Seeds (38 page)

     Thermasia – warmth – was one of Demeter's names. To me, this warmth wouldn't be one that came from fire or heat, but from the production of life, such as sunlight feeding plants or the body temperature of animals. Other names that Demeter was known as were... Malophorous (apple-bearer or sheep-bearer) and Chloe (green shoot) Of course, her Roman name – Ceres – means 'of grain' and is where we get our word cereal from. A fitting tribute to her, though I can't help but wonder what she'd think of seeing all the multicolored and sugar-blasted kid's cereals nowadays.

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     The myths vary in small details often, and this does not just apply to Greek mythology. I see it all the time in folklore and fairy tales. My story takes liberties with some of the classical myths. Vital elements remain, but the 'laws' that apply to this universe that I set up is that while mortals cannot kill a god, another god can – provided that they are strong/determined enough to do so. Kronos did have Gaea's assistance in killing Ouranos because of what Ouranos did to the Cyclopes and the other offspring of Gaea that he deemed ugly. And like this story shows, despite that, Ouranos managed to stay alive for a long before Demeter annihilated him even if he was no longer whole, because enough of him remained.

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     If you're well-versed in the myths and are able to spot the changes I made to these stories, great. Knowledge is power. But wouldn't it be boring if I followed these old myths exactly? In classical mythology Minthe and Leuce came after Persephone, which implies that Hades cheated on her. I hated the idea of that, so I made them previous lovers. I figured that a couple of women would at least give Hades a bit of experience in what a girl would enjoy. Otherwise it would have been very long and lonely centuries for the Dark One, and I did not want him to be some lonely hermit as he is sometimes depicted in myths.

     I had Kronos bury his children in an underground pit instead of swallowing them, because to me five fully grown gods emerging from his stomach was hard for me to swallow – pun totally intended – even knowing it’s just a myth. I figured, throwing them in a sunless pit would be like being in his stomach, only without the digestive juices. It was and is my fullest intention to remain true to the heart of these myths, but I took liberties with details here and there to make the story smoother, more cohesive, and more realistic.That may sound odd in a story containing mythology and magic, but it is what I felt was best for the tale.

     There were different versions to some myths, and the myth of Hades and Persephone is no exception, with one version claiming that Aphrodite was responsible for the mess and that she had her son hit Hades with one of his love-arrows. I didn't want Aphrodite have Eros shoot his arrow into Hades because she didn't like that Hades was the only one yet untouched by love. Yeah sure, that's one version, but like I said, I want this story to have meaning. I wanted Hades' actions triggered by true love, not the mischief of a capricious and bored goddess or her son. Aphrodite already caused enough trouble with the Trojan War among her other foibles.

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     I imagined Nyx to be more exotic-looking than the members of her extended family, almost like an Indian woman. Of course, she would still have Greek facial features, but I imagine the Goddess of the Night to have dark, dusky skin. I just couldn't imagine her with pale skin, though I have seen beautiful artworks that depict her as such and I do think she can look nice either way.

     As for Hekate, I imagined her as a more cheery character than she is often depicted in mythology, at least to her friends and loved ones. Mythology makes her such a fearful character, and some versions even make her older than the Olympians. Being associated with witchcraft inevitably brought her negative connotations with the rise of Christianity, so I wanted to make her personal character unique.

     In Rome, she was known as Trivia – literally 'three roads' – due to her being the guardian of the crossroads. In medieval times, 'trivia' came to mean the three ways (trivium) in education – grammar, rhetoric and logic – think of our own current-day three R's. This was more of a primary school education, with the higher-education quadrivium being arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy, back then considered more challenging than trivium. Trivia came to mean what we know it as today in the 1960's, at Columbia University as part of a game, where people challenged one another with such 'trivial' questions. It was further popularized by the game shows that were becoming popular in this era. And of course, now we have 'Trivial Pursuit' and Tri-Bond.

     I hope you feel smarter for having learned trivia about Trivia!

About the Author

     M.M. Kin has been interested in history and mythology since she was young and has been an avid reader for as long as she can remember. Her other interests include hiking, kayaking, and world domination. 'Seeds' is her first book, and she is currently at work on more books.