The Appeasing of the Gods

It was the peak of civilization. There were palaces, temples, libraries, and shops selling everything one could imagine. Greece was a mighty empire indeed. Despite their great power, the Greeks were very superstitious people. They prayed to their gods and sacrificed their best bulls to them every year to gain their blessing. Once, young Sier asked why they had to give their bulls every year to the gods when they could sacrifice the inferior ones. Hearing this his grandfather quickly shushed him lest someone heard him.

"Be quiet, if anyone hears you say that the king will have your head" said his grandfather."But why, why must we give away our precious bulls every year when they could be used for other things" inquired Sier . "come to my room today night and I will tell you but for god's sake don't go around asking people that".

That evening Sier went to his grandfather to hear what he had to say. As Sier walked in the first thing his grandfather asked him was, “You didn't tell anyone did you?"."No, no.

Now can you tell me why every year we give our bulls to the gods “replied Sier."It is an old tale from when we first conquered the Egyptians......

Everyone was celebrating and partying. The celebration was in the air. The mighty Egyptian empire had finally been brought down. But when you take face an empire you must also face its gods and the gods of Egypt were no friendly lot. And after the downfall of their devotees, the gods were not happy.

Their unhappiness was displayed in a series of misfortunes to the Greeks. First all their crops failed leaving them with only their stored food left. Then a swarm of locusts attacked their stored grains leaving them with nothing to eat. All their cattle died of a mysterious illness leaving the Greeks with no means of nourishment. The waters of their rivers became poisoned and the people soon started dying. In this time of need people started praying to the gods to help them.

The gods agreed to do so but only if they received 50 of the finest cattle.

This was indeed unfortunate for us Greeks as we had no cattle to give but the gods were firm in their demands. Then the Greeks said that they would sacrifice their best bulls every year if the gods helped them. The gods agreed to this and quickly routed the Egyptians. After that the people stayed true to their word and sacrificed their bulls. Then two years later one man said that he would not sacrifice his precious bulls and that the gods had stolen enough of his bulls. This angered the gods so much that they destroyed half the population of Greece. From then on the Greeks always sacrificed their bulls lest the gods unleash the wrath. Even today we continue this practice so that our empire is always protected but the day one refuses to give his bulls the end of Greece will come.”