Destiny (Volume I: Shur'tugalar)

Chapter Four Part XXX (ED)

"There are twelve Olympian gods in total, and these were the first five; Hades was not counted because he spent almost all of his time in the underworld." Nicholas took a sip of the water Farica had brought in moments ago. "Aphrodite came, and they welcomed her into their home. Hera and Zeus gave birth to several children: Enyo, ("warlike"), a goddess of war; Hebe, the goddess of youth who served nectar and ambrosia, the food of the gods; Eris, the goddess of strife and discord; and Eileithyia, who helped her mother as the goddess of childbirth and midwifery. However, only two of their children were considered Olympian gods.

"The first was Hephaestus, god of blacksmiths and with it fire & metal. When he was born, Hera considered him so ugly that she threw him from Mount Olympus. Fortunately, he was saved by the marine divinities Eurynome (an oceanid, or nymph daughter of Oceanus and Tethys) and Thetis (a nereid, or nymph daughter of Nereus and his oceanid wife Doris). Hephaestus came back to Olympus, and his skill with forging lightning bolts lead Zeus to acknowledge his son. He also gave him Aphrodite as his wife, for Zeus feared her beautiful looks would create jealousy among the gods.

"The next son was Ares, god of war and violence. He was also the not-so-secret lover of Aphrodite, and with her had several children: Harmonia, the goddess of concord and harmony, opposite of her aunt Eris; Eros, god of illicit love, & Anteros, god of requited love; Adrestia, goddess of revenge and balance, much like Nemesis; and the twins Phobos, 'fear', and Deimos, 'terror', who with Enyo accompanied Ares into battle."

"Though Aphrodite is unfaithful, Zeus is much worse," Ren said sagely, a slightly mischievous twinkle in her eye. "He had many affairs, which in turn led to many children. Hera hated all of these illegitimate kids, and made many of their lives miserable. There are several well known ones. The Muses were nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (the personification of memory who is Gaia and Uranus) who inspired literature and the arts; the Charites were three goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility - born by Eurynome - named Aglaea ('splendor'), Euphrosyne ('mirth'), and Thalia ('good cheer')."

"Zeus also had several godborn children as well," Rosaminda said, mimicking Renata's sly tone. "Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war strategy, had a very unusual birthing. Long before, Zeus had been married to Metis, an oceanid daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. She became the Titaness of wisdom and deep thought, and had been the one who'd given Zeus the poison that made Cronus throw up his siblings. After he'd laid with her, he immediately feared the consequences, for it had been prophesied that she would give birth to two children: the first being Athena, and the second a son so powerful he would one day overthrow his father.

"To avoid this, he tricked Metis into turning herself into a fly and thus swallowed her. However, she had already conceived Athena. Zeus developed a headache that gave him such great pain he ordered Hephaestus to split his skull open with an axe. His son followed the order, and from the crack Athena emerged, fully grown and cloaked in battlefield armor. And so another Olympian was made."

"Since the twins told the last tale, let's tell of Artemis and Apollo." Nathan cleared his throat before starting the story. "Leto was the daughter of Titans Coeus and Phoebe, sister to Asteria, the Titaness of falling stars who is also the mother of Hekate by Perseus, a famous hero among the Grey Folk."

"What's his story?" Eragon asked curiously.

"Oh, it's an amazing, vivid story," Niaomi said excitedly. "Remind me to tell it to you someday."

"Anyway," Nate cut in. "Leto's hidden beauty caught Zeus's eye and he impregnated her; unfortunately, Hera found out. In her jealousy, the goddess made all the lands shun her, forcing Leto to travel the ocean for days until Poseidon helped lead her to the island Delos, which is not connected to the earth, enabling her to give birth to her twin children Apollo and Artemis."

“There is also another name for the island,” Rose said quietly. She looked up from her apple, staring at Arya as she whispered, “Alalëa.”

It was quiet for a moment, with Nasuada and Orrin both looking confused. Nia wiped her hands on a cloth and forced a strained smile. "Let us continue this story first. So - Apollo led the Muses. He's the oracular god of the arts, medicine, and knowledge. After the Titan war, he also took over Helios's (the sun Titan's) job of driving the sun chariot across the world. The Grey Folk worshipped the gods; in fact, one of them was chosen to be Apollo's, and through him the other gods', Oracle. She - for the Oracle was a female - is still said to be among the inhabitants of Alagaësia, and her powers are great and mysterious.

"Apollo had several children, but only one was a prominent god: Asclepius, god of healing. His parents are Apollo and Coronis, princess of the kingdom of Lapiths (now a part of Alagaësia) and a lover of Apollo. When she was pregnant with Asclepius, she fell in love with another man while Apollo was away. The crow that he'd sent to watch over her told him, and in his anger at the crow's inability to eliminate the man, he smote the bird so that's its feathers were black. Then, Apollo, unable to carry out the deed himself, sent Artemis to kill Coronis for her unfaithfulness and his brother Hermes (whose story shall be told momentarily) to cut out Asclepius from the womb."

Nick began to tell Artemis's part. "Now, Artemis was Apollo's older twin sister, and the goddess of the hunt, wild animals, and maidens. She kept a retinue of hunting companions, all young girls who swore a vow of chastity and, in return, were immortal - meaning that they would never age, and would only die by a flesh wound. Artemis, corresponding with her twin, took over the job of driving the moon chariot from the Titaness Selene: former goddess of the moon, sister to Helios and Eos (the dawn), and daughter of Hyperion and Theia."

"And now for Herme's story to be told," Ren said. "First, his parents: Zeus was his father, of course, and his mother was Maia. She was the eldest of the seven pleiades, who were daughters of Pleione, (the oceanid), and Atlas: a Titan who, as punishment for siding against the gods in the war, was forced to hold up the sky (Uranus) on his shoulders to keep him and Gaia from resuming their primordial embrace.

"Now, Maia gave birth to her son in a cave in order to hide him from Hera's jealous eyes. Hermes was a wily infant; he invented the lyre out of a tortoise's shell, and when night fell managed to steal Apollo's immortal cattle. The god accused him of the theft, so Hermes exchanged his lyre for the cows. Because of this, he was dubbed the messenger god of thieves, tricksters, and inventions. He shares the messenger role with Iris: goddess of rainbows and daughter of Thaumas and the oceanid Electra. Iris is also the sister of Harpies, part bird and woman who are cousins to sirens."

"And once Hermes joined the others on Mt. Olympus, the twelve Olympians were finally complete," Rosaminda finished. "Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter, Hermes, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. Now, as time went on, Hestia's job and place on Olympus slowly faded, and another god took her place: Dionysus, son of Zeus and Semele, who was a mortal daughter of Harmonia and the goddess’s husband, the hero Cadmus. Dionysus became the god of wine and madness."