In life there are decisions to be made, when to stand and fight and when to surrender. The hardest decision is to stop and take a moment to think. I was born years ago. I have old eyes; I’ve seen many horrible things. I’ve seen very many beautiful things as well. My mother is Rhea and my father is Cronus. I was a year old when my father got the prophecy that one of his offspring was to overthrow him. I remember wondering what that meant. Before I knew what was happening I was thrown into the pit of his belly. It was cold and dark in there. Shadows circled around everything. I could hear noises from the outside world but they were muffled and weak. Over time though, I got used to the darkness, it was peaceful being alone. I had a lot of special time to think before I was rudely interrupted a few years later. It hadn’t occurred to me that my father had moved on with his life. My parents had more kids and forgot about me. Although my parents had forgotten about me there was no way my father could forget his prophecy. I had a little brother. I decided to call my little brother Hades. I decided he would do great things when he left. I knew we’d all make mistakes. He was frightened of the dark and like a good older sister I tried my best to comfort him with my voice. The problem was I only knew a few words from my childhood. It was enough to tell him stories of the wonderful things I had heard. A few years went by and we both greeted a new child. This child was given the name Demeter. I knew from that day she’d be a great woman. Demeter and Hades bickered in the darkness. It took all I had not to scream myself. I don’t like fighting; I would do anything to stop one. Time went by and Poseidon and Hera appeared in the slimy darkness. When I thought there could be no more room a big heavy rock came smashing down. I wasn’t up high enough to see it for myself, but I knew it was there from the gossip in the younger children. One day once I had become happy with all my sisters and brothers, someone stole them from me. One by one they all left me. I felt Hades leaving and I quickly switched our stance so I would be on top. A piercing light hit my eyes. It hurt so much; I wanted nothing more than to go back to my father. I fell on my knees and when I finally adjusted from years of living in complete darkness, I saw someone who claimed to be my youngest brother. Before I had time to breathe Zeus had already asked us to fight on his side of this upcoming war. A heartbeat later all of my sisters and brothers had joined Zeus’ army. He looked at me, pleading for my aid. I told him I’d side with him. I never told him why though. I knew he was going to overthrow my father. I heard the prophecy myself when I was a child. He was so happy I almost stopped there. I gave him a warning though as well. If he decided to continue this war, there would be years and years of bloodshed. Sadly he was as stubborn as he is now. I found myself fleeing the battle grounds every day. I spent most of the war in caves. The time that I wasn’t in a cave was when I was trying to understand how someone could create so much pain. Years went by and like I said no side was particularly winning. Everyone was weary of fighting. That was when Cronus gave my mother another child. This child was a horrible sight to be seen. Her name was Echidna, mother of all monsters. Echidna and her first born son, Typhon stormed the gods. This time I wasn’t the only god trying to run. Everyone ran including Zeus. Suddenly though, Zeus stopped in his tracks. I was the first to see him spin his self around. My brave brother defeated Typhon by locking him under a mountain and creating the world’s very first volcano. Echidna ran free though. She eventually gave birth to a few more monsters. Zeus let her and her children be for future heroes to battle. Time went on and I was seated at the very right side of Olympus in the throne room. The seats had been officially marked. Demeter and her daughter share the first throne to the left. Then there is his son, the son of Zeus and Maia. His name was Hermes. Hermes, the god of Messengers, was sat next to my sister. After Hermes sat the sweetest god, his name is Hephaestus. The god of metal works is the son of Hera and Zeus. Next to poor Hephaestus sits his unfaithful wife, Aphrodite. She, being the goddess of love thinks she’s allowed to date the man who sits on her other side. His name is Ares and he is the god of war. Ares gained the same arrogance and stubbornness of his father Zeus, and the jealousy and good looks from his mother Hera. Ares is sat next to Hera. Zeus arranged the room so he and his great queen, Hera are sat directly in the middle. Next to Zeus was our brother Poseidon. Poseidon the Earth shattering god is sat next to Zeus’ favorite daughter. Athena goddess of wisdom is sat next to Apollo, god of music and healing, who is sat next to his twin sister Artemis, goddess of the hunt. I was told to sit next to Artemis at the very end. This way the scale is even. There is the same number of men as there are women. One day however, Zeus introduced the god Dionysus. He was Zeus’ son who had proved worthy enough to Zeus to add him onto the many gods. Dionysus is the god of wine and Athena the architect didn’t approve of this so she made sure it was known that she would never make him a throne. Seeing as this would lead to another fight between the gods I quickly volunteered to give up my place on the throne. Zeus thanked me kindly and decided I still needed a place in the great room. I sat myself straight down in front of the hearth that was burning in the middle of the room. Being the peace keeper it seemed only fitting for me to take my place in the middle. I obviously wasn’t fighting any wars anytime soon so I could quietly stay attentive from my small spot in the middle. The hearth is the fire that kindles all of mankind’s hopes and dreams. To this day, women get married in from of the fireplace to honor me. In return I bring them a peaceful marriage. When the world is at peace I am happy.
