Storytelling week 2: The Day the Earth Washed Away

As I sat in the sun one afternoon, I felt the Earth tremble and shake, and a loud rumbling noise. I was so confused. I looked at my husband, Deucalion, in confusion, and that same confused look was returned to me. Suddenly, we noticed the water levels rising drastically. Immediately, we got into our fishing boat and waited to see what would happen. We watched as the water levels raised to a point that not even the trees were visible. We are still uncertain how high the waters became, but we know they reached the top of Mount Parnassus, where we eventually landed.

No matter where we looked, nothing was the same as before. Dolphins swam around tree branches, seals played alongside our boat, and fish could be seen jumping from the water. The fate of the land animals was perhaps the saddest. We watched many animals float past us, desperately trying to swim, just to disappear beneath the water to their doom. Birds flew as long as they could before they succumbed to their exhaustion and plummeted into the water, giving up. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Deucalion and I landed atop Mount Parnassus, the only piece of land in sight.

As we sat, awestruck, unsure of what was to come, we began praying together.

          

“Please, Gods of the mountains, nymphs both far and wide, Themis, spare us” I said.

“Gods, who are all-knowing, see our loyalty and struggle, and guide us to do what is right and to    help in your mysterious plan!” proclaimed Deucalion.

We prayed for what seemed like hours. Finally, the Gods heard our cries and we hear a musical sound, followed by the water levels dropping. Finally, we can see the ground again. Deucalion turns to me and says,

“What would you have done if only you had been spared? I could not live my life without you, and would have followed you into the sea. Thank the Gods, we were both spared and neither of us was forced to deal with the fear and isolation by ourselves.”

I could feel his love for me in that moment. However, this feeling was quickly replaced with fear when I came to the realization that we were the only humans left on Earth. We made our way to the temple of Themis. Upon arriving, we saw the damage left from the flood. Her temple was covered in slime and debris, and her altar had no fire. We were overcome with our love of the Gods, and Deucalion and I fell to the ground, kissing it from happiness, and prayed to Themis.

Together, we begged,

“Themis, gentle, caring, and understanding Goddess, please tell us how we may repair our home and our race. Please, bring help to us, Themis, in the hardest of times!”

A voice from above gently told us to,

“Leave the temple and with veiled heads and loosened clothes, throw behind you the bones of your great mother!”

My husband looked at me in disbelief, and I looked back at him. We were in shock for quite some time, but eventually, I broke the silence.

“Deucalion, I cannot scatter my mother’s bones because I do not want to offend or disturb her spirit.”

After a while, Deucalion comforted me,

“Either this ides is wrong, or, since oracles are godly and never urge evil, our grate mother must be the earth: I think the bones she spoke about are stones in the body of earth. It is these we are told to throw behind us.”

Although completely unsure of our mission, my husband and I descend from the temple with our heads covered and loosened clothes, just as Themis told us to do. Finally, staring hopefully at one another, Deucalion and I threw stones behind us.

Unbelievably, we watched as the rocks became soft, grew in size, and reformed themselves into human beings. The rocks which I threw were transformed into women, while the rocks my husband threw transformed into men. If I had not seen it myself, I would not believe this to be possible. That day will be forever etched in my memory.

Author’s note:

I chose to tell the story of Deucalion and Pyrrha, from Pyrrha’s point of view. This story is the one that hit me the hardest when I read it, and I thought it would be interesting told from Pyrrha’s point of view. I actually followed the original story as I wrote this, but added some details of my own to relate it to Pyrrha. I did use some of the exact quotes from the story, You can find the original story at the link below.

Bibliography:

Deucalion and Pyrrha

Ovid’s Metamorphoses translated by Tony Kline (2000).

"Deucalion and Pyrrha Praying
before the Statue of the Goddess Themis"
by Jacopo Tinteretto
Wikimedia

"The Flood" by Leon Comerre
Wikipedia

"The Flood" by Paul Merwart.
Wikimedia

"The Deluge" by John Martin, 1834.
Wikipedia

"Flood" by Gustave Dore
Wikipedia