Incidents in Mythology

     Mythology has always picked up people’s attention due to its bizarre stories and of course, its gods. Although it might not be real, the stories written have, in a way, reflected the attitude of the people then, of what they used to do. Mythology, just like any other form of literature, has also some incidents that serve as a lesson to the readers. Specifically in Greek mythology, we will tackle different incidents and if it does correlate in the present-day setting.

INCIDENT 1: JUDGEMENT OF PARIS

The Judgement of Paris. Painting by
Jose Camaron y Bononat.

     In Homer’s The Iliad, Peleus, the father of Achilles, fell in love with the sea nymph Thetis and decided to marry each other. During the celebration, all gods were invited, except by a deliberate oversight named Eris, the goddess of strife. Despite that, she still came and brought a golden apple, where written upon is the phrase “For the fairest.” Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena claimed for the apple, and they appealed to Zeus for the decision. He refused to decide and gave the role to Paris. The three goddesses vowed to give Paris a prize once he would pick them. Hera offered power, Athena promised him military glory and wisdom, and Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife. As he judged and decided, he gave the apple to Aphrodite since he was not interested in war and power at first.
      Eris was livid upon discovering that she was not invited to the wedding and that was the reason why she handed out a golden apple to determine the fairest and most beautiful amongst the goddesses. As Paris chose Aphrodite, she - as promised, presented Helen, but she was married to Menelaus, the King of Sparta. As Paris went to Sparta, he then sets his eyes on Helen and they fell in love. Their love for each other made them leave Sparta, taking a huge amount of the city’s treasure. Because of their escape, this sparked a war between the Spartans and the Trojans.

A classic act of bribery - through money. Photo retrieved
from Rosenblum Law

     The most prominent thing that I have noticed is how the three goddesses were bribing Paris into choosing them with their gifts. To define (from Merriam Webster), bribing someone is to influence the judgment or conduct of (someone) with or as if with offers of money or favor. The reason why Paris chose Aphrodite was because of her gift – a beautiful woman who would be his wife. His judgment wasn’t based on the goddesses’ beauty, but on their gifts instead, which defeats the purpose of the golden apple. Aphrodite’s gift influenced Paris into choosing her, which is a great example of bribery. 

   Bribery certainly does happen in present, from ordinary individuals to the government. For example, someone can bribe a huge amount of money just for the other person to get out of jail. You also bribe someone with money or with gifts to do something or to do their jobs better in their benefit. In a 2016 case, a businessman filed an administrative complaint in the country’s Supreme Court against a Makati City judge for allegedly asking for a PHP 15 million bribe in exchange for a favorable ruling in an insurance claim. Some laws also criminalize the act of bribery. The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act criminalizes active and passive bribery, embezzlement, extortion, abuse of office and conflict of interest in the public sector. Bribery of public officials and trading in influence are also criminalized in the Anti-Red Tape Act, where government officials or employees are forbidden to accept gifts in exchange for any government permit or license. Bribery and these types of corruption hinder the development and progress of our country.

INCIDENT 2: THE ‘COMFORT WOMEN’ OF THE TROJAN WAR

Two Greek troops leading Briseis to Agamemnon.
Photo by Leemage/Getty Images

     In the tenth year of the Trojan War, Agamemnon insulted Apollo by taking his slave-hostage Chryseis and refusing to return her when her father demanded her and compensation. In revenge due to Agamemnon’s disrespect to Apollo’s prophet (which was Chryseis’ father), Apollo sent nine days of plague upon the Greek army. Achilles gathered everyone in a meeting on what would they do. In that meeting, he and Agamemnon fought, confiscating Achilles’ slave girl Briseis, leading to Achilles and his troop’s withdrawal from the war.

     During the war, two maidens named Briseis and Chryseis were Trojans who were captured and became Achilles and Agamemnon’s ‘war prizes’ respectively. They were given as war prizes to Achilles and Agamemnon and were sex slaves to the two men. 

     On the other side of the Trojan battle were innocent lives full of misery and tragedy they have to endure for many years. Overshadowing the pride and glory of the men involved in the war lies behind women and children suffering. The story of Chryseis deals with a tragic subplot involving her desperate love for Troilus, the prince of Troy; the prophecy against him; her capture and release from the Greek camp. Briseis was the princess of Pedasus, married to Mynes of Lyrnessus. But, during the war, her husband, father and three brothers were killed by Achilles, and she was captured as his sex slave.

    Although the story tells us very little details about them, we still know that they were sexually abused by the two men because they were taken in as sex slaves. We all know that sexual abuse within women is still happening today. According to a survey conducted by the Women Safety Module in the Philippines, 1 in 25 women aged 15-49 have experienced being forced into sexual intercourse at least once. But, Briseis and Chryseis’ situation bears a resemblance to what the comfort women of World War II experienced.  

Korean comfort women, including a pregnant one (leftmost)
together with a Japanese soldier.
Photo retrieved from University of California Irvine (UCI)

   During the Japanese occupation of WWII (1942-1945), women from occupied areas by the Japanese were forced into being sex slaves. Women were used for military “comfort stations” and most of them were Koreans, Chinese and Filipinos. In the Philippines, Filipino women were threatened and forced to labor as comfort women. As the Japanese arrived, they built houses of relaxation or comfort stations where different women from occupied areas were brought and forced to provide soldiers all kinds of sexual services. Thousands of Filipino women were taken from their homes and they were defenseless because most of the men were at war. Even young girls, as young as six years old, were forced into service. Even worse, women were starved and maltreated by the Japanese, and even killing those who fought back or escaped.
     It seems so horrendous to discover what women back then had to experience during the wars. Many of them were taken in and forced to experience sexual abuse and many more types and still haven't gotten a proper closure since then. Not only these, but many of us know how women lived back then, with no gender equality in the workplace and at home. Fortunately, society is opening up to matters like these, but the double standard is still very evident in our everyday life, and it frustrates me to know that some women are still being abused by their husbands/men and that they still experience injustice in their lives.

INCIDENT 3: ODYSSEUS AND THE CYCLOPS

Polyphemus accepting the drink from Odysseus. Painting by John Flaxman.

     In one of the famous myths from Homer’s Odyssey, the story starts with Odysseus’ shipmates coming back to their home, celebrating victory from the Trojan War. After encountering many problems and perils during their trip, they found an island where the sound of the bleating goats interested Oddyseus and his growling stomach. Outside the cave lies a goat pen, and inside is where all the meat and cheese are that could accompany their starvation. But, as they went in, they encountered Polyphemus, a cyclops. Polyphemus then trapped the men by blocking the cave with a huge boulder the men could not even bear to move, and then the cyclops ate two of Odysseus’ men. Coming up with a plan, Odysseus and his men made strong wine offered to the cyclops. Convinced, Polyphemus consumed the wine and got drunk. Polyphemus asked for Odysseus' name, to which he replies with “nobody”, and when the Greeks were able to impale Polyphemus’ eye with a large stick, he screams and the cyclops replies with “nobody” when the other cyclops asked whose fault was it. The Greeks were then able to escape, clinging onto the rams’ bellies, tricking Polyphemus into removing the boulder, and they were able to escape successfully in their ship.

A man handing out a drink to a woman. 
Photo retrieved from Cosmopolitan.

     In the part where the Greeks offered the cyclops wine, it is a sign of stranger danger in modern times. People are always advised to not accept drinks from strangers because they never know what’s in the drink that could make them unconscious and unaware of what’s happening, thus exposing them to great dangers. People are always told not to trust strangers of what they give and of what they ask (although not for some simple directions; but when it comes to the point that you have to guide and walk with them, it poses a great danger), hence the term stranger danger - strangers are dangerous for a person’s safety.         
     And specifically talking about drinks, drink spiking is the illegal act of placing a substance into a drink to cause harm to the drinker. The reasons behind drink spiking may include theft, rape, assault, etc. Any drug can be used to spike a drink, but the most common is flunitrazepam, also known as rohypnol. This drug has been reported frequently in the press as the date rape drug. Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and ketamine are also frequently used to spike drinks because of their anesthetic qualities when mixed with alcohol. These drugs are very hard to identify when placed in the drink, hence, many people use this so that the other person would be unaware of it. 

     Of course, there were no drugs placed in Polyphemus’ drink, just some strong, undiluted wine. And because of the cyclops’ curiosity (since the cyclops hadn’t tried drinking wine), Polyphemus trusted the Greeks and drank the wine given, making him unconscious, thus enabling the Greeks to stab his eye which was dangerous for the cyclops’ condition. Polyphemus did break the rule of stranger danger here, and it teaches him and the readers a lesson to never trust what strangers would give. This scene is certainly similar to the intentions of drink spiking, but just without drugs.

INCIDENT 4: THE THEOGONY: GREED FOR POWER

     The Greek story of creation, from the Theogony written by Hesiod, is full of greed and avarice involving power. The greed stems from Ouranous with his children. Apart from the twelve titans, he cast the Hecatonchires into Tartarus because not only he was disgusted, he was also fearful they might conquer him because of their power and strength through their strong stature. Through Gaia’s advice, Kronos, one of Ouranous’ children, castrated him and hence, Kronos replaced him and the Titan age started. 

"The Battle Between the Gods and the Titans" by Joachim Wtewael

      The greed continues as Kronos eats his children because of a prophecy that one of his children will overthrow him, but fortunately, Zeus, the youngest, was protected from him and was replaced instead with a rock decoy for Kronos to consume. Growing up, Zeus makes Kronos vomit his other five siblings, and waged on a war with the Titans. Zeus’ side won and the Greek age began. Zeus became the king of the Olympian gods, and the greed continues. In one part, Zeus devoured his wife, Metis because of a prophecy that their offspring would be greater than him. But, despite that, Athena, their offspring, still grew out of his head, fully armed.

     Today, greed still lives inside people who can’t just seem to be contented with what they have. Greed with a certain thing, with someone, with power and authority - you name it. This greed hampers our relationship with people and would lead to competition instead. This greed makes people selfish and egotistic to the point it blinds their conscience, hurting people without realizing it. 

Greed involving power, especially in politics, has caused politicians to venture into illegal actions involving graft and corruption. This has slowed down the progress of our country just because they don’t want to lose their power. And who are the ones affected by their greed? Of course, the citizens. A good politician is challenged to avoid the temptations of greed for power, authority and wealth - to focus on the service of the citizens, but it seems like many of them decided to run because of that greed instead.

The 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. Photo retrieved
from The Bohol Chronicle.

     An iconic example in Filipino politics that has been etched onto the history books was former president Ferdinand Marcos. In the first term, Marcos was successful in bringing the Philippines into development, thus improving the quality of life of Filipinos. During the second term, everything went downhill from there. In his second term, economic growth slowed, optimism faded, and the crime rate increased. Also, a new communist insurgency, led by the new Communist Party of the Philippines-Marxist-Leninist and its military arm, the New People’s Army, was on the rise. In 1969 the Moro National Liberation Front was founded and conducted an insurgency in Muslim areas. Due to this political violence, he declared martial law. Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, and did not lift it until January 17, 1981. When martial law was lifted in 1981 and a “New Republic” was proclaimed, little had actually changed, and Marcos easily won reelection.

     The situation went worse when his political rival, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., who had been jailed by Marcos, was assassinated as ordered from the Marcos administration. It all stemmed from Marcos’ greed of political power that made him do this. His greed continues during the 1986 snap election where he won but was met with widespread allegations of fraud and illegal tampering. This sparked the iconic and non-violent People Power Revolution, where the citizens of the country were eager and determined to overthrow the greedy president, which was successful. The cause of his greed for power has since affected the Philippines especially economically.

     AND finally, to conclude, mythology has always provided people some life lessons, just like what I mentioned above. These stories are also still relevant and comparable in modern society, which is what makes it timeless. So, when you read something about mythology, don’t be only fascinated with its characters or its 'unusual' events, be fascinated with what lesson and information it gives you that you can apply in real life because that’s what the purpose of literature is.



References

• Assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. (2019, October 25). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Benigno_Aquino_Jr
• Briseis, Slave of Achilles. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.rwaag.org/briseis
• Crystal, G., & Foster, N. (2019, October 18). What is Drink Spiking? Retrieved from https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-drink-spiking.htm
• Hauser, E. (2016, May 19). Women of the Trojan War. Retrieved from http://www.historiamag.com/recovering-the-women-of-the-trojan-war/
• JUDGEMENT OF PARIS. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/JudgementParis.html
• Nonato, V. F. (2016, August 24). Trader claims Makati judge sought P15M via middleman. Retrieved from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/809081/trader-claims-makati-judge-sought-p15m-via-middleman
• Philippine Commission on Women. (2014, May 13). Retrieved from https://www.pcw.gov.ph/statistics/201405/statistics-violence-against-filipino-women
• Stranger danger. (2019, October 15). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_danger
• The Era of Ferdinand Marcos - History of the Philippines. (2016, July 4). Retrieved from https://www.tagaloglang.com/the-era-of-ferdinand-marcos/.
• The Philippines Corruption Report. (2017, October). Retrieved from https://www.ganintegrity.com/portal/country-profiles/the-philippines/
• THEOGONY - HESIOD: SUMMARY & ANALYSIS: Classical Literature. (2019, August 6). Retrieved from https://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_hesiod_theogony.html
• Tucker, K. (2019, January 10). What Are the Roles of the Maidens Chryseis & Briseis in the Epic "The Iliad"? Retrieved from https://penandthepad.com/roles-maidens-chryseis-briseis-epic-the-iliad-22218.html
• Women made to be Comfort Women - Philippines. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.awf.or.jp/e1/philippine-00.html