A Rule That Never Breaks

Chapter 1

I was falling asleep. The lecture hall was warm and stuffy, and the distant hum of the radiator quieted my thoughts. An aged brown carpet ran between the desks and under my feet. There was an oddly-shaped stain to my right and I shifted my foot away. My eyelids felt heavy and I let my cheek sink deeper into my palm. I glanced at the open notebook on the desk.

October 15, 2030

CLA 201:  Introduction to Classical Studies

The Role of the Gods in Ancient Greece

I had scribbled a few notes below the title but they quickly became vague and disjointed. Apparently I had stopped paying attention a while ago. The Professor's voice sounded much further away than the front of the lecture hall.

"You already know their names: Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Poseidon. Even now, more than two thousand years since the gods of Olympus were part of an official state religion, and they still wield power."

Someone behind me scoffed under their breath. The Professor continued unperturbed.

"The gods pervaded every aspect of life in Ancient Greece. These were not distant deities to be worshiped from afar, uninterested in the day to day lives of their subjects. The Greeks believed the gods made man in their image. And like man, the gods loved, feared, erred, and sought vengeance when they were wronged."

I sighed and let my eyes fall back to the floor. Maybe the gods could save me from this Professor. I always had trouble paying attention to him. I didn't know what his deal was. Probably a divorce or some nasty custody battle, because I could feel his resentment from the back of the room. It was a nasty combination of sadness mixed with disappointment. I imagined him in an empty apartment, flipping through old photos on his phone, thinking about how his life was half over and this was all he had to show for it. His sorrow hung like a heavy cloud over his head. It seeped into his every thought, and now, unavoidably, mine. I kicked the toe of my sneaker into the ugly carpet, just came with the territory when you were a freak.

A little voice in my head, the one that sounded like the only nice foster mom I'd had growing up in the system, told me to stop. It wasn't my fault I could see people's deepest, darkest feelings; I'd been born that way. Not that is was only sorrow, I saw their fear and dissatisfaction too. Sometimes even their joy, but that wasn't very common these days. Everyone was afraid or sad or disappointed with something. And I saw any emotion strong enough to take root in a person's mind and cloud their thoughts as plainly as the jacket they were wearing. Nineteen years old and it was halfway to driving me insane.

"These days, people are filled with uncertainty for the future. These bad things that are happening: fires burning through the midwest; 100 year floods every other year; neighbors reporting neighbors for not flying the American flag high enough; the threat of civil war; in ancient times the Greeks would have turned to their gods for an explanation."

Someone spoke from behind me. "Oh the gods would have answered all right. You just might not have liked what they said."

I turned in my chair to see who it was. They were loud enough for the Professor to have heard.

A guy in a leather jacket was in the middle of the back row. He lounged lazily in his chair, a foot propped on the seat in front of him. I'd noticed him before.

"Well I wouldn't presume to know what solutions the gods might have proposed, young man," the Professor said brusquely. "But if the Greeks wanted to communicate with their gods, they would hold elaborate and often secretive ceremonies," he continued, apparently able to take advantage of any teaching opportunity. "Each ceremony had its own sacred rites, but they tended to involve libations, the scattering of harvest grains, and even," he leaned in for dramatic effect, "animal sacrifice."