28_Hanging Out with Heracles

Julia felt as if she were living in a story from her social studies textbook. Heracles’ strength was amazing. No wonder everyone was still talking about him thousands of years later. Finally she couldn’t hold her feelings in any longer. “ Wow, ” she blurted out. “ I can’t believe I’m sitting here with the real, live hero Heracles! ” Heracles looked surprised. “ What do you mean?” Iphicles rolled his eyes. “ What do you think she means, brother? Everyone in Greece wants to meet you. Thanks to Zeus’ bragging, you’re nearly as famous as the king of the gods himself. ”

" It’s not that, ” Julia said, blushing. “ It’s just, I’ve heard so many of the Greek myths . . . ” She realized she was babbling, but she couldn’t stop. “ And you know . . . ” " Myths?” Heracles looked puzzled. “ About me?” " Trust me, someday you’ll perform great feats, ” Julia replied. “ You’ll be one of the most famous heroes ever. ” Iphicles frowned at Julia. “ It’s bad enough that Zeus keeps filling Alcides’ head with dreams of glory. You don’t have to make up even wilder tales. ” Julia felt annoyed by his challenging tone.

She didn’t notice that Brody was also frowning at her. “ I’m not making up anything, ” she snapped. “ It’s all true. ” " How could you possibly know that?” Iphicles shot back. " Because we come from the future! ” Julia retorted. Then she gulped, realizing she’d said too much. “ Um, I mean. . . ” Heracles looked stunned. “ The future? You are oracles?” “ Not exactly. ” Julia finally noticed that Brody was making faces at her. But it was too late to take back her words.

She took a deep breath. “ Uh, you know Hermes’ friend Caerus? I believe he’s the god of time?” ” He’s the god of opportunity and favorable moments, ” Iphicles said. “ I suppose he has something to do with time as well. What of him?” Markos spoke up. “ He created a crack in his temple. He used the crack to bring Brody here from the future. ” ” Yeah, ” Brody put in. “ Hermes wanted me to be his champion. And Julia came along by accident. ” It took a little more explaining, but eventually Heracles and Iphicles seemed to believe their tale.

“ So I will be a hero?” Heracles asked thoughtfully. “ That’s good. I was beginning to think I might not even survive these Games. ” Julia chuckled. “ You’ll survive. And you’ll defeat horrible monsters and achieve great feats of strength. ” “ Good. ” Heracles nodded. “ What else? Will I marry and have children?” Julia hesitated. She didn’t remember all the details of Heracles’ personal life, but some of what she remembered wasn’t very good. “ Uh, I think so, ” she said.

“ What about me?” Iphicles’ dark eyes were sharp and eager. “ Will I be famous as well? Perhaps for feats of horsemanship?” Julia gulped. She’d barely remembered that Heracles had a brother, and she had no idea what became of him. “ Er, you like horses?” she asked, hoping to change the subject. “ Iphicles is the finest hand with horses this side of Sparta, ” Heracles said proudly. He clapped Iphicles on the back. But Iphicles was still staring at Julia. “ Well?What happens to me?”