At dawn, Zeus awoke to a horrific sight across the heavenly clouds. Semele, his wife appeared to be having an affair with Jupiter, another great god of the skies. She was wrapped in his arms giving him a loving embrace just before drifting back to Zeus; "could it possibly be?" thought Zeus. He did not mention anything to Semele about what he had seen, but rather withheld his emotions and kept them contained. Months have passed by and the great skies are beginning to grow dark with the hatred spilling out of Zeus. He has not seen them together again but still dwells on the sight he had seen before of them. The image their loving embrace has burned in Zeus's mind. The madness began to grow greater from within Zeus; he decided to take action. Zeus gathered all the clouds in the sky and summoned countless great bolts of lightening and hellish storms from all around and wished it all upon Jupiter while he was at rest in the heavens. Jupiter must have heard the great storm approach; he had moved just in time. He asked Zeus "why have you done this to me?". Zeus replied "You had my wife many months ago. I have not forgotten." This sent Jupiter into a state of confusion. Before leaving abruptly Jupiter leaves Zeus with "Why do you say such things? I have never had your wife!". Zeus approaches his wife, Semele, and asks "Why have you betrayed me to Jupiter?". She quickly responds "What ever do you mean Zeus? I would have never even thought to betray you, but after hearing what you wished upon Jupiter, I can be with you no longer. Your hate is too ugly and has driven me far away from you...". This was the last time Zeus ever saw Semele or Jupiter.
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| (Semele and Jupiter, Source) |
I am so fascinated by Mythology, all the different gods and powers; so I really enjoyed reading all about them for this week. I could not help but re imagine a story about the great god of the sky, Zeus. I found a theme that repeated in the stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses and wrote about them earlier this week. Both of the stories regarding revenge over an affair. Love had been overcome with hate, and the revenge proved to not be so sweet for them. Their are consequences for every action taken. The original story ended with Zeus accidentally killing his wife, Semele, by brewing up a storm she could not dodge like Jupiter did in my re imaging. I found it interesting how both stories I spoke about before ended with great consequences because actions were take due to their overwhelming emotions; I wanted to keep that theme up, but in a different way. I decided to create an ending not so sad from the original, but still has great consequences because of the actions Zeus tried.
Bibliography:
The original story is simply titled "Semele" within Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 1-4) and was translated into English by Tony Kline. You can find the link here!
When I first saw the word 'Zeus' I thought of Greek mythology. However, I have never heard of Semele, so I was confused. I researched and found out she was one of Zeus many wives. It was interesting to know other characters appeared in Semele. I did not have any idea about other gods or goddess besides famous ones. Your story make me more interested in Greek mythology. Great job.
ReplyDeleteI was a bit confused when I read the first few lines, since Zeus is in Greek mythology, and Jupiter is in Roman, but it's cool that you make them exist in the same "universe". I have never heard of Semele before, but with the little knowledge I have of Greek mythology, I kind of guessed that she's another of Zeus' many wives. Interesting take on the story, since the beginning made it sound like Semele is cheating on Zeus, but the ending made it sound like she's innocent, so it's like a little mystery.
ReplyDeleteWow this is a really unique story! I have to admit it was somewhat frustrating to read at the beginning and left me wondering why Zeus didn't do something earlier than he did and he waited so long to say or do anything. This was a really creative story and I thought it was written in great detail as well. For example, "dark clouds", "heavenly clouds", "great skies", "bolts of lightning"... all of these make the story so much more interesting instead of just putting boring details in there. These details help the reader feel like they can actually picture the moment and feel like they are actually there. I was pleased with the outcome of the story and what Zeus decided to do, but he should have done it way earlier than he did! Haha. This makes me want to read a little more about greek gods and goddesses like the comment below. Overall, I really enjoyed your story!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great take on an original story! You put some really good spins on it, and kept my attention throughout. I like how you have brought the two universes together. I have a hard time sympathizing with Zeus, it is not like he has exactly been faithful! Your story really pulled me in whenever Zeus hid his anger, something that I can sympathize with. This makes the story have a very personal feel to it, something I can relate to. Because of that, I feel frustrated for Zeus. That is so hard to deal with, which you make evident. And poor Zeus for having his wife leave him like that! While I do have a hard time pitying Zeus because of how he acts in his personal life as well, this story makes me have sympathy for him. Altogether your story was very well written and I enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteI like how you made your version a little more upbeat with less deaths. It is like greek mythology for someone to die though. I wish Zues did not wait so long to do something about what he saw. If it was me I couldn't keep all those angry emotions in for so long and pretend everything was okay. I would have conjured up a storm right then and there (if I had the power to do so). If he would have done that it probably would have cleared up some of the confusion. Did Jupiter and Semele really have an affair or did Zues misinterpret what was happening? I feel bad Semele left him for getting angry. I think it was a reasonable excuse to get angry, but I guess I don't think like greek gods (thankfully).
ReplyDeleteI need a little bit of clarity, I thought Hera was Zeus’s wife. Also isn’t Jupiter the Roman Zeus? I like your story but I think you might want to make a more detailed Author’s Note. I thought Jupiter had an affair with Semele and it was Juno who kind of manipulates the situation. The new and interesting take would be really cool if you had kind of prepared for that. Jasmine Yeo said Semele was one of Zeus’ many wives and it would’ve been nice for you to say that in your author’s note (and maybe putting that at the top).
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