Keep Holding On
Was He Swallowed By His Father Too?
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into going to a museum on my day off,” Helen complained to her brunette friend. The odd pair stood close as they wove through the crowd towards the Greek & Roman Art exhibit.
“Weren’t you complaining about being bored?” one of Roxanne’s thin eyebrows rose, a light chuckle escaping her lips.
“At least back home I could stay home and watch Supernatural,” the blonde complained, running her free hand through her short hair.
“So you’re saying that nothing here is interesting? Nothing at all?” the slightly shorter woman asked her closest friend.
“Um… not really.”
“Let me show you something,” Roxanne grabbed her friend’s hand, leading her over to a sculpture of a nude man, “Helen, meet Zeus.”
“For a god he surely has a tiny dick,” the blonde snickered.
“Helen, please, do you know anything about Zeus?”
“Besides that he’s the ruler of the gods and the god of lighting? OH and he was known for sleeping around, a lot.”
“Is sex all you think about?” Roxanne asked, a smile creeping on her face.
“The fact that you have to ask that is a little insulting.”
With a roll of her brown eyes, the brunette continued, “Zeus is the youngest of Rhea and Cronos’s children. It was prophesized that, like Cronos had done to his father, that he would be succeeded by his children. So, he swallowed all of his children upon birth-“
“Why didn’t he just use a condom?” Helen interrupted, her curious blue eyes glancing back and forth between the face of her friend and the porcelain face of Zeus.
“I doubt they had condoms back then,” Roxanna rolled her eyes again, “Anyway, so Rhea, being very motherly, fed Cronos a rock instead of baby Zeus. Rhea sent Zeus down to be raised in secrecy. When he was grow, he led an attack against Cronos. He cut his father across the stomach and his swallowed siblings all jumped out, fully grow, in the opposite order they had been born. And Zeus was named king of the gods.”
“That’s it?”
“Well, no, but I don’t want to confuse you.”
“What about him?” Helen pointed to painted vase behind them, a bearded man with a vines wrapped around his arms decorating the orange looking vase.
“That’s Dionysus, the god of wine,” the two turned towards it as the brunette spoke.
“So what’s his story? Did his father swallow him too?”
“Not really…” Roxanne took a breath before beginning, “His mother, Semele, had an affair with Zeus. Hera, in a jealous rage, convinced pregnant Semele, who was a mortal, that Zeus could have been lying to her and that he needed to prove that he was Zeus by revealing himself in his true form.”
“So what happened?”
“You see, when a god makes a promise, he or she has to keep it. They can’t break a promise, and they can’t return their gifts. So when Zeus promised Semele anything she wanted, he didn’t know that she’d ask him to reveal himself to her. And when she did, he knew he had to. When he revealed that he was a god, she exploded –“
“Wait, if she exploded then how’d Dio-however you pronounce his name you know, be born?”
“I’m getting there, I’m getting there,” the brunette smiled, “Zeus saved him before he too exploded by placing him in a gash he had in his thigh-“
”His thigh?”
“Yeah…”
“So he was carried to term in Zeus’s thigh?” the blonde resisted a snort.
“That’s one story, another-“
“As interesting as that may be, I’d rather not hear about this guy’s twelve births.”
“Actually it was just three.”
“So besides growing as a fetus on his father’s thigh, anything else interesting about this Dion guy?”
“God, Helen, he’s a god.”
“So?”
“He replaced Hestia, the eldest of Rhea and Cronos’s children, in the pantheon,” Roxanna added, “And he’s mostly known for intoxicating people.”
“Well geez, I never would’ve thought of that,” Helen’s voice dripped with sarcasm. They discussed the ancient deity as well as the blonde’s “boredness” as they walked around the exhibit.
Unknown to the two young women, a pair of dark blue eyes had been carefully watching them. The two best friends hadn’t realized that their conversation was being over-heard or that it had attracted the attention of a certain bearded man – or maybe he wasn’t a man at all. Maybe he was something more, something stronger.
“Weren’t you complaining about being bored?” one of Roxanne’s thin eyebrows rose, a light chuckle escaping her lips.
“At least back home I could stay home and watch Supernatural,” the blonde complained, running her free hand through her short hair.
“So you’re saying that nothing here is interesting? Nothing at all?” the slightly shorter woman asked her closest friend.
“Um… not really.”
“Let me show you something,” Roxanne grabbed her friend’s hand, leading her over to a sculpture of a nude man, “Helen, meet Zeus.”
“For a god he surely has a tiny dick,” the blonde snickered.
“Helen, please, do you know anything about Zeus?”
“Besides that he’s the ruler of the gods and the god of lighting? OH and he was known for sleeping around, a lot.”
“Is sex all you think about?” Roxanne asked, a smile creeping on her face.
“The fact that you have to ask that is a little insulting.”
With a roll of her brown eyes, the brunette continued, “Zeus is the youngest of Rhea and Cronos’s children. It was prophesized that, like Cronos had done to his father, that he would be succeeded by his children. So, he swallowed all of his children upon birth-“
“Why didn’t he just use a condom?” Helen interrupted, her curious blue eyes glancing back and forth between the face of her friend and the porcelain face of Zeus.
“I doubt they had condoms back then,” Roxanna rolled her eyes again, “Anyway, so Rhea, being very motherly, fed Cronos a rock instead of baby Zeus. Rhea sent Zeus down to be raised in secrecy. When he was grow, he led an attack against Cronos. He cut his father across the stomach and his swallowed siblings all jumped out, fully grow, in the opposite order they had been born. And Zeus was named king of the gods.”
“That’s it?”
“Well, no, but I don’t want to confuse you.”
“What about him?” Helen pointed to painted vase behind them, a bearded man with a vines wrapped around his arms decorating the orange looking vase.
“That’s Dionysus, the god of wine,” the two turned towards it as the brunette spoke.
“So what’s his story? Did his father swallow him too?”
“Not really…” Roxanne took a breath before beginning, “His mother, Semele, had an affair with Zeus. Hera, in a jealous rage, convinced pregnant Semele, who was a mortal, that Zeus could have been lying to her and that he needed to prove that he was Zeus by revealing himself in his true form.”
“So what happened?”
“You see, when a god makes a promise, he or she has to keep it. They can’t break a promise, and they can’t return their gifts. So when Zeus promised Semele anything she wanted, he didn’t know that she’d ask him to reveal himself to her. And when she did, he knew he had to. When he revealed that he was a god, she exploded –“
“Wait, if she exploded then how’d Dio-however you pronounce his name you know, be born?”
“I’m getting there, I’m getting there,” the brunette smiled, “Zeus saved him before he too exploded by placing him in a gash he had in his thigh-“
”His thigh?”
“Yeah…”
“So he was carried to term in Zeus’s thigh?” the blonde resisted a snort.
“That’s one story, another-“
“As interesting as that may be, I’d rather not hear about this guy’s twelve births.”
“Actually it was just three.”
“So besides growing as a fetus on his father’s thigh, anything else interesting about this Dion guy?”
“God, Helen, he’s a god.”
“So?”
“He replaced Hestia, the eldest of Rhea and Cronos’s children, in the pantheon,” Roxanna added, “And he’s mostly known for intoxicating people.”
“Well geez, I never would’ve thought of that,” Helen’s voice dripped with sarcasm. They discussed the ancient deity as well as the blonde’s “boredness” as they walked around the exhibit.
Unknown to the two young women, a pair of dark blue eyes had been carefully watching them. The two best friends hadn’t realized that their conversation was being over-heard or that it had attracted the attention of a certain bearded man – or maybe he wasn’t a man at all. Maybe he was something more, something stronger.
♠ ♠ ♠
I know the layout is... iffy. I'm working on making a banner, or changing the layout, but it's just not working out how I want it.The museum they're at, or are supposed to be at, is the Metropolitan Museum of Art - which is in New York City, where this story will be taking place - and since I'm never been there, I'm assuming they have a Green & Roman art exhibit since it's on their website.
Another disclaimer! There will be a lot of Greek and Roman myths weaved into this story, if you don't know many myths you are possibly going to get very lost very fast since I plan on poking fun at a lot of them. If you do know the myths, then you should find this story highly entertaining.