#metis god

[firinnie]

Let's torture Metis again, shall we?

One version of how she was eaten by Zeus is that she was transformed into water at that moment, and I've always wondered how the smartest person in his life could be so easily fooled by, you know… him. So here's my idea.

What if she could transform and merge with water at will, travel as a stream, admire the sea as part of it, play with others as a wave, etc. And what if she had a habit of transforming into a droplet that Zeus would put on the shoulder strap of his robe and travel with her incognito over the years they knew each other, so she had no objection to becoming tiny water drop again and falling into his hand, but this time Metis realized too late that she was trapped.

It wasn't the trickery that lost her, it was pure trust in one she loved. Live with it.

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

Pride Month time! (Dual Destinies version)

[mer-acle]

The first birth of Athena

Before Athena emerged from Zeus, she was born to her mother, inside of an environment made for anything but life

CW: Stillbirth (temporary)

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Metis swallowed hard, cradling her newborn daughter to her chest, wings protectively wrapping around them both.

It should have been the happiest moment of her life. But all she felt was cold dread.

The infant was small, way smaller than she should be, and pale as ivory. She lay perfectly still in her mother's arms, and she wasn't breathing.

"Athena," Metis whispered. Her lips gently brushed against her daughter's clammy skin. "Mama's here, Athena, please, just breathe. Please-" Her voice cracked.

The weight of Zeus' essence, always working against them ever since he had consumed them, pressed down more oppressively than it had ever done, like the new life was an insult to his divinity.

"Athena," Metis repeated, gently rocking the baby in her arms. "Breathe, my dearest, breathe for me."

She carefully pressed her hand to her daughter's chest, hoping to spark a reaction, make her cough, or anything...

She hadn't endured all this to watch her daughter fade to nothing.

Athena's wings rested limply against Metis' hand, a few downy feathers brushing against her skin.

Metis felt panicked tears slip down her face as she ran her thumb over her daughter's chest is circular motions, humming the broken tune of a lullaby.

Nothing.

Metis lifted her head to look into the unforgiving void, swirling with Zeus' energy that didn't want them there.

"You have to stop this," she whispered. "Zeus, please, let me keep her, I beg you."

She had no idea if he could hear her. At any rate, the void around her stayed still, uncaring that her baby wasn't moving.

Metis swallowed hard, cradling Athena closer to her chest, patting her back below her wings.

Her mind was racing almost too fast to keep up.

Zeus' energy almost knocked her to the floor, and Athena's small body seemed to go even colder.

Tears slipped down Metis' cheeks uninhibitedly.

"I won't lose you," she whispered. "I will not lose you, Athena."

She gently opened the baby's mouth, then briefly closed her eyes to materialize her own divine energy. If Zeus was working against his daughter, she would work for her.

A sliver of silver energy traveled out of Metis' mouth as she exhaled, into Athena's small body.

A low rumble like from thunder ran through the void. Metis flinched, wings shielding Athena more closely. The baby still didn't move.

"Come on," Metis whispered. "Come on, you're a fighter, my little one." She breathed out more energy. I need to see her... Oh fates, please, I need to see my baby open her eyes...

She felt her own essence flickering, complaining about being broken up and shared this way. She didn't care. If she had to shatter herself completely to make Athena live, she would.

Another breath, another sliver of silver into her baby's mouth. Zeus' essence pressed against her wings, an oppressive weight.

Metis took a shaky breath, pressing a kiss to Athena's forehead.

"You're so strong," she whispered brokenly. "You're so brave, my little girl."

A shudder ran through the small body in her arms. Metis exhaled in a soft sob.

Athena squirmed, her little face scrunching up. A weak sound escaped her mouth, more of a whimper than a cry, but her chest rose and fell shakily.

Metis laughed tearfully, cradling her daughter close.

"There you are," she whispered. "There you are, my little warrior. It's alright, Mama's right here."

Athena whimpered again, more strongly this time. Her tiny wings stiffened and shook behind her.

Metis kissed her again, caressing her daughter's small face.

"Athena," she murmured, wanting the girl to hear her name. The baby cooed softly, almost a chirping noise, then her eyes flickered open.

Metis caught her breath, meeting her baby's gaze for the first time.

Dark, almost black, with yellow flecks. Zeus' eyes. Almost. Metis frowned, looking more closely. A faint rim of silver around the iris, the same color as the energy that had brought her to life in this inhospitable environment.

Athena cooed again, yawning.

"You're perfect," Metis whispered tenderly, fingers gently brushing over Athena's skin. "You're beautiful, and you're mine, my little girl. I'll do anything for you, little Nea, I swear to you, anything."

Athena moved a little, tiny hand closing around the fabric of Metis' chiton. Her small body shuddered, then she started crying.

"There," Metis whispered, rocking the little goddess in her arms. "Shhh, it's okay. I know it's not nice here. Shhh." She wrapped the baby into her himation, holding her close.

She knew it wasn't over, not close. Zeus' essence was only barely kept at bay. But she was holding her baby and comforting her, and for that moment, she was the happiest she has ever been.

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[0lympian-c0uncil]

Hestia: You just had an abortion?

Metis: Yep.

Hestia: Twins?

Metis: *Nods tearfully*

Hera: Damn. Double homicide.

Metis,*Turns to her*: Bitch!?

Hera: SORRY! sorry....

[sarafangirlart]

Hera being weirdly close to Kronos even tho he eats her or tries to eat her in most sources low key kinda parallels how close Athena is to Zeus even tho he ate her before she was even born.

[bcowlick]

Take a cute one with mommy goat! Amalthea, you have my heart ❤️

Made this cutesy drawing with baby Zeus and his goat mama to celebrate the second chapter of Titanomachy! (My Re-telling of the Titanomachy, of course) you can find the link to Ao3 in the reblogs!

[happypeachsludgeflower]

Look I’ll think about this more when I’m awake and write a more detailed post then, but hear me out, Athena “died” at the end of ‘God Games’ and her godly power merged with Odysseus due to a) her last wish being to save him, and b) she used quick thought to give herself time to accept her impending death, thus why Odysseus survived Poseidon with his unexplained Dues Ex Machina, but now Odysseus (who sorta kinda merged with Athena) is considered the son of Metis and, as the prophecy given before Athena was born says, he will overthrow Zeus.

[gryph-the-condor]

Children of Metis

Ok I was really struggling to come up with a logo for this movement against Zeus. So this is a very very very rough idea of what I’d maybe want. Also also I want to make this an actual thing maybe. So anyone is welcome to join or add on to this.

[kaisertheadvisor]

I swear to god, this has to be coincidence, Homura and Metis have a lot of similarities when you look at it.

[vassal-of-nightjars]

Okay I've been thinking. Zeus consumed Metis because she was destined to have two cunning children. First a daughter, then a son who would eventually overthrow him.

Athena is that daughter. He developed a splitting headache and she manifested out of his forehead.

That's the daughter. So it can be implied that one day Zeus will have another headache and a man will emerge from his head.

WHY THE HELL ISN'T THIS A PLOT IN ANY GREEK MYTHOLOGY RETELLING

[ourhouseishaunted]

Its so neat to finally see them all together like this

[firinnie]

@mer-acle has made me think about them too much, again.

Let's just say these are the last moments before receiving the prophecy :)

[deathlessathanasia]

Which goddesses and women are called wife of Zeus?

Honestly in order to offer a comprehensive response to this I'd have to comb through basically all ancient Greek literature, so instead I'll just give you a small list off the top of my head, sorry!

To preface this, many of the sexual unions Zeus and other gods engage in can be referred to as gamos/gamoi, a term that is often translated as marriage but doesn't necessarily imply the formality of an official marital union (Apollo's rape of Creusa in Euripides' Ion is called gamos for instance), just as the verb gamēo can mean to marry or simply to have sex with. So I'm limiting this to women who I know for sure are called "wife of Zeus" sometimes rather than including all the ones he is said to have performed a gamos with.

The only one who bears this title consistently and frequently is Hera, but there are some others who are occasionally described as his wives in some sources: Leto (Homer, Iliad 21.498-9, Homer, Odyssey 11.580, Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica 11.21, Greek Anthology 3.14, probably others); Metis (Hesiod, Theogony 886); Themis (Pindar, fragment 30, Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 6.1.9 - not explicitly called wife here but he is said to have married her and I'm including it for the sake of thoroughness since she is called his wife elsewhere); Io (Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 834); Demeter (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 6.1.9 - again not actually called a wife, but she is one of 3 women he marries in this account, the other two being Hera and Themis who are explicitly called his wives elsewhere); Semele (Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.31.2, various places in the Dionysiaca, possibly elsewhere as well); Europe (Moschos, Europa 165 - the word used here is νύμφη, "bride").

Mentioning this separately because it is quite anomalous, but the earliest description of a formal wedding among the gods (including wedding preparations, gifts and even a marriage proposal) is provided by Pherekydes of Syros and takes place between Zas/Zeus and Chthonie/Ge. The myth also serves as an etiology for the anakalypteria, the unveiling of the bride.

Again, this is by no means a complete overview, just the ones I know about.

[mer-acle]

Metís, Titon of the mind

Athenaaaa! I drew your Mom!

So my idea with Metis is that she's much less regal in character than Hera, she's kinda the cool alt wife Zeus had in his youth. Still has a kick-ass sense of fashion though like ahhh look at this. (Also am I going overboard with the earpiercings for my designs? The answer is shut up I like them and I'm coping bc my own earpiercings won't heal and I just wanna wear all the cool earrings I have okay)

I tried not to make her too close in looks to Athena, bc in my mind, the gods don't really work that way, they are more Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderella lvl of gene logic lmao Otherwise my Ares design wouldn't work and I am attached to it. I feel like it's more that likeness means something, like Artemis and Apollo having matching hair strands, or in this case, Metis' grey eyes that Athena also has. Otherwise, ofc a lot of ocean-inspired imagery bc of her being an oceanid, also a different hue than Athena but kinda the same hue as Quick Thought. For my more animal inspired designs (i.e winged!Athena) she'd get wings too, inspired by a blue jay which is also a very intelligent bird like an owl or raven.

Progress Video below the cut

[0lympian-c0uncil]

Kronos: Well, if it isn't the Bitchless Quartet!

Hades: Hey! You can't call us that!

Demeter: I mean, you can call HIM that, but not us.

Demeter, *gesturing to herself, Hera & Poseidon*: We get bitches.

[sarafangirlart]

Character designs for Athena