Ἀπόλλων (Apollo) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gaudliness) wrote2013-03-28 07:21 pm
gaudliness) wrote2013-03-28 07:21 pm
APOLLO HISTORY
Thousands of years ago, the five gods (Hades, Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, and Artemis) were created from humanity’s impressions of the world they lived in. None of them remember their birth, but they had a few instinctual truths they knew. They can only speak words that are true, they are symbolic representations of major things that affect life for humans (the sun, sea, earth, etc.), they cannot die as humans do, and the knowledge that there are other gods besides their individual selves, even if they have never met them.
For a very long time, Apollo spent the majority of his time with Artemis, who was the only being in the world he cared about. They stayed together in a garden of sunlight, a single tree filled with birds, and nothing else but each other. Artemis never left the garden, but Apollo did, searching out ways to ease his boredom so he could return with stories to tell Artemis.
Then, Zeus created a different garden, one of eternal night filled with unique stars, cut flowers that coat the ground and fall from the sky, a copy of the Parthenon as a centerpiece on one side, and a single cliff at the opposite edge. This place became known as the miniature garden. Seeing it empty gave Apollo the desire to fill it with something that might tempt Zeus to come down and allow Apollo to see just what made the god of the sky tick.
Sometime between the 17th–15th centuries BC, Apollo decided to visit the city of Troy during the coming of age celebrations for the city’s youngest prince, Ganymede. He happened to overhear Ganymede’s second older brother warning the prince that the gods may take him away, and handing a small sword. Filled with annoyance, Apollo showed himself, calling out the older prince for his underestimation of the gods. In one stroke, while Ganymede was dazed and shocked with the appearance of a god, he used his power over light and heat to kill Ganymede’s older brother before kidnapping Ganymede to the miniature garden, where he would be trapped for eternity, never aging or able to die.
Despite Ganymede’s attempts to kill Apollo and leave, he continuously fails, which amused Apollo a great deal. He continued to tease and bait Ganymede for years, telling him truths that only hurt the prince, like how he was never going to escape and the gods the prince had worshipped all his life did not care about humans any more than they did worms. Occasionally he left, to spend sort amounts of time with Poseidon and Artemis, but he always returned to bother his new favorite amusement. Eventually, his bait began to take effect. Zeus descended to the garden for the first time, only for a few short moments in order not to destroy the garden, to see the human who had been thrust into his domain.
During one of his meetings with Poseidon, Apollo was obviously quite bored with spending time outside the garden. In order to convince Apollo to stay longer, he pretended to be the sun god, and told the worshippers he wanted a human sacrifice as beautiful as the goddess Artemis. Apollo thought the entire thing was stupid, but he stayed to see what would happen at Poseidon’s insistence. Soon enough, he was presented with a human girl, who looked nothing like the real Artemis, which greatly offended Apollo. He decided to tell the girl to leave and hope that she’d be gone by the time he returned.
Artemis was amused by the story, until it became obvious Apollo was focused solely on that topic. He had never been so interested in mortals before. When he did return to the temple, the human girl was still there. Over time, the girl, whose name was Iris, began to amuse Apollo with her ignorant but earnest attempts to please him. He came to like her quite a bit, and due to this, he slowly withdrew from the sheltered life he’d lived with only his sister, and began to notice how she would never initiate conversation on her own. His suspicions were eventually confirmed after he met Hades for the first time, who slowly reveals to Apollo that because the moon only reflects the light of the sun, and produces none of its own, the same could be said for Artemis, the symbolic representation of the moon. She is a living mirror that only reflects what is in Apollo’s heart. The news was a shock to Apollo, but he could not deny it out loud, so he knew it was true.
He tried to run from it by spending more time with Iris, but by admitting to her that he had come to like her very much, the priests took it as a sign Apollo approved of his sacrificed at last, and she was killed. Eventually, he had no choice but to return and confront Artemis, who confirms that she is but a mirror to Apollo. He can no longer stand to be in her presence, and he leaves to see Hades again. He blames Hades for ruining his relationship with Artemis, but the other god denies it. He had tried to warn Apollo of what would happen if he ventured too close to mortals, but his warning was not heeded. They come to the conclusion that even Zeus, the most powerful of all the gods, could fall if he got too close to a human. They decide to use Ganymede to try forcing Zeus closer to a mortal, just to see what will happen.
In the 1860s, Apollo decides to bring another human into the garden, promising that he will grant the man’s wish to marry his childhood love if he can help Ganymede leave the garden. This man is an archeologist by the name of Heinrich Schliemann, who will eventually go on to excavate the ruins of Troy. Heinz is rebuffed by Ganymede and eventually is thrown over the cliff of the garden and back to the normal world, failing to take Ganymede along with him, and therefore losing his chance at a wish. Apollo knew all this would happen, and brought Heinz to the garden to shake Ganymede out of a silent streak he’d been holding for some time.
Over time, Zeus had continued to visit the miniature garden, and as a “reward” for Ganymede’s role as bait, Apollo decides to introduce the prince to Hades. Hades reveals their plan to hook the sky god by using Ganymede as bait, and Ganymede wonders what their purpose is. They respond that they have no real purpose, and they just want to waste time by trying it. They believe that nothing is likely to happen even if they succeed, though if anything did, it would be the end of the world they all live in.
Hades eventually reveals to Ganymede a possibility of escaping the miniature garden, at which Ganymede jumps for the chance and calls Apollo a liar for saying he’d never get out. Apollo demands that Hades clarify his meaning, which is that to escape, Ganymede must leave the light of Zeus’ domain in his very being and move into the darkness of Hades’ domain. Basically, he must go so mad as to no longer be able to understand words. Ganymede gives up on the idea, even though he’d tried to die so many times. Despite his attempts, he found himself unable to go crazy enough for that, because he knew release was just past that point, and therefore he was just further from reaching it. He decided that he would be alright if he just watched the world come to an end with Apollo. After all, they really only have each other for acceptable company. Everyone else is too weird or too stupid.
Ganymede also told Apollo that Zeus laughed, which Apollo thought was impossible. The sun god later asks Hades about it, and he never gets a straight answer from the conversation. Hades only reveals that the answer you would find to a question like that depends on perception, just like everything else in their lives. Apollo doesn’t like it, but there’s nothing he can do about it.
And there, the story ends.
For a very long time, Apollo spent the majority of his time with Artemis, who was the only being in the world he cared about. They stayed together in a garden of sunlight, a single tree filled with birds, and nothing else but each other. Artemis never left the garden, but Apollo did, searching out ways to ease his boredom so he could return with stories to tell Artemis.
Then, Zeus created a different garden, one of eternal night filled with unique stars, cut flowers that coat the ground and fall from the sky, a copy of the Parthenon as a centerpiece on one side, and a single cliff at the opposite edge. This place became known as the miniature garden. Seeing it empty gave Apollo the desire to fill it with something that might tempt Zeus to come down and allow Apollo to see just what made the god of the sky tick.
Sometime between the 17th–15th centuries BC, Apollo decided to visit the city of Troy during the coming of age celebrations for the city’s youngest prince, Ganymede. He happened to overhear Ganymede’s second older brother warning the prince that the gods may take him away, and handing a small sword. Filled with annoyance, Apollo showed himself, calling out the older prince for his underestimation of the gods. In one stroke, while Ganymede was dazed and shocked with the appearance of a god, he used his power over light and heat to kill Ganymede’s older brother before kidnapping Ganymede to the miniature garden, where he would be trapped for eternity, never aging or able to die.
Despite Ganymede’s attempts to kill Apollo and leave, he continuously fails, which amused Apollo a great deal. He continued to tease and bait Ganymede for years, telling him truths that only hurt the prince, like how he was never going to escape and the gods the prince had worshipped all his life did not care about humans any more than they did worms. Occasionally he left, to spend sort amounts of time with Poseidon and Artemis, but he always returned to bother his new favorite amusement. Eventually, his bait began to take effect. Zeus descended to the garden for the first time, only for a few short moments in order not to destroy the garden, to see the human who had been thrust into his domain.
During one of his meetings with Poseidon, Apollo was obviously quite bored with spending time outside the garden. In order to convince Apollo to stay longer, he pretended to be the sun god, and told the worshippers he wanted a human sacrifice as beautiful as the goddess Artemis. Apollo thought the entire thing was stupid, but he stayed to see what would happen at Poseidon’s insistence. Soon enough, he was presented with a human girl, who looked nothing like the real Artemis, which greatly offended Apollo. He decided to tell the girl to leave and hope that she’d be gone by the time he returned.
Artemis was amused by the story, until it became obvious Apollo was focused solely on that topic. He had never been so interested in mortals before. When he did return to the temple, the human girl was still there. Over time, the girl, whose name was Iris, began to amuse Apollo with her ignorant but earnest attempts to please him. He came to like her quite a bit, and due to this, he slowly withdrew from the sheltered life he’d lived with only his sister, and began to notice how she would never initiate conversation on her own. His suspicions were eventually confirmed after he met Hades for the first time, who slowly reveals to Apollo that because the moon only reflects the light of the sun, and produces none of its own, the same could be said for Artemis, the symbolic representation of the moon. She is a living mirror that only reflects what is in Apollo’s heart. The news was a shock to Apollo, but he could not deny it out loud, so he knew it was true.
He tried to run from it by spending more time with Iris, but by admitting to her that he had come to like her very much, the priests took it as a sign Apollo approved of his sacrificed at last, and she was killed. Eventually, he had no choice but to return and confront Artemis, who confirms that she is but a mirror to Apollo. He can no longer stand to be in her presence, and he leaves to see Hades again. He blames Hades for ruining his relationship with Artemis, but the other god denies it. He had tried to warn Apollo of what would happen if he ventured too close to mortals, but his warning was not heeded. They come to the conclusion that even Zeus, the most powerful of all the gods, could fall if he got too close to a human. They decide to use Ganymede to try forcing Zeus closer to a mortal, just to see what will happen.
In the 1860s, Apollo decides to bring another human into the garden, promising that he will grant the man’s wish to marry his childhood love if he can help Ganymede leave the garden. This man is an archeologist by the name of Heinrich Schliemann, who will eventually go on to excavate the ruins of Troy. Heinz is rebuffed by Ganymede and eventually is thrown over the cliff of the garden and back to the normal world, failing to take Ganymede along with him, and therefore losing his chance at a wish. Apollo knew all this would happen, and brought Heinz to the garden to shake Ganymede out of a silent streak he’d been holding for some time.
Over time, Zeus had continued to visit the miniature garden, and as a “reward” for Ganymede’s role as bait, Apollo decides to introduce the prince to Hades. Hades reveals their plan to hook the sky god by using Ganymede as bait, and Ganymede wonders what their purpose is. They respond that they have no real purpose, and they just want to waste time by trying it. They believe that nothing is likely to happen even if they succeed, though if anything did, it would be the end of the world they all live in.
Hades eventually reveals to Ganymede a possibility of escaping the miniature garden, at which Ganymede jumps for the chance and calls Apollo a liar for saying he’d never get out. Apollo demands that Hades clarify his meaning, which is that to escape, Ganymede must leave the light of Zeus’ domain in his very being and move into the darkness of Hades’ domain. Basically, he must go so mad as to no longer be able to understand words. Ganymede gives up on the idea, even though he’d tried to die so many times. Despite his attempts, he found himself unable to go crazy enough for that, because he knew release was just past that point, and therefore he was just further from reaching it. He decided that he would be alright if he just watched the world come to an end with Apollo. After all, they really only have each other for acceptable company. Everyone else is too weird or too stupid.
Ganymede also told Apollo that Zeus laughed, which Apollo thought was impossible. The sun god later asks Hades about it, and he never gets a straight answer from the conversation. Hades only reveals that the answer you would find to a question like that depends on perception, just like everything else in their lives. Apollo doesn’t like it, but there’s nothing he can do about it.
And there, the story ends.