Struggles and hardships faced by mortals in ancient myths

Mortal Struggle in Mythology

In mythology, mortals experienced some of the greatest difficulties on this earth because they believed they were dealing with gods who could unleash their vengeance on them at any moment. The gods were believed to be in control of practically everything that mortals were not. This included elements of nature, which could harm or even destroy a life on earth. From the earliest myths such as Gilgamesh, we see mankind struggling with the notion of finicky gods. Ovid also shows us how mankind was often allowed to make mistakes, seemingly for the pleasure of the gods. Even Homer tells stories of mortals who were unlucky enough to incur the wrath of the gods. With unseen goods looming overhead, watching their every move, it is not difficult to imagine how stressful this life must have been. Rain, floods, droughts, fire, pain, and even death could result from unbecoming behavior. Mortals were living with the addition struggle of dealing with gods that could turn on them at any moment, a fact that makes mortals in mythology incredibly strong creatures.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, we find an entire society that seems to revolve around the behavior of the gods. Mortals believed that the gods controlled their fate and to complicate matters, there were many gods responsible for many things. For instance, when Enlil hears the ruckus mankind is making, he approaches the gods and says, "The uproar of mankind is so terrible and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel" (32). In addition, we read in "those days the world teemed, the people multiplied, the world bellowed like a wild bull, and the great god was aroused by the clamor" (32). Here we see two different things going on. In one world, the mortals are behaving as they do and in the other world, we see gods becoming annoyed with that behavior. The gods controlled every aspect of nature and could deliver all sorts of punishments for any behavior they did not like. Rain, thunder, lightening, droughts, and anything in between could happen in the blink of an eye. This was no doubt unstable at best as mortals attempted to make sense of everything and sometimes the best they could do was determine that bad behavior brings forth the wrath of the gods.

In Ovid's The Metamorphosis, there are many relationships that teach us about the struggles that mortals encountered. Again, we see how the gods can become merciless. For example, when Actaeon inadvertently catches a glimpse of Diana while she is bathing, he is changed into a deer. In the story of Midas, we see how the gods will even allow a mortal to make a mistake that could ruin their life. Dionysus allows Midas to have his wish knowing that it will soon be the worst thing he could have done as man cannot live by gold alone. For awhile Midas is a "happy man" (Ovid 263), surrounded by all of the gold but soon he begs to be rescued from "this loss / That looks so much like gain!" (263). We also see a tragedy with the story of Narcissus, who is so in love with himself that he falls in love with his own reflection in a pool as punishment for his cruelty. This might not seem like such a bad thing except for the fact that he is compelled to look at the reflection and never leave. In short, he "wanted himself" (70) and died while trying to kiss the image.

We see how the gods can inflict their wrath on individuals in Homer's The Iliad. When Achilles shows disregard for Hektor's dead body by dragging it until it literally turns to dust, he is punished. Lycurgus also experiences the gods' anger when his life is cut short. Helen incurs the anger of Venus as Oeneus must deal with the wrath of Diana when he does not do as she says. The make the gods angry was something one never wanted to do but the most stressful aspect of the relationship between gods and mortals is that mortals did not have to do anything to feel that wrath. As a result, mortals spent a good amount of time watching their behavior and hoping they did not do or say something wrong that might offend.