Eris Returns
Not much time had passed since the end of the Trojan War. The Greeks were victorious while Troy had been destroyed. However, one of the people responsible for the war decided that it did not last long enough. Her name was Eris, Goddess of Discord. Still sore over being the only divinity left out of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, she had been planning to bring about a new level of chaos. As she had done before, she would trick the other gods into doing her dirty work. Her first stop was the Goddess of Love. She disguised herself as Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth.
"Greetings, Aphrodite," the fake Hestia said solemnly.
"Hello," Aphrodite greeted back. "What brings you here?"
"I have a request that requires your talents," she responded. "Zeus has wronged me and my worshippers. He has struck fear into many children across the land with his thunder."
"Is that all?" Aphrodite asked, thinking that her guest was being a bit petty.
"He has particularly caused fear in the hearts of young girls," Eris added. "His love affairs, which I do not blame you for, have terrorized their homes for fear of his vengeful wife, Hera."
"What do you ask of me?" Aphrodite asked impatiently.
"Make Zeus fall in love with Demeter!" Eris said, a little out of character for Hestia. "It was their union that spawned Persephone. Surely, there is another chance for their love. It would not only distract him from bothering my worshippers, but would also place him in an awkward position with his wife."
"That does sound interesting," said the intrigued enchantress. "However, you must give me something for my services."
"Very well," Eris said, trying to stay in character. She then revealed a hand mirror. "With this you will be able to view the most beautiful being in existence." After accepting the gift with great flattery, Aphrodite quickly tended to her given task. With Cupid's assistance, Zeus instantly fell in love with the Goddess of Harvest. He appeared before her when she just happened to be spending time with Persephone during summer.
"Good day, fair lover and young daughter," he said to them. Needless to say, they were caught by surprise.
"What are you talking about?" Demeter asked, bewildered. "Our romance ended long ago." Persephone was speechless.
"My love for you has been rekindled like the burning River of Phlegethon," he continued. "You, who has unwillingly sacrificed your daughter every year, are the delicate flower that has long been forsaken of my love."
"Zeus!" Demeter blushed, embarrassed by his speech. "You already have a wife."
"This I cannot deny," he admitted. "Regardless, I will make sure that she does not interfere." Zeus then wrapped himself and Demeter in a thick cloud and they disappeared, leaving Persephone behind. Still bewildered as to what just happened, she decided to go pick flowers and not think about it. Meanwhile, Eris had been watching the entire time.
"Excellent," she said to her self just before she went to Olympus. Once there, she called for Iris. This time, she disguised herself as Demeter. As the area started to glow with color, Iris arrived.
"Did you call?" she asked expecting a message.
"Yes," Eris replied as Demeter. "You are to send a message to Hera. Tell her that Zeus and I have found new love for each other. He no longer cares for a harpy such as herself."
"Excuse me!" said a very surprised rainbow goddess. "Did you just say that you and Zeus…"
"…Are in love," the disguised one interrupted, beginning to smile with delight. "Soon we will consummate our love and live together in eternal bliss." Then, as a last minute thought, she added, "You are also to tell her that he also had a very short-lived affair with Hestia. She chose not to love him back. You may leave now."
"Uh…yes, Demeter," Iris said uneasily. She then left to tell Hera the message. Hera, as usual was out searching for Zeus or any of his paramours. Suddenly, Iris flew in front of her with her rainbow trailing behind.
"Hello, Iris," she said, pleasantly surprised by her appearance. "Is there something you need to tell me?"
"As a messenger of the gods," she began, "it is my duty to relay one person's words to another person. Please understand that they are not mine."
"What is it?" Hera asked hesitantly, realizing that it was not good news. Iris then quoted Demeter's message. Hera listened speechlessly as she listened to the arrogant words of her sister.
After finishing Iris quickly bowed. "Please forgive me for such words." Iris then hurriedly took her leave before Hera could unleash her wrath upon her. Hera could not decide whether to attack Hestia or Demeter first. Not much later, Eris made her entrance in her true form.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked innocently. "You look pretty mad."
"What do you think?" Hera screamed at her. "Those…harlots! How should I punish them?"
"Slow down," said Eris. "You're forgetting that unlike most of Zeus's affairs, these are fellow gods. You can't just kill them."
"Do you have a suggestion, Goddess of Discord?" Hera asked evilly.
"Of course," Eris said with a grin. "To punish Hestia, you must punish the worshippers of the Hearth. Use the Centaurs that were born from the cloud of your image. They won't hesitate to do your dirty work."
"What about Demeter?" Hera asked, liking the way Eris thought.
"Send her child back to the underworld," Eris suggested. "Persephone is such a weakling; she won't be able to defy your whims. Demeter will become so depressed, that she will quickly turn over Zeus."
"And if she doesn't?" Hera asked.
"You can ask Poseidon to destroy all that she has created with floods and earthquakes and such," Eris said, reveling at the thought of such a disaster.
"Brilliant!" Hera said as she left to give the Centaurs their orders. Eris went to Olympus to watch her plans come together. Unbeknownst to her, someone was already working to undo her scheme.
Shortly after Iris had delivered her message, she decided to also tell another messenger god, Hermes. Iris just felt that something was very wrong. Being the clever person that he was, he knew that Demeter would not have done such a rash thing. He then told Iris to ask Apollo, God of Light and Truth, what was really going on. As for himself he went in search of Zeus and Demeter. They were actually on the island of Crete, with Zeus still going on about how much he loved Demeter.
"Zeus, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not interested?" Demeter said, irritably massaging her temples. It was already starting to snow from her negative state of mind.
"Please, dearest," Zeus pleaded, caressing her hand just before she snatched it away. "Accept my undying love for you." At that very moment, Hera dropped in.
"Well, well, well," she said, folding her arms. "It appears that I've arrived just in time."
"It's not what it looks like, Hera," Zeus lied. "We were just having a…uh…picnic."
"Save it!" Hera barked. "Demeter, did you think you could get away with such disrespect?"
"What?" Demeter asked. "You can't be serious. I didn't ask for this."
"As punishment, Persephone will be banished to Hades," Hera said, her voice echoing with her decree.. It started to snow harder.
"You can't take her away from me!" Demeter screamed. "She still has a precious few months left with me."
"She can come back when you and my husband separate," Hera said simply. "If you refuse, I will have all that you have created destroyed."
"You can have him," Demeter pleaded, pushing Zeus away brusquely. "Just return my baby." As she continued to plea with Hera, many plants all over the world began to wither.
"Hera!" Zeus finally spoke up. "Stop this nonsense. I am sure we can work this out."
"Hermes!" Hera called. This led him straight to their location. He arrived there as speedily as always.
"I've been looking for you all," he said hurriedly. "Demeter isn't the type to do something like this."
"Not now, Hermes," Hera said, ignoring him. "Tell Poseidon to start the floods and so on," Soon a large rainbow column appeared in the snowy sky and Iris floated down.
"Hera, Demeter did not send you that message," said Iris. "I was mistaken. It was actually Eris in disguise." As soon as she said this, Eris herself appeared.
"They're lying!" she yelled. "They're in cahoots with Demeter and Hestia."
"It is you who is lying," said a new voice. There was a flash of light as Apollo appeared and Eris groaned. "Your game is over. I, God of Truth, have already witnessed your treachery. First, you disguised yourself as Hestia to convince Aphrodite to strike Zeus with Cupid's arrow. Then, you anger Hera by provoking her, disguised as Demeter."
"Is this true, Eris?" Hera asked, calming down.
"You caused me this misery?" asked Demeter, who was very angry by now.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't beat you into the ground?" asked an infuriated Zeus.
"Because it would not matter, you fools," Eris said icily. "It does not matter how much you attempt to punish me. As an immortal, I will exist for eternity. My reign of chaos may have been averted this day, but you can be sure that this will not be the last you have seen of me." With that she disappeared, presumably in temporary hiding.
Afterwards, Zeus, Hera, and Demeter reconciled. Aphrodite agreed to remove the spell from Zeus. Hera allowed Persephone to stay with Demeter for her remaining allotted time. She also stopped the hordes of centaurs attacking every building with a hearth and apologized to all. The gods then held a ceremony for the underappreciated messengers, Hermes and Iris.