More thoughts from the Greek Literature class...
One of the more interesting occurrences, to me, in the story of Troy actually occupies little space in Edith Hamilton's Mythology – that which started it all, the treatment of Eris, goddess of Discord. Hamilton describes Eris as “evil” and “naturally not popular”, a characterization which, I feel, is unfair. Eris' realm of control is discord and chaos and, while these things might not always be pleasant, they are very necessary. In our human lives, both chaos and structure are needed. Without structure all would devolve into an uncontrollable mess and yet without chaos all would become a rigid, unchangeable, stagnation. Having only one or the other would quickly result in death for the human species – life would either become a barbaric struggle to look out for oneself or an Orwellian 1984 world of control and smothering of all things creative and progressive.
However, part of the human condition is fearing change and discord, no matter that change can be a very good thing. This, I think, is the cause of the shunning of Eris. Eris epitomized that which so many fear most – a lack of control. Humans expend a great deal of energy in their lives to control their little universes. People farm to control the food supply, build communities to control their safety, and create laws to control the actions of those around them. Having these created structures – created because we weren't always farmers, builders, and lawmakers – has allowed what we call civilization to prosper. Yet the big jumps have always been the result of the unexpected, the unplanned, the accidents, on both a macro and micro level such as with the Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, the discovery of penicillin, and the dreams that led to some of the great works of literature like Frankenstein. Introduce chaos to structure and great things can happen. Still, despite her value, Eris was demonized. As a result she sought revenge and brought more discord through her revenge than she might have caused had she been invited to the banquet and embraced for what she was. Readers can take a lesson from this: do not attempt to thwart chaos, for the results will often be more disastrous than if chaos and the change it (she) brings had been taken into account and 'invited'.
For the Greeks, and for us, the actions of the gods reflected what the actions of mortals would be, thus the rejection of Eris is telling of the human mindset. The fear of change drives society as a whole. Stability is what is reached for – regularity and systematic structure. However, Eris was/is not evil. It is an important point to remember that it was not Eris' action – the throwing of the golden apple – that created the chaos; it was the reaction to her action. The reactions of the other gods, and the weakness of Paris, were the ultimate causes of discord. The apple was merely a pretty object, one that could have been ignored or shared. Chaos is what it is; it is not inherently good or evil. A farmer relies on the seasons and the weather to do the expected in order to harvest; a bit of chaos, such as a late frost or a freak storm, can impoverish him. What is easy to forget is that a drought, too, is stable and unchanging, causing the need for a bit of chaos to intervene with welcome rain.
2 comments:
Are you possibly a Discordian, or have you somehow stumbled upon the same thing many Discordians believe just by pure chance?
Either way, an interesting entry and one I mostly agree with. According to some of my own research and musings, Eris may have been worshipped in Attica (according to Hesiod, she had another aspect, as the goddess of competiton and was strongly associated with trade), but because of the negative cultural connotations that many Greeks had when it came to trading and profit, she was reviled for those reasons in addition to her association with Ares.
Lewis Hyde made a similar argument for Hermes in his excellent Trickster Makes World. If I can dig it out from my boxes later and find the passage, I'll certainly transcript it.
Either way, the treatment of our Lady of Discord was most certainly unfair, but then again, she still has her own religion, and the rest of the Greek gods...well, exactly. She who laugh's last and all that.
While I certainly do ascribe to many of the Discordian concepts, what I find most interesting is the way her story has so much relevance to human lives then and now.
Eris, as an embodiment of an idea, is a figure that, I feel, deserves more attention - to be a bit dramatic, without chaos and diversity, all is lost.
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