| "Goddess for a Day" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Author | Harry Turtledove |
| First Appearance | Chicks in Chainmail |
| Publisher | Baen, later Del Rey |
| Collected | Counting Up, Counting Down |
| Genre(s) | Historical fantasy |
| Publication date | 1995 |
"Goddess for a Day" is a short story by Harry Turtledove, published in Chicks in Chainmail, edited by Esther Friesner, Baen 1995; reprinted in the omnibus Chicks Ahoy!, 2010; and Counting Up, Counting Down, Del Rey, 2002. It can also be read on Baen's website. It is a historical fiction which introduces fantasy elements in the later part.
The story is based on a 6th century BC event (sometimes dated 556 BC) reported by Herodotus. Peisistratos, an exiled tyrant of Athens, retakes the city through an act of trickery. He claims that the goddess Athena has approved of his rule, and to prove it, enters the city with a young woman named Phye, disguised as Athena.
Phye regrets her decision. The armor is uncomfortable and she finds Peisistratos distasteful. Nonetheless, she plays out the ruse to the end. She's put up at a shrine to Athena and Poseidon. Here, her day takes an unusual turn when she meets a satyr named Marsyas, who also mistakes her for the goddess.
See also[]
- "The Old Grind," Laura Frankos' contribution to Chicks in Chainmail.
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