The Messenger - Those Insightful Greeks #4

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Monday, 08 September 2008

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Those Insightful Greeks #4

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Written by Ishamael

Greek deities were
deliberately portrayed
imperfect so that humans
would be able to learn
from them.

Greek mythology is very practically oriented. Instead of glorifying the gods as others have done, Greek deities were deliberately portrayed imperfect so that humans would be able to learn from them. High and mighty the gods may be, with great powers and beauty, but they have challenges to overcome as much as the rest of us, and as many times as not, they fail in those.

The Power to Express
Hera, the Queen of the gods is also one of the most unfortunate among the Olympians. Coaxed by the cunning thunder god Zeus into marrying her, she is later subjected to a series of betrayals by her husband. Moreover, she is never allowed to express her disgruntlement properly. Each time she would try, the mightiest of all gods would punish her. Forced to suppress her pain of betrayal Hera resorts to violence.

She is perceived by the Greeks as the most bothersome and cruel goddess of all. The heroes who win her favor usually regret it later; the prophets endowed with her gift of prophecy always preach doom and gloom. Since the emotion of hurt is not able to come out the right way, the goddess brings it into all of her dealings. However well she means, she spreads her pain around, sometimes even unconsciously. Her case teaches us another important lesson. Many people hold the erroneous belief that if they cannot fix the situation that bothers them, there is no point in expressing their feeling of upset.

So, if we are being shown Hera as a learning tool, we need ask ourselves if there is any point in keeping quiet, or “stuffing” our emotions. Does it resolve anything? There seems to be a very clear purpose to expressing our emotions. Expressing them in the right manner lets those feelings go. It vacates that space within which they occupy––giving the freedom to think and concentrate on the solution to the problem. Proper expression makes sure that wherever we go, we do not unintentionally carry the pain around. The great goddess failed to learn that lesson, how about you?

Ishamael is a writer, numerologist and rune reader. For further questions, contact Ishamael at:

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