more noble form than
the animals: he was upright like the Gods. He also went to the Sun and gave man
the gift of fire. With fire, Man became more powerful than the animals.
Another story states that it was the Gods who created Man. First was the Golden Race. These were mortal, but they were like the Gods. They lived without sorrow, toil, and pain. The land gave them everything they need: corn, fruits, and flocks. They were beloved by the Gods. When they died, they became pure spirits, the guardians of Humankind.
The second race was the Silver Race. They
were inferior from the Golden Race and had so little intelligence that they
kept injuring one another. When they died, they did not become immortal spirits.
Then came Brass Race. They were strong but they loved violence and war. But
they were followed by a fourth race; godlike heroes that fought glorious wars
and went of great adventures. People ever since have sung stories about them.
Then they finally departed to the isles of the blessed to live in perfect bliss
forever.
The fifth race came upon the Earth called the Iron Race. They were inferior from all the other races. They loved evil grew more and more evil as generations passed. It is said that when Man has stopped from being ashamed for their wicked ways, Zeus will come and destroy them.
* *
*
All the humans that were created by Prometheus or the Gods were all Men. There were no women. It was said that Woman was created by Zeus as revenge against Prometheus from stealing fire from the Gods. Prometheus also tricked Zeus in choosing the worst parts of animals as offerings. Prometheus wrapped the good meat with entrails while the bones he wrapped with fat. Zeus chose the bones with fat. Hence bones and fat were to be offered to the Gods while Man got the meat.
So Zeus decided to take revenge upon the
creation of Prometheus, Man. He created a Woman and had all the other Gods give
her all good gifts. Hence she was called Pandora, the ‘Gift of All’ the Gods.
Then the Gods gave Pandora a box in which
they have put all sort of evil into, and forbade her from ever opening it. Then
they gave her to Epimetheus, even though his brother Prometheus warned him from
ever accepting a gift from the Gods. But Epimetheus did not listen. One day,
Pandora was overcome with curiosity to peek into the box. All of the
evils—plague, sorrow, mischief, and many others— flew out of the box. By the
time Pandora shut the lid, only one thing was left in the box, the only good thing—Hope.
Hence Mankind learned it was impossible to defeat or deceive Zeus. Yet it is
that one thing, Hope, which was his comfort in all of life’s misfortunes.
Pandora opens the box. (Image from HellenicaWorld.Com)
Finally, Zeus took vengeance on Prometheus
himself. He had his servants Force and Violence seize Prometheus and chain him
on the Caucasus Mountains. Zeus sent Hermes to extract from him a secret. There
was a prophecy that Zeus will have a son that will overthrow him and the Gods.
Only Prometheus knew the identity of this child but he refused to speak. Thus
an eagle would come and eat his liver. At night the eagle would leave and his
liver would regrow. But the eagle would come back the next day to eat his liver
again. Still Prometheus refused to reveal the identity of this child.
"Prometheus Bound", painting by Jordan Jordaens. (Image from HellenicaWorld.Com)
After a long time, an immortal Centaur
named Chiron offered himself as a substitute for Prometheus. Somehow Zeus
accepted this substitution. Then Hercules, a son of Zeus, slew the eagle and
set Prometheus free. But Prometheus never revealed to Zeus the identity of the
son who would overthrow him.
No comments:
Post a Comment