Momus: the God of Sarcasm from Greek Mythology

     Momus is a little-known God within Greek Mythology, however, he is somewhat different from the others for being the representation of Sarcasm, check out more about this being.

Momus in Greek Mythology:

     Momus, in Greek Mythology (scam, criticism or mockery) is the personification of sarcasm, scams and irony. She is the deity of writers and poets.

     Hesiod told that Momus is a daughter of Nix, the Night (Theogony, 214). Luciano de Samósata recalled the expanded dialogue Hermotimus in which she was invited to evaluate the creation of three gods in competition: Athena, Poseidon and Hephaestus. She criticized Athena for having created the house, as it must have iron wheels at its base, so that the owner could take it as soon as he traveled. She scoffed at the god of the sea for creating the Taurus with his eyes under the horns, when they should have been in the middle, so that he could see his victims.

     Finally, he criticized the blacksmith of the gods for making Pandora without a door on his chest so that one could see what she kept hidden in her heart.

Momus was literally a figure!

     As if that weren't enough, Aphrodite joked, although all he could say about her was that she was just a chatterbox and wore sandals that creaked on the floor of Olympus. Finally, she had the audacity to make amusing comments about Zeus' infidelity to Hera. (Philostrate, Epistles). Because of such things, she was exiled from Mount Olympus.

     However, later, Zeus being concerned with the fact that the Earth oscillated with the weight that humanity made, he allowed Momus to return to the coexistence of Olympus as long as it helped him discover a remedy for such a problem.

     In a relaxed and ironic way, Momo suggested that he create a woman, very beautiful, for which many nations would fight and thus destroy themselves. Zeus took it seriously and thus Helena was born, who led the Greeks to the Trojan War.

Representation:

     Momus is represented with a mask that he raises to show his face, and with a doll in one hand, symbolizing madness. She is constantly represented in Bacchus' procession, always alongside Sileno and Como, the god of partying and dissolution.

Carnival:

     At carnival parties in several Spanish-speaking cities, homage is paid to the God Momus, with various acts. In Cádiz, there is a burning of a doll representing the god Comus, but Comos and Momo became a single character with a male identity that ended up becoming a symbol of the Carnival celebrations each year. In the carnival of Brazil and also in Barranquilla (Colombia), one of the main characters of the festivities is Rei Momo, a name based on this deity.

Check: Athena: God of Wisdom

Check Now: