Twisted Mythology: Three Tales of Greek Mythology Read online

  Twisted Mythology

  Three Tales of Greek Mythology

  By Ashleigh Matthews

  Twisted Mythology: Persephone copyright © 2013 Heather Mayson

  Twisted Mythology: Hades © 2014 Heather Mayson

  Twisted Mythology: Poseidon © 2015 Heather Mayson

  All Rights Reserved

  Table of Contents

  Twisted Mythology: Persephone

  Twisted Mythology: Hades

  Twisted Mythology: Poseidon

  Twisted Mythology: Persephone

  By Ashleigh Matthews

  Copyright © 2013 Heather Mayson

  All Rights Reserved

  Chapter 1

  Her mother kept her cottage hidden in a clearing deep in the forest near a stream under Oceanus’ protection. The god’s daughter often followed it to find their way to where the goddess Demeter and her daughter lived. Kore heard the laughter of the nymphs even before she saw them; the young goddess smiled and giggled, listening to the melody their voices made as they echoed through the trees.

  She had spent the entire morning in the back garden with her mother upon Demeter’s insistence. It would be some time before the nymphs reached the cottage. To keep herself from coming to her feet and asking her mother if she could play with the god’s daughters, she imagined the games they would play once the nymphs arrived. They would chase each other through the forest, of course. Next, she hoped, they would play hide-and-go-seek. Perhaps today her mother would let them make crowns out of the flowers that surrounded the cottage.

  She giggled again as she saw her mother come to her feet and walk to the water trough to rinse the dirt off her hands. Kore continued her work, picking up the leaves her mother had discarded. Just as Kore turned to take her bucket to the compact pile along the back fence, Demeter crossed to the cottage door. She looked up to see the sun hovering directly above the clearing.

  Noon had come quickly today; it made Kore smile. Demeter rarely made her continue working in the garden beyond this time of day. If not for the bucket –with the leaves nearly falling out of the sides –she would have run straight to the pile to rid herself of her small burden. But then, if she dropped even one leaf, her mother would make her pick it up and carry it to the pile. So with great care, she walked as slowly as her feet could carry her to the fence and dumped the leaves out.

  Next she carefully set the bucket on the ground (she had broken too many buckets to count!) and picked up a large rack to mix up the pile. She could feel her mother’s eyes watching her from the kitchen windows, so she spent more time than she thought proper turning the pile inside out. Before she headed inside, Kore returned the bucket to its place along the cottage’s exterior wall beneath the kitchen window. She smiled at her mother and then marched to the water trough to wash her hands. Her mother met her at the door with a grin on her lips.

  “Funny how you remember to do everything I tell you when the nymphs are on their way to ask you to play with them,” Demeter laughed.

  “I remember other times, too!”

  “Come inside, child,” her mother said.

  “I’m too old for you to call me child anymore, Mama,” Kore said. “I must be around fourteen as the mortals reckon time.”

  “And you’ve been listening to your lessons with Athena well, I see. Inside, Kore, so you can eat. I don’t want to have to listen to either you or the nymphs complain about you having to wait to play.”

  The young goddess hurried inside to the large round table at the center of the common room. Her mother had already set out two plates piled with food and two goblets filled to the brim with nectar. Over the meal, her mother spoke of an upcoming festival she was going to attend in Hellas. When she was younger, Kore would listen intently to her mother’s words and asked a thousand questions about what the mortals did in her honor. Her last and most important question was to ask permission to attend the festivals with her mother. To this day, her mother had said no.

  She found her eyes drifting towards the window as her mother continued detailing the customs and honors presented at the festival. It took all of her will to eat as slowly as Demeter did. If she finished sooner than her mother, the elder goddess would think her too anxious to join the nymphs. Her mother had customs she always respected. When the nymphs knocked on the door and her mother answered, the goddess would ask the daughters of Oceanus what they wanted; Demeter needed a moment to consider their request, asking Kore if she wanted to play with the nymphs. When the young goddess said yes, she would then ask for her mother’s permission to join the nymphs outside. Again, Demeter would take a few moments to consider her answer.

  When the nymphs first started coming to the cottage, Kore could see them pouting outside as Demeter asked her daughter a series of questions about her chores and lessons. She finally told them that it was a game her mother liked to play. Their frowns had turned to smiles and more often than not between their laughter as they hurried up to the door, they could be heard arguing whose turn it was to ask Demeter’s permission.

  And as if on cue, she could hear the nymphs outside the door yelling, “My turn!” “No, it’s my turn!” Kore hid a smile behind her hand and finished her food just after her mother.

  The young goddess came to her feet and gathered the plates and took them to the sink; she returned to the table for the goblets as her mother opened the door. Kore rinsed off the plates and her hand had just started to reach the first of the goblets when her mother came to her side.

  “Are your lessons done, child?” her mother asked.

  “I finished them last night, Mama,” Kore answered. “Athena would be here for another three days so I have time to review them before my cousin arrives.”

  Her mother smiled. “I’ll finish up here. Have fun.”

  Kore released her grip on the goblet and said, “And be certain to be back before the evening meal.” She scampered to the door, her feet keeping rhythm to the nymph’s laughter. The four nymphs squealed at the sight of her and they ran to the forest. More than once, they all tripped over branches on the floor but wherever they fell, they landed on a bed of moss.

  “Hide, and I’ll find you!” one of the nymphs yelled after the third time Kore had caught a foot in a branch.

  The young goddess quickly came to her feet and hurried to find a hiding spot behind a tree. It had to be the largest tree, she could find, Kore decided. Many of the trees she passed were way too skinny to hide herself behind without her dress being seen; it was how the nymphs found her every time. This time, she hoped, she would find a tree with the biggest trunk to use as her hiding spot. As her eyes searched, she kept looking to the floor to be certain her feet missed the branches. Her lips curled up at the sight of a large tree. She rushed behind the tree and hit something other than tree bark.

  Kore looped up at a mortal face. She quickly took several steps back until her body learned against the tree. Her breathing was heavy as she looked at the mortal males. She had never seen a mortal male in person before, but her cousin had described them at length and her father Zeus was a regular visitor to her mother’s cottage. His brothers had even made several visits as well. When the mortal smiled, she turned her eyes to the forest floor.

  “My lady,” the mortal said, bowing. “I am Pirithous, prince of the Lapiths.”

  She didn’t speak nor did she move. Her mind raced through all of her lessons, trying to recall what she remembered about the mortals. There was a lot of information to sift through but she quickly recalled that the mortals around Mount Olympus were split among ten tribes and that the Lapiths were a northern tribe.

  �
�You are a little far south,” she said softly, keeping her eyes on the forest floor.

  The mortal chuckled. “I’m returning home from a quest with my friend Theseus. Perhaps you’ve heard of him.”

  “Perhaps I have,” she smiled.

  “Perhaps I might have the pleasure of your name.”

  “Kore,” she replied, looking up to meet his eyes.

  The mortal prince smiled at her as the voices of the nymphs called out her name. It had not taken them long to find each other today; it always seemed to take them longer to find each other than they took to find her, but today, they could take their time, just as long as they did not find her speaking with the mortal prince. They had tattled on her before when she had gone further into the forest than they thought proper. She would let them get closer before she emerged from behind the tree.

  “What type of quest were you on this time?” she asked.

  “We joined the hunt for the Calydonian Boar,” he replied.

  “I would love to hear the tale some time,” she told him, hearing the nymphs come ever closer, “but not today. I best be going before my friends begin worrying too much.”

  “I look forward to seeing you again.”

  “As do I, prince of the Lapiths,” Kore said before walking out from behind the tree. “Here I am!”

  The nymphs giggled at the sight of her and scampered to her side. They raced back towards her mother’s cottage, and in the clearing, they admired all the lovely flowers. Wherever her mother spent more than a few days, flowers of every variety and color bloomed. Today the flowers were particularly lovely, she thought. Kore knelt down to smell the flowers closest to her.

  “I wish your mother would let us pick flowers to make crowns every day we come,” one of the nymphs said.

  Kore nodded and smiled. The nymphs sat around her and chatted about their day from what they ate that morning to the journey to her mother’s cottage to how difficult it had been in their opinion to find Kore during their game. The young goddess politely listened and giggled with them. Near dinner time, Kore pouted and told the nymphs that she had to go in soon. The four daughters of Oceanus pouted with her until she told them that she had enough time to walk with them as far as the river.

  On her way back from the river, she ran to the tree where she had found the mortal prince hiding to see he was still there. When she saw that he was gone, she continued on home to find her mother had put out their dinner. Kore chatted about the games she had played with the nymphs; she did not tell her mother about the mortal; she knew her mother would scold her for speaking to a male. She had spoken to Hermes once and her mother had forbidden her to play with the nymphs for a full month afterwards

  Per her mother’s wishes, Kore retired just as the last rays of Helios disappeared. Once in her room, she prepared for bed and reviewed her lessons under the light of a single candle until she heard her mother’s footsteps heading towards her bedchamber. The young goddess quickly put aside her lessons and slid under her blankets just as her mother opened the door. When she heard the door click shut, she slipped out of bed and continued to study her lessons; this time she waited to hear nothing but silence from the other side of the wall.

  She smiled when she heard nothing come from her mother’s room. Kore organized her lessons like Athena liked them and set them on the table next to her bed. In her head, she counted to fifty twice then took several light steps to the window and climbed outside, her feet coming to rest on a large stone just outside her window. As quietly as her feet could take her, Kore stepped off the rock and rushed to the front of the garden.

  Maybe the mortal prince had not left yet, she hoped. What was his name again? Pirithous of the Lapiths, she remembered. Her eyes searched the darkness but she did not find him. Perhaps he slept, she decided; mortals needed sleep more than gods and goddesses did, after all.

  She could go deep into the forest to see if the prince had made camp in the forest; these were other clearings in the forest where he could have made camp for the evening. He might have moved on, too, but he had not been carrying a sack when she had met him behind the tree. Many mortals did travel by foot, she remembered Athena saying. But he was a prince, so he must have a horse to ride. She only saw horses when visitors –save Hermes—had called on her mother.

  Demeter had horses in the stables located in a clearing near their cottage but she was never allowed to go there even to wish her mother goodbye. There were so many buts, so many things she was never, ever, allowed to do. She had thought about sneaking to the clearing where her mother kept the horses, but (again!) the stable hands would tattle on her. How long would her mother punish her for that one? It would be fun, though, but her mother did not know about the mortal prince –yet.

  Kore grinned as she reached the fence; she could look for him right now to watch him sleep. Perhaps he was still awake; they could talk. He could tell her about the boar he spoke of, or that friend that he had mentioned. Theseus, she remembered. Athena had never spoken of the mortals; they were beneath her notice, but the nymphs had told her a tale of Theseus once. She did not remember much of the story, only that the mortal had fought an ugly monster and won.

  Noise coming from her left brought the goddess out of her thoughts. She turned her head to the sound of cracking branches on the forest floor. The moon was high enough in the sky for Kore to see the mortal prince. She smiled as he stopped near the fence. He still wore the same tunic that he had worn when she had bumped into him.

  “You shouldn’t be here, mortal prince,” she whispered. “My mother might catch you. She doesn’t like me talking to any male, mortal or god.”

  He smiled back at her. “I couldn’t leave without seeing you again, Kore.”

  She felt her cheeks turn red; he had remembered her name! He stepped closer to her and slid his left hand around her neck and his right hand over her ear. Her heart raced in her chest, and her eyes widened as he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. She grabbed the fence posts in front of her, hoping he would not stop. He pulled away, and his hands still clutching her, he moved his lips to her right ear.

  “I won’t leave until you come see me on the morrow,” he whispered. “My camp is to the north of the tree where we met.”

  He released her and faded into the forest. Kore took deep breaths, watching him leave. Her heart slowly stopped pounding so loudly in her chest. She smiled; was that a dream? Had he really kissed her? The goddess willed the time to pass; she wanted nothing more than to find the clearing this moment. Would he tell her a tale when she saw him again? She followed her path back to her window and climbed back into her room, she fell asleep dreaming that he might kiss her again.

  Chapter 2

  Kore managed to get out of bed before her mother. It was a rare occurrence that the goddess of the grain did not have the morning meal on the table by the time her daughter walked into the common room. The young goddess crossed the floor and brought out the plates and goblets for the morning meal. She found the fruit and drink she and her mother enjoyed every morning then cut each piece, placing an equal number of fruit on each plate. Next she poured their nectar into the goblets, careful not to fill them too full. Kore carried the plates and goblets to the table one at a time before returning to the sink to wash the knife and cutting board she had used.

  She returned to the table just as her mother emerged from her bedchamber. Demeter complimented her for her good work. Kore grinned, feeling herself blush at her mother’s words. They ate quietly and as they finished, Kore picked up their plates and goblets to rinse them off. She placed the dishware near the cutting board and knife to dry. Demeter remained at the table and watched Kore as she swept the floors, pushing the dirt out the back door.

  “Next time, child,” her mother told her, “wipe the counters and table off before sweeping the floors. There might be something that falls to the floor.” The goddess came to her feet and slowly walked to the door to grab a basket that hung from a hook while Ko
re leaned the broom back against the wall next to the rear door; her mother brought the basket back and handed it over to Kore. “I have an important task for you now.” Kore smiled, accepting the basket; her mother always rewarded her for performing well, even when she had make a mistake or two. “I need mushrooms from the forest. You remember which ones I like the most?”

  “Yes, mother.” Kore answered. She quickly described them and hurried out the door before her mother could change her mind. As she traversed the front garden, she remembered the directions the mortal prince gave her to his campsite. Along the way she searched for the mushrooms, finding several before she reached the tree where she had met the mortal. “North of the tree,” she whispered, looking up to the rays of Helios coming from her right. “Straight ahead.”

  Kore walked north, climbing over large tree trunks and rocks until she reached a clearing where she spotting the mortal prince sitting on a log and holding something wrapped in linen. He looked up at her as she stepped inside the clearing. He smiled and came to his feet. Kore returned the smile as she stopped two steps from him, setting down her basket on the tree trunk the prince had been sitting on. The young goddess peaked down at the linen bundle and saw a face peaking out at her with large blue eyes. Athena had described to her what babies looked like but she had never seen one before.

  “This is my son, Polypoetes,” he told her. “Sadly, my wife died birthing him.”

  “He is beautiful,” Kore said and turned her attention back to Pirithous and listened to him continue speaking about his son.

  “I have had a difficult time finding a mother to care for him, to nurse him.”

  Kore looked at the child then back at the mortal. She smiled again and slid her arm from out of her dress, pulling her top down low enough to expose her breast. She accepted the child into her arms and guided the child’s lips to her tit. The young goddess cried out as the child’s lips locked onto her. She looked back up at the mortal prince who smiled. He helped her to take a seat on the log next to the basket. Kore looked down at the child again until the mortal prince placed a finger under her chin and directed her face to him. He slid his hand around her neck and kissed her for a long time without stopping. He pulled away too soon, way too soon for her beating heart.