AEDON AND THE ECOLOGIC MYTH

 

AEDON AND THE ECOLOGIC MYTH

Written by Konstantinos Konstantinidis Amphictyon Aidon was the daughter of Pandareus, of Ephesus, and married the architect Polytechnus from Colophon. They had a child named Ityn. As long as they respected the gods, they were loved and happy. Later, Polytechnus boasted that he loved Hera more, and Aidon that he loved Zeus more. This made Hera jealous and sent Erin through Hermes. Wherever Eris goes, she is known to stir up strife and division. At that time, Polytechnos was building a chariot and was about to finish it, while Aidona was weaving a cloth and she was about to finish it. They agreed that whoever finished first would take a slave from the other. Aidona finished first, having Hera as her assistant. Aidona also had a sister named Chelidona. Polytechnos comes to his father-in-law Pandareo and deceives him by taking his daughter named Chelidona whom he corrupts on the street, then cuts her hair, takes her other dresses and threatens to kill her if she reveals the secret to her sister or elsewhere. He delivers the slave to Aidona according to their agreement. Aidona did not know that she was her sister and mistreated her, putting her to hard labor. Once when she went to the spring to get water, she sat alone and lamented her bad luck, when Aidona heard her, she recognized her. Then, to avenge him, they slaughtered his son Ityn and boiled him, while they fled and went to their father Pandareo. When Polytechnos returned home, he saw the meat cooked and sat down and ate it. Realizing the deception, he ran to catch up with them and went to Pandareo's house. There, he was arrested and tied up by the slaves, they smeared him with honey and left him in the Sun. Aidon, remembering her love, sat near him and chased away the flies. Finally, they decided to kill him and Zeus turned them into birds. Pandareus was transformed into an Aliaeton (sea eagle), his wife into an Alcyone (sea bird), which is a good omen for sailors, Polytechnos into a Pelican (large water bird), because Hephaestus gave him the tectonic pelican (the long beak), which is a good omen for masons, Hades' brother became Epops (a woodcock), a good omen for land and sea, Hades was transformed into the homonymous songbird (Nightingale) and with her song she mourns her son Ityn. Finally, he transformed the Swallow into the eponymous bird (Swallow) that lives near people because it had been cursed and was asking for help from the virgin Artemis.  Remarks:

1/ The cute ecological myth of the Nightingale shows the love of our ancestors for the animal kingdom and especially for the beautiful birds of our homeland. They had given them human souls, a sign of the greatest love and the opposite of what happens today. In our time, apart from poachers and lawbreakers who kill them furiously in their passage during their migration, even homeowners often destroy the nests so as not to defile them. Their worst enemy, however, is the destruction of forests, pesticides, the restriction of wetlands and, more recently, the dense radio beacons, transmitters of various radio frequencies, wind turbines, electric cables and the abundant lighting that mislead them, divert them and often fall victim to storms over the Mediterranean.

2/ I would be making a fool of Athens if I said that Asia Minor, like the Aegean, has been Greek since time immemorial, as the Turks and often Mr. Erdogan claim. The paradox is that no Greek politician dares to speak about the Greek heritage that we have left there and that should interest us, such as: The tombs of our ancestors, our glorious monuments, our theaters, the temples of our ancestral religion, the bones of our beloved persons of countless genocides, with the last ones of Ionia, Pontus, which continued until our days in Constantinople, etc. Phobic, slavish, amnesiac (i-lithic) rascals, the leaders of the decadent party guilds transmitted to the people the phobia, appeasement and surrender of their sovereign right

3/ In any case, our ancestors cauterize the Strife and the Division. On the contrary, we have institutionalized it with the multi-party Constitution of representative democracy (party rule), which deceives and oppresses the people

4/ In ancient times, the Greeks made chariots, fabrics, weapons, ships, and works of art, while we live on the monoculture of tourism and are always in debt with the exception of the Seven Years' War. What is wrong? We must find out sometime. (25/4/25)

* Amphiktyon, Major General of the Hellenic Army Konstantinos KonstantinidisWriter, Member of the Society of Greek Writers amphiktyon@gmail.com http://amphiktyon.blogspot.com/ http://amphiktyon.org