S'Agapo
Statue
I was exhausted by the time we finished off the day. There was only one more site to go, and it was on top of a mountain near Delphi. "Gah, come on, please can we stop? Its so hot!"
"No! Were almost there, you can manage!" Marco and Angie grabbed my hands and pulled me up. We were all surprised to find that there was a long line leading to the small temple.
I raised my eyebrow. "Why are there only girls on this line?"
"This is the place where the gods decide whether you are the one for Apollo!"
I stared. "What the hell does that mean?"
She gave me a look that said, 'honestly?'. "I can't believe you don't know the story- it's actually not that popular, but you should still know it! Half of the girls here have heard at least some form of the story which is why they are here."
"Would you just tell me the story?"
"So impatient! All right, keep your pants on. There this story about a girl who was named..." she trailed off.
Marco sighed and said, "Her name was Olivia, the olive trees were named after her, supposedly."
"Right. Anyways, this girl, Olivia, was in love with Apollo. He never would have noticed her except for the fact that she always spent time at all of the god's temples, especially his. One night, there was this huge thunder storm because Zeus was mad about one thing or another, so she was forced to stay at one of the temples. Right before falling asleep, she prayed really hard that the sun would come out the next morning because she was terrified of lightning, as it had killed her parents a while ago-she believed it was because they hadn't prayed enough to Zeus, which is why she was always at temples.
"Anyways, that night, a few of the temples had been damaged, so all of the gods were going around checking on them. Apollo, when he got to the temple of his that she was sleeping in, hadn't seen her at first because she was sleeping right against the foot of the statue of him- it looked like she was a part of it in the darkness. Right as he was about to leave, there was a huge clap of thunder and Olivia woke up. She screamed at the noise and soon after, when lightening followed, subconsciously wrapped her arms around the statue of Apollo. The real Apollo had turned around at the sound of her scream, and by the lightening had seen her face. He fell in love with her immediately and went up to her."
"Psh, of course he fell in love with her; she was pretty, and he's a man whore." I interrupted.
"Oh, shush! Let me finish the story and you'll see that he wasn't being shallow! She was shocked at first, but then they started to talk a bit more, and soon after, he was always visiting her at her home, and sometimes he'd follow her while she went to pray at the temples. Aphrodite was happy for Apollo because Olivia was a good girl and always prayed at the goddess's temple. So, she placed a love spell that would bind the two together forever on them.
"However, one day, Zeus spotted Olivia when Apollo wasn't there. He fell in love with her, and stole her away. Olivia became frightened and screamed out the first name that came to her mind- Apollo. She screamed the name so loudly, that the goddess of night heard her and called out to Apollo, who found her in the arms of Zeus. The two gods became angry at each other and Apollo attempted to overthrow Zeus in his anger. When he failed, as revenge, Zeus sent a disease to Athens, where Olivia lived. Apollo had not known of the disease, and they had long ago promised to meet in a meadow, where he would turn her into a goddess, and they could both go to mount Olympus. When he got down to the meadow, he saw the signs of sickness in her face- he could not change her into a goddess unless she was in perfect health.
"He apologized to her without telling her what was wrong, and returned to Mount Olympus. Aphrodite told Apollo what Zeus had done, and the two have rarely been on good terms since. Olivia had been Apollo's first love, and most of the other lovers he had had after her were an attempt to ease his pain of losing her.
"Olivia died of the disease, but Aphrodite's spell is said to still work. She struck a deal with Persephone, who kept Hades from taking Olivia's soul. Instead, it was reborn into the body of another girl, who is supposed to be linked to Apollo even now. That's why we're on the mountain," She finished, appearing satisfied.
"So you wanna be the one that turns into-"
"No stupid, for you! This is for you!"
I stared and decided that she was insane and that i would skirt the topic for the moment.
"But, wait, how can they know if they are the 'one'?" I said the last word sarcastically.
"There's a statue that Aphrodite made and put inside the temple- it's of Apollo, posing like he's holding someone. But the thing is, there's no one there. The girl who can fit in the mold perfectly is said to be his destined wife- shes supposed to turn into a goddess and go up to mount Olympus while a stone replica of her remains behind to complete the statue. It's so romantic!"
I blinked. "A little weird, but okay."
By the time we got up to the statue, it was twilight. I sighed and looked up to see a girl wearing a robe from the market- It looked like it should have been from ancient times. She was trying to fit into the statue, but it wasn't working. After a few minutes, she gave up and jumped off the platform.
"That myth is such crap." I heard her mutter under her breath. I walked up to the statue and circled it.
'This Apollo is actually really handsome, considering what the ancient Greeks thought was handsome. Wow, he's nothing like the other statues.'
The face looked like that of utter nirvana; he was looking down at what should have been a girl, but there was only air. His arms were set as if one hand was caressing a cheek while the other circled an invisible waistline.
"This is too romantic for my sake." I muttered, turning around.
"Oh, no you don't! You have to try to fit in there first!" Angie turned me around and pushed me up to the statue. I tried to resist but it wasn't working.
Suddenly, a man came up to us and said, "Sorry guys, but this place is about to close, so we have to ask you to leave. Oh, and next you come here to try and fit into this statue, wear something that resembles the ancient times- we don't want you scratching the stone."
"No! Were almost there, you can manage!" Marco and Angie grabbed my hands and pulled me up. We were all surprised to find that there was a long line leading to the small temple.
I raised my eyebrow. "Why are there only girls on this line?"
"This is the place where the gods decide whether you are the one for Apollo!"
I stared. "What the hell does that mean?"
She gave me a look that said, 'honestly?'. "I can't believe you don't know the story- it's actually not that popular, but you should still know it! Half of the girls here have heard at least some form of the story which is why they are here."
"Would you just tell me the story?"
"So impatient! All right, keep your pants on. There this story about a girl who was named..." she trailed off.
Marco sighed and said, "Her name was Olivia, the olive trees were named after her, supposedly."
"Right. Anyways, this girl, Olivia, was in love with Apollo. He never would have noticed her except for the fact that she always spent time at all of the god's temples, especially his. One night, there was this huge thunder storm because Zeus was mad about one thing or another, so she was forced to stay at one of the temples. Right before falling asleep, she prayed really hard that the sun would come out the next morning because she was terrified of lightning, as it had killed her parents a while ago-she believed it was because they hadn't prayed enough to Zeus, which is why she was always at temples.
"Anyways, that night, a few of the temples had been damaged, so all of the gods were going around checking on them. Apollo, when he got to the temple of his that she was sleeping in, hadn't seen her at first because she was sleeping right against the foot of the statue of him- it looked like she was a part of it in the darkness. Right as he was about to leave, there was a huge clap of thunder and Olivia woke up. She screamed at the noise and soon after, when lightening followed, subconsciously wrapped her arms around the statue of Apollo. The real Apollo had turned around at the sound of her scream, and by the lightening had seen her face. He fell in love with her immediately and went up to her."
"Psh, of course he fell in love with her; she was pretty, and he's a man whore." I interrupted.
"Oh, shush! Let me finish the story and you'll see that he wasn't being shallow! She was shocked at first, but then they started to talk a bit more, and soon after, he was always visiting her at her home, and sometimes he'd follow her while she went to pray at the temples. Aphrodite was happy for Apollo because Olivia was a good girl and always prayed at the goddess's temple. So, she placed a love spell that would bind the two together forever on them.
"However, one day, Zeus spotted Olivia when Apollo wasn't there. He fell in love with her, and stole her away. Olivia became frightened and screamed out the first name that came to her mind- Apollo. She screamed the name so loudly, that the goddess of night heard her and called out to Apollo, who found her in the arms of Zeus. The two gods became angry at each other and Apollo attempted to overthrow Zeus in his anger. When he failed, as revenge, Zeus sent a disease to Athens, where Olivia lived. Apollo had not known of the disease, and they had long ago promised to meet in a meadow, where he would turn her into a goddess, and they could both go to mount Olympus. When he got down to the meadow, he saw the signs of sickness in her face- he could not change her into a goddess unless she was in perfect health.
"He apologized to her without telling her what was wrong, and returned to Mount Olympus. Aphrodite told Apollo what Zeus had done, and the two have rarely been on good terms since. Olivia had been Apollo's first love, and most of the other lovers he had had after her were an attempt to ease his pain of losing her.
"Olivia died of the disease, but Aphrodite's spell is said to still work. She struck a deal with Persephone, who kept Hades from taking Olivia's soul. Instead, it was reborn into the body of another girl, who is supposed to be linked to Apollo even now. That's why we're on the mountain," She finished, appearing satisfied.
"So you wanna be the one that turns into-"
"No stupid, for you! This is for you!"
I stared and decided that she was insane and that i would skirt the topic for the moment.
"But, wait, how can they know if they are the 'one'?" I said the last word sarcastically.
"There's a statue that Aphrodite made and put inside the temple- it's of Apollo, posing like he's holding someone. But the thing is, there's no one there. The girl who can fit in the mold perfectly is said to be his destined wife- shes supposed to turn into a goddess and go up to mount Olympus while a stone replica of her remains behind to complete the statue. It's so romantic!"
I blinked. "A little weird, but okay."
By the time we got up to the statue, it was twilight. I sighed and looked up to see a girl wearing a robe from the market- It looked like it should have been from ancient times. She was trying to fit into the statue, but it wasn't working. After a few minutes, she gave up and jumped off the platform.
"That myth is such crap." I heard her mutter under her breath. I walked up to the statue and circled it.
'This Apollo is actually really handsome, considering what the ancient Greeks thought was handsome. Wow, he's nothing like the other statues.'
The face looked like that of utter nirvana; he was looking down at what should have been a girl, but there was only air. His arms were set as if one hand was caressing a cheek while the other circled an invisible waistline.
"This is too romantic for my sake." I muttered, turning around.
"Oh, no you don't! You have to try to fit in there first!" Angie turned me around and pushed me up to the statue. I tried to resist but it wasn't working.
Suddenly, a man came up to us and said, "Sorry guys, but this place is about to close, so we have to ask you to leave. Oh, and next you come here to try and fit into this statue, wear something that resembles the ancient times- we don't want you scratching the stone."