Troy story opening

Dearest Muses, Goddesses wise, fill our hearts with passion, and our words with beauty. Sing to us of days long past, of great love and great hatred; of the bravest heroes and wisest men. Tell us of the most beautiful woman ever seen. Tell us of the Gods of Olympus and the war they wrought among men. Let not the tale be forgotten of the nine-year war at Ilium, called Troy.

“Are you going?” Eris demanded, eyes sparkling with anger.

“Yes, of course I am. Everyone is going.”

“I am not going.”

Ares, god of war, did not look up from sharpening his knife before responding. “Dear sister, why so angry now? This wedding will be the greatest we have seen in many years, and the greatest for a long time to come. It would not be proper to spurn them on this day. You really must go. If you don’t care to celebrate the bride and groom, will you at least come as a favour to me?” He put his knife down and reached for his sisters hand, holding her delicate fingers in his calloused ones. With her other hand Eris picked at her wings, preening, pretending indifference. She looked at her brother, at his stern, hard face, and sighed.

“If it means so much to you, Ares, that I come, then I will. For you, of course.”

“Thank you, sister.” Ares leaned back, relaxed, and sipped at his nectar. They sat in silence, listening to the night. After a few moments, Ares spoke again. “Out of curiosity, my lovely maker of strife, why is it that you did not want to go? Did Thetis offend you in some way? Or Peleus? It is unlike you to miss a good wedding.”

“No reason, War-maker, to cause any alarm,” Eris said delicately. Ares laughed.

“Now I know you have something planned. What is it? Why did you want to miss that wedding?”

“It’s silly, really, now that I think about it. But I had thought to miss it because I was not invited,” she smiled innocently. Ares laughed again.

“So, darling Discord, you used me! Now you have given me your word that you are coming, and you would not break your word once given. So tell me--what is your plan?”

Eris smiled dryly, knowing her brother was smarter than that. He had smelled her trap the moment she invited him over, walking into it willingly. The God of War could not be fooled by the tactics of others, but accepted or rejected them as he pleased. She wondered why he would go along with her now? Did he feel he owed her a favour, or debt? Was he growing bored of things and hoping for a little amusement? Perhaps he was just being nice. It was a rare thing, for Ares to have no other motive, but she was his sister, so occasionally he did humour her. Still, Eris thought, something felt different about this. Ares was too comfortable, too happy. Could her will to play a little trick at a wedding possibly lead to something bigger? She could not see how.

“It’s just a small thing, brother, that I would like to do. I won’t ruin the wedding, or harm anyone, I promise. Peleus and Thetis have invited everyone. Every god, every halfling, every celebrated mortal. Absolutely everyone has been invited except for me,” Eris said bitterly, stamping her little for on the floor for emphasis. “What were they thinking? Is there a worse way to offend a person? My pride is hurt. Clearly, Thetis was hoping to avoid trouble. But to spurn me? I can’t allow that. Perhaps I am not so cared for as you, brother, nor as popular as most of out kin; but I am not to be trifled with and mean to impress that fact upon her. Thetis wants this day to be all about her, and thinks that I am a threat to her. I will teach her who the real threats are in Olympus.”

“Very well,” Ares replied, “I see you do not wish to tell me your plan, if you have one. In that case, sister, know that i wait in suspense to see what you come up with.” Now it was Eris’ turn to laugh. Her brother’s good cheer spread through her, quickly abating her anger. Perhaps he was just having some fun after all.

As the evening grew darker and the moon brighter, Ares made his excuses and left rather than stay the night. He was eager make his report to Zeus that Eris would plant the seed at the wedding. Ares shivered with anticipation. He had sat idle for too long, and was ready to bring war to men once again.


***

The wedding went smoothly as Thetis, daughter of Neptune, and Peleus, son of Aeacus, son of Zeus, took each other’s hands and swore to honour each other as long as they might live. The Nereid’s silver feet glistened on the sandy shores as they led the way to the banquet, her chin held high with pride at the thought of the elaborate feast they would have in her honour.

It’s match could only be met in the houses of gods. Servants carried in tray after tray of roasted lamb, boar, and venison. The guests chatted and gossiped about the stories they had heard of Peleus’ hunting party. They say he took down a boar all alone. Perhaps this is the one? The meat was flavoured with garlic and spices from the east, served with lentils and chick peas. The tables were heavy with barley bread, olives, grapes, and honeycomb, cheeses, sweet dates, and plums. Wine flowed quickly and freely.

Each of the guests, god and human, took their turn to congratulate the newly weds, laying glorious gifts at their feet. Tapestries, wine, livestock, armour for Peleus and dresses for Thetis. They in turn played the gracious hosts and returned the favours with gifts of their own. Gold and silver goblets, bowls, and pottery. The ambiance was so perfect and so festive. Ares had a faint smile on his lips as the line for gift giving grew shorter, sure his sister Strife would act soon. And as the guests resumed their seats for another toast, he saw a movement among the shadows--barely perceptible if one had not been watching. A moment later, from behind a pillar at the end of the hall, came an apple, rolling across the floor into the centre of the room.

How very simple, Ares thought to himself. An apple, symbol of fertility, youth, and health. He sat back and waited. The room turned silent as one by one the guests noticed the apple sitting in the middle of the floor. It was perfect. Not a scratch or bruise. And it wore a golden skin. Clearly, a product of Olympus, and a fitting gift for such a wedding. Finally, Aphrodite stood from her cushions and went to retrieve the shining object. She picked it up, gracefully, of course, and held in sensually in front her lips as she inhaled its sweet smell. Ares wondered if it came from the garden of Hesperides.

“Oh my,” she said. “I have never seen anything quite like this.” She turned it slowly in her hands, examining its perfection, and was about to hand it to Thetis, but then she stopped.

“What is it, sister?” Ares asked, quite intrigued now.

“There’s an inscription,” Aphrodite replied. “It says, ‘to the fairest’ on one side.” Ares allowed himself a small smile. Clever, Ares thought.

“Then it can’t be meant for me,” Thetis said humbly, although everyone in the room knew it to be false modesty, a way to pretend to reluctantly accept a wedding gift without offending the gods. She thought, perhaps, that it was a couples gift from Peleus, but when she looked at her bridegroom his face was puzzled. Thetis’ modest approach did not work with Aphrodite.

“Then clearly it was meant for me!” the goddess replied, giggling.

“For you?” came the challenge. Athena. “How ridiculous. You may govern love, and lust, and beauty. But fairness, dear sister, comes from within. It is mine.”

“Fair of complexion, of manners? These things I am, Athena, and you are lacking in them. All you do is hunt and fight. I govern fairness, not you.”

“Outside of my golden armour, I too am fair. And I believe my complexion is nicer than yours.” A few feet away, Thetis leaped to her shining feet. She may only be nymph, but it was her wedding, and not to be ruined. But before she could speak, someone else did.

“Enough!” A cool voice echoed through the halls as Hera stood, tall and strong, her golden hair hanging in curls down to her fair arms. “I am wife of Zeus, stronger, more beautiful, more lovely than either of you. If that apple belongs to anyone, it is mine.” Aphrodite’s eyes narrowed as she looked to Zeus. Only one man could settle this now. Ares had to hide his grin behind his goblet.

Zeus thought, carefully, catching Ares’ eye as he did so. Finally, he spoke. “I cannot decide between you. If I choose, I risk the wrath of my wife and my daughters. My friends and brothers may be offended as well. If I choose you, Hera, they will say it was an obligation, that the contest was not fairly judged. Yet if I do not choose you, you will never speak to me again! This is not a fair question to ask of me.”

“Then who on earth and in heaven could possibly decide fairly between us?” The women demanded.

“We will have to choose an outsider. Someone small and insignificant, someone who does not risk your wrath, or mine, but will be rewarded for doing us this favour so long as we promise not to seek vengeance on him for his choice.”

And thusly was Thetis the river nymph forgotten on her wedding day, and Eris pleased with her vengeance.
***

The gods found a shepherd in the Troad who minded the livestock for his parents. The boy was young and beautiful, and sat in the shade of a tree playing the lyre to himself. He was stubborn, proudful, and a little too self-centred; but had a reputation for being fair and unhesitating to do the right thing.

Ares recommended the young man to Zeus, telling the Cloud-gatherer of his recent escapade as a bull. The shepherd, Alexandros, had a prize bull more beautiful than any in the Troad. This bothered Ares who wanted the bull for himself, and thought a mortal should be less proud. So he challenged Alexandros to a contest saying that his bull was nicer. They set the stakes so that the winning party would keep the loser’s bull. Ares won, of course, but was startled by how quickly Alexandros admitted defeat and handed his prize bull over to Ares. Most men would have argued and tried to get out of the deal altogether rather than lose such a prize animal; and Ares had not forgotten the fairness shown to him by the mortal Alexandros.

Zeus decided that Ares’ candidate won out the others, and promptly sent Hermes to escort the women to the poor shepherd who would undoubtedly face the wrath of the losing goddesses, despite all their protestations.

Life Stuff

So I'm getting used to the Hyatt. It doesn't suck as much as it did on my first day, where I was cranky and migrainy and nauseous and couldn't get my locker open for five minutes and wanted to cry lol. Now it just stinks because I'm the bottom of the food chain, and I hate being on probation for the first three months of new jobs, and I still don't know everything and have to ask people stuff all the time. I'm also doing two jobs there now. Got the hostessing thing going, and then also serving for room service. That's descent too, pays better and gets tips, but I'm really slow at it. A) I'm no good at carrying those heavy trays and opening doors at the same time, and B) I'm still triple checking everything constantly to make sure I get everything right. This slows me down big time. But, it's also earned me big points with the guys that work it (they've been there 23, 24, and 27 years respectively; wtf, eh?) because they notice that I'm not making any mistakes. Slow and steady wins the race indeed, as long as you learn to do things quicker down the line haha. Pretty much, I'm good at both jobs, but still get flustered and a bit lost when things get really busy and I have trouble keeping up. It'll get better, I know, it already is, but...not there yet. Also, I really miss working around books. It was dusty, but I really enjoyed it. Damn you, Indigo, for not paying well! Oh, and C) Do you know how superstitious I am? And do you know how often I knock the salt over on these stupid trays?! Not the glasses of water, not the wine or beer or food, it's always the salt I spill. My shoulder devil should be crying for a month with the amount of salt I threw in his eyes. I wish I had some of the same days off as Chris gets, though. I really want to do fun things with him like hiking and see the Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge (we did the Cap bridge with Kyle, that was sooo awesome I forget if I blogged about my Ewok experience or not), and walking along the sea wall, and visiting museums and gardens. Once I've been at work a bit longer I can work something out but I don't want to ask for things yet it's too early still. Couple more weeks and I will try to get Tuesdays off, since Chris' schedule is changing from weekends off to Sundays and Tuesdays off.

The new housemate has been here for a couple of months now and all is going well. I like her, (Kailey) she's really chill. My only complaint is that she doesn't clean enough, so that's fine. Could be much worse.

Eric on the other hand... I can hear from my living room the smooching noises coming from his bedroom. Can't he close the door? I came home earlier and went to say hello and walked into his room and almost said "Wow, you cleaned it! Looks great!" and noticed just in time that there was a girl there and I kept the comment back haha didn't want to ruin the date for him by implying that his room is usually messy. Oh...there goes the door! (They closed it) hahaha mentally sending out my thanks to Eric.

Just finished book 2 of the Dragon Brigade series by Margaret Weiss and Robert krammes. Super fun and exciting, but I then realized that book two just came out in July. So I have no idea how long until book 3. Grrrr.

Side note about work, had a funny moment when one of the servers was complaining that I was giving her too many tables (I said the other girl has more than you do, there's nothing else I can do but give it to you)and being bitchy and five minutes later she spilled a tray of drinks on herself. I was like (in my head of course) "ooooh, karma's a bitch!" and then realized I was being a bitch by enjoying someone else's bad moment and immediately regretted thinking that because I don't want to be a bad person and I don't want to get bad karma for thinking that.

Zsuzsi is moving to Vancouver (the girl from Ottawa who was dating Krisztian for a while a few years back)! She's been doing arty things for school in California and is now done and coming here to look for work because apparently has better opportunities for design or whatever it is than Toronto does. That will be awesome. She's one of those people who is always cheerful and kind and has nothing bad to say about anybody, but has always let me rant and rave about my crap. She's a truly kind and wonderful person and I'm excited to be able to hang out with her again.


I think I was going to make a clever comment about something else too but I'm sleepy and forget. Tomorrow gonnae try to get my eyebrows threaded and go to karate, and enjoy my day off. Hopefully it will be nice weather again because usually it rains on my days off and is sunny on my work days. I want to go to the beach a couple more times before it's too late!

Over and out.

Happy Trails

Sometimes when I'm walking home at night I see the trails of snails and slugs on the sidewalk. At times I see the slug too, and at times it's just the slimy tracks. I've noticed that they aren't usually in a straight line. In fact, when I see one that is a straight line, I generally stop and stare for a moment, silently commending the slug who dun it; but usually it's a squiggly line that bends and turns and makes many figure eights and no conceivable sense. Sometimes, I get really confused when I can see the track suddenly leave off somewhere. Where'd the snail go? Get eaten up by a birdy? Then, once in a while, i see a track that has TWO ends, and no slug. Shit, son! What did them snails go and do, invent teleportation?! Well I would too if I was that slow. I believe we need to study these creatures more closely.