Shifting Views of Nature

Our current culture and Greek myth often look at nature in vastly different ways. The creation of nature itself, manipulation of nature, and its everyday influence on human life are addressed dissimilarly  by the two different cultures.  It is likely that a shift from a polytheistic to a predominantly monotheistic society as well as scientific advancements have changed the way we look at our physical world.

In our current era, most of western culture believes that a  single divine entity that has always existed created the heavens , earth , and all the natural beings on it. In these religions God is decidedly separate from his creation. Greek myth, however, asserts that nature was not built by a single being, but rather came from nothing or Chaos. The beings that sprang from Chaos are sentient and inseparable from nature itself. Gaia is both a divine entity and the actual earth. Similarly, Ouranos is the sky. Many gods and goddesses represent parts of nature, but also have humanlike forms.

In both cultures, we see nature being manipulated. Nature can be either manipulated by man or through divine intervention. Orpheus could, using only his lyre, affect wild animals and even move stones. Today, man still manipulates nature, but not with any magical means. We use science to change our surroundings. We build dams and cut down forests. We can genetically alter food and even harness nature to produce energy. The monotheistic God and the Greeks gods and goddesses utilize nature in similar ways. Both use natural disaster for revenge or moral retribution.  In a story resembling that of Noah and the flood, Zeus floods the Earth to rid it of a generation of humans that won’t honor the gods. Demeter, in tremendous grief for her missing daughter, nearly destroys all of humanity and ultimately changes the seasons forever.

Due to the unpredictable and destructive power of nature, ancient Greeks show a great deal of respect for nature and its respective gods. Aware of the gods wrath, they would make regular sacrifices for safe sea travel, bountiful hunts, and plentiful harvests.  Storms, floods, wild animals are just a few real threats to everyday life we see in Greek myth.  Adonis is killed by a wild boar despite a warning from Aphrodite.  Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus, is killed by a snake while walking through a meadow. While we have, in today’s society, eliminated ourselves from the food chain, we are still in danger ( to a greatly diminished degree) from nature. Although we have the scientific means to deal with most natural disaster and lessen their effects, we can see through pop culture that as humans we still fear the wrath of nature.  Armageddon, Twister, San Andreas are just a few movies that address this very deeply ingrained fear.  Our society maintains its primal viewpoint of the natural world yet has sadly lost the respect and reverence for it.