Narrative
I lay there, at the foot of the stairs. The stone floor had a cold feel, reminiscent of a steel dagger. The ropes were cutting deep into my wrists. My hands singed a bit every time I wriggled them. The air had a burning quality to it. The walls had a luminous quality to them. A couple of meters from my face stood Hector at the foot of the staircase, arms open welcomingly like someone with too much ego, a smirk playing upon his lips. He was dressed impeccably in a navy blue suit, with an ascot of a dark velvet colour, his jet black hair slicked back. It wasn’t obvious at first, but upon closer inspection his hair had a fiery quality.
“I have gradually been gathering my life force into this suitcase,” he said, his eyes smoldering like a pair of coals.
A story. How fantastic.
“My father Helios, was at odds with my mother Gaia after they broke up,” he said.
“At birth, I was taken by dad to a distant world in the cosmos, and was raised in its poisonous fumes. In essence, I am the exact opposite of Gaia. I am the bane of her existence. Whatever she creates, I destroy.” he monologued.
There was a trace of sadness in his eyes, as if recalling some traumatic event, but this was quickly replaced with fury. He twirled his fingers at the security guard standing beside him, engulfing him in a mini tornado. For a split second, the guard had a shocked expression, before he was thrown off the cliff.
Hector resumed his speech, “There will be a time when humanity reaches the pinnacle of progress and prosperity. When that day arrives, I will warm the planet into oblivion, and not even Zeus can stop me. I was there at the beginning, and I will be there at the end.”
I glanced left at Adrian. She gave a slight nod.
“Thus, there will be nothing but a barren wasteland,” Hector said with a crazy, yet blissful look. “Gaia will fade out of existence, as will all the life she supports.”
I glanced up at the security guards beside him. They looked absolutely terrified.
Analysis
Gaia was utilized in the narrative, because it was intriguing how she is disapproving of the Titans, who rule the world above her(Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 210-215). Also, the idea of how she as an Earth goddess is angry at Zeus who is a sky god, was used to portray her and Helios as opposites, with one being within the darkness of the Earth, and the other in the freedom of the skies(Nonnus, Dionysiaca 6.206-224). They are opposites, so there is this rift created between them, and it adds context as to why they broke up in the first place. They were polar opposites. It was interesting to add Helios to the narrative since he is the embodiment of the sun, and so his son, no pun intended, could be the embodiment of global warming(Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.8-9). The idea of opposites is present through Hector, who lives outside Earth, as a direct result of this conflict. A reference was made in the narrative to some poisonous outer planet as Hector’s childhood home, to have him fuse with these harmful gases, which could serve as a tragic backstory for him and as a key to destroy the planet. Human progress is linked to global warming, so Hector could be the face of that. He is creating these fumes, whenever there is technological progress. He is physically present, every time a new innovation occurs, which could be used to harm the environment in real life. Hector represents corporations, shown by how he is dressed immaculately, yet committing horrific acts. There is a contemporary context added to the myth. Adjectives like “smoldering” and “burning” give an idea of the aura Hector gives off.
Hector is shown in the narrative as portraying confidence in the idea that the all powerful Zeus will not be able to stop him, because the Earth is the centre for all beings, whether they be gods or mortals(Hesiod, Theogony 885-890). If the Earth was destroyed, the gods would cease to exist with it. Hector could not be stopped, because he is the antithesis of everything.
There is a relationship portrayed between Gaia and Helios, because there were incestous relationships in ancient mythology, an example being Deucalion and Pyrrha(Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.348-381). The narrative is using this to create an uncomfortable moment for the characters present.
Works Cited
Aeschylus. Prometheus Bound. Loeb Classical Library, translated by Herbert Weir Smyth, Harvard University Press, 1926, pp. 210-215.
Hesiod. Theogony. Loeb Classical Library, translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Harvard University Press, 1914, pp. 885-890.
Nonnus. Dionysiaca. Loeb Classical Library, translated by W.H.D Rouse, no. 6, Harvard University Press, 1940, pp. 206-224.
Ovid, Metamorphoses. translated by Brookes More, no. 1, Cornhill Publishing Co., 1922, pp. 348-381.
Apollodorus. Bibliotheca. translated by Keith Aldrich, no. 1, Coronado Press, 1975, pp. 8-9.
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