spitballing about grecoroman goddesses
hey so y'know that thing where persephone and hades has been reclaimed as this feminist tale, with persephone going willingly out of love?
what if we take a big heaping serving of that and apply that to juno/hera
spitballing about grecoroman goddesses; microfiction?
"i know you're not stupid enough to believe all those men tell you," she says, her tone sharp with a mother's disapproval before it softens again. "but i can't blame you for hearing what i wanted to be said. you see, i wanted those stories known, and not the truth. i think you're ready to hear what truly happened, now."
spitballing about grecoroman goddesses; microfiction?
"so yes, i did ask my husband to give me that pretty white heifer. but as soon as i took her back to my garden, i begged her forgiveness for not noticing her plight sooner. yes, i sent Argus and his hundred-eyes to guard Io. i sent them down winding streets until Argus was sure that she could no longer be seen by anyone. Zeus closed every eye in anger, but Argus did not relent. and so Io found safety."
spitballing about grecoroman goddesses; microfiction?
"one story flowed into another. there was the story Zeus told. i was cruel, bitter, vengeful, all the men whispered. only the women heard the truth. that was how i came to hold Semele as she wept about how she did not want to kill her son, as she knew Zeus would kill her for harming him, but that being pregnant was killing *her*. i told her i would find a way. and i did. the men whisper of my vengeful wickedness still."
spitballing about grecoroman goddesses; microfiction?
"but there was a woman who did not, who lived the rest of her life peacefully, only sometimes flinching at her old name Semele, away from the gaze of Zeus. how can my husband lust after someone who no longer exists? i have done this dozens of times, hundreds of times. it is the same tale, over and over again."
spitballing about grecoroman goddesses; microfiction?
"Leto cried to me about how Zeus had told her she would never be safe, on land nor sea, and that all she desired was to give birth free of him. yes, i was there, holding back the goddess of labor until i could convince Poseidon to let Delos float, and only let him anchor the island when i knew it was over. Eileithyia was happy to swear to the secret, and loudly proclaim my vindictive cruelty, so Leto lived in peace."
spitballing about grecoroman goddesses; microfiction?
"and sometimes - sometimes, it was more than Zeus. it was more than just my husband, the one i was bound to, that i was happily responsible for. Dido came to me sobbing. 'I have fallen in love with a man who does not love me, but only my country. Please, help me, before my Carthage and my memories of Iarbas are swallowed up by his greed, and by his ambition!' and so i held her and said -
let Mother be their villain, i will help you."
spitballing about grecoroman goddesses; microfiction?
"so now you know - but i ask you, let them talk. let Homer and Virgil and the rest continue their stories. it is enough that you know, and that you whisper into other hearts what you have heard. i am vengeful Juno. i am Hera of the terrible anger. i will stand in front so that i can be hated, while others scramble to safety - i am the shield, i am the distraction.
do you understand, now, what my motherhood is?"
spitballing about grecoroman goddesses; microfiction?
"i won't pretend to be sinless. at first i acted in anger. a goddess of matrimony, and my love constantly breaking the vow that i make sacred - it stings, it aches. the double disrespect - i cannot expect a mortal to know that fully, and i wouldn't wish that pain on you. i even tried to do the same to him. but he didn't notice, nor did he care, in the end. vesta will tell you: anger makes a cold hearth."