Greek Morals

Most of Greek mythology, I have noticed, are all similar to the stereotypical fairy tales of nowadays. All of them seem to have some kind of a moral at the end. The story of Baucis and Philemon is one great example, and I'd like to use this one as an example since it actually has a happy ending (at least for me), unlike most of the other Greek myths.

Zeus, the god of gods, and Hermes, his son, decided to come down to Earth and dress up as beggars to observe how human beings would act among them. No one wanted to share even a tiny piece of their happiness and time with them because they were very poor and filthy-looking. But, one couple, Baucis and Philemon, invited them in with a warm welcome, even though they lived in a really small hut and had almost nothing to give away. For being so generous, Zeus, of course, transformed their little hut into a mansion of gold and gave them extravagant lives. Not only that, but he granted them a wish and the only thing they wanted was to be able to die at the same time in the future. Wish granted. Main moral of the story: Do acts of kindness, and something good will come back. As simple as that.

What also caught my attention, not only in the story of Baucis and Philemon but while reading Metamorphoses, was the way the gods acted. They were all like ordinary people. They all had their own emotions, thoughts, and personalities just like humans do. Here's an example from the story of Baucis and Philemon:

Narrator One: "At last they came to a little hut on the outskirts of town."
Hermes: "Why bother knocking here? We've knocked on houses of all kinds, the homes of people with plenty to spare. Whoever lives here obviously has nothing."
Zeus: "Let's give it a try all the same. We've come all this way."
(He knocks.)
Hermes: "This is hopeless. Let's just go home."

In this scene, Hermes is starting to give up and lose hope. He is definitely showing signs of human feelings. This seemed interesting since the concept that most humans have today about God is the way opposite than the Greek gods because most of us think of God as a perfect being without flaws.

So, it was very fun to read this play. Not only did I learn about the stories of Greek mythologies, but the way the author wrote it was very entertaining since he added modern ideas to the text.