Chapter 191: Constellation Mythology Story Session Follow-up
After a while, Xiang Xue was the first to recover.
【Wait, sister, since Zeus could conquer Europa so quickly, why did he turn into a cow to approach her? It would be better to turn into a handsome guy. Turning into a cow involved crossing the sea and going to the island. As a deity, does he really need to go through so much trouble to be with a princess of a country?】
Chou Manman, sitting across from Xiang Chuan, and Class President Lu Daiqing, standing by the table, also nodded. This was the biggest point of doubt.
“There’s no special reason. It’s because Zeus was afraid of being caught cheating by his wife, so he turned into a cow to abduct this little princess.”
Xiang Chuan’s words were like dropping a bombshell, causing an uproar.
“Are all the characters in mythology under monogamy? I thought from the background settings of Romeo and Juliet and Empresses in the Palace that they were all polygamous…”
Chou Manman asked doubtfully.
Xiang Chuan thought about the mythological stories she had read and answered somewhat uncertainly: “It seems that the popular mythological stories in ancient times were all under monogamy. However, mythological stories are products of human imagination. Maybe ancient people were used to having three wives and four concubines, so they saw monogamy as an impossible fantasy?”
“But this is also a limitation of the era. As I just said, Greek mythology was born in 800 BCE. By 2000 CE, except for a very few countries that retained the nobility system, most countries only recognized monogamy. Of course, infidelity has always been repeatedly prohibited, whether in the mythology of BCE or in the 21st century.”
Nancy tsked twice.
“It seems that the laws of ancient people were still not perfect enough. If it were now, just marital infidelity alone would definitely result in a sentence of two or three hundred years.”
Xiang Chuan listened and couldn’t help nodding.
As Nancy said, modern laws have very strict controls on marital infidelity and domestic violence. If the relationship breaks down, they can go to the Civil Affairs Bureau (Xiang Chuan: I really can’t believe the modern era still has a Civil Affairs Bureau) for arbitration and mediation. If the artificial arbitration and mediation results are not accepted by both parties, it will be handed over to the court’s arbitration AI for absolutely fair judgment based on both parties’ income and expenses. However, the work ability of modern civil servants is still trustworthy, and they rarely muddle through like in the 21st century.
According to the gossip Xiang Chuan heard from her mother, the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Third Fleet had not received a divorce case requiring the use of arbitration AI for about five or six hundred years, which shows the high ability of those staff members.
If the 21st century had such staff, there would be many fewer unnecessary marriage problems.
Seeing the classmates around her and Xiang Xue and Lin Ming on the screen opposite engaged in heated discussion about the differences between ancient marriage and modern marriage, Xiang Chuan was tempted to let them continue discussing. However, in the crowd, Chou Manman and Class President Lu Daiqing’s gazes were particularly piercing, so Xiang Chuan could only brace herself and continue.
“Next is the story of Virgo. This constellation’s story is related to the Goddess of Harvest Demeter and her daughter Persephone.”
Xiang Chuan changed the topic, and the names she mentioned attracted everyone’s attention.
“Demeter is the Goddess of Harvest?”
Chou Manman blinked her eyes and asked.
“That’s right. Demeter governs agriculture and harvest, and is also a symbol of harmony between humans and nature, just like our fleet.”
Xiang Chuan looked up at the distant wheat fields. The sun had unknowingly set, and the sensor lights around the wheat fields were not lit yet. In the darkness, the golden autumn wheat fields could not be seen, which made Xiang Chuan feel a bit regretful.
“Our fleet’s industry focus and research direction are all concentrated on agriculture. In ancient times, the relationship between humans and nature was hunting and being hunted. Later, humans learned farming and animal husbandry, achieving balance with nature’s law of the survival of the fittest through growing crops and raising livestock. After humans possessed farming and animal husbandry technology, the demand for wild plants and animals in nature decreased, which is beneficial to the continuation and development of nature. Moreover, the development of agriculture is also conducive to researching various trace elements in soil and water, enabling rapid large-scale planting of specific crops to meet our dietary needs, so we don’t have to gnaw on grass roots for a bite of food.”
Ainuo scratched their head, looking at Xiang Chuan somewhat puzzled.
“This sounds like it lacks a sense of reality.”
Xiang Chuan was stunned but immediately understood Ainuo’s meaning.
In the past, humans and other plants and animals in nature lived on the same land. Humans continuously reclaimed forests and grasslands or returned farmland to forest, striving to maintain the balance of nature.
But in the modern era, all wild plants and animals are planned into specific areas, and all crops are far away from people’s living circles, so it’s rare to experience the real sense that “humans are also part of nature.”
Xiang Chuan scratched her head. To be honest, she didn’t know how to explain Ainuo’s question well. Some things still need to be personally experienced to understand their meaning. At this moment, she recalled that during her student days, she often saw authors in some chicken soup short essays or textbooks advocating for students and readers to contact nature as much as possible. Xiang Chuan’s hometown was in the countryside, and during holidays, she would occasionally follow Xiang Qi into the mountains, so she didn’t have any special feelings about such advocacy.
But now looking at this group of high school students around her who had not contacted real nature, Xiang Chuan had to admit that this argument still had some truth.
Humans have left Earth for too long and have forgotten what nature really means.
Xiang Chuan sighed lightly in her heart, suppressed the slight sorrow in her heart, and said:
“Alright, I’ll continue. Demeter and Zeus have a daughter, Persephone. One day, Underworld king Hades saw the beautiful Persephone, fell in love with her at first sight, and took her to the Underworld.”
“Wait, direct kidnapping again? Are all the gods in ancient Greece so… uh, prone to criminal tendencies?”
Chou Manman widened her eyes.
“I know this one.” Class President Lu Daiqing pushed up his glasses. “Because the status of deities is higher than humans, they are not bound by human laws. Right, Classmate Xiang Chuan?”
“Not just laws, human morality can’t constrain them either.” Xiang Chuan thought for a moment and decided to drop this bombshell: “Demeter is actually siblings with Zeus, real siblings.”
Huh?
There was an uproar around her. Even Xiang Weiguo, who was acting as background in Xiang Xue’s video call but actually eavesdropping on his daughter telling the story, was so startled that he choked on his noodles.
“S-so… that means Zeus not only cheated, but cheated with his own real sister, and even had a daughter with his real sister?” Chou Manman inhaled sharply. “Can deities be immune to genetic diseases from sibling marriage?!”
“You said it yourself, they are gods.” Xiang Chuan chuckled. She explained: “Actually, in more historical mythological legends, sibling marriage between brother and sister is very common. Even Zeus and his formal wife Hera are siblings. In some real mythological legends, their main deity is even hermaphroditic.”
This time, even Chou Manman and Xiang Xue, who had exceptional acceptance abilities, were stunned speechless.
The fabricated stories of ancient civilizations were terrifying!
Xiang Chuan waved her hand to signal the people around to quiet down and continued:
“Upon learning of her daughter’s disappearance, Demeter was devastated. She left Mount Olympus, which directly caused the earth to become barren and the crops to yield nothing.”
“Later, Zeus sent the divine messenger Hermes to mediate with Hades. Hades agreed to let Persephone return to the surface, but before she left, he made her eat pomegranate seeds from the Underworld. According to the rules of the gods, anyone who eats food from the Underworld must stay there for a certain time each year. This story also corresponds to the changes of the four seasons—when Persephone is in the Underworld, Demeter is sad, and the world enters autumn and winter; when she returns to the surface, Demeter rejoices, and spring and summer arrive.”
“Is this the origin of the four seasons in ancient Greek eyes?”
Hearing this final description about the changes of the four seasons, Ouyang Yating also admired the ancient people’s magical ability to fabricate stories.
“Yes, and the ancient Greeks also made this family relationship even more complex.”
As soon as this sentence came out, the classmates around inhaled sharply: There’s more?
“Th-there’s more…?”
Chou Manman asked tremblingly. The ancient Greek deity ethical relationships that had just shattered her worldview had almost burned out her brain circuits.
“Actually, Hades is Zeus’s brother, which means he is Persephone’s real uncle.”
Boom—!
As soon as Xiang Chuan said this, the entire outdoor dining area exploded. It scared the cafeteria staff who were normally coming and going so much that they ran over several times to ask if something had happened, and they were brushed off by students from other classes.
No way, this story and character relationships were too explosive. It opened the eyes of modern youth who had little contact with ancient Earth literature, but because it was too explosive, it couldn’t be explained outward for a while.
How to explain it? After siblings had a daughter, the man’s brother kidnapped and married his own niece? Even the most advanced novel AI couldn’t come up with such a explosive interpersonal relationship.
Found that the wrong one was posted during proofreading before bed, revised it again
