This story deftly answers one of the most vexing problems of Christianity: If god is all powerful and supremely good why do bad things happen to us?
The Greek answer is that if there is an omnipotent god (Zeus), he/she is indifferent or malevolent. This view was also shared by the Gnostic Christians who were very quickly pushed out of the Christian church.
Prometheus is also something of a scapegoat who comes between the full fury of the gods and mankind. Mankind suffers, but not nearly as much as could be were it not for the suffering of Prometheus. The scapegoat archetype is very common and is seen in figures such as Christ and Odin. Take a quick look at the image above and tell me that does not resemble Christ. This image however dates from 350 BC. Scapegoats suffer so that others will not have to. It was very common in early societies to practice scapegoating at the New Year. Often a sacrificial figure would be identified a year ahead of time and pampered like a king for that year. On the eve of the new year they would then be sacrificed, stoned or exiled from the town/village. This symbolic act was a ritual purge of the collective sins or evils of a community. The sacrificial individual would be suffering in the hopes that the community would not have to. It is also connected with early agricultural and hunting societies where death is recognized as an integral part of the life/death/rebirth cycle.
In the case of Christ the sacrifice was of such magnitude that is obviated the need for further sacrifices. Up until that time sacrifice was a regular practice. For more detailed explanations of the scapegoat rituals and documentation see "The Golden Bough" by Sir George James Frazer.
Another trend which is highlighted by Works and Days is the increasing distance humans have from their once divine roots. Most stories of alienation foretell a time of great hardship and strife usually right before the end of the world or a new beginning. According to Hesiod we were experiencing that time now. For a poetic version of the end-days see "The Second Coming" a poem by WB Yeats which I have provided here.
The Second Coming
TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Prometheus is something of a champion for mankind and we recognize his heroic qualities. Prometheus is the source of civilization for humanity as the theft of fire allowed for a shift in the ways humans lived. He was the spark of inspiration that allowed for further progress.
The Golden age that preceded Prometheus is a psychological version of the womb where all the child’s needs were met automatically and there was no want or conflict. The gradual decline in that perfection represents a coming to terms with the world and its necessary evils which cannot be reversed and is only ameliorated in death; which for the Greeks was small consolation. The hope for a return to that world without want and overabundance is a desire to return to the womb.
Obviously a return to that eternal state is only possible in death which brought many cultures to revere the power of the Goddess as supreme. She is the "womb and the tomb" which we will read about for tomorrow.
I found the idea that the world goes through ages or cycles of life to be interseting. The story of Prometheus interesting as well. The way that he suffered for mankind shows that the Greeks generally believed that no matter how bad life is, it could be much worse; I tend to agree with this belief.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that Jeremy spoke of, of the Goden age being like the time that mankind was in the womb is also fascinating to me. It makes sense as well. During this time of bliss when mankind had no troubles, people where perpetually happy, they were alive, but they were not truely living. You can not really experience and appreciate happiness without experiencing its opposite. In this way, the move from the Golden age into the following ages was like a time of birth, in the way that a fetus is alive, but has not yet experienced life. So in the ages that followed the golden age, such as the iron age, people began to really experience life. When one has to work and struggle to survive and overcome obstacles, then one can truely appreciate those rare moments of true bliss when they occur. This is what life is all about. Also, if life were perfect, there would be no need to believe in paradise or an afterlife, in fact if life were perfect, people may not even think of such a thing. After all, the reason most people believe in an afterlife is because it gives us a reason for our suffering, it soothes us to know that we may go on to a better place. If life were utopian, there would be no better place and therefore no need to try to attain entry into such a place or even phathom that such a place may exist.
I have always counted the myth of Prometheus as one of my lesser favorites, however after giving it a second chance and reading and taking it all in again. I believe that when taking classes that briefly look at greek mythology, Prometheus has always been gone over but always in a very brief way. We as students were never really taught that Prometheus was really the inspiration for anything to further civilization. As for the Golden Age, it is known that this concept takes place in many different societies and cultures. A time that is filled with nothing more than bliss and happiness. However this concept usually refers to the time that we are in the womb. Though people were alive, they were not really living their lives, much like Turina mentioned..
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting talking about scapegoats, how it was common for a member of a community to take the blame for something so that the rest of the community wouldn't have to suffer. It was interesting how this could be related to christ, and how he suffered so that everyone else wouldn't have to. I didn't think that christ and the christian belief would or could be compared to the ancient gods and goddesses. Although the principle that there is a god somewhere is similar to the belief that there are gods, like Zeus, out there somewhere, it is odd to me to see them being compared or put into similar categories.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that in the world there always has been, and always will be suffering, which is good reason to bring up the question if there really is a god then why is there so much suffering. I believe that sometimes the greatest things in life don't seem as great once you get them, if you didn't have to work hard for them, suffer at all.
I find it amazing that there were scapegoats even in history such as Christ who was the ultimate scape goat for the Christian people. He wiped eternal sin away. Even in today's society there are scapegoats such as the convicted criminals who are found not guilty by the new DNA technology. People are always trying to pin stuff on others to wash the evil away.Like Prometheus and Christ they are our heroes. These two put a mark on the way we all should live. They both showed mankind how it is to take the higher road. I find wonderment in the picture on the blog today. This looks so much like Christ but couldn't have been. It makes me wonder if a higher power is and had all along been trying to tell us something? The idea of why bad things still happen is a very complex situation. After watching the first video biography it is told that bad things do happen but we all in fact are mortals and have the freedoms of choice thanks to Adam and Eve. So we can expect bad and good in the world.
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