Prometheus in his Sean Connery Incarnation
Archival Inkjet Print
Conspiracy of the Gods
Prometheus Tells All
Part Two, (part one starts with post on September 30)
Prometheus Tells ALL! Red Hot News! As told to hot shot reporter Cherry Belle of the Natural Inquirer, for immediate release, all wires.
Luxuriously ensconced at a dimly lit table, flipping my red curls gracefully, I mean with a nervous jitter, I stared at Prometheus and tried not to drool. I pulled my video cam from my Ultra High End Bag. My pen was topped with a pompom made from the tail feathers of hummingbirds. I was nervous, but at least, I knew that I looked amazing.
Swishy was giving us entirely too much attention. He was a fabulous fairy and I adored him, but I had work to do. "Thank you, dahlin," I told the gaytor kindly, "we have everything that we need, our drinks and this snazzy little snack that you brought, now we have to work on the interview."
Prometheus sipped his Evian and began to tell his story in a hypnotic cadence. I closed my eyes and I was there, I was then, back in the beginning of time. I visioned it all, the strong hero, the sweet smell of fennel burning, the gut gobbling eagle.
Prometheus Tells ALL! Red Hot News! As told to hot shot reporter Cherry Belle of the Natural Inquirer, for immediate release, all wires.
Sean Connery's voice! OMG! That throbbing bass!
"I strolled along the seashore, glorious day, light played on storm clouds. Bare feet in the shallows.
I worried about the plight the of the people. They lived like animals. Ate raw meat. Shivered, exposed to the elements. The mighty control freak god Zeus would not allow them to progress. Some old grudge gnawed at his gut whenever humans were mentioned. I wanted to help humans rise up. I needed a plan.
Zeus was against you people, Cherry Belle, you and yours, from the start. He restricted you just to get even with me. He and I had been going around and around from time immortal. The last move had been mine, when I tricked him with the lamb bones wrapped in fat. He was always trying to outsmart me or get revenge for imagined offenses.
Let me tell you about Zeus, he rapes virgins, he steals, he kills. He decrees harsh punishments for slight disrespect.
One may wish, all one wants to wish, for a loving, compassionate god, (like Buddha), but what we got is Zeus. Selfish, egotistical. It is all about him, all the time. He decreed 'there shall be no other, gods before ME!' He cannot see beyond his immortal nose. Just try telling that asshole that everyone would live better if we all cooperated for the good of all, just try telling him that, good luck with that. People have been turned into stone for less.
Zeus, well, Zeus, I tell you, Cherry, that Zeus is one mean and power hungry God. He wanted to keep you mortals ignorant, groveling in the dirt. I saw that earthlings could be shining beings. Zeus was preventing your potential of near deity super powers. Zeus stood in your way. He was jealous because you would be god like if you were given knowledge. He was fearfully motivated to protect his King of the Gods position. Beings from all the kingdoms, upper to lower have suffered from his petty jealousy. I could see how beautifully and capable you are made. Zeus obstructed me at every turn, but I had checkmated him before and knew that I could do it again.
On the beach, I searched for a plan as I wadded in the shallows. A bruised storm cloud moved in from the west. The wind smelled of fish, like sex juices. Positive ions charged the bracing air. Overhead the sky stretched, divided into highly contrasting colors, dark purple out to sea and sun kissed blue nearer shore. Dramatic lighting reflected on a roiling ocean with white capped highlights.
I looked toward the dunes where sea oats danced with swan necks. Was it a play of light? Or just a subtle tingle that caught my attention? It was the size of the fennel, standing taller and broader than the other dune plants, that is what drew me to it.
The giant fennel stalk bowed to me and I snapped it smartly off from the root. I could see inside the hollow tube stalk a soft, dry filling. I knew that the inner substance would burn slowly, for a long time. This was the tool that I needed to smuggle divine fire out of Olympus. Now I had a plan. I zoomed back to the heavens in my flying object.
Since the Olympus parking lot was filled with many chariots of the gods, I did not attract attention when I parked. I entered the heavenly castle through the service entrance, and ascended the back stairs, my head held high, as if I had all the rights of the universe to be there. I did have rights, I had the right to do the right thing.
Zeus was passed out on his diamonds and gold throne. Luckily for me, the King of the Gods had too much ambrosia intake, again. He was snoring loudly, (it sounded like he was stripping his gears), so I was not concerned about awakening him with noise. However, I did cat foot it to avoid alerting his attendants.
Zeus' lightening bolt, belching holy fire, was ensconced in the golden charger between the windows. When I touched the fennel stalk to the flame it sparked easily. Wrapped in my tevlar cape it was quickly smuggled out of the castle. I walked casually down the stairs, past the cooks and maids, and out to my flying object. So far, things were proceeding without a glitch. So far.
A short, smooth ride in my bronze chariot, and I landed at the Earthling encampment, located in the area that is now Africa. The humans were huddled together in a cave, naked, shivering and hungry. They were little more than animals. They deserved better than this miserable borderline existence.
They were well made beings, I made them, your progenitors, from clay, I sculpted you, myself. Your high potential was obvious. Physically, you are beautiful, intellectually you are more than able, emotionally you are a sphere of storms and sunny days. Creatively you are capable of inventions that the universe has never seen before. You are so close in being to the gods, creatively you are superior to the gods. All you needed was fire, enLIGHTenment. The savior of humans, that is me, I knew that I could save you from a lowly existence. And here you are, thousands of years later, moving creatively into the unknown.
I taught you mortals how to use the fire for warmth and cooking and light. With these tools earthlings were able to progress through their amazing history up to the present milieu where we now find ourselves, in this hypnopompic lounge, with Swishy delighting in meeting our every need.
Zeus punished me with eternal torment. Of course. You know, he turns on his omniscient power, and he knows everything. He watched me, after he came too, the next morning, with a pounding head, but still able to tune in, he watched me. On rewind he saw it all. How I had stolen his fire for the mortal human beings, to help them progress towards their amazing unknown potential. OMG he was so pissed off.
Human history could have worked out even better, (you know what your faults are), but that is another story. Revenge is a tempting rollercoaster, an exciting but endless trap. Try to avoid it. I can see that now. Zeus got even with earthlings, he unleashed Pandora on your race! Like I said, that is another story.
Me, I was chained to a rock in the Caucasus Mountains. An eagle devoured my liver everyday. Everyday it grew back to be eaten again. Oh yea! That Zeus, do it his way or go to hell! I suffered hellish punishment for almost, for close to, eternity.
....continued... to part three.....
