The Myth of Deucalion and Pyrrha: The Great Flood in Greek Mythology

Some stories have stood the test of time and exist in various cultures worldwide. One such story is the Great Flood, in which a supreme deity floods the earth and destroys human civilization as a form of divine punishment. After the Great Flood, only a few people survived with the help of divine intervention and human resourcefulness. They then faced the daunting challenge of rebuilding civilization from scratch. The myth of Deucalion and Pyrrha is the ancient Greek version of this timeless story. Read on to learn how they survived.

The downfall of humanity began with one man’s impiety when he dared to test the will of Zeus. Lycaon was one of the earliest human Kings of Arcadia and is credited with founding the city of Lycosura. He was married to Cyllene, an Oread nymph who presided over Mount Cyllene. Lycaon and Cyllene had around 50 sons and three daughters, the most famous being Callisto — a devout and loyal follower of Artemis who had a tragic love affair with Zeus.

In a few versions of the story of Lycaon, he is depicted as a highly devoted follower of Zeus. He constructed a temple in honor of Zeus and founded the Lycaean Games to pay homage to both Zeus and the god Pan. However, Lycaon’s religious fervor led him to commit a heinous act of human sacrifice, which ultimately led to his downfall.

The most well-known story of Lycaon portrays the King in a vastly different light. It depicts him as arrogant and proud, taking pleasure in cruelty. Lycaon’s sons followed in their father’s footsteps and pillaged the surrounding Arcadian region, causing suffering and taking advantage of the vulnerable inhabitants of the land.

Reports of Lycaon’s hubris and cruelty deeply troubled Zeus. He told his fellow Olympians that he would investigate to see if there was any truth to the claims. Zeus was quietly hoping that the reports about Lycaon were merely exaggerations. He still clung to the belief that humans were inherently good and were simple, two-dimensional creatures that were mere playthings for the Olympians. He did not want to accept that humans were multifaceted and complex creations that mirrored their creators.

As Zeus wandered through Lycaon’s Kingdom, he saw for himself the plight of the Arcadians and realized that the reports were accurate. Zeus performed divine miracles to help the struggling citizens, and the people began to worship him.

Upon hearing rumors that his people were worshipping a stranger who claimed to be a god, Lycaon became skeptical. He did not believe that the gods were genuinely omnipotent as they claimed to be. Lycaon suspected this stranger was nothing more than a charlatan taking advantage of his citizens, as he was wont to do. The King invited the stranger to dinner to test the gods’ supposed omnipotence.

Lycaon devised an unthinkable test for the stranger, reflecting the cruelty, arrogance, and impiety within his soul. For dinner, he had his son Nyctimus killed and roasted, believing that if the gods were truly omnipotent, they could discern the true nature of the meal. However, the King suspected otherwise and hoped to trick the stranger into an unexpected act of cannibalism. This would defame and shame anyone who worshipped the stranger and prove the shortcomings of the gods.

When Lycaon served the meal to Zeus, the god immediately recognized the vile ingredients. Lycaon had dared to test his powers and committed blasphemy by violating the sacred laws of hospitality. The enraged Zeus resurrected Nyctimus and punished Lycaon by transforming him into a wolf. This is where the term Lycanthrope comes from, as Lycaon is believed to be the first werewolf.

Zeus was furious with Lycaon’s dinner. It made him realize the dark potential within humans. As a result, the King of the gods decided to end the human experiment that he and Prometheus began once and for all.

Initially, Zeus planned to rain lightning down on the earth but he soon realized it could set the entire world on fire. This fire could spread uncontrollably to the heavens and engulf Olympus and the Cosmos. After considering it, Zeus decided to flood the world with a great deluge, drowning the humans he had once enjoyed playing with.

In the years following Pandora’s opening of the Jar and her unwitting release of illness, violence, and misery upon the earth, humanity made a comeback under the leadership of Pandora and the Titan brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus. Pandora and Epimetheus had multiple children, including a daughter named Pyrrha. Meanwhile, Prometheus had a son named Deucalion, either by his mother, Clymene or by Hesione, an Oceanid nymph. The Titan brothers were overjoyed when Deucalion and Pyrrha, their children, fell in love and married.

Prometheus, the Titan of foresight and sculptor of humankind, loved his creation, particularly the intricate complexity that Zeus detested. Prometheus knew that Zeus had begun to doubt the human experiment and was waiting for any excuse to bring it to an end. Although he couldn’t predict the future, Prometheus used his foresight to speculate about what the gods might do. He concluded that when Zeus finally decided to end humanity, he would likely do so with a great flood to avoid collateral damage to the Olympians.

In preparation for the coming catastrophe, Prometheus taught Deucalion woodworking and survival skills before Zeus imprisoned him in the Caucasus Mountains. Under his father’s meticulous instructions, Deucalion and Pyrrha built a large wooden vessel. In some accounts, the vessel is described as an ark; in others, it is a chest. The vessel remained hidden for decades. Deucalion and Pyrrha kept it well-provisioned with food and water, waiting for the day when it would become a sanctuary that defied Zeus’s will and hopefully saved humanity.

At the peak of Mount Olympus, Zeus was still consumed by rage. He shared his plan with his fellow Olympians to end all of humanity. While some gods approved of the plan, many more silently mourned. Without humans, who would offer prayers and sacrifices to the gods?

After so many centuries of life on Earth, many gods could not imagine an unpopulated world and how Olympus would continue to function without devoted worshipers. However, they all knew there was no way to appease Zeus’s anger and could only watch helplessly as human civilization and all the benefits and pleasures it brought to the gods came to an end.

Zeus, the cloud gatherer, ascended high above Mount Olympus and summoned all the clouds from around the world. He then shut away Boreas, the North Wind, and allowed Notus, the South Wind, to bring rain across the land. With his beard filled with clouds and his body drenched in mist and dew, Zeus struck the heavy clouds, releasing a torrent of rain upon the earth. As the rain began to fall, Zeus instructed Iris, the rainbow goddess and herald of Hera, to constantly supply moisture to the rain clouds scattered throughout the world by Notus.

Zeus turned to his brother Poseidon and asked him to flood the land with the rising sea and tidal waves, engulfing cities, forests, and mountain ranges. Nothing would escape the deluge. Zeus allowed the Potamoi, the river gods, to break free from their ordained channels and flood the lands around them.

Soon, the entire world was consumed by the flood. Dolphins swam through submerged forests, and exhausted birds flew over lions and cattle who clung to each other, all trying to find safety on land that no longer existed. Within a few hours, Zeus had ended the human experiment, erasing centuries of civilization and destroying cities, cultures, and almost all life on Earth. All except for two humans who had listened to a Titan’s foresight and prepared for this critical moment that would define the future of humanity.

Deucalion and Pyrrha sought refuge in the wooden vessel they had concealed for years as the rain poured down and the rivers swelled. Due to their well-stocked supply of food, water, and tools, they managed to withstand the flood’s raging waters, rough winds, and torrential rain.

As Lycaon demonstrated, Zeus was all-powerful and keenly aware of the two humans who had somehow managed to prepare and survive the flood he had unleashed upon the Earth. However, Zeus could not bring himself to destroy the small wooden vessel and its occupants. This was because Deucalion and Pyrrha were devoted worshippers of the gods, despite knowing that the flood was a punishment from Zeus meant to destroy humanity. Deucalion and Pyrrha kept praying to Zeus and showing unconditional love and devotion to him and the other Olympians, as the flood waters threatened to end them.

After nine days and nights of relentless rain, Zeus’ anger finally relented, and the catastrophic flood ended. As the waters gradually subsided, Deucalion and Pyrrha’s sturdy wooden vessel finally came to rest on Mount Parnassus. Despite the couple surviving the world-ending flood, they knew their struggle was far from over.

Although they still had plenty of supplies, they had no idea how to begin rebuilding human civilization. The couple had been preparing for the flood for many years and were both elderly, with Deucalion being around 82 years old and Pyrrha only a few years younger. The elderly couple knew they lacked the strength and, most importantly, the time to repopulate and rebuild.

Following the flood, Deucalion and Pyrrha were left stranded on Mount Parnassus. They waited for the postdiluvian mud and slime to evaporate under the sun’s warmth. Once the remnants were gone, they descended the mountain to seek help. They made their way to Delphi, located in a valley below Parnassus. Unfortunately, no Delphic oracle was available to guide them after the flood. So, they turned to the Oracle of Themis, the Titaness of justice, law and divine order who possessed the prophetic ability to discern the right course of action.

Deucalion and Pyrrha prostrated themselves in front of the oracle and asked for help in restarting humankind. The Oracle of Themis heard their prayers and told the elderly couple to cover their heads and throw their mother’s bones over their shoulders.

Deucalion and Pyrrha were left with more questions than answers, as often happens when an oracle is consulted. How could they follow the esoteric instructions given to them? Deucalion’s mother, whether Clymene or Hesione, was immortal and not likely to give up their bones. Pyrrha’s mother, Pandora, had already passed away. However, locating Pandora’s bones would have been impossible after the great flood that had scattered the remnants of humanity.

The couple spent hours contemplating their predicament. They were alone in a postdiluvian barren landscape with no other signs of life, not even plants or animals. All they had for company were the sun, wind, and rocks haphazardly scattered around them. These rocks formed and laid the foundation of the earth beneath their feet.

It was then that the solution to the oracle’s enigmatic words dawned on Deucalion and Pyrrha. They realized that all life, both mortal and immortal, shared one mother: Mother Earth, the Titaness Gia. Gia was the earth itself, and her bones were the rocks and stones that surrounded them.

Deucalion and Pyrrha hurriedly gathered rocks and stones and crossed the fields near Delphi. They covered their heads as instructed and threw the rocks over their shoulders without looking back. They continued to walk and toss stones for hours until they were utterly exhausted. Finally, they dared to turn around, and the sight they saw filled them with joy.

Hundreds of healthy and fully formed women sprang up from the ground where Pyrrha had thrown her rocks. While behind, Deucalion sprung hundreds of healthy and fully formed men. They saw that various age groups were represented, including children, adolescents, and adults of all ages.

In the years that followed, Deucalion and Pyrrha imparted all the necessary skills to rebuild human civilization to the newly created humans. Some accounts even suggest that the elderly couple had their own children: three sons named Hellen, Amphictyon, and Orestheus. Hellen became the patriarch of the Hellenes people, whose name is still used by Greeks to describe their nation. Amphictyon became the King of Athens, while Orestheus became the King of the Locrians in central Greece.

Deucalion and Pyrrha had three daughters named Pandora, Protogenia, and Thyla. All three daughters became lovers of Zeus. Pandora gave birth to Latinus and Graecus, who are considered the eponyms of the Latin and Greek peoples. Protogenia gave birth to Aethilus, who became the first King of Elis. Thyla, on the other hand, was the mother of Magnes and Macedon, who are considered the eponyms of Magnesia and Macedonia.

Thanks to Prometheus’s foresight and humankind’s unwavering ingenuity, the human experiment continued again. The postdiluvian world was vastly different from the one before it; it later became known as the Heroic Age, when the most notable heroes of Greek mythology rose to prominence, were celebrated for their greatness, and were remembered for their tragic ends.