Uffe Elbæk, political leader of the Danish Alternative Party, has found inspiration in the great European mythology to create this myth about collaboration in a time of climate crisis: 

Zeus, The Greek god of the heavens, had a dilemma. Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of fertility, war and love, who Zeus had always admired, was in a terrible situation and asked Zeus for help. Hurricanes and floods had left Mesopotamia unrecognizable, and people were beginning to flee this country that had been so beautiful.

Ishtar wanted to help her people rebuild Mesopotamia, but wasn’t strong enough to carry out the task. There was a constant danger of new hurricanes and floods, so you had to be able to run fast and have enough strength to escape in case you were buried by logs or bricks.

There was also a great lack of food, so only the rich who were able to hoard food when times were good had the strength needed to clear the city of rubble and rebuild. What Ishtar asked of Zeus was to take care of families with young children and weak family members, while the remaining strong people could work to rebuild Mesopotamia as the beautiful city it once was.

It was a big request, and Zeus didn’t know what to do. In order to comply with Ishtar’s request, Zeus asked for assistance from the Nordic god of thunder, Thor. In Valhalla, they had Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, which had green leaves that could feed everyone in the world.

Yet Zeus was in debt to Thor, who didn’t want to hear about sharing the green leaves once again. When Zeus’ people needed help in the past, Thor gave them one of Yggdrasil’s branches, with 

instructions to plant it in the ground in order that it could grow and feed the entire Greek populatio.

The seeds were worthless in the North, where the cold prevented them sprouting from the earth, yet with warmth they could very quickly become beautiful new Trees of Life.

However, the branch was sold to the highest bidder, who had eaten all the leaves himself, and the branch subsequently wilted. That’s why Thor didn’t want to share the Tree of Life any longer. Zeus was in a dilemma: Should he refuse Ishtar’s request for help and let down the people of Mesopotamia, or should he try to convince Thor to help – with the risk of damaging their relationship further? 

Zeus pondered for a while about what he should do. The people of Mesopotamia had already begun to take to the choppy seas to seek refuge among Zeus’ people, when the Nordic goddess of love and fertility, 

Freia, revealed herself to Zeus. She had with her two small seeds that she had plucked from Yggdrasil’s branches. 

Zeus was to plant one of the seeds in Athens so there was enough food to satiate the Greek people and feed the needy families who came from Mesopotamia, while the other seed was to be planted in Mesopotamia so Ishtar’s hard-working people could maintain their strength. 

Zeus thanked Freia from his heart for her beautiful and creative initiative, which would help both Zeus’ and Ishtar’s people. Freia turned to him and said, “It is I who should thank you and the Greek people, because you have taught me how to come up with good ideas.”

Uffe Elbæk, politisk leder for Alternativet, har funder inspiration i de klassiske mytologier og fortæller her en myte om samarbejde i en tid med global klimakrise:

Den græske himmelgud Zeus stod i et dilemma, for Ishtar, den mesopotamiske gudinde for frugtbarhed, krig og kærlighed, som han altid havde været så betaget af, var kommet i en forfærdelig knibe og bad nu om Zeus’ hjælp. I Mesopotamien havde orkaner og oversvømmelser efterladt landet til ukendelighed, og folket var begyndt at søge væk fra det før så smukke land.

Ishtar ønskede at hjælpe hendes folk til at genopbygge Mesopotamien, men ikke alle var stærke nok til at løfte opgaven. Der var konstant fare for nye orkaner og oversvømmelser, så man skulle kunne løbe hurtigt og have kræfterne til at komme ud, hvis man blev begravet af brædder eller mursten.

Samtidig var der stor mangel på fødevarer, så kun de velstillede, der havde gemt til dårligere tider, havde den styrke, der skulle til for at rydde byen for murbrokker og starte genopbyggelsen. Det, Ishtar derfor bad Zeus om, var at tage sig af de familier, der havde små børn og svage familiemedlemmer, imens de tilbageværende stærke folk kunne arbejde på at få genopbygget Mesopotamien, så det igen kunne blive så smukt som før.

Zeus var i vildrede, for Ishtars ønske var større end som så. For at kunne indfri Ishtars ønske, måtte Zeus bede om hjælp fra den nordiske tordengud Tor, for kun i Valhal var de beriget med livets træ, Yggdrasil, hvis grønne blade kunne brødføde alle verdens mennesker.

Men Zeus var i gæld til Tor, som ikke ville høre tale om at dele ud af de grønne blade endnu engang. Zeus’ folk havde før haft brug for hjælp, og da havde Tor givet dem én af Yggdrasils grene med besked om at plante den i jord, så den kunne vokse og give blade til hele det græske folk.

Men grenen var blevet solgt til højstbydende, og højstbydende havde spist alle bladene selv, hvorefter grenen var visnet. Derfor ønskede Tor ikke længere at dele ud af livets træ. Zeus var derfor i et dilemma: Skulle han afvise Ishtars ønske om hjælp og lade Mesopotamiens folk i stikken, eller skulle han forsøge at overtale Tor til at hjælpe – med fare for at forværre deres forhold yderligere?

Zeus havde grublet længe, og folket fra Mesopotamien var allerede begyndt at trodse de oprørske have for at søge tilflugt blandt Zeus’ folk, da den nordiske kærligheds- og frugtbarhedsgudinde Freja åbenbarede sig for ham. Med sig havde hun to små frø, som hun havde plukket fra Yggdrasils grene.

Frøene var ikke noget værd i Norden, hvor kulden forhindrede dem i at skyde op fra jorden, men med varme kunne de blive til smukke nye livstræer på meget kort tid. Derfor skulle Zeus plante ét af frøene i Athen, så der både var mad nok til at mætte det græske folk og tilbyde husly til de trængende familier fra Mesopotamien, mens det andet frø skulle plantes i Mesopotamien, så Ishtars arbejdende folk havde noget at styrke sig på.

Zeus takkede Freja af hele sit hjerte for hendes smukke og idérige initiativ, der nu kom både Zeus’ og Ishtars folk til gode, og Freja vendte sig mod ham og sagde: Det er mig, der skal takke dig og det græske folk: I lærte mig at få gode ideer.