In the minds of ESL exam candidates, e ssay writing is one of the most daunting tasks they are required to complete, regardless of the level of the exam, the administering body or the ease with which they themselves use the language. The same applies to students who are asked to write an essay by their teachers at school. In the previous sample essays posted on the blog, the main point I stress is the need to become acquainted with this form of writing (as opposed to writing a letter, review or report, for instance), to get a feel of what authorial voice is and how to organize and progressively express the arguments you wish to make in a coherent manner. Unfortunately, the best way to prepare for exam writing or learn how to write good essays for school is to read as many essays from as many sources as possible, then write as
It means "of or related to the underworld; subterranean" and is tied to the ancient Greek female deity Χθων (Chthon) that personified the depths of the earth.
Chthon was often identified as the earth's principal goddess Γαία (Gaia) and like her was commemorated as the mother of the Titans, the Gigantes (Giants) and the terrible monster Typhoeus (Typhon) who begot some of the most famous and formidable monsters found in Greek mythology (Cerberus, the Lernaean Hydra, Chimera and the Sphinx, to name a few).
In Greek, the rarely used word χθων means "ground" "soil" so why is it related to the more sinister underground or underworld and not simply to life-giving surface soil? It might be that a distinction was made when referring to the earth goddess, meaning that when referring to mother earth (and all her dealings above ground), Gaia was summoned. Gaia, however, angered by the defeat and capture of her Titans and since the slaying of the Giants by the Olympian gods in the great battle that would determine who would rule the cosmos, was not at all the gentle, loving primordial deity we would have her be. After all, she had been outwitted by Zeus who forbade the dawn, the sun and the moon (Eos, Helios and Selene) from giving off light so that he could find and gather the sole plant that could protect her children the Giants from death before she herself could. This is where perhaps the distinction between Mother Earth and Chthonic deity is found: Gaia loves her children, Chthon watches over the underworld into which her children's blood has seeped and made volcanoes shudder (the Giants were believed to have been buried under volcanoes and be the cause of earthquakes).
A completely separate category of gods and goddesses, therefore, exists which delineates deities and spirits related to the underworld and is contrasted with the Olympian deities. The typical yet incomplete list of Chthonic deities would include the following:
- Angelos
- Erinyes
- Hades
- Hecate
- Melinoe
- Persephone
- Charon
- Thanatos
- Erebus
- Tartarus
- Nyx
Nonetheless, the epithet "chthonic" was added to several Olympian gods and goddesses (for instance, Zeus Chthonios or Artemis Chthonia) and was generally used to describe rituals that employed specific sequence and methodology.
So, where does that leaves us? Can this word be of any use to us in our day and age? Unfortunately, not as much as I'd like it to be. In English it refers to either the chthonic cults and their specific ritual sacrifices or the chthonic deities and characteristics discussed above. In Greek, however, the word with the added prefixes "υπο-" or "κατα" create lovely words to mean "underhanded" and "shady", or simply "that lives deep in the earth":
- υποχθόνιος (hypochthonic)
- καταχθόνιος (catachthonic)
Frankly speaking, I don't see why both words are missing from the English dictionary, since words with the same prefixes (hypochondriac, hypodermic or catastrophe and catatonic) already grace the language.
I suppose my proposal, if I may be so bold, would be to incorporate the words hypochthonic and catachthonic into the English language to denote
- sly, underhanded, duplicitous
- deeply underground
For the time being, however, we'll just have to make do with the word chthonic and use it in sentences to talk about underworldly deities and cults.
- I read some interesting verses in chthonic texts dating from ancient times.
- Chthonic cults began to appear early on.
For more vocabulary words, click on the image below.
