===
Click here to start at the beginning.
===
"I went at night," she said. "There were two reasons for that. One, I assumed, from what I'd heard about him, that Zeus was more likely to be preoccupied at night, so he'd be less likely to know what I was doing. And secondly, I didn't want to have to deal with that eagle."
She smiled grimly. "It was still pretty unpleasant, though. "
"Prometheus was, exactly as we'd heard, tied naked to a rock. It took me a very long time, and a lot of bribery, to find him, but I did. It wasn't a pleasant discovery. He was thin, his ribs sticking out of his skin in a way I had never encountered before. And he smelt. The smell was the horrific part. Suffice to say there wasn't a lot of cleaning going on. He was also, against all expectations, sleeping.
"I didn't want to touch him. He really was filthy. Fortunately, I had a staff I'd used to help me up the mountain, so I poked him with it gently, from a good metre away. He groaned. In that groan was clear all the pain and suffering he was undergoing, and I felt a pang of guilt disturbing him from the little rest he could get. But I knew he had the answers I needed, and so I poked him again, despite the pangs of conscience. This time he woke, and looked at me through bleary eyes. Against all expectation he knew who I was.
"'I suffer enough, rat,' he said, and closed his eyes. His voice was like sandpaper. Although I didn't know the description back then, it had a similar effect as nails on a chalkboard.
"'Please. I need your help.'
"He opened his eyes again.
"'My help? I have helped enough.'
"'I have water.' I had brought water as a purely compassionate move. I figured he'd be thirsty, tied to that rock. But now I realised I could use it as a bargaining tool if necessary.
"He grimaced. 'Do you seek to make it worse? I know what they made you for.'
"I sighed, unable to use the bargaining chip I'd just discovered I had, and walked over and dripped some water into his mouth, holding my breath against the smell, before moving away again hurriedly.
"'Ok. Listen to me. I also know what they made me for. To open your box. But I know I don't have to. I can choose. So, I am here to find out why they want me to open it. Or, more especially, why Zeus does. I have learnt a lot about him recently. He is not... what I thought he was. To be frank, I doubt his motives.'
"Prometheus chuckled rawly, and weakly motioned for me to continue with one bound hand.
"'I'm here because I want you tell me what's inside.'
"He was silent, in thought, for a long time. But eventually he told me."
Friday 16 May 2008
Thursday 15 May 2008
Pandora's Gift (Part 5)
===
Click here to start at the beginning.
===
"But you still opened it," I said.
She nodded. And changed the subject back again.
"But he understood. He knew how powerful it was. He knew that mortals having choice, free will, was necessary for us."
"You speak like you are one of them. Look what they've done with it!"
"Oh Athena! I know you're wise, but sometimes you're really dumb. They're flawed. Broken. They hurt and destroy and use their will for bad. Often. But they are also beautiful. And REAL in a way that you and I will never be. Because they have choice, and everything in their lives is affected by that."
"Sounds like you don't need me after all."
She grinned, a very unusual, room-lighting grin. "Hey, you came looking for me, remember." The grin faded, as fast as it had come. "I've had a lot of time to think about it."
"So... why'd you still open it, despite knowing that fate was nonsense?"
"That's what they always leave out of the story. They assume I didn't know what was in it."
===
She told me how she had started to wonder. After her conversation with Hephaestus, she knew that she could open it herself. But if Zeus had misled her about that, what else had he misled her about? So she left it for a day. And the day turned into a week. Which turned into two weeks.
Simply, she had started to wonder what was in it. And why it was so important to Zeus that it be opened. So she decided to find out before she opened it. So that she could better decide. She wanted to know, now that she knew she could decide, how to make the right choice.
She asked Epimetheus everything about it. Where it had come from. What he knew. But it seemed like all he knew about it was that his brother had given it to him for safe-keeping, and that he had told him in no uncertain terms that he must never allow it to be opened. Pandora began to realise that the one person who knew the answers was currently tied to a rock with an eagle eating his liver every day. Which was a bit of a problem. Nevertheless, she resolved to go and see him.
This part of the story was new to me. I had no idea that Pandora had ever spoken to Prometheus at all. And I certainly didn't know what he had told her.
Click here to start at the beginning.
===
"But you still opened it," I said.
She nodded. And changed the subject back again.
"But he understood. He knew how powerful it was. He knew that mortals having choice, free will, was necessary for us."
"You speak like you are one of them. Look what they've done with it!"
"Oh Athena! I know you're wise, but sometimes you're really dumb. They're flawed. Broken. They hurt and destroy and use their will for bad. Often. But they are also beautiful. And REAL in a way that you and I will never be. Because they have choice, and everything in their lives is affected by that."
"Sounds like you don't need me after all."
She grinned, a very unusual, room-lighting grin. "Hey, you came looking for me, remember." The grin faded, as fast as it had come. "I've had a lot of time to think about it."
"So... why'd you still open it, despite knowing that fate was nonsense?"
"That's what they always leave out of the story. They assume I didn't know what was in it."
===
She told me how she had started to wonder. After her conversation with Hephaestus, she knew that she could open it herself. But if Zeus had misled her about that, what else had he misled her about? So she left it for a day. And the day turned into a week. Which turned into two weeks.
Simply, she had started to wonder what was in it. And why it was so important to Zeus that it be opened. So she decided to find out before she opened it. So that she could better decide. She wanted to know, now that she knew she could decide, how to make the right choice.
She asked Epimetheus everything about it. Where it had come from. What he knew. But it seemed like all he knew about it was that his brother had given it to him for safe-keeping, and that he had told him in no uncertain terms that he must never allow it to be opened. Pandora began to realise that the one person who knew the answers was currently tied to a rock with an eagle eating his liver every day. Which was a bit of a problem. Nevertheless, she resolved to go and see him.
This part of the story was new to me. I had no idea that Pandora had ever spoken to Prometheus at all. And I certainly didn't know what he had told her.
Bad Bad Bel.
Yes, I know I have been veryvery bad about updating this. Things went crazy - a trip to Australia, two new jobs, and thesis panic. But I am trying hard to get everything back up and running again, and this comes first. So, very shortly after I post this I will be posting the next episode of Pandora. Many, many apologies for the ball dropping. :(
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