Modern Myth

It was late summer, just on the verge of fall. The heat had had not yet subsided, and clothes were at a minimum deep in the south. One particular lady, clad in a bikini, was particularly exhausted. The heat had taken its tool on her, and she was no where near any shade. She was waiting for some friends to pick here up and take her to the beach, but they were no where in sight. She wished for rain, a wish that had been heard up on Mount Olympus.

Zeus curiosity was particularly piqued by this female. She was beautiful, and in need of something only he could give her. Zeus decided he would conjure up a storm, cooling her down, and also exciting her with some lightning and thunder. Zeus considered this plan flawless, and made the several thousand mile journey to the girl’s destination.

Apollo was amusing himself with his lyre when he saw Zeus leaving the mountain. Apollo had also seen the girl, but decided against pursuing her. When he saw Zeus pursuing her, he had to as well. He wasn’t going to sit idly while his father seduced some innocent mortal with a meager storm. Apollo decided that if he seduced her first the girl would be safe. Apollo had to hurry, for his father was swift as lightning.

Meanwhile, back in the south, the girl that was waiting for her friends found some sanctuary under a dying tree. The ambient heat was still excruciating, so she decided to sleep until night. What she didn’t see as she fell into a deep sleep were the many clouds that were forming overhead. The bright day had dim and dark. The sun was blocked by the clouds, but the air was still very hot. Zeus was working his magic.

Apollo saw this, and increased his speed tenfold. When Apollo came closer to the girl, he was awe struck. No longer was only trying to defend this innocent girl from the power of his father, but also he had fallen in love with her when he first laid his eyes on her. He had to have her, and if it meant fighting his father, he would have no qualm with that.

Zeus was busy conjuring his storm so he had not yet noticed his son. Zeus wanted to create the most magnificent storm he possibly could. Zeus had envisioned a symphony of lighting. The crash of a tree cracking in the wind, the deep rumble of thunder, and the steady rhythm of the torrential downpour were only a few of the elements of the storm that Zeus planned. So as Zeus mixed the elements to make the storm, Apollo swooped down to the girl.

“Wake from your sleep my princess. You shall be with me on top of Mount Olympus, and I will be your servant, your slave” Apollo said. The young girl had not heard these words over the rumble of the clouds and the brewing of the storm. The girl had awoken though, much to Apollo’s delight, but not to his words. When she saw Apollo finally, she became terrified and ran to a rocky hillside.

Apollo chased her, yelling at her to slow, if only for a minute to hear his pleas. Zeus, ready to unleash his master storm, finally had noticed this, and became very angry. For his son to interfere with his affairs was a terrible action. Zeus decided that his storm would no longer be a splendid symphony but a cacophonous catastrophe.

The girl, as all mortals do, had begun to tire of the chase, and stopped and sat down. Apollo spoke to her “Please let me play my lyre for you, for after hearing its sweet melody, you shall grow to love me as I already love you.” Apollo brought out his lyre, and began playing a sweet melody, but the girl could not hear the tune over the roar of the storm.

Zeus didn’t know that the girl wasn’t interested in Apollo, so he started shooting his bow of lightning at Apollo. He missed a few times, hitting massive boulders that split into little rocks. The rocks rolled down mountain at a dangerous pace. Zeus drew his bow one more time, taking careful aim of Apollo, and struck. Zeus missed Apollo, but hit his lyre, electrifying it. In all of the confusion, the girl was crushed by a rolling rock, every imprinted into the mountain. Apollo wailed on his lyre in sadness, and Zeus shook the world with thunder of pain. And they played in harmony that late summer day, in the birth of Rock and Roll.

Writing Journal Questions Answered

I chose my characters for myth because Apollo is the god of music, and Zeus is his father and I thought I could create some interesting interaction between them. I found the employment of the metaphor a bit challenging as I wanted it to be more direct in the way I accounted for a modern truth. I wanted the point of view to be third person impersonal to give the story more weight as a myth. I didn’t have dialogue between the characters because that would have not fit with the theme of the story, as I wanted it to be constructed almost like a song would develop. There isn’t much dialogue in music, but there are plenty of monologues. The most challenging part of this assignment was starting it. At first I wanted to write it in the style of Ovid, but I found that to be way too challenging. Then I didn’t think I could make a metaphor for rock and roll, but after a few tries, I think it came out pretty well.