This is my attempt at a "porn parody" (for lack of a better description) of Ancient Greek mythology. It is not a direct adaptation of any one story, but an original tale made of tropes and archetypes pulled from several Greek myths. The intention was not only to create a work of erotic fantasy, but an epic saga that paid loving tribute to the poets and playwrights of antiquity.
Thank you for reading. Please enjoy.
Chapter 7
Poised on her golden throne aloft Olympus' peak, Hera looked down. She saw the bastard son of her husband climbing and fighting his way through the forested mountains of Macedon, and her heart filled with loathing. This spawn of her husband's infidelity could not be allowed to live any longer, and he certainly could not be allowed victory.
Yet Hera was ever mindful of great Zeus, at rest on the ridges and craggy heights of Olympus beside her. How could Queen Hera outmaneuver Zeus the mastermind, with his battle-shield of storm and thunder? At last, one strategy struck her mind as best.
Hera strode to beckon Ares away from the other gods. She whispered, "My son, I need your love of strife and battle for a favor, away from the eyes of your father. Would you grant me such a favor, whatever I may ask?"
"Father Zeus and I bear no love for each other," he replied. "Name your desire, mother Hera, and I will be eager to cause whatever mayhem can be done."
They withdrew to conspire in private.
***
Hera then visited the bedchamber of Aphrodite. "Dear child," she said, quick with deceit, "I must borrow those powers you use to overwhelm all gods and mortal men. I am off to the House of Death, for I have been called to settle an argument between Hades and his queen, Persephone. For the sake of continued peace in the underworld, would you grant me the power to lure them into each other's arms?"
Aphrodite, with her everlasting smile, replied "It would be impossible -- nay, wrong to deny such a warm request, especially from she who lies in the arms of mighty Zeus."
With that, Aphrodite thrust her heart-bewitching cestus belt into Hera's hands. "Wear this band," she said, "and I know you will not return with your mission unfulfilled."
"I thank you deeply for this favor," said Hera. The goddess then withdrew to her room, the chamber her loving son Hephaestus built her, locked with a secret bolt no other god could draw.
With divine ambrosia, Hera cleansed her enticing body of any blemish. She then massaged her skin to a soft glow with a deep olive rub, the breath-taking and redolent oil she kept beside her. She combed her hair, twisting her braids with expert hands. Sleek, luxurious, and shining down from her deathless head they cascaded.
Then she took the enchanted cestus belt and put it into place beneath her breasts. Round her shoulders she swirled wondrous robes, pinning them across her breasts with a golden brooch. Her waist was sashed with a band that floated a hundred tassels.
Now, dazzling in all her rich regalia, Hera sped in a flash to Zeus who gathers the clouds. At one glance, lust swirled over him and his immortal heart raced. He rose before her and savored the feel of her name on his tongue.
"Hera," he said in awe, "where are you rushing? What wild desire brings you from Olympus?"
Filled with guile, the noble Hera answered, "I am off to the underworld, to visit Hades and Persephone, and to dissolve a feud between them. My chariot stands ready at the gates of Olympus, but I have come now to visit you, Zeus. I fear that you may flare in anger against me if I should go in secret to the House of Death."
"Why hurry, Hera?" asked mighty Zeus. "That is a journey you can make tomorrow. Now, come. Let us go to bed and lose ourselves in love! An irresistible longing for your embrace has overcome me!"
"Nay, husband, I shall not lay any more with a man who has been so unfaithful to me so many times." Hera's back was turned as she said this, so that Zeus could not see the grin on her face.
Though her words were hurtful to Zeus' ears, his eyes were no less entranced. "My dear queen!" he exclaimed, "I have told you countless times that no consort could take your place in my heart! I have taken many other women, yes, but I would not take any of them to replace you as my wife."
With a hand on her shoulder, he turned her around to face her. "You are the loveliest woman in all the cosmos. Your beauty is never far from my mind, and yet I have never been more overcome by your beauty than at this moment!"
He moved to kiss her, but Hera stopped him with a hand. She continued to play with his lust. "You say such flattering words to a wife who has repeatedly done harm to your consorts and your bastard children? You bear no ill will for my acts of vengeance?"
"You were justified in every act of retribution against me," said Zeus, proving that lust had completely driven the king of all gods from his senses. "I would forgive and forget every one of them, if only you would continue loving me. Do you love me, my queen? After all the times I have wronged you, do you still love me?"
Hera looked deep into his eyes and replied with an honesty that startled even herself. "I do," she said, shortly before pulling away once again.
"Even so, you burn to make love on the heights of Olympus for all the world to see?" she asked. "Think of the scandal there would be if one of the other deathless gods were to see us!"
"As you wish," Zeus answered. "We shall go to my bedchamber, with unbreakable locks of dear Hephaestus' craft. And I will wrap us round in a golden cloud so dense that not even the Sun's rays, the sharpest in the world, will pierce the mist and glimpse us making love!"
With that, Zeus lifted his wife into his arms, and they retired to his bedchamber.
***
The very instant they were concealed from all disturbance, Zeus held his wife tightly against him. He was desperate to taste her tender lips, her flexible tongue, her soft cheeks, her shapely neck, and all the rest of her sweet olive-rubbed flesh. Hera submitted to all of her husband's desires, gasping and moaning in a seductive manner at his affectionate kisses and touches. She dug her fingers into his back, eager to pull his chest toward hers.
Zeus' hands caressed her waist, searching blindly for the tasseled belt encircling it. The belt came undone at his touch, followed by the golden brooch, and Hera's robes collapsed at her feet. She stood before Zeus entirely naked, save only for the cestus belt that held her ample breasts.
The enchanted belt and all of Hera's preparations had a powerful effect on the king of Olympus. To his eyes, her flawless skin glowed with radiant beauty. He was entranced by the cascading braids of her hair and the gentle heaving of her wondrous bosom. Yet she could see that his eyes were drawn to her legs.