Thuone is not like most gods. Aphrodite wants romance. Ares
wants war. Meanwhile, the God of Suicide is trying harder to save your life
than anyone else in the cosmos. He’s actually sacrificed himself thousands of
times. His first gig was back when Gaia spat out the gods to replace the titans,
when he posed as the first gargantuan that Zeus slew; the other gods saw it,
suddenly believed they could stand against the giants, and lost their animal
guises to fight. Zeus didn’t learn that his first kill was a god until eons
later.
Thuone did less with the gods after that era. Like
Prometheus, he was more interested in humans. Immortals just needed to take
over the world; mortals needed their lives saved. Sometimes he’d descend as a
great bull or lion for a hero to kill, giving him the courage to fight for
others thereafter. In much less famous stories than his work with Theseus and
Odysseus, he would challenge the underprivileged in full divine form (though
always under pseudonyms). Even the most depressed mortals got a huge boost from
thinking they slew a god. They were dumb enough to think a god could die the
way they did, so there wasn’t much helping their intellectual development, but
going under for them gave them spirit. Time and time again he fought, bled and fell,
making little heroes who never again thought of killing themselves.
Ah, self-sacrifice. It's such a noble occupation.
ReplyDeleteJai
You know John, there's something very sweet about this piece. The idea that someone is out there making heroes of people with nothing to live for, that's pretty adorable. And like Jai said, noble. Liked this a lot.
ReplyDeleteSo where is he (I am assuming his gender) when you need him? Pointless lives are the norm in my neck of the woods - or perhaps just inside my head.
ReplyDeleteI'm very fond of gods and their doings towards one another or humanity, and each time I've met them in literature they are selfish as hell! So I really liked Thuone and I think his being would be interesting to come across again. Nicely done John!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an ace god to me!
ReplyDelete