The Hittitian myth about the inconsolable god who threw unjustified temper tantrums just willy-nilly really solidified the assertion that most gods in a society's myth are simply the culture's idea of an "ideal" citizen to follow after or aspire to be, but they still exhibit certain human follies. In our most recently read myth, Telepinu, the god of fertility, grew furious at the world for a reason known not even to his divine family and doomed the crops and people of Hittite in his selfish rage. This is an obvious portrayal that even the gods aren't flawless and sucum to some of the most detrimental emotions that characteristically skew a mortal's judgement, such as anger in the Hittitian myth, or lust seen in many many Greek/Roman myths (i.e. Zeus the womanizer and Hera the jealous wife who gets cheated on quite frequently).
This concept is also supported by stories that not only depict the gods "stooping" to "level" of the mortals they rule over, but seeking the assitance of them as well. In the same Hittitian myth about Telepinu's inconsolable rage, the only solution was to beg for the application of the limited magic that humans possess, but it prevailed in ridding of the angry god's rage when no divine power could. Many predominant Greek myths oftentimes incorporate the theme of gods only being able to display certain powers or complete some sort of task on earth by the compliance of a faithful human. Perhaps this is because humans themselves cannot fathom what qualitities a completely "perfect" being would possess; ultimately being the creators of these myths themselves, it's no wonder their idols have the same follies that they struggled with on a daily basis.
The Hittitian myth about the inconsolable god who threw unjustified temper tantrums just willy-nilly really solidified the assertion that most gods in a society's myth are simply the culture's idea of an "ideal" citizen to follow after or aspire to be, but they still exhibit certain human follies. In our most recently read myth, Telepinu, the god of fertility, grew furious at the world for a reason known not even to his divine family and doomed the crops and people of Hittite in his selfish rage. This is an obvious portrayal that even the gods aren't flawless and sucum to some of the most detrimental emotions that characteristically skew a mortal's judgement, such as anger in the Hittitian myth, or lust seen in many many Greek/Roman myths (i.e. Zeus the womanizer and Hera the jealous wife who gets cheated on quite frequently). 
This concept is also supported by stories that not only depict the gods "stooping" to "level" of the mortals they rule over, but seeking the assitance of them as well. In the same Hittitian myth about Telepinu's inconsolable rage, the only solution was to beg for the application of the limited magic that humans possess, but it prevailed in ridding of the angry god's rage when no divine power could. Many predominant Greek myths oftentimes incorporate the theme of gods only being able to display certain powers or complete some sort of task on earth by the compliance of a faithful human. Perhaps this is because humans themselves cannot fathom what qualitities a completely "perfect" being would possess; ultimately being the creators of these myths themselves, it's no wonder their idols have the same follies that they struggled with on a daily basis.
No comments:
Post a Comment