Olympus

by Devdutt Pattanaik

Seated atop Mount Olympus, Zeus made himself the ruler of the sky, watching over the earth, hurling thunderbolts from time to time. Poseidon declared himself the ruler of the sea and the rivers, occasionally causing earthquakes. Hades became the ruler of the underworld, claiming all those who died.

  Hestia, the elder sister of Zeus, became the goddess of the hearth; Demeter the goddess of life-giving grain; and Hera the goddess of the household.

  With roles so clearly defined, the Olympians celebrated by eating ambrosia and drinking nectar.

  The concept of three worlds is found in most mythologies. In the Vedas, there is talk of the earth, sky and the atmosphere in between. The Puranas speak of the earth (Bhu-loka), the paradise of the gods (Swarga-loka) and the subterranean realms of the asuras and nagas (Patala-loka). In the Bible, there is earth, Heaven and Hell.

  In Roman mythology, Zeus is known as Jupiter, Hades is called Pluto and Poseidon is Neptune.

  While the world is divided amongst the Olympian gods, it is clear there is no such thing as god of earth. Earth is a goddess linked to various female divinities like Gaia, Rhea and Demeter, even Hecate. With Demeter responsible for grain, Hestia for the hearth and Hera for the household, we see the rise of human culture, and the roles assigned to women.

  Just as the Olympians have a tense relationship with the Titans, Zeus has a tense relationship with Poseidon and Hades. Consumed by envy, Poseidon causes storms and earthquakes. Similarly envious, Hades does not let the dead return to the land of the living.

  Olympus serves as the central axis of the world, the Axis Mundi, like Mount Meru or Mount Kailasa in the Hindu Puranas.

  In Hindu mythology, Yama is the ruler of the dead. He is the first human to die without leaving behind an offspring and so is eternally trapped in the land of the dead, unlike Hades who chooses to be ruler of the land of the dead.

  Hades is considered rich, as he collects tax from the dead before letting them enter the land of the dead. Coins are placed on the eyes and mouth of the dead before cremating them. In Hindu funeral rituals too, coins are sometimes placed in the hands of the dead.

  Thanatos, the god of death, is different from Hades, the ruler of the dead, just as Mrityu, the goddess of death in Hindu mythology, needs to be distinguished from Yama, the ruler of the dead.

  Unlike Hindu mythology, where there is a paranoid fear of death, and hence a yearning for amrita, the nectar of immortality that the devas possess, Greek mythology shows no such obsession. Such yearning for immortality is found in Mesopotamian mythology too, in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Greek heroes, however, show no such craving. Immortality is reserved for the gods, mortality for humans. The Greek way of coping with the fear of death is to live an extraordinary life that would inspire bards to compose epics. The other way is to have children, an idea encouraged by Hindu dharma-shastras too.

  Iris and Arke

  There were two sisters, daughters of Titans, who spanned the three worlds, from the skies above through the seas below right down to the underworld of the dead. They were Iris and Arke. Both had wings, and they took the form of rainbows.

  During the war between the Titans and the Olympians, Arke sided with the Titans and Iris with the Olympians.

  When the war ended, Zeus tore off Arke’s wings and cast her into Tartarus, causing her rainbow to fade. That is why only one rainbow is seen in the sky. The winged Iris became the messenger of the gods, whispering in the ears of heroes, kings and queens, reminding them constantly never to upset the Olympians.

  In Hindu mythology, the rainbow is called Indra-dhanush, or the bow of Indra, the sky god.

  Narada, the sage who travels between the three worlds of Hindu mythology, is popular as the gossipmonger and instigator of quarrels.

  This clear divide between old and new gods, the rejection of the old and the celebration of the new, is absent in Hindu mythology. All Hindu gods intermingle and become part of the same system.

  Cybele

  Once, Zeus lay on a bed of grass. And while sleeping he spilt his semen on the grass. A strange creature sprang out: it had both male and female genitalia and called itself Agdistis. Unnerved by its form, the Olympians cut out its male genitals and turned the androgynous Agdistis into the goddess Cybele.

  The male genitals fell on the ground and turned into an almond tree. The daughter of a local river god ate the almonds and became pregnant and gave birth to a handsome man called Attis.

  When Attis was on his way to wed the princess of Phrygia, Cybele saw him and fell in love with him. Determined not to let him marry another woman, she drove him mad. At the wedding ceremony, Attis picked up a knife and castrated himself and died as a result of the bleeding.

  Cybele then restored Attis to life, and made him her consort.

  The idea of a sage or a god spilling semen on the earth and thereby fathering a child is a recurring theme in Hindu mythology as well. In the Mahabharata, Drona is born when his father spills his semen in a pot at the sight of a nymph.

  The Shiva Purana refers to Ardhanareshwara, God who is half-woman, evoking the primal androgynous being.

  The hijras of India often castrate themselves in the name of a rooster-riding goddess identified as Bahuchara Mata of Gujarat. Does this have anything to do with the Galli, the eunuch-priests of Cybele? We can only speculate.

  Cybele is linked to Gaia, Rhea, Demeter, Hecate, even the oracle. By making her a child of Zeus, this story makes her subservient to him.

  The cult of Cybele originated in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) and spread through Greece to Rome where she came to be known as Magna Mater (the Great Mother). It is the ancient Mother Goddess cult.

  Information about Cybele comes from many sources. The earliest are Homeric hymns to the mother of gods. These hymns date back to the seventh century BCE and are attributed to Homer as they follow the same metre and style as his epics.

  In Goddess worship, the male is subservient, merely a seed-provider and protector. The female is sacred as she bears children, the next generation. Here fertility is power, indicating a time when humans were still at the mercy of the elements and not proficient in agriculture or animal breeding.

  The theme of men and women originating from a primal androgynous being is a common theme in many mythologies. In some translations, the first being created by the God of Abraham was Adam, who was androgynous, and who became male when Eve was pulled out of him.

  Graces and Muses

  Zeus lay with many women: Titan, Olympian, nymph, even mortal. On each, he fathered children, who were destined to be either gods or heroes.

  On Eurynome, Zeus fathered the three Graces, to fill the world with good cheer. These three women were often seen dancing naked around Aphrodite and Eros.

  On Mnemosyne, Zeus fathered the nine Muses, who inspired poets and artists and writers to compose works of art and music and theatre and stories to help people forget their miseries and feel joy and hope. Strange that the daughters of ‘memory’ would enable the production of artworks that helped people ‘forget’.

  Thus from Zeus came the idea of good times and creativity.

  In Hindu mythology, Saraswati embodies the Muses while Lakshmi embodies the Graces. The damsels known as apsaras are both symbols of good cheer as well as muses for artists.

  Zeus can be linked to Kashyapa, son of Brahma, who has many wives, through whom he populates the world.

  Zeus is visualized as riding an eagle and hurling thunderbolts. In Hindu mythology too, Indra hurls thunderbolts and is closely associated with the sky and rain. But unlike Zeus, he is not a father figure or ruler. It is Vishnu who rides an eagle, like Zeus, and is more like the guardian of the world. Like him, Zeus is visualized as charismatic and cunning and strong, and his consort, Lakshmi, is seen as a combination of Hera and Demeter. Interestingly, there is no concept of avatars in Greek mythology: Olympians do not take birth on earth in mortal forms.

  Muses were differentiated from each other based on what they held in their hands: a stylus, ly
re, flute, globe and compass, tragic mask, comic mask, laurel wreath, scroll and veil.

  Hymen, the god of marriage, was the son of a Muse. If he did not attend a wedding, the wedding would have no inspiration and was expected to end disastrously.

  Horai and Morai

  On Themis, the Titan goddess of order, Zeus fathered the Horai and the Morai.

  The Horai were three in number: Eunomania who brought law, Dike who brought justice, and Irene who brought peace.

  The Morai, or the Fates, were three in number who determined the fate of all beings: Clotho spun the thread of life, Lachesis measured it, and Atropos cut it, thus determining mortality.

  Thus from Zeus came the idea of fairness as well as the idea of fate.

  In Hindu mythology, the role of the Fates is played by Shasthi, known as Satavai in folklore, who visits children on the sixth day after their birth and writes their fate on their forehead. But this is seen as part of ‘desi parampara’ or folk tradition, not ‘margi parampara’ or classical tradition, where fate is determined by karma, our own deeds.

  In Hindu mythology, Brahma chases his own daughter, Saraswati, like Zeus who pursues his own sisters. However, Brahma’s tryst does not refer to creation of the world, but to the enchantment of the creator with his own creation.

  Why does Zeus have so many wives? This has been answered in many ways. The allegorical reason states that Zeus marries Metis (intelligence) and Themis (justice) to imbibe their qualities. The historical reason states that Zeus embodies patriarchy while the goddesses and nymphs he ravishes embody matriarchy. The etiological reason is that great heroes born of mortal women owe their greatness to their divine father Zeus.

  Nike, the winged one with golden sandals, daughter of Zeus, was the goddess of victory who placed the laurel wreath on the winner. In Roman mythology, she was called Victoria.

  In Roman mythology, Dike is called Justitia. She is visualized as blindfolded, holding scales in one hand and a sword in the other. She became the symbol of justice. The scales were also associated with the zodiac sign Libra, often used by Zeus at wartime to figure out which side had been decreed to win by the Fates. Dike who lived on earth in the Golden Age, left the earth when humans became corrupted and no longer cared for justice.

  It is debatable whether Zeus controls the Fates or submits to the Fates. In the course of Greek mythology, Zeus became the supreme controller and dispenser of justice, a forerunner to the Christian Jehovah.

  Athena

  Zeus pursued and made love to Metis, the Titan goddess, who had concocted the potion that made Cronus vomit. But when he learned that the child she would bear him would overthrow him, Zeus swallowed Metis whole as soon as she became pregnant.

  Some time later, Zeus had a terrible headache, his head burst open and out came Athena, the goddess of crafts and wisdom. Since she had been delivered by Zeus, not Metis, Athena owed allegiance to him, and would not overthrow him. She swore to her father that she would never take a man for her husband and would serve him as a loyal daughter, ensuring his rule. Metis remained inside Zeus’s body giving him good advice from within.

  Though wise and patient, like all Olympians, Athena did not tolerate rivals. Once, she heard of the princess Arachne who claimed she could weave cloth better than Athena. So the goddess challenged her to a tapestry-weaving contest. The two sat at two looms and began weaving tapestries, each telling a story—Athena of foolish mortals who dared to challenge the gods, and Arachne of vain gods who abused mortals. Both creations were equally good and so an angry Athena grudgingly accepted defeat, but then cursed Arachne that she would turn into a spider and spin webs for all eternity.

  In Hindu mythology, a child not born from the womb of a woman was called ‘ayonija’ and was considered special. Athena too can be called ayonija. Her rejection of sex and the pursuit of wisdom and skills mirrors the belief that household ‘feminine’ work is removed from knowledge and the arts. The wise sage, male or female, is expected to be celibate. Unlike Durga and Lakshmi, who are associated with power and wealth respectively, Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, is rarely associated with the household, making her closest to Athena.

  The word arachnophobia, or fear of spiders, comes from the tale of Arachne, the princess who was turned into a spider by Athena.

  Metis embodies intelligence. By swallowing her, Zeus internalizes intelligence, which complements his brute strength by which he overpowered the Titans. This makes him a worthy leader of the Olympians.

  The denial of sexuality distinguishes some Olympian goddesses who are born of Zeus from those who were born before or with Zeus, and who celebrate their sexuality. Athena belongs to the former category: she is associated with skill and strategy but is also considered a virgin. Aphrodite and Hera belong to the latter category.

  Athena is strongly associated with the city, especially Athens. Scholars are divided on the issue of whether the name Athena is derived from Athens, or if Athens comes from Athena.

  Athena is visualized with armour: a spear and shield with the image of a Gorgon (a maiden’s head with serpents for hair) and an owl on her shoulders. The owl sees all with its round eyes.

  She is often called Pallas Athena. Pallas was her childhood friend whom she accidentally killed while learning to use the sword.

  Demeter and Persephone

  On Demeter, Zeus fathered Persephone, who was so beautiful that she caught the attention of lonely Hades, ruler of the land of the dead. When her mother was not watching, he abducted her and took her across the River Styx, far from the land of the living, and made her his queen.

  Demeter should have been happy, but she could not bear the separation from her daughter and begged Zeus to bring her back. Until Persephone was returned to her, the goddess vowed not to let any plant bear leaves or flowers or fruit.

  Zeus had to use his immense powers of persuasion to make Hades release Persephone. ‘She can leave provided she has not consumed anything from the land of the dead,’ grunted Hades.

  Unfortunately, Persephone had consumed a few pomegranate seeds while in the land of the dead. And so it was declared that for half the year she would stay with her husband, Hades, and for the rest of the year with her mother, Demeter.

  In Hindu Puranas, the earth is called Bhu-devi and all vegetation are her children, thus she is both Gaia and Demeter.

  In Europe, winter marks the great shift in seasons while in India, it is the monsoon that forms the seasonal turning point. Winter is explained as the abduction of Demeter’s daughter by Hades while the monsoon is explained as Indra making love to the earth with rain and thunderbolts.

  Demeter is the goddess of the harvest. In Rome, she was called Ceres.

  Persephone, the crop, is her daughter, who rises up during harvest time but goes away in wintertime. She is depicted holding ears of corn in her hands. She is linked to the zodiac sign Virgo.

  Along with Hecate, Demeter and Persephone form the Triple Goddess: the crone, the mother and the virgin. The Triple Goddess played a key role in ancient Greek agricultural mysteries, before the rise of the Olympians.

  Demeter is never portrayed with a consort with one exception: Iasion, who lay with her, but was killed by Zeus’s thunderbolt.

  Poseidon

  Poseidon was not very happy about ruling merely the seas. He wanted to rule the earth too, or at least some parts of it, maybe a few islands or the coastline of continents. But no matter how hard he tried, he failed. Corinth worshipped Helios, the sun god; Argos preferred Hera, the goddess of the household; and Athens venerated Athena because she gave them the olive tree, while all Poseidon gave them was salt water.

  Poseidon created horses that could run like the waves on the sea, but still he did not become the preferred Olympian. And so he swore to make life difficult for everyone who lived on earth by causing earthquakes on land and storms in the sea.

  He finally married Amphitrite, a sea nymph, but she avoided his company until she was convinced to change her min
d by a dolphin.

  Like Zeus, he often slipped out of the sea and made love to women on the shores, especially those who loved to play with seawater and pour its foam between their thighs.

  Once, Poseidon made love to a young woman named Caenis and offered her anything she desired. Caenis asked that she be turned into a man. Poseidon granted her wish, turning Caenis into Caeneus, and also gave her skin that could not be penetrated by weapons. The centaurs mocked Caeneus on learning of his female origin. When they could not kill him with weapons, they crushed him under a pile of tree trunks.

  Poseidon’s counterpart in Hindu mythology is Varuna who rides a dolphin, or a sea monster called makara. Varuna, father of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, is considered the most generous of gods, who gives humans salt and fish and seeks nothing in turn. He lacks Poseidon’s cantankerous nature and has more in common with the older sea gods such as Pontus and Oceanus.

  Poseidon is depicted as holding a trident in his hand and riding waves as if they were horses or dolphins.

  In the Roman pantheon Poseidon is known as Neptune.

  The philosopher Plato tells the story of how Poseidon fathered a son, Atlas, on the mortal girl Cleito. Atlas established Atlantis which tried to conquer Athens but failed as the latter was a well-ordered city, while the people of Atlantis eventually let their avaricious human side overshadow their disciplined divine side.

  Hera

  Zeus took his sister, Hera, as his wife, and made her queen of Olympus. She gave him many children. There was Hebe, the goddess who serves nectar and makes everyone happy, and Eris, the goddess of strife who causes quarrels and makes everyone unhappy. There was Ares, the handsome god of war, and Hephaestus, the ugly and deformed god of craftsmanship.