Common Speaking, volume 2 number 5

of Athena Retold |

Once upon a time, the all powerful god Zeus seducedMetisMetis
was the type of goddess who was given to romance She put the roses
that Zeus brought her in a crystal vase, drank her wine and got
pregnant as a result of a relatively unsatisfying night in bed.She was
not angry about this, however.She knew that he could have just as
easily raped her as seduced her, and she appreciated the difference.
And anyway, Zeus was prepared to marry herHe was a good provider,
he didn t beat her, and he didn’t hang out in bars. They got married
quickly andMetis prepared herself for the coming birth and for her
role as queen of Olympia.

Zeus, however, heard one prophesy among those daily presented
to him which stopped these happy plans. It was prophesied that
Metis would give birth to a child who was wiser than he was. In each
generation that preceded Zeus, the son killed his father and replaced
him as king. Zeus realized that he had to prevent the birth of his son.
He regretted hurting Metis, but this wasa political crisis here, not just
a personal problem. Sadly, he remembered the wife’s complicity in
the overthrow of each of the previous patriarchs, including the help
which his own mother gave to him. Unlike some of his ancestors,
Zeus was passably intelligent. He realized that sending Metis and the
child away could only remove them from his influence. Instead one
night as she lay curled against him, he turned to his pregnant wife
and swallowed her whole.

The containment that poor Metis experienced in the body of Zeus
was worse than anything that she could remember. Since she was a
goddess, she could not be killed, but her capacity for action could
be. She made up things in her head and pretended that they were
real. These elaborate fantasies sometimes made her feel better, but
at other times they turned around and snapped at her themselves.
Ultimately they engulfed her so that she forgot that she was their
originator.

Eventually, Metis gave birth. By this time she barely remembered
being outside of Zeus. But as she held the bloodied, squirming piece
of flesh against her, she felt a fierce protective impulse toward it. She
mustered up all of the magic that she could, and made the baby intoa
sixteen year old girl-goddess, dressed in armour and brandishing a
sword. For a moment she looked into the child’s hazy grey eyes just
coming to consciousness, and prayed that she had made her strong
enough to survive without her mother. Then she thrust Athena
upward with all of her strength.

At this point, Zeus had had indigestion all day, got a furious
headache and began to bellow in pain. He ordered his cousin
Hephaistos to relieve the pressure by opening his head with an axe.
No sooner did Hephaistos do so than Athena tumbled out, her grey
eyes narrowed, answering Zeus’ screams with her own war cry.

Being, as we have said, passably intelligent, Zeus sized up the
situation at once and realized what he had to do. He threw his arms
around Athena and cried out, “My daughter, my grey-eyed
darling!” There was a moment of changing, a moment of confusion
in Athena’s heart. But only the vague and shadowy memory of a
women’s eyes warned her against him. And he stood there in front of
her, shining and powerful. He had drawn back and held her at arm’s
length, looking upon her fondly. “My daughter,” he repeated,
slowly, concentrating all of his magic upon her. Athena felt herself
warming to him. Why, this was her father after all. This was the man
who had borne her and given her life! Why had she thought to resist
him? She could not remember.

Athena became her father’s favorite. They spent most of their time
together, and developed a very special relationship. In another time
and place, it might have been frowned upon. But even if anyone in

Zeus put Athena in charge of the heroes. He depended on her to
act in his stead. She advised him of what was going on in the human
world. In addition, she worked on ‘her weaving, which she loved.
Sometimes, as she wove, she began to feel that something different
than the world had ever seen before was about to come out through
her fingers and take its formin the cloth. She would begin totremble
and feel sick and clammy. Usually she would put away the weaving
until the spell passed, and then when she returned to it, make
something useful, like a tablecloth or a pair of sheets for her father.

One day as she sat at her loom, a goddess whom she had never
seen before appeared at her side. Her eyes were shiny black and they
regarded her with love. Athena felt an aching begin inside her asshe
looked into those eyes. She asked,“Who are you?”

“Mariam, Athena.”

“Who are you?”

“lam a part of you and you’re a part of me, but we’re not the
same.”

By this time Athena’s insides were heaving painfully, yet she felt
elated. She laughed. “Why are you here?”

“To help you weave!”

Together, Athena and Mariam wove a piece of cloth that was thick
and soft and deep, deep red. As they bent-over their work, their
shadows turned it purple. Athena’s pain lessened with every pass of
the shuttle. When the cloth was finished, Mariam kissed her and said,
“Remember your mother and re-member yourself.”’ With that she
vanished.

Now, it isnot unusual for goddesses to come and go in this
manner, but the way that Athena felt about Mariam was unusual. She
wanted to hold her for hours, and for them to talk together about
everything that they had ever done. Yet something called her before
she could follow. She remembered Mariam’s parting words.
Throwing the red cloth over her shoulder, she ran to her father.

“Who is my mother?”

“Your mother?” He looked guilty.

“Who is my mother?”

“Athena.” He took her arm gently. “Your mother is, uh, mentally
unbalanced. She’s mad. She had to be put away.”

“Where?” demanded Athena. He would only shake his head.

Furious, she flung the red cloth over him. For a moment it hung
there, but then it wrapped itself around his body. He moaned as it
squeezed him tighter and tighter, until all at once it fell away. Metis
landed on the floor among the folds. Her hair was grey and matted.
She drew the cloth around her shoulders like a cloak and began
rocking back and forth, muttering to herself. Athena stopped to look
into her face. She was mad. Still, when Metis saw her daughter, she
twisted her and held out her hand.

Athena was scared. She felt that some of the things which she
would hear from her mother were horrible, and she was not even
sure that she could help her. Slowly, she took her mother’s hand, and
as she did, Mariam materialized and helped her to hold Metis
between them. The three women turned to leave, but something
caught Athena’s eye. It was Zeus, mouthing words at her across the
great distance that had opened up between them. His face was red,
and he was waving his arms at them. Athena shouted, “Maybe | will
talk to you tomorrow, but right now | am talking to my mother!”

And the three left the house of the fathers together, and nobody
knows what will happen if they come back.

Elisabeth Varcoe