Zeus in the 21st Century
A word that first comes to mind upon hearing the concept of mythology is "power". I would often think before that gods and goddesses are always about them intervening in the lives of people by giving them aid when they are on the verge of danger. However, the poem Theogony, after reading it, has given me an epiphany that it is beyond my initial perception about powers and positions of these characters in mythology. And this story transcends time and has been shared from one generation to another.
One of the gods that caught my attention is
Zeus, the father of the Muses of Mt. Olympus and a mighty one who could do whatever he
wants with his own power. He is the god who was hidden by his mother when he was young because his father is threatened that his son could overthrow his own father. As the most famous saying states "like
father, like son" and certainly this ruler of Olympus inherited traits and character of his
own father. Whilst reading the poem, I was utterly flabbergasted because of the
theme that revolved around brutal killing, power rivalry, and jealousy.
Ironically, Zeus is considered as a fair god but it seems that it did not
reflect in his character. Earth and Heaven advised the king of gods that anyone
could conquer him with equal strength, understanding, and power. Hence, he
took an immediate action to never let that to happen. Markedly, he put
Athene first in his own belly as well as Tritogeneia. Evidently, he is a murderer and greedy of power as he does not want anyone to take over his royal position.
Moreover, he did not listen to the plead of Prometheus to provide him fire for the mortals who greatly suffered from him because they could not build houses and do many things to improve their
lives. When Prometheus discovered how to make fire and give it to people, he received punishment from him even if he
only wanted them to be happy by equipping themselves the skills and knowledge
through it in order to have a more decent living. Furthermore, this god always
abuses his power by exploiting women to be
his wife. Based on our lecture, I could now say that the mythology of gods and goddesses
does not only about the story of their supernatural powers but also their ungodly
behaviors and qualities.
"...I could now say that the mythology of gods and goddesses does not only about the story of their supernatural powers but also their ungodly behaviors and qualities."
Overall, the poem made me also reflect on the events that have similarities to the happening in our real-world today; and the characteristics of Zeus and among those gods and goddesses are like those people from our government agency. People who do whatever they can to gain power in our society to the extent that they would kill people in the name of politics. Based on the behaviors they show to their constituents, they can be considered as hypocritical and self-centered like Zeus, who also do not like people to be happy because of being corrupt leaders and implementing unjust rules in the society.
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