I love the literary laws in Greek literature, they
make the cosmos such a neat and order place.
Laws like;
- · “Monro's Law” which states that the Odyssey “never repeats or refers to any incident related in the Iliad." (http://laudatortemporisacti.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html by Michael Gilleland, scroll down to “Monro’s Law”. Excellent article. Also Monro, 1901 “Homer’s Odyssey” page 325)
- · “Jørgensen’s Law” That is; the Homeric narrator and divine characters are as a rule aware of the divine agent responsible for any given act or circumstances in the narrative. Human characters by contrast, remain ignorant of the actions of the specific gods unless they are informed by a divine character or, in the case of seers and singers, possess special powers.” J. Marks excellent “Zeus in the Odyssey”.
- · “Maya’s Law” which says; that Zeus (and the rest of the gods) has a marked preference for mating with Ionians and barbarians. Or more simply put; “Zeus prefers Ionian women!”
- · Or, the “Law” that Zeus could not appear on stage in tragedies or comedies.
So how about we come up with a Law of Deification in
Greek Literature? I see three ways to
turn a mortal “deathless and unageing, even as the gods."
1)
Get Zeus to do it;
"Verily
wise Zeus carried off golden-haired Ganymedes (Ganymede) because of his beauty,
to be amongst the Deathless Ones and pour drink for the gods in the house of
Zeus--a wonder to see--, honoured by all the immortals as he draws the red
nectar from the golden bowl . . . deathless and unageing, even as the
gods." Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite
Zeus did the same for Dionysus’ brown-haired mortal wife Ariadne (Hesiod, Theogony 947 ff)
and (according to the Cypria Fragment 1) Castor and Polydeuces.
2) If, you
are a god, make your mortal favorite a god, and don’t tell anyone;
"He [Dionysus] retrieved his mother [Semele] from Haides' realm, gave her the name Thyone, and escorted her up to the sky." Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 38
Artemis did the same for Hippolytus, renaming him Virbius and hiding him
in Italy Ovid, Fasti 6. 735
3) Be a Nereid.
It seems no problem for Nereus’ daughters to make someone or convince
someone to make their favorites gods;
"As I [Helle] fell [into the Hellespont Sea from the back of the Golden Ram], Cymothoe [a Nereid] and Glaucus came swift to my succour; this abode too, this realm the father of the deep [Poseidon] himself awarded me [i.e. he transformed Helle into a sea-goddess], willing justly, and our gulf envies not Ino’s sea [the Gulf of Corinth]." Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 2. 585 ff :
Likewise Homer and
Pindar both testify (Odyssey 5. 333 & Olympian Ode 2. 22) that Ino daughter
of Cadmus and her son Melicertes were made immortal by the sea nymphs.
Summary; to deify your
favorite,
- · get consensus from the gods and the nod from Zeus or
- · do it yourself and don’t tell anyone or
- · be a Nereid.
Admittedly, the marine
deities work under a different dispensation than the rest of the younger gods. Still, what’s the theoretical underpinning on
deification?
