r/okbuddyolympian

Hera and Demeter in sexy lingerie.

Art by Hera-Hell and Camilla.

https://bsky.app/profile/hera-hell.bsky.social/post/3mjvgj4rjcs2r

https://bsky.app/profile/camilla-artworks.bsky.social/post/3mjzxgqgstc2h

Now, if you're no longer distracted by boobs, please read below.

Context: Zeus goes to visit Janus. The two friends share a few glasses of wine, laugh, joke, and then, while chatting about various things, Zeus mentions that his greatest dream is to involve his wife in a multi-person relationship.
Then Janus decides to propose a challenge to his friend: he must actually find people Hera would be comfortable inviting into their bed for multi-person sex.

The rules:
-For Zeus to be considered wise, the people involved must escape unharmed after the sex. And by that:
1 - They must not be killed by Hera when they show up in the bedroom.
2 - They must not be killed by Hera during the sex.
3 - They must not be killed by Hera in revenge after the sex. So if the aforementioned person were to die a horrible death the next day, or were to suffer an attempted murder from which he escaped, or even the slightest harassment or torture from Hera, this would seal Zeus's failure.
4 - This also applies to Zeus. If, after this action, he becomes the target of his wife's revenge, this also counts as a failure of the test.
-Of course, men can also be considered for involvement in the sex.
-There is no limit to the number of people who can be involved. Whether it's just a threesome or an orgy. It's not the number of people that matters, but whether they are people Hera would like.
-This is a test of wisdom, so for Zeus to win, he must make the wisest choice. This means that the option "There is no one Hera would agree to involve in our sexual games" is also a valid option for passing this test.
-Zeus must make this choice alone. No outside help.

What does Zeus win?
Janus, who must always help him cheat at the poker nights he organizes with family and friends. Janus constantly sees the past and future without limits. He can read his opponents' cards.

What happens if he loses?
The punishments are horrific, ranging from:
-Read all of Madeline Miller's books, and add any new ones that come out to his reading list. Then he'll have to go to every book signing and stand in line to have Miller autograph the books.
-Watch all of The Mythology Guy's videos over and over again, without stopping.
-Not be able to play any video games anymore, except for God of War, and only the parts where he's the boss to be killed.
-Go work as an electrical technician on Hollywood productions of films set in ancient Greece and suffer as Hollywood destroys on the big screen the culture that so revered him as a god.

All this until he reaches retirement age.

Now it's your turn: what's the wisest choice Zeus would make?

Livy 42.3

>Q. Fulvius Flaccus, the censor, was building the temple of Fortuna Equestris and was quite determined that there should be no larger or more magnificent temple in Rome. [...] The beauty of the temple would be enhanced, he thought, if it were roofed with marble tiles, and with this object he went down to Bruttium and stripped off half the roof from the temple of Juno Lacinia, as he considered this would furnish sufficient tiles to cover his temple. [...] Not content, he was told, with violating the noblest temple in that part of the world, a temple which neither Pyrrhus nor Hannibal had violated, he did not rest till he had cruelly defaced it and almost destroyed it. With its pediment gone and its roof stripped off, it lay open to moulder and decay in the rain. [...]

Livy 42.28

>Q. Fulvius Flaccus, who had been censor the year before. He met with a tragic death. His two sons were serving in Illyria, and he received intelligence that one had died and that the other was dangerously ill. Between grief and anxiety his mind gave way; the slaves, on entering his room in the morning, found that he had hanged himself. He was considered to be out of his mind at the close of his censorship, and there was a general belief that he had been driven mad by Juno Lacinia, in her anger at his spoliation of her temple.

(Note: Croton, where the temple of Hera Lacinia was kept, was an Archaic Greek city in Southern Italy, and held the single most famous temple in all of Italy for hundreds of years. It was thought that the sanctuary had been made for Hera by Thetis after the Trojan war. A place where they together could mourn Achilles, whom Hera had loved and protected as best she could throughout the war, just as Thetis did. Thetis also likely brought forth all breeds of cattle to the grounds of the temple, which were held as sacred to Hera and were never touched by humans or animals, but slept in their stables and fed themselves of their own accord)

I was reading this story at 42.3 and after he tried to make amends by bringing parts of the roof back (but not putting them back on the roof because, quote, "the contractors didn't know how") I was surprised the story didn't end more gruesomely/with the goddess getting revenge. Then I was remembered that I was reading about history, not mythology, so I moved on. Few lines later and Livy did not disappoint.

"Only I have the right to kidnap Persephone and forcibly make her my bride." - Hades probably

>Silius Italicus, Punica 1.418
Mighty was Hannibal as Mars when he careers far and wide in his war-chariot through the land of the Bistones, brandishing the weapon that defeated the band of Titans, and ruling the flame of battle by the snorting of his steeds and the noise of his chariot.

ANCIENT ROMAN READER: Mr. Silius Italicus, how much do you want to overpower Mars?
SILIUS ITALICUS: Yes!

Im moving both ways.

Hey, Eris may be a primordial cacodaemon, but she’s not a monster!

Did it as an excuse to glaze Artemis mainly. No one compared to her. Wouldn’t change my mind even if she kills me.

Invade Italy? Juno, that country is already your territory.