
Deep in the damp caverns below the great Mount Olympus, I was born as an immediate disappointment. My parents, Ceto and Phorcys, were responsible for keeping the sea full of dangerous creatures and I was not dangerous. On the contrary, I was a weak mortal that had to be cared for. My mother looked me over, my lack of wings, fangs, claws, tail … I was not even close to terrifying. She saw that I was nothing but a human child and left me to the care of my sisters, the gorgons, Stheno and Euryale. I did not see her again for thirteen years, a long time for me, but not even a moment to my primordial mother.
My sisters decided to keep me alive for a while, but they were not care takers. They needed a nanny, and so they thought it was funny to capture a nanny goat to take care of me. I lived in the cave with my nanny goat until my sisters became bored with me and decided I should go to the world of mortals. They thought to keep me close to the sea, in case I became monstrous and interesting. At first, they were going to give me to a fisherman and his wife, but he died suddenly, and they decided that a mortal couple was not a good idea. They chose to leave me in the care of those that were trained to care for the gods. They left me in the Temple of Athena in Syracuse to be raised by the priestesses that tended the goddess who would become the focal point for the rest of my life.
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