Percy Jackson's Greek Gods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians companion #5.5) - Rick Riordan Page 0,47

Ask me something else.”

“No!” Semele struggled to her feet. “You said anything. I want proof that you’re really a god. I’m just as good as Hera! I want to see you the way she sees you.”

“But a god’s true form…that’s not for mortals to look on. Especially pregnant mortals. Especially pregnant mortals who would like to live longer than a few seconds.”

“I can handle it,” she said. “I know I can.”

Zeus was not so sure about that. He’d never actually tried appearing to a mortal in his pure godly form before, but he imagined that for the mortal, it would be like looking at the sun without protective eyewear, or looking at an actor first thing in the morning pre-makeup. Dangerous.

On the other hand, Zeus had sworn on the River Styx, and he couldn’t back out of that. Also, Semele was a feisty girl. She was the daughter of the famous hero Cadmus. If she thought she could handle seeing a god’s true form, maybe she could.

“Okay, ready?” Zeus asked.

“Ready.”

Zeus’s mortal disguise burned away. He appeared in all his glory as a swirling pillar of fire and lightning, like a supernova, in Semele’s living room. The furniture went up in flames. The door blew off its hinges. The window shutters exploded.

Semele couldn’t handle it. She vaporized, leaving an afterimage scorch mark on the living room wall. However, the baby inside her did survive, probably because he was part god. The poor little guy was suddenly hovering in midair where his nice cozy mother used to be. Zeus took physical form just in time to catch him before he hit the floor.

Of course Zeus was in shock over Semele’s death, but he realized that the most important thing right now was the baby. The little dude wasn’t fully grown yet. He obviously needed a few more months to develop before he was ready to be born.

Zeus had to think quickly. He pulled out his lightning bolt and made an incision in his own right thigh. Must’ve hurt like crazy, but Zeus stuffed the baby into his thigh just like he was putting him in the pocket of a pair of cargo pants. Then he sewed his skin shut.

Guys…do not try this at home. It won’t work.

But I guess gods are different. Somehow the kid stayed alive in there and kept growing until he was ready to be born.

No word on whether the other gods said, “Hey, Zeus, why is your right thigh so huge, dude? You should really get that looked at.”

When the baby was ready, Zeus cut him out; and the kid became the god Dionysus. We’ll get to his story later on. His birth is the least strange thing about him.

Anyway, Hera got her revenge on Semele, and I wish I could tell you it was the harshest thing she ever did.

Unfortunately, she was just getting warmed up.

Another one of Zeus’s girlfriends was this lady named Aigina. Apparently, Aigina had heard the story about Semele, because she was not anxious to become Zeus’s special friend, even though he constantly flirted with her and showered her with gifts. Finally, Zeus convinced her to fly away with him to a secret island.

“No one will ever know,” he promised.

“What about Hera?” Aigina asked.

“Especially not her.” Zeus turned into a giant eagle and flew her to an island that now bears her name: Aigina.

Zeus almost got away with it. Hera didn’t find out about the affair until years later, after Aigina had passed away. By then, Aigina and Zeus’s son was the king of the island where he’d been born. I don’t know how Hera found out, but once she did, she was outraged that she couldn’t punish Aigina personally.

“How dare she die so that I can’t kill her!” Hera growled. “Well, I’ll just take out my anger on her son.”

His name was King Aeacus (I think he needs a few more vowels in his name. No idea how to pronounce it, so I’m going with Eye-AH-cuss.) Anyway, King Aeacus happened to be on the verge of war. He was getting his armies together to defend his kingdom.

Hera summoned a massive poisonous snake and dropped it into the headwaters of the island’s only river. The venom spread through the water supply, and soon most of the population of the entire island was dead.

Hey, that’s fair, right? Zeus sleeps with a mortal woman, so Hera finds the woman’s son and kills everyone in his kingdom. No, that’s not psychotic at all.

As you can imagine,