Heroes of Olympus

by Philip Freeman

  Zeus was still angry with men and decided to punish them. He told Hephaestus to mix together clay and water in the shape of a goddess and give her life and speech. Zeus ordered Aphrodite and the Graces to give this new creature, a mortal woman, beauty. He also asked that she be given the pain of heartbreak and the sorrow of love. Athena taught her weaving and all the gods gave her gifts to make her irresistible to men.

  Her name was Pandora, which means “bearer of all gifts.” Zeus told Hermes to take the woman down to earth and give her to Prometheus’s brother, Epimetheus. Epimetheus and all mortal men gazed on her in wonder.

  Until that time, men had lived free from care, but Zeus gave Pandora a tightly sealed jar. Unable to resist her curiosity, Pandora opened the jar. Out flew every kind of evil, so that from that day forward the earth was full of pain, sickness, and woe. Pandora slammed the lid back on, but it was too late. Only Hope remained in the jar, unable to escape.

  Zeus had given the evils of the world to humanity, but he still believed men and women could live lives of honest labor and worship. One day he left Mount Olympus to walk the earth. Everywhere he went, he saw wickedness. He came upon the kingdom of a savage ruler named Lycaon. Zeus appeared before his palace and asked to spend the night. He showed the people of the town that he was no ordinary traveler and they began to worship him. But Lycaon did not believe a god had come to visit, so he tested Zeus.

  Lycaon took a hostage from a nearby kingdom and slit his throat. He roasted the body and served it to Zeus for dinner. Zeus knew what Lycaon had done. He destroyed the palace with lighting bolts and killed all the people inside except for the king. The king’s skin turned into shaggy gray hair and his arms turned into legs. Then Lycaon began to howl like the wolf he had become.

  Lycaon was the last straw for the king of the gods. Zeus told the gods he was going to destroy the human race. Some of the gods wondered who would worship them, but Zeus promised to create a better race of humans. Then he called down all the waters of the heavens on the earth and ordered Poseidon to raise the ocean waves. The river gods flooded the dry ground. No creature, animal or human, was able to survive the flood.

  Zeus looked on the waters covering the earth and spotted a chest floating on the waves. Inside were a man and a woman—Deucalion, son of Prometheus, and his wife Pyrrha, daughter of Pandora. Prometheus had warned his son of the coming flood. For nine days and nights the couple floated on the waters until they came to rest on the peaks of Mount Parnassus above Delphi.

  Zeus was furious at first, but he knew that Deucalion and Pyrrha honored the gods and treated strangers with kindness. He ordered the waters to return to the seas. When the couple left their chest, they saw that the world was empty. They made their way to a temple of Themis, goddess of order and justice, and fell to their knees. They begged for help.

  Themis took pity on the pair. “Leave here with your heads veiled and your robes undone. As you go, throw behind you the bones of your mother,” she said.

  Deucalion turned the oracle over and over in his mind. At last he realized that the bones Themis spoke of must be the stones of Mother Earth.

  Pyrrha and her husband picked up rocks from around the altar and did as they were told. As soon as the stones hit the ground, they began to grow. The stones thrown by Deucalion took the form of men. Those tossed behind Pyrrha became women. From these stones the entire human race is descended, tough and enduring like the rocks our ancestors sprang from.

  Gods

  ZEUS

  Of all the gods on Mount Olympus, Zeus was the most powerful. He shared some of his power, but he warned his fellow gods not to threaten him: “Learn how much stronger I am than the rest of you immortals. Drop a golden cord from the heavens. Grab the end and all you gods and goddesses pull with all your might. It won’t budge me an inch. I am Zeus, the highest and the wisest.”

  No one challenged Zeus after he defeated the Titans and Typhon. The other gods knew they could not win against him.

  Zeus was the god of the sky and the raging thunder. He used lightning bolts against anyone, mortal or immortal, who stepped out of line. He was especially concerned with justice and the care of strangers. No human ever knew if the beggar at his door might be Zeus in disguise.

  One mortal who tested Zeus was Salmoneus, a king in western Greece. Salmoneus told his subjects that he was Zeus. He attached bronze kettles to his chariot and claimed he made thunder when they clattered. He threw torches into the sky and called them lightning bolts. Zeus grew tired of the foolish king and destroyed him and his city in a blaze of real lightning.

  Another Greek king named Ixion refused to pay his father-in-law, Eioneus, the promised bride price for his daughter. When Eioneus came to collect the money, Ixion threw him into a burning pit. Everyone was horrified at the murder, but Zeus had a soft spot for the king—and for his beautiful bride. He invited Ixion to come to Mount Olympus. While he was there, Ixion behaved badly. Zeus chained the king to a fiery wheel that revolves forever in the sky.

  Zeus’s anger didn’t just fall on kings. He discovered that the physician Asclepius, a son of Apollo, was using drops of the snake-haired Gorgon’s blood to bring people back to life. Zeus could not allow mortals to learn the secret of eternal life and become gods. He killed the physician with a lightning bolt.

  Zeus was concerned with justice, but he was often wicked himself. He had created women as a punishment for men, but he fell under their spell too. Zeus fathered numerous children with mortal women. Many of them became heroes of Greek mythology. But mortal women often paid for the god’s attentions with punishment from Zeus’s wife, Hera. She was the god’s chief wife and very jealous of the other women in his life.

  One of the first unlucky women to catch Zeus’s eye was Io, a priestess at the temple of Hera. Every night he came to Io in a vision and tried to charm her. “Most blessed maiden. I am on fire with love for you and would give anything to enjoy your company. Go out to the wild meadows of the river among the flocks and cattle of your father. I will come to you.”

  Io was tormented by these visions. She went to her father for help, and he sent messengers to the oracles at Delphi and Dodona to learn what he should do. Their advice was confusing. Finally, Zeus’s oracle told Io’s father to cast his daughter out of the house to wander the land. If he did not obey, Zeus would kill his entire family with a thunderbolt.

  Io’s father had no choice. It didn’t take long for Zeus to find Io. He surrounded her with a mist and forced himself upon her. Hera noticed the strange cloud and swept down from Olympus. Zeus quickly turned Io into a white cow and claimed he had done nothing wrong. Hera didn’t believe him. She demanded the white cow as a gift, and Zeus agreed.

  Hera placed Io under the guard of Argus, a monster with a hundred eyes. Argus tied the cow to an olive tree and watched over her. By this time, Zeus was starting to feel guilty. He sent Hermes, the god of thieves, to steal Io away. Hermes had a difficult time. Some of the monster’s eyes were always open and awake. At last the god played a lullaby on his flute until all of Argus’s eyes closed. The god then cut off the monster’s head so that Io, still in the form of a cow, could escape.

  Hera was furious. She placed the hundred eyes of Argus onto the tail of the peacock and set off after Io. She found her wandering and sent a gadfly to sting her until she went mad. Io fled across Greece to the sea—named Ionian after her—then beyond the mountains to Macedonia to escape Hera’s fury. She trekked to the waters that separated Europe from Asia and swam across them. At last she came to the Caucasus Mountains near the end of the earth. There she found Prometheus chained to a rock.

  Io begged Prometheus for news about how long she would have to suffer. In between having his liver eaten by Zeus’s eagle, Prometheus told Io of her fate. She had far to go, over mountains and across deserts. She would narrowly avoid the Graeae, three gray-haired hags who lived in darkness and shared one eye and one tooth between them. She would also find their sisters, the snake-haired Gorg
ons, at the ends of the earth. But at last she would find rest in Egypt.

  Prometheus also told Io that she would be the ancestor of a man who would at last free Prometheus from his chains, and that Zeus would be defeated by one of his own sons. The only one who could save Zeus from this was Prometheus, and he had no plans to help.

  Io took heart from the punishment that would one day fall on the head of Zeus. She roamed Europe, Asia, and Africa until she collapsed on the banks of the Nile River in Egypt. Zeus found her there and made her pregnant with a touch of his finger. Then he restored Io to human form. Io gave birth to a son she named Epaphus, meaning, “touched by the god.”

  Hera was still watching. She sent spirits to kidnap the baby and take him to Syria. Io found him there and returned with him to Egypt. She married an Egyptian king and finally settled down to a peaceful life.

  It is said that Io brought the worship of Demeter to the Egyptians, who called the Greek goddess of grain Isis. She was worshiped in the form of a woman with the horns of a cow in memory of Io’s struggles.

  One of Io’s great-great-great-granddaughters, Europa, was a princess in Lebanon. She was troubled by dreams just like Io. In a vision she saw two women fighting over her. One was a woman of her own country. The other was from across the sea. The foreigner was trying to steal Europa away and said she was sent by Zeus.

  When Europa woke, she went to her friends to ease her mind. They ran to a seaside meadow and chased each other across the grass and gathered flowers.

  Europa was every bit as beautiful as Io had been and Zeus’s heart was overcome with desire. He transformed himself into a handsome white bull and flew down to the seashore. He walked toward the young women as gentle as a lamb. They had never seen such a lovely animal. The bull inched toward the girls and stood before Europa. He licked her neck. Europa laughed and kissed the bull’s cheek. The bull knelt before her and urged her with its eyes to mount its back.

  The other maidens were frightened, but Europa climbed onto the bull. Suddenly the animal began to move toward the sea. Before Europa could jump off, the bull charged into the waves. He swam until the shore of Europa’s homeland was far behind. Dolphins swam at their sides like wedding guests as the bull made its way toward Crete, the island where Zeus had been raised as a child.

  “Who are you?” Europa cried.

  “I am Zeus, king of the gods, and I can take any form I wish,” the bull bellowed.

  The girl was too frightened to say anything more. She clung to the bull’s horns until they made their way to land. Zeus took on human form and forced himself upon Europa. Then he left her, alone and pregnant, in a foreign land. But he did give her three gifts. The first was a hound that always caught its prey. The second was a spear that never missed its mark, and the third was a giant bronze man who ran around the island throwing rocks at any ship that tried to land. In time, Europa had three sons by Zeus. The king of Crete then married Europa and raised her sons as his own.

  Europa’s father, Agenor, was heartbroken when his daughter disappeared. He sent his wife and his three sons to search for her in every land and warned them not to come home without her. After endless searching, the brothers settled down to found their own kingdoms. One brother, Cadmus, took his mother all the way to Greece and founded the city of Thebes on a new continent. It was named Europe, after his lost sister.

  Zeus’s favorite place on earth was Arcadia, a rich land of forests, springs, and mountains in southern Greece. One day Zeus saw a young woman hunting in the woods there. She carried a spear and had a bow and arrows slung over her shoulder. She was Callisto, a virgin dedicated to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.

  Zeus watched Callisto remove her weapons and lie down in the soft grass. He couldn’t resist such a beautiful young woman. “Hera will never see me in these thick woods,” Zeus said to himself. He took on the form of Artemis and approached Callisto.

  The maiden ran to the goddess.

  “Callisto, loveliest of all my maidens,” Zeus said in his Artemis disguise, “where have you been hunting?”

  “Here in these woods, my lady, greatest of all the gods,” Callisto said. “I would call you that even if Zeus were here to hear my words.”

  Zeus laughed and kissed her. Before Callisto knew it, Artemis had become Zeus. Callisto was no match for the god. He forced himself on her and then he left. The young woman struggled to her feet and wandered away in shock, barely remembering to take her weapons.

  A few days later, the true Artemis and her band of virgin hunters appeared and called to Callisto to join them. The young woman obeyed, but followed Artemis with downcast eyes. Artemis saw Callisto’s sadness, but didn’t know the cause. Nine months came and went. One hot day Artemis and her maidens came to a pool in the woods. They undressed to swim in the cool water. Callisto made excuses not to join them, but Artemis insisted. When Callisto removed her robelike garment, Artemis saw that she was pregnant.

  “Get out of here,” the goddess demanded. “You are no longer one of my followers.”

  Callisto ran away in disgrace and gave birth alone to a son she named Arcas.

  Hera saw this and realized what had happened. She couldn’t take out her anger on Zeus, and so she went after Callisto.

  “Did you really think you could get away with this?” Hera asked her. “You think you’re so pretty, do you?”

  Hera caught Callisto by the hair and threw her to the ground. Callisto stretched out her arms to beg for mercy, but they were already covered with black, shaggy fur. Her fingers were replaced with claws, and her face with rough jaws and a large nose. Hera replaced Callisto’s voice with a low growl so that she could not call on Zeus for help. Callisto’s human mind was unchanged, but her body had become a bear.

  Callisto left her son to be raised by the local king. She wandered the mountains and forests in misery, always fearful of hunters. One day Arcas, who was now a man, was hunting in the forest with his friends. They saw a bear watching them. It moved toward Arcas as if to speak. Arcas was about to plunge a spear into his mother’s breast when Zeus snatched Callisto up into the heavens. He made her a constellation of stars.

  That was too much for Hera. She asked Tethys, goddess of the sea, and her husband, Ocean, for a favor. “Grant me that she may not bathe in your waters. Let her forever circle the sky without rest.”

  Tethys and Ocean granted her request. To this day Callisto revolves around the North Star. The great bear never vanishes below the horizon.

  After Europa’s brother Cadmus founded the city of Thebes, rule of the town passed in time to a Greek named Nycteus. He had a beautiful daughter named Antiope. Antiope caught Zeus’s eye as he looked down from the heavens. He came to her in the form of a satyr, a half-man, half-goat creature, and left her pregnant. When Nycteus found out his daughter Antiope was pregnant, he was furious. She fled to the city of Sicyon where she married the king.

  Nycteus learned of Antiope’s marriage and was angrier than ever. He made his brother Lycus promise to punish Antiope and her king for disgracing the family. Then Nycteus killed himself. Lycus marched on Sicyon and destroyed the city. He killed the king and dragged Antiope out of the town in chains.

  Antiope was nine months pregnant. She struggled to walk the rough roads back to Thebes with the army. On the slopes of Mount Cithaeron, she crawled into the bushes to give birth. Lycus left her twin sons, Amphion and Zethus, to die on the mountainside. The army marched on, with Antiope chained behind them. A local shepherd found the babies and raised them secretly as his own sons.

  Lycus’s wife Dirce punished Antiope every day for many years. Every night, she chained her in a filthy hut.

  Meanwhile, Amphion and Zethus grew into fine young men, unaware of who they were or their mother’s fate. Zethus became a master herdsman and cattle breeder. Amphion excelled at playing the lyre. The brothers were opposites, but they were devoted to each other.

  One night, the chains holding Antiope in her hut mysteriously fell away, perh
aps by the power of Zeus. Antiope ran as fast as she could out of Thebes and into the forest below Mount Cithaeron. She found a shepherd’s hut and knocked on the door. Two young men answered and invited the poor woman inside to sit by the fireplace. They gave her food and drink and asked how she came to be in such a miserable state. Antiope told the young men her sad story and her sorrow at being forced to abandon her children near the very spot where they sat.

  The young men realized they were the sons she spoke of. It was a happy reunion, but Zethus and Amphion wanted revenge. They attacked the city of Thebes, killing the king who had been so cruel to their mother and taking his throne. They tied Dirce to the horns of a bull and dragged her through the streets until she was dead.

  The brothers ruled Thebes in peace and harmony. Together they strengthened the city walls. Zethus used his great strength to carry enormous stones. Amphion played his lyre and charmed the stones of the earth to follow him to the walls of Thebes.

  Near Sicyon, there is a river that runs from the mountains to the blue waters of the Corinthian Gulf. The god of this river was named Asopus and he had a beautiful daughter named Aegina. Zeus fell in love with her and came to her one night in the form of a flame. Then he carried her to an island near Athens where she gave birth to a son named Aeacus.

  Asopus searched everywhere for his daughter. As last he came to Sisyphus, king of Corinth, who said that it was Zeus who had stolen Aegina away. In thanks, Asopus created a stream of fresh water for Sisyphus on the top of a dry fortress overlooking his city. The river god then set out to take back his daughter, but Zeus wounded him with a thunderbolt and he was forced to return home without Aegina.