Deucalion Myth – The great Flood from Greece
Deucalion was the son of the last Titan (god), Prometheus. According to Hesiod, Prometheus and the
god Zeus were in conflict. Prometheus was the one who, with the help of the
Goddess Athena, created man. When mankind became mean, greedy, and disobedient to the gods, Zeus
decided to destroy them.
Deucalion, son of Prometheus, in an effort to control the animal instincts of mankind asked Zeus to be
merciful. Yet Zeus had already decided to destroy the corrupted generation of mankind. Only Deucalion
and his wife Pyrrha were saved—both of whom were considered of the ranks of the gods, the most
righteous amongst men—when Deucalion took advice from his father, Prometheus, and constructed an
ark. He and his wife used the ark to escape the flood sent by Zeus. The rain and thunders lasted for nine
days and nine nights, and the land was flooded, drowning the generation of men except for a few who
were saved by running on the top of the mountains. Once the flood was over, Deucalion and Pyrrha
landed on a mount (some suggest that it was mount Parnasus) and offered sacrifices to Zeus. The myth
says that once they saw the extent of the destruction, their grief was so great that the tears kept
pouring from their eyes.
Their wish was to create a new mankind. Deucalion and Pyrrha prayed in many different sanctuaries for
a new mankind. It was at the temple of the goddess Themis that Zeus listened to their petitions and
their request was granted. The goddess told them that for a new mankind to be created, Deucalion and
Pyrrha had to cover their eyes and throw the ‘bones of their mother’ behind them. What exactly the
‘bones of their mother meant’ is not clear, however the most common interpretation is that it meant
stones from the earth. Each stone that Deucalion threw became a man, and each stone Pyrrha threw
became a woman. This is how the new human kind—that we belong to—was created.
It is worth noting here that Deucalion and Pyrrha weren’t the only ones to survive the cataclysm, just as
in the Sumerian Myths .
It is important to make a few observations:
a) The story has several similarities with other flood myths, including the Christian and Sumerian
Myths .
b) One of the reasons that ‘gods’ were angry with the mankind was disobedience, a commonality
among the various myths.
c) The new generation of men is created in a different way than the previous one, perhaps explaining
the difference in life span between the new generation and the old ones.
d) Creating the new mankind required Deucalion and Pyrrha to close their eyes, as if they shouldn’t
watch the process of creation. Is that similar to the destruction of Sodoma and Gomora when they were
requested by God not to look back and see what is happening?
e)
Complete obedience to the gods resulted in benefits.
The Greek Myth of Deucalion and Pyrrha and the Great Flood
Many cultures have stories about a time when a great deluge overwhelmed the Earth, drowning most of
humanity and leaving only a few survivors to generate a new and hopefully improved human race.
While the biblical story of Noah's flood is well known, the ancient Greek myth of Deucalion's flood is far
less familiar, despite having some striking similarities. The following account is closely based on that
given by the 1st Century Roman poet Ovid in his mythological epic The Metamorphoses.
The Ages of Man
An important theme of Greek mythology, going back at least to the time of the seventh century poet
Hesiod, is that of the Ages of Mankind. This is the concept that humanity has passed through a series of
stages since its inception.
In the Golden Age, humanity lived a simple, peaceful and innocent life, though in a rather childlike state.
In the Silver Age, people became more violent and warlike but they were still noble and virtuous in their
dealings with each other.
In the Bronze Age however, people became not only violent, but greedy, cruel and untrustworthy,
obsessed with personal gain and caring little for love of family or common decency.
As the behaviour of humanity worsened, Zeus, King of the Gods began to be concerned about their
increasing depravity and lawlessness.
The Crime of Lycaon the Wolf Man
According to the poet Ovid, the final straw that made Zeus lose all patience with the degenerate ways of
the generation of the Iron Age was the brutish and insolent behaviour of Lycaon, King of Arcadia, in the
Greek Peloponnese.
Appalled at the rumours of the wicked deeds of this generation of humanity, Zeus descended from
Mount Olympus and, disguising himself as a humble mortal travelled through Greece to see for himself
if things really were that bad.
After having witnessed many scenes that served to confirm his worst suspicious, Zeus at length made his
way to Lycaon's Arcadian kingdom.
Arriving at his feasting hall, Zeus made his identity known to Lycaon's ordinary subjects who accordingly
showed him reverence. King Lycaon himself, however was scornful and disbelieving. Determined to test
the truth of the traveller's claim to be king of the gods, Lycaon outraged the laws of hospitality and
acceptable human behaviour to the fullest extent.
He planned to murder his guest in his sleep, but not content with that, he decided to add insult to injury
by first tricking the supposed god into consuming human flesh at his table.
Murdering one of his hostages, Lycaon butchered the body and served the meat to Zeus in a pot. If Zeus
unwittingly ate it, as he expected, it would defile him and prove he was no god.
Zeus, of course, knew exactly what Lycaon had done. Enraged, he blasted Lycaon's hall with a
thunderbolt and pursued the terror-stricken king into the mountain wastes, where he transformed him
into a howling wolf.
Zeus Pronounces Doom Upon Mankind: The Great Flood
Zeus was not satisfied with his punishment of the impious Lycaon. Arriving back at Mount Olympus, he
called a council of all the Olympian deities and announced that due to the depravity of humanity that he
had witnessed, he saw no alternative but to bring an end to humanity altogether.
While none of the other gods dared challenge Zeus' decision, they tentatively expressed regret that
there would now be no mortals to offer them sacrifice. Zeus reassured them that a new human race
would come into being through miraculous means to repopulate the earth.
Zeus' first thought was to simply wipe out humankind by blasting them with his thunderbolts, but then
he feared that the earth and the very heavens might catch fire.
Instead, he resolved that all the peoples of the earth must perish by drowning. He shut up all the winds
and prevented them from blowing, except the South Wind who drove dark clouds swollen with rain
across the sky releasing a huge downpour. Iris, a messenger of the gods who appears in the form of a
rainbow, busily kept the clouds supplied with rain.
The unrelenting rain destroyed all the farmers' crops in the field.
Not yet satisfied, Zeus called on his brother the Sea God Poseidon to come to his aid. He summoned all
his rivers and ordered them all to burst their banks and overflow.
The waters rose and flooded the fields, villages and towns, swallowing them up. Most humans and
animals were swept away and drowned. Birds flew searching for land before finally dropping into the
sea from exhaustion.
Dolphins swam among the tops of great trees, while seals frolicked among the fields where goats had
once grazed. Sea Nymphs marvelled as they explored the drowned cities.
The whole land became one giant sea without a shore.
Deucalion and Pyrrha
Deucalion was the son of Prometheus, the wise and cunning Titan god who often intervened on behalf
of humanity. His wife Pyrrha was his cousin, the daughter of Prometheus' brother Epimetheus and
Pandora the first woman.
Deucalion was the most virtuous and god-fearing of men and Pyrrha the most pious and upright of
women.
On Prometheus' advice, the couple took shelter from the flood in a giant chest and were tossed about
on the waves for nine days and nights.
Eventually, their chest came to ground on the high peak of Mount Parnassus, which broke the surface of
the waves.
As soon as they emerged from the chest, the pious couple at once gave reverence to the local nymphs
and forest gods and also to Themis, the Titan Goddess of justice and giver of prophecies before that role
was taken over by Apollo.
When Zeus saw that this god-fearing couple were the last two people on earth, he knew his work was
done.
He allowed the North Wind to blow the great rainclouds from the sky, while the sea god blew on his
conch shell, calling on all the rivers to return to their banks. Bit by bit the waters receded and the dry
land appeared, with seaweed still clinging to the high branches of the trees.
The Stone People
When Deucalion and Pyrrha saw that the flood had receded, they looked over the desolate landscape
and realised that they were the only two human beings left alive. They lamented bitterly at this lonely
fate and imagined what it would be like if they did not even have each other.
Approaching the Oracle of Themis, they made her an offering of pure water from the local stream and,
prostrating themselves on the steps of her temple, they implored her to help them and the drowned
and lifeless world they were left with
Taking pity on them, the goddess delivered them an oracle couched in mysterious terms:
"Walk away from the temple with veiled heads and your robes loosened. As you go, throw behind you
the bones of your mother."
For a time, the couple stood in horrified silence, before Pyrrha burst out that she was very sorry but she
could never do so wicked a thing as dishonour her mother's bones.
Both of them continued to mull over the words of the Goddess in great perplexity.
At last, Deucalion said, "I can't believe that the Oracle would tell us to do anything wicked. I think that by
the bones of our mother, the Goddess means these stones that lie here - the bones of our great mother
Earth."
Pyrrha was uncertain, but they agreed that there was no harm in at least trying this. Gathering up
stones, the two of them did as Themis said, walking away with their heads covered in reverence and
casting the stones behind them.
When they stopped and turned, they saw an amazing sight; the fallen stones were changing shape
before their eyes, at first taking on the appearance of rough-hewn statues and then softening into
human form.
All the stones that were cast by Deucalion turned into men, while all those that Pyrrha threw turned into
women and thus the current race of humanity, hard wearing and tough like stone came into being.
The earth meanwhile, sodden with moisture and warmed by the emerging sunlight, spontaneously
generated new life, some creature that had existed before and others new.