Kinard Mythology Anthology Volume III

by Kinard Middle School

How Death Came to Be

  By: Asiye

  Long ago, when the earth was still young and the world was still growing there was a God whose name was Zoi. He was elegant,young, and was always exploring the life below Mount Olympus, where he stayed with his brother Zeus.

  One day Zoi was exploring the grounds of Greece when he came upon a beautiful young lady who was singing high above the city streets. It sounded like Goddess Aphrodite was singing it herself. Her music flowed through the empty streets. Zoi was instantly madly in love with her so he dashed into the woods. About five minutes later he came running back with a Narcissus; the flower that grew after the death of Narcissus. He looked around the streets of Greece but he could not find her. Sadly he went back to Olympus with his head drooped still holding the flower.

  Once Zoi reached Olympus he saw his brother, Zeus outside, “Where have you been Zoi and why such the long face?” Zoi told him everything about the lovely maiden, and Zeus listened very carefully with a very serious face.

  After the story Zeus stood over Zoi and spoke with a stern voice, “You must never go near that mortal again it would be devastating if you fall in love with her, you shame me to even talk about this.” Zeus had forbidden Zoi to go near the mortal because it was wrong for a God to fall in love with a human. For days Zoi stayed hidden away in Mount Olympus not eating or drinking.  A sour dryness filled his mouth longing to see the beautiful maiden one more time.

  After two months Zoi made up his mind. Quietly like a black cat he snuck out making his way back to Greece where he found her in the same place as before singing her lovely song. He went up to her and introduced himself giving her the flower of Narcissus.

  Several nights later Zeus went to go say goodnight to Zoi but he wasn't there. For Zoi had decided that, that night he would leave Mount Olympus and stay with his love forever and ever.

  Zeus was furious, and he would have to lay a punishment on him. Back and forth Zeus watched Zoi and the Maiden play together in the night. Finally, Zeus came up with a horrible punishment; he called Rhamnousia Goddess of revenge to help him.

  First, Zeus grabbed one of his lightning bolts and threw it at the maiden. She gasped for air once it hit her. Falling to the ground blood spewed out her eyes and mouth. She turned completely white and curled up into a ball twitching her bloody body until her eyes closed.

  Zoi was watching the whole thing with a pale face. Once she closed her eyes he dropped to the ground on top of her body sobbing.

  He lifted his head and up from the body and took the last thing he had to remember her, the Narcissus flower. All of a sudden a dark mist appeared that formed into the goddess Rhamnousia.

  She spoke in a soft but stern voice. “Zoi, Zeus has sent me to lay a punishment on you. He told me to tell you that because of your actions, disobeying him, that he had no choice.” The Narcissus turned pitch black. A strange feeling ran thru Zoi’s head and all off a sudden everything went black around him.

  He woke up in the darkest place on earth where no light would ever be seen again. Where the smell of dried blood lurched the air. Where the soul of the maiden forever moaned, the Underworld.

  Zoi never saw life again and only heard the moans of the dead souls. He remained in there forever and never saw his love again.  Since he had no life, Zoi meaning life, disappeared for he was now Hades Lord of the Underworld where he held the Narcissus forever and ever.

  The Arts vs. Sports

  By: Luke Soosle

  In ancient England, many years before one was born, there lived an athletic boy named, “Brantley.”  Brantley was tall with light blond hair and his eyes were as blue as the sky.  He had amazing athleticism given to him by the god, “Calvin,” of athletes and sports.  Brantley in fact was the fastest sprinter in his school and the best soccer player.  Calvin, the god that gave Brantley amazing athleticism, was one of the taller, broader gods, with his muscles being as strong as a three roaring, bears combined.  Calvin cherished Brantley’s athleticism more than all the stars in the sky.

  One day at school, Brantley was studying when he heard a peculiar sound.  The sound was beautiful and he became intrigued by what it was and soon figured out that it was a piano.

  Meanwhile, when Calvin heard the horrid news that Brantley fell in love with the sound of the piano, he cursed.  For he and the goddess, “Pietra,” did not get along because Pietra was the goddess of the arts and he was the god of sports and those two are the exact opposite from each other.   Neither of them wanted their mortals in which they gave their talents to, to begin enjoying the other one more.  But when the god of athletes and sports thought about how Brantley loved sports and how devoted he was to them, he laughed and said,

  “Ha, why must I worry?  My favorite athlete in which I gave the gift of athleticism to, will not turn against me for music!”  And with that being said, Calvin fell asleep.

  “Happy birthday!” said Brantly’s parents.  Had his birthday already come.  He leapt out of his bed as fast as an antelope and hoped that he had gotten what he longed for.  A piano.  As Brantley rushed down the stairs he saw a gigantic box.  He ran towards it and began to rip through it.  He could hear the, “Crackle,” sound of the box as he tore through it.  When Brantley finished ripping through the box, he saw a piano that was crafted as well as a sword.  It smelt like brand new furniture.  Brantley sat down in front of his new piano and began to play.  All Brantley did for the rest of the day was play the piano and eventually decided to give up on sports for all he needed was his piano.

  When Calvin found out that Brantley gave up sports he became furious and went marching down to the palace where Pietra lived.

   

  “Pietra goddess of the arts,  I command you to make Brantley despise of the piano and of all the arts!” said Calvin sharply.

  Pietra then replied,

  “Calvin, how foolish you must be.  To take away one’s love of something is to put them in grave danger of falling into a deep depression.  But I will grant your yearning.”  Pietra took out her wand and with a single wave of her hand a huge stream of scintillation shot up to the sky and exploded, as if fireworks.  Calvin was pleased.

   

  The following day,

  The sun was shining, the birds were singing, but Brantley was weeping.  For he had realized he would never enjoy the piano again and he had no idea why!  He sighed for he was in a great depression with nothing to do.  All he did was lay on his bed weeping.

  Calvin couldn’t believe it!  He had not realized that taking away Brantley’s love of the piano would place him into an everlasting depression!  And for the first time in forever Calvin had a guilty conscience.  So he decided it was time to confront Pietra about how Brantley was feeling and when he got to her palace he asked,

  “May you make Brantley love the piano once more?  I have realized the harm that I have caused Brantley!”

  But Pietra only shook her head sadly.

  “I am truly sorry Calvin!  But I do not have the power to make Brantley love something that has already been taken from him.  The only god that does is, ‘Zeus.’”

  “We must find Zeus then!” said Calvin.

  So both the god of athletics and the goddess of the arts ventured out to find Zeus.

  “Why should I make Brantley love something that is already taken from him?” asked Zeus.

  “This boy is suffering and it is all my fault!  I should have thought more before I took away his love of the piano!” said Calvin.

  “Hmmmm.” hummed Zeus.  “I see that you are very sorry and regretful for what you have done.  Therefore, I will grant your boon.”  Zeus pointed his finger towards the sky and an enormous lightning bolt shot up to the sky, illuminating it.

  Brantley gratefully received his love of the piano once more and as he got older, he became a famous pianist and everyone loved his musical talent.  It is said,

  “When Brantley played the piano, all of the notes would flow together, making a
soft beautiful sound to all closeby listening ears.”  Calvin and Pietra now work together to encourage humans to try both the arts and sports, so we may be well-rounded and find a love in both of them.  So this is why today at, “Kinard,” we must do both the arts and sports.  

  The Grave Mistake of Bavnorea

  By Austin Washam

  One day in Greece a peaceful cattle farmer Bavnorea (BAV-NOR-YA) was minding his business feeding his favorite cow named Jeffy.

  Then Mrs.Yolk came in and said to Bavnorea “You have been chosen to sacrifice a cattle your favorite to be exact.”

  Bavnorea then thought that if he gets rid of Jeffy then he has no joy, but he can’t get rid of any other, he loved all of his cattle. So then he thought to make puppets of all of his cattle so he does not have to sacrifice his cattle.

  So later that night he was making all the cattle’s puppet copy.

  When he was done the next day, he hid all the cattle in his basement and put a sign saying No cattle in here folks on his door.

  At night when all the people of his town and the ones he knows like Bill, Jose, Ms Lemon, Mr pear, and Mr and Mrs.Yolk all came to watch, then Bavnorea came out with the altar and a giant knife as big as his arm. He strapped Jeffy’s fake puppet to the altar and stabbed it 200 times on it’s whole fake body. Lots of pig blood and gore he filled it with, spewed out of the puppet, on to everything and it covered Mr and Mrs.Yolks son all over also a towel absorbed all of it.

  Then the sky turned grey and blood rained from the sky and Jose fell to the ground screaming in wretched pain crying for mercy. Legs started coming out of his back and pincers out of his mouth then Mr. Pear and Mrs. Lemon then Mr.Yolk but Mrs.Yolk covered her face and ran so did Bavnorea. They reached a shed but it had already infected all the people in town then Bavnorea saw a scroll that mysteriously popped out of nowhere.

  He read it outloud to Mrs. Yolk. It said “Whenever someone does not do a sacrifice correct the god Zeus turns the people of the town into what we know are called Crawlers. The only way to cure this is to get the sap from the tree of life in the center of town. Then once you feed it to one person it will cure the rest. But be careful on your journey crawlers love the taste of flesh and blood.”

  Later that same night Bavnorea and Mrs. Yolk went to the center of town. Bavnorea stuck his knife into the tree and then the sap came out. Then a crawler jumped up onto Mrs.Yolk and ate her. She was screaming and screaming in pain then he saw that the crawler was Jose. Bavnorea quickly put the Sap in his mouth then he changed. He slowly changed back his mandibles, legs body all went back to normal he became normal Jose.

  Then the rest until the town was normal again the sky turned blue and everyone in the town was back to the way they are. But the towns folk grabbed Bavnorea and tossed him into the volcano of Gyali. Later they discovered the cattle in his old basement and tossed them in too. As for the rest of the of them well Ms. Lemon and Mr. Pear got married, Bill and Jose became best friends, and both Mr. and Mrs.Yolk and their son got eaten.

  The Colossal Wall

  By Maya

  Once there was a time when giants resided on the same land Greeks lived on. As one can probably tell, the arrangement didn’t turn out too well. The Greeks thought that the giants took up too much land and ate too much livestock, plus they smelled like rotten eggs. The giants thought they were superior to except the gods, so they wanted the Greeks to be their slaves.

  The Greeks finally had enough of the giants, so they inquired the gods how to get rid of them.  Hermes, the messenger god, came down in a couple of weeks, what felt like forever to the Greeks, after the gods had received their message. He explained that the gods held a counsel to find the answer to their dilemma.

  “Since they like the giants and the Greeks, they had to find a way for the two to both get what they want,” the messenger revealed rapidly, “They decided that having a war between the two would be the best way to solve the problem. They chose the young prince of Sparta, Jacoban, to lead you in the war. They wish you the best of luck.” Before the Greeks could ask any questions, Hermes flew away, his shoes fluttering madly.

  “I suppose he means we attack right away,” Jacoban roared, confidence in his voice.

  Weeks occurred, and with heroic Jacoban at the lead, the giants stood no chance. They almost became extinct, the few that endured fled. The Greeks could almost taste victory.

         

  The gods were furious. Seething Zeus and soothing Erica, goddess of giants, deliberately elected Jacoban because they didn’t like him and thought he didn’t stand a chance.

         

  “How dare they!” Zeus yelled, clenching his fists. “We must find a way to get revenge!”

         

  “I have been thinking about this,” murmured Erica calmly,”Let’s build a wall out of the giants. Of course we should add rocks and grass to live atop it to so the Greeks don’t expect it was us who put it there.”

         

  “That’s actually a great idea. Let’s send someone to gather all the bodies so we can begin work quickly,” Zeus admitted.

         

  A few months later, after all the Greeks thought their problems with the giants were over, they woke up to find a colossal wall outside their homes.

         

  Jacoban walked outside and marveled at the sight before him. The wall was uneven, and some parts reached high into the sky. As he looked closely, he realized it wasn’t just a jagged wall, it also had tree and animals on the peaks.

  “It’s ok, I’m sure there is a way to get rid of this huge wall, or at least get over it,” Jacoban said. He tried to look confident, but he was actually worried there would be no way to get over it.

  They spent weeks trying to sabotage it, but they eventually gave up and decided they had to get over it. They had only made a little dent when they tried to make a tunnel, and it was impossible for them to penetrate under it because the rock the wall was made from was too hard. It felt uneven and rough, and the Greeks hands when they tried to cut it. Hence mountains were created, an everlasting obstacle to the Greeks.  

  Peach and the Tree

  By Jackson Smith

  A long time ago, in a world far, far from ours, existed a place of magic. In this world, dwelled nymphs, gods and other wondrous creatures.

  At the entrance to this forest humans would put offerings to the gods. They would sacrifice things from intricate jewelry and exquisite weavings to the best of cattle and even ones of their own blood.

  One day, the people of a small town called Haleons had decided to sacrifice a young girl to Otisea, the goddess of vain, hoping this would soothe her anger at their small town. Though the offering never made it to Otisea as the child was found by nymphs. The nymphs had fallen in love with the small human. So, they had taken the young girl with them and had dubbed her Peach.

  Eighteen years had passed and Peach had grown into a fine young woman, she had become a sight to behold, for her beauty had rivaled the god’s. She had the grace of a petal swaying in the wind, her eyes were light green, with flowing hair of silky gold, her skin as soft and fair as the clouds themselves and rosy pink cheeks that complimented her soft smile. Though looks were not the only thing she had, she was very smart, she knew the different types of plants and if they were poisonous or not. She was very energetic too, bouncing off the walls crazy. Her voice was soft and it melted into song each time she spoke. She was charming to the nymphs and they had loved her dearly.

  The nymphs had hidden her from the goddess Otisea as long as possible, but they couldn’t stop Otisea from finding out, she was enraged by the trickery that the nymphs had pulled, so she had set out a plan.

  She had called the goddess Hemalia, the Daughter of Sleep and Emperor of Dreams. Hemalia had owed Otisea a favor, and Otisea planned to use it. She had Hemalia hypnotize Peach. She had fallen into a trance and leisurely wandered the forest in a
dazed state till she eventually plummeted to her doom from a high cliff.

  Once the nymphs found Peach’s dead body, they had forgotten everything else in their lives and started to weep. They had wept as they knew that they would never see Peach’s sweet smile, or that they would never hear her honey voice, or even her soft gaze again. The nymph who had raised Peach had cried out, “Without her, what meaning does life have? Without my sweet Peach with us, the skies shall be gray and no smiles shalt be seen, for we have lost our sunlight.”

  This had went gone on for four days and nights and Otisea had grown restless, “How long do they dare mourn the death of a useless human?” she had asked herself.

  Time had slowly passed on, the body of Peach decayed away and in its spot, grew a tree with a short, stocky trunk, with long, thick branches and curved green leaves, from this tree came soft pink fruits that had the sweetest flesh, that tasted of pure joy and happiness, and softest skin, like cotton fluff and llama fur, the smell was intoxicating it was if the fruit was a flower.

  The nymphs never left the tree, as it was the only thing left of their sweet little Peach. After so many long years of waiting the nymphs had turned to spiritless stones, the faces of their pain engraved into them. They were hollow shells filled with sadness.

  To this day, they still sit at the base of their beloved Peach’s tree, hoping one day that their sweet Peach would be returned to them.

  This was the creation of the now loved peach tree and the reason nymphs no longer frolick in the land.

  Once there was a time when giants resided on the same land Greeks lived on. As one can probably tell, the arrangement didn’t turn out too well. The Greeks thought that the giants took up too much land and ate too much livestock, plus they smelled like rotten eggs. The giants thought they were superior to except the gods, so they wanted the Greeks to be their slaves.

  The Greeks finally had enough of the giants, so they inquired the gods how to get rid of them.  Hermes, the messenger god, came down in a couple of weeks, what felt like forever to the Greeks, after the gods had received their message. He explained that the gods held a counsel to find the answer to their dilemma.

  “Since they like the giants and the Greeks, they had to find a way for the two to both get what they want,” the messenger revealed rapidly, “They decided that having a war between the two would be the best way to solve the problem. They chose the young prince of Sparta, Jacoban, to lead you in the war. They wish you the best of luck.” Before the Greeks could ask any questions, Hermes flew away, his shoes fluttering madly.

  “I suppose he means we attack right away,” Jacoban roared, confidence in his voice.

  Weeks occurred, and with heroic Jacoban at the lead, the giants stood no chance. They almost became extinct, the few that endured fled. The Greeks could almost taste victory.

         

  The gods were furious. Seething Zeus and soothing Erica, goddess of giants, deliberately elected Jacoban because they didn’t like him and thought he didn’t stand a chance.

         

  “How dare they!” Zeus yelled, clenching his fists. “We must find a way to get revenge!”

         

  “I have been thinking about this,” murmured Erica calmly,”Let’s build a wall out of the giants. Of course we should add rocks and grass to live atop it to so the Greeks don’t expect it was us who put it there.”

         

  “That’s actually a great idea. Let’s send someone to gather all the bodies so we can begin work quickly,” Zeus admitted.

         

  A few months later, after all the Greeks thought their problems with the giants were over, they woke up to find a colossal wall outside their homes.

         

  Jacoban walked outside and marveled at the sight before him. The wall was uneven, and some parts reached high into the sky. As he looked closely, he realized it wasn’t just a jagged wall, it also had tree and animals on the peaks.

  “It’s ok, I’m sure there is a way to get rid of this huge wall, or at least get over it,” Jacoban said. He tried to look confident, but he was actually worried there would be no way to get over it.

  They spent weeks trying to sabotage it, but they eventually gave up and decided they had to get over it. They had only made a little dent when they tried to make a tunnel, and it was impossible for them to penetrate under it because the rock the wall was made from was too hard. It felt uneven and rough, and the Greeks hands when they tried to cut it. Hence mountains were created, an everlasting obstacle to the Greeks.  

  Peach and the Tree

  By Jackson Smith

  A long time ago, in a world far, far from ours, existed a place of magic. In this world, dwelled nymphs, gods and other wondrous creatures.

  At the entrance to this forest humans would put offerings to the gods. They would sacrifice things from intricate jewelry and exquisite weavings to the best of cattle and even ones of their own blood.

  One day, the people of a small town called Haleons had decided to sacrifice a young girl to Otisea, the goddess of vain, hoping this would soothe her anger at their small town. Though the offering never made it to Otisea as the child was found by nymphs. The nymphs had fallen in love with the small human. So, they had taken the young girl with them and had dubbed her Peach.

  Eighteen years had passed and Peach had grown into a fine young woman, she had become a sight to behold, for her beauty had rivaled the god’s. She had the grace of a petal swaying in the wind, her eyes were light green, with flowing hair of silky gold, her skin as soft and fair as the clouds themselves and rosy pink cheeks that complimented her soft smile. Though looks were not the only thing she had, she was very smart, she knew the different types of plants and if they were poisonous or not. She was very energetic too, bouncing off the walls crazy. Her voice was soft and it melted into song each time she spoke. She was charming to the nymphs and they had loved her dearly.

  The nymphs had hidden her from the goddess Otisea as long as possible, but they couldn’t stop Otisea from finding out, she was enraged by the trickery that the nymphs had pulled, so she had set out a plan.

  She had called the goddess Hemalia, the Daughter of Sleep and Emperor of Dreams. Hemalia had owed Otisea a favor, and Otisea planned to use it. She had Hemalia hypnotize Peach. She had fallen into a trance and leisurely wandered the forest in a dazed state till she eventually plummeted to her doom from a high cliff.

  Once the nymphs found Peach’s dead body, they had forgotten everything else in their lives and started to weep. They had wept as they knew that they would never see Peach’s sweet smile, or that they would never hear her honey voice, or even her soft gaze again. The nymph who had raised Peach had cried out, “Without her, what meaning does life have? Without my sweet Peach with us, the skies shall be gray and no smiles shalt be seen, for we have lost our sunlight.”

  This had went gone on for four days and nights and Otisea had grown restless, “How long do they dare mourn the death of a useless human?” she had asked herself.

  Time had slowly passed on, the body of Peach decayed away and in its spot, grew a tree with a short, stocky trunk, with long, thick branches and curved green leaves, from this tree came soft pink fruits that had the sweetest flesh, that tasted of pure joy and happiness, and softest skin, like cotton fluff and llama fur, the smell was intoxicating it was if the fruit was a flower.

  The nymphs never left the tree, as it was the only thing left of their sweet little Peach. After so many long years of waiting the nymphs had turned to spiritless stones, the faces of their pain engraved into them. They were hollow shells filled with sadness.

  To this day, they still sit at the base of their beloved Peach’s tree, hoping one day that their sweet Peach would be returned to them.

  This was the creation of the now loved peach tree and the reason nymphs no longer frolick in the land.