Hera and the Cat
By Tori Duell
Once upon a time, in the year 1043 B.C., Zeus, like all men, fell in love with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, while she was wearing her girdle that makes men fall in love. This made Hera, his sister and wife, so mad that she turned Zeus into an unnamed animal. Hera, who usually followed Zeus around, hated it that Zeus flirted with every known goddess and many of the mortal virgins. She gave him a long fluffy tail and pointy erect ears, satiny, soft fur, and a tiny cute feline face. When she was finished casting the spell, she was flabbergasted with the animal she had created.
Hera asked some of the gods and goddesses to help her name this cute, small, cuddly animal. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, thought that it should be called 'zorobia' because of its cute face. Posiden, the god of the sea, thought it should be called 'cossy' because of its fur that looked like ripples in the sea. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, thought it should be called 'lion' because of its feline features.
The gods and goddesses fought endlessly for weeks on end about how to name this creature. All this time, Zeus was locked into a cage that Hera had constructed to keep him from wandering and chasing Aphrodite with his cat-like features. Zeus was there so long that he became restless and began to pounce his own tail which tickled his nose so badly that he 'catchewed'. Everyone suddenly stopped their fighting in amazement. They suddenly realized that Zeus was still in the cage. Aphrodite thought that 'CAT' was a good name for the mysterious animal. The other gods and goddess just had to agree. It was so obvious, that they laughed at themselves and at Zeus.
Aphrodite loved the CAT so much that she made many stone figures of it and brought them to life. They all had different characteristics and yet they were the same. One cat had a distorted ear, which she kept as her sacred gift from Zeus. Zeus was eventually set free after a year of posing for Aphrodite to make her statues from. From that time forward, Hera would trap Zeus in a cage when she caught him flirting with Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
That is how the cat came into our world. Their characteristics make them a favored pet among many, many families, such as mine.
A/n:
I wrote this story because I was thinking of my cat Ginger; he inspired me to write this story because he has always been there for us. He always cheered us up with his silky fur and always-adorable face. He sometimes does funny things like pouncing on leaves and chasing rocks that my brother tosses for him.