Disenchantment 21

“Yes,” said Floyd. “This text claims that the nineteenth day of the month is dedicated to the honor of the god of the dead, a name they rarely muttered and instead used euphemisms for. I believe your wife, Persephone, was kidnapped, like his prior wife of the same name. I am of the strong opinion that she, for whatever reason, is going to be his new bride. Hades, the king of the Underworld, has a new wife.”

 

“Hades?” asked Nannette.

 

“Have you heard of Zeus?” asked Oren.

 

“Yes, the Greek god, king of the gods, I think. Something like that.”

 

Before Oren could respond, Floyd jumped in, after all this was more his area of expertise, Nannette assumed. ”Hades, was...apparently is， the son of Cronus, and older brother to Zeus. He is the god of the dead, ruler of the Underworld, where all souls go after death.”

 

“So,” wondered Nannette aloud, “Satan, Lucifer, the devil of Greek mythology?”

 

“Yes and no,” said Floyd. “All souls, not just sinners, go to Hades upon death. The good are rewarded. The bad are punished. The Underworld, also eventually took on the name of Hades as well. It’s a complicated place. There’s a hierarchy down there. Hades doesn’t judge, he just rules over the place. He is maybe not what we would refer to as evil, but you certainly don’t want to mess with him. He is not known for being forgiving or loving, and in the mythology he is rarely compassionate. He fell for his first wife, and unlike his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, there was no seduction. He just took her. Unlike Oren’s wife, the first Persephone was a goddess, daughter of Demeter. If he just took her while defying repercussions from Zeus and her mother, what would prevent him from just stealing a mortal woman?”

 

Mark spoke up: “You said that people didn’t use his name often?”

 

“Yeah, like the villain in Harry Potter, people were afraid to say his name aloud, usually. They referred to him as Clymenus or Ebouleus at times, meaning renowned, or good counsellor respectively. Most commonly he was seen as the opposite of Zeus and was called chthonian Zeus, or ‘Underworld‘ Zeus. In Roman times he was referred to as Pluton or Pluto, you know like that spherical mass that you scientists can’t decide whether or not it’s a planet at times?”

 

When anyone had something to question about the authenticity of science, Nannette felt the need to explain. “In all the sciences, soft and hard, there is some pseudo science. Blame it on arrogance or pride. Everyone wants to make a name for themselves in their field. It really does more harm than good. Many will put forth a barely formed hypothesis and call it a theory, to get their names out there, to get published in a journal. Yet, that is how our knowledge grows. Sometimes they end up being right, or at a minimum they end up being the most popular opinion. Most often their new theories are eventually proven wrong or rejected outright.”

 

“Floyd, what else can you tell us about Hades or the underworld?” asked Oren.

 

“Wait,” said Nannette, “There is a little problem with your dates.” She waited a few moments before she began again. “You said that during their lunisolar calendars they celebrated Hades on the nineteenth?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“They didn’t use the Gregorian calendar, like we do, right?”

 

“Correct.”

 

“So doesn’t that mean that our nineteenth wouldn’t be the same as the ancient Greek nineteenth? You even said that their first month takes up part of both July and August.”

 

“Maybe, but there is something that you need to keep in mind. The gods didn’t come up with the calendar. The people did. If that day became holy to the gods, it was because the people decided that it would. They came up with it on their own. The Greeks eventually used the Roman Julian calendar, and today...Greece uses the same Gregorian calendar that we use, right?”

 

“Okay,” said Nannette, “But if the people change their days and their calendars, does that mean that the gods would also?”

 

“Well, how could we know that? I’m just throwing out information. Isn’t this all conjecture on one level anyway? The old gods are no longer worshipped. People in Greece are now all Christians, or mostly, Eastern Orthodox. A month ago none of us would have been having this conversation.

 

“I want to believe this. I need to believe it. This has been my life’s goal, my primary purpose. I had gone beyond the Greek into many others. It all seems to come back to Greek. You know, that isn’t even the first religion in the world? Thousands of years of Baal, Horus, Brahma, they all predate the Greek gods.”

 

They all sat in silence for a few minutes before Mark broke it. “I want to believe it too, Floyd. I think I need to believe it as much as you. My life hasn’t been the same since Mattie disappeared. If I can find out what happened to him...” He trailed off, standing up, quite visibly emotional. He then turned to look at her briefly. “Mattie was my son, Nannette, the rest of the guys know. When he disappeared I lost my faith in everything. You know, in my meetings, we have to have a higher power. I was a Christian once, but now, now Mattie is my higher power. For years I felt betrayed by my God. I thought it was all bullshit. I told myself it was. My son, probably dead, became my higher power. He helped me get through. It is because of Mattie that I haven’t had a drink in five years.”

 

The man that had seemed well put together, stoic, the strong, silent type when she first arrived, now showed his true colors, as someone broken, disillusioned, lost. That most certainly should have turned her off, but instead she felt a deeper attraction to this beaten down version of what she thought should be a greater person. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” She almost stood up to hug him, but refrained at the last possible second.

 

“You know, this is how cults start,” joked Malbourne, addressing the conversation for the first time with something cruel, breaking the emotional mood of awe and sadness.

 

“Fuck you,” said Mark as he sat back down. “Floyd, please tell us what else you’ve got.”

 

“How this all relates to Hades? No problem, that’s why I’m here.”

 

“Please wait, if you don’t mind. Can you tell me a little more about Hades? I don’t know much about Greek mythology. Maybe it can help me try to understand what’s going on here a little bit better.” Nannette unintentionally allowed desperation to creep into her voice as she made the request.

 

“Okay, replied Floyd, “What is it that you would like to know?”

 

“I’m not sure, just some background.”

 

“Why do we need to cater to this woman’s curiosity?” asked Malbourne. “Oren, you’re paying her well. She is probably just padding her bill.”

 

Floyd looked at Oren, almost asking permission to continue with his eyes.

 

“I’m not that worried about it. Go ahead, Floyd.” Malbourne visibly rolled his eyes when Oren gave his verdict.

 

“You know, it’s mythology, or I used to think it was mythology, people making up stories to explain natural phenomenon that they didn’t understand. It’s in all religions, past and present, even though I have always believed that some of it has to be true, but be careful, it can contradict your science.”

 

“In the beginning was Chaos, nothing. From Chaos, or other versions say Light, came Gaia, the Earth. From her came Uranus, and other primordials, such as Pontus, god of oceans. Keep in mind another version refers to Oceanus, not Pontus, and has him a titan, not a primordial. Or... we can say that in the beginning there was Nyx, who basically floated around from nothing, and from him, or usually her, came Gaia and Uranus, the sky. There are different versions to this, but not just to Greek mythology, but essentially to all religions that were initially oral tradition, before a single version is settled upon by us mere mortals. We have so much writing from the ancient Greeks, it’s clear that it never became absolute dogma like some of our current religions.

 

“Basically, Uranus and Gaia became a couple. There is a version where Eros came before them, the god of love, so that they could mate. Most versions have Eros coming later, son of Aphrodite. Regardless, Uranus and Gaia got it on and created offspring. Their offspring were the Titans. The two we will look at are Cronus and Rhea, who also coupled up. Cronus overthrew Uranus and not wanting to be overthrown by his own children, he devoured them as they were born, swallowed them whole.”

 

“I know this part,” said Oren. “Cronus swallowed his first five children, but Rhea wasn’t happy with that shit. She didn’t like him swallowing her kids, so when her sixth kid was born, she wrapped up a stone in his place and Cronus unknowingly swallowed that instead. Right? That was Zeus. He took down Cronus and rescued his siblings from his father’s belly. Then during a war, he imprisoned all the titans in the underworld.”

 

Floyd nodded and then shrugged, “Another version has the Titans fighting with Zeus, or at least some of them.” He then continued on where Oren had left off. “So, the Olympians came to be. The three brothers drew lots to see who would rule what. Zeus became ruler of the sky, king of the Olympians, and everything else, basically. Poseidon became god of the seas. Hades became the ruler of the Underworld, god of the dead.”

 

“So, he’s a fourth generation god?” asked Nannette.

 

“Something like that. In the very beginning was Chaos, or Nyx, or both, then the primordials, then the titans, then the Olympians.”

 

“So, female gods didn’t do much?”

 

“On the contrary, they did a great deal, but they didn’t rule much. With that said, you still didn’t want to upset the goddesses. You never want to disrespect any of the deities, or you will be punished.”

 

“What about Persephone?” asked Nannette.

 

“That’s another explanation myth, or rational myth. It explains the seasons. Persephone was the daughter of Zeus, and Demeter, goddess of agriculture. When Hades laid his eyes upon her, he fell immediately in love, and dragged her down to the Underworld. I guess her father didn’t really care much. Most of the gods were incestuous, as there weren’t many of them. Zeus married Hera, his sister, but also mated with other family members including his sister, Demeter.

 

“Demeter did care. Basically, that’s the story of why we have winter. Upon the demands of his sister, Zeus allowed Persephone to return to Olympus, so long as she had not eaten in the realm of Hades. But, she had eaten some pomegranate seeds, the number varies between versions. So, when this became known, it was decided that she would spend half the year with her mother on Mount Olympus, and half the year with her husband in the Underworld. When she is with Hades, nothing grows, it gets cold, crops die. Her mother is the goddess of the harvest after all. She misses her daughter so terribly, that when Persephone is below, she reduces the sunshine and allows life to die. When she returns to her mother in the Spring, life begins anew, crops grow, the weather warms.”

 

Nannette suddenly gasped, and Mark reached out to her, grabbing her hand before he realized what he was doing and moved his hand to her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

 

“You guys,” she said, “It’s all connected.” All eyes upon her, she said more, “Why is it so damn hot out? Why hasn’t winter come this year? Why are the oceans overflowing onto the land?”

 

No one answered, but abruptly Floyd spattered out, “Oh my gods!” The other three looked around the room, slightly confused expressions etched on their faces.

 

“What?” asked Oren.

 

“It’s all connected,” resumed Nannette. “Persephone is back on Olympus with her mother.  Hades has gotten himself a new Persephone. Demeter has cancelled winter. If her daughter is with her, she has no reason to withhold summer for half the year!”

 

Shock invaded the room and even Malbourne dropped his jaw slightly, a widening of his eyes evident.

 

The silence hung ominously for several moments before Mark broke it: “I wanted to believe a few minutes ago, now I do. Now I one-hundred-percent do.”