She received the gift of God [Greek mythology]

The temple in the center of Mande City was filled with incense and mist, and believers lined up and walked into the main hall to pray one by one.

An old woman carefully placed the pottery puppet used for worship at the bottom of the stone pedestal of the statue, bowed to salute, then raised one hand, called the name of the god, and murmured a prayer: "Ker, the goddess in charge of disasters, Dora, I pray for your kindness and care, please drive away the pain and toil, and protect me and my family in a safe and healthy new year!"

The girl next to the old woman imitated the example and also raised her arms to the sky where the gods lived, calling out the name of the owner of the temple to pray for protection.She is pampered and has no worries, so she imitates her grandmother and prays for no disease or disaster.There are many citizens waiting in the back, according to the unwritten rules, they should give up their seats after praying.This was the girl's first visit to the temple to worship. Before she backed away and left, the girl couldn't help but look at the statue curiously.The goddess statue has a beautiful but awe-inspiring face, wearing a black robe offered by believers, a golden crown of thorns on her head, and three ravens are carved at the foot.

The status of this old lady seemed quite dignified. Although she was dressed plainly, all the attendants in the temple nodded their heads and said hello to her.

"The statue of the Goddess of Calamity is so beautiful, it doesn't look scary at all." After leaving the temple, the girl sighed naively.

The old woman sternly stopped: "The gods are enshrined in the will of the gods. If you don't want to incur the punishment of the gods, you have to learn to control your tongue."

"But I'm praising the goddess..." The girl was quite aggrieved.And she knew that Cedora, the head of the gods, was a benevolent goddess. The relatives of the seriously ill would pray to her, hoping that he would take away the torment of the disease; Gifts, hope in exchange for a safe harvest.In her heart, it is more appropriate to say that Cedora is the goddess of health and peace.

Seeing this, the old woman shook her head, and said in a low voice: "Only the gods who control misfortune can recover the disaster." The girl didn't understand the meaning of this sentence, and her attention was quickly attracted by other things:

"Hey, why is there another statue in front of the temple of Cedora? Is that... Hermes, the god of good luck?"

"There is also a figure of calamity in front of the temple of the God of Good Luck. You will understand when you grow up a bit and you can participate in more festivals in the city." It's different, at night, the god of good luck will show another side, using tricks to deceive lucky people, so when you pass the stone pillar dedicated to Hermes in the city, you must not be rude."

"Got it, got it." To the young girl, this was undoubtedly the old man's preaching.

Many members of the family played important roles in the temple's celebrations, and she often eavesdropped on their chats.Completely different from the magnificent stories told by poets, only a very small number of people can experience miracles and meet gods.The gods are the same existence as the stars, distant and eternal, and the celebrations enshrined to them count the rhythm of the city's four seasons, but most of them know that the gods on the snowy peaks of Olympus will not easily interfere with mortals for a meal Hard daily life.

The old woman showed a look of helplessness: "At the time of my grandmother, the gods still lived on the earth with mortals. It was because my grandmother witnessed the miracle of the Goddess of Calamity that she changed from a weaving girl to a member of the Temple of Mandekeldora." Waiter. The name she gave me, Elpis, also has a special meaning, and that's where your name comes from..."

The girl Elpis told her grandmother that she knew the glorious history of the family by heart, she rolled her eyes and did not interrupt, but she began to lose her mind.She glanced back into the temple, stared suddenly, and rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

Is it an illusion?The position where the idol's head is facing seems to have changed a little, as if... it seems to have turned its head to look at her and grandma!

Elpis immediately prayed silently, more than ten times more seriously than before.

The spring breeze blows the girl's veil and shawl, as if there is a soft laughter passing by her ears.

At the same time, under the dome of a certain magnificent palace, a faint smile curled up on the lips of the goddess.

"Who is that?" The black-haired god who shared a couch with the goddess asked lazily, knowing where the divine consciousness that triggered her smile was, and gave the avatar on that side a little more attention.

"The offspring of an acquaintance."

The eyes on one side of the god suddenly became deep, which is the seized power of time to peek into the future: "The little girl is no longer in awe of the gods like the old man. One day, maybe hundreds of years later, Perhaps even longer, mortals will eventually forget the gods. The gods are immortal, but they will remain invisible in front of humans, and even if they come, they will only quietly blend in with the crowd. Is that the world you want?"

"You don't like it?"

"Without the god-determined order and the distinction between right and wrong, mortals may kill each other before finding out the new rules of coexistence, which is similar to that of the Silver Generation. I really don't know if it will be an interesting or boring ending. .By that time, do you plan to recreate humans?"

The goddess thought for a moment: "I don't know. And they may not self-destruct."

"Then think about it later."

smile at each other.

"If you think about it carefully, it is also beneficial to completely withdraw from the sight of mortals. You no longer need to divide your consciousness to listen to prayers, and you no longer exist in thousands of places at the same time. There are really only you and me," the black-haired and green-eyed god deepened his teasing smile , "Well, that sounds good too."

-Curtain ended-