Mnemosyne's Sunset

[Xylric]

The following is an assignment I had to do for my classical mythology class. Essentially, we were to write an original myth set in Greece using one of the Titans or one of the Giants (essentially, any one of Gaea's children) to explain a natural phenomenon. I decided to use Mnemosyne (the greek personification of memory), and the sunset. Enjoy!

During the height of the war of the Titans, many of the children of Gaea were cast into the Abyss. Grieved by the intensity of the conflict, Mnemosyne wept bitterly, seeking for some way to keep the memory of her siblings alive to the world, lest they rot forgotten in Tartarus.

She asked her mother Gaea how she could remember her fallen siblings, wishing for advice on how best to remember them. Gaea whispered to her, saying that the number of fallen was too great for even Mnemosyne to remember them all, and that they should be remembered collectively.

Three days and three nights Mnemosyne spent wandering, continuing her search for a fitting way to remember her siblings. When she reached the shores of the Aegean Sea on the first day, she encountered her sister Phoebe, who lounged upon the rocks, gazing at the sky.

“What is it that you wish, dear Mnemosyne?” Phoebe asked her.

“I wish to remember my siblings who have fallen into the Abyss, Tartarus, but do not know how.”

Phoebe was dismayed at her sister’s reply, and grew hostile to her.

“Why do you wish to remember our kin, when they were defeated fairly by Zeus?”

Mnemosyne was disappointed in her sister’s attitude, and walked away. Next she came upon Theia during the second night of her wanderings. Theia greeted her sister amicably, asking her to sit with her on the hills of Thrace.

“What is it that you wish, dear Mnemosyne?” Theia asked, echoing Phoebe.

Again, Mnemosyne told her sister of her wish. “I wish to remember my siblings who have fallen into the Abyss, Tartarus, but do not know how.”

Theia smiled, knowing Mnemosyne’s heart, and replied, “I am pleased to know you care about our siblings, but were they not defeated justly?”

Mnemosyne was again disappointed in her sister’s attitude, and left that place. Finally, on the last hour of the third day, Mnemosyne came upon Rhea on the island of Crete. Rhea smiled warmly at her upon recognizing her sister, and bid her to come watch the sea and the clouds. Rhea noticed Mnemosyne’s pensive appearance, and asked her a third time.

“What is it that you wish, dear Mnemosyne?”

“I wish to remember my siblings who have fallen into the Abyss, Tartarus, but do not know how.”

Rhea pondered this for a moment before answering. She replied, “Though our siblings were defeated both justly and fairly by my son, Zeus, they still remain our siblings. You are wiser than the rest of us to have not lost sight of that. Perhaps the answer is in the sky?”

Mnemosyne smiled at the kindness of Rhea towards her, and embraced her sister. “I have sought a way to remember them for three days and three nights. Now night is coming once again, and I still do not have a proper means of remembering them. Perhaps, since the reign of Zeus is as different from the reign of Cronus as night is from day, the fallen would be best remembered every time the cycle repeats.”

Rhea looked back over the sea, and up at the clouds, knowing that night was soon approaching. She closed her eyes as if to rest, and smiled back at Mnemosyne.

“I am sure you remember the colours of the blood shed during this conflict. Why not place the memory of these colours into the sky every evening?”

Mnemosyne looked at her sister, in awe of her wisdom. She nodded, knowing that she had indeed found the answer she sought. Reaching out with her memories of her siblings, Mnemosyne painted the colours into the sky. That is why every night before the sun fully sets, they sky turns many shades of red, Mnemosyne’s reminder of the blood shed between the Titans and the Olympians.