The Classic Introduction:

When Zeus looked down from Mount Olympus to see the most beautiful young man he had ever laid eyes on, he was inflamed with passion for the youth. The god investigated further and learned that it was Ganymede, the youngest son of King Tros of Troy and the most gorgeous youth alive in his day.

Some stories say that Zeus took the form of a great eagle and abducted Ganymede from Troy to take him to Olympus, while others say that Zeus merely sent a great eagle to fetch the youth. Once at Olympus, Zeus made Ganymede his lover and cupbearer to the gods.

King Tros lamented the loss of his youngest son till Zeus told the man of the great honor his son had received. The god gave the king a gift of two immortal horses, which would be passed down to great heroes and later come under the possession of the great Achilles. After this visit from the ruler of the gods Tros no longer wept, but rejoiced for his son and for his remarkable gift.

Hera, Zeus' wife, the goddess with the pale white arms, gnashed her teeth at Ganymede's new position as cupbearer, as he had deposed Hebe, the radiant goddess of youth and daughter to Hera and Zeus. Hera's disapproval remained so strong that Zeus turned Ganymede into the constellation Aquarius, to be watched over thereafter by Zeus' grandfather, Ouranos.

Thus Zeus gave Ganymede - whose name means "happy genitals" - a permanent place in both the heavens and the legends of the Greeks. In Roman legend, he was known under the Latin name of Catamitus, from which we get "catamite."

And so, our story begins.

- -

The Story:

Ganymede finished his morning swim in the Scamander River and climbed out to sit on the grassy bank, completely naked except for a silver torque around his neck. He was exceedingly beautiful and well-proportioned, from the delicately long-boned toes to the graceful long legs and torso. His body had the sleek musculature of an active adolescent; the silver of the torque around his slim neck perfectly offset the creamy tan of his complexion. His hair, slightly wavy, was an odd color: black at the roots but quickly lightening to a straw color at the tips. This occurred because Ganymede's hair easily faded in sunlight; the boy had been swimming in the summer sun every morning now for two months. His gull-wing eyebrows and long lashes were a slightly faded black; large grey eyes hit by the early morning sun shone silver in a narrow face. His longish nose, slightly turned up, was so finely sculpted that it gave him an expression of hauteur which the long eyelashes contradicted. High cheekbones, with the potential to come to life with the slightest grin, and well-shaped lips completed the picture.

Ganymede sat on the bank, about to put his discarded clothes on, when he heard his father, King Tros of Troy, call to him from a distance:

"Son, your tutor has taken ill; you do not have any studies today. You may swim longer if you wish, but do not forget to break your fast with our guests from Crete at noon."

Turning his head toward the general area where his father was standing, Ganymede shouted back a diffident "yes Father" in the smooth, light tenor which had been an unstable alto last summer.

Ganymede managed to maintain a stoic expression till his father had disappeared from view. So, Caphis had taken sick? Ganymede knew his tutor's constitution well enough to know that Caphis' illness would ensure him at least six more free mornings.

Ganymede dropped the tunic he had been gripping and stood to jump back into the river when he heard a shrill cry permeate the air close to him. He felt a substantial compressing of the air behind him and turned his head around just in time to see the silhouette of a gargantuan eagle whose scaly talons gripped him by the shoulders and carried him off into the sky.

The bird ascended so rapidly that Ganymede felt as if the earth had dropped under him; his ears were making an odd popping sound which he surmised was caused by the fast pressure change. Looking down, he could tell that no one had noticed his abrupt departure, and he sardonically decided that trying to attract their attention by screaming in fright would be futile. In any event the people he could see were already fast becoming no bigger than specks which meant that he would be even less visible to them up in the sky. He looked up at the bird but from his vantage point only the eagle's light brown underside and part of the yellow beak were visible.

After getting over his initial fear that the behemoth might drop him, Ganymede was actually beginning to enjoy his view of Phrygia and the Hellespont. He shivered continually though, as breezes buffeted his still-damp, naked body. Also, his shoulders started to ache from the eagle's iron grip and, more than a bit scared, the boy severely wished that he knew in advance where he was being taken.

Abruptly, the bird spoke, its androgynous voice infused with pity/amusement: "I'm going to teleport us directly into Zeus' throne room." The amusement dominated the beast's tone as it continued, saying, "He's the reason you're going to Olympus. Now," and the bird was all business, "when we teleport, you will experience a brief period of complete sensory deprivation, and then we will be in the throne room. Don't be frightened at the abrupt scene change."

Ganymede was too scared, too disoriented, and too busy absorbing this news to do more than gulp and nod acknowledgement.

Suddenly, Ganymede felt as if he had been plunged into a dark nothingness: he could not even feel his heart which, by way of instinct, he knew was beating fast. A split second later he saw surrounding him the throne room of the twelve high gods and he let out an involuntary yip.

The bird set its prey down about two meters in front of the largest of the twelve empty thrones in the room and teleported itself away; Ganymede only caught a glimpse of a dark-feathered back and tail. Still shivering, the boy barely had time to admire the huge throne the bird had set him in front of, made of fine black marble, trimmed with gold inlay, and partially covered with a purple ramskin, when he heard himself addressed in a deep baritone:

"Ah, so you've arrived." A someone who had to be Zeus materialized between Ganymede and the black marble throne and the youth's jaw dropped as he stared, not in awe at the god's unearthly entrance but with desire for his beautiful form.

The king of the gods truly was heavenly, Ganymede thought. While the fourteen-year-old Ganymede was already taller than most full-grown men, the god still topped him by a full head. The god's black hair, shorter than Ganymede's but cut in a similarly boyish style, was slightly wavy; a few lock of hair escaped the slim, simple gold circlet he wore. Smooth eyebrows, heavy and uncurvingly straight, abundant eyelashes, and the slightest and most beautiful of crow's feet framed wide blue eyes: not the pale, flashy blue of the Saxons but the deep, sensual blue more common to the Hibernians. His perfect, classical features had a Hibernian/Gallic cast to them, from the strong nose which made his profile perfect, to the thin, but well-curved lips and the strong, slightly clefted chin. The god was unexpectedly clean-shaven; Ganymede had always imagined Zeus as having a beard. A golden torque encircled the graceful, strong neck; the right ankle sported a band, also gold. The god's lean/hard body was concealed in a dark blue, short-sleeved tunic, whose color accentuated the god's eyes and complemented his swarthy/tanned complexion. Zeus had his hands on his perfectly sculpted hips, displaying his beautifully, but not heavily, muscled arms as well as strong hands and fingers. The tunic, trimmed with gold thread, ended at the knees, showing off the god's well-shaped, lightly haired legs; Athene had woven the garment out of cloudfleece, a material lighter and more luminescent than silk, but warm as wool. A gold brooch at each shoulder and a gold belt kept the tunic in place; nondescript sandals were bound on his feet.

Zeus, in turn, appraised Ganymede. He shivered as he noticed how well the youth's odd hair coloring, silver eyes, and silver torque complemented his tanned skin; due to excessive swimming and genetic drift the boy's body was hairlessly smooth except of course for a graceful sprouting under the arms and over the organs of Life (Zeus told himself not to stare there). The narrow face, the strong collarbones: everything was perfect - the boy was a graceful stag.

After giving himself an admonitory mental slap, Zeus deliberately cocked his head in a conspiratorial/mock-haughty fashion, causing the boy to stare at his gorgeous profile as he spoke: "I hope you won't miss your family too much as you'll be living with me from now on. I, Zeus, brought you here to grant you immortality and eternal youth so that you could serve as my cupbearer here on Olympus. Surely you'll agree that it's an honor." The god fixed the boy under his pleading/challenging/sensual blue gaze.

Ganymede, who had already forgotten such minor details like the chilly air and like remembering to try to somehow get word to his parents that he had been abducted and taken to Mount Olympus, barely heard the god's speech - he just kept staring at the god's strong hands, still resting on those hips. He could not help but imagine those hands on his body and he began to blush furiously, sorely wishing for a loincloth as he realized his lower body was "physically reacting" to his thoughts.

Zeus noticed the phenomenon with interest and telepathically touched the boy's mind, raising an eyebrow in an appreciative/kindly gesture. "Well, at least I know the feeling's mutual. But my dear sweet boy, I don't think a loincloth will conceal much at this point."

Ganymede would have died of embarrassment had he not just then come to his senses and realized the significance of Zeus' various words. Cupbearer to Zeus? The feeling was mutual? Then he was to be more than just cupbearer...

Sensing the god's eyes on his body, Ganymede's blush deepened as he finally put all the pieces together.

Recovering his composure partially, Ganymede bowed low to the god and smiled coyly, loading sensuality into his words with surprising ease for one who had no practice: "I am honored to be at your beck and call, my lord; please excuse my initial bewilderment, as I was a bit frightened and disoriented by the hasty escort service." Dazzled by the boy's charm, the bemused god blinked and smiled back. "I do ask, however, that you tell my parents, the King and Queen of Troy, of my change in status."

"That has already been done. I gave your father a compensatory gift of two immortal horses, and he said he was honored and that he rejoiced to hear that you would gain immortality..." The god trailed off as he noticed how Ganymede was looking at him.

The boy, breathing harshly with silver eyes darkened to a deep grey, not caring as to how his physical reaction to the god was showing, steadily moved closer to Zeus with a sensual, almost savage expression on his face. The god backed up in surprise (albeit triumphant surprise) until he stumbled backwards onto the violet ramskin covering his throne.

Standing in front of the god, Ganymede grasped Zeus' hands, pulled him back up so that their chests touched, placed the god's hands on his hips, and put his arms around Zeus' warm, hard neck. This was a first for Ganymede, but he had always imagined embracing a gorgeous man. It felt GOOD.

Ganymede sexily burrowed into Zeus' body. "My duties as cupbearer don't really start until this evening; you gods do have a banquet every evening, don't you?" Zeus gulped and nodded at his abductee's devilish grin. "Then we have the rest of the morning and the entire afternoon to do what you really brought me here for."

Zeus blushed: Ganymede's words and actions had triggered a physical reaction of his own; the boy was grinning as his leg felt the evidence. The god forgot to breathe as he noticed how the boy's smile brought out those beautiful cheekbones.

Keeping his hands on Ganymede's waist, Zeus teleported them both into his bedroom (Ganymede did not cry out in fear at the odd method of transport this time), a solid gold affair dominated by a lavish purple couch. Reluctantly pulling away from the boy's arms, Zeus quickly undid his belt and pulled out the two brooches, letting the tunic fall to the floor, so that now both of them were naked excepting their jewelry.

Ganymede nearly gasped at the beauty underneath the tunic. The god had a lean, smooth body that was beautifully well-defined and well-muscled, definitely not the heavily, almost grotesquely, muscled bodies of some men. The god was the epitome of sexy/nubile/perfect.

Zeus quickly returned to Ganymede's embrace and the two eagerly fell onto the couch.

- -

After a whole morning, afternoon, and evening of lovemaking, the pair finally emerged from the god's bedchamber - feeling very spent and limber from their exertions - in order to attend the night's banquet. Using a straight, smooth lightning bolt which glowed an electric blue and matched his height as a walking-stick/scepter, Zeus was dressed in the same outfit he had worn to greet Ganymede; he had given the youth a tunic identical to his own, only it was iridescent white in color and decorated with silver, not gold, thread. Ganymede had also been given a diadem, belt, and ankle band, all silver and all identical to Zeus' gold accoutrements; the boy kept his own torque. Unlike the god, however, the youth went barefoot. The result was an almost complete match that would have been half-ridiculous had both men not complemented each other so well: Ganymede, light but tanned; Zeus, swarthyish and tanned.

Sliding an arm around Ganymede's waist, Zeus led the boy to the throne room. When they reached the opened entrance, the god shouted out, "If you would just stop the feasting for one minute."

Embarrassed at the sudden silence caused more by his presence than Zeus' order, Ganymede ducked his head down shyly and stared at the gold seam which separated the malachite floor of the entranceway and the onyx tiles of the throne room, but not before catching a glimpse of a god's red blond hair, and some goddess' light green robe.

Zeus, seemingly oblivious to the newly-born tension in the hall, said, "I have appointed a new cupbearer for our banquets: this is Ganymede, youngest prince in the House of Troy." A murmur started and grew as Zeus continued, "Hebe my daughter, I'm sorry, but you shall have to step down from your duties unless you wish to serve as Ganymede's assistant in some way."

Still staring at the gold seam in the floor, Ganymede heard a lilting soprano voice cry, "But, Father..."

"Hebe, I'm sorry, my decision is final."

Ganymede heard rushing footsteps and looked up in time to see the goddess of youth throw herself at her father's feet, grasp his knees, and lift up an anxious face.

Ganymede stared: Hebe truly was the goddess of youth. Why, she looked just like a thirteen-year-old Saxon virgin, from her fine, straight hair the color of white gold, flowing unbound to her waist and parted in the middle; to the pale blue eyes; the small, full pink lips; and the pale skin tinged with coral. Her beautiful, spring-flower thin body was clothed in a bright yellow robe.

The distraught girl begged, "Father, do not take this honor away from me; without it I am merely the goddess of youth and no more." Ganymede stared in wonder: merely the goddess of youth? "How can you allow a mortal to handle the pouring of nectar and serving of ambrosia?"

"He is a mortal no longer since this afternoon; can't you see his glow?"

Ganymede could not help but grin in remembrance as Hebe, still clutching her father's knees, stared at the youth. While lying together on Zeus' couch during a "short break," the god had momentarily stopped feeding Ganymede from the plate of delectable sweets and gently touched his finger to the young prince's forehead at the place in between his eyebrows, whereupon he told the boy that he had just made him immortal. Ganymede could not believe that the transformation took only a slight touch but he had felt a new, unbelievably wonderful new vigor coursing through his veins, and when he stared into Zeus' mirror he saw himself emitting, albeit very faintly, a silver glow. That accounted for the gods' silence: they had seen what Hebe had not and knew that he had been made immortal.

Silently Ganymede felt deep pity for Hebe as she began to sob and would readily have given up the cupbearing rights that had never been his till that day if, earlier in his bedroom, Zeus had not insisted on Ganymede being cupbearer and on having Ganymede's constant presence in the throne room during banquets - not that Ganymede minded.

Zeus asked, "Would it console you if I told you that you are to be the bride of Heracles once he becomes a god?"

While privately Ganymede thought the honor was a nebulous one, Zeus' offer seemed to do the trick. Hebe rose, wiping her tears in wide-eyed astonishment, and when Zeus nodded she managed to flash a wan/happy smile. She turned to Ganymede and kindly patted the top of his head: an oddly motherly gesture for such a youthful person to make use of.

"Ganymede," she said, "you are now my friend and cupbearer; I shall not be your assistant as your job is an easy if honorable duty. It will actually be nice to be waited on for once. Come, I'll explain your cupbearing duties."

Zeus spoke as Hebe began to lead the boy to two huge bowls sitting on one end of the rectangular, solid silver table which had been brought in for the banquet; the twelve thrones surrounded it: "I shall take care of Ganymede, Hebe; you just take your place in a chair next to Hestia by the hearth; I shall ask Hephaestus to build you a suitable throne at the hearth next to Hestia's."

Hebe, respectfully silent, smiled-and-nodded, turned to the hearth and began to walk towards Hestia who, having heard everything, pulled up a delicate bronze chair. Suddenly the silence that had prevailed disappeared into the noise of a normal banquet.

Zeus led Ganymede away from the entrance where they had been standing and to the two sizable cauldrons sitting on the end of the table; the handle of a gold ladle sticking out of each bowl became visible. "The copper bowl holds nectar; the bronze holds ambrosia. If anyone wants more of either, they will call you and you will go and serve them. These bowls are mind-linking: they follow you around at your will so that you do not have to manually lug them about to each person needing to be served. Now, try wishing for the bowls to be lifted from the table, oh, about five centimeters."

Although he thought the command was odd, Ganymede thought hard and then stared in astonishment as the two bowls levitated a handspan above the table. In his shock he stopped thinking about the bowls and they dropped with a clunk back to the table.

Zeus nodded with understanding. "Keep your mind-touch with the bowls or they could drop like that, only farther, and perhaps spill. Now, I shall be sitting at the head of the table on my throne and after a time I shall call to you for you to take a break and eat at my side. No one will dare to ask you to serve them while you are with me." Zeus grinned rakishly and walked up the table toward the other end where his throne was placed.

Ganymede's mind was still slightly reeling from all this information when he heard a sexy alto voice penetrate the background noise:

"Excuse me, Ganymede."

The youth turned to see a gorgeous woman with wavy sea-green hair reclining on a silver throne beckon to him. Carefully using his mind to make the bowls follow behind him, Ganymede approached the goddess and realized that she had to be Aphrodite. Shades! She was beautiful all over, from her startling sapphire eyes; to her soft pink lips; and her knee-length aqua hair, which absent-mindedly veiled her nude, swan-like body, smooth and white as a dove's breast.

Languidly, the goddess held up her gold cup by both handles. Feeling extremely awkward, Ganymede ladled in two measures of nectar to fill the cup and was turning to leave when he heard the goddess make a noise in her throat as she set down her cup.

Aphrodite, looking the boy over, used that noise as an entrance to what she began to say as Ganymede turned back towards her: "Well, at least Zeus has good taste even if he could have been more considerate to Hebe. I'm Aphrodite, in case you haven't already guessed," the goddess said, running her hands seductively down her curved sides. "Too bad you're not into the fairer sex," she said, batting her dark, emerald green eyelashes, "but oh well, I don't mind: it's lust no matter how you slice it."

Ganymede grinned conspiratorially, turning on his usual playfulness as his awkwardness began to disappear. "And how do you slice it, m'dear? I saw how you looked at Hebe."

Aphrodite laughed a clear laugh as she continued the banter. "I most certainly do not slice it that way. Just cause you do you think everyone else does, huh?" Her teasing tone was one of mock offense.

Ganymede chuckled as he turned to respond to a light baritone call. Aphrodite had gone out of her way to make him feel comfortable and welcome, and his spirits had lifted considerably since entering the throne room and confronting the banqueting gods.

Ganymede stopped in front of his second caller, a god sitting on a throne of red gold, who wordlessly held out his dish. Feeling the god's hot, interested stare, the boy flushed as he had not done during Aphrodite's flirting and he quickly looked away as he took the heavy red gold plate and ladled the ambrosia onto it.

As Ganymede handed the plate back he made real eye contact with the immortal and got a good look at the person who had to be the god of the sun. Apollo's face was just a more delicate version of his father Zeus' face. His eyes were the same blue color, while his locks of hair and arching eyebrows were red gold. His complexion was not the swarthy tan of his father but rather a snow white flushed with pink. The sun god also had fuller lips and a softer, deeper-chested body than Zeus but other than that and their differing coloration, father and son were very similar. The barefoot god was dressed in a white loincloth of cloudfleece belted with a red gold band; red gold bands encircled his wrists and a circlet of red gold nestled in his similarly colored hair. His bare arms and legs were well-fleshed and well-muscled: he was a soft pink fire, with flashes of ruddy energy.

Apollo, raising his eyebrows and placing a warm hand around Ganymede's wrist, asked in a half-joking tone, "Is my father monopolizing you after the banquet or are you free to see the sun god?"

Ganymede flushed. While he had acted boldly towards the king of the gods this morning when they were in the throne room alone, he did not know what to say to this fiery-colored, younger and softer version of Zeus in the company of other divinities.

The two stared at each other until they were distracted by someone at the head of the table clearing his throat. Apollo and the boy looked up at Zeus to see the god trying to hide a silly grin under an annoyed expression.

Apollo's baritone voice whined; he was still only half-jesting. "Aw, come on, Dad. You were with him all day."

The wide smile broke through the admonishing countenance and Zeus, rising from his throne and jokingly/meaningfully fingering the thunderbolt he was still holding, answered back in a baritone deeper than Apollo's but of the same timbre:

"He's mine, got that?"

Ganymede watched as the two gods, at a distance from each other, began a staring contest: Apollo, sitting and grinning in challenge; Zeus, standing and lifting his eyebrows in query. The Trojan prince knew that the questioning expression Zeus was directing to Apollo was due to the fact that the god truly wasn't sure if his son really wanted Ganymede. During one of their intermissions in the god's bedroom - while Zeus and Ganymede were a bit belatedly getting to know more about each other on the mental level as they cutely fed each other - the god had told the boy that he had telepathic abilities but the ethics of privacy prevented him from reading minds except in extreme situations, or unless he was given explicit permission; the reason why he had read Ganymede's mind earlier in the throne room was because the boy's thoughts had been so focused on Zeus, so uninhibited, and so strong that the god could not help but pick up the resultant mental broadcast.

Thus Zeus was not about to read Apollo's mind to find out his true feelings concerning Ganymede.

As Ganymede relievedly turned away from the attention to answer the beckon of a goddess with corn-silk hair wearing a light green robe and sitting on a malachite throne, he could hear Apollo's jest: "I'll fight you for him." As Apollo had spoken this last sentence in a humorously stereotypical idiot's voice, a smattering of laughter followed his claim, and, as the last of his nervousness dropped away, Ganymede chuckled and easily began to fit into the routine of serving and constant badinage for the rest of the banquet. Nonchalantly using his mind to control the two bowls, he served the green-clad goddess who turned out to be Demeter, and the rest of the gods, except for the absent Hera, who, according to Apollo, almost never showed up to these nightly banquets.

After a time Zeus called Ganymede over. "You can stop now and eat with me; bring the bowls."

Ganymede was not hungry. All the goddesses, even Hebe, even the three eternally virgin goddesses: Athene, Artemis, and Hestia, and all the gods except for Ares had been flirting with him, stuffing his mouth with nectar and ambrosia from their own cups and plates.

Nonetheless Ganymede walked over to Zeus with the bowls and was about to turn to ladle out some nectar when the god leaned out of his throne and kissed him full on the mouth.

Recent memories flooded back as Ganymede, initially surprised, returned the kiss and deepened it. He barely heard the approving whistles from the audience, the derisive hoots of Ares; he ignored the fact that the hovering bowls had, miraculously without spilling, plummeted down a full meter to the floor; he saw lightning under his closed eyelids.

The kiss would have continued had not an alto shout of shock/rage startled everyone in the throne room, causing Zeus and Ganymede to pull away in surprise. Zeus, still sitting, turned his head up to look at the source of the noise and Ganymede followed his gaze till his eyes came to rest upon the astoundingly beautiful queen of the gods.

Hera's wavy black hair, possessing an odd purplish sheen, streamed down to her waist completely unbound except for a gold diadem set with a vivid amethyst. Her curved, thin eyebrows were contorted in rage and her wide, angry eyes flashed a purple that exactly matched her stately robes and her diadem's amethyst. An aquiline, fine retrousse nose hovered over full, sensuous lips at the moment contorted in anger. Her fine neck sported a gold chain while her robes were bound by a gold girdle. Her white, finely boned forearms and hands extended from the sleeves of her robes.

The goddess strode up to Zeus' throne and broke the silence with harsh words punctuated by contemptuous gestures. "Ah, so you replace my daughter, our daughter, with a ridiculously puny mortal urchin as our cupbearer because he satisfies your itch for the time being. It's one thing to torment me with your escapades with mortal women, but to hurt myself and our daughter like this with a mortal boy!" Hebe rose from her chair at the hearth to speak but Hera kept going, oblivious. "Let me tell you something, I know that rat's a prince of Troy but I don't care: you keep him as cupbearer and I shall blast your manhood so bad that you'll be impotent for all eternity. See how much appeal you will have in the boy's eyes then!"

Hebe ran up to the throne and grasped Hera's hand. "Mother, please, it was my decision. Besides, I am to be Heracles' bride when he becomes a god! I relinquished one honor for another, Mother; please don't argue."

Hera's rage grew unchecked as she heard the news. "Why should you need to give up one honor to get another? And Heracles is your father's bastard by some mortal princess; he will never become a god for as long as I am able to prevent it. No daughter, you must be reinstated as divine cupbearer or I shall rebel against your miserable wretch of a father; he should have been a mortal himself."

Zeus rose up from his throne, and, deliberately feigning indifference, he tested the heft of his thunderbolt in one hand. "Be careful of what you say, Hera. You heard Hebe: she resigned with honor and has not any problems with her change in status. Beware lest you do not follow her example and acquiesce."

Ganymede, having unobtrusively backed away a few meters, continued to listen.

Hebe, urgent: "Mother, listen to Father; I chose to resign!"

Hera: "Keep quiet, girl; I'm trying to win you back your post!"

Hebe, frantic: "But I don't want it..."

Zeus, annoyed/angered: "You see, she accepts it. Now stop! This is foolish..."

Hera: "You are the fool, Zeus, I never knew you'd stoop as low as to allow a mortal into Olympus..."

Zeus: "He's not a mortal any longer; you obviously did not bother to observe that during your vituperative outburst. I gave him immortality this afternoon."

Hebe, coaxing: "You see, the boy's perfectly worthy..."

Hera: "Then you are an even greater fool for granting immortality to such an excrescence."

Zeus finally let his anger show at this continued criticism of Ganymede, and taking a step towards Hera he evilly whispered, "Shut your damn trap or you'll get a thunderbolt shoved down it."

Hera screeched with rage/frustration and raised her arms to the sky; her hands flared with destructive, magical purple fires.

The goddess flung a large ball of violet flame toward Zeus, who quickly absorbed the magic fire into his thunderbolt and teleported out of the room. Hera followed in the same fashion, clutching purple flames in her hands; Hebe, astonished, ran out of the room weeping.

The ensuing silence soon disappeared as the banquet continued, if with a more reserved air.

Ganymede was standing in the same spot he had backed away to, staring at the empty throne of Zeus, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Apollo wearing a sad smile and harboring an anticipatory look in his eyes.

The god comfortingly laid an arm around the boy and said, "Listen, they're going to fight for quite some time but no one will get hurt." Ganymede nodded automatically and Apollo continued more briskly. "Well, the eating part of the banquet's pretty much over now that those three have left," and Apollo used his mind to float the two bowls and used plates through a small door to an adjoining kitchen. "Hestia will wash those. So," and Apollo's anticipatory look came back, "now that your work's done for tonight, how about taking me up on my offer?"

Ganymede, wanting to forget the fact that he was the cause of all the fuss, looked into the god's eyes, so like Zeus' own. He suddenly felt a wave of light-headedness and then accepted.

- -

The full moon poured its light through the round skylight of the divine kitchen, where the many torchlights mounted on the walls kept the incoming moonlight from being that visible, and where Ganymede, dressed in his white tunic and silver jewelry, was preparing ambrosia and nectar for the gods' breakfast the next morning. He had been sleeping, or, more accurately, otherwise engaged, in Apollo's bedroom for the past three days and nights. He wanted to remain faithful to Zeus, but something the sun god was doing was making him lightheaded and he was unable to refuse whenever the god made his advances. He had sadly resigned himself to the fact that Apollo would be using him, and he tried to enjoy it. It was a god he was sleeping with, after all. Even if it wasn't his Zeus, he thought that he should feel honored, but he didn't.

Ganymede had not seen Hebe, Hera, or Zeus since the first banquet, even though as cupbearer he had seen all the other gods during the subsequent banquets; he fervently hoped that Zeus would show at the banquet tomorrow, and he was at the moment burying himself in his work to take his mind off of the whole situation.

Ganymede was beginning to resent Zeus' absence: yes, Apollo was good, but he was Zeus' and Zeus was his. He had felt a sense of complete bonding and love with Zeus that first day; how could Zeus leave him alone like this, with no contact whatsoever, for three days? How could he stay away and let his son Apollo do this to his lover? Ganymede hated himself at certain times during his contemplations: for thinking that a god could ever love him. He, an ordinary mortal.

Head down and back bent over his current task, Ganymede was sitting cross-legged on the floor directly under the skylight, mixing a little bit of wine into next morning's nectar in the large gold mixing bowl before him, when he felt a presence in front of him. He was about to look up to acknowledge the presence when it spoke.

"Ganymede." It was Zeus.

Without raising his head an iota, the boy trembled and spit out a curt "what?" even as his own acerbity surprised him.

"Ganymede, look at me."

The boy rewarded the god with a faster stirring of wine and nectar.

"Look, I'm really sorry and I'm upset myself, but Hera says I have to expel you from Olympus."

Ganymede suppressed a surge of anger. While he could understand the god's predicament as the other gods had told him various stories about Hera, he still resented the notion that Zeus would even consider letting him go. And for Zeus to announce it so abruptly, so nonchalantly, after he had abandoned him at the banquet, after that glorious first day.

After a while, Ganymede spoke, furious when he saw a tear drip into the mixing bowl: "And you do everything Hera says?"

"I don't, but she says that she will make my life completely miserable, and believe me, she can! She once almost deposed me as ruler and got both Poseidon and Apollo to back her! Besides, you wouldn't be happy either even if I succeeded in making her let you stay: you'd face her resentment and wrath literally for all time. And Hebe, deep down in her heart, really wants to stay cupbearer; she's too sweet a girl to tell me herself."

Ganymede, mixing, kept his head down, but he could not help noticing Zeus" sculpted calves and strong, sandal-bound feet.

Ganymede, voice shaking: "Then why? Why did you bring me here? You knew that this might have happened. You let... you let Apollo do this to me. It was no use for you to have brought me here; we never should have met."

Zeus, stern, squatting on his haunches in front of Ganymede and the mixing bowl: "Ganymede, look at me and tell me you wished us never to have met, cause I for one can't say the same." When Ganymede did not respond to him in any visible fashion, Zeus added in a husky, shaky tone: "Don't think that I want to let you leave me, or that I'm not sorry for what I've done. By Chaos, when I heard what Apollo had been doing to you..." The god broke off, choking on the rising tears.

Losing all resentment and anger, Ganymede stopped stirring and looked up, looking through tears-filled eyes at his lover. The god's deep blue eyes had turned dull with unhappiness and stress, and they were bright with sad moisture; the diadem in his hair was not placed properly and his blue tunic looked slept in; his beautiful face was haggard and in need of a shave.

Slightly in shock at the god's appearance, Ganymede dried his tears swiftly and asked, "Can I be Hebe's assistant, at least? Some sort of helper?" Ganymede's tone became sarcastic/desperate as he realized the inutility of his suggestions. "A kitchen drudge? Menial worker?"

The pitifulness of Ganymede's query caused Zeus' filled eyes to overflow and the liquid silently ran down Zeus' cheeks as he responded ironically: "Hera says that if you can function as cupbearer without any assistance, then so can Hebe. As for having a different job in the palace, Hera told me that she wants you as far away from me as possible."

His own eyes beginning to refill in reaction to Zeus' tears, Ganymede said, "Well, you aren't going to send a fellow immortal away from Olympus when he has done no wrong, are you? I... I'd rather die, which is not an option for me anymore."

Zeus sadly/tiredly laughed at the absurdity of his next words: "I was thinking of turning you into a constellation, as Hera has forced me to do whenever she disapproved of anyone I knew, but you basically become dead, inanimate stars and it's an irreversible process... trust me, I've tried!"

Ganymede thought for an eternity, staring at the hazelwood mixing stick he had let fall into the wine and nectar when he had stopped stirring.

Quickly, before he could change his mind, the boy blurted out, "Make it so."

Zeus, astonished: "What?"

"I'll become a constellation."

"Are you sure?"

Ganymede, with a wan smile, attempting at humor: "It's the only way for you to keep Hera in control, isn't it? Who wouldn't want to be up in the sky all night to be admired by people and to guide sailors?" Ganymede could tell that Zeus doubted his willingness to become a constellation, so he added, "I know you told me about privacy and all that, but why don't you read my mind so you can know my thoughts."

Zeus hesitantly probed Ganymede's mind (Ganymede could not feel a thing) and sensed the boy's fortitude, maturity, resignation, and fear. He was surprised, awed, and profoundly touched by the intensity of the love and selfless devotion which he found in Ganymede's mind, love and devotion directed to none other than Zeus. The god realized that Ganymede's wish to help Zeus was one of pure love alone, and that the boy was immensely scared of what would happen even though his mind was already dead-set on making this incredible sacrifice. Getting more depressed than ever at the thought of losing such a wonderful boy, the god gave his lover a urgent, possessively tight hug which Ganymede returned with equal strength.

After a long while Ganymede broke the embrace, smiling sadly.

"Now is a good time."

Zeus, again shocked: "Now? You want to go now?"

Ganymede nodded, expressionless.

Zeus' own voice began to tremble: "But I thought you'd want to... you know... before you left."

Fingering his torque, quirking his eyebrows, and contorting his lips into a thoughtful look, Ganymede replied, "I do... but then I wouldn't ever want to leave you."

Zeus, admiring of Ganymede's courage, flattered by his honest admission, and a bit embarrassed as well by his memories of that "strenuous" first day, smiled an affectionate and sad smile that Ganymede returned. Both men tried bravely to hide their disappointment at the inevitable.

Standing up from his crouch, the god assisted Ganymede to his feet, and, taking a deep breath and snaking his arms around the boy's waist, Zeus tightened his jaw muscles in order to control his urge to take the boy right there and instead levitated them out through the skylight and onto the flat palace roof. Ganymede quietly burrowed into Zeus and laid his head on the god's chest as they floated upward, causing the god to close his eyes in enjoyment of the moment.

Normally at such a vantage point one could see all the way to Caledonia in one direction and to Asia Minor in another, but a carpet of billowy clouds stretching to all horizons and shining silver in the moonlight hid everything from sight except for the very top of Olympus, at the summit of which the palace was situated.

For a long while neither spoke as they stood looking out into the vast space and the endless cloud carpet, each immortal obviously not wanting the brief interlude to end. Then, as if on cue, they turned to face each other on the smooth surface of the palace roof.

Under the endless black velvet jeweled canopy of Night, in the middle of a cloud carpet, Ganymede reached up with a fervent, frightened motion to pull down Zeus' head and the two kissed. Neither noticed the chill of celestial breezes or of the icy white marble under their feet; neither noticed that they were weeping freely as they embraced; they were only aware of each other's mouths, tongues, hands, heartbeats and bodies.

Gasping, the boy and the god broke off the kiss but continued the embrace, leaning on each other's foreheads in a pathetic tableau.

After a long moment, Zeus, still holding Ganymede, his eyes bright with moisture, said simply: "Love you."

Ganymede nodded, sniffled, and said, "You too." With the back of his left hand he wiped his filled eyes and then nuzzled the god's unshaven jaw, leaving on the god's face a streak of moisture; Zeus' eyes closed in pleasure/pain at this last touch.

The boy drew slowly/reluctantly away from the god; he then abruptly straightened his shoulders, stared straight ahead, and tensed his body in anticipation of the transformation.

His voice shaking too hard to be heard clearly, Zeus looked away as he lightly touched the palms of his hands to Ganymede's temples and said formally, "My selfless love, I give you hereafter to my grandfather Ouranos, who will watch over you in the black heavens for eternity." His whisper was barely heard: "Good-bye."

Ganymede barely managed a soft "farewell, Zeus" before he felt himself dissolving and expanding, from the bottom up, quickly and painlessly into millions of luminescent, formless clusters. His last thought before his shoulders and head disintegrated was that he had lost his torque somewhere.

- -

Feeling numb, eyes clouded with tears, face wet with moisture from his eyes and from the back of Ganymede's hand, Zeus shuddered and forced himself to watch as the light clusters increased their luminosity during their ascent into the skies and then arranged themselves in the cosmic pattern he had chosen; he then angrily waved a hand, conjuring a large, slim thunderbolt. Screaming in pain and loss, he hurled the glowing blue spear at the cloud carpet below him, causing the fluffy mass to flash, shudder, darken, and begin releasing a heavy torrential rain. Dully, sardonically, the god thought that even if nothing else in his existence worked out for him, at least he could control the weather.

Worn out by that single cathartic action and unable to shake the resultant painful emotional paralysis off his mind, the god floated back down through the skylight with his hands hanging at his sides when a flash of light on the kitchen floor caught his view.

It was Ganymede's torque.

Steeling himself against more tears, Zeus took off his gold torque, belt, circlet, and ankle band - gifts from Hera - and, furiously/savagely flinging them into a refuse bin, he took up Ganymede's silver torque and put it on with shaking hands. The metal of the torque was still warm and memories of Ganymede's voice/smell/mouth/hands/grin/taste came back.

He'd take care of Apollo in the morning.

Clenching his teeth under closed lips, the god put out the torchlights by snapping his fingers and teleported into his bare, empty bedroom, leaving the kitchen dark and deserted but for a mixing bowl occupied by wine, nectar and a submerged hazelwood stick, all spotlighted by blue moonlight pouring in from the circular aperture in the roof of the Olympus palace kitchen.

- -

When the constant thunderstorms finally ceased and the clouds cleared, wise men noted the appearance of a new constellation. As the beautiful new lights in the heavens had in effect arrived with the rainfall, they soon named the new set of stars as Aquarius - the Water-Bearer - as befitted the only mortal ever to serve as cupbearer to the gods.