Labelled variously as a gathering of fat cats in the snow to an "annual bunfight" (The Guardian), the Davos show is one of the grandest displays of power by the world's wealthiest, most famous and most influential leaders. In this it compares with the large power gatherings of mythic times.
On Mt Olympus, for instance, Zeus, as the god of kings and princes, presided over various assemblies, dispensing his wisdom or dismissing insubordinate gods or, more often than not, thwarting his wife Hera's devious plans. The Theoi Agoraioi (the marketplace and people's assembly) was one such Davos-like congregation where Zeus presided alongside Athena. The gods of the marketplace were led by Hermes, the god of commerce. Interestingly, Athena spoke for both sides. As goddess of wise counsel, she stood alongside Zeus; and as patron goddess of artisans, along with Hephaestus, she weighed in for the people.
At the gathering at the swish ski resort, there are many claimants to Zeus's crown. And the Geneva-based non-profit, the World Economic Forum that organises the annual high-powered pilgrimage, will presumably bear Athena's burden. This year, the talks acquired even more significance as they took place against the backdrop of a report by Oxfam that the world's richest 62 people are as wealthy as half of the world's population.
In ancient civilisations, power belonged to the mighty and the virile. For example, the Persian Mithra (and the Roman Mithras) was an embodiment of power. Mithraism was particularly popular with the Roman legions, and mithraea were the shrines where he was worshipped. In all mithraea, a central cult image of the god was presented in a ritual bull-killing form. The god Mithras kneels on the back of a bull pulling back its head and stabbing it in the neck with a sword. A scorpion attacks the bull's testicles, while a dog and a snake are stretching up to drink the blood dripping from the wound. For the people of that time, power had to be snatched and the gorier the battle, the grander the victory.
Bulls were a popular symbol of virility. To fight one and emerge victorious was believed to transfer power from beast to man, making him a god. Gods were also referred to as bulls. Indra is known as the bull among gods, while Yama, the god of death, rides one.
Archaeologist Jacques Cauvin sees the bull representing the male spirit's darker side in the Levant and West Asia. Cauvin saw bull fights and attempts to tame the bull as a way for a new agricultural society to exercise its power over natural forces (the hugely controversial jallikattu in Tamil Nadu is also a result of such belief systems). Over time, knowledge replaced brute force as a source of power. In the Indian context, this gave rise to the caste system where one section of society strove to deny knowledge and thereby power to another. Both forms of power are now redundant, making the rituals and practices stand out like ugly sores in an evolving social landscape.
Power has served as a powerful aphrodisiac throughout myth. And while it has been assiduously wooed by gods, men and demons, it has also led to the downfall of many. Especially for those who wielded power with whimsy and a cruel hand. Mithras, for instance, is no longer worshipped and his shrines have mostly disappeared. Perhaps the power barons at Davos could keep that in mind when they sit across the table.
On Mt Olympus, for instance, Zeus, as the god of kings and princes, presided over various assemblies, dispensing his wisdom or dismissing insubordinate gods or, more often than not, thwarting his wife Hera's devious plans. The Theoi Agoraioi (the marketplace and people's assembly) was one such Davos-like congregation where Zeus presided alongside Athena. The gods of the marketplace were led by Hermes, the god of commerce. Interestingly, Athena spoke for both sides. As goddess of wise counsel, she stood alongside Zeus; and as patron goddess of artisans, along with Hephaestus, she weighed in for the people.
At the gathering at the swish ski resort, there are many claimants to Zeus's crown. And the Geneva-based non-profit, the World Economic Forum that organises the annual high-powered pilgrimage, will presumably bear Athena's burden. This year, the talks acquired even more significance as they took place against the backdrop of a report by Oxfam that the world's richest 62 people are as wealthy as half of the world's population.
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Much of what transpires at Davos reflects a tussle for resources. Just as it did in the Vedic times, when the gods and the demons churned the ocean in the amrita manthan myth or when Indra fought Vritra for the waters of the world. The churning of the ocean was one of those unique confluences where devas and asuras came together unified by a single goal, both wanted amrita, or the nectar of immortality that lay at the bottom of the ocean. That the asuras were tricked out of their share goes to show how even the gods were plutocratic - anything to keep the upper hand.
In ancient civilisations, power belonged to the mighty and the virile. For example, the Persian Mithra (and the Roman Mithras) was an embodiment of power. Mithraism was particularly popular with the Roman legions, and mithraea were the shrines where he was worshipped. In all mithraea, a central cult image of the god was presented in a ritual bull-killing form. The god Mithras kneels on the back of a bull pulling back its head and stabbing it in the neck with a sword. A scorpion attacks the bull's testicles, while a dog and a snake are stretching up to drink the blood dripping from the wound. For the people of that time, power had to be snatched and the gorier the battle, the grander the victory.
Bulls were a popular symbol of virility. To fight one and emerge victorious was believed to transfer power from beast to man, making him a god. Gods were also referred to as bulls. Indra is known as the bull among gods, while Yama, the god of death, rides one.
Archaeologist Jacques Cauvin sees the bull representing the male spirit's darker side in the Levant and West Asia. Cauvin saw bull fights and attempts to tame the bull as a way for a new agricultural society to exercise its power over natural forces (the hugely controversial jallikattu in Tamil Nadu is also a result of such belief systems). Over time, knowledge replaced brute force as a source of power. In the Indian context, this gave rise to the caste system where one section of society strove to deny knowledge and thereby power to another. Both forms of power are now redundant, making the rituals and practices stand out like ugly sores in an evolving social landscape.
Power has served as a powerful aphrodisiac throughout myth. And while it has been assiduously wooed by gods, men and demons, it has also led to the downfall of many. Especially for those who wielded power with whimsy and a cruel hand. Mithras, for instance, is no longer worshipped and his shrines have mostly disappeared. Perhaps the power barons at Davos could keep that in mind when they sit across the table.