I wanted to share this with everyone. My daughter had to write a "Greek Myth" story about anything she wanted. She chose tp to write "How the Tortoise came to be". My daughter is 13 years old and is in 8th grade. I am sure you all will enjopy this VERY MUCH!
How Tortoises Came to Be, by Samantha Klutchko
As everyone knows, the gods are able to live forever. Even though they can live forever, they are still susceptible to starvation, and dehydration. The gods were upset that they need to go through the miseries of life. All the gods wanted to create a perfect creature. To solve this problem, Zeus sent Hermes to all the gods with a message to gather on Mt. Olympus. So, the next day Zeus and the gods put their minds together to create a new creature.
Zeus wanted a creature fit to go many months without food or water, and can live incredibly long, like the gods. Aphrodite wanted a creature with beauty and loving to the gods and people. Hermes wanted a creature with much endurance and can travel many miles without getting tired. Ares wanted a creature with an armored body fit to protect itself from war. All the gods put in their ideas of a perfect creature. As the gods put out their ideas, Zeus turned into that creature to show what it looks like.
Through the next three days the gods fought about this new creature. Zeus grew wary and wanted to stop changing into random creatures that met the demands of the gods. Finally, Aphrodite complained that the gods should love and care for each other, and not fight. The gods agreed and discussed about the new creature not fight. The gods decided on a tortoise.
“It has love and beauty!†Aphrodite cried.
“It has a strong, protective shell!†Ares added.
“Why, it has the most endurance I have ever seen!†Hermes explained.
“It can go many months without food or water, and can live for hundreds of years!†Zeus observed.
The gods were proud of the creature that they created. The gods just watched the tortoise in amazement. After a while the gods returned to Mt. Olympus and relaxed. Soon the gods forgot about their wonderful creature. The tortoise; curious of its new surroundings began taking a walk. The tortoise tried eating some grass, an abundant source of food on Earth. The tortoise loved the way the grass tasted, so he continued to eat it. Along the walk he just ate. The tortoise continued to eat. Day after day the tortoise'’ home became scarce of food. The tortoise found a new home, and ate all the food there. After many years of just walking and eating the tortoise ate all the grass on Earth.
Aphrodite realized that the Earth was not a beautiful green color any more. She noticed that it was an awful brown color. Aphrodite couldn’t understand what happened. She went to Zeus demanding that the Earth becomes beautiful again. Zeus finally remembered that if was the tortoise that was responsible for the grass being gone. All the gods went to the tortoise and told him that they want the grass back, but all the tortoise did was walk away. Zeus couldn’t stand having a back turned to him so he threw a thunderbolt right at the tortoise. The tortoise’s shell was too strong to break, and he kept walking.
The gods decided that the tortoise didn’t mean harm and they used their magical powers and made the Earth rich with grass again. The tortoise went right back to eating. The gods realized that it takes responsibility to take care of such an amazing creature, so
they did. Every time the Earth became scarce of grass they just made some more. The tortoise lived until he couldn’t anymore, and the gods made hundreds of tortoises to replace the first tortoise. All the tortoises live happily to this day, and the gods watch over their wonderful creatures to make sure that nothing disturbs their peace. That’s how the tortoise came to be.
How Tortoises Came to Be, by Samantha Klutchko
As everyone knows, the gods are able to live forever. Even though they can live forever, they are still susceptible to starvation, and dehydration. The gods were upset that they need to go through the miseries of life. All the gods wanted to create a perfect creature. To solve this problem, Zeus sent Hermes to all the gods with a message to gather on Mt. Olympus. So, the next day Zeus and the gods put their minds together to create a new creature.
Zeus wanted a creature fit to go many months without food or water, and can live incredibly long, like the gods. Aphrodite wanted a creature with beauty and loving to the gods and people. Hermes wanted a creature with much endurance and can travel many miles without getting tired. Ares wanted a creature with an armored body fit to protect itself from war. All the gods put in their ideas of a perfect creature. As the gods put out their ideas, Zeus turned into that creature to show what it looks like.
Through the next three days the gods fought about this new creature. Zeus grew wary and wanted to stop changing into random creatures that met the demands of the gods. Finally, Aphrodite complained that the gods should love and care for each other, and not fight. The gods agreed and discussed about the new creature not fight. The gods decided on a tortoise.
“It has love and beauty!†Aphrodite cried.
“It has a strong, protective shell!†Ares added.
“Why, it has the most endurance I have ever seen!†Hermes explained.
“It can go many months without food or water, and can live for hundreds of years!†Zeus observed.
The gods were proud of the creature that they created. The gods just watched the tortoise in amazement. After a while the gods returned to Mt. Olympus and relaxed. Soon the gods forgot about their wonderful creature. The tortoise; curious of its new surroundings began taking a walk. The tortoise tried eating some grass, an abundant source of food on Earth. The tortoise loved the way the grass tasted, so he continued to eat it. Along the walk he just ate. The tortoise continued to eat. Day after day the tortoise'’ home became scarce of food. The tortoise found a new home, and ate all the food there. After many years of just walking and eating the tortoise ate all the grass on Earth.
Aphrodite realized that the Earth was not a beautiful green color any more. She noticed that it was an awful brown color. Aphrodite couldn’t understand what happened. She went to Zeus demanding that the Earth becomes beautiful again. Zeus finally remembered that if was the tortoise that was responsible for the grass being gone. All the gods went to the tortoise and told him that they want the grass back, but all the tortoise did was walk away. Zeus couldn’t stand having a back turned to him so he threw a thunderbolt right at the tortoise. The tortoise’s shell was too strong to break, and he kept walking.
The gods decided that the tortoise didn’t mean harm and they used their magical powers and made the Earth rich with grass again. The tortoise went right back to eating. The gods realized that it takes responsibility to take care of such an amazing creature, so
they did. Every time the Earth became scarce of grass they just made some more. The tortoise lived until he couldn’t anymore, and the gods made hundreds of tortoises to replace the first tortoise. All the tortoises live happily to this day, and the gods watch over their wonderful creatures to make sure that nothing disturbs their peace. That’s how the tortoise came to be.
