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The Source of the Gods' Immortality in Archaic Greek Literature1

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The Source of the Gods' Immortality in Archaic Greek Literature1 The Source of the Gods' Immortality in Archaic Greek Literature1 Amit Baratz No other trait of the gods is envied by men as bitterly as their immortality. This abyss between men and gods is one of the main themes of ancient literature and archaic Greek literature is no exception. The gods of archaic literature are γένος αἰὲν ἐόντων (‘race of those who always are’), ἀθάνατοι (‘immortals’) and αἰειγενέται (‘ever-living’). This paper first examines the opinion of some scholars that the eternal life of the gods is closely related to their godly aliments ambrosia and nectar,2 and will further try to describe the relationship and weight of this observation with a more widespread archaic conception of gods’ immortality. Ambrosia and nectar, unlike many divine items, have no exact parallel in the human world, and can thus be called “mythical items”. Although they share a few qualities with the food and drink of men, their nature and functions depend mostly on the creative imagination of the poets who describe them.3 At times they are liquid, at other times solid; they are multi-functional, used as bathing cosmetics, preventers of stench, preservatives of corpses, and granters of immortality, but their main function is to serve as the nutriment of the gods.4 What, according to basic archaic understanding, is the purpose of this divine meal? What end does it serve in the lives of the gods? The first to address this question was Aristotle. In his Metaphysics, discussing the principles of perishable and imperishable things, he writes: The school of Hesiod (οἱ μὲν οὖν περὶ Ἡσίοδον) and all the mythologists (ὅσοι θεολόγοι) thought only of what was plausible to themselves, and had no regard to us. For asserting the first principles to be gods and born of gods, they say that the beings which did not 1 An earlier version of this paper was read at the annual conference of the Israel Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies held at Ben-Gurion University in May 2014. I am grateful to Prof. Margalit Finkelberg for her valuable comments on this paper. 2 See quotations from West below. Cf. Roscher (1883, 51): ‘Ambrosia und Nektar machen die Götter unsterblich’. Levin (1971, 33): ‘The gods’ eating of ambrosia is a renewal of deathlessness’. Garcia (2007), 161: ‘Ambrosia is closely associated with the gods’ immortality’. Although Clay (1997), 145; (1982), 115 rejected the idea that in Homer ambrosia and nectar make the gods immortal, she argued that they ‘prevent them from aging and exempt them from the natural cycle of growth and decay’. 3 Scholars who looked for the earthly origin of ambrosia and nectar came up with different answers. Bergk (1886), 669-682 and Roscher (1883), 22-33 thought ambrosia and nectar originated from wild honey. Wernicke (1894) 1809-1811 thought that the origin of ambrosia was a kind of bread. Wright (1917), 4-6 believed nectar was related to wine and ambrosia to dew. Onians (1951), 292-299 thought that ambrosia was the divine counterpart of liquefiable grease (marrow and fat) or olive oil offered to the gods, and that nectar’s counterpart was wine. Levin (1971), 34 argued that nectar was a Semitic loan word, which originally signified a beverage scented with incense from the altar. 4 On the multiformity of ambrosia and nectar, see West (1966), 342-343. Scripta Classica Israelica vol. XXXIV 2015 pp. 151-164. 152 THE GODS’ IMMORTALITY taste of nectar and ambrosia became mortal; and clearly they are using words which are familiar to themselves, yet what they have said, even about the very application of these causes is above our comprehension. For if the gods taste of nectar and ambrosia for their pleasure, these are in no wise the causes of their existence; and if they taste them to maintain their existence, how can gods who need food be eternal? (Trans. W.D. Ross)5 According to Aristotle, the writings of ‘the school of Hesiod and all the mythologists’ contain two conflicting views on the purpose of the divine meal. On the one hand the gods eat simply for their pleasure (χάριν ἡδονῆς), and on the other they eat to maintain their existence, by which Aristotle means their existence as immortals (i.e. imperishable things). Finding this fault with the mythologists, Aristotle abandons the field of mythology and moves on to the field of philosophy. As we shall see, the philosopher was right to argue that archaic poets did not have consistent views on the purpose of the divine meal. The categories of their thought were far from those of philosophy, and views which appear inconsistent to us coexisted in their poetry without causing any discomfort. If we wish, however, to understand their thoughts, we should adopt a more lenient methodology than Aristotle’s. First, we have to extract the notions that lie behind their stories. Then, whenever inconsistent notions are found, we have to look for their rationality, and enquire which was primary and which secondary. Let us begin then by examining the places in archaic poetry where the gods are described dining on their divine meal. In the Iliad, Odyssey and the Homeric Hymns, the gods and their divine horses are often described eating and drinking. In seven different places their meal comes after a journey. In four of these cases the diners are gods: Calypso serves Hermes ambrosia and nectar after his long journey to her from Olympus. Hermes complains about the length of the path he had to take, traveling over the endless waters, with not even one town to be seen where humans make sacrifice and offer hecatombs.6 Thrice more a drink is served to a god arriving from far away:7 Themis serves a drink to Hera, who has flown from Ida to Olympus;8 Hera serves a drink to Thetis on her arrival at Olympus from the depths of the sea,9 and Zeus serves nectar to Apollo returning to Olympus.10 As food and drinks are served to newcomers, it is reasonable to assume that besides showing courtesy and respect, they are meant to revive the spirit of the arriving gods. In three other cases the gods’ horses are given a fodder of ambrosia or other divine food after galloping over 5 Arist. Metaph. 1000a15-17: οἱ μὲν οὖν περὶ Ἡσίοδον καὶ πάντες ὅσοι θεολόγοι μόνον ἐφρόντισαν τοῦ πιθανοῦ τοῦ πρὸς αὑτούς, ἡμῶν δ’ ὠλιγώρησαν (θεοὺς γὰρ ποιοῦντες τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ ἐκ θεῶν γεγονέναι, τὰ μὴ γευσάμενα τοῦ νέκταρος καὶ τῆς ἀμβροσίας θνητὰ γενέσθαι φασίν, δῆλον ὡς ταῦτα τὰ ὀνόματα γνώριμα λέγοντες αὑτοῖς· καίτοι περὶ αὐτῆς τῆς προσφορᾶς τῶν αἰτίων τούτων ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς εἰρήκασιν· εἰ μὲν γὰρ χάριν ἡδονῆς αὐτῶν θιγγάνουσιν, οὐθὲν αἴτια τοῦ εἶναι τὸ νέκταρ καὶ ἡ ἀμβροσία, εἰ δὲ τοῦ εἶναι, πῶς ἂν εἶεν ἀΐδιοι δεόμενοι τροφῆς)· 6 Od. 5.92-104. 7 In the Iliad and Odyssey no other divine drink replaces nectar, so when a drink is served to a god but the word nectar is missing, nectar should be understood. 8 Il. 15.78-89. 9 Il. 24.93-102. 10 h. Hom. Ap. 1-12. AMIT BARATZ 153 heaven and earth.11 Like the horses of men, so the horses of gods need food to renew their strength. The reviving power of ambrosia and nectar appears more manifestly in stories which describe their absence. Archaic poetry seldom tells of a god deprived of food and drink, but when Hesiod describes the punishment of a god who committed perjury after swearing by the water of the Styx, he says: he lies without breathing for a full year, and never lays hands on ambrosia and nectar by way of food, but lies breathless and voiceless on his bed, wrapped in a malignant coma.12 (Trans. M.L. West) The god's illness, it seems, is somehow caused by a special power found in the waters of the Styx, a power that magically disables him. Yet to the lack of ambrosia and nectar Hesiod dedicates more words than to any of the symptoms of the disease, undoubtedly to emphasize the seriousness of the god’s condition. It is fair to assume that the lack of nutrition, in Hesiod’s view, prevents the god’s recovery. If only he could lay his hands on ambrosia and nectar, his situation would surely improve. In the Hymn to Demeter we find another goddess who abstains from ambrosia and nectar. The poet tells of grieving Demeter hastening out in search of her lost daughter Persephone: For nine days then did the lady Deo roam the earth with burning torches in her hands, and in her grief she did not once taste ambrosia and nectar sweet to drink, nor did she splash her body with washing water.13 (Trans. M.L. West) Nine days of ceaseless search without food, drink or bathing suggests a growing sense of exhaustion and deprivation. Thus again, as in the case of the punished god, abstention from food and drink is taken to be wearying as their consumption is supposed to restore the goddess’s strength. If abstention from ambrosia and nectar might weary a god, ingesting them can bring about a wondrous restoration of powers. So we read in Hesiod, that when Zeus released the fearful Hundred-Handers from the depths of the earth to assist him in his war with the Titans: he had offered them all things fitting, nectar and ambrosia, which the gods themselves eat, and in the breasts of them all their manly spirit was strengthened once they received nectar and lovely ambrosia,14 (Trans. G.W.
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