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Hera’s TearsBy: Leah Larson

Larson/2100/FinalProject-Science

Fiction(Mythology)/Original Picture Book

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You may have heard of a few Greek myths before. Maybe about Theseus and the Minotaur, or Pandora’s box, maybe of Medusa, or even Apollo and the sun chariot.

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Only the story I am about to tell is like none other. A story most people do not know.

It is a story of the first Earth, unlike the one we live on today.

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It all starts a long time ago, in a place called Mount Olympus, the gods were feuding day and night about a problem on Earth.

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This problem was that many, many people were dying. This problem had occurred not so long after Zeus created the Earth for his entertainment.

It seemed as though Zeus had forgotten something while creating the Earth, something so important that if the people didn’t have it they would die.

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Everyone on Mount Olympus was fighting about what the Earth needed.

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“Hmm,” Zeus would mumble, “What more do they need? We have given them food of all sorts; cattle, sheep, grain, and fruits. What else do they need? They also have Apollo’s sun chariot for warmth. I just don’t understand it!”

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“We have it!” shouted Poseidon and Hades, both lords of the underworld at this time because so many people were dying that they needed two gods.

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The two had been thinking and thinking so hard about what the people needed because Zeus had promised a great reward for whomever gave the humans what they needed to survive. No one knew what the reward would be.

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“We know what they need. What is the one thing we gods have that the people don’t?” they questioned the others.

“Crowns,” said Apollo sarcastically.

“Well make that two things,” Hades said.

“They need powers!” said Poseidon, not letting anyone else guess, “None of us have ever lived without powers. This has to be what they need.”

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“Ah, yes! My brilliant brothers, you have found what the humans need!” shouted Zeus.

Poseidon and Hades were smiling from ear to ear.

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Because Hades had some doubt about powers being what the people really needed, he said, “Poseidon, you may be the god of powers.”

“Now for your reward,” Zeus exclaimed, “One of you get to be the god of powers instead of you both being gods of the underworld.”

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The next day Poseidon went straight to work, giving out the powers and making sure they were used properly, but Poseidon and Hades had been wrong. Powers were not what the people needed.

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There were even more people dying than there were before because the people were misusing their powers. They used the powers as weapons to kill more and more people.

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It got so bad that not even Zeus, let alone Poseidon, could stop the madness. So, Zeus took the powers away from the people and made Poseidon and Hades share the task of being gods of the underworld once more.

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Hera, goddess of the home and Zeus’ wife, saw what was going on down on Earth and thought it was unbearably sad. Hera began to weep. Her tears were of so many that they fell upon the Earth.

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Her tears filled the canyons and flooded the valleys.

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She cried and cried and then when she felt she could not cry anymore she started watching the people on Earth. She was surprised to see them getting better, getting stronger.

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Zeus burst in through the door. “My dear!” he exclaimed, “The people are starting to live because of you. Your tears are giving them water to drink for the strength they need to live. You have done it, my dear.”

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Zeus created fish and mermaids to live in the sea.

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He let Poseidon be the god of the oceans that Hera had made with her tears.

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This is how we got our rivers and lakes, oceans and streams, because of Hera’s tears.

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Even though when it rains it is really Hera crying and it is a sorrowful song, it also gives the Earth life and replenishes us.

This is how people were able to live, because of Hera’s tears.

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The End