Home

CALLIOPE: You may recall, dear listeners, that a few short chapters of our story ago we had left things with Hera, Persephone, and Hades. There was a fair amount of plotting and thoughts of confronting Demeter. I regret to inform you that we will not be returning to a confrontation with Demeter, though we will return to our lord and lady of the Underworld.

Welcome, dear listeners, to Forged Bonds.

You may be asking yourself why we are not following along to see what will happen with Demeter. To this, I say that the time has not yet come to introduce Demeter to our story in full. Hera is still working through what she wishes to convey to her former friend and Persephone is not quite ready to face her mother. This, of course, allows us to follow a different part of the issue at hand: Zeus. 

PERSEPHONE: Are you sure this is a good idea, my love?

HADES: Of course not. But it is the idea I will be following through upon anyway.

PERSEPHONE: My mother–

HADES: You and Hera both aren’t ready to speak to Demeter. I know you, beloved, I know that you’re putting on a brave face for Hera but I also know that seeing your mother hurts you more than you admit.

PERSEPHONE: I’ve always regretted how things ended between us. On some level I think she regrets it too. And now I’m finally reaching out to her to pick a fight– (pause) I know it’s more complicated than that. I know. And this is a conversation that needs to be had but I just… I wish I was more prepared to see her. I wish I could do that for Hera and for myself.

HADES: Which is why I’m going to speak with my brother first; it gives you and Hera time to prepare and me time to make sure that you’re truly okay with proceeding with that plan.

PERSEPHONE: We have to.

HADES: Hera wouldn’t hold it against you if you decided you didn’t want to speak with Demeter. You know that.

PERSEPHONE: …I do. It’s just… I want to be able to do this for her. I want to be able to protect her the way I’ve been saying I can. 

HERA: You have been, Sephie.

PERSEPHONE: Hera! I… How much did you hear?

HERA: Enough.

HADES: You’ve gotten much sneakier since you started living here, you know.

HERA: I’ve learned from the best. The two of you love to hide in the shadows, it’s only fair that I get to do so as well. (pause) So. You’re off to see my husband then.

HADES: I am, yes. Is that okay with you?

HERA: I can hardly tell you what you should or shouldn’t do.

HADES: If you would prefer I didn’t go talk to him, I won’t. This is on your behalf, Hera; if I’m advocating for you in a way that upsets you, then it isn’t good advocacy.

PERSEPHONE: Hades figured that neither of us are ready to face Demeter yet. This is true for me and I imagine it’s true for you as well. And if we can’t face that half of the problem, well… Having Hades talk to Zeus makes sense. But if things are progressing too fast…

HERA: It does make sense for you to go and talk to Zeus I just… I hate the thought of you having to do that for me. 

HADES: He’s my brother, Hera. I would have to talk to him at some point or another anyway, he loves to make himself known in my life when it suits him.

HERA: You know what I mean.

HADES: And you know what I mean. This isn’t a hardship, Hera. 

PERSEPHONE: And if you’d rather go and talk to Demeter first–

HERA: I’m not ready for that. You were right on that front, I don’t even know what I would say to her. I barely know how I feel about her right now. I’m angry with her for starting an affair with Zeus. I’m worried about her because I know what Zeus is like. I’m terrified that everyone will find out and that this will blow up in my face even though it isn’t my fault. I feel sorry for her for being so lonely that she would turn to Zeus in the first place. I can’t condense all of these feelings into anything coherent enough to actually confront her– not that I’m even sure it would be a confrontation as much as it would be just… A conversation.

PERSEPHONE: Trust me, I know what it’s like to feel every emotion under the sun when it comes to my mother. She’s a… Complicated woman. At the best of times. 

HADES: (muttered) And a bitch at the worst of times. 

PERSEPHONE: Hades, be nice.

HADES: We both know it’s the truth!

PERSEPHONE: Anyway we’ll do whatever you’re most comfortable with, Hera. If you don’t think Hades should go talk to Zeus then he won’t, okay?

HERA: …Sephie will you stay here with me? While he goes?

PERSEPHONE: Of course, Hera. You won’t have to be alone for a moment, not unless you want to be.

CALLIOPE: With Hera’s blessing secured, Hades made his way out of the Underworld to the home of his brother. It should be noted, dear listeners, that Hades and Zeus did not always have a bad relationship. There were, of course, the petty squabbles of brotherhood when they were children, but there wasn’t always a sense of antagonism to their relationship. If you asked Hades what had changed, he would tell you Zeus had. If you asked Zeus, he would tell you that nothing had. Zeus, as you might imagine, was wrong. He had changed into a man that Hades hardly recognized sometimes, and yet Hades couldn’t help but feel the aching loss of his brother even now as he went to confront him.

ZEUS: Ah, Hades. To what do I owe the honor?

HADES: We need to talk.

ZEUS: I figured as much since you appeared through the door in Hera’s room. It is rude to let yourself into another person’s house, you know. If I weren’t your brother, I would be rather cross.

HADES: You can drop the brotherly act, Zeus. I don’t know why you even try it with me, we both know– (sigh) You know why I’m here. We don’t have to do the thing where we both dance around the topic only to start shouting at each other. I want to talk about Demeter.

ZEUS: You think me being brotherly is just an act? 

HADES: We both know it is. It’s what you do when you want something, or want me to overlook something. You play up being my little brother, being someone who I’ve known and cared for my whole life. It’s something you’ve always done, always knew exactly how to push my buttons to get what you wanted out of a situation. You’re my brother and I love you but you’re also a fucking bastard, you know that? I mean, surely you must know what you’re doing and what it does to all of us. You have to know that you’re hurting people. I refuse to believe that you don’t realize it and that there isn’t at least some small part of you that cares that you’re doing it. 

ZEUS: What difference would it make if I did care, Hades? Yes, I know what I’m doing and yes I know it’s wrong and no, I don’t know how to stop doing this so what difference does it make? You want to talk about Demeter? About how she came to me because she was lonely and I ran with that because I can’t stand the way that Hera knows me? You want to hear all about how I got too close to Hera and started feeling too seen by her so I decided that no, actually, I didn’t want that? You think you know me so well, brother, and it’s because you do. So you of all people should know that I won’t stop doing this. I will keep seeing Demeter, and when she gets boring I’ll see someone else. And Hera will cry and Olympus will pry and we’ll end up back where we started. 

HADES: Don’t you get tired of this? 

ZEUS: Every story needs a villain, Hades. I’m perfectly happy in the role I’ve cast for myself.

HADES: So your goal is to, what, exactly? Fool around with Demeter until the press catches wind or you get bored? And then you’ll just… Discard her, the same way you discarded Hera?

ZEUS: I didn’t discard Hera.

HADES: You’ve cheated on her so many times without remorse. Please tell me how that isn’t discarding Hera.

ZEUS: I still care for Hera, brother. I’m certain you won’t believe me, but it’s true. She’s… She’s everything I thought I wanted. And in some ways that makes her everything I want. If we could just have more distance between us, I bet we’d have a wonderful relationship. But as it stands, she knows me too well. That’s the wonderful thing about Demeter, about Leto, about everyone that I’ve had affairs with is that they don’t know me. They know the idea of me, and they like the idea of me. That’s the kind of distance I want in a relationship, someone who thinks they know me and wants to mess around because of that. 

HADES: So you want people to love the idea of you the same way you love the idea of Hera.

ZEUS: Precisely!

HADES: You’re a dick, you know that?

ZEUS: After all of this–

HADES: No, don’t start with this again. I really thought that you cared, that you could see reason but you don’t. You just take and take and take and never once have you stopped to think about it or care.

ZEUS: We’re not all meant for monogamous, happy marriages, Hades. Though if Persephone were ever curious–

HADES: Don’t.

ZEUS: Ah. There’s the nerve I was waiting to strike.

HADES: Strike it again and see what happens.

ZEUS: I’m merely offering my services in case your wife has gotten bored– (Zeus gets punched) 

HADES: You are a miserable, pathetic excuse for a god. I should tell the whole of Olympus this, but I don’t want to see Hera getting hurt from that. But if you ever, ever try to bring my wife into our conversations again you will wish that you could die. Do I make myself clear?

ZEUS: (pained) I think, dear brother, it would be best if you left.

HADES: As if I’d want to stay in your company any longer. 

CALLIOPE: Hades stormed back out the way he had came before, slamming the door to the Underworld behind him. We will follow after him, as there is no need to linger on Zeus’s bleeding nose for longer than necessary.

PERSEPHONE: Oh! Hi love! You’re back sooner than we expected. Is everything– Oh. Oh my gods, darling, your knuckles are bleeding.

HADES: No, that’s just Zeus’ blood. But if you wouldn’t mind getting me some ice, I’d imagine my knuckles will start protesting shortly. 

PERSEPHONE: Did you…

HADES: I should have. But no, he’s still alive and breathing. Only hit him the one time and didn’t really expect to break his nose. 

HERA: Zeus is getting punched quite a lot this year. About time if you ask me.

HADES: Is that so? Who else punched him?

HERA: Ares did. I guess Zeus was running his mouth about Aphrodite. What caused you to punch him?

HADES: (sheepish) He was running his mouth about Persephone.

PERSEPHONE: Here, love. I can’t believe you punched Zeus for me.

HADES: I was already angry with him. Him bringing you into it was uncalled for. After everything he said… I try not to be a violent person but someone needed to hit my brother and it was going to be me. 

PERSEPHONE: Oh, darling… It went that badly?

HADES: He feels no remorse. Doesn’t even care the slightest bit and has already said that he’ll get rid of Demeter once he is bored.

HERA: Honestly surprised it didn’t go worse than this given that you punched him. I thought he must’ve told you something you didn’t already know.

HADES: I think hearing it directly from him just… It set me off in a way I didn’t expect. I always thought that there might be some shred of my brother that wasn’t… That wasn’t what he is now. The Zeus I grew up with wouldn’t have done this, would’ve felt bad for doing this. I guess I just hoped that my little brother would be able to be saved.

HERA: …I’m sorry, Hades.

HADES: It’s not your fault, Hera. I should’ve known that he was going to be like this. He’s not the brother I grew up with– hasn’t been for quite some time. It felt wrong to let go of that hope that he could change for the better, like I was giving up on my little brother but…

PERSEPHONE: No one can blame you for wanting Zeus to be better, love. I think on some level we all want Zeus to be better. He’s your brother, of course you’re going to care about him, darling. The same way that my mother is still my mother despite everything she’s done. You and I both value family far too much to truly let go of the people who have done us harm. We probably hold on a little longer than we should. And you’re not a bad person for giving up on Zeus. He’s proven time and time again that he won’t change. There’s only so much you can do.

HERA: And you’re not a fool for holding out hope as long as you have. Gods know I did the same thing. I wouldn’t be here right now if I hadn’t hoped for as long as I did. (pause) Thank you, by the way. For going to talk to him. I know it didn’t go as you hoped, but at least it proves that some doors are best left closed.

HADES: Are you going to continue seeing him?

HERA: I don’t know, honestly. It does seem to be helping the press die down some, but that could also be wishful thinking. I might just… End it all. Stay down here or move out by Hephaestus. 

PERSEPHONE: Well, whatever you choose, you’ll have our support, okay?

HERA: Thank you, both of you. Things are still rough, but I think that we’re closer than ever before to them starting to get better.

CALLIOPE: That is where we shall draw our story to a close for the day. You may be wondering if Zeus is truly as bad as he makes himself out to be. It’s hard to say for certain, but we can all hope that there is something better in him. After all, who can blame someone for wishing the world to be better than it is? For now, we will let Hera contemplate her options and let Zeus nurse his broken nose. Until next time, and as always, thank you for listening.