Page 31 of Arrogance
I returned to sitting in the chair beside him. “Yes. Everything is just fine.”
I waited until Glaucus was ready for his next round in the races. I glared down his horses and cast a spell on all four of them. When the race began, his mares proceeded to round the track as they normally would, but then they started to slow down and flail about in what seemed like an outrage. Glaucus’ chariot flung over and he fell to the ground. The crowd gasped with worry once they saw the strange behavior of the horses. But what they witnessed next would haunt them for the rest of their lives. The horses trotted over Glaucus and trampled him. The mares grabbed hold of his limbs with their teeth and tore him completely apart, piece to piece, eating his flesh and gnawing on his bones. The scene was so abhorrent that they had to postpone the next round of races for another few hours until the clean-up had been completed.
Adonis held his hand over his mouth as he watched the scene unfold from afar with me. “How awful!” he asserted.
I pressed my hand to my chest, as if I too was horrified by the ghastly sight of it all. “Yes. How cruel for a horse to eat human flesh.”
Chapter 14
Artemis
Nothing angers me more than a liar. The worst kind of people are those who claim to be loyal to you and then wind up disappointing you in the end. Take Polyphonte for instance. A woman who used to be pious to Aphrodite, but then shunned the goddess and her beliefs, only to vow to be dedicated to my deity. Polyphonte was a rarity among mortals. Not many people had the courage to switch and go from worshipping one god to another.
But Polyphonte had a gallantry about her that I admired. She went against her family and her people in order to support her conviction of being a virgin. I respected Polyphonte and the peril she endured by taking such a stance.
My plan was to honor Polyphonte at a festival held in Brauron. It was a yearly event in which all of my female adherents joined me in a celebration of life and chastity. Those who attended would gain my guidance and have many of their prayers answered for their allegiance towards me.
A parade was led throughout the streets and towards my temple, in which many of my patrons were lined up, awaiting my appearance at the very end of the line. It was a grand tradition that I dressed up as a mother bear, with adolescent girls running around me dressed as my cubs. Once these girls hit puberty, it was customary for them to perform in this ceremony and then once we reached the temple, I would bless each of them through a ritual of purity, followed by the onslaught of several goats to complete the purification process.
As the festival was drawing to a close, it was nearly time for me to announce the honorary woman of the evening, which was Polyphonte. She and I met privately in a chamber of the temple to discuss the ceremonial rites she would be performing upon the closing of my speech.
But the cheerful and self-assured Polyphonte I had grown accustomed to was not present today. The Polyphonte that stood before me was demure with a skittish demeanor about her. “Do not be frightened, Polyphonte, for you have nothing to worry about. The ceremony is fairly straight-forward,” I stated in an attempt to alleviate any sort of apprehension she may have had.
She deeply exhaled, taking a rather long breath. “My Goddess, I am unworthy of such a title.”
I shook my head. “What a thing to say! Of course you are worthy, Polyphonte. There is no one else present today that I could think is more deserving of receiving the honorary title this year,” I assuaged.
“You will not think so highly of me once I tell you all that has transpired,” she began to explain.
“And what happened that makes you think so skeptically of yourself?”
“My chastity is no more, Artemis. I have failed you. I made love to a bear in Cyprus. I am in love and bearing his children. We are living peacefully together in the wilderness,” Polyphonte revealed.
Were my ears deceiving me? Did I just hear Polyphonte correctly? She could not have just informed me that she was in love with an animal and made love to it. It was improbable. I could not help but laugh out loud. This must have been some sort of joke she was telling me. “Oh Polyphonte, you jest! You are taking my mother bear persona to a completely new level.” I threw my head back and continued to howl at the girl’s cleverness.
But once I toned down my amusement, I could see the expression on her face still remained stern. It was quite perplexing. “This is no laughing matter, Goddess. I am serious in all my proclamations. I am in love with this creature. He is the soon to be father of my children.”
I stepped forward and placed my hand over Polyphonte’s stomach. As soon as I got the visual of what she was procreating, I abruptly recoiled and treaded backwards, appalled by the creatures that I saw growing in her womb. “You are giving birth to two monsters!” I shouted in disbelief. “You actually had intercourse with a bear!?”
Polyphonte attempted to step towards me, reaching out for my arm to grab with desperation, but I retracted from her. “Please, Goddess. I cannot control my thoughts and emotions. I am in love with this bear. Have I gone mad!?”
“Yes. Yes, you have gone mad. You have lost all sanity, Polyphonte! And how dare you stand before me right here and include yourself in my close circle of loyal maidens with thosebeastsinside of you!”
I was becoming more and more enraged with Polyphonte. My temper was at an all-time high. She had manipulated me. The girl could no longer be trusted. A fury overcame me and I held my hands out to her. “I cannot allow you to love other animals and disgrace the world by giving birth to more revolting creatures.”
A glimmering jade aura surrounded Polyphonte as I cast my curse upon her. “Polyphonte, you have caused reprehensible shame upon me. You will no longer be able to lie with any bear or animal ever again. All animals will now hate you,” I recited. “And if you ever do approach another mammal, they will hunt you down for the kill. Do you understand?”
The aura around her dissipated once the curse had been finalized. Polyphonte felt no difference in her being, but if she ever did try to acquire the attention of any animal in the world, it would strike her.
“This is cruel, my Goddess! Just plain cruel!” Polyphonte began to cry and then sprinted off, out of my sight.
She would return to Cyprus and beg forgiveness from her father and mother. Her parents would excuse her flagrant actions, but only until they saw what Polyphonte would give birth to. Months later, Agrius and Oreius would come from her womb and into the world. The twins were half-human, half-bear monstrosities. The two mischievous cannibals would create many issues for both humans and gods. Zeus and Hermes both would soon become irritated with their behavior and thereby transform them into predatory birds, so that they would never walk the Earth and bother humans or gods ever again.
When I had time to reminisce on all that had happened, I sensed that foul play was somehow involved in all of this. How could I perceive Polyphonte as this staunch maiden who vowed to be a virgin for the remainder of her life, only for her to go insane and fall in love with a hideous bear? It was complete and utter nonsense. My suspicions rose and I truly wondered if Polyphonte was acting on her own accord of if it was Aphrodite that cursed the girl to begin with.
What if Aphrodite was bitter about Polyphonte absolving all associations with her deity? Was the goddess jealous that Polyphonte valued me more so than her? It was a very strong possibility. The more I speculated on the matter, the more I became convinced that Aphrodite must have led Polyphonte down this path of ruin.
If this was the case, then this would be the last time I would ever allow Aphrodite to scorn me and cause such a disturbance. For if anymore instances occurred in which the goddess would plague my deity, then I would get my revenge on her. And Aphrodite had much to lose. So, she should be careful in how she inflicts her wrath in the future.
