Olympus was also home to minor gods and goddesses, the most powerful of whom were the three “goddesses of destiny” (92): Clotho, who spun the thread of life; Lachesis, who measured the length of life; and Atropos, who cut the thread, ending life. Not even Zeus could change the course of fate they decided. Their sister was Nemesis, who ensured that good and evil “were justly repaid” (92).

After battles among the gods extinguished life on earth, Zeus tasked Prometheus and Epimetheus with repopulating it. Epimetheus made animals, and Prometheus created men. Prometheus asked Zeus to give men fire, but he refused, so Prometheus stole it. Zeus was angry, but the scent of roasting meat appeased him. Again Prometheus pitied men for having to burn the best parts of the meat for the gods, so he tricked Zeus into choosing the worst part to be burned. Zeus punished Prometheus by chaining him at the top of a mountain, where each day, an eagle would devour his liver, and each night, his liver would grow back.

To punish men, Zeus created “a beautiful but silly woman” called Pandora (96). Hephaestus crafted her from marble, and Athena “breathed life into her” (97).