Olympian Nights

Olympian Nights by John Kendrick Bangs is a funny fantasy story from the early 1900s. It tells about a regular person who looks for a place to hide on Mount Olympus, but he gets mixed up in the silly games of the gods. The story makes fun of the gods by showing their not-so-great sides with funny talks. The main people are the storyteller, who isn't named, and his helper, Hippopopolis. They both check out the weird parts of the gods' lives. At first, the main character gets to Mount Olympus because he couldn't find a war he wanted to see. After a long walk with Hippopopolis, he realizes he’s close to where the Greek gods live. Hippopopolis doesn't think much of the gods, saying they aren't as good as people think. His jokes set the mood for the narrator's adventure. When it starts raining, the main character is left to take care of himself on the mountain. Then, he finds a strange elevator and a world inside Olympus that has its strange rules, hinting at the funny chaos to come.