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Hera and Zeus
Cellebrating the 20th Anniversary of Poetry Plaza
Hideo Yokokawa


Jessica Helen Lopez

 

 

Before the chaos, the world was wholly covered by the milky mist. The mist filled the unlimited space. It was an unrecognized existence. It was the root of everything - gods, goddess, the universe, and all of nature and any of invisible abstractions. Each of them was, at the same time, the milky mist itself regardless of their different appearances.

(I)

Amongst the goddesses, Zeus was not well spoken of, because they were holding in check mutually despite their carnal desires with him. Whenenever Hera heard of such rumors from other goddesses, she said nothing with a frown. She hated his wily sensualty. She could not find even a trace of sincerity in his past love affairs.

When Zeus approached and tried to violate Hera, she, with her elbow, gave a strong blow to his pit of the stomach. In an instant, Zeus crouched down.

Hera gently said to Zeus.
"First of all you must divorce Tenis and get separated from your children."
He saw an infinite maternity in the glow of her green eyes and said, watching her eyes.
"I swear I will follow you."
Then, she added solemnly.
"You must not do any of extramarital sex."
He said.
"What a beauty you say! I am entirely yours. Why can I be unfaithful. We will make a gorgeous wedding party."
The engagement was effected immediately.
She fell into his sturdy breast and arms.

Leaf tops of evergreen oak swept the canopy. Golden rains purified the air and lands. All things in nature shined vividly. The troop of eagles deployed silently in good order for vigilance over the cobalt blue way up high.

Olympus was flooded by the gods in full dresses and the goddesses who gorgeously dressed up contending the beautiful with each other.

Small birds were singing in chorus accompanied by a lyre. Nymphs were dancing in mid air.

Zeus and Hera appeared in front of the attendees at the Palace. Everyone gaped in astonishment at Hera's pure whiteness. The world was wholly covered by her deep brightness.

The goddess of goddesses was born. The wedding party continued for 300 years covering all the places in Greece.

(II)

Since after the marriage, Hera was vaguely feeling a gloomy foreboding about Zeus's fatal defeat someday in future. To add, from time to time, she heard of his love affairs with other women.

Hera opened her heavily depressed heart to Gaia. Gaia consoled Hera but said nothing specifically to solve the problems. Gaia gave a pomegranate to Hera without explaining anything. Hera had already known how it worked.

Getting back to the Palace, Hera ordered Iris and Hora to discretely trail after Zeus and report her the facts that they found. The information brought by them made her jealousy flare up. She decided her mind.

Hera told Zeus to attend the hall of the Palace and accused him of his incerity in a round about way. He replied evasively to her accuses. She named Serene, Deto, Haristo, Ramia, Ioand so forth. She abused his disgusting plays with them one by one with the details of their obscene behaviors.

Getting entirely at a loss for an excuse any longer, he flied into a furious rage of no sense. He grabbed her hair of the head and hanged her from the ceiling of the hall. She easily removed the hook for herself and flied down and stood up on the floor.

That moment, he was attacked by a awfuly strong headache. He could not get rid of the pain for a long time. One day, he had Hefaitos to crack his skull with a battle-ax to see what was in it. Out of his skull appeared Atena with gold hair and deep marine blue eyes. She fully armed herself with a shield and spear in her hands. The unbearable headache of Zeus was over.

Hera summoned Atena. Atena dropped to one knee with her right hand on her breast in front of Hera. Placing in the hands of Atena the pomegranate that Gaia had once endowed to her, Hera commanded Atena to govern the territory of Athens in peace.

Atena placed the pomegranate deep in a sacred cavern at the hill of Athens and strictly sealed the hole.

(III)

Zeus told his close aides to set a rumor that Zeus and Hera were at he crisis of divorce and he was getting married with other beautiful lady. The rumor spread with seeming truth.

The rumor swelled further. Hera heard that the lady dressed in with scarlet was passing on foot the street just in front of the Place.

Raising her eyebrows in anger and squealing, Hera dashed out of the Place. Hera jumped on the lady and ripped up the lady's dress. Then, to her surprise, what appeared there was a clay figure.

Hera got back to the Place, where Zeus was waiting for her. They were reunited tightly once again.

(IV)

After exterminating Cronos and the lineal relatives of Titan at Titanomakia, Zeus had established himself as the god to govern the celestial sphere.

He established the new order and harmony of the whole universe. The god of gods was born. However, who could imagine what would happen to him later?

There had been a discord between the Olympus and Gigas who was av immortal giant. As a consequence, the Gigantmakia War flared up.

Commanding the vast forces, Gigas attacked the Olympus. The sacred hill faced on the crisis in an instance. Zeus summoned Heracleitos and gave him the strong bow and arrows that could pierce any material.

Heracleitos, with his marvelous power, drew the bow and shot an arrow, which pieced the heart of Gigas. At the same time, Adamas's sickle in the hands of Zeus fulgurated roaring the sky and land. The troop of Gigas was annihilated at once. The fierce battles were over with the complete victory of the Olympus.

(V)

The result of this war left an ill feeling to the mind of Gaia, who had once been governing both the land and sky initially efore the era of Curonos.

She could not tolerate. She ordered Qupohn the Monster to destroy the Olympus. The internecine war broke out again at the territory of the Olympus.

The viorence of Qupohn ripped land, crushed the mountains to pieces, filled the sky with huge roar. Every god and goddess escaped from the Palace to Egypt. Only Zeus made a stand against the enemy.

After the violent duel between Zeus and Qupohn, Zeus met with a severe defeat for the first time. Zeus was torn from limb to limb and locked in the cave at Coripion by Qupohn. While, Qupohn was heavily injured too, and he returned to the palace of Gaia for treatment.

Hera had Hermes to rescue Zeus and get him back to Samos where she had been born. She washed and treated the body of Zeus with water which flew out of the sacred spring. Zeus recovered soon.

(VI)

All things in nature became frightened and deeply shuddered at a sinister symptom under the sky filled by the heavy black clouds.

Gaia, with the utmost secrecy, summoned Hera to her palace. Her room was filled by the roses of whiteness. Her lady attendant closed the thick curtains and left there shutting up the doors.

The room was filled by the fragrance and soft lights of roses' pure whiteness. Gaia and Hera mutually shared what were in their hearts. In conclusion, Gaia said to Hera in a very round about way that power, itself only, could not govern the universe. Hera understood correctly what Gaia said to her.

(VII)

Once again, in the deep skies, Zeus and Qupohn stood opposite each other to finally decide the victory or defeat.

Adamas's sickle flashed. The thunders roared. The magma and devouring flames flew in whirls. The orbits of the sun and moon got into a complete disorder. The canopy bore the innumerable cracks. The stars dispersed in all directions. The universe fell into a complete mess.

(VIII)

Hera heard the voice of Gaia just saying a name "Moia"from nowhere. She immediately summoned Atena.

Atena attended in front of Hera at once, arming herself with a heavy guard and holding in her hand the pomegranate that Hera had once entrusted to her.

Atena delivered to Moia by hand the pomegranate, in which every wisdom and desire for peace of all the goddesses.

In fact, Moia had been pressed by Qupohn to give him her fruit of victory. She gave him the pomegranate instead. Qupohn ate it. In an instant, he lost his enormous power.

(IX)

The tide of battle in the skies turned. Zeus finally cornered Qupohn to Sicilia, where Qupohn was strictly sealed under the Mount Etna.

Zeus saved the universe from the total ruin and established the ultimate order and harmony for the universe and all the nature. Hera's deep brightness covered the whole world again.

(X)

Shining in the golden ligh, the Olympus greeted the triumphant reurn of Zeus. Every god and goddess acknowledged Zeus as the omniscient, omnipotent god.

Purifying herself in the sacred spring at Kanatos, Hera gave away all of herself to Zeus. He did realize of her faith, dedication and chastity as well as her courage and wisdom. Two of them went into deep love and completely became one in the midst of milky mist. The time, distance, space, all nature were painted onto a canvas wholly covered by a single color of milky white.

Whether recognized or not recognized, we, each of us, are in the milky mist where all things are independently existing in the one.