After Philoctetes said these words he saw a great flying white beast approach from the distance. “It cannot be!” exclaimed Philoctetes with joy. “Pegasus!”
Pegasus approached and landed on the cliff ledge. He seemed happy to see Philoctetes alive and began licking him incessantly. “Good boy!” exclaimed Philoctetes. “Yes, I am alive! And you are too! But who sent you? How did you know I was here?”
Pegasus lifted his head north, up towards the heavens. He immediately knew who must have told him. “Zeus and Hera! The great Gods have not abandoned us!”
Pegasus seemed to have more to say. Philoctetes knew that Pegasus was connected in a way with Hercules and thus most likely knew where Hercules was. Pegasus lifted up his front hooves and at first pointed south towards the underworld. Philoctetes had to guess. “Hercules went to the underworld, yes, I know…but what next?” He then made a line in the air north. “Hercules is alive?” Pegasus nodded. “He was taken north?” Pegasus leapt up with joy again as he flapped his massive wings. “But where north? To Sparta?” Pegasus shook his head. “To Corinth?” Pegasus shook his head again. “To Athens?” This time Pegasus lifted his head up with joy.
Although before Philoctetes would have not riden Pegasus, this time he was rather enthusiastic. Pegasus lowered himself so Philoctetes could get on him. “Then to Athens Pegasus!” declared Philoctetes. “We must save Hercules!” Pegasus then opened his wings and flew up in the air, towards Athens.
******
Throughout the day Meg was journeying on Poseidon’s great ship south. This journey reminded her of the voyages she used to take while a part of the Greek military. When she took these voyages, however, she had to make sure she was disguised, so that nobody would recognize her as a woman.
But this time she needed no disguise. The journey south to the island would only take a few hours, the way this great ship was moving. While Meg sat in the corner of the ship looking over the ship she was approached from behind by Apollo. Apollo had short curly brown hair and wore a white robe. Apollo smiled and handed her a cup of fresh water from a golden goblet. “You look thirsty. Here is a drink.”
Meg thanked Apollo and took the drink. “You look very troubled,” said Apollo. “You must worry about Hercules.”
Meg nodded his head. “It is my fault. I betrayed him.”
“And yet you go after him, all the way to the worst hell on earth,” replied Apollo. “These do not seem like the actions of a traitor. You should know that all of us have things to mourn for. Aphrodite there weeps for many of her friends. Hades has taken many people, including Gods. Hephaestus, Ares, and Dionysus were lured away by Hades’ lust for power and they are now his servants. We also lost many mortal friends, friends who we are now forced to abandon.”
“Why must you leave?” asked Meg. “Why can you not stay and fight, fight against Hades and his great armies? You are powerful Gods, Gods that cannot die!”
“We do not fight because we cannot,” said a female voice from behind her. Meg turned back and saw that it was Athena. She had beautiful, long blonde hair and wore elegant golden covering. “We are ordinary Gods. Every one of us has our special abilities and powers, but we are not leaders. For the Gods to fight in a war there must be a great God to lead them, a God that is more powerful than Apollo and I.” Athena looked over at Poseidon, who stared off at the distant sea. “Right now that person is Poseidon, but Poseidon will not lead us.”
“Why not?” asked Meg.
“Because Poseidon is still crippled by what happened to Zeus and Hera. His love and admiration for these two great Gods lingers in his heart. I doubt we will ever see Gods as great as Zeus and Hera. Of course, with Zeus and Hera stuck on Mount Olympus, there is little chance now that Poseidon will lead us. It will take a very great God to get Poseidon and, in turn, all of us, to go to war.”
Meg looked down towards the ground in sadness. “Hercules is that man,” she said softly. “With or without his powers Hercules is as much a God as Zeus and Hera. That is, after all, what Zeus and Hera created Hercules to do—to lead the good Gods in a war against Hades and his armies.”
Athena nodded. “Yes, and if you succeed perhaps that may happen…”
Suddenly Hermes, who was hanging from the top timber of the boat made a loud call much like a bird. Then he said, “The island of Crete approaches!”
Meg looked out over the sea and saw it—the island of Crete, with its jagged cliffs and black rock. There she saw the great gate of Hades’ abode open and she was pleased. She would much rather enter Hades’ underworld through the main gate than have to go through the oculus right into Hades’ throne room.
Once the ship had arrived on the island, a ramp emerged that allowed Meg to walk onto the island. Poseidon followed her until they both were at Hades’ gate. She looked back at Poseidon and then into the dark abyss of the underworld.
“We cannot give you a ride back,” said Poseidon, “for we must be off now, through the sea to the eastern lands.”
Meg nodded. “Very well.” Meg turned the other way and began walked up the cliff towards Hades’ underworld.
Then Poseidon turned and said, “Oh and Meg. Good luck.”
Meg thanked Poseidon and turned to face her next great trial.
******
The sun was about half-way up in the sky when Meg reached the opening to Hades underworld. There Meg was to find a surprise. She thought that the gate may perhaps be closed and she would have to use the oculus opening to get into the underworld. But she found that this was not the case.
The gate was completely open, with both sides of the gate separated from the entrance and lying off to the side. She peeked her head inside of the underworld, but saw no guards or anything. So she continued moving into the dark abyss.
The entire cave was dark, but she was able to grab one of the torches that stood up on the side of the cave. She picked it up and began moving farther and farther into the cave.
She moved cautiously at first, expecting to at least see something or someone, but she did not. She looked around and saw broken and crumbled walls, as if some massive creature had broken them. The arena was desolate. The armory was vacant except for a few swords and shields. Then she rushed up to Hades’ throne room, but again, she found it empty.
She moved up towards Hades’ globe and there saw what Hades had viewed most recently. Zoomed in was an image of Athens. She began shifting the map and could see the desolation being brought upon all of Greece. She could see Hades’ men getting off of their boats and preparing for their attack. She could see Hades’ on his great dragon preparing for an assault on Athens. But she could not see Hercules. Her heart seethed within her and she took several steps away from the globe. “Oh Hercules, I have failed you! I was not here in time!”
You see, she now felt that Hades had killed Hercules. She felt a terrible feeling within her, as if she could never undo what evil she had caused. She felt as if she would never experience happiness again.
Meg wobbled back down towards the lower levels of the underworld, but before she left the throne room she noticed a shepherd’s staff, picked it up, and used it to keep her suddenly weak body from falling to the ground.
Meg began to feel her own guilt lead her down into great despair. There she, as she went down the stairs of Hades’ underworld she began to sing softly:
“Oh woe is me!
That I have done something that I am may never undo,
Oh that all light should disappear from the world!
That death should spread itself abroad,
And that I should be its Queen!
As she sung she looked around at the empty cave walls, and journeyed through the empty underworld, knowing that all evil, because of her, had now been unleashed upon the world.
“Perhaps I should take this place as my new home!
I could die here and it would make no difference!
Perhaps this is my throne, my new great Palace!
Hades w
ill no longer care for this place,
But perhaps I can, in my solitude, linger and haunt this place!”
She continued walking forward, through the arena until she reached the pit, the great pit that went down into Tartarus. She felt a dark mist ascend upwards. She felt drawn in…she was feeling weaker by the second. She was becoming less and less bright. Her guilt was drawing her down. “This is the only place in Hades’ underworld that I have not yet seen! To Tartarus I must go! For I do not deserve anywhere else!”
And there Megara looked down, and with the shepherd’s staff in her hand, let herself fall down into the great shaft of darkness.
Chapter 16: War at Athens
When daylight had come upon the entire land of Greece, following Hercules’ great suffering in Hades’ underworld, a terrible fear was already saturating the land. Hades’ flying servants arrived over the Greek mainland early in the morning and had already begun terrorizing villages in southern Greece. Hades and his great dragon did not bother stopping anywhere but Athens, the city where the great battle of his age would occur. If Athens and the armies near it, including King Archidamas’ armies, were destroyed then Hades would easily gain control of the rest of Greece.
Herakles and his ships arrived at land to the east of Athens where they began to make their march towards Athens. Meanwhile, Ares carried Hercules in his flying chariot up towards the Acropolis where he was to obey Hades’ order and tie Hercules up between two of the pillars at the Acropolis.
Of course, all these terrible things seemed to occur quite at the same time.
King Archidamas and his great armies were marching east towards Athens where they would make their great, bold attack Pericles and the rest of Athens.
Once daylight had come upon the land Pericles knew that his men were in grave danger in the open and ordered them all to continue their retreat towards Athens. Here he hoped that the chief Hellanodikai was able to gather a sufficient amount of men from the neighboring regions.
Athens was now a massive and chaotic city town. Thousands of men from Attica had come to Athens in response to Pericles’ order for war. The servant of the chief Hellanodikai bowed before him in Pericles’ palace. “My Lord, we have gathered all men and boys who can fight to Athens from all the neighboring regions.”
“Good!” declared the Hellanodikai. “Now go! Tell these men to be prepared, for I sense that war will soon come upon us.”
The servant left only to return with news a few hours later, at about mid-day. “What is it?” asked the Hellanodikai. “Why have you returned so quickly?”
The servant could only mumble. “It is Pericles. He has returned, with his army. He says that Sparta has a great army and is marching here from the west as we speak!”
The Hellanodikai looked sad. “Very well,” he said. “Then let us hope we are ready.”
What ensued in the next several hours is terrible to write, although I must. Pericles, with all of his archers and spearmen, stood on top of the wall surrounding Athens and looked down at the massive Spartan army, led by King Archidamas. Pericles heard a voice next to him. “Pericles,” said the Hellanodikai. “You know that this is a battle that we cannot win. They have been preparing for war for a lot longer than we have. Once they get through this wall they will ransack this city.”
“Let them try!” declared Pericles, angrily. “Nobody has destroyed Athens before and nobody will destroy Athens now. We shall fight and prove that Athens is the greatest city of Greece!”
The Hellanodikai was beginning to get upset with Pericles’ illogical thinking. “Pericles, it needs not end in death! Go to King Archidamas and propose a treaty! Propose a solution that does not end in the death of thousands of people!”
But Pericles was stubborn and would not compromise.
Meanwhile Milo, who had reluctantly agreed to journey with King Archidamas’ army to Athens, tried to speak peaceful words to the king before they began their assault on Athens. “We should not fight Athens!” said Milo.
“But they were going to fight us!” replied King Archidamas. “And I will no longer have Sparta continually fearing Athens. I would that peace finally exist in the land!”
“And it will, but not if you attack Athens, and start a great war!” declared Milo. “Please, Hades and his armies are coming upon all of Greece! Now is not the time to fight each other, but to be unified against Hades!”
But all of Milo’s persuading could not convince King Archidamas to stop his assault.
Once King Archidamas was near the Athenian wall he looked up at Pericles and declared loudly, “Pericles! You must surrender Athens to me or else you and all of Athens will be destroyed!”
“I will never surrender Athens!” replied Pericles. Then Pericles gave a great speech to all those on and behind his wall. “For heroes have the whole earth for their tomb; and in lands far from their own, where the column with its epitaph declares it, there is enshrined in every breast a record unwritten with no tablet to preserve it, except that of the heart. So let us be heroes!”
Then the Great War began. King Archidamas and his men charged the wall while Pericles and his men fired down on the Spartan armies. After much fighting the Spartans had managed to break through the gate and enter into the city. Pericles then led his men in an all-out charge to push the Spartans back long enough to get the Athenian gate back.
But this is when Hades and his armies struck. You see, while Pericles and the Athenian armies concentrated on the western wall, Hades’ army, led by the massive Herakles, had tramped down the eastern gate and entered the city. It all happened so fast and was so unexpected to Pericles, and the rest of Athens, that many thousands of people—including women and children—were killed before Pericles even knew what was going on.
The sun was more than two-thirds down, when Hades and his dragon flew over Athens.
It was only when Pericles saw Hades upon his great dragon that he realized what doom he had caused to be brought upon his nation. Once Hades and his great dragon flew up over the Athenian and Spartan armies all the soldiers on the battlefield stopped fighting and stared up at this terrifying devilish beast.
Hades looked down over the Greek armies and ordered the dragon to bring him lower. Once Hades was low enough to see Pericles, Pericles looked up and saw him. He then yelled, “Hades, what are you doing? We had a deal? I was to kill King Archidamas and you…”
Hades looked over at King Archidamas, who was about a hundred feet away. “It appears you have not kept the deal yourself. Archidamas still lives and you shall die.” Hades suddenly leapt up off the dragon towards the ground. He then drew his staff and aimed it down towards Pericles. A rush of fear suddenly swept over Pericles. He looked up into Hades’ eyes and then, finally, realized the truth. But it was too late.
Hades sent a powerful blast of dark magic from his staff that sent Pericles flying back until he his back hit hard against a large boulder. This cracked his back and killed him on impact. This was how Pericles the Great died.
After this Hades quickly spun his staff around and pointed it at King Archidamas. “Now you will all see the power of Hades the great, as your new king.” Suddenly Hades sent another powerful blast of magic that hit King Archidamas and killed him on impact.
Both great kings were dead. After Pericles and King Archidamas were killed there was a moment of terrifying silence. All the rest of the soldiers on the battlefield didn’t know what to do without a leader. They looked at Hades who laughed and then said, “So who is next?”
Suddenly the dragon sent a powerful blast of fire across the battlefield that caused everyone there to look to the skies and run. Then Hades’ men, led by the terrifying spiked club wielding Herakles burst out into the open to kill the remaining the soldiers. Hades laughed and, with his staff on hand, walked back to the Parthenon to check on Hercules and supervise the devastation of Athens.
Chapter 17: Hercules’ Escape
It is now time to return to the life of one of the g
reat heroes of this tale—Hercules. While Hercules suffered greatly the entire land suffered.
Due to the loss of blood Hercules was entirely unconscious throughout his journey in Hades’ chariot. When he awoke he looked around and saw himself chained between two large pillars. Ares, the god who had chained him there, seemed to have temporarily left him.
Hercules began to think about many things. He remembered the words of Philotetes, that the Gods would only follow a true hero into battle. “But oh what is the great secret?” thought Hercules. “How can I become a true hero?” He was then drawn to Hades’ words that a true hero was nothing more than a fallacy, something that weak mortals conjure up out of their imagination. Hercules suddenly realized that he was a mortal and thought that perhaps he had merely entertained the entire idea out of his imagination—that in fact it all had been his imagination. Had he really seen Zeus? Was he really the son of Zeus and Hera? It seemed preposterous that his mind could make it all up.
As Hercules looked out he saw Athens being torn apart. People ran throughout the city with fear. Buildings were being toppled. He saw Hades wave his staff in the air before his armies. He heard Hades yell loudly so that his voice echoed over the battlefield—“Go into the city! Destroy every building! Kill all who opposes you!” Hades shot a pillar of fire into the air from his staff.
Hercules tried to break the heavy chains that held him bound, but he could not break them. After several minutes he stopped trying and sunk his head towards the ground. Then Hercules heard a voice. “Hercules, put your head up!” Hercules looked up. It was Philoctetes and behind him was Pegasus. “You are alive!” exclaimed Hercules. “But how?”
“Come Hercules! You must get out of here! You have a city to save!”
“But I cannot break these chains! I have already tried!”
“You can and you must!”
The God of Olympus Page 21
