Pheme

Greek Goddess Pheme

It's now halfway through your first semester. You and Athena are basically attached at the hip, and you really haven't bothered to branch out more besides a few classmates here and there. Staying uninvolved has been the way to go, and keeping your head in the books is more your style anyway.

You go outside today and sit in your usual spot for lunch while you wait for Athena, and decide to get ahead on a little reading. It's nice outside and the shade of your favorite tree gives you a good spot to sit comfortably and enjoy the weather. You decide to read your book on the history of Greece, and surprisingly you get so wrapped up in the book that you don't notice a girl walk up to you.

"You're a bit of a bookworm, huh?" the girl asks.

"Oh, sorry. I must not have heard you walk up."

"That's fine. I heard you usually have your head in a book most of the time," she adds.

How did she hear that about you?

"Anyway, my name is Pheme! A little birdie told me that you're new on campus, so I figured I would come over and introduce myself. How are you liking the school so far?"

Now you're really confused. This girl who has heard so much about you comes up and introduces herself out of nowhere? She seems to be friendly. She is pretty short with blonde hair pulled up into a bun and fair skin. She's carrying a trumpet, so you assume she's a part of the band.

You say with a shrug, "The school has been nice so far. I move around quite a bit so I try not to form much of an opinion."

"Oh, that's interesting. I see you around with Athena a lot. I heard that she's got an interesting family. Rumor has it that her dad has been around town with a few women, isn't that crazy? Nice girl, though!" she says with a smile.

"Yeah, I'd say we're pretty good friends. What goes on in her family isn't my business, though." You hope that your attitude sent across the message.

"You're so right! Silly me. There's just so much going on, I can't help but talk about it! You really need to get caught up with the rest of the school. I also heard that Aph-"

Athena finally walks up and interrupts her.

"Hey, Pheme. We're about to study and we really need to focus. Thanks for stopping by!" she says with a fake smile.

"Oh, of course! I really need to head to band practice anyway. See you guys around!" she says and skips off.

Athena's eyes follow her as she walks away. You can tell that she's not Pheme's biggest fan.

"So, what was that all about?" Athena inquires.

"I was just sitting here reading and she came up to me and introduced herself. She knew a lot about me which was odd. She definitely had a few things to say." you tell her.

"I think I'm gonna bite my tongue on this one. All I have to say is that I wouldn't advise hanging around her, or telling her absolutely anything. She's notorious for spreading drama and she knows anything and everything about this whole school."

"She started talking about your dad."

You've never seen Athena really show much emotion, but her face turns red with, you think, a mix of anger and embarrassment.

"Do me a favor and don't tell me what she said. I think I have a decent idea," she says through gritted teeth. You nod your head in agreement.

"I heard that one time she found something out about Dionysus and she repeated it in every single one of her classes. She just has a passion for sticking her nose in places she doesn't need to be."

You wonder if you finally made an enemy at South Greece. If you stay out of her way, it should be fine, right?

Author's note

This story is not based on any actual story that happened with the Greek goddess Pheme. She appeared in certain works such as Metamorphoses and Homer, but was not a main character. Goddess of rumor and scandal, she was known in Greek mythology for always stirring up drama that gods and goddesses had. She was known to repeat what she learned as a whisper first and then getting louder until everyone knew. She was always depicted with a trumpet, so that's why I included the element of her being in band so it was realistic. I also wanted to convey that she knew everything about everyone, so that's why she was talking about Athena and also knew things about Harmonia before she met her.

Bibliography

Pheme & Ossa. Theoi.com