The Gods vs Humanity: A Battle for Power, Control, and Worship

What Mythology Tells Us About Divine Power and How The Gods Use Humanity for Their Gain

Zeus and Humanity

Ever since my article on mythology, I’ve been diving down into a rabbit hole, learning as much as possible.

One of the key takeaways was that myths aren’t just fairy tales; they offer a deeper meaning to the intricacies of life. As we read:

“Myth, when taken seriously, helps adults remember the deeper structure of reality.”

This led me to hours of reviewing content, from TED Talks on myths from around the world to a plethora of movies, primarily focused on Greek mythology and Olympus.

This journey also led me down the path of watching the Netflix show Blood of Zeus. I wasn’t a fan of how it ended, but it did introduce me to a different aspect of Greek mythology.

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From Greek mythology—which I learned predates Judaism and biblical characters—we see that they too have their own creation story, with a female creator (Gaia) and the Titans. These Titans ultimately fell to the Olympian gods, like Zeus, and these are the gods we now know: Zeus, Ares, etc.

There are two interesting lessons I’ve learned from this journey.

First, the “Titans and Gods” of Greek mythology share similarities with other characters from myths around the world. For example, the Titan Prometheus and the character Jesus, or the creator Gaia and the Gnostic concept of the creator of physical reality, Sophia.

This intermingling looks like a form of syncretism, which makes me wonder: could the Bible be one big myth? More to come in a future article.

Second, and this is the more interesting aspect: In many Greek myths, it’s often portrayed as a struggle between the gods and humanity. In several stories, we see the gods being bested by humans, only to strike the humans down afterward.

This phenomenon made me wonder: wouldn’t the gods, if omnipotent, have no reason to feel threatened by humans?

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From a mythological-historical perspective, we’re told that we need to love the gods, but upon studying the myths, it appears that the gods often hate humanity. At times, they even envy humanity, but ultimately, they need humanity and our help.

For them to be almighty, they’re consistently meddling in the affairs of men.

The three arguments I use to support this position are:

1. The story of Job, as told by Carl Jung.

2. Numerous examples of gods intervening in human affairs.

3. The gods’ consistent need for humanity.

This piece is sure to be a fascinating read, so sit back, relax, and let’s dive in.

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Carl Jung’s Analysis of the Book of Job

As stated earlier, one could begin to see the bible as a collection of mythical stories, and we have one example in the book of Job.

For those not familiar with the story, Satan comes to visit God and asks God to engage in a bet over the human Job. The goal was to see if Job would “curse God and die.” God takes on this bet, and Job loses his family, belongings, possessions, and more—but doesn’t fold. He gets angry, demands to speak to God, but doesn’t “curse God.”

This story is a powerful example of faith in action, and I created a podcast about Job here.

However, this examination is viewed through a Christian lens. There’s a different perspective when the same story is examined from a psychological and mythological standpoint.

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I came across Carl Jung’s 1952 essay, titled “Answer to Job.” In it, he performs a character analysis of God and explains why Job undergoes the trials he does. Some of the questions that arise are:

1. Why does God choose to entertain the Devil?

2. Shouldn’t an all-powerful God be beyond the Devil’s influence?

3. Did Job teach God a lesson?

The idea here is that God, despite being omnipotent, does have human personification. For one, he is a jealous God—and jealousy is a sin¹. This creates a fascinating contradiction, as it portrays God as having human tendencies that make him susceptible to flaws, even as an omnipotent being.

When viewed from a psychological perspective, the story reveals God wrestling with human tendencies such as jealousy, violence, and insecurity.

However, the human character, Job, doesn’t give in to these tendencies. Job gets angry, and rightfully so, but does not curse God.

In doing so, Job teaches God a lesson that even a divine being cannot fully comprehend: perseverance and endurance in the face of suffering, which God cannot learn.