Απημιος

❝ Zeus, who guided mortals to be wise, has established his fixed law— wisdom comes through suffering. ❞ Independent. Private. Selective. Written by Walden.

[zeusapemius]

WHY DO YOU HURT?

because you cannot hold freedom

the sky is only air. the ocean is only water. the only freedom you will ever have is breathing, drawing this air again & again & again & again. You have to exhale, and it costs you something - you have to quench your thirst and it comes back again - there is nothing solid in being free, it is not a status to be achieved but an action to do. Free is an active status, and you worry you'll somehow forget. there are people who would control you. there are orders you could obey. you keep coming back to take this next breath, your own part of the forever-freedom of the sky, but sometimes you think to hold your breath. it is deceptively peaceful underwater. you don't know if you would notice it if you started drowning.

Tagged by: No one! Tagging: Whoever!

[zeusapemius]

" well, i think we’ve seen how effective my decisions have been " // @shadowsarise

"Quite so, haven't we?"

Despite the tonal inflection, it is not truly a question. Everyone had seen that display, whether they had wanted to or not.

[ How fortunate for him that Hades had seen fit to intervene before more foolish actions still were taken. ]

"But forgive me, I suppose I'm not currently in your preferred form, am I?"

From a shimmering shower of gold emerges a trim, well-muscled and quite shirtless figure very different from the respectable and wizened old man who, only a moment ago, sat before him.

"I believe this is closer to the likeness of that statue, was it not? It isn't the form I often take when meeting enterprising young would-be heroes—they usually need a firmer hand and the guidance of many years older than I would appear in order to be properly swayed by my good advices—but I would so hate to fall short of such lofty expectations."

[crowbound]

“You could ask him to kill for you & he would, though you never do because you like how he instinctively moves to protect you without you saying anything.”

— This man has done bad things; they’ve nested in his bones, they make him move like his love for you does.

[mournfulroses]

Virginia Woolf, from her novel titled "The Waves," originally published in 1931

[lily-musings]

                                           i’ve gripped rage,                                    i’ve wielded it like a weapon.

[zeusapemius]

I don't even have his theme posted yet, but, the fact that Zeus is the main one among the Greeks I write who has established different appearances based on what he embodies at the time or what he intends to convey...

Zeus, when he was fighting against the Titans alongside his brothers. Young and strong, as wild and as dangerous as a storm, eyes flashing like lightning. He still, at times, appears this way, though usually only in the fiercest of battles.

Zeus, as ruler of Olympus. Polished and precise and put together. The very image of vitality and youth. His brothers look older, as they would, but he seems to remain eternally here.

Zeus, as most never see him. A bit haggard. A bit vulnerable. Weary. The responsibilities [ and the traumas of the War ] weigh on him without ceasing, yet he carries them because he must. Because there is no other. What else could he do? Chain Poseidon to remain on Olympus when everything in his older brother's nature would rail against it? Would suffer and suffocate under the stifling feeling of being trapped? Break his oath made to save his eldest brother by bringing him to Olympus as its ruler, rendering the bargain invalid and forfeiting Hades' life? What? That he might be free of this duty for which he feels so ill-suited? No. He must carry on, and he must keep these thoughts to himself... and to the very, very few who win his total trust enough that he lowers his guard and allows them to see beyond the mask.

Zeus in disguises as a beggar, a wanderer. Who would pay attention to such a man? Which, is exactly why he finds it so useful. How better to observe the nature of mortals than to see how they treat those less fortunate? How they treat those who seem able to offer them nothing in return for their kindness or scorn? Here he can exist, unnoticed except by the most perceptive among them.

Zeus, when he appears to young mortal heroes with his appearance changed to play the part of the wizened advisor or mentor to those in need of guidance.