The Song of the Vanquished
A Tale of the Titans. The Beginning. Harken, mortal, to a whisper older than the first stone of your temple. Set aside the songs woven by golden-tongued aeds in praise of the Thunderer, for their lyres are tuned by fear, and their strings are washed in the blood of the vanquished. They sing to you of the Titans—monsters from the abyss, a brute force justly cast down by the radiant order of the Olympians. But that is a lie. As elegant as the pattern on an amphora , and just as lifeless. I shall tell you the truth. The truth of how Wisdom was named Tyranny, and Duty, a Crime. I will tell you of the Generation of Creators, whose only sin was the desire to protect the world from themselves. In the beginning, there was only the Great Tremor . Ouranos the Sky , the first father, was like a mad artist who knew no measure. He seeded Gaia the Earth without cease, and her womb groaned, giving birth to creatures as mighty as they were meaningless. The Cyclopes , whose lone eyes saw only ...