Horror chthonic - this is the fear of the forces of nature

Since ancient times man has been afraid of the forces of nature. Whatever the achievements of modern technology, there can always be a situation in which they turn out to be useless, and sometimes dangerous.

Eternal fear of unknown earthly forces

Having extensive knowledge of the laws of physics, chemistry, electrical and other sciences that study the objective nature surrounding us , people have not been able to fully unravel the mystery of the universe. This fact causes concern even in serene days, and during periods of cataclysms, a panic horror arises, also defined as chthonic. This is the fear of the land-progenitor and the unknown forces, which she conceals in herself.

The word that determines the nature of natural forces has a Greek root. "Khtonos" means "soil" or "earth". Thousands of years ago, people realized that it was the source of all life. After death, she takes on the remains of what has recently grown, grew stronger, blossomed and moved. So the cycle is carried out, and it is difficult to understand where its beginning, and where the end.

Gods of the Ancient Greeks

No wonder that the Greek chthonic mythology, like other beliefs, deified the earth, while giving it the features of a rational being. She and her inhabitants, mysterious creatures, coming out and disappearing in the depths, including water.

The ideas about the omnipotence of earthly nature found their expression in other mythical images. The Gorgon Medusa with snake hair is a typical example of how the hero looks chthonic. This is a kind of anthropoid with animal-like characters, which give it a horrible appearance. God Pan, for example, walks on hoofs, his horns grow on his forehead. All its appearance, it resembles a sly goatish feature on the frescoes of some Christian churches depicting the torment of sinners in the underworld.

Chthonic images in different religions

Anti-hero of Russian fairy tales, Serpent Gorynych is also chthonic in nature. This is understandable even from his name. First, the reptile (a typical mythological image), and secondly, lives in grief. Dragons inhabiting caves are present in legends, legends and religious texts of different peoples of the world on all continents from Europe to Asia. Similar creatures are typical for the initial, pre-Olympic period of ancient Greek mythology. Since these deities control the issues of life and death, they can take the form of carrion animals (crow, jackal, wolf, etc.).

God created the first man out of clay, this is said in the Old Testament. The episode, in its essence, chthonic. This does not indicate a direct connection of Scripture with ancient myths, since they are incompatible with monotheism, but a certain continuity of ancient ideas about the special properties of the earth is traced.

The exploitation of chthonic images in art

The authors of numerous fantasy novels and catastrophes willingly use stories in which mankind encounters an unknown enemy that poses a danger to the very existence of the human race. For example, in the famous novel by Jules Verne "When the Earth cried out" the planet is depicted by a living being, to whom a brave professor pains, drilling a borehole.

There are other works of art in which terrible and inevitable cataclysms are described in the form of giant tectonic splits, floods, unprecedented tsunami waves and similar troubles.

In addition to the natural processes of force majeure, the characters of books and blockbusters can be threatened by htonic monsters attacking from the depths of the earth's crust. Giant worms dig the earth under megacities, causing woes and catastrophes, they appear where they are not expected, and it is almost impossible to fight them. So exploited the primitive fear of nature, inherent in all people from time immemorial.

True, there is usually some hero who possesses the necessary degree of courage and extraordinary savvy, and everything ends quite safely.