Story Retold By Benedict Jephcote & Molly Thurman
Published March 2024
Benedict Jephcote I'm a lover of history and often have my 'head in the clouds' dreaming away. It's not surprising I was drawn to the home of the Greek gods and goddesses at the mountainous top of Mount Olympus in Greece. Outside of dreaming, I am a historian who is discovering the history of North Nottinghamshire and busily talking and writing about it. Meet the Illustrator Molly Thurman When approached by Aurora to work on this project I was very excited as Greek Mythology has always been a subject that I have been interested in. I love to create characters through art, so this was a great opportunity. As a young, aspiring artist, my next milestone is starting university, where I will hopefully embark on an exciting new journey. To find me on social media, my Instagram is @oranollio and my ArtStation is @Molly Thurman
Greece, a goddess wakes up bright and early before dawn. The goddess is called Eos and she is the goddess of dawn. Eos extends her rosy fingers and opens the gates of the Greek heavens, letting the sun of those heavens shine through to Earth. The sun’s rays start to shine across a part of ancient Greece, and now part of Turkey, called Troy.
land of Troy, a strong, athletic man wakes up and gets set for his morning tasks. This young man is called Tithonus. He is a prince, son of the King of the Trojans. As Eos walks across Greece, she sees the warmth she has brought to the land. She spots Tithonus and admires his athletic form.
strong back!” When Tithonus hears this, he turns around and shakes his head at seeing the beautiful goddess. Still dumbstruck, Tithonus allows Eos to carry him off to Mount Olympus. Over the centuries, our goddess Eos has fallen in love many times, not with gods but with regular, mortal men. The trouble for Eos has been that the men get old and eventually die, as all living things on Earth do. Determined to have a love that lasts, she goes to Zeus and asks a favour. Zeus is king of the gods and has the power to grant many favours. He takes a break from what he was doing and casts a distracted look down at Eos and the man she has brought with him. In a strong voice, she begins, “Zeus, I bring light to the world each day and I have to favour to ask. I have met an attractive man called Tithonus. Please make him immortal so our love doesn’t have to die.”
will be immortal and will not die.” How delighted Eos was. She flung her arms around Zeus’ neck, kissing his cheeks multiple times as she exclaimed, “Thank you, thank you!”.
with a love that could go on for centuries. Meanwhile, Zeus shrugged his shoulders and went back to his busy business in the middle of the day.
rocks of Mount Olympus as the midday sun started to hit, they paddled through a cooling stream in the afternoon, and lay shoulder to shoulder as sunset led in to evening. What carefree fun the two had been enjoying. Eos had got her wish and Tithonus delighted in Eos’ ever-lively energy. Soon day and night seemed to be coming quick and fast for the two. The energy of the morning running into the calm of dusk. As a cool evening breeze brushed over Eos’s shoulder one late summer night, she noticed that Tithonus was beginning to age. “How odd?!” she thought to herself. She remembered, clear as day, asking Zeus to grant Tithonus with immortal life. Shaking her head, and disbelieving her eyes, she allowed herself to lull to sleep next to her love.
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