2021/12: Above the Clouds

This is the 8th installment in a series that reimagines tales from Greek mythology. This piece follows The Ferryman. Here we find Zeus and Demeter in a tense flight through the sky after learning of Persephone’s abduction by Hades.

Demeter felt the wind rushing through her hair as she soared through the sky. Physically, this was an effortless journey for her. She was not the one flying. That task lay to Zeus.

My brother……

Her arms wrapped tightly around the eagle’s neck that she was straddling. She couldn’t remember when she had been this close to him. It had certainly been many seasons. Her supple thighs could feel the strong muscles of Zeus’ eagle form as he thrust his way through the boundless clouds and endless horizon below.

My lover……

Although the eagle was indeed a symbol of power, and Zeus was both revered and feared by mortals below when his winged-shadow passed over them; he seemed oddly vulnerable to her whenever he shifted form. Perhaps it was because of his inability to express his feelings, and the transformation itself was how he showed his emotional state. Indeed he was powerful. It was true that he could rip her to shreds with his grasping talons. She caught a glint of the Sun reflecting off the polished dark surface of these talons and returned her gaze to the fields below her.

Our daughter….

Had Zeus ever loved her? Or was it lust that had produced Persephone? She sometimes feared that it was lust, but this reasoning was still somewhat acceptable to her — she excused it as Zeus’ weakness — out of his control. But what horrified her…what was entirely unacceptable to her was a third possibility — boredom. What if Zeus had bedded her only out of sheer ennui, only to see if it was something that he could do because he didn’t know what else to do? The thought made the sunflowers below her droop as they flew across the never ending farmlands.

My lover…..

Still…there was something inside of Zeus that felt must have felt something, a spark somewhere deep inside. There had to be. After their encounter with Nefeli in the larkspur field, she had never seen Zeus transform so quickly into eagle form. Was it rage at their brother, Hades? Was it fear for their daughter, Persephone? Again, Zeus was not one to share his emotions verbally. He may be a god, but he shared this weakness with mortal men. The air grew more humid.

Our brother….

“We’re nearing the sea.” Zeus spoke.

Demeter saw a frothy surf in the distance. A whirlpool was beginning to form — a familiar spray at the top of the waves’ crest. A figure emerged. Demeter’s lips parted.

“Poseidon….”