Divine Machineryin Mythology and Star Wars

Polytheism and Anthropomorphism

The Greek gods are EXTRAORDINARY IMMORTALS. Their identity is not associated with moral goodness. They are like humans in every way except that they do not die.

Zeus (Juppiter)King of the GodsThe Sky-godGod of JusticeXenios (God of Strangers)God of Suppliants

Sexually PromiscuousFather of Apollo, Hermes, Dionysus, Athena, Perseus, and Heracles, among others.Also Bisexual: Ganymede

The Divine Pantheon

Genealogy

Assemblies of the Gods

Gods and Humans in Mythology

GODS: Extraordinary Immortals

HEROES: Extraordinary Mortals

HUMANS: Ordinary Mortals

Why is C-3PO an Ewok god?

C-3PO: I do believe they think I am some kind of god.

Han Solo: Well, why don't you use your divine influence and get us out of this?

C-3PO: I beg your pardon General Solo, but that just wouldn't be proper.

Han Solo: Proper? C-3PO: It's against my programming to

impersonate a deity.

Return of the Jedi (VI.24)

“He’s quite clever, you know, for a human being.”3CPO’s opinion of Luke in “Empire Strikes Back”

V.6 (Closing the Doors)

  3CPO’s statement about Luke juxtaposes humans with droids (machines) in a significant way which suggests important things about the Force and about Nature, especially when seen in conjunction with the Ewoks’ role in the fall of

the Empire in “Return of the Jedi.”

EWOKS HUMANS DROIDS

FORCE DARK SIDE

 

EWOKS HUMANS DROIDS

simple complex

 nature technology

 FORCE DARK SIDE

 Nature Technology

How does Yoda’s comment on size fill out this picture?

“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size will you. My ally is the Force. It surrounds us. You must feel

the Force around you.”Empire Strikes Back (V,31)

Divine Machinery in Star Wars

JEDI MASTER: Extraordinary Immortals

JEDI KNIGHT: Extraordinary Mortals

HUMANS: Ordinary Mortals

DROIDS: Extraordinary Submortals

The Role of Gods in Myth

• Objects of Worship and Reverence

• Active Engagers in Human Life– Sexual Encounters– Divine Aid

Divine Machinery in Homer

• Involvement in the Plot– (Gods take sides in the Trojan War)

• Divine Assistance or Impediment– Poseidon impedes Odysseus– Athena helps Odysseus and Telemachus

• Motivation (Athena and Telemachus)• Inspiration (Muse)

GREEKS

ATHENAHERAPOSEIDON

TROJANS

APHRODITEAPOLLOARES

NEUTRAL

ZEUS

The Role of the Gods in Homer

The gods operate at several different levels: (1) as characters in the story (de-mythologized);

(2) as true religious forces;

(3) as symbols of a human's abilities or disabilities

Athena the goddess of wisdom protects Odysseus the cunning hero

The Gods as Human Psychology

The presence and intervention of a god in the story on behalf of a human is an indication of the human's own innate talent. Homer's society ascribed extraordinary powers and skills as gifts of the gods because their understanding of human psychology was not so developed as to explain concepts like differing degrees of intelligence, creativity, etc.

Thus Poseidon, so long as he is present and hostile to Odysseus, is a symbol of Odysseus' own inability to get home. But once Poseidon becomes absent, Odysseus regains his skills. So, too, Athena's presence is a symbol of Odysseus' own ability to cope with threats and dangers.

Athena and Achilles

Achilles' anger appeased by Athena Drawing by Flaxman (1888)

Minerva Preventing Achilles from Killing Agamemnon, from 'The Iliad' by Homer, 1757 (fresco) Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista (Giambattista) (1696-1770)

God as MentorAthena and Telemachus

(See Odyssey I)

Mentors in Star Wars

6.15 A Certain Point of View (Obi Wan Kenobi)

Fate in Greek Mythology

Moirai (The Fates)Clotho (the Spinner), Lachesis (Measurer), Atropos (Cutter)

Achilles: “Doomed to a short life, you have so little time. / And not only short, now, but filled with heartbreak too, / more than all other men alive - doomed twice over"  (Iliad 1 . 496-98).

Rosso FiorentinoItalian Mannerist Painter, ca.1495-1540 Pitti Palace, Florence

Thetis Dipping the Infant Achilles Into Water from the StyxAntonio Balestra Italian Baroque Era Painter, 1666-1740

17th - 18th century engraving-etching

Johann Balthasar Probst

For more images: http://www.philipresheph.com/demodokos/achilles/achil.htm

Fate and Destiny in Star Wars

One’s Ordained Future

• V.7 Luke Must Meet Yoda

• VI.14. Luke Must Meet Vader

Calchas

in Iliad, see esp Book I

The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia on a Pompeian wall fresco.The prophet Calchas is at right.

Prophets and Prophecies in Greek Mythology

Odysseus (l.) meets the prophet Tiresias (r.) in the Underworld (Odyssey, XI)

The Blind Prophet Tiresias

Watch for him in the myth of Oedipus

The Inevitable Truth of the Oracle

Oedipus and the Sphinx

Temple of Apollo at Delphi

Apollo Seated on his Prophetic Tripod

Prophecies in Star WarsPredicting the Future

• Yoda (5.33 The Future You See)

Oracle (The Inevitable Truth)

The Chosen One: Anakin?• Is he not the chosen one? (I.28)• Train Him (I.45)• The Chosen One the Boy May Be (1.47)• You were the Chosen One (3.43)

or Luke? Danger of Offspring to Darth Vader

Gods and Humor

Heemskerk, Martin Van, 1536

“Lay of Demodocus”Odyssey 8.266ff.

Aphrodite and Ares Caught in the Net of Adulteryby her husband Hephaestus

L. Corinth, 1909

“Divine” Humor in Star Wars: 5.31 There is No Try

“Divine” Humor in Star Wars?

5.31 There is No Try

C-3PO: I do believe they think I am some kind of god.

Return of the Jedi (VI.24)

Divine Machinery in Star Wars

Inspiration

Motivation (Mentor)

Human Psychology

Divine Assistance or Impediment

Involvement in the Plot

Humor