RAINBOW MYTH
By Hannah Butler
Iris, a tall, pale goddess whose eyes shone as blue as the sea, sprinted up the
white marble steps leading to Mount Olympus, home of all immortals, to deliver a
message to the great and powerful Zeus. She reached the grand palace, towering
above her among the soft, feathery clouds and jogged to Zeus where he sat on his
golden, glistening throne, her long, flaming red hair bounding up and down behind
her.
“Zeus, I have a message from Hephaestus! He says that Hera’s glass necklace
won’t be ready for another day!”
Iris stood panting from her long run to Olympus as she waited for Zeus to
speak. He replied immediately, ‘Tell Hephaestus that if my Hera’s necklace isn’t
ready by the break of dawn tomorrow, he will face Hera’s wrath.
“Y-y-yes, Zeus. I w-will t-t-tell Hephaestus of y-your e-expectations!”
stammered Iris, and she was off in no time, frightened by Zeus’s rage.
Iris darted back down the stairs to the mouth of the cave on Earth and
entered the loud, dirty underground chamber where Hephaestus and the Cyclops
worked.
“Hephaestus! Where are you?” Iris called, and her words echoed through the
dark, gloomy cave.
Iris wandered through the cave, running her hand along the damp walls until
Hephaestus appeared in front of her.
“Well, Iris, what did Zeus say?” Hephaestus inquired.
Iris’ heart started pounding so loud and hard that she was sure it could be
heard on Mount Olympus, just as it did every time Hephaestus spoke. Her cheeks
turned red as a rose, and she absentmindedly gazed at his curly brown locks and
chocolate brown eyes.
“Iris! What did Zeus say?” Hephaestus impatiently demanded.
Iris broke out of her trance and answered quickly, “Zeus says the necklace
must be in his possession by sunrise tomorrow, or you will face Hera’s cruel wrath.”
Hephaestus thought out loud, “It cannot be done! However, I definitely don’t
want to face Hera. Maybe if everyone works on it all night, it will be finished by
dawn. I’ll ask everyone tonight. Oh, Iris. Thanks for repeating what Zeus said to
me.”
Soon Hephaestus was called away by a Cyclops. Afterwards, Iris stumbled
out of the cave and into a grassy meadow and rested on a patch of white daisies, love
struck. She sat on the field until dusk when she danced up to her home in the sky
and fell asleep, dreaming of Hephaestus.
When the sun’s rays illuminated her bedroom the next morning, she leaped
out of bed and went to the throne room. The room was completely empty except for
Zeus, who sat still as a marble statue, with his ivory-colored skin and tousled blonde
hair completely frozen. When he saw Iris enter, he moved and prepared to speak.
“Ah, Iris. Come here for a minute and sit beside me on Hera’s throne. You
probably know that I am married to many of the goddesses on Olympus, as well as
many mortals on Earth. Iris, it is a great honor to be chosen as my wife and now you
have that honor.”
Iris knew that being Zeus’s wife would not only give her honor, but also let
her live a luxurious life, sitting on silk couches and dressing in finery, but she
wanted to marry Hephaestus, not Zeus.
“I am so sorry Zeus, but my heart burns for Hephaestus.”
She could see the rage building inside of him, probably because no one had
ever turned down the most powerful god in the universe, and all of a sudden
controlled his anger. As the god of all gods, he just punished the god or goddess that
infuriated him.
She said a quick, “good day,” and was off down the stairs that led to
Hephaestus’ workshop.
Hephaestus and Iris met in the mouth of the cave, and she told him what she
had said to Zeus earlier. Hephaestus’ eyes widened in amazement.
“You do know that Zeus will get revenge, and he will probably get Hera to go
after you, right? But I am glad that you chose me over Zeus. Oh, and I have
something for you! Close your eyes.”
Irish squeezed her eyes shut while Hephaestus dropped a cool object into her
cupped hands. She slowly opened her eyes and looked down at the present from
Hephaestus. Hephaestus had given her a gemstone necklace with a pure gold chain
dangling limply from her caring hands. The sapphire glittered like stars against the
velvet sky at twilight, catching the brilliance of the sun.
“It’s beautiful, Hephaestus! Thank you so much!” Iris held the pendant up to
the sun and let the stone capture the light.
Seven colors created a faint bow from the necklace to the sun; red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Iris and Hephaestus looked at each other in
astonishment and then gazed at the beautiful arch. Iris fastened the chain around
her neck and surveyed the area around her.
She happened to glance at Mount Olympus and detected gray smoke coming
from the palace, which was momentarily hidden behind a puffy, white cloud.
Hephaestus noticed the suspicious smoke, too. Presently, the cloud moved and the
two observed a throng of people holding torches, all descending the narrow
staircase at once. All of a sudden, the wind started blowing fierce gusts in all
directions. Overhead, clouds as black as coal started rolling in and casting long,
gloomy shadows on the dark ground. Iris looked up at the blotchy gray sky as a
solitary drop of water landed on her forehead and rolled down her face. Several
more raindrops landed on her face and shoulders, and then suddenly the rain was
being dumped from the sky in buckets. The wind was whipping Iris’s thick hair
everywhere, as she and Hephaestus ran for the nearest tree and took shelter under
the branches. A crowd was trekking to the foot of the staircase, ready to catch Iris
and Hephaestus.
Gradually the downpour turned in to a light shower, and the winds died
down. The dazzling sun escaped from behind a cloud and lit up the world again,
although it was still drizzling. The grass was dripping wet and glowed in the
sunlight, and the irate groups of gods had almost reached Iris and Hephaestus. The
couple turned to run but discovered another horde coming up from behind Iris and
her lover. Iris and Hephaestus had been surrounded with no means of escape. Iris
turned to Hephaestus, and in doing so her necklace caught the sun’s beams, creating
the magic bow leading to the sun.
“Come on, Let’s go!” whispered Iris.
They grasped each other’s hands and stepped on the colorful bridge, and
sprinted away. They hiked over sparking seas and scorching deserts, green, leafy
jungles and small, dirty villages, but never stopped walking. They strolled along the
arch for hours and hours, and walked across the whole Earth. Eventually the sky
turned pink, red, orange, yellow and purple just as they reached mount Olympus.
The gods and goddesses had retired from their pursuit of the two, wanting to be
friends. When the couple appeared, the gods and goddesses greeted them eagerly,
and welcomed them back. Iris decided to call the bow that had saved her and
Hephaestus a rainbow because it had appeared just as the rain was stopping, and it
curved like a bow.
If you are ever outside after a rainstorm and the sun is shining, be sure to
look for a rainbow, and if you see one, look really closely and sometime you may see
Hephaestus and Iris walking along it.