INCIDENTS IN MYTHOLOGY
Judgment of Paris
The story begins at the Wedding of Peleus and Thetis to which all the deities of the Greek pantheon were invited to the wedding festivities; that was all deities apart from Eris, the goddess of discord. Angered by the slight, Eris decided to turn up at the celebrations anyway; and she brought a gift, a golden apple. This was an apple of disharmony, and upon it was written the words “to the fairest.” Eris threw the apple amongst the wedding guests and waited for the arguments to start.
Three goddesses laid claim to the golden apple; each believing that they were the “fairest,” or most appealing of the assembled guests. These three claimants were Hera, the wife of Zeus, Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, and Athena, the goddess of wisdom.
Zeus was asked to mediate and he commanded Hermes to lead the three goddesses to Paris of Troy to decide the issue. The three goddesses, despite having profound natural beauty, were not content to allow Paris to make a decision based on looks alone. Each offering him gifts for a favor, Hera would promise him untold wealth and position in charge of all the realms of the ancient world. Athena would offer to all known skill and knowledge, allowing to become the greatest warrior and most knowledgeable mortal. Aphrodite though offered Paris the hand in marriage of the most beautiful of all mortal women. He made his decision and chose Aphrodite, swayed by her promise to bestow upon him Helen, the most beautiful woman, for a wife. Regardless of the fact that Helen was already married to Menelaus. The subsequent abduction of Helene led directly to the Trojan War and the fall of the city.
There's no doubt that "The Judgment of Paris" is particularly concerned with beauty. The astonishing thing is, the story doesn't celebrate beauty as a, particularly great thing. Throughout the story, it's a source of major conflict. No wonder Eris herself, chose to write for the fairest on the apple. She certainly knows how issues of beauty can push people's buttons. Whether it's the bickering of the three goddesses or the bloody Trojan War, which is started by Paris's obsession with lovely Helen, this story seems to show us that sometimes beauty can cause major problems.
Indeed, men desire to love more than wisdom or power Perhaps if we extend the meaning of the word "judgment" to include earning the fate you deserve. Troy was destroyed as a result of Paris's choice. After all, he had been fated to destroy his country. Having your country destroyed, your father and brother killed, over your choice to steal another man's wife could be seen as a form of judgment.
Hence, all choices come with consequences. All choices need to be deeply thought through, and one must also think about the consequence that might come with. Perhaps, from small decisions come earth-shattering results.
Chryseis
Nearly ten years into the siege of Troy by the Greek forces, led by Agamemnon, Kind of Mycenae. The Greek Achaean army sacks Chryse, a town allied with Troy. During one of the Achaian army's many raids on the cities located near Troy, the Achaeans captured two beautiful enemy maidens, Chryseis and Briseis. The troops awarded these girls to Agamemnon, the commander-in-chief of the army, and Achilles, the Achaeans' greatest warrior. Chryseis's father, Chryses, who serves as a priest of the god Apollo, offers an enormous ransom in return for his daughter, but Agamemnon refuses to give Chryseis back. Chryses then prays to Apollo, who sends a plague upon the Achaean camp.
After many Achaeans die, Agamemnon consults the prophet Calchas to determine the cause of the plague. When he learns that Chryseis is the cause, he reluctantly gives her up but then demands Briseis from Achilles as compensation. This demand is very crucial to the story as it creates a key conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon which has a significant consequence for the Greeks in the Trojan War as it results in Achilles withdrawal from battle. He vengefully yearns to see the Achaeans destroyed and asks his mother, the sea-nymph Thetis, to enlist the services of Zeus, king of the gods, toward this end. The Trojan and Achaean sides have declared a cease-fire with each other, but now the Trojans breach the treaty and Zeus comes to their aid.
Pride and honor were introduced in both Agamemnon and Achilles believe that their honor is compromised in the decisions involving the female captives, Chryseis and Briseis. Perhaps that pride and honor do involve public perception as relevant principles. Agamemnon himself assumes that by demanding that Chryseis must be returned to Chryses, challenged his leadership and impugned his honor. Likewise, Achilles seems that replacing Briseis to Chryseis is an affront to his honor and a public show of disrespect. Individual senses of pride and honor here blind the two warriors to the greater good.
Their overweening pride requires them to react in foolish ways, Agamemnon in taking Achilles' captive Briseis and Achilles in withdrawing himself and his troops from battle. Homer once again shows that a noble human trait can be subverted by emotion into pettiness and irrationality.
Men themselves are depicted as in charge and higher up on the social ladder than women. Women are viewed as either objects or as manipulative beings set on ruining a man's purpose. Briseis and Chryseis also become objects to be gifted as war prizes or traded among the men.
Both Briseis and Chryseis, and even Helen to an extent, are discussed as prizes, not people. This type of discussion shows women as lacking the same rights as men in this culture. Women were taught to obey men, who held power over them even to the point of being able to trade them like cattle.
Odysseus and Polyphemus
The island of the Cyclopes - the one-eyed giants - who lived peacefully tending their sheep. As luck would have it, though, Odysseus bumped into the man-eating Cyclops Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea. The giant took a fancy to the traveling Greeks and trapped them in his cave, swiftly eating two as an appetizer. Seeing the gravity of the situation, Odysseus immediately forged a cunning plan of escape. Tempting Polyphemos with wine until the cyclops was drunk, the hero ordered his men to turn Polyphemos’ olive-wood staff into a spike, this they then hardened in a fire and used to blind the Cyclops while he slept. Unable to see and understandably livid at his treatment,
Polyphemos tried to catch the traveling Greeks by feeling his sheep as they left the cave for their grazing. Odysseus then instructed his men to tie themselves to the bellies of the sheep whilst he chose a ram for the purpose, and thus they escaped to continue their voyage. Odysseus boasted to Polyphemus by revealing his name. However, the Cyclops cursed Odysseus, predicting the loss of his men, a wearisome voyage home, and disaster when he finally arrived there. Calling on the help of his father Poseidon, Polyphemos ensured that it would be many a storm and ten long years before Odysseus reached Ithaca.
Odysseus is quite full of himself for having tricked the Cyclops Polyphemus. Perhaps, is so pumped-up full of pride, enamored of his cleverness and cunning that he can't resist taunting the stricken Cyclops as his ship leaves the island. By revealing his identity and boasting about his exploits.
The revelation of his identity to Polyphemus ultimately proves foolish, and, because it embodies a lack of foresight, stands in abrupt contrast to the cunning prudence that Odysseus displays in his plan to escape from the cave.
It is said that self-control is a vital commodity for dealing with change. A lesson that we are still learning today. Like Odysseus, we have a habit of becoming too fond of ourselves. Boosted by pride and ego, we allow ourselves to believe that we are the rulers of our domain, if not masters of the universe.
Through that, we suffer Odysseus’ fate. We overplay our hand. When our house of cards comes tumbling down, we fall with it. We lie in the ruins of our dreams, wondering how we could have ever believed in ourselves.
Life itself takes you by surprise, you need more than just focus and nerve to stay in control. Perhaps, oneself requires equanimity, tranquil acceptance of fate. To ensure that we are capable of maintaining it under conditions of uncertainty and risk, we must be ready to relinquish control and accept that.
Recognizing that life itself is out of your hands. This is how we cultivate genuine self-control. Self-control deals with focus, drive, and humility. To get it right, you need to rein in the desire to be in charge of the life. You must temper your pride with reason. You must be the master of your own house.
The Theogony
Kronos and his wife, Rhea, ascended to the throne as king and queen of the gods. Had six children: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. There was a prophecy that one of Kronos’ children would overthrow him as he had his own father, and in order to prevent this, Kronos ate each of his children as they were born. Rhea, upset and horrified by Kronos’ actions, prevented him from eating her youngest child, Zeus, by giving Kronos a rock disguised as a baby in his place. In order to avoid being found by Kronos, Zeus was hidden on Mount Ida.
Once Zeus had matured and grown strong enough, he embarked to avenge his siblings and defeat Kronos. Disguising himself, Zeus forced Kronos into throwing up his siblings by giving him a poisoned drink. Alongside his siblings, the Cyclopes, and the Titans Prometheus and Epimetheus, Zeus fought against Kronos and his allies: the Giants. After a ten-year battle, Kronos was defeated, and Zeus and Hera ascended to the throne as the new and final rulers of the gods.
Ancient Greece focuses more on being the supreme as an individual, a state, or as a country. It concerns on lavishing in power, wealth, and religious procession. Considering that the nature of the divine toward the gods portrayed the weakness of man greed, aggression, and the need to rule.
Letting yourself make the right thing yet it may lead to very serious consequences, such as in the case of Prometheus. Don't let the power nor pride to overshadow what is truly important, such as in the cases of Uranus and Cronos.
Turns out that the Greeks relate to their world through fighting for power which leads to chaos. Throughout history, they fought among one another and it led toward destruction between families, government, and even their own country.
In conclusion, the Greeks' way of life was surrounded by politics and violence, yet they still practiced religious duties. Their daily routines are portrayed in their stories and especially in the creation myth.
