The Seven Basic Plots - Christopher Booker [439]
Understanding the Greek gods
While the civilisations of Mespotamia and Egypt were at their zenith, the more primitive tribes of a peninsula hundreds of miles to the west and north of them were evolving a new mythology much more complex than anything which had gone before. The stories of Greek mythology have continued to resonate through the history of our Western civilisation like no others. So rich was the archetypal imagery with which they reflected the human condition that it still haunts our thinking to this day, as when we refer to a 'labyrinth, a 'Herculean task, a 'hydraheaded monster, `cleansing the Augean stables', a 'Gorgon, an `Oedipus complex, `narcissism, an `echo, an `atlas, `panic, `tantalising; a 'Trojan horse'.
Considering the unique subtlety with which the Greek imagination tapped into the collective unconscious, it may not be surprising that this was the people whose literature was the first to present us with stories based on all the archetypal plots we have been looking at in this book. Starting with what is arguably the world's most profound Quest story, it contains examples of all the others, culminating in their invention of Comedy and Tragedy. Nevertheless, the foundations of all this wealth of storytelling lay in their myths. And the world these conjured up contains one feature which we find particularly puzzling. Most of the betterknown stories are centred on mythic human heroes and heroines, representing the four central roles in the archetypal family drama, as kings, queens, princes or princesses. Theseus, Perseus, Odysseus, Agamemnon, Jason, Medea, Oedipus are all familiar examples. But whichever basic plot is shaping the story, we are almost invariably made aware of the presence of one or more of the Greek gods or goddesses, hovering on the edge of the action. These supernatural beings are either able to give the hero or heroine assistance, as by providing them with advice or with magic weapons; or to hinder them by placing obstacles in their path. But they are not able to intervene in the action directly. Once we appreciate the hidden significance of the role the gods play in these stories, however, the true purpose of Greek mythology emerges in a striking new light.
Like other cultures, the Greeks imagined the world as divided into three levels, each peopled with a mass of divinities. In the centre was the everyday earthly world in which they lived. This was inhabited by many lesser spirits associated with the natural features which connected the visible, `conscious' world with some more mysterious `unconscious' dimension: such as the nymphs associated with springs gushing water from some invisible underground source, or the echo which reverberated from cliffs or hillsides. Below the visible conscious world was the shadowy underworld, ruled over by divinities of its own, such as the god Hades or Pluto. It was here that human beings went when they died. A few, if they had performed heroically on behalf of their community, enjoyed bliss in the Elysian fields. Another minority, those who had been particularly wicked and egotistical, was doomed to eternal punishment, like Sisyphus, eternally pushing his stone up a hill, only for it to roll down again; or Tantalus, constantly hoping to seize the grapes which would quench his terrifying thirst, only for them to be snatched away. Most former mortals spent their time in eternity just as bloodless shades, ghosts of their former selves.
By far the most important set of divinities, however, were those inhabiting the uppermost level, the 12 supreme gods: those who were `above mankind' because they lived in the sky or on the snow-capped summit of Greece's highest mountain, Olympus. These represented an exact balance of masculine and feminine. Six were male, six female. King of the gods was Zeus, whose name derived from the same root, dyaus, the source of light, as the Greek theos. He represented