I wrote this poem for a Social Studies project. Our current unit is Ancient Greece and I chose this as my project because I have Mythology as a class, so I figured this would be no research and easy peasy pie. Hope you like it!
This is a tale told by a mountain
The highest one in Greece
Home of the 12 Olympians
Where heaven and earth supposedly meet
Where is it said that all is peaceful
Where no rain nor snow ever falls
Where thin clouds surround the peaks
And radiant sunshine reflects off the walls
Because I am the home of the gods
I have seen it all
I can tell you all about the 12 Olympians
Each of them – from the big to the small
Zeus is the King of the Gods and the Sky
He is mighty and strong
But do not be under the impression
That he can do no wrong
His conniving, cheating ways
Are of great annoyance to his wife
Who gets revenge on all of Zeus’s lovers
Cursing them for the rest of their life
She’s the Queen of the Gods and Goddess of Marriage
Hera is her name
And because she can’t punish Zeus
His lovers must take the blame
Poseidon holds a trident
The Ruler of the Sea
Earth-Shaker, horse-maker
A brother of the Big Three
The final brother is the Ruler of the Dead
God of the Underworld and Wealth
He rarely comes to Olympus
Preferring to keep to himself
Hades is his name
Persephone his kidnapped wife
He took her to the Underworld
So there she must stay for the rest of her life
Next we have Athena
Daughter of Zeus alone
She was born from his head
Wearing armor and fully grown
She is the Goddess of Wisdom
And with her olive tree
Became the Patron of Athens
The Gray-eyed’s special city
Another son of Zeus
Is Apollo, God of Truth and Light
He is also connected to the sun
Because his name means “shining” or “bright”
He is also called The Healer,
The Archer-god as well
And it is said a false word
From his lips never has fell
His twin-sister is the Goddess of the Hunt
Artemis is her name
She is connected to the moon
And shoots her silver arrows with deadly aim
She is The Lady of All Wild Things
Preserver of youth
But she is not all peaceful
She’s rather harsh, to tell the truth
Ares is a son of Zeus and Hera
The bloodthirsty God of War
He loves a good fight
Always wanting more
Ares is not married
But his lover is
Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty
And the fairest of all, Paris says
Some stories say she is a daughter of Zeus
Others that she was born from sea foam
She is wife to Hephaestus
To whom the forge is home
He is the God of Fire
And of all the Olympians, is the only ugly one
And that is just because
He is Hera’s son
She saw how ugly he was
And she was ashamed
She threw him from my mountain tops
Or so Milton claims
Hermes is yet another son of Zeus
Some call him the Master Thief
He is The God of Commerce and Market
And wears winged sandals upon his feet
He is the Messenger of the Gods
Graceful, cunning and shrewd
And of all the 12 Olympians
Probably the most familiar to you
Hestia is Zeus’s sister
She is the Goddess of the Hearth
She is very soft-spoken and quiet
And in your myths, usually plays no part
She was one of the original 12
Before Dionysus came
And of all to enter Olympus,
His is the last name
When he wanted to become
One of the 12
Hestia, to prevent arguing
Graciously stepped down
Dionysus is the God of the Vine
He has a dual personality
On side of him is joy and ecstasy
The other rage and brutality
These are the 12 Olympians
None omnipotent or omniscient
And I suppose that for the time being
They have proved sufficient
I have been their home for thousands of years
Just observing, being silent and large
And after all this time, I have just one question:
Why on earth are they in charge?
The Runaway Words 