Chapter Text
Poseidon delivers an oral charge of the murder of Halirrhotius before the Olympian assembly and orders for a trial to take place. Finding merit in the accusation against Ares, Zeus formalizes the charges and orders for a jury, and Poseidon and Ares argue their points in traditional Greek trial fashion. Ares is found guilty and sentenced to ten years of punitive labour.
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“I testify before this assembly that Ares is guilty of murder!”
The cry echoed throughout the room and then went silent.
Poseidon gripped the table as he stood in the aftermath of his declaration. He seemed to tremble slightly.
Ares, for one, was shocked to stupor. He didn’t believe this was happening, or more accurately, he hadn’t believed anyone would care about it.
“And you are willing to sign and attest to this in writing?” Zeus said.
“Yes,” Poseidon replied.
“Then by all means. Put down the request. Then we can have the preliminary as soon as possible.”
It made sense that ‘due process’ would hold up the entire room as Poseidon simply scribbled down what he said on another piece of paper, then held it up, and read it out loud.
“This indictment and affidavit is sworn by Poseidon, son of Kronos, against Ares, the son of Zeus: Ares is guilty of the murder of Halirrhotius, of acts of wrath without a permit, and of disregarding the authority of the Three Kings of Olympus. The penalty demanded is punitive labour,” he read.
Ares was slumped over in his chair, twirling a lock of his hair around a finger. When Poseidon finally put the paper down, he audibly sighed and rolled his eyes. “The only reason you’d bring this up is that you feel insulted. I know you didn’t care about him.”
The Sea King’s eyes flashed a dangerous blue as his fins flicked against the air. His needle teeth clacked as he said, “Of course I cared for him. It’s even better that this should be tried now.” Poseidon turned to the other gods where they sat. “Else, Ares will do this again and again with no fear of retribution. And, because mortals cannot accuse a god, he will be killing those who have no weight to his fellow Olympians. If we do not settle this now, there could be thousands of more deaths before Ares is brought to justice.”
Ares scoffed. He finally sat forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Thousands? Skatá , I don’t even have a thousand children. That’s inane,” he said.
“Hardly. You’re the one who is on Earth the most of any Olympian, except Demeter. You are the one who most needs to give an account.”
“Gods need to give an account? Now that is the–”
“And, Zeus, listen, if you and I are equals, he would insult you, his father, in the same way he insults me! He doesn’t pay you enough reverence, anyhow. You need to teach him a lesson, or he will continue to disrespect you.”
Hera gestured towards her son, looking pointedly at her husband. “It wasn’t as if it was just for fun. What that man did was awful. He was protecting his daughter. Your granddaughter.”
The Thunderer hummed. The wine-dark of his hair was strung through with lightning as if his thoughts were made manifest. “I’ll put this through to trial,” he decided.
Ares’s face went slack, his eyes wide. He suddenly stood. “You can’t seriously–”
“I can. If you’re in the right, you can convince a jury of that. Anyway, it will be a good demonstration of non-partiality. If even Zeus’s son can go on trial for something like this, then people will have more faith in the justice system. They will feel more confident in bringing their issues to the courts.”
Zeus stood, readjusting his jacket as he scanned the room. “You’re all dismissed. I’ll draw up formal charges. In the meantime, ah–” He seemed to think for a second. “Hades isn’t even here for the pantheon. … I’ll have Athena gather a jury.”
As the rest of the gods began filing out, Hera looked over him, her lips pursed. “You’re being a hypocrite.”
Zeus just rolled his eyes. “It’s the principle. Do as I say, not as I do, you know?”
She sighed. “I know very well.”
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In the corner of the courtroom was the stenographer’s box, and Iris’s purse and opalescent jacket were slung over the empty chair. Iris was before the jury, a great mass of people sitting in ascending rows. The courtroom was a repurposed theatre. Iris spun words of light in front of her, clear enough for all to see, and they read it aloud with one voice.
"I will cast my vote in consonance with the laws and decrees passed by the Assembly and by the Council, but, if there is no law, in consonance with my sense of what is most just, without favour or enmity. I will vote only on the matters raised in the charge, and I will listen impartially to the accusers and defenders alike."
Then, like the sound of waves on the seashore, five hundred nymphs, minor gods, and even mortals all took a seat.
Zeus stood before the jury. “We are here to decide the fate of Ares, God of War. The formal charges brought against him are murder of the first degree and an act of wrath without a permit. The facts of the case are as follows. Halirrhotius sexually assaulted the maiden, Alcippe. In defence of Alcippe, Ares killed Halirrhotius. Poseidon, as the deceased’s father, brought this situation to court and prosecutes Ares now. The accuser can now make his case.”
Poseidon stood. He seemed to realize he was still holding his notecards. He put them down. He picked them back up to look at them one last time, and then put them down again. Then, he stepped in front of the crowd. He was wearing a suit that appeared black at a distance, but looking closely, was a very rich green, with the same colour shirt, and a teal tie. His hair was braided, like a crown around his head.
He smiled and held out his hands.
“This is not a matter of whether or not my son was right or wrong in what he did,” boomed Poseidon. He had earned the name Earth Shaker. His voice filled the room like the tide.
“That is not what is on trial. What we are weighing today is a matter of unjust punishment. Completely unjust, in fact. For what it was, it was a simple murder, a murder of my son. Firstly,” he said, holding up a finger, “rape is not as severe a crime as murder, so to punish someone for the first with the second is unjust, no matter who they are. Second, Ares is a god, already above the matters of men, so for him to be judge, jury, and executioner is a grievous misuse of his position. Thirdly, he did all of this without any permits for acts of wrath in the mortal realm.”
Three fingers up, he put two down and held up one to the audience again.
“For the first layer of my argument, proving that rape is not as severe a crime as murder is a very simple thing. But first, how would we define a crime or injustice? I will set forth the definition that a crime is any action taken freely by an individual which is an offence against the community, somehow violating the resources or happiness of society.” The more attentive members of the jury took notes on this.
“How do rape and murder affect society, then? Rape disrupts the happiness and resources of a community by deeply upsetting its victim, as well as potentially giving a woman a child she can not care for, which hurts another being. However, murder is an even greater violation. It not only violates the body, but the soul which resides in that body without its prior agreement, as in war or a duel. There is no future for a dead man, that is to be certain, and the community is robbed of any money he would have brought in, any protection he would have given, his future children, and his future prosperity.”
Poseidon was silent for a moment, letting the room breathe. He sighed and looked down at his feet. “Someone can recover from rape. Not from death. My son is dead. For this reason, murder is a far more odious crime than rape.
“But to damn him even more, Ares gave my son no trial, no jury, the trial he is now being blessed with today. Even now, he is given more respect than he did his victim. He misused his power as a god to indulge his childish whims of vengeance. Ares found it fit to take final revenge on a man whose family cannot demand reparations from Olympus. He found it fit to avenge his own child without asking me, one above him in station and authority if I wished to defend or punish my son. In murdering my son, he not only ended a life, but he also showed that he had no respect for me or for our laws and our proceedings in acts of wrath! He thinks his own children are so above ours that they should be killed for the slightest offenses.”
Poseidon’s eyes wandered to Hera’s, and then Hades’s, both jury members, and seeing the slight frowns on their faces, he seemed to relent slightly. “And even if you do not agree that what Ares did was wrong, he did not follow due process, he did not submit his plan of action to the committee or consult anyone. He acted on impulse. He broke our laws and showed he does not respect our new system. This is the first trial we as Olympians have had. We must show that this is a system to be respected.”
Poseidon gestured to the defendant, his face understanding, but firm. “Ares need not be punished too greatly,” he said, “but we need to ensure that he does not make the same mistake again and that others do not view us and our laws as lenient. Hopefully, this experience will show him the value of due process, and not letting his wrath overcome his better judgment. Without the law to teach him, how will Ares ever become a better man?” He nodded to the jury. “Thank you.”
And with that, Poseidon took his seat. He was trying and failing to hide his satisfaction, looking down at his notes, his hair falling around his face.
The magistrate nodded from his box, and then looked to the crowd. “We now call Ares to defend himself.”
War stepped onto the stage.
He flashed bronze under the studio lights. The buttons on his uniform glinted. In his face was not the slightest regard for anyone in the room. And he spoke.
“Poseidon is so arrogant as to take a matter such as this and make it about himself and how I disrespected him. Here is what happened from how I saw it: my daughter prayed to me for vengeance against the one who hurt her. I answered her and killed him.”
There was a sharp inhale from the crowd.
“Perhaps rape is less than murder, but if a man’s wife or daughter is raped, no one faults a man for protecting his own and killing the offender to defend his house. One might even say it is his duty. If this was but a matter of mortals, then no one here could say I was wrong. What brings us here is not morality, but pride, the pride of Poseidon. My daughter was wronged, and she demanded satisfaction in blood. She prayed upon my name. I granted her request.”
To the horror of the jury, Ares whirled around to stare Zeus in the eyes. “And perhaps you all find that strange. You think of Ouranos and Kronos when you think of fathers. I would say none of you truly understand what I mean when I speak of love for children.”
He was almost drowned out by the following cacophony, as people looked over their shoulders and to their left and right to see the reactions of their neighbours to what he had just said.
“I do not need to teach it to you in this court. But I love Alcippe. If Poseidon had truly cared about his son, perhaps he would have attended the burial rights instead of coming straight here to accuse me of wrongdoing.” He bowed his head slightly. “I have nothing more to say.”
The jury recess into the courtyard was not particularly long, but it was made very awkward by Zeus, Poseidon, Iris, and a few other clerks waiting alone in the auditorium for the verdict.
Zeus was looking pointedly down at his son. “That was highly uncalled for.”
“I was not wrong. Kronos was a horrible father.”
“You implied everyone here were shitty parents.”
“I know at least one is.”
Electricity hummed through the air as Zeus’s temper flared. But before he could say anything, the door opened, and the jury began pouring back in, shoving into their seats. Steps pattered like rain until everyone was settled, and sitting down.
The crowd did not look certain. But, the representative of the jury stood up, and Ares held back a growl as he saw his dearest uncle Hades stand up, as cool as ever. He knew what the verdict would be before it ever left his mouth.
“We the jury find Ares guilty on all accounts.”
Supposedly a jury of his peers and drawn by lot, it couldn’t have been a coincidence that the people who were here thought this would ‘teach Ares a lesson. Ares couldn’t help but think this whole thing was rigged, by Poseidon, by Zeus, by someone, he didn’t know.
“Does the defence wish to contest the chosen punishment?” came the voice of Ares’s father.
He gritted his teeth. “... No.” If he contested and lost, they might make it worse.
“Then Ares shall be given ten years of punitive labour in the mortal realm.”