Myth
After the Trojan War ended, Hera the defender of men was filled with immense joy. The same couldn’t be said for Aphrodite who early on became an ally to the Trojans, for she possessed anger that couldn’t be forgotten so easily. Eros was summoned by the enraged goddess to find a way to make Hera feel the exact same, if not worse. Eros then called his brothers Himeros, Anteros, Pothos, Hymenaios, and Hermaphroditus to aid in the plan. After a couple weeks of planning, they decided to use Zeus father of the gods to get back at Hera. Lucky for them, in a month’s time the annual GGG, Gods and Goddesses Gathering, would be taking place. This was a time where deities from all regions would come together at Mount Olympus to catch up in each other’s trials or conflicts. For their plan, everyone within and outside of Olympus knew how Zeus loved to sleep around. This aspect of his character would be the final piece in their plan.
The day of the Gathering had come at last. Many gods and goddesses made their way to Olympus, even some titans. Since this event only lasted a day, they needed to work fast. While Eros was gathering gods such as his brothers, Apollo, and mortals into a secret room, Athena was tasked with keeping Hera busy. She managed to do this by giving her a bottomless cup of wine and bringing up their grudge against Paris for choosing Aphrodite over both of them. Once Eros finished up, Aphrodite told Zeus she had a surprise for him that would perk him right up. She brought him to this secret room and that’s when the sex party took place. It was planned to last one night but ended up going on for a week. One week in Olympus equaled 4 months on Earth the and the mortals were given diluted ambrosia to keep up with the Gods.
Hera grew upset with Zeus after being unable to find him for a week but, he wouldn’t reveal to her what happened and made an agreement with Aphrodite this was to become annual. Zeus even emphasized that he wanted a new group of mortals each time. When the mortals returned from this party it was Spring. Some of them had felt awakened and embraced their newfound sexual preferences. Between then and the next gathering, the mortals took it upon themselves to shine this new light on others and started hosting their own secrets parties with others. Soon this tradition spread throughout the world. Then different orientations came to light as time passed, such as being Gay, Lesbian, Asexual, Bisexual, and many more. Even Apollo fell in love with someone named Hyacinth. Since Eros and his brothers started, they became known as the Erotes. It’s said that if there’s any confusion about one’s own sexuality, making an offering to the Erotes could convince them to bring you to join the next gathering on Mount Olympus.
Analysis
In the myth I came up with to explain how different sexual orientations came about, I tried to keep most of it accurate to times and people in Ancient Greek Mythology. Keeping it relatively the same was important for me so that it could still make sense and fit into the timeline and different stories of the Gods. I feel as though if I changed up more of either the God’s characters or even some aspects of how things appeared, it would feel like I strayed too much from how I envisioned my myth playing out.
Now as for the Erotes I did change how some people may know them. Sources ranged on how many of Aphrodite’s children were actually known as the Erotes. Most of them however usually included Eros, Himeros, Anteros, and Pothos (Pseudo-Orpheus, 54). This makes sense because each of them represents Love, Desire, Reciprocal Love, and Sexual Longing respectively. Then as I was researching, I came across Hermaphroditus and Hymenaios. They were 2 of Aphrodite’s other sons and they represented Male and Female Sexuality, and Marriage Ceremonies. This would fit in perfectly with the other Erotes and would also support the many different sexual orientations people can have. I chose to add Hermaphroditus to the group because not only is he representing a person with a male and female body, but it can also be interpreted that he can be a god of people who identify themselves as a transgender male or transgender female. Someone to represent people who have been born in the wrong body but make the decision to become who they really are. I chose Hymenaios to also be added in with some of his brothers because finding out who you are and who you love is very important. And keeping in mind that a majority of people want to marry and spend the rest of their life with a significant other. So, it would only make sense if one of the Erotes represents the coming together of 2 people who love each other very much.
In this narrative, Zeus the God who loves to marry and sleep with anyone he becomes the slightest bit attracted to engages in what can be called a sex party (Hesiod Th. 906). Since it is supposed to explain how the many different sexual orientations came about, I had in mind that all mortals and most gods were considered straight before Aphrodite’s plan happened. And that after this, the mortals who left the gathering, at least some of them, had this realization of sorts that they weren’t living the way they were supposed to. That some of them were missing out on this part of their lives. A part of who they are. I wasn’t able to fit in as many gods as I could because I didn’t want the story to become too confusing but from the few I did, they each had their own importance. Since I chose Eros and his brothers as the Erotes, their significance is pretty self-explanatory. They are Aphrodite’s children, and they are all involved in the plan as well as each of the gods represents a certain aspect of love. As for Apollo, he was chosen because of his known relationships with women and men, Hyacinth for example. In this way, Apollo represents as being bisexual. Apollo has many female consorts in many different stories, but I would say that his relationship with Hyacinth is the most well-known male relationship (Creti, 1515-1547). Sadly, Apollo didn’t get to spend much time together with Hyacinth because Zephyrus was also in love with Hyacinth but killed him because Hyacinth chose Apollo. I couldn’t find a goddess who strictly had female lovers, but I did find Athena who remained a virgin. Now there is a story in which some might say she is a partial parent to Erichthonius because when he ejaculated his seed it got on her leg. She then proceeded to wipe it off with some wool and it fell on the Earth, aka Gaia, so then it was Gaia who gave birth to Erichthonius (Painter, 470-406BC). But either way, Athena is still a virgin, so she was tasked with distracting Hera. Lastly, Hera was chosen to be in the story because she is Zeus’ wife, and she was lightly involved in the story of the Trojan War.
The story starts off with the Trojan War ending. I picked this because it’s a prime instance where Aphrodite would be upset with Hera because the Greeks won the war even though it was Aphrodite who became allies with Paris and the Trojans. Furthermore, since I wanted to make it so that my narrative would tie in well with the timeline and other Greek Mythological stories having this take place after the Trojan War makes my myth into the perfect puzzle piece of Greek Myths. One more thing is that since the Trojan War is very well known, the reader wouldn’t need a lot of background knowledge beforehand in order to understand most of the story.
After the sex party ended Zeus loved it so much that he wanted it to become a reoccurring event. Zeus emphasized that he wanted new mortals each time, but it wasn’t exactly explained why. This is because if the same people were invited each time first Zeus would eventually get bored and this doesn’t give other people a chance to be curious about their sexuality without the constraints and possibly shamed by the public and society.
Now a key part of the narrative is how long the mortals stay up in Olympus for this party. It states that the party lasted for a week and back on Earth around 4 months had gone by and not just any 4 months, but the 4 months of time that Winter lasted. This ties into Persephone’s fate after eating 1 pomegranate seed while being with Hades in the Underworld (“To Demeter” 463). While Persephone spends 1/3 of the year in the Underworld, the crops on Earth will not grow until she leaves for 2/3 of the year to be with her mother Demeter. When Persephone re-emerges, the grain starts growing again. But in my narrative, when the mortals return after going to the Gods Gathering, those who have unlocked that new part of their lives are almost being reborn. It’s as though they were living before winter but when spring comes around, they are growing again and have become a new person in some aspect of their life.
Bibliography
Creti, Donato. 1515-1547. TBM, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1946-0713-1275
Homeric Hymns “To Demeter”. 463-469.
Hesiod, Theogeny. 906-926.
Painter, Oinanthe. 470BC-460BC. TBM, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1837-0609-54
Pseudo-Orpheus, The Orphic Hymns “To Aphrodite. 54. 1-8.
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