Life On Olympus

Highest of the peaks of Greece, a glimmering mountain that scrapes the skies, rushing past the pearl clouds and singing with all the voices of the wind and earth, Mount Olympus rests. This is no place where any common mortal lay their head. No, this is the dwelling of the immortal breed, great palaces dedicated to the gods themselves.The genesis point of the order of the land, Greece’s very existence was brought forth by the forces that inhabit the shining mountain top. Justice, music, wisdom, lust, beauty, power, and divinity all take place there, feasting as kings do, sipping sweet nectar, relaxing to their heart’s content, careless of any struggle, trial or tribulation.

It is from that point the gods descend upon the mortals, mankind, toying with them to their own frivolous pursuits. From sex to madness, from destruction to aide, each god takes pleasure and delight in meddling in human affairs, blissfully unaware and willingly ignorant to their affect on mortal life. The king of this, and ironically the king of all gods, Zeus, especially loves the passionate love of a mortal woman (and man, but we’ll save that for later in the story). He’s come into the bed of practically every woman with a pretty hue in Greece, and has given his seed to almost all of them. While all of them have stayed with their mothers on earth, and some in the underworld, one special child had fallen into the graces of the king, and was able to ascend with the gods and his father.

This child was brought forth in union between a beautiful maiden of Thebes, daughter of the city’s king. A warrior’s heart and the harmony that sang in her very being caught the ear and eye of the god. As Zeus’ love for her began in her sacrifice of a ram to him in his temple, he had visited her many times, taking the form of a nobleman. The two became more and more passionate in their love and would spend days and nights under the sun and moon together. They had not just loved each other, they had been in love with one another. The two had become so close that the god’s walls had come down. His comfort within her presence was pure, he felt so much more right with her than any other woman.

One day, as the two were walking amongst the gardens near the palace of Thebes, the maiden began conversation about her love of the gods. Zeus had become so infatuated with her tongue that he revealed his identity to her. Shocked, yet satisfied, she grew a frightened passion for him. She’d known his wife struck down any lover that the king of gods took down, and though she feared she would be engulfed in her flames, couldn’t give up the man she fell for.

As the Fates would decree it, the queen of Olympus had come upon great suspicion of her husband’s more frequent than usual absence, and set her visions on the princess to seek the truth.

The princess had come to carry the child of Zeus, and would need to be waited on by her royal nurses until its arrival. The Olympian queen found this the perfect opportunity to validate her doubts, and came to the princess in the form of one of her nurses. As she knew just how to charm her tongue to the princess’ spirit, the two became close quickly. One evening, as the “nurse” began to pat her head with a warm cloth, the princess had confided in her about her relations with Zeus. As the story rolled off of her tongue, the “nurse” became more and more interested, and more and more visibly enraged. When the princess completed her story, her nurse stood before her, insisting she had not laid with the god, rather a common man with an interest to bear a child with her to solidify his place on the throne of Thebes. The princess denied relentlessly, for she knew she had laid with a god.

It struck the “nurse” in that moment. She grinned mischievously, and gave the princess this imposition.

“If you had, in fact, laid with a god, then in the next evening, as he enters to greet you, request for him to swear to the River Styx, the divine waters of oaths, to take his true form. Only then, when you eyes set upon the glory of the Olympian may he prove his true self.”

The princess quickly agreed, and that next evening, as the king had come to visit her in her chambers, she made that exact demand.

“Please,” she exclaimed, “I know you care for me deeply., I want to ask something of you.”

“I will do whatever you please, my love

“As he quickly swore to the River Styx that he would do anything for the princess, she quickly asked him to reveal himself to her. He wished so dearly he could deny it, but since the oath had already been made upon the River Styx, he could not ignore it. Reluctant, he shed his common form and revealed, in a shining light, his true self. As too much glory came upon her mortal eyes, she burst into flame.

“Semele!” the god exclaimed, as the flames consumed her, the hands of death grasping her to take her to the realm of the Underworld. As he stood to look at his love devoured, he could not bear to see the remnant that grows inside her belly, the relic of their undying love, the reminder of the joy it was to have her, be engulfed as well. As the hands took her down, and the ashes of her began to form, he took the child from her womb. Knowing there would be hell to pay should he ascend to the heavens with a child outside of his marriage in his hands, he concealed the child into his thigh, and returned home to attempt to leave the lost love to earth.

Many suns and moons had passed until the child had grown beyond Zeus’ thigh, and sprouted forth from his flesh, a beautiful life. As the features had grown onto its face, Zeus knew the queen of Olympus would bring down the very sky to see the child killed, so he hid it away in the forests of the neighboring mountains. He sat it down in a cluster of bushes, directly in the path of a passing nymph. A gust of wind wisped past the bush, the baby cooing as it brushed past its face. She pulled the bush back and revealed it. Picking it up, panicked, she’d hope to give the baby a new beginning. She took it to her sisters, who quickly urged her to present it to their father. As he gazed upon the baby’s shining eyes, and glowing hue, he knew this was no coincidence. He would accept the child as his own, he and his daughters helping in raising it. As they nursed it, fed it, and taught it their ways, the child grew to become a beautiful young man, not tethered to any rule, gender or norm, but to amusement, joy, high spirit and fun. Given the name Dionysus, he would travel with his companions, and teach those an art and drink he invented and perfected in his years. As anyone surrounding him would drink his creation, and the intoxicating feeling would cloud their minds, Dionysus would compel and control them to his will, always prompting them to dance and sing the time away.

As Zeus came upon this new culture, and marveled at his Olympian spirit, he would invite the young man to live with him, granting him godhood and the ability to reach more people with his new-found gift. As Dionysus took his place on his new throne amongst the gods,and the walls of Olympus formed in their new image, he would set out to introduce his creation to all the world.

Dionysus left the mountain often. He traveled to many cities on the back of his sturdy and lively donkey and sermoned all walks of life of his power. In his path, Athens, Crete, Rhodes, Corinth, Eretria, Heliopolis, Sparta among many great kingdoms’ people would gather to hear his word. As the drinks would flow into their spirits, so too would their devotion to the god. Falling in love with the ecstasy they experienced, the high of life, they quickly found favor and worthiness in Dionysus. Great temples and shrines would take form throughout the land, areas of dance and joy and drunkenness for those wanting and chasing that first high. He partied with any who would be willing to participate and accepted all who wished to worship.

Some fell so greatly for the creation and its power, they would dedicate their lives to the new Olympian. He came upon a group of beautiful maidens en route to the city of Cithaeron. They watched his wagon and his company of satyrs, all laughing and singing and drinking heavily. Perplexed, the women stood and watched as the wagons passed. Dionysus, spotting them in the midst of his fun, stopped the company and stood in front of them.

“Who is that and why is he galavanting around the forest like this?” One asked, covering her ears in agitation. In their staring at the company, it came to a halt. The satyrs began dancing around the women in a formed circle, clicking their hooves, one of them whimsically blowing into a Pan flute. This seemed to irritate the women even more. Seeing as they couldn’t leave, one woman stood to make her opinion known.

“You imbeciles, please move out of our way! This is not funny, what you are doing.”

Just then, the young, beautiful man that led the pack sprung off from his Donkey, a golden chalice in his hand already filled to the brim with drink. He approached the herded women, a purple train of gold-lined fabric trailing behind him.

“My ladies”, he began, “why are you so down? We were just passing by and having an amusing time.”

“You can have an amusing time, but not at the expense of my sisters and I’s journey. We have come to the forest to mind our business, not be bombarded with a racket of pitchy pipes, screaming and manic dancing.”

“You must let loose that spirit of poise, it looks so dull on you, my beauty. Here, have some drink.”

“I do not want to drink. I want to be left to continue my jou-”

“Oh come now, just a sip?”

Before she could refuse, she leaned in to see the glistening drink of the golden chalice. Temptation clouded her mind, and before she could stand by her irritance, she took a small sip. Then took another. Then another, until she gulped the chalice. A power rushed over her, and in an instant, all of her sisters began partaking. The bitterness and annoyance transformed into delight and carelessness. The women began dancing and singing, things they have never done before. The god, all too amused by their mirth, allowed them to view his true perspective through their intoxication. Realizing their interaction with the Olympian himself, they swore themselves to follow and honor him, and to learn the ways of his making of creation. Dionysus would visit them in the forest frequently thereafter, to dance, feast, and amuse himself with their frenzied states of intoxication. As their form of appreciation for giving them such bliss, they, along with the aid of nearby spirits of the forest, built a temple so grand and boastful. Dionysus granted them invincibility from all harm so long as they continued the ways of wine as a token of their gesture. He came to call him his Maenads, an ode to their carefree and manic states of humor, fun and recklessness.As his popularity grew, so did strange events that would cost him his safety. His journey continued at the city of Carthage. His caravan rode around the city until they stopped at the city’s heart. Dionysus presented himself in front of the Carthaginians and began his speech. The city’s people were enthralled by his words and moved by his oration. A great gust of wind hadn’t seemed to stop them from listening in on the young god’s lecture. None would seem to notice a magnificent column that held the trims of the pavilion he stood under suddenly fell under the wind’s power. Dionysus had an intention to look upward, revealing the giant column that sought his demise. He quickly lept out of the way, showering the wine from his chalice onto the front of the crowd. The city’s people gasped in disbelief as the stone platform the party stood on cracked as the column landed on it. Other sudden instances of beasts chasing him, disasters nearly enveloping him, deep holes conveniently spreading in front of him from the ground, as if an open invitation by Hades to his domain of the dead. It bothered Dionysus greatly, and as his entourage left the last city, his thoughts encapsulated him.

“Dionysus, my lord,” a satyress clacked next to him, “why so glum?”

“Chara, have you noticed the absolutely strange activities happenly lately?”

“Anyone would notice statues falling, columns shattering, beasts chasing you, holes that lead to oblivion ready to suck you in and ki-”

“Yes, Chara, I know,” Dionysus interrupted, “Where do you think these are coming from? I believe this is divine interference.”

Chara looked around in thought, humming, “Eh, I don’t think the gods who blessed you with divinity would torture you in this way, my lord. This may all be coincidence.”

Dionysus looked around and shrugged his shoulders, “I guess you’re right. I’ve done right by the gods and now I am set to sit among them. Let us drink then and be merry! We’ve successfully captured the world in wine!”

Followed by many, worshipped by all the world and his name officially etched among the gods, Dionysus would now ascend to his true home, the land of the Olympians, and mark his new beginning as a new deity. On his throne he would sit, the God of Wine, the harbinger of joy.

” To be continued... “