Greek Gods

An article in the Times not long ago lamented the loss and disrespect of the lawgiver god and its lamentable effect on society.  Of course, it was written by an elite egghead who has probably not been back to church in a while, whose concern was primarily for the uppity airs of the lower classes.  I couldn’t help but remember the classic Greeks.

The Greeks were quite a refreshing thing in the ancient Mediterranean, not least because of their view of the universe.  After thousands of years of stern father figures who thundered right and wrong in a grim echo of the social hierarchy of organized agricultural civilization, the Greek gods were a breath of fun.  The gang up on Olympus represented nothing so much as chaos, all of them men and women fickle beyond belief and ready to meddle in the affairs of people for the most trivial reasons, or simply on a wager or whim.  Mostly, a sane person would try not to attract their attention.

For the elite even back then I suspect their gods were hard to take seriously.  There’s something provocatively ironic about stories that the most omnipotent ruler of heaven and earth would need to assume the form of a swan to sneak onto terra firma for a little hanky panky.  Nice tales for the children, of course, with grains of wisdom spread throughout as are contained in all organized religions.  But during normal times, there’s enough to do without worrying about that crew in the clouds.

Perhaps the Greek gods, serving trading city states rather than gigantic water-based empires, more closely resemble the spiritual values of human tribal hunting prehistory.  A radical could claim that society is undergoing an equivalent paradigm shift of belief now, into what we do not know.   And, of course, the Western agricultural elites were only one aspect of what worked _ as is obvious by studying the vastly different religions of China and India.

Anyway, the laments for the good old days, when morals were high and heaven was nigh constantly rise from those who are paid to lament such things.  The human religious impulse remains as real as always, the personal search for divine reconciliation as true as ever.  But the exact forms of the unknowable are too mysterious, probably, even for the learned in their ivory towers.  

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The Met recently had a loan of a wonderful about-life-size bronze of an athlete (“The Boxer”) done in around 300BC on loan from Italy.  When I had finished gazing at this, I spent some time in the nearby Greek galleries, actually looking at the cases and sculpture slowly and reading the inscriptions.  That is something it is sometimes hard to do in so overwhelming a museum, where there is always something else to be seen in the next room.

 

I was struck by how much of Greek art was about people and life.  A lot of it could fit perfectly into a modern home, could be sold at Pier 1.  There’s a lot of attention on day to day, less attention on what might be in heaven.  Of course, I realize that museum collections by their very nature select pieces that fit the notions of the curators, and also that the Metropolitan never had first choice of what was available of the ancient world.  Anyway, it was all down to earth, beautiful, cute, and even useful.

When I later cruised through (that is, looking at, but not reading and meditating) the Egyptian and Southeast Asian areas, I was equally struck by how much was dedicated, by contract, to beings and thoughts not of this world.  Or of humans who were able to transcend day to day life. 

All of it could strike a chord in me.  I like knowing of day to day life, and appreciate the good things available to me (I was in a museum, after all, by choice.)  I also cannot help but be drawn into thoughts of deeper mysteries and meaning, particularly as I see my days on Earth closing before me.  If I had to make a choice now, I would be about equally torn. 

The playful, ironic Greeks, cheerfully separating the parts of their lives that they can affect and the parts of the universe _ fate, destiny, meaning, chaos _ that can never be known nor controlled are still relevant these days when we are told we can do anything, yet most of us can change very little. The Boxer, in visual form, encapsulated the tragedy of Oedipus and everyman _ born into a situation and a time which we struggle eternally to make the best of, while simultaneously bound by fate to a destiny we can never change.

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The Gods on Mt. Olympus,

Shapeshifters all,

Lived in Doric marble palaces

Enjoyed barbecued sacrifice and ambrosia

After a hard day of telenovella intrigue

And in their relaxed moments , looked just like Greeks

Which tells you something about the Greeks.

Each God perfect, in certain ways, but flawed,

Honorable for a given value of honor

Which was never quite the same from day to day

Their purposes as inscrutable as …

Well, as inscrutable as yours or mine or anyone’s.

They’d make plans only Gods could hope to make,

Put them in motion, forget about them, summon another feast.

Most interestingly, those Gods of classic times

Had no respect for sacred dead, no time

To think of shades of those who once had been.

Their power was the moment, and knowledge also,

Cosmic balance and the start of fate of galaxies

Mattered not at all _ at least as long

As there were sweet young things, down on the Attic plain.

Zeus in one of his less threatening guises ….

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Unless your society is bringing  you up in a cave, or in an isolated desert outpost, or on an undiscovered island, you have no doubt been exposed to many religious interpretations of various gods.  Some you may have explored, some you may only know of by reputation, and probably you have encountered other people with other beliefs than your own.  The resulting uncertainty of your own beliefs is the price you pay for living in the modern technologically connected world.

Religions today are less varied than they used to be, if only because it is hard to “prove” that there are actual beings such as Venus living on a mountain somewhere, or Shiva wielding a thunderbolt, or Loki preparing for the end of the world.  Because you think you know the objective world so well, physical manifestations of any god have been banished, and you must contemplate either causes beyond the mere physical aspect, or the varieties of religious truth which may be metaphysically unified.
 

So your search becomes individual, but individual searches are dangerous for they can be so disastrously wrong.  You must find a compatible fellowship, which is supportive of your spirituality.  That is part of the human task, and always has been, but the world can ill afford intolerance and petty rivalries between cults.  Before all else, you must strive to be as open and accepting of other beliefs as you possibly can.  The single great truth is that divine purpose moves in mysterious ways, beyond the possibility of human understanding, and trying to meddle in that purpose when you think you understand it better than others is at the very least blasphemous.

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Supposedly wise scholars have claimed that God is formed in Man’s image.  Certainly that was true of the Greek gods.  They are the exaggerated personification of human fears, desires, powers and faults, with no more idea of why they are doing what they do than any of the rest of us.  Their usefulness is largely as a mirror of ourselves, and a convenient framework on which to build socially important fables.  By the way, none of this is to imply that there were not members of the Greek community who did not believe, absolutely, religiously, in the actual existence and manifestations of those gods; nor equally to imply that the pious religious impulse of the members of that civilization was different in degree and kind than is always true.

Yet there have clearly been other gods, hardly in the image of people.  Confucius implies you should be kind to those who have died to keep whatever they may have become from bothering you.  Taoists and Buddhists conceive of pure general spirits.  Animists around the world have specific totemic representations, many not at all human.  The Jain pantheon is incredibly confusing.  And so on.  No, all conceptions of the divine are not completely in man’s image.  Some of them are hardly human at all.

The Western mythologies concentrate on the desert gods of the Mideast.  Many of them resemble Zoroastrianism, with the conflict of personified good and evil.  And all of them have mutated over time, to meet new conditions and understandings.

One image that seems gone for good is the Western clockmaker.  The continually refined Renaissance ideal of the grand artisan creator who imagines and builds a masterpiece that essentially runs itself from the moment it is finished with only an occasional minor tweak has faded into history.  It could not survive in a universe of chaos and continually random quantum occurrence. 

Probably, we all need a concept of god.  But, equally, we all need to find the one that best serves each of us.  It is important to search, and equally important to be guided by the spiritual wisdom of others.  But, in the grand scheme of the ineffable, it is probably inconsequential what form our god eventually takes in our mind, as long as it is true and important to our being.

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The Eternal Shades Retirement Community

Poseidon and Apollo were exchanging stories while playing checkers, canes temporarily forgotten.  Mars had joined the Norse gang playing paintball from their wheelchairs (which they referred to as “chariots.”)  Diana sat with some animist spirits watching the Animal Planet channel, remembering the old days before they were too slow to be of much help to the woodland creatures.  It was another relatively quiet day at the Eternal Shades Retirement Community, formerly Mount Olympus, updated with air conditioning and modern plumbing.

Venus, Athena and Isis wandered over and asked “Are you coming to the dance tonight?”

Apollo wasn’t sure, but said “Probably” so they wouldn’t bother him anymore.

Wise Athena understood, and said “Well, you should, you know.  Dionysus has his gang all juiced up for an early Dixieland jazz concert.  We’re going to serve genuine bathtub gin!  The three graces have practiced all week for their flapper numbers.”

Poseidon grumbled “I never could dance very well.”

Venus smiled and answered “You know, it would be a lot easier if you’d just leave that trident at the table sometimes.  Besides, we have a special treat at the end.”

“Fireworks?” they both exclaimed.

“Even better.  Zeus the Magnificent, performing his latest magic acts.” Before Athena could shut her up, Venus continued, “And Hera will be reading some of her latest poetry…”

“We’ll think about it,” they both chorused.

And so go the days, day after day, forever and ever.  There’s not a lot to do, and it’s all been done, but it’s probably better than some of the alternatives.  And, no matter how grumpy the gods may all become, there’s always dinner to look forward to.

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The main point of considering the Greek Gods is the realization that people have considered, accepted, and worshipped many variations of manifest divinity.  It would hardly seem to be a question of “right” or “wrong” religions except to closed-minded bigots.  The belief that an individual has found the better way is always true _ otherwise why would we worship anything _ but that fallacy remains that such an individual view can rarely be translated into a true communal vision, and in any case should never be a formally absolute communal vision.

 

But the other thing about the Greek Gods is that like all true religious experiences, they were in fact socially shared to a large extent.  They were a valuable touchpoint for considerations of morality and justice and what constituted a useful and good life.  They were a pillar of the classic Greek civilization, in a good way, as many religions are.

 

Absolutely necessary.  Socially useful.  But perhaps, like the Greeks themselves, we should regard our own religious impulse and our need to satisfy it with a common vision of divinity as less a duty or test, and more of a guidance and blessing.