A/N: This was an assignment for my English class. I figured it was about time I posted something (else) on ffnet, so yeah.
How the Swan Came to Be
In a small village near Athens, in Greece, there lived a handsome young man by the name of Swan. He was the type to be kind to beggars and guests, and was a pleasant, respectful, polite person in general. This was why everyone who met him loved him.
One day, when out hunting, he came across a frightening scene―a young man raced past him, running for all he was worth, and only seconds later, a boar came hurtling after him, seemingly intent on killing him. Without hesitation, Swan immediately jumped in front of the boar's path, startling it, and when it paused to snort in confusion, he notched an arrow and shot the boar dead and ran to find the man, asking him if he was alright and if he needed any help. Imagine his surprise when the man stood up calmly and then revealed himself as a she, a divine goddess, a powerful deity; Pallas Athena!
"For your concern and help and bravery that is often rare in young men these days," she told him, smiling to see his shock over finding that she was Athena, a divine personage, "when you are in need, call to me and I will come to your aid." Then she disappeared, leaving Swan still awed and convinced that the gods and goddesses of Olympus were great indeed.
The following winter was the hardest Swan's village had ever experienced. The harvest had been poor that autumn; the food stored for the winter was running out. People were beginning to starve.
"I shall find the goddess of the corn; I shall pray to her for help," Swan declared. "Our people shall not starve." He bade his elderly parents and the rest of his village farewell; they all wished him good luck and he set off in search of Demeter.
He wandered in the cold for days, freezing and starving, but he would not give up. After a few days, he got lucky and came across the unhappy Demeter outside a dark forest, weeping for her daughter, Persephone.
"O great goddess of the corn," Swan said, kneeling on the ground before her, "I am but a poor humble mortal man, seeking salvation. My village's harvest did not go well and they are starving for lack of food this winter. Will you not bless us with your divine powers, and not leave us to starve?"
Demeter lifted her head from her hands; she was in the guise of a poor old beggar woman. "I cannot bless anyone," she answered Swan, "when my dear daughter Persephone resides in the underworld with Hades, due to his trickery. Bring her back to me and I will ensure your village is most prosperous."
Swan thought this an impossible task; how could he challenge and outwit Hades? But he thought of his mother and father, and all the other kindly villagers he knew, and he knew then he had to try, for their sakes. He had promised them help, and help they would receive, no matter how difficult it was to get it.
It took Swan several days' journey to reach the underworld. It took a strong man to be able to find it and enter, and even more so to traverse the dark lands of the underworld, but a strong man he was, and he kept his wits about him. Following the examples of previous heroes and heroines who had traveled into the underworld and come out alive, Swan managed to reach the lair of Hades without major incident. Perhaps the following events could have been prevented if Swan had thought of calling to Athena for help, but that thought had not crossed his mind, so we shall never know.
As luck would have it, Hades was away and Persephone outside of their abode when Swan finally spotted her. When he had explained why he was there, she was quite eager to go with him and see her mother again.
Unfortunately for them, as they began the steep climb back up to earth, Hades returned from where he had been early. Upon learning of his wife's disappearance, he was enraged. Immediately, he caught up with the pair as they continued up the rocks, and snatched Persephone away, ignoring her cries of distress. After spiriting her back to his lair and locking her away, he sent the Erinyes, the Furies, to pursue Swan and prevent him from leaving the underworld.
Swan was almost back up to earth―he could already see the shafts of sunlight slanting through the one of many entrances to the underworld―when the Erinyes caught up with him. One, the despicable Tisiphone, grasped his ankles; another, the frightening Megaera, pulled him down by the arms, and the last, the horrible Alecto, grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down. Swan's fingers desperately grappled at the rock that was so close, yet so far, from the entrance back up to earth, but the three Erinyes were more than a match for him, and he was almost ready to give up when he remembered the goddess of wisdom's promise. He called out for her, and she appeared in a flash of light so brilliant that, for a moment, the Erinyes were startled and stopped pulling Swan down to shield their eyes.
Seeing Swan's predicament, Athena took opportunity of this advantage to take a hold of either side of Swan's head―the only part of his body visible jutting out of the earth from the hole in the rocks of the cave that led to the underworld―and try to pull him up. But the Erinyes recovered, and pulled back. Athena was a great goddess, one of the twelve Olympians, but the Erinyes were not mortal as well, and it was three against one.
Athena saw that Swan's neck was elongating with all the pulling, in a quite unattractive manner. She also was wise enough to see that she was fighting a losing battle, and so she had an idea. She turned Swan into a large, majestic white bird. This sudden change of form startled the Erinyes and they unwittingly let go, and Swan was able to fly away to safety. However, his neck stayed elongated, and was far too long for a human to look natural, so he chose to remain as a bird, whereas his long neck was attractive.
Pallas Athena took pity on the villagers Swan had sacrificed himself as a human to save, and provided them with the things necessary to survive the winter. "As for you," she said to Swan, "for your goodness and selflessness, the Swan will always be known as a great and majestic bird, beautiful and elegant."
And that is the story of how the Swan came to be, and it is still a great, majestic, beautiful, and elegant bird to this day.
A/N: Err. Read and review please, I guess!?