Wrath of the Gods Page #28

---

pillar on his shoulder.

ATLAS:

I—the Titan Atlas—am stuck here holding up

the sky. So I’ll give you a golden apple—if you’ll

silence that obnoxious dragon over there.

DRAGON:

Obnoxious? Obnoxious, is it? I’ll show you

obnoxious, you pea brain. And who’s your

friend? What a wimp, you’re both wimps. I dare

you to let go of that pillar. Ha, ha, ha, ha!

If you return to this scene and haven’t defeated the dragon yet:

DRAGON:

Hey, Atlas, talk about job security, you’re one

lucky guy. Ha, ha, ha!

135

If you have the bow in your inventory, you click it on

yourself and there’s a transition to the arrow-shooting

perspective, with the dragon in the background.

DRAGON:

What’s that little thing? A bow and arrow?

You couldn’t hit the Parthenon if you were three

feet away. Get outta here! Ha, ha, ha, ha!

If you shoot and hit the dragon, he says “Good shot!” or

“Nice shot!” but it takes a number of hits to quiet him up.

If you shoot and miss, he taunts you obnoxiously. If you

haven’t been taught by Chiron to be more skillful at archery

(page 103):

ATLAS:

I guess the centaur Chiron never taught you how

to shoot.

When you return after getting archery lessons from Chiron:

DRAGON:

Hey wimp, you’re back. You got some lessons?

You needed ‘em. Ha, ha, ha, ha!

When you finally kill the dragon, Atlas hands you the apple

and almost drops the pillar in the process.

ATLAS:

Way to go! Here’s the golden apple… Whoops!

The apple pings into your inventory, and you receive 50 points.

PASTURE. When the hero Bellerophon (beh-LARE-uh-fon)

undertook to fight the Chimaera (kye-MEE-ruh), he had a

rather substantial ace up his sleeve in the form of the flying

horse Pegasus (PEG-uh-sus). This winged stallion, offspring

of the god Poseidon (puh-SYE-dun) and the Gorgon Medusa

(GORE-gun meh-DOO-suh), was born when Perseus (PUR-see-us)

cut off Medusa’s head.

So when you first come to this pasture, if you haven’t killed

Medusa yet, Pegasus won’t be here. But once you’ve slain

Pegasus

136

the Gorgon (and Pegasus has been born from her neck), he

will be waiting for you. If you talk to him—and if the snake

in the Shrine scene (page 13) has given you the ability to

understand the language of animals:

PEGASUS:

(nickers)

Bppph! Hey, hero, to go after the Chimaera,

you’ll have to tame me first. Neigh!

To tame Pegasus, you’ll need the bridle from the Golden

Glow scene (page 111). If you put this on Pegasus and then

click the “do” cursor on him, he lets you mount up on his

back and fly off to fight the Chimaera (page 93). But you

will learn the hard way that you are not prepared to battle

the monster unless you arm yourself ahead of time with

the proper weapon. Make yourself a lance by using your

sword to whittle a point on the staff from the Jousting scene

(page 77). (You do this by selecting both sword and staff in

inventory and clicking them on yourself here in the pasture.)

Now when you fly into the Chimaera scene you’ll be better

prepared. But alas, even this isn’t the complete procedure.

You must model yourself on Bellerophon and put a lump

of lead on the tip of the lance (so the monster’s fiery breath

will melt it and cause his demise). So, sharpen the staff into a

lance if you haven’t already done so, or select the sharpened

staff in your inventory. Then select the lump of lead and put

it on the lance. Now, mount up and fly away to vanquish the

Chimaera at last!

137

IMPOSING MOUNTAIN. The trail is a bit steep here, as you

are climbing Mount Olympus itself.

Olympus Ascent

Hermes’ Bedroom

OLYMPUS EXTERIOR. Having scaled the mountain and

climbed over a wall, you find yourself on the terrace outside

the bedroom of Hermes (HUR-meez). (If you’ve been eaten by

Medusa, you’ve been here before.) You proceed through the

open door.

OLYMPUS INTERIOR. You come upon Hermes fast asleep

in his godly bed. Hermes, the messenger of the gods and

more particularly of Zeus (ZOOS), was the son of that great

138

god and a mountain nymph (NIMF). As a newborn he was

remarkably precocious. On his very first day of life, he found

the empty shell of a tortoise and perceived its utility as a

sounding chamber. Stringing sinews across it, he created the

first lyre.

Hermes was known for his helpfulness to mankind, both in

his capacity as immortal herald and on his own initiative.

When Perseus (PUR-see-us) set out to face the Gorgon Medusa

(GORE-gun meh-DOO-suh), Hermes aided him in the quest.

According to one version of the myth, he loaned the hero his

own magic sandals, which conferred upon the wearer the

ability to fly. Some say that Hermes loaned Perseus a helmet

of invisibility as well. Also known as the helmet of darkness,

this was the same headgear that Hermes himself had worn

when he vanquished the giant Hippolytus (hi-POL-i-tus). This

was on the occasion when the gargantuan sons of Earth rose

up in revolt against the gods of Olympus.

Hermes’ symbol of office as divine messenger was his staff,

or caduceus (kuh-DOO-see-us). This was originally a willow

wand with entwined ribbons, traditional badge of the

herald. But the ribbons were eventually depicted as snakes.

To support this mythologically, a story evolved that Hermes

used the caduceus to separate two fighting snakes which

forthwith twined themselves together in peace.

It was Hermes’ job to convey dead souls to the Underworld.

And as patron of travelers, he was often shown in a widebrimmed

sun hat of straw. Hermes was known to the

Romans as Mercury. His most famous depiction, a statue by

Bellini, shows him alight on one foot, wings at his heels, the

snaky caduceus in hand and, on his head, a rather stylized

combination helmet-of-darkness and sun hat.

There’s just enough room to walk around the end of the bed

to the god’s winged sandals, which are hanging on a peg. If

on your way to acquire these for your inventory you bump

into the bed, Hermes wakes and cracks a bleary eye.

HERMES:

Go away, kid, ya bother me.

If you are more careful about it and manage to click on the

sandals, they ping into your inventory.

139

MEADOW. Midas (MYE-das) was a king of Phrygia (FRIJee-

a), a region nowadays part of Turkey. One day some of

his farmhands brought him a satyr (SAY-tur) they had caught

napping in the vineyard. This creature, part man, part

goat, still groggy and much the worse for wear, had been

thoroughly trussed up to keep him from escaping. Midas

immediately recognized Silenus (sye-LEE-nus), right-hand

satyr to the god Dionysus (dye-oh-NYE-sus), and ordered him

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes