Sunday, October 21, 2018

I'm basically a Greek Goddess (this is a joke please click to understand)

As we know, before coming to STM in 8th grade, I went to Kehoe France. At Kehoe in 6th grade there's a a day called Greek day, or was it Mythology day, ah who knows at this point. During this time in history class, taught by the infamous Ms. Dempsey (former Saint player, Tom Dempsey's wife), we loved every bit of it. For Greek day, we all were assigned a god, goddess, or such thereof, to dress up, present, and perform as. Funny enough, I was Rhea, so when Elise brought up Rhea in her presentation the other day, I felt immediately like I was back in 6th grade. According to Hesiod, Cronus and Rhea had six children: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus (in that order).
Cronus had just been informed that he was destined to be overcome by his own child. So as each of his children were born, Cronus swallowed them (gross). Rhea was not down with the fact that her husband was eating her kids, as any mother naturally wouldn't be, so she devised a plan. This plan, in my opinion is one of the most iconic things to ever have happened in Greek Mythology and is hugely underappreciated. After giving birth to her youngest, Zeus, she gave Cronus a rock-- AN ACTUAL ROCK-- which he then swallowed, thinking it was his child. I find that utterly hilarious, like how dumb do you have to be to eat a ROCK and think it is an actual BABY. Classic Rhea. Anyway, infant Zeus was then hidden away in a cave in Mount Ida, where he grew and eventually came to both free his siblings and killing Cronus, fulfilling the prophecy, by drugging his father. On Greek day I dressed in my toga and work a little gold crown as my costume and told this story. In addition, the boys who were Zeus and Cronus helped me perform a skit where I used a rock from the landscaping outside the classroom to explain my, or Rhea's, story. Long story short, Rhea is super cool and I love her story, so being able to share that as my tiny 6th grade self is something I'll never forget.

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