Chapter 20
‘ATE THEM?’ POPE said, her lip curling.
Knight glanced at the painting and envisioned his own children in a playground near his home. He felt even more revolted.
‘It’s a myth – what can I say?’ Daring replied.
The curator went on to explain that Rhea hated her husband for devouring their children and she vowed that no more of her unborn children would suffer the same fate. So she snuck off to have the son she named Zeus, and hid him immediately after birth. Then she got Cronus drunk, and gave him a rock wrapped in a blanket to eat instead of her son.
‘Much later,’ Daring continued, ‘Zeus rose up, conquered Cronus, forced him to vomit up his children, and then hurled his father into the darkest abysmal pits of Tartarus, or something like that. Ask Farrell.’
‘Okay,’ Knight said, unsure if any of this helped or not, and wondering if this letter could possibly be a ruse designed to take them in a wrong direction. ‘You a fan of the modern Olympics, doctor?’
The television star frowned. ‘Why?’
‘Your exhibit strikes me as a bit slanted in favour of the ancient Games.’
Daring turned coolly indignant. ‘I think the work is quite even-handed. But I grant you that the ancient Games were about honour and excelling in celebration of the Greek religion, while the modern version, in my personal opinion, has become too influenced by corporations and money. Ironic, I know, since this exhibit was built with the assistance of private benefactors.’
‘So, in a way, you agree with Cronus?’ Pope asked.
The curator’s voice went chilly. ‘I may agree that the original ideals of the Olympics could be getting lost in today’s Games, but I certainly do not agree with killing people to “cleanse” them. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must finish up and change before the reception.’