EP 40: The Gods Are Here Now

Welcome to Episode 40. Now we leave ancient Greece and shift to contemporary America. The old gods have come to the suburbs of Pennsylvania to play — and to save the world.

The three Fates, plus Artemis, Athene, Aphrodite and the ancient goddess Nyx — all appear in order to thwart scientists who are on the verge of discovering immortality.

This startling tale weaves morality, sensuality and seduction with a fast-paced narrative that ends in conflagration, and finally, rebirth …

Narrated by mythologist and best-selling author, Patrick Garner, Garner's Greek Mythology is unlike any other Greek history series.  Here these divine beings are viewed as if they were anything but mythical...

If you love this podcast, you'll also enjoy Garner's audible novel about the gods, Homo Divinitas, now available on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

Transcript

Hi, this is your host Patrick Garner. As I NOTED IN MY LAST EPISODE, I’m IMMERSED in writing my 4th book about the olympic gods in the  modern world. 

That has slowed my podcast production. INSTEAD OF EVERY TWO WEEKS, YOU CAN expect a new EPISODE about once a month.

THE GREAT NEWS IS THAT THE EPISODES will keep coming ... 

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NOW, THIS EPISODE? INSTEAD OF traveling back to ancient Greece, we FIND OURSELVES on the OUTSKIRTS OF PHILADELPHIA IN present day America. 

HERE WE ENCOUNTER A wealthy wall street trader NAMED Jack & his so-called daughter CHLOE. 

I SAY “SO CALLED” BECAUSE ALL IS NOT AS IT SEEMS. He has ADMIRABLY raised her BY HIMSELF since they were both abandoned by her mother 19 years before.

WHEN CHLOE IS READY FOR COLLEGE, HER INTEREST IS NOT IN FINANCE AS HE HAD HOPED, BUT IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 

IT HAS BECOME AN OBSESSION THAT SUDDENLY TRANSFORMS HER FROM A MILLENNIAL IN SWEATPANTS INTO A FEMME FATALE. 

NEITHER SHE NOR JACK UNDERSTAND HER SUDDEN TRANSITION, BUT ARE CONSUMED BY IT.

WHEN SHE BECOMES PREGNANT SHE SAYS SHE WANTS TO MOVE FARTHER INTO the PENNSYLVANIA countryside. jack AGREES, & buys a large estate.

Within days of their arrival, strange, SEEMINGLY PRIMITIVE events BEGIN TO occur in A back meadow OF THE HOUSE… 

EVENTS LIKE THE APPEARANCE of AN ANCIENT GODDESS, THE DEATH OF A MASSIVE, 3-HEADED DOG THAT THE GODDESS KILLS WITH HER BOW — 

& SOMEWHAT SWEETLY — THE ARRIVAL OF A TROUPE OF YOUNG GIRLS in cHitons SINGING ARCHAIC GREEK SONGS.

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THIS IS EPISODE 40 OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. WE HAVE LISTENERS FROM 157 COUNTRIES ... SO WELCOME TO EVERYONE, WHEREVER YOU ARE.

I'M YOUR HOST, MYTHOLOGIST PATRICK GARNER. 

SOME OF THESE STORIES ABOUT THE GODS HAVE BEEN TOLD FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. BUT NOW THERE ARE NEW STORIES THAT ARE AS COMPELLING. THIS IS ONE OF THEM.

IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO, CHECK OUT MY BOOKS ABOUT THE GODS IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD. THEY'RE PART OF THE WINNOWING TRILOGY.

YOU CAN READ ABOUT THEM & ABOUT THIS PODCAST AT PATRICKGARNERBOOKS.COM. 

AND AS ALWAYS, THIS PODCAST FOCUSES ON ONE THING ... GREEK GODS, OF COURSE. THEY, LIKE YOU, ARE HERE, NOW ...

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LET’S RETURN TO JACK'S ESTATE. aN ATTRACTIVE, APPARENTLY penniless young woman NAMED LAINE appears at the door, claimING TO BE Jack’s daughter. 

Except for her red hair, SHE looks like Chloé’s twin.  Chloé BECOMES ECSTATIC & The two girls immediately bond.

AT Chloé'S URGING Jack invites Laine to stay with them. Laine presents herself as unschooled but intelligent.

ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, LAINE BEGINS TO toy with JACK’S sense of reality. HE acknowledges she is often a step ahead of him.

Jack & Laine develop a witty, flirtatious relationship that Chloé surprisingly encourages …

Within a week OF LAINE'S ARRIVAL, Chloé goes into labor. At ALMOST the same moment Jack SPOTS a radiant YOUNG woman standing in the BACK meadow. 

Her eyes are severe. Dressed in a tunic, she holds a bow and arrows, then disappears. Laine SHRUGS & SEEMS UNSURPRISed. 

SHAKING OFF HIS SHOCK AT SEEING THE WOMAN, Jack rushES Chloé to the hospital. 

IN A SHORT TIME She EFFORTLESSLY delivers a girl SHE NAMES Aisa. THE HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATOR SAYS THAT THE BIRTH IS THE EASIEST THE HOSPITAL HAS EVER SEEN.

YET BABY Aisa is angry-fisted & far more alert than a normal child. JACK CAN'T SHAKE OFF THE FEELING THAT HIS BLACK-EYED CHILD IS WATCHING & JUDGING ALL OF THOSE AROUND HER.

WHILE STILL At the hospital, hours-old Aisa kills a nurse. TO THE STAFF, THE DEATH APPEARS ACCIDENTAL.

BUT JACK SUSPECTS OTHERWISE. AND Chloé SEEMS UTTERLY UNDISTURBED BY THE EVENT. 

AS STRANGE, Chloé IS SUDDENLY COLD TOWARD JACK, REJECTING HIS ATTENTION & RESTRICTING HIS CONTACT WITH THE BABY. 

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WHILE Chloé RECOVERS AT THE HOSPITAL, JACK WAITS AT HOME WHERE HE HEARS A SOLEMN TUNE FROM SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE. IT'S ALL BECOME TOO MUCH.

HE confronts Laine about the woman in the meadow, THE STRANGE EVENTS & THE MUSIC.

SHE SAYS THE TUNE IS FROM THE ELEUSINIAN INITIATIONS, SOMETHING HE'S NEVER HEARD OF.  

THEN To his amazement she identifies the woman in the meadow as the goddess Artemis, explaining she HAS COME TO protect Chloé, Aisa & her. 

SHE PROCEEDS TO tell Jack that three millennia ago a small group of boys and girls were born in Greece with special powers.

IN TIME They became the Greek gods. Artemis was one of these children, as were Chloé, Laine & AISA.

Laine discloses they’re the Three Fates of the ancient world, sisters that dictate the lifespan of all beings.

SHE GOES ON TO SAY THAT, AT THE TIME, THEY WERE CALLED KLOTHO, LACHESIS & — TO HIS DISBELIEF — AISA. 

LAINE EXPLAINS THAT the THREE Fates withdrew from the world almost two thousand years ago. BUT THEY HARDLY ABANDONED THEIR DUTIES.

Before THEY WITHDREW THEY created a mechanism to assure the continuance of the life-death cycle. 

SHE CONTINUES, SAYING THAT They've reappeared only because scientists are on the verge of discovering the key to immortality. 

“WE HAD TO BE BORN LIKE MORTALS. THAT’S WHY YOU WERE CHOSEN,” SHE SAYS.

Laine notes THAT the male gods have not returned, having spiraled into WHAT SHE CALLS an “unrecoverable darkness.” 

She DECLARES that neither she nor Chloé are really his daughters. SHE REITERATES THAT THEY ARE THE FATES! 

JACK GOES INTO a state of shock.

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FOLLOWING AISA'S birth, even more unsettling events begin. 

First, upon Chloé’s return home, she declares she NOW KNOWS who she is & that she accepts her original identity. SHE ALSO ABANDONS JACK.

Laine is delighted, & her relationship with Jack becomes physical. Regardless, she draws a line he cannot cross: She must remain a virgin. 

AS A CONSEQUENCE, Their liaison becomes one of fiery compromise. 

Over the succeeding months fantastical scenes play out in the meadow & woodlands. Artemis reappears accompanied by nymphs. 

A large hound with two heads appears—one head looks into the future, & one into the past ... it, like aisa, seems to always be watching.

Sacrifices to Artemis occur.  And Aisa grows at an extraordinary rate, far faster than a human child. 

Meanwhile, while wandering in his back woods, Jack meets several of the nymphs. 

The contact becomes more frequent. To his amusement he learns that TWO OF THEM go to Vassar & are taking a semester off to aid Laine.

During this same period Jack discovers that Laine, rather than being uneducated, is a prodigy, who at 22 holds a master’s & PhD in genetics & has published numerous scientific papers. 

WHEN HE CONFRONTS aBOUT her GRAND deception, she lays out what she calls her multi-year plan.

The plan is to “extirpate” or kill the world’s leading DNA experts, who she calls the best minds of her generation. 

When she says she precipitated her own birth, AS WELL AS Chloé & Aisa’s to allow the Fates to re-enter the world, Jack finally grasps the boldness & enormity of her scheme.

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Disturbing incidents continue to occur in the backwoods. FOR INSTANCE, One afternoon Artemis bathES in a sacred pool with her nymphs.

A NEIGHBOR is caught spying on them. INSTANTLY, Artemis turns him into a stag & the group savagely kills it WITH ARROWS. 

In another incident two hunters appear in a staged setting & INADVERTENTLY shoot each other. IT'S ALL ARTEMIS' DOING. OR POSSIBLY LAINE'S.

REGARDLESS, Against his will Jack becomes the witness to three violent deaths.

THEN In THE MIDST OF this chaos, Laine manipulates Jack’s DNA to prolong his life so she can enjoy HIS COMPANY longer. 

The subtle change increases both his intelligence & prowess more than anyone, INCLUDING LAINE, realizes. 

Artemis & Laine test his new powers—& his loyalty to theM. LIKE THE LABORS OF HERACLES, The challengES become more & MORE DIFFICULT. 

Jack is tested in dreams & once in a bizarre, ANCIENT amphitheater THAT Artemis materializes in the woods.

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EVENTUALLY, AFTER MANY CHALLENGES, Jack becomes a key figure in an extraordinary trial. THE TRIAL IS a final test to verify THAT he grasps what he's become.  

During the trial THE GODDESS Aphrodite APPEARS & confesses she caused Chloé & Laine’s obsession with sensuality. 

She STATES SHE DID so because she disagrees with the ancient injunction that they remain virgins.

SHE arguES that to judge human lives THE TWO SISTERS must know physical love.

BUT Jack prevails at the trial, PROVING TO BE MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY OF THE DIVINITIES SUSPECTED.

To celebrate his success Laine proposes a dinner party. She declares it will be like those held in ANCIENT Greece where LONG into the night the intelligentsia debated PHILOSOPHY & CULTURE. 

Aphrodite chooses virginity as the topic, & the party devolves into acrimony & ARGUMENT. 

Aphrodite DECLARES THAT SHE'S in favor of free love, & Laine counters that virginity should prevail. 

During the party Jack sides with Aphrodite, & Laine is so enraged that she & Jack never reconcile. 

THEN, WORSE FOR LAINE, At the party Jack encounters a striking demigoddess NAMED Danaë WHOSE FATHER WAS POSEIDON.

ONCE AGAIN, JACK IS SMITTEN & HE & Danaë BEGIN TO SEE EACH OTHER.

OBLIVIOUS TO WHAT IS takING place BETWEEN THE TWO, Laine solidifies her OTHER plans, flying to Singapore where an attempt to kill several scientists goes awry. 

She returns, FORCED TO alter her tactics. instead OF EXPLOSIVES, WHICH SHE USED IN Singapore, SHE SWITCHES TO an ancient GREEK toxin. 

In a pilot test of the toxin, she kills a colleague, a Nobel nominee WHO TEACHES at MIT. 

SHE CONSIDERS THE KILLING A triumph & decides to use the same technique on the remaining geneticists scattered throughout the world. 

As she obsesses over strategy, she becomes more distant, dark and foul-tempered, DRIVING JACK FROM HER LIFE.

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Jack, WATCHING ALL OF UNFOLD, ADMITS TO HIMSELF THAT HE's increasingly uncomfortable with Laine’s decisions & the rising death toll. 

Danaë has similar doubts about Laine’s sanity ... SHE & JACK collaborate, HOPING TO STOP LAINE. 

Over weeks as his relationship with Laine TOTALLY collapses, Jack & Danaë become FAR closer.

She divulges they'Re destined to “couple” to HELP repopulate the missing males in the tribe. 

Plotting against Laine they meet one afternoon at Artemis’ woodland sanctuary, where Jack encounters other OLYMPIC goddesses. 

ALL have gathered to discuss how to stop Laine’s machinations. THE TIMING IS GOOD AS A day later a DEADLY accident occurs.

THE BABY AISA, ALLOWED BY Chloé TO PLAY AT WILL, RELEASES the toxin. The three sisters are exposed & die WITHIN HOURS.

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Until their loss Jack has assumed Laine had directed most of the events, not suspecting the role he was to play. 

WITH THE LOSS OF THE FATES, Artemis now takes a more direct role, stating that for millennia he & Danaë have been destined to join.

SHE STATES that the time has come. Jack & Danaë FORMALLY unite in a grand ceremony attended by all the nymphs & goddesses. 

In a contrasting event a day later, the FATES—THE THREE DEAD sisters—are cremated in a massive pyre. 

During the service hundreds of hawks hover high above the fire, a dazzling & final salute to the Fates. 

As the story ends, five years after the sisters’ deaths, Danaë has had three sons. and Jack comes to terms with his life.

THE WORLD IS ONE WHERE DIVINITIES CONTINUE TO FLOURISH. GODDESSES CONSORT WITH YOUNG NYMPHS.

THEY PRACTICE ANCIENT SACRIFICE & HUNT SPIRIT DEER. BIZARRE CREATURES FROM SO-CALLED MYTHOLOGY APPEAR AT WILL.

DEBATES ABOUT MORALITY, IMMORTALITY, LIFE, DEATH & ETHICS TAKE PLACE AMONG THE GODDESSES. 

AND AS ALWAYS, INFATUATION, HUBRIS & SENSUALITY TRIP THEM UP AS IF THEY WERE MORTALS.

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IN THIS EPISODE I'VE BEEN DESCRIBING MY FIRST NOVEL, The Winnowing. 

IT'S A FITTING SUBJECT FOR THE PODCAST BECAUSE IT LIFTS THE ANCIENT GODS FROM THE PAST & PLACES THEM INTO THE PRESENT. AS I ALWAYS SAY, THE GODS ARE HERE, NOW.

The Winnowing  begins in lust, culminates in conflagration & concludes with A transcendent rebirth. 

IT & ITS TWO SISTER BOOKS, CYCLADIC GIRLS & HOMO DIVINITAS, ARE AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. THEY'RE ALL COMPELLING READS. 

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AS ALWAYS … JOIN ME ... FOR THE NEXT EPISODE OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. 

IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR & IF YOU'RE LISTENING FROM EITHER ITUNES OR SPOTIFY, LEAVE ME 4 OR 5 STARS. YOUR OPINION MATTERS. 

ALSO BE SURE TO VISIT Patrick-Garner-Books-dot-com. IT'S ALL ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE GREEK GODS ... A DISCUSSION OF THIS PODCAST ... & ABOUT MY THREE NOVELS.

IF YOU WOULD PREFER TO LISTEN—AFTER ALL, YOU ARE LISTENING TO A PODCAST—YOU CAN GET MY AUDIBLE BOOK, HOMO DIVINITAS, AT AMAZON OR AUDIBLE.

THANKS FOR LISTENING ... THIS IS YOUR HOST, PATRICK GARNER.