The Unacknowledged Goddess

Life is hard when no one knows who you are. This is true for everybody but it is exceptionally true for a goddess. See we don’t exist unless people believe in us and well... most people don’t know about me so how can they believe? I am a greek goddess, but not one you would have ever heard about. I am kept under some extreme wraps most of the time for multiple reasons but for the most part, it is just because knowing about me, could be very dangerous for some who wish to remain in power and maintain the status quo.

I should backtrack a little. Gods and Goddesses… work…. Differently than everyone else. They only exist in so far as people believe in them. This means that if people stop talking about us, stop thinking about our stories we fade into the background. Now, this isn’t an issue for the Gods like Zeus or Aphrodite… everyone knows them. Everyone remembers them, no big deal. Even though there are many stories and many myths that outline different ways in which these Gods exist they have the ability to remain true to themselves so long as they are spoken about and remembered. The stories don’t have to get them exactly right, it just needs to get them in a basic form and shape that will then be molded.

But for Goddesses like me… no one knows me. I only exist because of a couple of lines in a few myths that include something along the lines of “Poseidon and his children”. And with that one line, I am able to exist. And because the line is so vague there is very little that I have to maintain. And that works in my favour for a number of reasons. One main one is, biology does not indicate who is really my parent.

But that isn’t my whole story. That isn’t even the beginning of my story. That's my… origin story I guess you could call it. But even that isn’t really true. My story is long and complicated and I am sure you will all read about it at some point (I have some unresolved issues regarding my story)but that is not the point of this introduction. I need you to understand the very minimum about me so that you aren’t completely confused when other people make their way into this story. And they will. Because as much as I would like to, I do not live in a bubble, nor on an island. I am forced to interact with others and that includes my… father Poseidon.

Yes, he is technically my father, but I do not claim him as such. To be fair, most of the time he doesn’t wish to claim me as his daughter. The only time he is even a little bit interested in me is when I manage to beat him at his own game, which I do quite a bit just to prove a point. (One of the only times I willingly leave home is to beat him at his own water war game). He contributed DNA to me and that is about all that I am willing to concede. Likewise, my mother, if she can even be called that contributed her brain and that was about it. She would hate if I even name her here so I will, mainly because I like pissing her off. Athena is my mother but don't worry for those of you who are currently flipping through every myth she is still a Maiden goddess. I am her thought child because Zeus made her a promise if she had me, someone, who was supposed to be a perfect soldier. Of course, I wasn’t because that wouldn’t be enough fun, but I was supposed to be.

I was not raised by them, I was not treated like a child should be treated. They were both happy to pretend I didn’t exist. Who wants to go through the trouble of loving and nurturing a child you brought into this world right? It’s not like either one of them actually wanted me, they just wanted to get Zeus off their backs for different reasons. But then something happened. I grew up and turned out to be quite skilled in many ways and suddenly I was interesting. And then he wanted everything to do with me, and she still wanted me to not exist. And Zeus… well he had high hopes for what I could have become but… was very disappointed in what I did.

That sounds harsh, doesn’t it? Does it sound a little bit like I am a moody teenager who doesn’t get along with my parents? I can see how I sound that way but the truth of the matter is that you all will see what I mean. I don’t have a tendency to paint myself in the best light, let alone anyone else but I will do my best to keep this story clean. I want there to be a record of what I did, and why I did it, just in case I fail. History is written by the victors and if I am not one, I want there to be a record somewhere of my intentions. I want everyone to know who's to blame and more importantly… who isn’t. This brings me to part two of my origin story… my adoption.

I was raised by two very loving parents, both of whom took me in, gave me powers over their domains, and never treated me like anything other than theirs. Two Gods who never for a moment hesitated in raising me, nurturing me, and caring for me the way that parents should. And even though I was so different than both of them they gave me all the room I needed to grow into the goddess that I have become. I would not be heading on this journey if I didn’t have them. They gave me the strength of character and courage that I need to leave the safety of my home and fight to protect it.

Who exactly are these amazing Gods… Hades and Persephone. Please don’t close this book now.

Stay with me now. I know what you all are thinking. How can I speak kindly of a man who kidnapped his wife and held her against her will? Most of the stories surrounding Hades and Persephone are not kind to him in the slightest and leave her in not the greatest of places. But just keep reading please, understand where I am coming from. Would I truly be speaking of my parents in this great way if those stories told the true and accurate story?

I wouldn’t. But that isn’t his story, or hers. That is what Grandma told Zeus in order to get what she wanted. Which was Mom back home with her. Mom wasn’t always called Persephone… that was a name she received AFTER she started spending time with Dad. Before that…. She was called Kore which basically just means daughter. Grandma is the equivalent of a helicopter parent and did everything she could to protect her precious daughter from the dangers of the world. But Mom wasn’t afraid of danger and she went exploring, met dad, and fell in love. But Grandma couldn’t really handle that and so everything that happened… it could have been avoided if Grandma was a little less overbearing and Zeus was a little more interested in the truth rather than what is easiest and will keep him in power the most.

I’m getting a little off track. My name is… well you don’t get to know my name. Names hold power, and I am not willing to give up what little power I have managed to hold onto in this crazy world by giving out my name that easily. One day… maybe one day you will all have earned the right to my name but not right now. If it makes you feel better… only Dad, Mom, and one other know my true name… everyone else just guesses.

You can call me P. Everyone calls me something that starts with that letter anyways. Dad calls me Princess, which makes sense when you consider my official title as Princess of Lost Souls. Sounds super intimidating, I basically just help people who die find where they belong. I also hold some power over them but I don’t like to get into that. Also, my dad calling me princess ruins a little bit of the intimidation factor. Mom calls me petal and Hestia (I will get more into my history with her later) calls me precious. These names… also not great for the intimidation tactic that I tend to try and go for (keyword here being try). Zeus… for all that he wanted me, doesn’t exactly like how I turned out and tends to call me Precocious. I’m honestly just amazed he has such a strong grasp of language to be able to call me something like that. And Poseidon when he is trying to get on my good side (after I beat him at another one of his water games) calls me Poseidon Jr. (to the disdain of his other kids it should be stated). Athena doesn’t call me anything that starts with a P… she tends to just call me “HER” or sometimes when she’s feeling particularly vexatious… “Trouble”. (now it should be stated that there’s a song about trouble with a capital T rhyming with P but… we won’t get into that)

I would have been perfectly happy with you never reading about me, never learning more about me than the fact that I am one of his kids, but unfortunately, that is not the way it seems my story was intended to take place. You know that whole quote about greatness… I used to think it was just what people said to make themselves feel better but now I know… we don’t always get a say in what happens to us, and sometimes stories or journeys get thrust upon us. And so it goes.

So, I am asking one simple favour from everyone who reads this story… Remember me. If I am going to become the main character in a story, in a myth then I need to be part of a story that is remembered. I can’t go back to obscurity after this, and that is what will happen if you all choose to forget about me, or don’t actively choose to remember me.

So that is it. That is all I want from anyone reading this. I don’t need you to be on my side, I don’t need you to fight some big war.

I just need you to Remember Me.

Remember. Me.