The Myth of Syceus
My obsession with accuracy, it seems, has led me again to this post. I feel it must be changed to better match how it is I write now. Maybe in two years time, I shall rewrite it once more. Regardless. Welcome or welcome back to the story of my tragic namesake: Syceus.
So, it begins: Syceus was a child of Gaia as well as a Gigante, who were simply men of great strength— despite being oftentimes referred to as ‘giants’— that were notoriously troublesome. These very same Gigantes were quick to take up arms against the Olympians when persuaded by Gaia.
Politics, having been complicated so far back as ancient Greece, would have it so war breaks out between the Gigantes and Olympus.
In short, the Gigantes proved to be a threat to the rule of Zeus, whose victory was not assured until Hercules joined the war. When the odds were favourable to Zeus, Syceus fled to Cilicia to escape his wrath. Wishing to prevent her son from dying at the mercy of Zeus, Gaia hid Syceus in her bosom, turning him into a fig tree.
While this is heavily summarised, being drawn from my entirely unnecessary and excessively sesquipedalian presentation on everyone who got turned into a plant in Greek Mythology, the story is one I have always found to be beautiful. Accentuated, perhaps as I quite like figs.
Not only is the fruit rich in taste and dynamic in appearance, but fig trees have incredible historical significance, being associated with triumph and wisdom for thousands of years. In ancient Greece, fig trees were considered an honour to bestow upon winners of competitions and were seen to shield humans from evil spirits. Odysseus, as it were, was even spared from the lethal whirlpool formed by the sea monster Charybdis by the branches of a single fig tree.
Any opportunity to speak about an arbitrary interest of mine I will take. Mythology, unsurprisingly, is a long withstanding one. Enough that, despite the many changes in my life, my username remains ‘syceusfig’ based on this very story. Will I find myself still unsatisfied with how I have rewritten this? Perhaps. But time will tell, I suppose.
