Deucalion and Pyrrha

Mankind had lived on earth for barely five generations before the almighty ruler of the heavens, Zeus himself, began to hear rumors of their legendary cruelty. Kings murdered or enslaved their subjects until they died exhausted. If, god forbid, someone broke the strict laws, they ended up in an arena where they ruthlessly fought for their life in battles against hungry tigers. The rulers were literally competing in their cruelty.

The violence and murders were so ugly that Zeus couldn’t believe his ears at first. To find out the real truth, he decided to take on human form and roam the Earth. And so, as a hermit, he set out on his journey. Sadly, the rumors didn’t even come close to the horrors he witnessed.

His visit to King Lycaon’s palace was the last straw. Zeus couldn’t stand seeing such great cruelty, so he decided to reveal his divinity and step in. As he did, everyone fell to their knees, but king Lycaon merely laughed at him.

“We’ll see if you truly are the god or just a simple mortal,” said the king scornfully, planning to test the god standing before him.

King Lycaon had a servant killed and his flesh was served to Zeus at the dinner table. The god immediately saw through the king’s awful deed, and, flying into a rage, he began fiercely throwing lightning, ravaging and destroying, until he had burned the entire palace to ashes. The frightened Lycaon ran into the fields to escape the raging god, but Zeus immediately turned him into a wolf.

When Zeus returned to Mount Olympus, disappointed and saddened, he wanted to immediately wipe the entire human race from the face of the Earth. However, he was worried that his lightning bolts would burn…