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deathlessathanasia · 10 months

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“As to the ultimate fate of the Titans, after they have arrived in Tartaros, there is some variance of tradition. For Homer and the Theogony, they certainly remain in Tartaros, Kronos included. But in two papyrus versions of a passage of the Works & Days, the description of the Fourth Age heroes who go to the Isles of the Blessed includes mention of Kronos, who is said to rule over those there, having been released by Zeus (W & D 173a-c). That the lines conflict with Theogony 851 is not absolutely damning, but they do not fit into their grammatical context very well either, they are not found in our other versions of the text, and while Zeus might release his father in Hesiod's world, it is hard to see why he would reward him.

If with most editors we take the lines as a later interpolation into some manuscripts, the next earliest appearance of such a tradition occurs in Pindar and Aischylos. In Pindar's Olympian 2, securely dated to 476 B.C., Kronos appears as lord in the marvelous afterlife pictured by the poet for his Sicilian patron Theron (Ol 2.76-77). Admittedly, this world has a number of aspects that do not reflect anything known from earlier eschatology, but nonetheless Kronos' role ought to have some foundation in a previous story of his release. Nor does Pindar stop with Kronos: in Pythian 4, dated to 462 B.C., he observes that though Atlas still remains holding up the sky (one can scarcely release him), the other Titans have been freed by Zeus (Py 4.289-91; cf. fr 35 SM). Since the point of this comment is to encourage Arkesilas to pardon Demophilos, one would expect the poet's reference to be to a well-accepted or at least familiar myth, rather than something completely new to the tyrant. And since Atlas is pointedly excluded from the amnesty, one might assume that Kronos is not.

The one other Archaic reference to the event is from Aischylos' lost (and undated) Prometheus Lyomenos, where the chorus is composed of Titans clearly released from Tartaros (fr 190–93 R), perhaps in part for the purpose of persuading Prometheus to divulge his secret. Nothing is said about Kronos in what remains of this trilogy; he may or may not have been mentioned by name as one of the parolees (Philodemos (p. 39 Gomperz] perhaps attempts to address this point). Relevant in this regard is perhaps the exchange between Apollo and the Erinyes in Aischylos' Eumenides 640-66. Apollo stresses the importance of fathers; the Erinyes ask if Zeus showed such respect when he bound his own father. It would have been easy enough, and more appropriate to the point Apollo wishes to make, if he had answered that Zeus had since that time released his father; instead, he limits himself to remarking that bonds might be undone. Either Kronos was not released with the other Titans in the Lyomenos, or there is a difference of situation between the two plays. The fragment of the same poet's Dike-play has too many gaps to permit certainty, but it does seem that Zeus there supports Dike because she approved his treatment of his father, and nothing is said about any later clemency toward Kronos (fr 281a R).

From Tertullian we learn that Aristotle made reference to a sleeping Kronos (De anima 46.10); Plutarch adds that this sleep (in a cave) is an imprisonment devised by Zeus, and that in the course of it he dreams what Zeus plans to do (Mor 941f-42a). Finally, in the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia, the tyranny of Peisistratos is compared to life under Kronos as a kind of Golden Age(Ath Pol 16.7). Likely this refers to Hesiod's original Golden Age, set in the time of Kronos (cf. Pol 272a-b), but it could also mean the overlordship of the Isles of the Blessed. In either case, Kronos' association with some such world seems to be a common notion by the latter half of the fourth century; whether it gained impetus from Pindar or some other source is harder to say.”

- Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources by Timothy Gantz

#titans #titanes #kronos #zeus #quotes #excerpts

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mythologyfolklore · 3 years

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Ares and Athena through the years - Ch. 23

Chapter twenty-three: A lesson for Athena

Athena's mind was reeling with questions.

Why was her father sending her to Ares' office of all places?

So many possibilities went through her head, one more absurd than the other.

When she arrived at her destination and looked inside, the office was – apart from the stacks of paperwork – minimalistic and surprisingly clean and tidy.

Ares was working through piles of papers (probably letters), signing some and stamping others.

Athena knocked at the door frame and he looked up.

“Oh hey, Daddy's Owl”, he greeted her, then returned his attention to his paper work.

For a few seconds she was agitated both at the nickname and at being ignored, but then he looked up again and frowned. “Whatcha waitin' for? Sit down. Or ya wanna stand there all day?”

Athena sighed (mostly at his way of talking) and sat opposite him.

“Why am I here?”, she asked.

Ares stamped another paper (because Athena could read upside down, she could tell, that it was a “DENIED”-stamp) and finally focussed on her.

“Okay”, he said, “So I petitioned Zeus and grandaunt Thémis to be allowed to show ya some of my work. To make sure, that bullshit like with the Romans won't happen again.”

“Why is it just some of your work?”, Athena asked. She couldn't help but be curious about this kind of work, which was so different from what she knew about Ares, and this didn't seem to suit him at all.

“Right, I'll explain.”

“This sounds really wrong”, she muttered, making him snicker.

“Eh, don't worry, Daddy's Owl. You'll live. So this is my paperwork for the day. It's sorted into several piles.”

He pointed at the stacks and elaborated: “The one in front of me is the work I still gotta do. The rest is stuff I've already finished or which isn't my responsibility. The three piles on the right are my business. On the left is stuff for the other gods that somehow ended up with me, but isn't my responsibility. I'll sort it into folders and later Hermes will come to pick 'em up and distribute them. Though when you an' I are done here, you can take yer own folder with ya.”

“And what is in that wooden box?”, Athena asked curiously and pointed at a red box, which was also on Ares' right side.

“That's where I put the confidential and/or really important stuff. Anyway, I'll start by showin' ya, where everything is. Follow my lead.”

“This feels even more wrong than 'I'll explain'.”

Ares cackled.

“Awww, it's nothin', Daddy's Owl!”, he teased and ruffed her head (Athena resisted the urge to break his hand). “Once you've got it all, I'm sure it won't last! Anyway …”

He opened a side door and gestured for her to go inside: “Ladies first.”

Athena smiled lopsidedly and entered the other room.

It was dark, but when Ares turned the lights on, there were shelves filled with files and crystals.

“The newest stuff is here in the front”, Ares started and knocked at the shelf to his left. “The latest prayers to Zeus. This is stuff that ain't top priority, but too important not to pass on to him. I always do that in the mornin', so these here are pretty new. Unless they're really urgent, I keep them here till next day. Or if I can, I answer them myself.”

Athena frowned. “You're allowed to do that?”

Ares shrugged: “Sure. As long as it ain't too major, Zeus doesn't mind. Actually, he likes havin' as little paperwork as possible.”

Athena rolled her eyes, recalling how eager Zeus had been to delegate his paperwork onto her, when Ares had gone for his world journey.

The red-eyed war god went on: “Anyway, the shelves on the right hold the mail actually directed to me. Except for the five in the back, they hold the stuff directed to grandaunt Thémis. But she always gets her mail directly, so this is work she's already taken care of. Obviously only the stuff important enough to be kept. Once a month she, Zeus and I sit together and sort out the spam. Stuff that isn't relevant and worth keeping anymore gets shredded. Otherwise everything will get cramped and cluttered and we don't need that.”

Athena nodded in acknowledgement. That was sensible so far.

Ares sighed: “Yeah, that's all in here you had to see. Back into my office.”

“Wait, what about that one over there?”

She pointed at a closet at the back of the room that was covered in locks and chains.

Whatever was in it was probably top secret, but maybe her half-brother would at least give her a hint as to what it concealed …

“You know my answer, Daddy's Owl. Now don't look so disappointed”, Ares added at seeing his half-sister's expression. “Did you seriously expect me to tell ya what's inside a locked closet? Anyway, let's go back. We got a few more things to talk about, you an' me.”

They returned to Ares' office.

In the meantime the unfinished stack on his desk had been doubled and he groaned at the sight.

“I was almost done for the morning!”, he lamented, while Athena snickered.

Her half-brother gave her a killer stare, before opening one of the drawers and picking out a few papyrus scrolls.

“These will interest ya”, he remarked and unrolled them.

Athena bent over the papyri, read them and frowned. “But … these are my letters to the Roman gods.”

“Copies of them”, Ares corrected. “They wouldn't give me the actual letters. But I didconvince them to give me these copies.”

“How and why?”

“How – ya don't wanna know. Why – because I wanted to see what exactly pissed them off about your letters. And now that I've read them, it's high time we discuss that out of character diplomatic blunder of yours.”

Athena clenched her teeth.

Why, why did Ares have to bring that up! That cursed incident that still haunted her mind and drove her to the brink of madness, whenever she thought about it too hard. The utter humiliation of making a grievous mistake and it getting fixed by … him.Not Hermes, not Apollon or Zeus, or even Poseidon, no, of all the gods dwelling on Olympos, it just had had to be-

“… Uh, Athena? Hey! Hellooo! Earth to Pallas Athena! Oi, Daddy's Owl! Snap out of it!”

She jumped, when Ares snapped his fingers in front of her face.

The god of terrible war was folding his arms and looking at her, like she had a mental problem.

“See? This is why we gotta talk about it. Because you've been butthurt about this for twenty Olympian Years and it's getting freaky! Aren't you supposed to be more wise and rational than this? Then again, a bit more than five mortal centuries ago you and my mother decided that a perfectly fine city had to fall, because one random prince didn't pick ya to be beauty queen.”

“Shut. Up.”

Thankfully, he got the hint and stopped talking.

Ares observed each tiny shift in Athena's facial expressions, as he waited for her to calm down.

This situation was even worse than he had thought.

Of course he had sensed the anger boiling inside her, the sombre frown that always indicated when she was thinking about that day. He was the god of rage, after all.

But he hadn't expected it to still be that hard for her!

For a moment he considered telling her to talk it out with Psykhe, but he didn't feel like getting disembowelled.

Only when he was sure, that it was safe, did he unroll one papyrus and sigh: “Alright, Athena. We're gonna do this your way. Namely, go over the whole thing, analyse it and figure out what went wrong. Whatcha say?”

Athena stared. “Alright, who the Tartaros are you and what have you done to my half-brother Ares?”

At that he couldn't help but cackle: “Sorry, Daddy's Owl, it's still me! Your big brother Ares, Destroyer of Men, Bearer of the Bronze Shield, Stormer of Cities, insatiable in war- why are you laughing?!”

(He was still proud of himself for breaking the ice.)

By the time they were done, Athena felt like a huge weight was off her shoulders.

For such a long time she had felt burdened by the trouble she herself had caused for her entire family, just because of a social ineptitude she hadn't been aware of.

Now she was able to laugh at herself for how silly that had been.

And also at the Roman gods for being offended by irrelevant things like the question of how different their culture was to that of the Etruscan gods, or the Hellenic cultures.

But Athena had learned her lesson: next time Ares wasn't there and Zeus was too lazy, she would just let him delegate the foreign correspondence to Hermes and observe the god of diplomacy at work. He was more familiar with those foreigners anyway.

As she left her half-brother's office with her own paperwork, she considered: Maybe I'll travel around the world one day too. Clearly it did Ares a world of good, so why shouldn't it to me? Of course, that'll have to wait, until there isn't much to do for me around here-

Her process of thought was interrupted, when Ares dashed past her and right towards their father's office.

She just had time to wonder what had happened, before the commanding voice of Zeus rang through the halls:

“DEITIES OF ALL HELLAS, ATTENTION! FOR URGENT REASONS YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUESTED IN THE OLYMPIAN ASSEMBLY HALL IMMEDIATELY!”

#greek mythology #ares #athena

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chthonicdivinebard · 5 years

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Several other spells in the papyrus invoke the moon under the names of Selene, Persephone, Hekate, and Brimo, listing epithets that stress Her malevolent power: "Hail, Holy Light, ruler of Tartaros, who Strikes with Rays; hail, Holy Beam, who Whirls up out of Darkness and Subverts All Things with Aimless Plans...awesome destiny is ever subject to You...e'er with sorrows fresh, wolf-formed, denounced as infamous, destructive, quick, grim-eyed, shrill-screaming." Or: "You whose Womb is Decked out with the Scales of Creeping Things, with Pois'nous Rows of Serpents Down the Back, bound down Your back with horrifying chains...O You who Bring Death and Destruction and who Feast on Hearts, flesh-eater, who Devour Those Dead Untimely, and You who Make Grief Resound and Spread Madness." While many of the epithets are traditional descriptions of Hekate or Persephone, some seem particularly suited to the moon as the ruler of "genesis" and the material world: "Mistress of Night and Chthonic Realms, holy, black-clad, 'round whom the star-traversing nature of the world revolves whene'er You wax too great. You have established every worldly thing, for You engendered everything on earth and from the sea and every race in turn of winged birds who seek their nests again, Mother of All." The ruler of the darkened realm of earth is the Mistress of Genesis, who Binds All Mortal Creatures with Her Chains.

At the Seizure of the Moon: The Absence of the Moon in the Mithras Liturgy by Radcliffe G Edmonds III in “Magic in History: Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World” edited by Scott Noegel, Joel Walker, and Brannon Wheeler (p 233-4)

#selene #persephone #hekate #hecate #brimo #at the seizure of the moon #radcliffe edmonds #Magic in history

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spannycattheogony · 4 years

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Alternative Theogonies 4: The Theogony of Pherecydes of Syros

Chapter 4: The Theogony of Pherecydes of Syros (c. Mid 6th Century BC)

Pherecydes of Syros D5 as cited in Diogenes Laertes 1.119: [. . .] the book [. . .] its beginning is: Zas [i.e. Zeus] and Chronos were always, and Chthonie was. But the name of Chthonie became Earth when Zas gave her the earth as a present. {From Early Greek Philosophy, Volume II, Beginners and Early Ionian Thinkers, Part I, p. 173}.

Pherecydes of Syros D6 as cited in Eudemus fragment 117 as cited in Damascius On The Principles 124b: Pherecydes of Syros [scil. says] [. . .] that Chronos made out of his own seed fire, breath, and water [. . .] out of which, when they had been distributed in five nooks, was created another numerous generation of gods, called “the five-nook” one [. . .]. {From Early Greek Philosophy, Volume II, Beginners and Early Ionian Thinkers, Part I, pp. 173, 175}.

Pherecydes of Syros D8 as cited in Proclus Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus 3 ad 32c: [. . .] Pherecydes of Syros said that when Zeus was about to begin his work of creation, he transformed himself into Eros [. . .]. {From Early Greek Philosophy, Volume II, Beginners and Early Ionian Thinkers, Part I, p. 175}.

Pherecydes of Syros D9 as cited in Grenfell Papyrus 2.11 Schibli: [Col. 1] . . . for him [i.e. Zas] they make buildings, many and great; and when they had finished them all, the objects, male servants, female servants, and everything else that is necessary, when then everything is ready, they perform the wedding. And when the third day of the wedding comes, then Zas makes a robe, great and beautiful, and on it he embroiders Earth, Ogenos [i.e. Ocean], and the houses of Ogenos . . . [Col. 2] [Zeus speaks to Chthoniê:] . . . “since I want this marriage to be yours, it is you that I honor with this. But you, receive my greeting and be my wife.” They say that these were the first anakalypteria that were performed, and from this time this custom has existed, for both gods and men. And she answers him, receiving the robe from him . . . {From Early Greek Philosophy, Volume II, Beginners and Early Ionian Thinkers, Part I, pp. 175, 177}.

Pherecydes of Syros D10 as cited in Isidorus F76 as cited in Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 6.53.5: [. . .] the winged oak and the embroidered robe on it [. . .]. {From Early Greek Philosophy, Volume II, Beginners and Early Ionian Thinkers, Part I, p. 177}.

Pherecydes of Syros D11 as cited in Grenfell Papyrus 2.11 Schibli: Pherecydes, who is much more ancient than Heraclitus, invented the myth of one army set in order against another army, gave the command of the one to Cronus and of the other to Ophioneus, and recounted their challenges and combats, and that they made an accord according to which whichever ones of them fell into Ogenos would be defeated, while those who expelled them and defeated them would possess the heavens. {From Early Greek Philosophy, Volume II, Beginners and Early Ionian Thinkers, Part I, p. 177}.

Pherecydes of Syros D12 as cited in Tertullian On The Soldier’s Garland 7.4: Pherecydes reports that Saturn [i.e. Cronus, Khronos] was crowned before everyone [. . .]. {From Early Greek Philosophy, Volume II, Beginners and Early Ionian Thinkers, Part I, p. 177}.

Pherecydes of Syros D13 as cited in Celcus F83 as cited in Origen Against Celsus 6.42: Below that portion is the portion of Tartarus. The daughters of Boreas, the Harpies and Thyella [i.e. Storm], guard it. It is to there that Zeus banishes any of the gods when he commits an outrage. {From Early Greek Philosophy, Volume II, Beginners and Early Ionian Thinkers, Part I, p. 179}.

Pherecydes of Syros D3 as cited in Maximus of Tyre Philosophical Orations 4.4.5: Consider also the poetry of the man from Syros: Zeus, Chthoniê, Eros who is among them, the birth of Ophioneus, the battle of the gods, the tree, and the robe. {From Early Greek Philosophy, Volume II, Beginners and Early Ionian Thinkers, Part I, pp. 171, 173}.

A reconstruction of Pherekydes of Syros’ Cosmogony by Hermann S. Schibli: CHRONOS and Zas always were, and also Chthonie. Once Chronos, alone and without a partner, cast forth his seed. From his seed he made fire, air, and water, and deposited these in five hollows. Lo, from the mixtures of fire, air and water in the hollows arose another generation of gods. The fiery gods dwelt in Ouranos and gleaming Aither, the gods of wind in gusty Tartaros, the watery gods in Chaos, and the gods of darkness dwelt in black Night.

After the generation of gods, born of the seed of Time, assumed their habitations, Zas became Eros and married Chthonie. The other gods built many large palaces for him; they provided all the necessary goods, the banquet tables, servants and maids, and when all the needful things had been accomplished, they performed the wedding. On the third day of the wedding, Zas fashioned a big and beautiful robe, and on it he embroidered Earth and Ogenos and the mansions of Ogenos [and the earth and sea came to be] 1 . When he had finished his task, he presented the robe to Chthonie and said: 'Because I wish to marry you, I honour you with this robe, [which is the earth] 1 . Rejoice and be my consort!' This they say was the first feast of unveiling, and hence arose the custom for both gods and men. And she responded as she received the robe from him: 'I take this as my honour, and henceforth I shall be called Ge...' The gods celebrated, feasting on ambrosia. And the Earth was like a winged oak, strong and mighty; its roots extended into the depths of Tartaros, its trunk was encircled by Ogenos, and its branches reached into Ouranos. The Earth flourished and Zas rejoiced.

But below the Earth, in a hollow of Tartaros, Ophioneus was born. He and his monstrous sons challenged Kronos. [Ophion and Eurynome, daughter of Ocean, governed the world from snow-clad Olympus] 2 . The battle-lines were drawn up, with Kronos the commander of one army and Ophioneus leading the Ophionidai. The terms of the battle were stated: whichever of them fell into Ogenos would be the defeated, while those who thrust them out and defeated them would possess Ouranos. A fierce conflict followed. Kronos had a strong ally in Zas; in single combat he overthrew Ophioneus. [Rhea, skilled in wrestling, likewise cast the former queen Eurynome down into the waters of Ocean.] 23 So Ophioneus and his brood were cast into Ogenos, and they dwell in the mansions of Ogenos to this day. Kronos, commander of the victorious army, was crowned by the other gods (from this arose the custom of the wearing of crowns by victors). Zeus honoured the victorious gods and assigned them their domains. Kronos had won Ouranos. These are the shares of the other gods: below Ouranos is the fiery Aither; below Aither the portion of Earth; below that portion is Tartaros; the daughters of Boreas, the Harpies and Thuella, guard it; there Zeus banishes any of the gods who behave with insolence. There also are the souls of men who have committed bloodshed. Their souls are borne through the portals and gates of Tartaros on an outflowing river to birth; the river is like the seed that leads to new life. And the souls of men depart from life and enter again the caves and hollows of Tartaros through its portals and gates. Alongside Tartaros is Chaos and the realms of dark Night. {From Pherekydes of Syros, written by Hermann S. Schibli, published by Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990, pp. 128-129}.

Sources

1 Early Greek Myth by Timothy Gantz, published by John Hopkins University Press, 1996, pp. 739-740.

2 Apollonius of Rhodes The Voyage of Argo 1.503-6, translated by E. V. Rieu, published by Penguin Classics, 1971, p. 49.

3 Lycophron Alexandra 1191, translated by A.W. Mair and G.W. Mair, published by Harvard University Press, 1921. Retrieved from https://www.theoi.com/Text/LycophronAlexandra3.html.

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mythologyfolklore · 4 years

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Ares and Athena through the years - Ch. 17

Chapter Seventeen: The gods during the dark age

“My, those were a few messed up mortal centuries!”, Zeus exclaimed.

The legendary kings of old were no more and the last heroes had finally passed away; Menélaos and Helene, who had been granted a prolonged life, had died together and their souls had been carried away to Elysion, where many of their friends were waiting for them.

“Now that this mess is over, I think mankind should have a break – preferably several centuries.”

“U-huh”, Apollon agreed. “The Age of Heroes is over now. Soon the people who worship us will forget how to even write. The old cultures are dying.”

“So they won't remember us? We will be forgot?”, Hera asked, bewildered.

“Not really”, Zeus soothed his wife. “We will remain in their collective memories. In a few centuries, they will relearn how to record things and stories. They will remember us again and this time, they will write about us. Mankind won't forget us, just where our worship came from and who we once were.”

“But can't we just make them write everything down now, instead of letting them forget?”, Athena objected.

Zeus shook his head. “No, my child. We have been meddling way too much lately. Humanity doesn't need us now, it needs rest. It needs time.”

The goddess of wisdom sighed sadly, but didn't protest any further.

What were centuries to humans were but decades to the gods.

During that time, they focussed on their own lives.

And on their family.

Eris had damaged the bonds between the gods during the great war, but now it was time to repair their family ties.

Of course Eris and Ares' twin Enyo received a house ban; Zeus was now hundred percent done with the quarrelsome nature of his daughter and of the daughter of Nyx. Not only he – the other Olympians applauded, when he announced his decision.

It was a lot more peaceful and a lot more quiet.

Without Dionysos' constant partying it would have been too quiet.

It had been ten Olympian years now and Ares was still travelling the world.

Sometimes he wrote letters to them, but he wasn't much of a writer and his messenger bird needed a while to get to Olympos from wherever its master was.

None of the Olympians would have admitted, that they were happy about the war god's letters. Except for Aphrodite of course; she was quite openly joyful every time the divine vulture arrived with as many letters as it could carry in its talons.

Today was such a day.

They were holding council, when Iris came in.

Zeus rose from his throne. “Iris, this better be an emergency. You know that no one is allowed to disturb the council meetings of the Dodekatheoi, unless the matter is important.”

Iris cleared her throat: “Forgive me, my king, but here is a letter from Ares.”

The meeting was forgot instantly and everyone jumped up.

The eleven Olympians gathered around the rainbow-haired messenger, until Hera snatched the roll of papyrus from Iris' hand.

“Let us see it!”, Aphrodite demanded.

“Everybody settle down!”, Zeus commanded. “Hera, give the letter to me. Let's gather around Hestia's hearth and I will read it to you all.”

So they all did.

Hestia eyed them curiously, as they all gathered around her warm and friendly fire.

“My dear sister, our goddess of the hearth”, Poseidon spoke, “We want to have a little family moment in your peaceful presence.”

Hestia smiled through her flame and it became just a little brighter, as her aura of domestic harmony spread out.

As they all sat down on the floor, Zeus unrolled the scroll and began to read:

“9th Maimakterion¹ (I think)

Dear family,

sorry for not having written to you in a while. Been kinda busy lately. I just arrived here. I'm being on the move a lot, so I don't stay in one place for long enough to have something to write about …”

Zeus huffed: “And he's not even telling us where he is!”

“Read on”, Hera urged.

Her husband went on: “I'm kinda on the other side of the world right now. Kinda boring here in Polynesia – oh, so that's where he is – but it's fun to fly above the Pacific Ocean with the wind. The ocean is so huge, that I need ages to find the tiniest islands. And even longer to find islands where gods live. The communication is awkward, because I don't speak their language and vice versa. Worse, they seem to speak, if not a whole other language, then at least a different dialect on each island. Even using sign language is problematic sometimes. But they seem friendly enough and they do seem to understand the concept of host and guest exchanging presents. There are a few things I have memorised so far, mostly a bunch of prohibitions called Tapu². Some of them are pretty dumb, if you ask me. Then again, once I manage to tell them about my home land, they would probably think some of our traditions pretty stupid too (reasonably so, if you ask me). The peoples of Polynesia have no writing system and neither have their gods.³

So yeah. I'll be staying here for a few mortal decades. Boring as it is around here so far, it's also weirdly relaxing and maybe I will finally get the hang on those Polynesian languages and their culture, which is pretty similar between all these scattered islands (luckily for me). Perhaps then I'll be able to tell you guys more.

That's it.

Sorry for this letter being so short, but there really isn't much to write about right now (also I'm running out of writing material). Maybe I'll go to Australia next.

Sending you gifts from the indigenous gods. They may be simple compared to the last ones, but they were made with love, so you better appreciate them.

Lastly, I'm fine and hope you're too. I'll let you know, when I come to Australia and how long I will stay there, so you too can write to me and tell me how you're doing. I haven't heard from y'all in a while and … well, I just think about you guys a lot. Wish you were here.

Love and miss you all and wishing you happy early or late birthday, because I can hardly congratulate you all punctually.

Always yours, Ares.”

Zeus rolled the letter up. “That's it. The letter really is way too short. Such a shame.”

“Show us, what else he sent us!”, Aphrodite demanded.

The King of the Gods rolled his eyes, but opened the magical bundle the letter had been attached to.

“Ah, look at that!”, he cried, when he pulled out a huge-ass shell. “I think that one is for you, brother.” And handed it to Poseidon.

The sea god laughed and cradled the shell in his lap.

Afterwards each and every of the Olympians received a present of some sort.

Athena grinned, when she was handed a harpoon.

“Don't even think about it!”, Poseidon snarled.

“Too late!”, the wisdom goddess smirked.

“Ah, this is also for you too, I think”, Zeus said, when he fished out a bundle of scriptures written on tree bark, probably because Ares had run out of papyrus.

Athena skimmed over a few of them and smiled. Ares had sent her an account about what he had understood about the culture of the people there so far. How thoughtful of him.

“Here are a few recipes for Hestia – oh, he even has some gifts for Hades and Persephone! Flower seeds and … oh great, more of those creepy masks. Hades will love them.”

“Did he not send anything for me?”, Hephaistos inquired glumly.

Zeus searched through the package. “Doesn't look like – ah, here! 'Dear brother, sadly I haven't found a people that knows metal work so far, so have some photographs.'”

The divine smith beamed and took the stack of photographs.

“Show them to us, pleeeease!”, Aphrodite begged.

Hephaistos handed them around, so the other gods could look at them too.

After the gods had passed the pictures around with lots of chatter, they each tucked their respective souvenirs away and sat in comfortable silence.

Eventually Aphrodite whispered: “I miss him so.”

“Me too”, Hephaistos agreed quietly.

“As do I”, Hermes admitted. “Even though he calls me squirt and pipsqueak all the time.”

Athena spied Zeus and Hera clasping each other's hand – they missed their son too, even though they didn't say it.

Even she herself did miss her prick of a half-brother.

It just seemed too quiet around here, even with Dionysos throwing a party at least once a week. It felt wrong, not seeing him every day, not hearing his dumb suggestions and annoying rambling about violence and the horrors of armed conflict, seeing his throne empty in the assembly … and having someone to spar with. She couldn't even train with Enyo, because the goddess of bloodlust and violence had a house ban (and Zeus was showing no sign of lifting it anytime soon).

Even not hearing the inevitable insulting nicknames felt off by now.

It was lonely without her volatile counterpart.

Not that she would admit it.

A few months later, the Olympians got a letter saying that he was in Australia.

“You wouldn't like it here”, Ares wrote. “The part of the continent where I'm in is unbearably hot (the deserts of Egypt are a dream compared to that) and the gods around here are actually ancestral spirits, rather. They're really benevolent, but you wouldn't like their life style. They're nomads, which honestly is no wonder, because the great desert is … well, pretty damn dry, so staying in one place wouldn't make any sense. They live as hunters and gatherers, just like the mortals here do. Australia has a unique flora and fauna though. In other words, it's fine, if you're tough and can live without the comfort of our civilization.

Btw, I've heard stories about a rainbow snake, who is asleep during dry season and shouldn't be woken up from their slumber. I think I'm gonna wake them up.”

A few weeks later, he updated them: “Waking up the Rainbow Serpent was a shitty idea. The indigenous gods and mortals are now pissed at my stupidity (and my disrespect). The Serpent was really pissed at being disturbed, caused one Tartaros of a thunderstorm and set the whole area underwater. But hey – this place really could use the rain.”

The Olympians laughed; this was just such an Ares thing to do!

Not long after, they got a letter from the New World.

Ares was in South America and travelling up the continent. He would then move on to North America, he wrote, and once he was done there, he would cross the Atlantic and stay with the Norse gods for a while, before returning to Hellas and Olympos.

Zeus put the letter down and sighed: “I hoped that he would return to us right away, as soon as he's back on our continent.”

The other Olympians nodded glumly.

But there wasn't much they could do; they couldn't keep Ares from visiting his old friends, especially when he was so far away.

A few Olympian years later, Ares had finally got his arse up to leaving the Americas and the first European pantheon he stayed with was the Norse one.

“Welcome, Ares, son of Zeus!”, Óðinn greeted the Olympian. “Your father told us, that you were on a journey. I hope your travel was safe?”

“Yup!”, Ares grinned. “Safe and fun! Sorry for just showin' up here, but thanks for havin' me anyways. So good to be here and see y'all! How're ya doin'?”

“Just fine, thank you”, the one-eyed god replied.

“HOLY COW, ARES, IS THAT YOU?!”

Before Ares could respond, he was pulled into a bear hug by a giant of an As with flaming red hair and eyes.

“Hey, Þórr”, Ares choked, squirming in the thunder god's embrace. He didn't worry about the three-quarters-Jötunn crushing him, but damn, he couldn't breath!

“Oh, sorry!”, Þórr laughed sheepishly and put him down.

The Hellenic god gasped for air, before grinning from ear to ear. “Missed ya too, man!”

Ares, who wasn't exactly a small man either, still barely reached up to the Norse god's shoulder and had to stand on his tippy toes to hug the other back.

“What have you been up to?”, Þórr asked.

“Travelling the world, meeting new people, seeing new places – oh, hey, Týr and Freyja!”

“'Sup”, Týr responded and Freyja waved.

Óðinn cleared his throat: “Anyway, my friend, how about you settle down first? Let's find a place for you to stay. And once you have rested a little, how about we throw you a celebration worthy of a divine guest such as you?”

Ares beamed: “Awesome! Your hospitality is one of the greatest things around here – apart from your battle prowess, of course!”, he added with a wink and everyone laughed.

He was received with all honours and it had been a while since he had felt home like this.

The panthea abroad had been nice and all, but their definition of hospitality was completely different, sometimes downright dubious. This was what he knew; the Germanic and Hellenic peoples had their hospitality in common. And the crazy parties of the Norse gods were right up his alley.

He had been invited to stay in the halls of Óðinn himself and that was fine with him. While the one-eyed god had his own brand of creepiness (which was reflected in his Kenningar: Raven God, Father of the Slain, Father of Victory, Hanged God, Foretelling God …⁴) he was a fine host … most of the time.

That evening he was laughing and dancing with his hosts (and watching out for a certain trickster, who likely would try to prank him).

A few of the gods were looking on in envy, as Ares danced wildly with Freyja, laughed heartily with Þórr and even had an arm wringing match with Óðinn (turned out the Allfather was a lot stronger than he looked) which ended in a draw.

There was some amusement, when Ares got into a little spat with Óðinn's blood-brother Loki.

The trickster had the tendency to roast everyone, when he was drunk – good to see, that this hadn't changed in all those centuries.

The Æsir just rolled with it, obviously having heard it all before.

Ares on the other hand (though he too was used to being roasted) had no intention to let it slide and perhaps escalate; this was a party, not an assembly or battlefield.

After a short banter with the trickster (that he lost, because even drunk Loki was more eloquent and witty than him), he just made short work of it and carried the smaller god off, to where he knew Loki's own house to be.

“Foxy jerk made trouble again?”, Sigyn deadpanned, when she saw her drunk husband squirming on the taller god's shoulder.

“Just some roasting”, Ares told her and dropped the fire giant unceremoniously. “Not really trouble. Still, I think he needs a nap.”

“Sure does”, Sigyn snarled.

Ares almost laughed, when the tiny goddess dragged Loki off, grumbling about how “the foxy jerk” made nothing but trouble and so on.

Olympos, 4th Poseideon⁵

My dear love,

thank you for telling us you're in Asgard.

Your children and I have been anxious, since you haven't written to us in a while.

We're doing okay and it's good to know that so are you.

We hope you have lots of fun in Asgard.

But you really should come home soon.

We miss you all so terrible, even your parents and – you won't believe it – even Athena misses you! Of course she would never admit that, but I know she does; women just know these things, you see. Things down on earth are starting to get interesting too. This one city in Italy, Rome is its name, is showing great ambition. The Italian gods are starting to get more ambitious too. Venus is a bit obnoxious at times and it pisses me off, because Aineías was my son, not hers! And don't get me started on Mars – I know, you hate him.

But to more pleasant things; the rest of our family is okay too, but your father has been very glum lately, I don't know why.

Hephaistos is working on improving his far-speakers and cameras even further, though he did that just last year. Oh well, I guess a genius is never truly satisfied.

Eris and Enyo are alright too, I think. At least Athena says so – she meets them more often than I do. Athena is in a bad mood, because she has no one to spar with – she's complaining that sparring with Enyo just isn't the same.

But I must go now, your mother is stress-baking again and I want to get at one of her delicious cakes.

I love you lots, we all do.

And we miss you.

Please be back soon, Ares.

In love, Aphrodite.

Ares grinned and tucked the letter into his magical bag.

“So Daddy's Owl misses me too, huh?”

---

1) Maimakterion: the Attic month from November to December. I allowed myself a small anachronism here, because the Attic calendar was likely invented just a bit later than where my story currently is. The Attic calendar is a lunisolar calendar and was used in Athens. The month Maimakterion is named after an epithet of Zeus. 2) Tapu: "Consecrated/Forbidden/Prohibited/Cursed" (also "tabu" or "kapu", the spelling and precise meaning depend on the region), the traditional prohibitions of the Polynesian peoples. The origin of the word "taboo". 3) The only known exception is the Rongorongo glyph system from the Easter Island, which hasn't been deciphered yet. 4) Those are genuine epithets of Odin. 5) Poseideon: the Attic month from December to January. I think you can guess who this one is named after.

Bonus: I sincerely apologise for my treatment of Australia. I had to write this from the POV of an entitled Greek god who is used to ... well, Greek culture. And the ancient Greeks were rather snobbish towards the rest of the world.

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mythologyfolklore · 3 years

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Ares and Athena through the years - Ch. 21

Chapter twenty-one: Owls

Athena was sitting on the stairs of the porch of her palace, a scroll of papyrus in her lap and writing equipment at her side.

She had been writing something, but somehow got distracted by her own thoughts.

The downside of being wise and intelligent was, that you inevitably ended up having a lot on your mind and being agelessly immortal and older than mankind itself didn't exactly make it better.

“Hey, Daddy's Owl!”

Athena groaned and glowered at her older brother, who was striding up to her without even asking for permission to enter her domain. “Don't call me that.”

He smirked: “Why not? After 37 500 Olympian Years, you're still daddy's 'little Owl-Eye'!”

Her glare intensified. “Calling me that is solely his privilege. And I never gave you permission to pervert our father's petnames for me!”

His smirk widened: “We both know that I do what I want most of the time. But I could always call you 'Miss Smartarse' again, if that's what you prefer.”

“Don't you dare. Also, get off my property. There is a sign at the gate, that says 'No entry without permission'!”

Ares laughed: “I know! Believe it or not, I can read and understand my own native languages. I just don't give a fuck!”

“Yeah, I can tell”, she grumbled and returned her attention to her scroll. If she ignored him, he would get bored and go away, or at least she hoped so.

No such luck, though.

“Don't you have anything to do?”

“Nah. I'm just bored outta my mind. But tell me, whatcha doin', Owl?”

She groaned in frustration: “It's 'what are you doing', how many times do I have to tell you that?! Well, obviously I'm writing!”

“No, you're not. You've been starin' into the air for the last fifteen minutes.”

“How the Tartaros do you know that?! Have you been standing there and watching me all this time?!”

“Pretty much.”

“Why the fuck would you stare at me for over quarter an hour?!”

The war god shrugged. “Dunno. But like I said, I was bored and had nothing to do.”

“That's creepy.”

“I know, that's why I do it!”, he cackled. “What were ya thinkin' about that distracted you from your writin'?”

Athena glared daggers at him. “That's for me to know and for you to never find out!”

Ares pouted: “Aww. Come on, won't you tell your big brother?”

“Tartaros, no!”

“Well, then show me what you've been writing there!”

Before Athena could say something, he snatched the scroll from her lap.

The wisdom goddess tried to retrieve it. “Give it back! It's none of your b-!”

“'The Language of Owls'? Seriously???”

Meanwhile in the human world, mortals were startled by a loud, thundering noise and began to panic, thinking that Zeus was making it thunder on a sunny day.

This had to be an omen for something and diviners promptly started to attempt to decipher what it meant.

Little did they know, that what they thought was thunder was really just Zeus' son Ares roaring with laughter over his half-sister's writings.

“Ohh, girl, you're such an owl!”

“Shut up! You're such a jerk!”, Athena grumbled angrily and took her scroll back. “It's not like you could understand a word anyway!”

Ares finally stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow at her.

“What?”, she spat.

He grinned and pointed out: “Daddy's Owl, if I didn't understand a word, I wouldn't have been able to decipher the title.”

For this scroll Athena had been using owl language, an extremely rare writing system only known to gods, who understood all kinds of bird languages and were associated with owls specifically.

The goddess of wisdom gawked at the god of war.

That got him laughing again: “Oh, you should see your face right now! It's fantastic!”

“You can read owl language?!”, the goddess asked incredulously. “When the Tartaros did you bother to learn it?!”

“Athena, in case you forgot, you're by far not the only deity whom owls are sacred to! My sacred animals besides vultures, venomous snakes and woodpeckers are barn owls and eagle owls.”

Oh. Right. That must have slipped her mind. She mentally slapped herself for forgetting that detail. Photographic memory her arse!

“But yeah”, Ares continued, “I did learn owl language, that's how I can read what the scroll says. Cute poem, by the way. Never pinned ya to be the poetic type. That's normally more the thing of Aphrodite, Apollon and the Mousai … uhhh, Owl? Hello? You there?”

Athena was still staring at him, like he had just grown a second head.

The older god cackled: “Holy shit! I gotcha speechless, I can't believe it! What a miracle! I gotta tell the others, they'll never believe it! See ya, Daddy's Owl!”

He darted off to find the other Olympians.

Athena looked after him, then returned her focus on the scroll – oh wait, never mind, it was gone! That arsehole had snatched it again!

“Jerk”, Athena muttered and stood up to go after him and retrieve her property.

Still she couldn't help but smile a little.

As much as she hated this man, there was one thing she had to admit: he never ceased to surprise her.

#Greek Mythology #ares #athena

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