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Cronus was moved by Rhea’s painful pleas and released Hestia. The slumbering little goddess did not realize how terrifying a fate she had narrowly escaped. Overjoyed, the Queen of the Gods, supported by her attendants, returned to her own temple.
The feast came to an end, and both the star gods and sea gods left Mount Olympus for their territories. Tyche bade farewell to her mother and approached her father, Oceanus. The great sea god with his white beard was delighted:
“My daughter, your wisdom and courage have greatly surprised me! The appearance of the divine office of ocean currents has stirred the very essence of the seas, and all sea gods have benefitted from it. Pontus and I have decided together to grant you the island where you dwell, along with the surrounding seas. No other sea god’s power shall intrude upon this domain.”
Tyche was overjoyed.
“Thank you, my generous father. Please convey my gratitude to the great Pontus as well!”
Oceanus smiled and nodded.
“I must return to the edge of the world to fulfill my divine duty of encircling the earth. My children, do not long for me—I will always watch over and protect you. Call upon my name, and the sea will surely answer!”
With that, he transformed into a surging current and departed. After bidding her sisters farewell, Tyche returned to her island. As expected, she found that the divine powers of the two ancient sea gods had vanished, leaving her free to act as she pleased within her own territory.
She summoned a thick fog to shroud the island, concealing it from sight. Should anyone trespass, the divinely infused mist would disorient them, while Tyche herself would instantly sense their intrusion. She sent her divine power into the waters, and the surging waves calmed at once, becoming still as a mirror. After surveying her new realm with satisfaction, she expanded the sea fog further, spreading it until it filled her entire domain.
Having established her first defensive system, Tyche finally felt secure. She returned to the island and rested contentedly. Remembering how exhausting it had been to perform her divine duties every day, a new idea struck her. She condensed thick clouds into great spheres and released them into the sky to disperse naturally. As expected, vast clouds spread across the heavens. Tyche was thrilled to have discovered a way to “cheat” her duties.
For immortal deities, the passage of time was barely perceptible. Over the ages, feasting and revelry reigned supreme. Gods who never restrained themselves would eventually lose their way in indulgence and desire, which Tyche believed was the beginning of a god’s downfall.
Time passed in its mysterious way, bringing both growth and decay. The island’s forests grew taller and denser, its fruits ripened and fell in abundance. Feeling the onset of loneliness, Tyche built herself a dwelling beside a pond, using stones and wood found everywhere. Blessed with her divine gift of craftsmanship, the temple she built was both elegant and indestructible. Curtains of pearls hung from its walls, giant corals were carved into a bed, and polished seashells became mirrors that gleamed with white light, filling the temple with beauty and warmth.
One day, as Tyche carved small shell ornaments on the beach, she suddenly felt a surge of immense divine power erupting in the heavens. Rhea’s furious cries echoed across the world as all creation struggled to endure the clash between the two gods of time. Plants grew wildly one moment and withered the next. Among mankind of the Golden Age, some were erased by time itself, returning to nothingness before their birth, while others aged and died in an instant. Alarmed, Tyche quickly shielded her territory with her divine power.
The temporal chaos lasted an age, and when it finally subsided, the earth lay desolate. Only within the domains of the gods did life remain, while the rest of the land became a wasteland of death.
The Earth Mother revealed her immense form to halt the warring king and queen of the gods. Furious, she listened to Rhea’s lament and sternly rebuked the king:
“My youngest son, Cronus, do not forget how your father lost his throne! He cast the Hundred-Handed Ones and Cyclopes into the abyss, and forced newborn children back into their mother’s womb, defying the nature of the Mother Goddess. That is why you became king! And now, in the presence of the Mother, do you mean to seize her child as well, continuing your father’s atrocities?”
But Cronus was unshaken by the Earth Mother’s majesty, countering with the might of a king:
“My children shall not return to their mother’s womb—they will live within my body! This is the greatest mercy I can give them!”
With that, he swallowed the pure Hestia whole.
Helpless, the Earth Mother could only console the weeping Rhea.
“My daughter, your husband has made a grievous choice. The knot of fate cannot be undone—he will meet the same end as his father.”
Bereft of her daughter, Rhea wept without ceasing. She refused to share her bed with the god-king, and the two grew increasingly estranged, their bond only in appearance.
At this time, Tyche received her first visitor—the radiant goddess of the falling stars, Astraea. The sea fog parted to reveal the island, and Tyche personally welcomed her friend. The two goddesses walked arm in arm into the temple, where the gleam of mirrors caught Astraea’s eye.
“My dear friend Tyche, what new creations have you made this time?”
Tyche demonstrated how the mirrors could be used. Astonished by her own clear reflection, Astraea exclaimed with joy:
“You always manage to discover beauty. These mirrors will surely be loved by all goddesses!”
A little shy, Tyche accepted her friend’s praise and immediately gifted her a full-length mirror with a golden frame.