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Dra Family ma complicated

Few families had more drama than those who lived on .

TEXT : LIV HAMBRETT ILLUSTRATIONS : BETH WALROND

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Modern-day cinema and D literature isn’t a patch on mily ram the power-hungry, passionate Fa a escapades of the the Greek . Fathers ate their children, sons castrated their fathers. Life was never dull on Mount Olympus.

Relationships

The Greek myths wrote the book Nestled within the on complicated relationships. theatrics – the poison, Things were truly wild for the the tactical transformations years MOUNT OLYMPUS and into serpents, the goats lending its inhabitants ruled. A lax an udder to raise the odd child attitude towards commitment – was always a narrative, which

complicated meant there was an awful lot of Western literature and art adultery, some even undertaken have been drawing from for while wearing disguises like centuries. Putting romantic that of a swan. Consequently, relationships to the side for Gods and Goddesses sired and a moment, and focusing on bore an extraordinary number family, myths abound with tales of children and, in doing so, gave of jealousy, impotence, power, room to an almost unseemly and love. Parents gripped by amount of family drama. a fear of age removing their crown, terrified by the futility

2 SISTERMAG 40 | 08 / 2018 of attempting to prevent the uprising of youth. It’s all there, in each story, played out by a cast of tempestuous tempers and poor decision makers.

Myths

Peeling back the layers of mythology is to have each layer slip through your fingers and leave you with a multitude of threads. There are several

The Greek different creation myths, most patriarchal, and recognises matriarchal with fatherhood as the ‘first father’. rendered unimportant. In And what a father he was. He his key tome ‘THE GREEK took up with (mother MYTHS’ the inimitable ROBERT earth) and produced the 12 GRAVES describes fatherhood as well as six other as not "honoured, conception children, three of whom were being attributed to the wind, THE , a trio of the eating of beans, or the rebellious sons. Heavy-handed accidental swallowing of an with punishment, URANUS insect." The Olympian creation banished the CYCLOPES to the , however, veers into the underworld and, in doing so,

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incurred the wrath of his wife them instead in the underworld (their mother). She enlisted – he knew when to let sleeping the help of the other children, dogs lie – and promptly married the Titans, to exact revenge his sister, , and began on URANUS, charging the having children. youngest, , with the But CRONUS was haunted main job. by the dying words of his The main job involved castrating father. URANUS, as he bled his father, which he did rather out, his blood splashing onto sneakily, while URANUS was Mother Earth and creating sleeping. This was no simple The Furies who would forever act of son usurping father. It avenge parricide and perjury, was no Simba nobly replacing prophesised CRONUS would, dead Mustafa as king of the himself, be dethroned by one pride, thrust into leadership of his own children. before he was ready. No, it was a Terrified, CRONUS calculated murder, one carried solved this out in the name of a mother’s revenge, and one that meant CRONUS was now in supreme command. He didn’t free his CYCLOPES brethren, leaving

4 SISTERMAG 40 | 08 / 2018 problem by eating each child straight down the hatch. RHEA his long-suffering wife, RHEA, was furious and by the time bore him. As each child was her third son was due to come born, RHEA presented the along, took herself off to swaddled bundle to Cronus and give birth somewhere away Cronus simply swallowed them; from Cronus’s mouth. , , , and all went

Zeus

This son was , who needs have noticed another no introduction. Zeus grew popular narrative, in into both an all-powerful, which a grieving and vengeful thunderbolt-wielding KING OF mother assists her son in GODS and an extremely lusty murdering her husband). Her reproducer who sired countless job was to encourage Cronus to children with countless women. drink a poison which made him Prior to settling down to create vomit his children up, and the his patchwork family, however, regurgitated children formed an ZEUS was first tasked with army led by their brother, ZEUS. bringing down his father and This army went to war with the his father’s mighty siblings, the Titans, and after 10 years Zeus Titans. RHEA was more than finally succeeded in stabbing happy to help, having watched Cronus with his thunderbolt, Cronus eat her children over thus fulfilling the castrated the years. (You may by now Uranus’ prophecy.

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and Hera

Zeus married his twin sister, HERA – whom he shamed into marriage after disguising Zeus himself as a wounded cuckoo and ravishing her when she took pity on him – and set about running MOUNT OLYMPUS. • Zeus grew into both (His bird-disguise trick was an all-powerful, one he’d later reprise when thunderbolt-wielding ravishing SPARTAN QUEEN LEDA, who then gave birth King of Gods and to HELEN OF TROY.) His an extremely lusty escapades were varied and reproducer who sired occurred with mortals and countless children with immortals alike and his two countless women. most significant children were

6 SISTERMAG 40 | 08 / 2018 both products of affairs. His of previous generations until favourite child was allegedly ZEUS went and killed ’s , Goddess of Wisdom, son. He did this because a daughter who sprung from Apollo’s son, a physician, used his own head. His favourite son his skills to bring a man back however, was also his most from the dead and, in doing so, famous: APOLLO. APOLLO and got on the wrong side of HADES ZEUS managed to rub along (king of the underworld, from together without the problems whence the dead man came).

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And so we have come to the point at which we must look for a moral in these early stories of power-hungry fathers, vengeful wives and murderous sons. We’re spoiled for choice. Don’t castrate your father? Don’t eat your children? Don’t bring people back from the dead?

Hades

HADES dobbed on Apollo’s a moral in these early stories son, Zeus killed him with a of power-hungry fathers, thunderbolt, and APOLLO vengeful wives, and murderous sought revenge by killing sons. We’re spoiled for choice. THE CYCLOPES (who you may Don’t castrate your father? recall were banished to the Don’t eat your children? Don’t underworld before Zeus was bring people back from the even born. ZEUS released them dead? in the war against the Titans and they provided him with his thunderbolt). APOLLO was saved from Zeus’s wrath and • Perhaps there is no moral King of the underworld the of King banishment to the underworld, at all, but rather the by his mother, Leto, who comforting reassurance that begged for his life. ZEUS every family has its share of relented and, in a moment of drama – some a little more paternal softness, sentenced than others. his son to a year’s hard labour. And so we have come to the point at which we must look for

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