It’s common knowledge that throughout Mythology, Gods enjoy meddling in the lives of mortals. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the same concept is explored through the wealthy and the poor.

To fully understand how the two are related, one must first understand the mythology of the matter. Zeus is the God of thunder and ruler of the Gods. He is the head of the Olympian Pantheon. Alongside him rules his wife, Hera, the Goddess of marriage, family, and women. She rules beside Zeus as the Queen of the Gods. Yet despite the king of the Gods being married, he is no stranger to having his share of affairs. Zeus has a reputation for being a common philanderer and is known to have various mortal lovers and illegitimate children. Despite knowing about her husband’s affairs, Hera remains faithful to Zeus and has never thought of leaving him. This is due to either her obligation as Goddess of marriage or fear of losing her status as Queen. One might expect Hera to lash out at her husband, but no. In actuality, Hera takes her anger out on the mortals with whom Zeus has had affairs with. Most of the time, the mortals had no choice or were tricked by the god. But even still, Hera showed them no remorse. Hera was notorious for being cruel to Zeus’ lovers, cursing them and making their lives as miserable as possible, the lucky ones receiving death.

In The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, Tom and Daisy are an upper-class married couple who live in East Egg. The two come from old money and are extremely wealthy, having been brought up in such a life of luxury, most can assume that the two have always been able to just fall back on their money whenever trouble arises. The two have a daughter, and overall seem like a perfect family, but beneath their facade of happiness lurks the underlying truth of their marriage. Tom constantly cheats on Daisy. From the start of their relationship to even now, he continues to have affairs. And despite being aware of these affairs, Daisy continues to turn a blind eye.

There are many similarities between the two couples. For example, it’s seen that in both parties neither wife leaves her husband nor does either get angry with her husband for their infidelity. For both Hera and Daisy, it can be inferred that neither wish to leave out of fear of loss of stability; “She wanted her life shaped now, immediately — and the decision must be made by some force — of love, of money, of unques-tionable practicality — that was close at hand” (Fitzgerald 116). Daisy was growing older and needed a husband by any means necessary. So finally, when she has Tom, why would she leave him and the comfort of his stability? Tom, much like Zeus, had already deeply rooted himself into his wife’s life, so much so that the thought of actually leaving seemed inconceivable. Stability might not have been the only reason. In The Great Gatsby, as Gatsby pulls Daisy aside, she says the following: “Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom,” she admitted in a pitiful voice. “It wouldn’t be true” (Fitzgerald 102). Even though he may be horrible now, after years of marriage, some form of love must’ve been. The same could possibly be said for Hera. A person (or a Goddess) could never say they never loved their spouse after being married to them for years. Even if a person is unhappy in marriage, their brains still try to find something to love about their spouse, making the thought of no semblance of love being there a complete lie.

Despite Zeus and his many lovers, he never allowed any of them to get too out of hand. Reminding them that they are simply mortals and are no match for the divinity of the Gods. Much like Zeus, Tom felt that people of lower status than he and Daisy had no right to speak ill of people of high society, even if that person is his lover.

“Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!” shouted Mrs. Wilson. “I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai—” Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 30). Social class differences are everywhere. Even though he is unfaithful, someone of such low class shouldn’t be talking ill of his wife. Much like Tom, when a mortal challenges the Gods, the Gods get angry and quickly put mortals in their place.

Hera killed many of Zeus’ lovers. And even if accidental, Daisy parallels Hera’s ways. Daisy hit Myrtle with Gatsby’s car. Even if she was unaware of the relationship between Tom and Myrtle, it was an ironically cruel, twisted chance of fate that Daisy was the one to kill her. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…”(Fitzgerald 137). Daisy and Tom hid behind their money whenever things went south. The two could do whatever they wanted and never had to face the consequences of their actions. The Gods also had this advantage. Given that they are divine beings, they could never do anything wrong. And because Zeus was a god, Hera felt it wasn’t his fault, but the mortals’. The gods are constantly making mortals’ lives hell for their actions, all because of their divine status.

In conclusion, in The Great Gatsby, Tom and Daisy are as arrogant and wrathful as the Greek Gods. They inflict harm upon those lower than them and hide behind their power and status. And much like the Gods, they continue their ways without any regard for the consequences, leaving pain and destruction in their wake.

Work Cited

  • Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner, 2004
  • “Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. ‘all right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool— that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 16).
  • “And what’s more, I love Daisy too. Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I al- ways come back, and in my heart I love her all the time” (Fitzgerald 101).
  • “Oh, you want too much!” she cried to Gatsby. “I love you now — isn’t that enough? I can’t help what’s past.” She began to sob helplessly. “I did love him once —” (Fitzgerald 102)
  • “Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom,” she admitted in a pitiful voice. “It wouldn’t be true” (Fitzgerald 102)
  • “She wanted her life shaped now, immediately — and the decision must be made by some force — of love, of money, of unques-tionable practicality — that was close at hand. That force took shape in the middle of spring with the arrival of Tom Buchanan. There was a wholesome bulkiness about his person and his position, and Daisy was flattered.” (Fitzgerald 116)
  • Then Tom shut the door on them and came down the single step, his eyes avoiding the table. As he passed close to me he whispered: “Let’s get out.”(Fitzgerald 109)
  • Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!” shouted Mrs. Wilson. “I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai——” Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 30)
  • “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…”(Fitzgerald 137).