Myth of Violence in Hesiod's Theogony

 

DEL MUNDO, Mellen Oliva
III-2 BEE

Peter Paul Rubens, "Fall of the Titans," 

Oil on panel, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, circa 1637-1638.

    Up to now, Theogony holds the throne of being the oldest and most authoritative Greek creation story (Scully, 2019). While some praised Hesiod's creation account, others were critical about its stories of divine violence. The rivalries over power and the fear of displacement eventually resulted in violent acts that perpetuated up to the present generation. 

The pattern of violence is evident in the following events:

1. Gaia's children - Uranus, the sky, abhors all his children (except the titans) with his wife Gaia. The monsters Cyclopes, Cottus, Gyes, and Briareos are secreted into the secret place of the earth as soon as each of them was born. "For of all the children that were born of Earth and Heaven, these were the most terrible, and they were hated by their own father from the first. And he used to hide them all away in a secret place of Earth so soon as each was born, and would not suffer them to come up into the light: and Heaven rejoiced in his evil doing" [147]

Gaea, by Anselm Feuerbach (1875)

2. The Castration of Uranus - The familial violence continues as Gaia devised an evil and cunning strategy that led one of his sons to castrate his own father.  "As Heaven rejoice in his evil-doing, Gaia groaned within, being straightened and made an element of grey flint and shaped a great sickle." (147)

The Mutilation of Uranus by Saturn by Cristofano Gherardi in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence

3. Chronos' Cannibalism - As Uranus promises retribution against his son's fearful deed, Chronos becomes paranoid that he, too, will be overthrown by his own son. This led him to swallow his children as soon as they emerged.  "These great Cronos swallowed as each came forth from the womb to his mother's knees with this intent, that no other of the proud sons of Heaven should hold the kingly office amongst the deathless gods." [453]

Peter Paul Rubens, "Saturn Devouring His Son," 1636

4. Birth of Zeus - As she witnesses the cannibalism of his own husband, unceasing grief seizes Rhea. As she about to bear Zeus, she seeks her parents to devise a plan that will conceal the birth of her dear child. Instead of sacrificing Zeus, Rhea gives Chronos a great stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to fool him. Chronos believes Rhea and thrusts the stone down into his belly without knowing that there's a son that is left behind- unconquered and untroubled. [453]

Rhea, Cronus, and the Omphalos stone, Greco- Roman marble bas-relief Capitoline Museums

5. Titanomachy - The ten-year series of battles between Titans and the Olympians.  "So they, with bitter wrath, were fighting continually with one another at that time for ten full years, and the hard strife had no close or end for either side, and the issue of the war hung evenly balanced." [617]

The Fall of the Titans, Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem, 1596-1598

6. Typhoeus - The violence continues as Gaia, with Tartarus begot Typhoeus monster of hundred heads of fire-breathing snakes, to destroy Zeus."But when Zeus had driven the Titans from heaven, huge Earth bare her youngest child Typhoeus of the love of Tartarus, by the aid of golden Aphrodite. Strength was with his hands in all that he did and the feet of the strong god were untiring. From his shoulders grew an hundred heads of a snake, a fearful dragon, with dark, flickering tongues, and from under the brows of his eyes in his marvellous heads flashed fire, and the fire burned from his heads as he glared." [820]

Zeus aiming his thunderbolt at a winged and snake-footed Typhon. 

Chalcidian black-figured hydria (c.540-530 BC).

    From the events above, it is indeed that throughout the text,  violence was used as gods' tool to obtain and preserve powers. With that, bloodshed, ferocity, and brutality are perpetuated from the initial familial conflicts up to the succeeding generation. 

    On the other hand, we cannot generalize the act of violence as entirely negative because this thing becomes a necessary part of their lives.  Yes, it might sound problematic for modern readers, but this very violence was gods' means to ensure their legacy and dominance in both god and men realms.

The Myth Today 

This other (somehow positive) side of Violence is also true in our today's generation. Ever present in television, movies, comics, and even books, Violence becomes the ethos of our times; the last and often, the first resort in conflicts. People tend to reassert their inner tendencies and redefine what violence is depending on their personal interests.

This is very evident in the way we hate villains because of their violence, yet we love our superheroes who are actually doing the same thing but for a different purpose.

  

This thought has been bugging me as I read the theogony. Especially when the punishments of Gaia were seen as negative, yet the punishments of Zeus to others were seen as something right-  something necessary.  

With this, I was reunited with my childhood skepticism. The more I entertain them, the more I long to study human nature- and I think that is one of the many things that made mythology relevant up to now.  Not only it gives context to our world but also answers questions of human concerns. It gives us the model of human social behaviors - a constant reminder of who we are and where we come from - and at the same time a mirror of humanity's darkest impulses. 

As I drowned myself with philosophical thoughts, I realized that Theogony and Mythology are far more than a collection of amazing and terrifying fables; they are reflections of how complex the human mind is. Not only do they help us in explaining creation's existence but also widen our view of morality.  

Truly enough as H.R. Ellis Davidson said in Gods and Myths of Northern Europe: The study of mythology need no longer be looked at as an escape from reality into the fantasies of primitive peoples, but as a search for a deeper understanding of the human mind. In reaching out to explore the distant hills where the gods dwell and the deeps where the monsters are lurking, we are perhaps discovering the way home (Davidson 1964,24).

REFERENCES:

Davidson, H. R. E. (1964). Gods and Myths of Northern Europe Penguin Books. Penguin Books

Momi, A. (n.d.). Violence in Greek Creation Mythology. https://classroom.synonym.com/violence-greek-creation-mythology-13546.html

Scully, S. (2019). Hesiod’s Theogony  : From Family Violence to Civic Order. A Companion to World Literature, 1–11. doi:10.1002/9781118635193.ctwl0014