The Greek Gods and the Apocalypse

Chapter

"Those are both reasonable answers "so how would that information be used to plan an activity, a theme or any other way the learning point could be used for the party tonight?" Sunny speaks up with clearly too much excitement for Peter who just flashes him a smirk and diverts his eyes to me. It's like he is telling me 'Look what you have done. I am the leader and they are following you.' I guess it is somewhat like that but only because he wasn't following the directions he was given. Just because he did not find the activity important does not mean it wasn't. I find I am feeling pretty good about reminding him that he leads the hunters but Shimmer and I lead everyone.

Sunny with all of his perkiness says "well first off Apollo is the god of the sun, the god of archery, and he is the god of prophecy. The reason I think he could be a good fit for the hunters is because he is the god of archery and we are all archers. Artemis is the goddess of the moon, wilderness, and the hunt. I think she would make sense for hunters because she is literally the goddess of the hunt. Interesting fact about both of them is they are siblings. Twins to be exact. Their parents are the god Zeus and the titan Leto." "Very good Sunny" I replied. "So can anyone tell us how you can use the information that Sunny provided?" Finally with this question everyone started chiming in with their opinions. This was my que to leave. My work was done. It was not my place to tell the hunters the answers. The importance of this activity was that they come to the conclusion themselves. What they presented in about a half an hour was up to them as a group not up to me.

I resumed my walk around the area but did not find anyone else in need of guidance. Everyone else seemed to have the task well on its way so I returned to my seat and just waited for the time to expire. I did notice that Shimmer and Shaneel were no longer wandering around either. They did not actually appear to be here; huh I wonder what that is about. I guess they helped anyone who needed help and moved on to complete other tasks that were necessary for this evening.

Shimmer returned and took her post in front of the lake. "Okay everyone it is time. In a few minutes you will take your places around me. Be sure you are standing with the others from your sector. The leader of your sector will present your ideas to everyone. You have fifteen minutes to get organized." Shimmer left her position and walked over to me. We began discussing this evening's events. "I stepped away for a bit to help Shaneel prepare her presentation. We had to inform the medics that she would not be presenting ideas with them. Shaneel also had to appoint someone to act in her place tonight. In fact, we discussed her choosing a new leader for the medics. We are unclear if her new role as oracle will interfere with her leadership duties." "Ah, that makes sense. I could not figure out where the two of you had gone." "I sure hope everyone participates and is ready for tonight. I have no idea how others will react to this news. I must admit I was pretty skeptical about the whole thing until my book changed languages in front of my eyes. I was looking for a human intruder not a god." "Me too" I replied.

Fifteen minutes have passed and Shimmer has returned to her position at the lake. "Let's start with the clothiers." Esmeralda stepped in front of her group and began "Our research has shown us that the ancient Greek festivals showcased art. There were different types of art present. Examples of the art types are musical presentations, poetry readings, and plays or other types of drama performances. With art in mind the clothiers would like to create a space at the festival for others to view our crafts. We as a group make your clothes, shoes, bed sheets, and anything else made of cloth, leather, etcetera. However, in our free time we make all kinds of other things that we believe would be classified as art. For example, I have a flag that I made that represents Community to me. It hangs in my sleeping area and could easily be moved to display at the festival." At the conclusion of her speech Esmeralda and the other clothiers turned to Shimmer for her opinion. "I think that is a wonderful idea Esmeralda. The clothiers are dismissed to begin preparing for tonight.

Everyone, when you return from gathering your things you may pick any unoccupied spot in the vicinity of the lake to set up your displays. Ok handlers your up." Shimmer stepped aside once more and Stephen took center stage. "As a handler we tend to all of the needs of the livestock in Community. It came to our attention while reading that animals were a common theme in ancient Greek festivals. Of course, we will not be sacrificing any of our livestock the way the ancient Greeks did. However, animals were utilized in other ways during the events. That is what gave us the idea of having pig races. It sounds fun and would be easy to set up. We just need to relocate the chutes that we use to move the livestock around and make them into racing lanes. It would not take long at all." With Stephan's presentation complete he turned toward Shimmer. "Another good idea. The handlers are excused to begin the set-up.

Now let's hear from the cooks." Berry stepped forward and said "For us the decision was easy. All of the ancient Greek festivals had feasts so we will provide the feast." That is all she said short and simple. "That makes since" Shimmer replied. "I am sure you have all started the meal so you are excused to continue your preparations. 

Medics come and share your ideas next." I half expected to see Shaneel take center stage when I remembered she was not leading the medics on this. From my right-side Lucas came into view. "I suppose medics had plenty to do at Greek festivals with all of the people there you would have illness and injury but we wanted to be represented differently tonight. We decided that medics would have been represented by the god Asclepius and therefore permanently visible in the stars like many other gods. Therefore, tonight the medics will have a piece on display that represents the constellation Ophiuchus. The constellation Ophiuchus is a man with a snake in each hand. We will also include the constellation Corvus which is a raven. The raven was a sacred bird to Apollo who was Asclepius's father." Lucas turned towards Shimmer for her approval. "I like that idea Lucas. Nice way to think outside the box. All medics are dismissed. 

Next we have the creators." Einstein stepped forward "the creators will make torches that can be lit and carried for a relay race. Each team in the relay race will have four runners. We chose a torch for the races rather than a baton because the ancient Greek god we are trying to represent is Hephaestus, the god of fire." With that Einstein turned to face Shimmer who was standing to his right. "Well done once again. I would like to say the level of participation for our festival tonight has made me very happy. 

That brings us to the gatherers." Lilly came forward and said "we have been working on filling a cornucopia with lots of yummy treats we have been picking from the gardens and orchards. We are using the cornucopia because it was a common symbol for the goddess Demeter who was the goddess of agriculture in ancient Greek times." "Once again well done. The gatherers are dismissed to continue on their project for this evening. 

I need Russel to step forward and let us know what the weapons masters have in store for us this evening." Russel came forward and said "our inspiration comes from the first Olympic games that started as a festival by the ancient Greeks in like 776 B.C. Just like our Olympics that happened every four years prior to the apocalypse the ancient Greeks celebrated with the Olympic games every four years. The events we would like to include are a one-hundred-yard dash, a long jump, a discus throw, and shot-put competition. This should be easy enough to set up. In fact, you can see behind you where we have already started preparing the ground." With that Shimmer stepped back up and dismissed the weapons masters. 

"Okay hunters that leaves you. What do you have in store for us this evening?" Peter stepped forward a little hesitantly. You could tell he was not sure about the validity of the festival but he began his presentation anyway. "The hunters we believe could be represented by two different ancient Greek gods. One is Apollo and the other is his twin sister Artemis. We believe this to be true because Apollo is the god of archery and Artemis is the Goddess of the hunt. Therefore, a good activity for tonight would be an archery display where people could shoot at targets and Apollo and Artemis are both represented through visual decorations like a bow and arrow, a lyre, ravens, deer, the sun, and the moon." Peter glances towards me and I smile at him approvingly then he turns to Shimmer. "Very creative. Well, it appears every sector will be well represented. Hunters you are dismissed as well."