(Greek Mythology) The Abyss of the Underworld
Chapter 100
As it turns out, life goes on, and so does reckless courting. Zeus exemplified this perfectly. His wound from Ganymede had barely healed when he resumed his philandering ways, relentlessly pursuing various goddesses or women.
Of course, whether this was meant to dispel rumors is unclear, but given the wound on Zeus's body near a certain unspeakable place, while no god openly spoke out, there was no doubt that rumors were flying everywhere.
Then, Themis, the goddess of law and justice, made a prophecy. She foretold that the sea goddess Thetis would give birth to a child more powerful than her father.
Yes, although Themis is the goddess of law and justice, justice, prophecy, oracles, judgment, law, and order all fall within her purview; she can indeed foresee the future.
Although prophecy was merely a side job, and what she could foresee was entirely beyond her control—after all, there were so many masters of prophecy, and Themis, an amateur, could never compare to the professionals—she could still occasionally dabble in the art of divination.
Zeus, having just won Thetis's heart: ...Could your prophecy have come any more coincidentally? -_-|||
Themis, the goddess of law and justice, was Zeus's second wife, meaning she and Thetis were rivals. However, Themis was always fair and impartial, and never interfered with Zeus's philandering, so Zeus had no doubt about Themis's prophecies.
Themis's prophecy reminded Zeus of Prometheus's prophecy: a new marriage would lead to the downfall and destruction of the ruler of the gods.
Consolidating the prophecies of both gods, Zeus concluded that if he married Thetis, she would bear a child more powerful than him, who would then overthrow his throne as king of the gods, just as he had done to his father.
Did Zeus care about his position as king of the gods? Of course he did. Otherwise, he wouldn't have swallowed his first queen, the goddess of wisdom Metis, along with her unborn child, and he wouldn't have disliked her daughter Athena, whom she bore. Even though Athena was merely a goddess, he used her to suppress his other sons while simultaneously guarding against his daughter.
Now, let Zeus use his imagination to envision what would have happened if he had married Thetis →_→
Σ( ° △°|||)︴Oh no! He'd be overthrown by his own child! He'd be imprisoned in the most terrifying prison, Tartarus! He…
Zeus then remembered that his relationship with the gods of the underworld wasn't good, and he had even flirted with the goddess of oblivion, Amyr, and caused Hypnos, the god of sleep, to be struck by Cupid's golden arrow.
The goddess of oblivion, Amyr, is the sister of the god of the abyss. Hypnos, the god of sleep, has Nyx, the goddess of night, as his mother. Nyx is another sister of the god of the abyss. Judging from Hypnos's ability to bring him out of prison along with the hundred-armed giant and the Cyclopes, Hypnos clearly has a good relationship with the god of the abyss.
Although Hypnos didn't know that the Golden Arrow incident was caused by him (no, Hypnos knew, or rather, all the gods of the underworld knew), even disregarding that, considering his other deeds, if he were imprisoned in Tartarus…
Baby is doomed!!! (д)!!!
Thinking about it more deeply, Zeus was successfully frightened by his own imagination.
After being frightened by his own thoughts, Zeus began to feel fortunate. Fortunately, he learned of the prophecy in time; fortunately, his wife was Hera, the goddess of marriage; fortunately, Hera was always keen on playing matchmaker for her rivals.
Then, with the unspoken understanding of Zeus and Hera, the two gods made a decision: Thetis would marry Peleus, king of the Myrmidons.
Thetis, the sea goddess, would give birth to a child more powerful than her father, so Zeus could not allow her to marry any other god. Hera also deeply disliked her rival, so the husband they chose for Thetis was a genuine human, the kind that was honest and straightforward.
Well, that's the decision! ~\(≧▽≦)/~ lalala
Thetis: Heh, did you even ask for my opinion?
The gods' attitude towards humans could be described as utter contempt; so many gods had affairs with humans, yet no goddess had ever married a human. Thetis, of course, was unwilling.
#Baby's wronged, baby's heart is bitter, but baby can't say#
#Prometheus and Themis, what kind of crazy prophecy did you two make?#
#What grudge did you hold against me? You made me marry a human for no reason!#
Thetis was very angry, and the consequences...
The consequence was that Thetis's protest was rejected.
Okay, Zeus still had some face; the condition for the marriage was that Peleus had to defeat Thetis first.
Logically speaking, a human cannot defeat a god, unless, of course, there's some kind of cheat code.
Don't you see how many heroic sons of the gods had gods guiding them and providing them with equipment when they achieved their feats, along with various forms of secret assistance? And they weren't even purely human; they were demigods born of gods and men.
Even Heracles, known as "the greatest hero in Greek mythology," owed much of his great achievements to Hera's milk and the help of the gods. Of course, Heracles was also a demigod. Peleus' father was Zeus' son, a demigod. Peleus, as Zeus' grandson, wasn't even a demigod. Under normal circumstances, he couldn't possibly defeat Thetis.
However, as we said, under normal circumstances, with various gods almost openly giving Peleus a power-up, he successfully captured Thetis in her usual cave when she wasn't looking. No matter what form Thetis took—a lioness, a water serpent, or the sea—Peleus wouldn't let go. And so, Peleus won.
—The End
This is a sad story about a power-up.
#TheImportanceOfPowerUps#
#Let'sTalkAboutThatLuckyPeleus#
#WithPowerUps,MomNoLongerWorriedAboutNotMarryingAGoddess#
So wasn't Zeus deliberately setting a trap for the gods? It was obvious: you had to marry her whether you wanted to or not; there was no choice.
The onlookers: Okay, that's so Zeus. He's always been shameless, we're all used to it, really used to it, yeah, really.
Chapter 100