Chapter 31The shepherds who toiled on the plains beneath Olympus were the first to experience the tremors of the mountain. They were hunkering down in their hovels, pressed close to their flocks for warmth. Then their sheep went rigid as though possessed by a spirit, bleating in terror, and stampeded for the door. The shepherds cursed and snatched up their crooks and staves to recover their flocks, but too late. The beasts had already scattered in a hundred directions, beyond the reach of men.
A tremor throbbed beneath their feet, the land itself quaking. The shepherds exchanged a look of confusion that quickened to fear as they turned their gaze toward the peak. The mountain of the gods normally stood blue and hazy in the distance, an indomitable mass topped with ice. Every day they plac
