The Greek Gods Are Alive and Well

The Greek gods are alive and well. That’s the premise of a children’s series that has a new movie coming out later this year. I remember learning all the mythology in school myself. I loved the book Clash of the Titans (the movie not so much). I was fascinated by the stories and thoughts of people believing in and interacting with these gods. Now I am fascinated that most people seem to have come so far as to believe in one God that doesn’t do much or no God at all. But the biggest irony is that many times we are still serving those Greek gods just without the fancy names. When I think of what drives people and what people try to fulfill their lives with, I am reminded of some of those same gods.

Zeus was the all powerful, reigning head of the gods. He represented power with his lightening bolts. Power is a strong desire within our society. It can be seen in corporate boardrooms and government offices, but also more sneakily in PTAs and smaller organizations. You know that person. The one that has to be in charge and needs for everyone to know they are in charge. Usually a high need for acknowledgement accompanies this person so its not just about getting things done, but getting things done in their way so they can receive the credit. Of course it’s not any of us.

Hera was the goddess of marriage, Hestia of hearth and home. A subtler god, because we believe home should give us all ‘warm fuzzies’ right? But when this is your highest priority, when you can no longer focus on anything else but the safety and happiness of your home, marriage and offspring, there is still a shortsightedness and slightly selfish undercurrent. Think of the mother that fails to let her children fail. How can they develop competency and awareness outside of themselves if they are always the focus? Expecting home to always provide what we need is a big and unrealistic demand.

Athena was the goddess of wisdom. Who doesn’t want wisdom? But for some it seems to become an obsession to know more, to be smarter than, and to prove themselves by intellectual pursuit. Ultimately however, no one can know it all. Those who think they do are misguided and irritating (and only funny in TV shows featuring bar banter or when writing short essays).

Aphrodite was the goddess of beauty, love and lust. “Sex sells” ring a bell? The money generated in the name of beauty each year is staggering. Fashions, cosmetics, even plastic surgeries all attest to the desire we have to be desirable. Commercials, billboards, movies- where are the ugly people? Even “pretty is as pretty does” lets us know that ‘pretty’ is important. I think we still might worship beauty a bit.

Dionysus was the god of wine, parties and merriment. “Ain’t lookin for nothing but a good time” was the refrain from an eighties hair band and still rings true for segments of our culture. “Party on dude.”

There were others that would be specific to your situation or career, so while they didn’t have one specific to money, they had gods for medicine, music, harvest, fire, war, hunting, and the sea.

While people came to recognize over time that these stories were just myths, that there was not a Zeus or Poseidon, the desires that had formed and helped create these gods did not go away. The desires still remained without a specific god to call on to address that specific need. The difference is that instead of just asking God to meet these desires, He offers to change the desires. He says let me mold your heart so that you are not always worried about what you have, or what you wear, or your circle of friends and family. He offers to turn us toward a new kind of beauty. A beauty that stems from knowing He loves us. He wants to help us put these desires in the right perspective. Knowing that while each of theses things can be good: power, home, wisdom, beauty, and merriment, none of them are God. None are capable of fulfilling us completely. None are capable of remolding our heart and desires to help us find Truth. I hope we can recognize which gods are alive and well in our own lives so that we can confess them to the one true God, for he is faithful and just to forgive those who call upon his name.