Some more scenes from the line of Nyx

When Hera has Hypnos cause Zeus to fall asleep in the Iliad Hypnos is reluctant, he says he'd do it to anyone else, but as for Zeus he remembers the last time (Hera had him put Zeus to sleep so she could mess with Herakles) and then talks about how he'd have been cast down never to be seen again, but (Homer translated by Lombardo):

I ran to her, and he [Zeus] relented, reluctant
To do anything to offend swift Night [Nyx].

Nyx is Hypnos's mom, by the way.  So, that deserves to be expanded on, I already did a quick and dirty version as part of a post at the Slacktiverse, because it's nice spot for expansion, but the quick and dirty version was low on Zeus talking.  He needs to lose the encounter, but shutting up right away is not a good thing for Zeus to do so scene one is the less quick, less dirty version of that.

-


Hypnos flew as fast as he could, through the day, passed the sunset, into the place where his mother Nyx walked, at the center of her self.  "You have to help me," he said to her quickly.

"What's wrong, honey?"

"Zeus is after me."

"Why?"

"I put him to sleep as favor-" Zeus arrived.  Hypnos hid behind his mother before continuing, "For Hera."

"Nyx," Zeus said politely.

"Zeus," Nyx responded.

Hypnos hid behind Nyx in silent fear.

"The boy has wronged me," Zeus said, "Hand him over."

There was silence.

"Hand him over," Zeus said more loudly, his emotions reaching the surface.

Nyx responded with one word, “No.”

Zeus, enraged, shouted, “Have you forgotten who you’re talking to?  I am Zeus, Aegis-Holder.”

Nyx, “I’ve not forgotten.  The answer is still no.”

Zeus shouted, “You’re in my domain, you have-”

“No,” Nyx said sharply.  Then she calmly explained, “You are in my domain.  I may take this form,” she gestured to her body,” for the ease of conversation and interaction, but make no mistake, Nyx isn’t just my name.  It is who I am.  It is what I am.  And right now” the next words reverberated on all sides of Zeus, “I’m all around you.”

Zeus had no response and Nyx returned to her ordinary mode of speech, “To get to my domain you had to pass through evening, the domain of seven of my daughters.  Before that you started in the domain of my eldest daughter, Hemera.  The only time you’re not in the domain of myself or one of my daughters is during the dawn, Eos and I have been friends since before you were born, and lest we forget you did overthrow her parents.

"Do you really want to go to war with me?  There is nowhere you can plot that I won’t know about it.

“Setting that aside, whose sides do you think the various gods will fall on?”  She paused.  ”Consider your own siblings.  Hera can’t go to war against someone for obeying her commands, no one would ever listen to her again.

"Your wife-sister will not be on your side.  Hades lives in misty Tartaros.  Tartaros, like me, came into being before birth, and owes you no more allegiance than I do, or Gaia for that matter.  My husband Erebos fills Tartaros, whenever Hades is at home he is surrounded on all sides by my husband. I’ve never heard them quarrel.  Kharon is my son.  My grandson Menoitios tends Hades' cattle.  My family is much closer to your brother than you are, whose side do you think he’ll take?

“Poseidon makes his home in the depths.  Pontos is of your grandfather’s generation, he owes you no allegiance, Okeanos is of your father’s generation, he might have taken your side in the war against your father, but he’s had plenty of time to reconsider betraying his siblings, and Thalassa is my granddaughter.  What makes you think Poseidon can command any of them to go to war with me?  Besides the sea, his greatest weapon is a trident forged by my great grandchildren, whom, as I recall, you cast into the depths never to see the light of day again.

“As for your sisters, the seasons still turn which means Demeter still, annually, remembers that she has good reason for hating you, and Hestia… Well Hestia as goddess of the hearth may hold the fate of all mankind in her hands, but if don’t think I’d watch the world burn to save my child then your interactions with Demeter have taught you nothing.”

“Now wait just a-”

“As for the other Olympians, Apollo and Artemis, I suppose, but I think I hold some sway with their mother Leto and don't think I won't use it."

"Aphrodite," Zeus almost shouted.

"Yes, you gained a powerful ally when you adopted her, she always wanted parents.  But I think you sometimes forget that she's older than you are.  She's known the Elder Eros since her creation, even named her firstborn after him.  I don't recall her having any children named Zeus.  The Elder Eros and I have known each other for a long, long time."

"She'd never-"

"Fight against you.  I agree.  But, with the proper persuasion, she might be convinced to sit this one out."

"You've been letting your children influence you too much if you can dream that."

"We'll see."

"Hermes."

"I'll give you that one."  Nyx paused, counting quickly on her fingers.  "Though, wasn't his grandfather-"

"Hephaestus."

"Hera's son, not yours."

"Dionysus."

"Whose mother I seem to remember you incinerating."

“I said I was sorry.”

“Yes, and I know that whenever I’m incinerated all it takes is someone saying they’re sorry and I drop the grudge immediately.”

Zeus smiled, there were only two Olympians left and he had intentionally saved them for last, "You want war?  Athena."

"You can count on her, I suppose... but then again you did eat her mother.  Is she still in you?  If I cut you open will she pop out?"

"Ares."

"Hera's son as much as yours, he'd be forced to choose between mother and father, I wonder which way he would go.  I wonder if even he knows."

There was a short pause, then Nyx said, "But what about the third war god?  Say, for the sake of argument, you did get Athena and Ares.  No one can do strategy like Athena, and Ares excels at the more personal elements, so say she's your general and he's your champion.  Where does that leave you?

"When the battle is joined, god against god, and the clash of weapon and shield drowns out the sound of a commander's voice, when Athena's plans are shattered and left by the wayside and Ares' brute force isn't enough to turn the tide, when confusion and chaos rule the battlefield, that's not Ares' war, certainly not Athena's.  That war belongs to Enyo, and she has been the best of friends with my daughter Eris for... how long, would you say?"

Zeus didn't answer.

"This would be Enyo's war."

“This doesn’t have to be a war,” Zeus said.

“Oh, but what a war it would be, it would overshadow your battle with your father and be remembered for all time.  And remember, the gods of battle, all the gods of battle, are my grandchildren.  But, you’re right, it doesn’t have to be a war."

Nyx spread her black wings threateningly, “We can settle it right here.  You’re younger and weaker, I’ll let you use the lightning bolts your uncles gave you.  For myself I’ll use no weapons at all.”

Zeus stared at Nyx for a long time, he felt the weight of night around him, he looked into her eyes and saw nothing but determination.  Then he turned away.  ”Keep him.  But keep him away from me.”

And thus, Zeus relented.

Hypnos stopped hiding behind his mother.

---

This is a random thing that popped into my head built around a scene from Vergil's Aeneid:

Hermea materialized next to a seated Eris, who was watching a conversation between Aphrodite and Hera.

"What are you doing?" Hermea asked.

"Who says I'm doing anything?" Eris responded.

"You and two of the most powerful goddesses from Olympus just happen to be in the same place at the same time."

"You're here with me," Eris said, "But you're also all around us," Eris made an all encompassing gesture to indicate that day had not turned to night.  "If someone suddenly expanded or amplified the rest of you-"

"What, like using mirrors to bring daylight into mother's domain?"

"Sure, whatever, you'd notice, right?"

"I would."

"Well these two have caused a serious spike in the me in the area, so I had to come and take a look." Eris reached into her pocket, "Want an apple?"

"Sure."

Eris handed Hermea an apple, then took out another for herself.  They both began to munch as they watched Aphrodite and Hera.

"Is there any chance they'll notice us?" Hermea asked.

"Those two are so deep into planning, plotting and backstabbing that they wouldn't notice a trireme if it fell from the sky and landed between them," Eris said.

"So, what did I miss?" Hermea asked.

"Aphrodite went into severe overkill mode and laid low a city, Hera is a lousy patron," Eris paused for a beat, "But she was snarky."

"Elaborate," Hermea said.

"Aeneas' ships were driven to these shores where they met the Carthaginians who seemed to be well disposed to the Trojans anyway, and would have lent a helping hand regardless and that could have set up an alliance between Carthage and the city Aeneas is supposed to found, but that wasn't enough for Aphrodite," Hermea nodded to this, everyone knew how overprotective Aphrodite could be of her mortal son, "so she sent Eros."

"Elder or younger?"

"Younger, her son and Aeneas' half brother, the elder Eros would never get mixed up in something so stupid."  Eris paused, finding her place.  "She sent Eros to make Dido, queen of Carthage, fall madly in love with Aeneas, and I do mean madly.  She's not exactly sane at the moment, all progress on Carthage has stopped, and basically Hera's dream city was forced to a standstill.

"Enter Hera, patron of Carthage and Dido.  Does she say, 'You're screwing things up, I want you to stop'?  Does she say, 'Dido is under my protection so give her her sanity back'?  Does she say, 'Take your kids and get out'?  No."

"What does she say?"

"Why don't we have the two get married?"

"Dido has lost her sanity due to an overdose of Eros-love..."

"Stabby, stabby stabby," Eris interjected while motioning how one might stab someone with a magical arrow.

"And Hera's solution is to keep that up but add some sex and legal entanglement?"

"Like I said, Hera is a lousy patron."

"It'll never work."

"Of course not," Eris said, "but which part are you referring to?"

"Zeus and three of our sisters, you know the ones," Eris nodded, the Fates, "have been working overtime to create a big plan-"

"How big?"

"More than two thousand years, I think"

"I can mess that up, give me a thousand years."

"The point is, that plan involves Aeneas in Italy, no way he's staying here."

"Which brings us back to, Hera is a lousy patron.  She should have opened with, 'Get Dido out from under your spell.'"

Aphrodite and Hera disappeared.

Hermea asked, "Did they just agree to the whole marriage pact thing?"

"Aphrodite knows it'll never work anyway, Hera has high hopes.  Each one thinks she won."

"Meanwhile, Dido loses."

"I should probably tell Kharon to play nice, because I see no way this is going to work out for her."

"Did I mention they're remodeling the underworld?" Hermea asked.

"No.  Do tell."

[Fade out.]

-

[Rewriting Greek Myth Index]