The Child of Athena

This is a story I wrote to describe how Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom and battle, got her own child to raise and teach.

 

Athena sat on her golden throne, glaring at the other quarreling Olympians. She, as the goddess of wisdom, knew that their petty argument would get them nowhere. But, as mortals and immortals alike often do, ignored reason and fought anyway, each sure that they were right. They fought over Aphrodite, the beautiful, young goddess of love and beauty. She had newly arisen from the sea where the blood of Oranos, the maimed god of the heavens, had landed, coming up as a ravishingly beautiful woman. Several of the unmarried gods wanted her hand in marriage, but she showed favoritism to none. What had started as an innocent betrothal request from Hermes grew into the all out shouting contest that unfolded in the Olympian Throne Room.

            Finally, Athena stood up. With a mighty voice that echoed through all of space and time, she screamed, “STOP!!!”

            Everybody on Olympus froze immediately, all eyes on her. Grey eyes flashing with fury, she snapped in a magically amplified voice, “This is the most infantile argument I have ever witnessed! You should all be ashamed! Poseidon, you already have a wife, for Hades’ sake! We have bigger problems than this! All the terrible plaques and weaknesses that escaped from Pandora’s Box a few months ago are still at large, and you are all bickering over the hand of this one girl!” She stopped, out of breath from shouting.

            The gods were stunned. Athena continued, “Aphrodite will choose her own husband.”

            “Bu-,” Hermes started, but was silenced by the sheer ferocity of Athena’s fury. Even Father Zeus looked frightened. It was well-known that Athena’s power rivaled that of her father, the king of the gods. After a moment, Zeus sighed. “Very well. This meeting is over.” He slammed his staff of oak and gold down on the ground, and lightning flashed around him. When it was gone, Zeus had vanished.

            After she had calmed down, Athena sighed and walked over to the goddess of love. “Come, Aphrodite. I’ll show you to your chambers.” She walked down the steps leading to the thrones and out the golden doors. Aphrodite followed, slightly frowning because of the mayhem she’d caused.

            Walking over the cloudstone, Athena said to Aphrodite, “Don’t feel bad about all that. Gods can be so silly sometimes. Once you choose a husband, things will die back down again.” Stopping, she thought about it. “Well, things will be just as hectic, but over the Titan War, not you.” She smiled encouragingly and continued walking.

“So, do you have a husband already?” Aphrodite asked. Athena, looking slightly sad, replied, “No. I took a vow never to marry.” Aphrodite continued, “So, you don’t have any children to raise?”

“No.”

Walking a bit further, they finally reached a large, marble house with shining pillars and intricate gold inlay.

“Here’s where you’ll be staying. Goodnight, Aphrodite.”

“Goodnight, Lady Athena.”

 

 

All through the night, Aphrodite’s words floated through the goddess’s head. So, you don’t have any children to raise? It had never bothered her before, not having children. Yet she had always wanted someone to love and watch grow. Finally, she conceived a plan.

The next day, she walked down the Lemnos, the island of Hephaestus, the smith god. Walking into the dusty forge, she raised her hand in greeting to the crippled smith master. Hephaestus burst into a grin. “Athena! How nice to see you on this beautiful day!” Athena genuinely smiled for the first time in weeks. “It’s good to see you as well, Hephaestus. And yes, it is a gorgeous day.”

“What brings you down to Lemnos? Do you need me to repair something or build you another shield?”

“Oh, no. Aegis is still in perfect working order. I’d like to talk to you about Pandora.”

The god frowned. “Pandora? She’s still with Prometheus’s brother, Epimetheus.”

“No. I mean, how difficult was it to make her? Just the body, actually.” Hephaestus thought about it for a moment. “Well, the actual body only took a few hours. Of course, the Graces tinkered with her a little bit to make her more beautiful.”

            Athena nodded. That was what she had thought. She continued, going to the main reason she was there, “Do you think you’d be able to make another baby, this one immortal?”

            Hephaestus nodded. “Of course. I don’t mean to boast, but it would be as simple as engineering a sun-chariot.”

            Athena smiled in anticipation. “Perfect.”

 

           

            And so, Athena eventually had her baby. Or, at least, the empty shell of a body. Working late into the night, she gave the baby boy her intelligence, Apollo’s power, Hermes’s resourcefulness, and the beauty that all immortals possess. Soon, it was complete, and she had her very own baby son.

            She brought him to Mount Olympus the next morning to present to Father Zeus. Unsurprisingly, a large line of suitors loitered at the doorway, waiting to speak with Zeus in his Olympian Court. They all fawned over the adorable little boy in Athena’s arms, all golden hair and grey-blue eyes. Finally she strode proudly through the shining silver doorway to display him to Father Zeus.

            “Greetings, Father!”

            “Greetings, my beautiful, grey-eyed daughter. Tell me, who is this radiant child you hold in your arms?”

            Athena beamed. “He is my baby, created by Hephaestus from things of the earth and gifted with immortal life from my spirit. I intend to raise him; he will be a powerful god someday.”

            Zeus was overwhelmed with joy. Although his children outnumbered the stars, and he had so many grandchildren he couldn’t remember them all, this new child brought great joy to him, for he was immortal and to live on Olympus for eternity. He was named Xanthus, for he was as golden as all the treasure of the world. His mind sprang forth as a bubbling spring, and his strength was off all the men of earth. He grew wise and powerful, and all the gods rejoiced.

Author's Note

This is one of my first short stories that isn't a summarized form. I don't really know how well I did. Please critique however you want.

Reviews

[RebelRegan]

I really like this. Well done.