Physicists define time as progression of events. Something is designated as timeless if it is able to withstand the test of time i.e. its nature is unchanging and its ideas are relevant throughout ages. There are very few pieces of literature that have been proclaimed as timeless, because for something to be timeless, it has to reflect elements of society that can never change. 

 

Mythology in a nutshell is defined as a collection of myths. However, these ‘myths’, if critiqued as literature, will have many themes and elements of civilization that are timeless. There are social issues that even in this era are being practised again and again under the veil of modernisation. These stories had one of the three purposes, to give reason for the things that were unexplainable, to give purpose to our lives or to give us a moral sense of being. In many cases however, these stories gave us a moral sense, a moral sense dictated by patriarchs of that time.

 

In a lot of instances, myths are known to present the problem rather than providing the solution to something. For eg. In Greek mythology, Medusa was a very beautiful woman, who worshipped Athena and followed in her footsteps in terms of sexual purity. She wanted to become a priestess in the temple of Athena, and so she did. However, the God of Sea, Poseidon, fell in love with her and raped her in front of Athena in her temple. Instead of accusing Poseidon, Athena blamed Medusa and cursed her to have reptilian hair that turns anyone who dares to gaze her to stone. 

 

This issue is still seen in our society, politicians and other influential people alike have been known to criticize rape vicitms (especially women) as if it’s their fault.  For e.g. Mulayam Singh Yadav said, “Should rape cases lead to hanging? Boys are boys, they make mistakes.” Om Prakash Chautala, the former Chief Minister of Haryana, said, “Child marriage is a solution to rape against women.” Mamta Banerjee, the current Chief Minister of West Bengal said, “Rapes happen because men and women interact freely.” Thank God, we have these conscientious politicians, I can’t imagine how good the country would have been otherwise. 

 

Also, the above story is just a small example of how Zeus and Poseidon, the more respected of the Gods of Mount Olympus, were always harassing and assaulting women. Ironically, the God of the underworld, Hades, who was very much related to death and other such negative ideas, was loyal to his wife Persephone and was a feminist in many incarnations. 

 

However, sometimes mythology also depicts women as independent and courageous. In the story of Savitri and Satyavan, Savitri walked barefoot into the depths of hell to get her lover back from Yamraj himself. How cool is that? Also, Parvati, Goddess of Nourishment and Shiva’s wife, was constantly belittled by her husband about her role as the caretaker of all material things. So, she disappeared, and when she did, the earth became dry and barren, hunger descended on humanity that not even the destroyer of evil(Shiva) could vanquish. We can see this in our day-to-day life as well, how women’s work is not valued no matter what they do. A male agricultural worker gets 45% more wages than their female counterparts. What intrigues me is, why? Why must women doing the exact same task in the exact same time period get paid less? That’s just discrimination on another level.

 

In Norse mythology, Loki the God of Mischief, the villain of almost every story was genderfluid, they used their powers to change their sex (synonymous to gender in that era). However, in this time period, I can happily say that more and more people are coming out of the closet and choosing their own gender(mostly). Homosexuality is also expressed in Greek and Hindu mythologies, but they are mostly tabooed and usually ended in disaster. 

 

This incites the question, “Should mythology remain timeless?”. Earlier, people like Zeus were in charge. Now, people like Zeus still are in charge, dictating the world by patriarchal and homophobic ideas. We as a society need to accept these stories for what they are, and make sure we don’t repeat these mistakes. We should not forget these stories, since those who forget the past are often doomed to repeat it. Should we blame women for getting raped? Should we look down upon those who choose to accept their sexuality outside of society’s heteronormative ideas? Should we devalue women and their contribution towards humanity? These are the questions that need to be asked, and I, for one, have already asked them.

 

~Fariq Azim