The Fate of Hubrisius
Pyrrha, Epimetheus’ daughter, and Deucalion, her husband and Prometheus’ son, were the sole survivors during Zeus’ grand Deluge. The Deluge of Deucalion, as it is called, was intended by Zeus to expunge the surface of the earth of a nefarious human race. Following the Deluge, Pyrrha and Deucalion created a new form of humans using rocks. Subsequent to this feat and during the settlement of the new human race, the saviours of the latter had their first-born son called Hubrisius.
As an infant, he was well liked among the Olympians mainly for his looks and charisma. He was remarkably well-spoken and had a complaisant answer for everything. His appearance, also, did not fall short from being coveted by many; he had luscious golden spiral-like curls with an olive complexion and angel blue eyes. Although not quite considered an Olympian, he lived with the clan on Mount Olympus as an adopted member simply for his innate charm.
However, Zeus sensed him to be arrogant and borderline narcissistic which made the Olympians accuse the Mighty God of being envious and resentful. To show them, Zeus humiliated Hubrisius by making him god of pride and vanity which were two traits that, if possessed, were frown upon in Ancient Greece. In spite of his conspicuous popularity as an infant, Hubrisius was isolated, in the social sense, by the gods. Nevertheless, he grew up to be egocentric and pretentious just as Zeus had anticipated. For many years, he roamed the regions outside the limits of Athens in a solitary state; however, his ego hadn’t deflated.
Hubrisius tired of being neglected by the other gods started telling mortals that he was the most imminent and influential god. They also built, in his honour, temples all across Athens to worship the newly beloved god. He persuaded them that vanity and pride were virtues that were imperative to any human being. Subsequently, mere mortals started to esteem themselves among the ranks of gods and goddesses.
Zeus, upon hearing about the infuriating turmoil that Hubrisius had initiated, decided to punish him. He created a cave and positioned it near the clear limited stream of Eridanos which passed through Athens coming from the foothills of Mount Lykabettos. It was also considered to be Hubrisius’ safe haven. Self-love being one of the gods of pride’s weaknesses, the cave was reflective which was alluring to the young god of vanity and pride. The foolish and shallow Hubrisius was lured into the tenebrous cave just as a colossal rock closed off the entrance.
Stricken by fear, he was petrified into place. He promptly felt, one by one, tiny claw-like extremities crawling progressively on his legs followed by his chest while pricking and pinching his tingling skin. As the claw-like limbs made its way further up his now twitching body, he heard a stiffening hissing sound. Afterwards, he felt a long viscous entity slithering effortlessly around his right leg; this sensation was followed by many more similar “sensations” however slightly less perceptible.
Just as the latter was making its way to the unfortunate soul’s ear canal and mouth, a bright light appear followed by a roaring laugh that vaguely shook the cave’s walls. In front of, the now convulsing, Hubrisius stood Zeus. With a booming voice he said: “May this be a reminder that none can ever be comparable to my eminence. I am the almighty and may this instil some sense in whoever wishes in the future to emulate me”. As he said this, Hubrisius look down to find thousands of tiny creatures with hairy limbs, viscous masses sluggishly crawling his body and a giant rope-like creature clasping onto his right leg.
The traumatic sight made the god quiver in horror as he let out a shriek. With a malevolent sneer spread across his features, Zeus said: “Your impudence and blasphemous ways have spawned those creations that I conceived called invertebrates. From the soil they were created and possess no skeleton. They are to devour you until you are but the size of only one of them, the maggot. Hence, you will feel shame by being reduced to a negligible form for all eternity by insignificant boneless critters.”
It took five tedious days for Hubrisius to be degraded to the size of a maggot by a terrifyingly elongated ribbon worm followed by snails, leeches, arachnids, flies, scorpions, beetles and many more invertebrates that filled the deceptive cave. Following the god’s torture, Hermes visited the earth and eradicated all indication of Hubrisius existence in Athens such as the temples that were built to worship the god of pride and vanity and the written forms of his doctrine. Furthermore, the messenger to the gods informed the humans of Hubrisius’ fate and Zeus’ wrath.
The ruler of the gods let the newly created animals roam the earth as a reminder of his power. Zeus had given the creatures the task to remind the humans that he has the power to reduce all of them to what he chooses. Upon hearing of Hubrisius’ gruesome new condition, those creatures instilled fear in whoever crossed their way. That primitive fear is still present in some humans today.
Also, by using the word "fate", it makes it clear that the end of the story will result in Hubrisius' death.]