Of Greek Myths and Cultural Appropriation

The Elgin Marbles

Katerina Cosgrove, a Greek-Australian writer, in her article: “*Who owns the Greek myths?”* elegantly poses the question of whether Greek mythology really belongs to those who write and revel in it.

Pointing to the lack of ethnically Greek authors in the now incredibly-mainstream genre of Greek Mythology “retellings’”, she says most non-Greek authors, who often come from privileged and typically inaccessible backgrounds, seem removed from the places and histories they write about. While she appreciates their interests in their myths, and the literary and intellectual efforts they take in putting forward something well-researched and respectful, she wonders if these pieces could truly be considered authentic. She continues her article by further discussing cultural appropriation, colonialism, and the experience of being rejected time and again by a community that, in theory, should be the most welcoming and accommodative of her and her fellow Greek creators. I’d recommend reading the article: it’s a great read.

What do we make of her opinion, then?

Don’t we all unanimously consider the culture and myths of the now (considered) extinct Hellenists of ancient Greece to be universal? Isn’t utilizing, repurposing and manipulating these myths a common practice widely accepted? Are these myths exclusive to only those who received it as their heritage? Or are they free for everyone to access, to siphon off of and make great stories?

In literature in particular, ancient Greek society and mythology is everywhere. From children’s stories, to deep, introspective and philosophical ponderings spanning hundreds of pages, there exists a wide variety of derived scholarship with wildly differing qualities. The stories of their Gods, of their pantheons — of the mighty Zeus, powerful Poseidon, stoic Hades; of their powerful yet tragic (mostly) heroes like Heracles, Achilles, Odysseus, and Bellerophon; of figures such as Narcissus, Arachne and Hyacinthus, of Orpheus and Eurydice; of long and wonderful epic poems such as The Odyssey and The Iliad; of the three Fates, spinning (and snipping) the thread of life; and many, many more — are widely known today and held in high regard.

These stories are anachronistic in today’s world and are hence repackaged and repurposed to suit modern senses and sensibilities. Perseus, the mighty hero, is now Percy Jackson; a lanky, brave teenager with ADHD and Dyslexia. Hades is a thousand-year-old business tycoon dating a recently-turned-19 Persephone in Lore Olympus; Achilles and Patroclus are now monogamous lovers, and Patroclus is no longer the formidable, blood thirsty warrior on par with Achilles, but a healer. These authors try to renew tales of the past in an attempt to reaffirm and rejuvenate the enamored interests of readers in these myths.

But, while such borrowing and reproducing comes from a place of appreciation and appreciation for the literary and symbolic richness of these myths, it’s also important, I think, to remember that these stories meant something to the people who fashioned and lived with them.

People in ancient Greece feared their Gods. Just like in any other religion, they tried to please them and to worship them, and used their myths to understand and explain the way the world was; to try and make sense of the uncertain, inconceivable world they lived in. Helios pulled the chariot of the sun across the sky to create day and night; winter came when Demeter mourned her separation from Persephone, and we have fire because Prometheus stole it from the Gods. It is undeniable that their religious beliefs formed a core tenet of their societies and faiths.

And their religion continues to exist even today in the form of Modern or Ethnic Hellenism, which only gained legal recognition as a “known religion” in Greece in 2017. Whether perceived as symbolic figures or divine deities, Greek Gods and their stories are worshipped and/or cherished even to this day.

On the other hand, modern Greece is itself a diverse nation, a product of its colonization by various entities over centuries. It is a child of mixed heritage and is far from being solely defined by its ancient era. The western world, however, continues to push this identity on the Greeks and strips it of all its complexities and nuances before doing so. By solely defining Greece by its ancient Greek, they fail to, both, see the Greece as people beyond just this one facet of their history and devote the appropriate respect needed to this facet by fantasizing and altering the source material to make it antithetical to its themes or messages (example. Demeter being cast as an overbearing, helicopter parent instead of a grieving mother, ignoring the larger reflection of a woman’s helplessness and lack of autonomy in its larger society conveyed through the original myth).

And this appropriation is considered acceptable today because these Gods, their stories and the people who believed in them are now considered extinct. This denies the Greeks autonomy over their own heritage and how they’d like their own stories to be told.

There are some criticisms that can be levied against these claims of appropriation. The first one is that I myself am neither Greek nor smart enough to make uncontestable judgements on whether foreigners basing their works on Greek literature is appropriation. Scholars from all over the world decidedly claim that the ancient Hellenistic religion went extinct; and, at the same time, literature inspired by Ancient Greek mythology continues to have an unshakeable place in modern literature, inspiring countless artists to share their own stories and voices. To police this cultural infusion and harmony would prove a disservice to the spirit of creativity and amity. I come from a rich culture full of lively and incredible stories, and I’m honestly divided myself on whether someone incorporating elements from my stories into their own creations would be considered cultural appropriation.

But, coming from a country previously colonized for centuries, plundered of its incredible wealth and resources: if the myths and stories that I hold near and dear, that I’ve been carrying with me since my childhood were to become someone else’s to tell entirely, if they were contorted beyond recognition, I’d be annoyed; and as a writer and reader myself, I’d be particularly angry if a beautiful piece of literature by someone from my own country was overlooked in a swathe of largely derivative writings based off of my country’s legacy — which is what is happening with Greek writing now. How many Greek authors writing about Greek myths can you name off the top of your head right now?

While borrowing from different cultures may not be inherently wrong, I think it’s important to reflect first on the how this borrowing and derivation would impact the people and the stories that belong to their legacy, and to, more importantly, uplift these indigenous authors, their creations and their perspectives.

Thank you for reading.

1. My inspiration for this article: https://youtu.be/7tL3Pbc_zhU?si=55eDQmkALDFmj238- The Problem with Greek Myth Retellings by Kate Alexandra on YouTube. She puts forward this point (and several others) on Greek myth literature, specifically retellings more eloquently than I ever can, and her last section is what led me to find Cosgrove’s article, the centerpiece of this entire post.

2. *Cultural colonialism. Though now considered mostly obscure, it essentially revolves around delegitimizing existing indigenous social, economic, and political structures of colonized communities and molding them to suit dominant Northern (colonial) narratives and ideologies. The West not only enforced their own frameworks of culture and morality onto Greek society; they also appropriated salient features of the Greek culture without sufficient effort at understanding the contexts under which they evolved, as mentioned above (by incorporating Greek classics into their academia and elements of its architecture and art into their own societies; even borrowing their political and philosophical ideas, like democracy and the teachings of schools of Plato and Socrates*).

3. https://antigonejournal.com/2021/04/classic-mistake/ This article talks about how, unlike Western conflations of Greece exclusively with ancient Greece civilization, Greece is a state with a complicated legacy and identity, and calls for a holistic study and perception of Greece which only sees its ancient era as a part of its culture and is not defined by it. I found it very insightful.