Zeus and His Brothers

It was another day here at Olympiad Living. Once again, the Gods and Goddesses completed their morning tasks at a slow pace. Lunch rolled around and everyone was excited to get to game time. Eventually, 3 o'clock arrived and a sea of residents flooded the game center. It was time for Yahtzee, and the inevitable drama that tagged along.

The “powerhouse” residents usually all sat at one table together. They like to compete with each other as much as possible. The residents at the usual table included Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, and Aphrodite. Once everyone was set at the table, Yahtzee began quickly, but not as quickly as the drama. This time, Zeus took control and began to tell his favorite story of the events that led to dividing up the universe all while playing Yahtzee.

Yahtzee from Wikipedia Commons

“Okay, okay, okay let’s get this game started,” Zeus proclaimed. “I think I’ll win this round just like how I win everything. That includes the War of the Titans too,” Zeus arrogantly said.

“That wasn’t just you, you pompous jerk,” Poseidon replied. “It was a group effort."

“You know what wasn’t a group effort. When I saved your life, Hades' life, and Hera’s life. I guess I should start there,” Zeus answered back. He cleared his throat as he started to tell his story of how he saved his siblings from their father’s stomach.

“As many of you know, I have a lot of siblings. There’s Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, Hades, and Hestia. Luckily I have three of my siblings here today to hear my fantastic story. Isn't that right Poseidon, Hera, and Hades? Our father, Cronus, was always afraid that one of his children would overthrow him and take over. As any normal father would do, he began to swallow his children so that they could not dethrone him. Oh, I meant to ask you, how’d you like it in there, Poseidon? Anyways, lucky for me, I’m the youngest and obviously the favorite because our mother decided to throw in a rock and blanket rather than throwing me in. So I live my life and grow up, but one day, as the valiant hero that I am, I decide to go back and save my siblings.”

“Wow, Zeus, do you realize how self-centered you sound?” Hades remarked.

“Would a self-centered person risk their life to save their siblings? Uh, I don’t think so, Hades. Back off man,” Zeus said as he rolled his eyes.

“Let me start back where I was rudely interrupted. Well, I tricked our father into drinking this wine that had a special ingredient in it. After he drank his drink, he got sick and threw up all of my siblings! We all teamed up to fight Cronus and his siblings, who are the Titans. This eventually led to one of my finest moments, the Titanomachy, also known as the War of the Titans. This is one of my finest moments because I led the Olympians to the victory of the long and difficult ten-year war.”

The Battle Between the Gods and the Titans from Wikipedia Commons

Everyone else at the table rolled their eyes and scoffed in disgust as Zeus continued to share his side of the story.

“Wow, you really have the biggest ego around here,” Poseidon yelled.

“Ah, big brother, that is no way to talk to the god that saved your life, now is it?” Zeus answered with a demeaning tone.

“Zeus, shut up and play your turn for Yahtzee,” snapped Hera.

“Ah yes, Yahtzee, I’m great at this game, aren’t I? Well, I’ve been talking for ages. I truly love the sound of my own voice. I should continue the rest of my story. Once the Titans were defeated, my two brothers and I decided that it was time to divide the world amongst us. We all agreed that it needed to be a fair and random assignment of who gets what. Even though I am the most powerful God and I knew that I needed a part of the world that fits my great powers and strengths, I agreed to this assignment of the world. There were three sticks that all represented the different parts of the world. The longest stick was for the king of the sky, the middle stick was for the king of the sea, and the shortest stick was for the ruler of the underworld.

With my luck, I drew the longest stick. I became the king of the skies! Poseidon became the king of the seas and Hades became the ruler of the underworld. I obviously got the best part of the world because I also get to control the mortals and all of the other gods. Of course this didn’t come as a surprise to me because I knew that my great powers were meant for something big and important. Also, I do have supremacy in all other parts of the world. Doesn’t this just further prove that I am the strongest and most powerful god? Anyway, that is the story of the events that led to the division of the world. This story is clear proof of how awesome I am!”

Everyone at the table was in awe of how self-absorbed Zeus was being. The residents should all be used to this though. This is everyday Zeus behavior!

“Zeus, don’t you think that you should tone it down a little?” asked Hades.

“No way, brother! I am so cool! Everyone needs to know. Oh, also I just won Yahtzee,” Zeus boasted and the game was officially over.

Author's Note: This story was really fun to write. Zeus is an extremely powerful god, and he knows it! I decided to tell the story and the events that lead up to Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades dividing up the world.I feel as if adding the events that lead up to the division was helpful because it was able to show the dynamic between the siblings. Telling the story from Zeus’ point of view added some tension because he dramatically overemphasized his role in every part of the story. It is true that he is the reason why his siblings were saved from the belly of their father, but I made Zeus hold onto this as any annoying little sibling would. All the siblings helped win the War of the Titans, but once again Zeus thinks it was all because of him. I took the liberty of making Zeus be extremely self-centered in my retelling of the story. Once the war was over, the three brothers drew to see who got what in the world. I think that the stick that Zeus drew completely boosted his ego, so I made sure to include that in the story. After Zeus was finished telling the story, I decided to have him win the game of Yahtzee because it fits Zeus’ narrative of him being the best at everything. This is the first story that I have made for my Storybook. It shows how a different god will be able to tell their side to a famous story. I started with this story because I thought that it would be the most interesting and fun to tell.

Bibliography:

Zeus information from Theoi, online source

Zeus written by Mark Cartwright, online source