Intro: The stories of Gods and Heroes have drifted around me my entire life. Well at least as long as I can remember. I have so many different versions of these tales from multiple different eras that they seem to have lived a life of their own. Swirling around in their own nebulus of characters and storytellers connecting us, each one links more to the past. Stories so prevalent they have weaved our way through our language. Stories that make the building blocks for what we tell today. But how did these stories begin? And how did the people who told them feel about their truth and message? Why do we still tell these tales? I am Alexi Johnson. This is passing through. (Cue intro music)
Script proper: Most of the population is at least in some vien familiar with Greek mythology. Even if they may not realize it. It has permeated our culture and our stories. Even has touched our language words like echo, narcissism and nemesis all find their origin within Greek stories. So how is something more prevalent so misunderstood?
To begin, let's talk about what Greek mythology is not. Greek mythology is not Greek religion. While their stories involve their gods and heroes it is not a Greek bible. Much akin to Dante’s inferno is not a real reflection on the chirstan religion. While there may be elements of who the gods were seen as. But many of our surviving versions of the stories were recorded by people who did not believe in the gods. Who thought the stories were silly fruitless things. Another thing Greek mythology is not is concrete. There is not one correct version of a myth. These stories come from many different regions and many different time periods. They were told for the vast majority of their existence orally. Like most traditions they were not recorded until much later. So while there may not be one correct version of a myth there are for sure incorrect versions. Versions that were never told in ancient greece. Versions that are all modern to fit our modern morals and tastes. There is nothing wrong with these versions, stories chase as time moves forward. However, these aren’t the “Original Myths” Or even Greek Myths at all and we shouldn’t represent them as such.
These stories carry a rich history of many things. Greek ideals, morals, culture, gods, goddess, entertainment and education. Even the watered down or exaggerated version written by those who did not practice Helenistic paganism. This brings us to what Greek mythology is. Academically Greek mythology is defined as stories that are a part of a larger Greek folklore which is separate.
There are many types of myths. I like to categorize them in three categories. First being Hero myths, second lesson myths and third is explanation myths. Each of these teaches us something different about Greek culture and ideals. Part of the reason they continue on to this day is the many different types of stories they tell. Also due in part to the long standing tradition of Greek hero worship.
To showcase these different ideas I will be pulling one of the most famous greek myths. A hero myth. Through telling it I will also provide alanasiy on why we still tell these myths, their historical importance, and overall to just tell a good story.
Heracles and the second of his 12 labors:
Heracles is a legend most of us are familiar with. Or we are at least familiar with certain parts of his myths and stories. Like most stories in Greek mythology this one starts with an affair of Zeus. Zeus had laid with Alcmene and together they produced Heracles. The boy was intended to become the ruler of Greece. After all, he was the next born son of the Perseid house.
All was well. Until Hera found out that Alcmene had fallen pregnant. Hera would not stand for her husband's infidelity so she forced the sickly son of Eurystheus to be born first. Thus he was made king of Greece.
This slight was not enough for Hera. So she bided her time. Once Heracles had grown he soon married a woman named Megera. Together they had three sons and for a while the family lived happily. Hera saw it as her time to strike. She drove the young man to madness. In his crazed state he slew his sons and Megera, only waking from his insanity to see what he had done.
Heracles then did the only thing he could think of doing. He prayed to Apollo to seek guidance. Apollo answered the young man’s pleas. Himself all too familiar with heartbreak. The god set him to serve King Eurystheus for twelve years in order to pay penance for the murders. Part of his penance included twelve labors. It was through these labors that Heracles earned his fame and his immortality.
This series of events loosely brings us to the second of Heracles’ twelve labors. Arguably one of his most famous. For this labor he was sent to kill the Hydra. In this version of the myth to the Greeks the Hydra was a nine headed serpent, not a dragon. The hydra’s mouths dripped with venom.
Heralces arrived at the monster's den. To lure it out he shot it with arrows he had set aflame. The Hydra emerged and coiled itself around Heracles’ ankle, keeping the hero from escape. Heracles attacked and the Hydra hissed as he sliced off head after head, two more emerging from their place.
To get the better of the beast, Heracles chopped off each of the Hydra’s eight mortal heads and held a torch to the headless neck to prevent the replacement heads from growing. In some versions of the myth he is helped by a companion named Iolaus.
Regardless of help or not Heracles chopped off the ninth immortal and buried it by the side of the road, with a heavy rock placed over it for good measure. Heracles used what remained of the hapless Hydra to dip his arrows in its venomous blood.
After the labor was finished Heracles returned to King Eurystheus. The king was not pleased with the outcome. Sure the Hydra was dead but Heracles had received help. Young Iolaus had burned the necks. Thus this labor could not count for the ten he had to complete for penance. In the end he had nothing to show for this feat other than venom tipped arrows. His forgiveness and favor of the gods were still out of reach.
End myth.
So, what does this myth teach us?
First about Greek ideals. Greek heroes are not what we would think of Heros today. Our heroes do not kill their wives and children. Or abandon their wives. Greek heroes get away with plenty of immoral acts without losing their status as heroes, even within the modern context. Why is that? The real reason is because the Greek’s had a different definition of hero. To the Greeks a Hero was someone who did something great. Their heroes were born of the gods. They had unimaginable power. But with that power came suffering. Their struggles were bigger and they suffered more, they also overcame. It did not matter what they did or who they hurt, as long as it was not the gods. They were bigger than the rest of humanity. They showed strength to many people who did not have any. Heroes were for both the common man and the power seeker. They entertained and they inspired awe. They were just bigger, better and sadder than the everyday folks. After all, who doesn’t like a little bit of tragedy in the stories we consume?
Second about Greek culture. Why are these stories still so prevalent? Why do these heroes become gods or gain some form of immortality? There is a simple explanation of this. One reason of many to answer those questions. That is Hero cults and Hero worship.
Hero cults, unlike the larger Greek religion, were confined to a specific locale. This meant that there were literally thousands of Greek hero cults. Most of these cults followed groups of local heroes from their own folklore. We know of some of these Heros. It is speculated that most of the heroes named in the Iliad and the Odyssey were local heroes from regions all around Greece. A local hero cult could center around anyone. Man, Woman, adult or child.
At the beginning a hero cult would pop up in a local area after a hero was laid to rest within the ground. They would vertnet the body parts of the hero. This would be a practice that would carry over into the cathlioc praise of saints and specifically the practice of relics.
Much like they did with the gods, the Greeks would often make animal sacrifices to these heros. They were divine, maybe not as much as the gods but the Greeks saw something within their local heros that made them important. They were born of the gods in some cases, or at least said to.
The difference between the sacrifices to the gods and that of heroes within hero cults was pointent. Sacrifices to the gods were made to the heavens. Sacrifices to heroes were made to the earth, typically where the hero was buried.
Heroes to some point were divine. Which is why we see the carry over for many into actual pantheons. Such as Heracles who later becomes the god of strength. Heroes were such a big part of Greek culture that they became a part of Greek mythology and Greek religion. These stories were so prevalent that people worshiped them. They worshiped things that were greater than them even if they were just human. Not all heroes were born from the gods. Sometimes they were just strong.
I think we see some similarity in the current times with how we treat superheroes. We don;t worship them but we continued to be enamored by hero stories nonetheless. Not just the heroes with all the power. Some heroes are just better than the average human even if they have no powers. But we love them nonetheless. They are more human than we are. They seem to feel deeper than we do. Even old Greek heroes make appearances in our modern hero works. They have not faded because humans are inherently drawn to a good hero. A good story.
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