EPISODE 20

IN WHICH ARTEMIS REFUSES TO PROTECT HERA’S NEW BABY

Previously: Hermes has just met his sister Artemis, the goddess of Hunting, protectress of animals. He now has a new ally.

The days went by on Mount Olympus. Hermes was becoming more and more close to his sister Artemis. They would often get together in the evening on one of the terraces of the palace. The young god would huddle next to her and would tell her about his day’s adventures. Artemis smelt the good smell of the tree leaves and of the undergrowth moss. Hermes loved to breathe in those perfumes. Sometimes, another smell, quite a different one, would mix in with the wild scents of the woods and meadows. A fragrance of honey and milk, to which was added a strange, tangy smell. A smell both sweet and pungent, which made Hermes want to laugh and to cry. Those were the days of birth-giving.

The first time Hermes had asked her: “What is that smell on you, my sister?”

And Artemis had replied gravely: “That of babies. Today I have helped a baby come into the world. Because I am the protectress of births. Didn’t you know that?”

Hermes had not known it, and this new mission of Artemis’ intrigued him a great deal. He questioned Artemis so very many times that she finally agreed to take him with her one day.

One night, Hermes heard a discreet light tap on his bedroom door. He woke up with a start. It was Artemis.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, still half asleep.

“Get dressed and follow me. A birth is about to take place,” Artemis answered.

This was enough to wake him up completely. All excited, he followed Artemis and left the palace. Soon they arrived at the doors of another palace. Soft music was coming from its interior. Maidservants came hastily to greet Artemis and Hermes, and led them right away to the bedside of the mistress of the palace. She was lying in an immense bed, and several maidservants bustled around her. Hermes approached the bed and recognized the young woman who lay stretched on it: it was Calliope, the Muse of Poetry. During the great dinners at his father’s palace the Muses, who were nine sisters, sang and danced with Apollo. Each of them represented a particular art. Hermes loved above all to listen to the singing of Euterpe, the Muse of Music. But he also enjoyed a lot the poems recited by Calliope. He was deeply moved to find himself like this in Calliope’s home, just as she was about to give birth.

Artemis had knelt next to the mother-to-be and had taken her hand. She spoke to her with great tenderness. Then she got up again and gave some orders to the maidservants. Right away, the maidservants placed great cauldrons full of water on the fire. When the water was boiling they dipped inside great white towels, then they took them out clean and steaming. Soon clouds of steam had filled the entire room. Hermes observed all this female activity with great astonishment. He looked at Calliope’s belly, perfectly round under the blanket, and he felt himself growing more and more impatient.

The night progressed. Looking through the window, Hermes saw rosy-fingered Aurora driving her chariot. He suddenly heard a cry, a baby’s cry, and this cry brought tears to his eyes. The door opened and Hermes edged his way to the bed. Calliope’s face looked tired, yet radiant with joy. She held in her arms a baby all wrapped up in white swaddles and she was tenderly offering it her breast to suckle. Artemis too seemed exhausted. She was looking at the infant and at the mother without losing her usual expression of sadness. “He is called Orpheus,” murmured the mother. Then she took her eyes off the baby and said to Artemis: “Thank you, thank you for everything.” Artemis made a slight nod with her head and left the room. Hermes followed her.

This was how all births were protected by Artemis. One day, however, white-armed Hera was expecting a new baby. Everyone in the palace of Olympus seemed to have forgotten the tragic birth of Hephaestus. Hermes alone still gave some thought to that baby. While on his errands, he sought it with his eyes under the sea. But without success.

Once more Hera was announcing that she was going to have the most beautiful baby in the world and had every attention lavished on her. The entire palace was waiting for the happy event with impatience. One person alone refused to show any interest, and that was Artemis. So Hera brought her baby into the world without Artemis’ help. The baby howled so loudly at its birth that Zeus called it Ares, the god of War. Artemis did not even come to see Ares.

Hermes asked her: “But doesn’t this baby need your protection too?”

“If you had been born as I was born,” Artemis answered, “you would understand.”

Hermes knew nothing about his sister’s birth. He questioned her about it, yet she refused to answer and walked away. What secret was Artemis hiding then?

 

To be continued…