Glaucus and the Nereid
Chletsos Vassilis Copyright © 2013 . All rights reserved not for commercial use
Where were the myths born, and why, and how?
A woman learnt it at the very beginning of time.
Who told it to the woman?
The child she had in her womb.
Who told it to the child?
God’s silence.
Who told it to the silence?
A story that combines various ancient Greek myths, which fit perfectly in the adventures of Glaucus, on the Island of Lemnos, the holy island of Hephaestus and Cabeiri.
The hero of the book, admiring the old and famous heroes of ancient
Living in an island and hearing stories of sea monsters, his aim is to help sailors against the mysterious sea monsters, but eventually he discovers that the monsters are of an other kind, than he assumed...
The purpose of this modern myth – fairytale if you want - is to encourage children and adults to get in touch with the ancient Greek mythology, through the adventures of Glaucus.
A symbolic story with many ideas and messages about human nature, human relations, and our connection with nature. Messages which are particularly important at our epoch of global crisis, where we seek new standards and values.
Devoted to my lovely children with great love. They were my inspiration and motivation to write this story.My little hero Nicholas- Plotinus, and my beautiful, little Nymph, Amaryllis!
IN
LEMNOS
Glaucus was
twelve years old that year. He was living in “Anemoessa” Lemnos, Hephaestus’s
holy island, where the god of fire and metalworking had fallen, when Zeus threw
him from Mount Olympus
During one of his parents’ ordinary fights, Zeus and Hera’s
Hephaestus made the mistake of supporting his mother. Zeus was so angry, that grabbed him and threw Hephaestus from Mount Olympus
The inhabitants of Lemnos reserved a
warm reception to him and accepted the god of fire with love. Hephaestus
retaliated, making the laboratory on Mount Mosychlos and teaching them the art
of metallurgy.
Glaucus lived in the town of Myrina
He liked reading a lot, because through
the pages of the book he could travel in mind to faraway places where a
twelve-year-old boy could never really travel. He was learning about different
people and cultures. In these magical
and exciting travels and he wished to grow up quickly to be able to travel to
distant places by a large ship, and be
able to be acquainted with all these written in books and much more.
His grandfather Philostratos and his
father Evnios had received such excellent education that seemed to Glaucus, that they knew almost everything. Actually
their home had one of the largest libraries on the island. This is why a lot of
important people used to visit their house very often, and they talked about issues related to
Philosophy. It was no coincidence, as people who love the wisdom, that is to
say the knowledge are occupied with philosophy something that definitely
matched to his father’s and grandfather’s studiousness and knowledge.
His father used to say that Philosophy
was the art of “living well” as education and virtue lead a person to live
honestly. Maybe he could become a philosopher too, later in his life! Despite
his young age he had started to show particular interest in the great
Philosopher Pythagoras, Empedocles, Heraclitus, Plato and Aristotle although he
could not comprehend them yet.
According to their teachings in order
to have healthy mind, he had to have a healthy body, so Glaucus used to
exercise regularly in pentathlon, a sport whose authorship was attributed, by
the Ancient people, to the hero Jason who had stopped at Lemnos with his ship
‘’Argo” on his way to Colchis. When Jason was in Lemnos with his fifty
Argonauts, was honored by Queen Hypsipyle
(namesake of Glaucus’ mother), who organized struggles in their honor. These
struggles were significant as the Argo crew consisted of famous heroes of that
time. In the event of discus the winner was Telamon, father of the Homeric hero
Ajax, Lynx won in the javelin, Zitis in the race, Calais in jumping. Peleus,
father of the Homeric hero Achilles, won in wrestling and came second in all
the other games.
Jason, wanting to honor separately Peleus, he combined these five events
in one, knowing that each one had one victory, but Peleus apart from his
victory in wrestling, had been second in all the other events. So he awarded
him with a separate prize, recognizing him as the most capable man in
comparison with all the others who had been with him. Since then the races of
pentathlon started.
Glaucus’ second great love was the sea, as his house was built by the
sea. He learned to swim almost simultaneously with walking, and since his
childhood he used to play with his friends on the beach, building entire kingdoms
states by sand.
Since he could remember himself, he was spending his time with his
father fishing in the shallow water while later, when he grew up, his father at
last took him on their boat in the deep to fish.
His mother Hypsipyle had
of course many objections, because the sea was dangerous as she used to say,
and she was afraid of Poseidon’s, the God of the sea, unpredictable outbursts.
His mother was even worried about his father, who knew the sea so well.
How could moreover a mortal defeat the waves that
were provoked by Poseidon’s trident? The truth actually was that he had heard
of many people who had drowned.
They were learning most of the news in the Market of Myrina, where they
used to go frequently. There he heard sailors’ stories about faraway countries,
about terrible tempests, about castaways and huge monsters, that come out from the depths of the sea…!
Every time those sailors talked about storms and shipwrecks, they raised
the three fingers of their hands, the index and the middle fingers as the
symbol of the trident of respectful Poseidon, so that a misfortune never
happens to them.
But Glaucus was not scared of these stories. He had moreover understood
that the more wine they were drinking, the more frightening and heroic their
stories were. He was very influenced, though.
So influenced he was, that he
sometimes dreamed that he could live in the sea in Poseidon’s realm. He could
imagine the seabed full of strange plants and colorful fish.
In the depths of the oceans he rode big seahorses killing the sea
monsters for which seamen spoke with such terror. He would definitely become
seamen’s hero. All these in his sleep of course, because when he was waking up
he was simply little Glaucus.
In
the Market of Myrina they could also be aware of the sailors’ news about the
great war that was taking place in mainland Greece
The time was passing and Glaucus became stronger and stronger, more and
more intelligent while he was spending more and more time at sea fishing with
his father.
Glaucus was a child always obedient to his parents. He loved them very
much, so did they, and they were caring of him so as not to miss anything, but
always “in moderation in all things”.
His father always reminded to him not to be interested in material goods
as he used to say that the most valuable things are the ones that cannot be
bought with money and can only be seen by our heart. Material goods are
deceptive. The accumulation of wealth and goods is endless and does not provide
us with true satisfaction. The more we possess the bigger our requirements
become. Wealth is like sea water the more we drink the thirstier we are. In the
end we do not possess the goods, we get possessed by them.
His
father used the story of Solon and Croesus as an example. Croesus, the King of
Lydia, was famous for his immense wealth throughout the Ancient World. For this
reason he believed himself to be the happiest man in the world.
Once
Solon, one of the wisest men in antiquity, visited him, and Croesus accepted
him with great hospitality. He even ordered some of his slaves to show his
treasures and opulence to his guest. After he had showed his immense wealth to
him, he asked Solon who considered to be the happiest man he had met in the
world, expecting Solon to mention his own greatness!
Solon, avoiding to flatter the King, responded: “The happiest man I have ever met
was an Athenian King called Tellos”. Croesus was surprised by the answer and
asked him why he considered him as the happiest man.
“For two reasons”
Solon said “He acquired two good and worthy sons, he was alive to admire his
grandchildren’s birth, all strong and healthy. And then his life was sealed by
glorious death. He fought and died as a soldier, and the Athenians buried him
with great honors and glory.”
Croesus
then asked Solon who considered to be the second happiest man, being sure that
he would take at least the second place.
Solon, however, talked about two young men, two brothers from Argos,
Kleobis and Biton who were Cydippe’s sons, priestess of Goddess Hera.
People in Argos honored Hera’s celebration in a particular way. Their
mother Cydippe as Hera’s priestess, was responsible to perform sacrifices in
Hera’s temple, but the oxen which were to draw the chariot, were found dead and
in order to be able to celebrate the ritual in time, her sons dragged the
chariot about eight kilometers from the stadium of Argos to Heraion.
When they arrived at the temple, the
attendants congratulated the two brothers and their mother for her happiness to
have such good sons. The two boys exhausted by their overexertion, lied down
outside the temple and slept.
Cudippe, touched by their devotion,
asked from Hera “the best gift a god could give to a mortal”. Then Hera offered
them painless death, as the best gift she could give to them was
death at the happiest moment of their life. The two siblings fell
asleep in the temple and they never woke up.
The Argives even built their statues
and they dedicated them to Delphi as a sign of respect to two outstanding men.
Having listened to the story, Croesus
got angry with Solon’s second answer, and before make him leave, he asked him: “Nice
to hear all these, my Athenian friend, but what can you say for my own
happiness?”
Then
the wise Athenian responded with a phrase that went down in history: “Zero
before the end beatify” this is to say do not regard anyone as happy
before he meets his end.
Only
the great wealth cannot make the man happy. These words gave no joy to Croesus
and said goodbye to Solon contemptuously.
However soon
after Solon’s departure, multitude calamities happened to Croesus. His son Atis was killed in hunting and later
he, personally, was defeated and captured by the Persian King Cyrus, having
lost all his wealth and his Kingdom.
When he had been
uploaded on the pyre to burn him, Croesus, having finally understood the
correctness of Solon’s words and being repentant, shouted three times
“Solon! Solon! Solon!”
Cyrus, who heard him, thought that he was invoking
a God, and asked who this unknown God was…
When Croesus recounted his conversation with Solon
and his wise words, Cyrus realized the correctness of Solon’s words, which were
confirmed by Croesus’s painful position. Cyrus, being wiser than Croesus,
ordered to download Croesus from the pile of wood and to gift life to him.
THE
LEGEND
In one of the discussions that his father had with
his grandfather and other friends Glaucus had heard of a legend concerning the
small island Koukounisi, which was situated close to his grandfather’s village.
Once, it was said that Koukounisi was inhabited by Kouckons, wild and huge
people who lived isolated on the islet, without having any relationships with
the rest inhabitants of Lemnos.
Once Kouckons decided to stay shut up at their homes and not come out
again. But then suddenly, they disappeared one morning of the twenty-first of
the month of Skiroforion (June) and no one saw them again. It was said that
this was because of their arrogance towards Poseidon, as they prided themselves
with conceit that they were as strong- but much smarter- as the Cyclops
Polyphemus, Poseidon’s son, who was blinded by Odysseus.
For this reason, Poseidon commanded Hades to
imprison their souls to Tartars forever.
So everyone disappeared except for Kymopoleia,
Poseidon’s daughter and priestess who had tried in vain to make them prudent.
When Poseidon imposed this hard punishment to them, Kymopoleia tried to
dissuade her father. But he was adamant because hubris always brings Nemesis.
Since then Kymopoleia being inconsolable, put her life’s purpose to help the humble and
respectful people and she went to line in the sea as sea nymph.
According to
the same legend, if anyone dared to be on the island the twenty-first of
Skiroforion, Kymopoleia, in case he was sincere and humble, would make his
greatest wish come true. In different case, however, his soul would be
imprisoned in Tartars forever, like Kouckons ones.
By then on,
many have tried to go to the island that date, but most of them never came
back. And those who returned had lost their mind. For this reason visiting the
island this date was prohibited by law for all the residents of Lemnos.
Moreover, the
inhabitants of the island in order to protect themselves by Kouckons evil spirits built a temple dedicated to
Hephaestus the protector of the island, according to the oracle of Delphi . So now in addition to the remains of Cuckoos’
large houses there was the Hephaestus and Cabeirian’s temple that protected the
sailors. By then on, only a few Hephaestus’ priests, who were said to perform
some “secret” rituals, used to visit the island that date only in special
cases.
This temple, actually, was not as important and big
as that of Hephaestia but ceremonies were taking place there too, with people’s
participation.
Every year on the fifteenth day of Boedromion
(September) these ceremonies were being held, when people went there to
celebrate Pyrforia’s ceremony, the “Advent of the sacred flame” from Delos,
Great Mother’s celebration and the first man’s birth, Protolaos as people used to say.
The possibility to make his wish come true, the dream to be the hero of the sea which he often saw in his sleep, made him have the brash idea to visit the island the forbidden date. He would dare that although he knew that it was wrong and although he used to be obedient to his parents.This time he had made his decision. No one would
understand it, moreover. This would be his great secret if he was to return of
course! He was waiting for the summer
Impatiently, so that, he would go with his parents to the country
house which was situated very close to Koukounisi.
KOUKONISI
The
morning of the twenty-first Boedromion (June) of that year, when his parents
left from the country house, he ran to the beach where their boat was roped. He
jumped in the boat and started to paddle under the morning sun. The sea was
very calm and it was not blowing at all.
Glaucus’ lungs
filled with sea air, but his heart was going to break because of his suspense.
He was looking at the beach and his house all the time, hoping that he would
not hear his parents yelling at him to come back immediately.
His forehead was full of sweat as he was rowing in
a very fast way. Koukounisi was very
close now, he had made it. He jumped on the beach and tied up his boat to a big
stone. He decided to go immediately to the sanctuary of Hephaestus and
Cabeirian’s temple that stood on the plateau in the center of the island. In a
while he was in front of the main entrance. Above the door a note was written: “Uninitiated
non entering” that was to say
“Do not poke your nose into other people’s business!”
The door was locked of course. He went quickly to
the side window and climbed so as to be able to look inside. All he could see
was the statues of the three Cabeiris, Alkon’s, Onnis’, Aitnaias’ and that of
their father Hephaestus.
In front of the temple there was the altar and around that, there were
three trees on which ribbons, small statues and small wooden icons with prayers
for health were hanged by the visitors.
Glaucus had brought with him some honey, flour and fruits to offer to
the Gods and Kymopoleia. If he wanted his wish to come true, everything should
be done properly and with respect to Gods. His wish was to be able to explore
the seabed, something physically impossible for a human being. But for Gods
nothing is impossible if they wish.
Before he makes his invocations to the gods, a
strong wind blew from the south interrupting his thoughts.
He
feared because when he had arrived it was not blowing at all, and that was probably not a hopeful omen.
“Oh”
he explained when he remembered that the way he had roped his boat was not very
safe. He ran quickly to the point of the beach that his boat was left. Walking
down the plateau, he felt frightened when he saw his boat to have been drawn by
the wind in the open sea. He had not tied it up well when he arrived and the
sudden wind pulled it at the sea. Panic gripped Glaucus. He put his hands to
his face and shouted: “ Zeus show pity, what will I do now…?”
No
one knew he was there. How could he return back? His family would search for
him but they could never imagine that he had dared something like that. He could
just hope someone to notice that the boat was missing or someone else to have
dared to go there secretly too. Otherwise he would stay there alone without
food and water.
“What did I do the fool? How could this happen to
me?” he exclaimed.
Tears
rolled down his face. Glaucus was a strong boy and he rarely cried, but this
time things were very bad. “The
gods certainly punished me” he thought. “I came here as a thief, it
serves me right.”
The sun began to be very hot as it rose
higher and higher in the sky, while all he could hear was the sea and seabirds.
Suddenly he heard a strange noise
coming out behind the trees to the seaside. A noise that he had heard never
again in his life and made him scare…
He was panicked and ran back to the
plateau of the Temple to look from above, so as to be safe or to hide if
necessary, in case one of the sea monsters, told by the sailors or even worse a
giant Koukon, appeared.
For
better and for worse, he grabbed a broken twig that he found, and went carefully to the side that the sound
had been heard. The sound was whistling and weird.
Reaching over the rocks Glaucus was relieved to see
that the sea monster
was nothing more than a… dolphin…!
Glaucus took a sigh of relief, while he was looking at the dolphin. The
dolphin was wounded and the waves hit it by the beach. He had a deep wound on
his back and it seemed to have abandoned its forces. Glaucus ran quickly back
to the beach, climbed the rocks and approached the dolphin which was still making
squeaking sounds.
-“How did this happen, poor dolphin”
Glaucus asked without waiting any response of course. He felt sorry for the
dolphin and wanted to do something to help. The dolphin was staring at him as
if it understood his compassion.
-“What can I do now?” Glaucus asked.
Fortunately when he had come out of the boat he had managed to get his
haversack, in which he had apart from some water and his offerings to the Gods,
a small vial containing the valuable “ healing Lemnian soil”
(Terra Lemnia),
the medical soil that Hephaestus gave as a gift to the residents of Lemnos,
when he fell from Olympus to the island. Using this medical soil of “Lemnia soil” the God of fire healed his injured limbs after his falling.
With the famous “Lemnia soil”, Philoctetes’ leg, injured by snakebite, was also cured.
Philoctetes was Greeks’ best archer when they were
going to seize Troy.
He put
out the small vial that had Artemis’ stamp on it and opened it. He approached
the dolphin slowly, tearing a chunk of his tunic.
-“Do not
be afraid, I just want to help you”
he said.
He put little “Lemnia soil” on dolphin’s wound and tied it tightly with the piece of cloth
of his tunic. Simultaneously he filled his handfuls with seawater and he was constantly
raining the dolphin’s spine. The dolphin did not react it was safe in Glaucus’
hug.
-“We are
both unlucky, my friend. Let’s hope that Gods will help us” Glaucus said to himself, looking at the dolphin with compassion.
The dolphin seemed to be relieved from Glaucus’ hug. But as the hours were
going by, Glaucus began to feel tired, thirsty and hungry.
“I have
to sit down in the shadow” he said
addressing to the dolphin. He stood up and went to sit little further, in the
shadow of a big rock in water’s edge.
The
dolphin came out at the very shallow water and touched him with its beak.
–“Who will help whom, so are we” Glaucus asked. The fatigue made his eyes close, so he had already
gotten to sleep in a moment.
IN POSEIDON’S KINGDOM
-
“Glaucus” he heard a sweet female voice, and he felt a soft female caress
on his cheek.
-
“They found me” he thought.
He opened
his eyes and saw a beautiful young woman leaning over him. She had long blond
hair, green eyes; she was wearing a white tunic and had a white headscarf
around her neck. She was as beautiful as Aphrodite.
-
“Who are you? How did you get
there?” , Glaucus asked.
- “Do not be afraid Glaucus, I will help you
gust as you helped me,” the young woman responded.
- “Do you have a boat?” A smile appeared on his lips. The wind took mine and I have no
way to go home. My parents must have been very worried. A very hard punishment
is waiting for me which of course I deserve” Glaucus said.
- “I do not have a boat
but it does not need to us”. The woman’s
voice was warm and melodic. Glaucus amazed raised his eyebrows.
- So, how will I get home?
Swimming or flying?”
The woman smiled.
-
“What about swimming? Are you a capable swimmer? A wave of disappointment flooded Glaucus.
-
“A good swimmer may I
be, but even a grown man could not return swimming. How could I, since I am
only twelve years old?”
-
“Trust me Glaucus” , the woman said and stood up.
-
“I do not have many
options, but you have not told me who you are and how you got here” .
The
unknown woman replied with a question.
-“Before
I answer to you, have you not wondered what happened to the injured dolphin you
took care of?”
Glaucus
was surprised, how could the woman know about the dolphin?
-“Was
it still here when you came? The poor little dolphin was wounded…”
The
woman smiled.
-“My
name is Protomedeia, Glaucus, and I was the dolphin you were trying to save
little time ago.”
Glaucus
was left with an open mouth.-“Excuse
me?”….
If this was true, then he had a Goddess in front of
him and not a woman. It was true that her appearance was worthy of a Goddess.
How did he make it to have so many troubles? His
parents would not have the time to punish him, Gods would do that first.
Glaucus’ heart was beating as crazy. Protomedeia
realized his fear.
-
“Do not be afraid,
Glaucus, it may have been thoughtless of you to come here alone but if you had
not, my wounds would not have been healed so quickly, you actually saved me. I
am one of the Nereids and I have been transformed into a dolphin so as to help
and take care of my sisters during our war
with the Gorgons and Sirens. You may not know it, but there has been a great
war at sea between us Nereids, the Mermaids and
Sirens for a long time. This war for supremacy at sea began with the
great war happening at your country. Glaucus, you see people’s actions and feelings
affect Mother Nature, Gaia and all those divine powers that exist in her and
help her.
Egoism, malice and hatred become actions which
generate pain and suffering in human societies, provoking imbalance and
disharmony to the natural powers too, which seeks for a new equilibrium and
harmony.
When this happens, then there is most often a large
upsurge in natural disasters on earth caused by this disharmony. Occasionally,
of course, this is not due to human actions, but to the secret call of the
divine plan of evolution. The battle between Good and Evil has been always
existed. Evil is “nourished” by anger, jealousy, sadness, frustration, greed,
arrogance, insult, lies, vanity, and ego. Good is
“nourished” by the joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, charity, compassion, generosity, truth, compassion. The poor human thoughts and actions can be balanced only by human love and altruism.
“nourished” by the joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, charity, compassion, generosity, truth, compassion. The poor human thoughts and actions can be balanced only by human love and altruism.
For this reason, if there is even a spark of love,
hope there will be as well, and because the hatred and malice are taught while
love is just experienced, “conquered”.
For example one can teach you to hate something or
someone else without having personally met. But in order to really love someone
or something you need to know it and then your heart will know, will feel, will
love it.
The most important things cannot be seen by the
eyes but by the heart. The love you offered to the dolphin -without knowing it
was me-helped me heal my wounds.
So in the world too, if lots of people shared their
thoughts and acts of love our world would be better. The more people are, the
better the result is. A man creates a path but lots of people together create a
road…
Before you return home, I would like to reciprocate
the help and kindness you offered me.
Tell me what you wish and I will try to give it to you.”
Glaucus did not believe his ears. Not
only had not he caused Gods’ anger but also the reason why he had come here
would become a reality.
-
“The truth is I have a
wish” , Glaucus said coyly.
“I want something that is very difficult to become true…”
-
-“What is it, Glaucus?
Tell me and I will try it out”, sweet Protomedeia said.
-
“Eh…., I wish I could
see the seabed, to live among the sea creatures, to meet Poseidon’s Kingdom.
But now what I want is to go back home, because I do not have my boat and my
parents must be really worried…!!!”
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-
“This is something I
can make true” , the Nereid said
happily.“I will give you a herb to drink and you will be
able to swim with me at the seabed, as long as you want. Do not worry about
your parents, time will stop at the moment you found me, you will have as much
time as you want to go back”.
A wide smile appeared on Glaucus’ face.
His green eyes sparkled with happiness.
-
“Thank you very much
Protomedeia, I cannot believe it, thank you a lot”…
Protomedeia was wearing a red sash
around her waist. She pulled a small vial through it that had Poseidon’s
trident painted on it and offered that to Glaucus. He hesitated for a while,
but he eventually picked it up and drank it all at once. It was blue and tasted
sweet, so it was not difficult for him to drink.
-“And now?”
, Glaucus asked.
-“Now we can go for a ride at the seabed, if you
want so.” Protomedeia stretched her hand.
-“Perfect”, Glaucus exclaimed and took her hand in his.
Her hand was so soft and warm, that
reminded his mother’s hand, and that liked him very much.
So they started going to the sea hand
in hand. Glaucus’ heart was beating as crazy, glad and scared at the same time,
small drops of sweat appeared on his forehead.
But what if he drowned? Protomedeia
realized his fear and embraced him.
-“Do not be afraid, my dear everything will be
fine.” She said and gave him a kiss on his
forehead. Glaucus took courage, he was a boy and he should not show fear in
front of a woman and especially so beautiful as her.
Little by little, the sea began to
cover Glaucus’ and Protomedeia’s bodies. Once the water reached the height of
Glaucus’ neck, Protomedeia asked him:
-“Are you ready my dear? Whenever you are ready we
will dip together, just as you dive.”
Glaucus looked at her beautiful green
eyes while he was taking a deep breath. He shook his head, a sign that he was
ready for his encounter with the underwater world.
Of course if it was not Kouckons trick,
which would mean his end!
His thoughts were interrupted by the
sensation of cold water on his face.
Protomedeia was holding his hand and
gestured with her free hand to look her in the eyes. Glaucus looked in her eyes
and then something amazing happened.
Protomedeia was moving her lips and mouth as
if she was talking to him.
At that moment he saw small air bubbles
coming out of her mouth and he suddenly “listened” to her voice like a whisper
in his head.
- Glacus, take a breath, do not be afraid, you will not drown. For a while, you are a creature of the sea too. We are still in the shallows, if you do not believe me and feel drowning just stand up and take your head out of the sea.”
- Glacus, take a breath, do not be afraid, you will not drown. For a while, you are a creature of the sea too. We are still in the shallows, if you do not believe me and feel drowning just stand up and take your head out of the sea.”
Glaucus made a grimace showing
wonder and admiration too, for this unusual mode of communication. The truth
was that he found Protomedeia’s abilities impressive, so, even though he had
been keeping his breath so far, he closed his eyes because of his fear and let
the sea water go down to his nose and throat. Few air bubbles came out of his
nose and mouth and they soon filled with water.
The seawater did not drown him though.
He felt some warmth fleeing his chest;
his nose tingled a little, and felt dizzy for a few seconds.
-“Do not worry, you will feel better in a minute.” He heard Protomedeia’s whispers “inside” his
head. And it was true, Glaucus immediately felt so comfortable, as when someone
breathes oxygen, for which the people, the animals, and the plants on Earth are
molded. Even his sight was as clear as out on surface.
His joy was indescribable, he squeezed
her hand more (the one he was holding) and with his free hand he touched the
point of the heart, to show that he thanked her.
Protomedeia winked to him.
-“She is very good”,
he thought.
Protomedeia whispered:
-“Are you ready for free diving now?”
Glaucus nodded with his head “yes.”
-“Well! To be able to take you with me I will
become a dolphin again.
So you must embrace me and I hope you will like the
travel in Poseidon’s kingdom. Let’s go to my father Nereus first so as to meet
my sisters. There,
we will be safe from the Sirens and the Mermaids.”
we will be safe from the Sirens and the Mermaids.”
-“This sounds perfect”, Glaucus agreed.
They had been in the shallow water yet,
so he stood up on his two legs and waited for Protomedeia to be transformed
into a dolphin, having his head in the sea.
What he outfaced was magical. Small
white whirlpool started to spread cyclically, little by little, from her head
to her feet.
Thousands of water bubbles were
swirling around her human body until they covered it completely. Glaucus
thought he had seen a dream and he stared his eyes…
All he could see was the white
whirlpool, swirling gradually from the upper side, revealing a dolphin’s head.
When the vortex disappeared, the dolphin- Protomedeia appeared in front of him!
Glaucus was trying to recover from
the shock. The dolphin- Protomedeia, with an incredibly fast move, jumped out
of the water, turned around herself and then swam behind Glaucus. Before he
even understood what had happened, Protomedeia was already touching the tip of
his legs with her beak playfully.
-“Glaucus, what about helping me go for a reide?
Open your legs to get you on my back.”
-“Of course,”
Glaucus said and Protomedeia slipped beneath his legs immediately waiting for
him to embrace her. Once he did it Protomedeia-dolphin swam quickly to deep
with rhythmic movements.
What happened was unprecedented. He
felt the seawater slipping to his body, pulling his facial features, as if he
was riding a horse very fast.
Around him the seabed was changing colors and
as Protomedeia-dolphin was leading him deeper, its color was getting darker.
Now the seabed was covered with huge seaweed which was moving left and
right like the crops in the meadows, in Limnos in spring, with plenty of fish
popping in and out.
As time was passing, bigger and bigger fish were swimming around them,
while the depth was still growing. Glaucus lifted his head up, looking at the
surface and saw that the color of the sea near the surface was having a lovely
blue tint, as the rays of the sun were falling over it.
Lines of light were tearing the
surface until they were gradually being lost in its hug.
Now they had reached the very deep and the water was much darker. He
looked at the surface again, which seemed to be very far. He looked ahead and
he saw a lot of big rocks, as the landscape was getting wilder and wilder.
On the surface of a big rock an enormous brown octopus was moving
quickly. Glaucus shuddered watching the octapus’ size and squeezed Protomedeia
even tighter.
-“We arrive in a moment”, Protomedeia said as she understood that
Glaucus was getting a little scared.
Suddenly the rocky seabed ended and they began to go down a steep rocky
ravine. The rocks were covered with colorful corals, while hundreds of swarms
of small and big fish were wandering around the rocks. Then other dolphins
started to come from the deep, too, and once they approached them, they began
making circles around them, passing above and below them, playfully.
-“Glaucus, welcome to our hom”, Glaucus
heard in his head lots of voices to say simultaneously, in the same magical way
Protomedeia had also used. And they continued their playful dance around them.
-“Glaucus, you well understood. They are some of my
sisters”, Protomedeia said.
-“ Hello, I am very happy to be here with you”, Glaucus
replyed.
Suddenly, he saw an enormous rock in
the seabed that looked like a hill, which had lots of openings on the side,
from which various sea creatures were going in and out.
But as they were coming closer, he noticed that the rock was covered
with beautiful colors, and reflected the little light was falling on it, so it
was glowing dazzling as if it was lightened by a magical way. In a while, they
would be getting into one of the entrances of the rock.
Once they got inside, wonderful light flooded the space through a dome
in the centre of the rock, which was open although it was not visible from
outside.
Round and round inside, there were
plenty arcades while in the centre there were incredibly beautiful, colorful
corals, shells and lovely big nautilus.
In the centre of that marine garden, there was a throne made by two huge
clams. The one was the base on which another one open was, which included the
throne in shape of a folded starfish. Nereus was sitting on the throne, “the
elder of the sea”, as he was known.
Nereus had the grandiose appearance that befitted a god. His appearance
was different from a human’s one, as green seaweed covered his head instead of
hair and beard. His body was naked from the waist up, while he had a fish tail
from the waist down. Nereus was known to be good and lovable, “he had
noble thoughts and never lied”.
Glaucus had been taught in history that
when Hercules had been looking for the garden of Hesperides, in one of his
feats, he had asked the Nymphs in the river of Illyria Eridanus, if they knew
to show him the way.
The Nymphs then urged him to ask the old Nereus which way he should
follow to find the garden. Nereus who now was in front of him – who could have
thought it- was not so willing to help Hercules and the hero had to force him.
Firstly, Hercules tried to arrest him while he was sleeping, but Nereus
woke up and tried to escape, being transformed sometimes into water, and
sometimes into fire.
Hercules however caught him and after
Nereus had taken his original form, he showed him the way.
“So this is Nereus” ,Glaucus thought, who would have thought
that a little mortal like Glaucus would be here now in his kingdom, talking
with him.
Protomedeia-dolphin stopped, so that Glaucus could get off her back. In
the same time the rest dolphins that is to say her sisters who had come to
welcome them, eight in number, stopped beside them. When Glaucus left
Protomedeia, she and her sisters began to be transformed again into women.
Although he had already seen once the process of transformation through
the eddy, when Protomedeia was transformed, it was exciting to see nine such
strange transformative eddies around him simultaneously.
Protomedeia’s eight sisters ran and sat on the tail and on the side of
their father Nereus, who seemed to be very happy with so many women taking care
of him. Who would not be happy, moreover, having fifty daughters- because so
many his daughters Nereids were- and having as wife a goddess, to groom him?
-“Welcome to my home, Glaucus, come closer” he heard old Nereus’ calm
voice who did signal with his palm to approach.
In his hand, he was holding a
scepter which had a sculpted dolphin on its top. Beside him, right and left of
the throne, two Ichthyocentaurs were sitting, Bythos and Aphros.
These were Cronus and Philyra’s
twin sons and they were half siblings of the wise centaur, Chiron. Both of them
had a human form in the upper part of their body, and a horse form in their
lower part, which had a fish tail instead of back legs. Aphros
had lobster’s antennas and Bythos had lobster’s claws, on their heads. This was
their only difference, since their figure was absolutely the same. Their
appearance made Glaucus feel scared, but he tried not to let it show.
Protomedeia standing beside Glaucus took him
by the hand to sit next to Nereus.
Glaucus, although he was in the water, had reddened
from shame and respect. Once he sat beside him, Nereus smiled and stroked his
thick, curly hair, which were dancing messy right and left in the sea, and
seemed rather funny.
-“Well I learnt that you helped my daughter,
Protomedeia. Protomedeia’s deed is to take care of us all, but this time you
took care of her, with great love.
I also learnt, how much you love the sea, and that
it was your desire to know the underwater world, something that no man has done
before. We will try to have fun for the little time you will be with us, if you
want to, of course.”
-“Of
course I would love to, this is my dream, thank you very much.” Glaucus said having his eyes lowered, as he was afraid to look
right in Nereus’ eyes.
-“Protomedeia, maybe should you introduce Glaucus to your sisters?” Nereus said smiling.
Protomedeia’s beautiful sisters were smiling
playfully and they were whispering secrets to each other, apparently about
Glaucus, causing great embarrassment to him. They all had blond hair and green
eyes, it could hardly be said who was the prettiest, as each one had her own
unique beauty. They had youthful faces and they would certainly make pleasant
company as smile was permanent on their lips.
-“Of
course father, that was my omission. Glaucus this is Galene”
Protomedeia said pointing at the Nereid sitting on the left side next to
Glaucus and Nereus.
Galene smiled shaking her fingers in a friendly greeting.
“Galene brings us calmness in the stormy sea” , Galene did a grimace of approval.
Protomedeia continued pointing the Nereid next to
Galene, “Eukrati calms the waves, and as you see, they are very close to each
other”.
The two sisters hugged each other smiling.
-“This is Nemertes, known for her truthfulness, while Nesaea and Neso
have the islands under their jurisdiction”
, Protomedeia said pointing.
They
all together nodded to Glaucus who retaliated with his best smile.
Pointing at the right this time, Protomedeia
introduced Pontoporeia, who always finds a way out.
“So, if you ever get lost in the seabed, you know
who to call, she knows every stone, every street and every star in the sky”.
-“Oh,
my sister exaggerates, but if you ever need me, I will be glad to advise you” , Pontoporeia said.
-“Thanks
a lot, I will definitely remember that” Glaucus said happily.
-“Polunoe, known for her wisdom and Pronoe known for her foresight” Protomedeia continued the recommendations. “Finally, these are our wise
teachers, Aphros and Bythos, our guards and protectors.” Both Ichthyocentaurs shook the lobster’s antennas and claws that had on their heads as
a sign of greeting.
-“Nice to meet you” , Glaucus said
coyly and being perhaps a bit frightened, addressing to the Ichthyocentaurs.
After recommendations had finished, Nereus took the
speech again.
-“As
you see, Glaucus I am a lucky father. I never miss care, song and dance, my
daughters care for it. However, this period we are facing a predicament, as my
daughter Protomedeia explained to you, that spoils our fun a bit.”
-“Yes,
she explained to me that this happens due to the war that is taking place in
the land.” Glaucus replied.
-“So is it, but things are temporary
for us here as our time is eternal and our souls are not in danger of being
seduced by the evil forever, only impermanent. In human societies, however, the
battle taking place in people’s souls is much more important and the
consequences are very serious.
People have only a moment available, the present. Like Hercules, who had to choose between two paths, people are also asked to make their choices, to choose their path. This is not an easy decision to make.
People have only a moment available, the present. Like Hercules, who had to choose between two paths, people are also asked to make their choices, to choose their path. This is not an easy decision to make.
Glaucus imagine an eternal
battle, taking place between two wolves that exist within all people. The one
wolf is the Evil representing anger, jealousy, sadness, frustration, greed,
arrogance, guilt, attack, inferiority, lies, vanity and ego.
The other one
is the Good and represents joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility,
kindness, benevolence, compassion, generosity, truth and faith in Gods. The
winner will be this one who is fed up more in each one’s soul. If the Evil
dominates, then societies will be wild herds and might makes right dominates,
not the justice. Societies and people get waned.
As you can see,
Glaucus, the choices and decisions that everyone makes determine not only his own
future, but also that of the next generations that follow.
This is because each one is the sequel of his ancestors.
Each one’s value is
considered by what he can offer not by what he can receive. What you give is
more important than what you get.
Hercules in his
return from the garden of Hesperides told me a teaching story that a wise old
man had narrated there and I would like to share it with you. I am sure you
will like it.
People there call the creator of the world,
“The Great Spirit”. This created everything, and gave to the First People
presents enclosed in carved cedar boxes.
Early humans were animals, the creatures that pre-existed. One of
the boxes contained the water. And when the box was opened, all the water came
out and went to heaven.
So the clouds were created. Then it fell like rain and formed the
rivers that spilled in the big pits and so sea was created. In another box, all
the mountains were. They were situated on the place that they still are today.
In other two boxes there were all the seed plants and the wind that blew and
scattered them to the four sides of the world…
All first people
opened their boxes apart from Seagull.
All the light of the world was in his box. But Seagull was holding the
box tightly without opening it.
So, at first
darkness only existed in the world…. The animals-people were asking him to open
the box, but he was constantly refusing, holding it under his wing tightly.
Thus, the first people asked raven’s
help, who was Seagull’s cousin. Raven tried in every way to persuade Seagull to
open the box which contained the light of the world. He begged him, flattered
him, threatened him…but no result! Raven then, angry as he was, thought:
“Seagull hurts all the people. He deserves to get a thorn in his foot…” Raven’s
every thought used to become true. So Seagull suddenly started to scream from
the pain: “My foot, my foot, something tapped my foot!..” Raven was offered to
help, as if he did not know what had happened. He stooped, then, saw the thorn,
but instead of pulling it out he pushed it even deeper.
-“Oh, Seagull, excuse
me. I cannot see what I am doing. If only there was light, even a little… I
could see what has hurt you and I would certainly find a solution…”
Then, little Seagull opened the cap and let
some of the light out of the box. A lot of molecules of light escaped, streamed
into the sky and raven was the first one to see the stars. And they were
wonderful…
Raven leaned over
Seagull’s foot again and pushed the thorn even deeper. Seagull screamed, crying
from the pain.
-“I am sorry, there is
not enough light. Open the box a little more” Raven said.
Seagull lifted the cap little more so that dim light could get
out, which was towered in the sky. Raven was the first who saw the moon. And it
was wonderful…
Raven leaned over
Seagull’s foot again, and pushed the thorn much deeper, Seagull cried loudly,
he opened his two wings and the box fell down. The cap opened and a huge ball
of fire got out of the box and sprang up in the sky.
Raven could not look at this very bright light, he could not look
at… the Sun! But he could see more clearly and draw the thorn from Seagull’s
foot…
Seagull then realized
that his unwillingness to give what he had, caused him this pain.
Only when you give without hesitation, the pain leaves and the
road to freedom opens.
For this reason, Glaucus,
if you ever go to the place that Seagull lives, you will see that he sometimes
stands on his one leg and puts the other up. This is because the pain that the
thorn provoked has not been forgotten yet…
.
.
-“I made you feel
tired with my verbiage, Glaucus”
Nereus smiled.
-“Not at all, Venerable Nereus,
your words are wise” Glaucus answered. I wish all people could think in
the way you advised me. I would like the pain caused by the war here and on
land to stop. But I am little and the adult world is too hard. I do not think
that a child as me can convince them to change their habits and behaviors.”
-“Glaucus, you may be young, but
do not forget that sometimes the mind and the heart are an incredibly powerful
weapon if they are used properly.”
-“I would like to see and learn
more things from you. But to tell you the truth, one of the reasons I wanted to
live in the seabed was to protect the sailors from the sea monsters that men in
the
taverns talk about. Do these monsters really exist?”
taverns talk about. Do these monsters really exist?”
Nereus,
his daughters and both the Ichthyocentaurs
laughed loudly.
-“Glaucus, the wine can create lots
of monsters; I do not know what the seamen exactly mean. Do not forget that the
first glass is that of joy. The second one is that of laughter, and the third
one is of drunkenness and insult. Then the mind and the body lose control and
seamen drink enough, as I know. But the monsters, even if they do not exist,
they can be created. Currently the Mermaids and Sirens have caused great
imbalance in the sea, as they have poisoned with malice and murdering instincts
the sea creatures.
In the cycle of nature survival instinct may dominate but none of
the creatures kill for pleasure, but only in order to be fed. Of course this
does not apply to human societies, where people kill each other to impose their
authority and dominance to other people.
Unfortunately during this predicament Sirens and Mermaids
accompanied by swordfish, moray eels, sharks, scatter fear and death at the
seabed, not because of necessity but of malice. So if you want to protect the
sea creatures from the monsters I described you, you can, but are you sure that
you really want to?”
-“Of course, I would like to, but
I just do not know how I could help you” Glaucus said with excitement.
-“Very nice, so our sage
teachers, Aphros and Bythos, will explain to you what can be done. You have to
know that I would not permit to you to participate in something like that, if
the human involvement in the preservation of natural harmony was not important.
I should also let you know how important a role nymph Kymopoleia played for
your presence here…”
Glaucus raised his
eyebrows, puckering his lips, indicating that he could now understand that his
presence on Kouckonisi Island that day caused his wish to come true, so the
legend was true then. His thoughts were interrupted by Aphros and Bythos that
moved towards him.
It was true that they seemed scary, but their faces were calm and
the antennas and claws on their heads saved the day, as they were constantly
going back and forth.
-“Come with us Glaucus, let’s go
to the teachers’ training, follow us” Bythos said with a bass voice.
His brother Aphros did not say anything. He just moved next to his brother.
Glaucus turned and looked at Protomedeia showing that he was not
sure if he wanted to be left alone with them.
-“See you later, Glaucus”
, Protomedeia said with a brilliant smile. She was so beautiful that every time
he was looking at her he could feel tightness in his heart, strange but
certainly nice feeling. He could feel very nice with her. But now he had to
stay alone with the wise brothers Ichthyocentaurs, as he was told to. As he was
following them he could not but compare the moment with the heroes he always
admired, Castor and Pollux, the great physician Asclepius, Jason and especially
Achilles, who were taught by wise centaur Chiron.
“May I am dreaming”, he
thought and pinched his leg secretly. But nothing happened.
He was still there between Bythos and Aphros swimming towards the
one of the inner gates which was behind Nereus’ throne. Nereus surrounded by
his daughters was laughing loudly.
Once they approached this which seemed to be a door, Aphros and
Bythos who were ahead just passed through it. Concentric cycles were spread on
the surface of this thing that looked like a door when the twins passed, as
happens when you throw a stone on the surface of a lake, but in this case they
had already been in the water!
Glaucus had stayed outside looking dumbfounded.
-“Glaucus come here, please, we
are waiting for you”, he heard the voice of one of the brothers.
He tried to be encouraged and passed the strange door. He felt
nothing, while he was passing. The strange door was like a curtain, but you
could not see from outside to inside and vice versa, but there was nothing
solid to prevent you pass through it.
Once Glaucus got inside he
saw the twins at the centre of the circular room.
The room was all along carved symmetrically with square wickets,
in which there were thin stone slabs that probably were books. Round and round
there were some nautilus stuck on the rocky walls of the room which was
lightening the whole room with a wonderful light.
In the centre of the
room, there was a round table made of stones, framed perimeter of a circular
stall also made by stone.
The twins were waiting
for him there. The antennas and claws on their heads were still wiggling back
and forth. The spectacle was funny but Glaucus tried not to laugh.
-“Come and sit between us”
, Bythos said calmly.
Glaucus sat in the centre between the two brothers and crossed his
hands on the stone table.
Nobody was talking. Glaucus felt embarrassed and was looking at
his hands. Suddenly Aphros talked.
-“There are two ways for a man to
fight Glaucus. The one is through logic and intelligence and the other through
muscle strength. The first method suits to humans and the second one to the
beasts. However, sometimes the first way is woefully inadequate for most as
they cannot control their wild instincts, so most resort to the second. Both
Centaur Chiron and us, we are heroes’ teachers.”
Centaur Chiron and us, we are heroes’ teachers.”
Aphros thought for a while, remaining silent, and after a while he
continued.
-“Notice our body. What can you
see?”
-“I can see two Ichthyocentaurs who
have the body of a fish, a horse and a human.” Glaucus said being
careful not to break a smile on their lobster’s claws and antennas!
-“Learn to see beyond what eyes
see, Glaucus” , Bythos said.
“The lower part of our body does not have this form of horse
randomly, while our upper one has human form. This symbolizes humans’
superiority over the animal kingdom. Our antennas, which you find funny,
symbolize a conscious man who has contact with his divine substance.
But this is
something you will understand in time when you grow up. Heroes fight for this
reason, to “exalt” humanity. This is why they become demigods in the end.
This is in contrary to the chthonic forces that are nurtured by
destruction and negative emotions. Currently, Phorcy and his daughters, the
three Mermaids, Stheno, Euryale and Medusa, and the three Sirens, Aglaopheme, Molpe and Thelxiepeia express these chthonic forces.
The situation is
critical as lots of sea creatures are being lost. The problem is that Gods
cannot imprison Gods for human affairs. Therefore Glaucus, your contribution to
Phorcys’ and his daughters’ arrest, could be extremely important so that lives
will stop being lost.
We are planning an
operation at the extremity of the night across the Atlantic Ocean at
Hesperides, where Mermaids live. If we are lucky and we surprise them, then we
may be able, with your help, to catch them and prevent them from carrying on
their destructive work.
If we are lucky we may find their father Phorcy there too, if not
we may need to go to the lake
Tritonidia in Libya, where his Kingdom is”.
Tritonidia in Libya, where his Kingdom is”.
Glaucus listened to Bythos
words with attention and enthusiasm.
-“And what about me? How could I
help you?” Glaucus asked wistfully.
Aphros took the speech again. The Nymph Kymopoleia has persuaded
her father, Sea power Poseidon, to intervene and he will “pretend not to see”
whatever it happens.
The wise Nereus has asked from Hephaestus to create a special
armor for you, and a unique crossbow which is going to dispose arrows with
multiple heads which will be joined together with steel net. When the arrows
are launched toward the goal, heads open circularly and close once the central
shaft hits to any hard object. If you are good at shooting, we may be lucky and
you may captivate the Mermaids and the Sirens with their father.
At that moment,
Protomedeia, the personification of beauty, entered the room smiling, passing
the strange entrances.
-“Wise teachers, can I take Glaucus
now?” , She asked.
The twins nodded “yes” with a nod of their head downwards, bearing
their antennas and claws at the front! It was apparent that the twins did not
like to talk too much. They were definitely proponents of brief speech
introduced by the Spartans. “Brevity is the soul of wit” they
used to say.
-“Come on, my dear, you should
take some rest for tonight, we expect a difficult day tomorrow” , Protomedeia
said, stretching out her hand to get his own.
Glaucus popped up, so to
speak, as the movements of the human body in the water are necessarily lazy.
-“Thank you a lot”, he said to the twins and held Protomedeia’s
velvet hand.
They came out of the teachers’ training to the central colorful
room where Nereus’ throne was. Nobody was here now apart from the besides
plenty of colorful fish in all sizes which were swimming in the room.
Protomedeia led Glaucus into another room opposite the tutorial. Passing again
through another strange door- curtain they were found in a small circular room
similar to the tutorial, with the only difference that there were not any
shelves on the walls, but various wonderful murals inspired by the sea.
In the centre of the
room, there was a huge open clam which had been converted into a bed.
Protomedeia led him there to lie down. Then, she stretched her
hand out in which she was keeping a green round mass of seaweed, and said:
“ Glaucus, I want you to
eat these seaweed which will help you not only to sleep, but also to
dream, as we have too many things to do tomorrow”, Glaucus
did not hesitate at all this time. Their taste was bitter but nevertheless he
thanked her, and after he had eaten them he lied down on the bed-clam.
Protomedeia then, recited
a pray for Glaucus:
“Spread your wings,
God of dream, prophetic messages to bring. Come to the mortal people savior,
tran singer oracles to chant! You silently come forward, amid the serenity of
the sweetest sleep, and you awaken the thought, talking to the souls. You bring
to earth the wills of Blessed, during mortal people’s silent sleep, and you
reveal the future to the silent soul, which the Divine Mind governs with
compassion, until the heart conceives the Beauty, which will lead man’s full of
joy life to the charm.”
Immediately the
Nereid got out and Glaucus stayed alone. So many facts had happened that day
that he did not know what to think about first. What he had lived, or what he
was expecting to live the following day. Had Hephaestus created an armor and
weapon for him? It was unbelievable. He could not have dared something like
that, even in his dreams.
On the other hand, how
could just a twelve-year-old boy fight the Mermaids and the Sirens? His
tireness was so great and his bed-clam so soft that he did not realize how soon
he fell asleep. But something magical happened when he fell asleep. The clam
closed hiding little Glaucus inside.
Simultaneously a yellow-red color started to be vibrated from the clam’s centre, and the whole room was lightened.
Simultaneously a yellow-red color started to be vibrated from the clam’s centre, and the whole room was lightened.
Of course,
Glaucus did not see and feel anything during his sleep. He saw the same dream
during all night. He was in a green meadow with Aphros and Bythos and they were
teaching him shooting with a strange bow. Nymph Kymopoleia was with them, whom
he had never met, but in his dream he knew who she was.
_The_Mirror.jpg)
Whenever the
twins gave instructions and asked him to shoot, Nymph Kymopoleia was touching
the hand that was shooting, and then Glaucus felt strange energy to penetrate
him and make him shudder
The shots were
always accurate, and his speed was extremely fast. Exactly the same happened
with the exercises he was doing with a strange spear, which had two round
metallic protrusions in the edges in shape of sea urchins with very long
spines.
The twins
Ichthyocentaurs were teaching him how to use it. When the time of exercise was
coming, Kimopoleia was touching him again making the spear-urchin as easy as a
game in his hands.
Glaucus was
twiddling it around him and over his head with mastery. He was repelling the
blows from the attacks of wooden swords that Aphros and Bythos were using for
this reason.
The next morning,
Glaucus woke up, having felt two warm lips on his forehead. The clam- bed had
opened again. He opened his eyes and saw Protomedeia above him. He could not
have imagined a prettier awakening than this. His beloved Nereid smiled.
-“ Good morning Glaucus, today is
the big day! Come out, we are waiting for you”.
Glaucus got up quickly, feeling very refreshed and incredibly
strong. His moves were much quicker than usual, without making any efforts.
He opened and closed his palms looking with amazement as this move
was made effortlessly with a great speed. Coming out in the room with Nereus’
throne, he saw an incredibly beautiful sight.
Nereus was sharing
his throne with a beautiful woman today, his wife Oceania Doris.
Besides Nereus and Doris, the room was full of beautiful Nereids,
all fifty must have been here! The two Ichthyocentaurs were also here, right
and left of Nereus’ throne.
-“Come here, Glaucus, approach
us” Nereus said. “Did you sleep well?”
-“I slept very well, I feel
strange but really very strong today” , Glaucus replied.
-“Very nice. This is what we
wanted. So you are ready to become a little hero. We have a small present for
you that will be very useful”, Nereus told him.
Suddenly circle light in size of a large shield appeared in front
of Nereus’ throne. After a while the light gradually disappeared and in its
place a brilliant bronze-colored armor appeared, a shield that had Hephaestus’
symbols on it, a hammer, an anvil and a nipper, an armor, a crossbow and the
spear that Glaucus had dreamed of.
At the same time two
huge seahorses approached having a chariot behind them.
The chariot did not have wheels of course, as they would not be
useful in the seabed.
They stopped in front of Nereus and Glaucus. The chariot was the
same color as the armor, and representations of dolphins were depicted, while
in front Poseidon’s trident was embossed.
Glaucus was looking
as if he was hypnotized. One surprise succeeded another. He had been living in
a dream by the previous day. Protomedeia and one of her sisters took the armor
and weapons and approached Glaucus who had been dumbfounded.
-“Amphitrite and me
will prepare you” , Protomedeia said
smiling.
Glaucus smiled too, although this smile was of embarrassment.
Both of Nereids helped him put on his armor
and gave him the crossbow, which was exactly the same as the one he was using
in his dream. Nereids expressed exclamations of admiration as Glaucus looked
like God Mars in his armor. Glaucus was very proud and a smile was constantly
etched on his face.
Amphitrite, in the
meantime, put the big quiver with the specially formed arrows, and the spear
with the sharp edges like urchin’s, on the chariot that the Seahorses had
brought.
Aphros and Bythos moved
towards the chariot and took the Seahorses’ place.
Protomedeia and Amphitrite roped the chariot on the twins.
-“ Glaucus, the chariot is for
you. Aphros and Bythos will drive you and my daughters will protect you. I wish
you good luck, your mission is very important. Remember, that today you have to
confront your fear, everyone’s biggest challenge. You must be courageous.
Courage is the art of concealing your fear, as everyone can get afraid even the
most fearless.Imagine that even omnipotent Zeus dreads Hera!” , Nereus
said smiling and everyone could not help but burst into laughter.
He continued: “This requires courage; it is not lack of
fear but an action despite fear.
Remember, Glaucus, you do not conquer your fears by avoiding them
but by chasing them! When the wrestler enters the arena and manages to preserve
his dignity and honor, he will never be defeated, even if he loses the match,
his soul will be intact because he will know that he did his best.
Even when you lose, if
you are taught by your mistakes, victory will eventually come. And if this does
not happen the next time, it will happen one after that. The worst is not to
fall down; the worst is not to stand up. You are defeated only when you give
up. So, Glaucus, try not to give up due to your fear, before you even fight,
this is my advice”.
-“Thank you very much
wise Nereus, I hope to be worthy of your trust”, Glaucus answered.
Suddenly an enormous white circle of transformative whirlpool
filled the room as Nereids were being transformed into dolphins, for their
mission. All apart from Protomedeia, who took Glaucus by hand and drove him to
sit together on Ichthyocentaurs’ chariot.
Once Nereids
were transformed, their father Nereus and their mother Doris stretched their
hands forward simultaneously, lowering their heads until their jaws touched
their chest.
Absolute silence prevailed for a while. After that four beams of
light got out of their hands, which spread in the room wrapping all Nereids who
now were dolphins.
Gradually the light was confined in each Nereid-dolphin, in their
beaks, fins and tails.
Little by little the
light was concentrated and became brazen at these points, protecting them and
simultaneously turning them into sharp and powerful weapons.
Once this happened, Nereids being transformed into dolphins,
sluiced altogether out playfully, from the gates to the deep ocean, with
Glaucus’ chariot, Protomedeia and the twins at the centre.
The sunlight was
lighting the surface of the sea, while the full of colors seabed was throbbing
with life.
Nereids-dolphins were dancing around Glaucus’ chariot, who was
sparkling in Hephaestus’ magnificent armor. Glaucus admired the exciting
underwater world and he was constantly asking Protomedeia about the creatures
he saw and he did not know. His beloved Nereid was patient with him and she was
answering willingly to all his questions.
-“We are reaching our destination
in a while, Glaucus”, Protomedeia informed him.
“Your body is ready for what is going to come next but your soul
is not. What you have to overcome is the fear that
will certainly come upon you. What you are going to see and face will be
unknown for you. Do not let fear get the win before the fight. I will be here
beside you and I will help you to make it. At least we will try. And if we
finally do not make it, we will know that we will have tried for what we
consider good and right, not so much for ourselves as for the common benefit.
Prepare yourself Glaucus; take your crossbow in your hand”.
Protomedeia took the
spear with the radial sharp edges in her hand.
-“Do not worry Protomedeia, I
will do my best”, Glaucus
assured her, though in fact, he got more scared after her words but he just
tried not to show it.
Suddenly the water started to get darker even though it was not
deeper. The landscape was also deserted; there were only stones and rocks
everywhere, while no alive creatures appeared anywhere. No movements, only dark
water. The place seemed deserted and threatening. Bad instinct came upon
Glaucus and he immediately tightened the crossbow in his right hand and his
shield in his left one.
An eerie
whistling sound which resembled to screams and became louder and louder made
Glaucus shiver.
-“They are coming”
Protomedeia told him. Her sisters were spread in the area around the chariot,
creating a protective collar around them.
Numerous black figures were approaching fast from the depth. When
they went closer Glaucus understood what it was. Dozens of sharks, swordfish,
moray eels and rays, were coming straight towards them at a great speed, while
Mermaids were in the centre of the formation. Mermaids were Phorcy and Ceto’s
daughters. Their names were:
Sthenoe that meant strength and symbolized the power of the sea, Euryale that meant wide sea and Medusa which meant “govern”, “dominate”, “Protect”. On their heads they had snakes instead of hair and their threatening red eyes provoked a frightful sight that made one unable even to breathe.
Sthenoe that meant strength and symbolized the power of the sea, Euryale that meant wide sea and Medusa which meant “govern”, “dominate”, “Protect”. On their heads they had snakes instead of hair and their threatening red eyes provoked a frightful sight that made one unable even to breathe.
Despite Medusa’s
repulsive appearance, it is said that once she had been so beautiful that
Poseidon wanted to be united with her and he made it being disguised as a
horse, in Athena’s sanctuary. Goddess Athena was furious but she could not
punish Poseidon, so she broke her anger over Medusa. She transformed her to a
hateful monster, who had snakes instead of hair. Such was her ugliness that
everyone who looked at her was turned to stone. Finally Perseus killed her with
Athena’s help.
At the moment that Perseus was cutting her head, Medusa gave birth to Chrysaora and Pegasus, the winged horse, that were the fruits of her union with Poseidon. Athena was given Medusa’s “Gorgoneio” head by the hero, and placed it on her shield, because even though it was dead, it could still turn to stone whoever looked at it. Medusa was not possible to die, though, but she was simply the shadow of herself and inhabited only in the deepest and darkest part of Hades’ kingdom. She no longer had the power to petrify anyone that looked at her, but Glaucus had almost been petrified by his terror.
At the moment that Perseus was cutting her head, Medusa gave birth to Chrysaora and Pegasus, the winged horse, that were the fruits of her union with Poseidon. Athena was given Medusa’s “Gorgoneio” head by the hero, and placed it on her shield, because even though it was dead, it could still turn to stone whoever looked at it. Medusa was not possible to die, though, but she was simply the shadow of herself and inhabited only in the deepest and darkest part of Hades’ kingdom. She no longer had the power to petrify anyone that looked at her, but Glaucus had almost been petrified by his terror.
Glaucus shuddered at
their sight. The sound was deafening and the screams were howling.
-“Prepare your crossbow, Glaucus,
are you alright?” . Protomedeia looked at his eyes with persistence and
comprehension. Her eyes gave him courage.
The Nereid took the spear with the radial sharp edges and Glaucus was
shooting to the centre of fish’s formation that was rushing at the place
Mermaids were.
But their number was
large and he was not able to shoot the Mermaids, despite Ichthyocentaurs’
skilled maneuvers who were driving the chariot.
The first shark,
moray eels, swordfish and rays came to front Nereids-dolphins with their jaws
open showing their scary and sharp teeth and noses, while the rays were lifting
the poisonous stings of their tails.
Nereids-dolphins were
trying to avoid their jaws, swords and stings with maneuvers, and they were
hitting their rivals with their brass muzzles and their sharp brass fins and
tails.
The battle was fierce
in the first line, since each line up was protecting its centre.
Glaucus’ chariot was in the
centre of the one line up and the three Mermaids were in the rival one.
The Mermaids were
using their huge and sharp nails in order to inflict wounds on
Nereids-dolphins. And then a ray managed to approach Glaucus’ chariot
Ichthyocentaurs turned the chariot to the side to enable Protomedeia to hit the
ray with her spear. The beating was strong and the hurt ray ran away.
Protomedeia winked to Glaucus who had been dumbfounded by the fight.
Suddenly, a swordfish
approached from the right in a great speed, and Ichthyocentaurs did not realize
it. Glaucus saw it out of the corner of his eye. Without realizing that, he
covered himself with his shield in lightning speed.
The swordfish hit
Glaucus shield with extreme power, throwing him onto Protomedeia making them
both fall off the chariot, without their weapons that also fell to the bottom.
The shield saved Glaucus but, the swordfish, that had made a
turnaround the chariot, was going straight towards them.
Panic prevailed, as
Mermaids, who had seen what had happened, came out the centre of their
formation and headed to Glaucus and Protomedeia, who no longer had their
weapons, as they had already fallen to the bottom.
Ichthyocentaurs
headed downwards to pick up the crossbow, the quiver and the spear, while
Protomedeia was lightning transformed to dolphin. She did not have the
protective brass parts that her sisters had, though.
Immediately, she went
under the swordfish, which swooped down, and hit his exposed belly. The stroke
was so strong that the swordfish was forced to change direction in order to
confront her.
“Protomedeia” , Glaucus
yelled with terror, as he knew that without her brass parts she was in
disadvantageous place in comparison to the swordfish.
At that moment
Ichthyocentaurs went between Protomedeia and the swordfish with the chariot.
The swordfish hit over the chariot and as a consequence his nose-sword broke.
-“Get on quickly” , Protomedeia
yelled at Glaucus while being transformed to Nereid again.
“Mermaids are coming”, she said pointing upwards.
The ray and sword’s coming in the centre of Nereids had brought
panic to their formation, as Mermaids had got the advantage.
Glaucus grabbed his
crossbow in incredible speed and was shooting Medusa that was in front of their
sisters. The spectacle was breathtaking.
Sharp teeth, cries, red eyes, snaky hair, malice and viciousness were
at the height.
The blood from the wounds that had been caused during the fight
had made carnivorous fish mad, rendering their rage even mightier.
If the Evil had a
specific picture, this was definitely representative.
Glaucus brought his dreams in mind. That was the moment he always
waited. The monsters were there, strange and frightening. In milliseconds, he
targeted and pushed the trigger.
A spooky howl was heard as a special arrow of the crossbow hit
Medusa’s chest.
The arrow opened and the special net unfolded through it, closing
Medusa in the centre. Medusa was howling and hitting the net with rage so as to
escape.
Her sisters, Sthenoe
and Euryale were trying to extricate her, but Hephaestus’ net was powerful. In
the fluster of the battle a moray eel and a huge shark were benefited by the
confusion and pounced. The shark pounced at Aphros and the moray eel at
Glaucus.
The shark bit Aphro’s tail,
but his brother Bythos hit it with his two front horse legs, forcing it to
flee.
The moray eel, having
her mouth open, was directed from behind to Glaucus’ hand, who was now
targeting Sthenoe. Protomedeia shook her spear towards him but she missed as
the moray eel turned right with a lightning move. It pounced again to Glaucus
immediately.
Protomedeia put her body in front of Glaucus’ back. Glaucus,
without having realized what was happening behind him, threw the second arrow
that reached Sthenoe, who was trying to help her trapped sister.
The moray eel that was
targeting Glaucus’ leg was made to bite Protomedeia’s who came in front of it.
Protomedeia cried of pain, and this time struck the moray eel which still was
on her leg, flopping furiously back and forth to cause as great damage as
possible.
The moray eel fled, and Glaucus, who heard Protomedeia’s howl,
turned only to see Protomedeia’s injured leg bleeding.
-“Do not worry the wound will be
healed soon. We are not in danger, Glaucus, our wounds are only temporary, as
you remember. We are very close to the victory. Now shoot Euryale, too”.
Glaucus turned
forward and aimed at the last Mermaid, who was headed to the bottom with her
two trapped sisters, drift of their weight, since they could not swim through
the net anymore. The shot was also successful, finalizing the battle,
immediately after carnivorous fish fled.
Glaucus’ worry about Protomedeia
did not let him feel happy for his accomplishment.
-“Let’s take them, Glaucus, and
then I will take care of my sisters”, wounds and of mine too
.
.
Protomedeia had said before Glaucus said anything.
Many of her sisters
and Aphros had actually been wounded, but they were not worried, because their
achievement to catch Mermaids and render them unable to continue their
destructive deed in the seabed was much more important.
All of them swam to the
bottom, where Mermaids were dropped making horrifying screams trying to flee.
Once Nereids and Glaucus’ chariot approached, Medusa said with squeaky voice:
-“Do not rejoice. Nereus’
daughters, your victory will not last for long, our sisters, the Sirens will
take revenge for us.”
-“Medusa, you are talking too
much, and you did even more”, Protomedeia said
“It is time you quitted, for a while, so that the seabed enlivens
again in these places”.
Glaucus could not take
his look from Mermaids. They were so disgusting, that they seemed threatening
even trapped. Some of the Nereids- dolphins were transformed into Nereids again
in order to put the trapped Mermaids on the chariot.
-“ Glaucus, as Mermaids have taken
our seats, do you want me to take you on my back during our return?”
-“Of course” , Glaucus
replied.
Protomedeia was transformed to dolphin again and so did her
sisters, and they started their return journey to Nereus’ kingdom altogether.
During their
travel everyone was happy, except for the Mermaids who did not stop trying to
escape and threatening the Nereids even for a moment.
When they approached
Nereus’ realm a large number of fish came to welcome them.
The seabed was full of life and vivid colors as small and big
creatures were dancing around Nereids and Glaucus’ chariot.
When the company of
Nereids, Ichthyocentaurs and Glaucus got in Nereus’ palace a celebration
followed which Glaucus would never forget.
Nereids were dancing and singing with excessive grace, while
Nereus, their mother Doris and of course Glaucus admired them. The wonderful
and unknown for Glaucus’ senses music was synchronized harmonious sounds made
by dolphins which participated in the feast.
Mermaids had been
limited to a room in Nereus’ palace for as long as needed.
Despite their effort to spoil the feast with their screams, they
did not make it. Actually, all they managed was to have a sore throat due to
the effort.
Glaucus felt relieved that he did not need to see their faces. At
least he hoped their sisters, the Sirens not to be so repulsive. Actually, he
had made it. It was the first time he had been proud, because not only he did
not run away, but he instead managed to captivate the Mermaids.
This is why he was the honoree of the
celebration. Nereus praised Glaucus’ courage, stressing that Glaucus was now a
little hero, as he had defeated his fears.
Of course he knew that
nothing would have been done but for Protomedeia, Kymopoleia, Nereus and
Hephaestus’ help. He was very lucky; Gods were very good with him.
When the celebration was
over, Protomedeia drove him to sleep in the same room; he had slept the
previous night. She gave him to eat a small maze of seaweed again,
And she repeated the same prayer :
“Spread your wings, God of dream,
prophetic messages to bring. Come to the mortal people savior, tran singer
oracles to chant! You silently come forward, amid the serenity of the sweetest
sleep, and you awaken the thought, talking to the souls. You bring to earth the
wills of Blessed, during mortal people’s silent sleep, and you reveal the
future to the silent soul, which the Divine Mind governs with compassion, until
the heart conceives the Beauty, which will lead man’s full of joy life to the
charm.”
Immediately after
that, Nereid came out and Glaucus stayed alone. After Glaucus had slept, the
clam closed again hiding little Glaucus inside, as it had happened the previous
night. Simultaneously a yellow-red color started to be vibrated from the clam’s
centre, and the whole room was lightened.
This time he dreamed
that he was riding enormous horses with excess capability, and was able to
shoot the targets with his arrows with great accuracy, while he was riding,
according to Ichthyocentaurs’ instructions and Kimopoleia’s touch. He also
dreamed his parents; he had missed them very much. They would certainly be very
proud if they saw him in his brilliant uniform capturing the Mermaids so
bravely.
Protomedeia woke him up
again the next morning (the best awakening of course) and led him to the
tutorial where Aphros and Bythos were.
Ichthyocentaurs
explained to him that this time his mission would be to arrest Sirens.
Afros took the speech first.
-“In order to help you succeed in
your mission, Glaucus, Hephaestus lent us his two brass Cabeirian Horses with
the fiery breath. These horses are constructed to draw Cabiris’ chariot, but
they will be yours for a while. In addition, you will have the Giant brass Eagle
to help you which is also constructed by Hephaestus.
In ancient times,
this was the eagle whose expedition was to devour Titan Prometheus’ reproducing
liver. Prometheus had been chained in Caucasus by Zeus because he had given the
fire out to you the humans.
Protomedeia will take
you to “Anthemoessa” island in Tyrrhenian Sea, located in the Strait of Messina
between Sicily and Calabria. Sirens live there, as great negative energy has
been accumulated in that place because of humans’ actions and the destruction
of the environment. Formerly Erysichthon
reined there, Triopa’s son and Poseidon’s grandson.
Erysichthon was selfish, irrevent, blasphemous and arrogant. Wanting to build
a majestic palace, Erisichthonas opened several gold mines searching for gold,
polluting lakes and rivers. Our sisters Naiads, nymphs of the rivers, who lived
in the rivers of the region, and also Amadryades, nymphs of the forests and
trees, who lived on the trees, were suffering and dying. And that is because in
addition to gold Erysichthon
needed much lumber.
So, having no other
trees to destroy near his palace, one day he ordered his servants to go to a
sacred grove dedicated to Goddess Demeter, which was further away.
Among the trees there
was a towering sacred oak, dedicated to Goddess Demeter (Goddess of the Earth),
around which Dryads danced.
When his servants
realized the reckless destruction of trees, tried to dissuade him.
However, they mainly expressed their fear about Demeter’s possible
outburst of wrath upon them.
But Erysichthon grabbed an ax and said: “I do not care if the Goddess loves this tree, even if it was
her, and became an obstacle in my way, I would drop her down”
At the first chop,
Demeter’s priestess Nikippi, appeared who none other was but the Goddess
herself transformed. The priestess tried to prevent them from cutting down the
trees, but Erysichthon
s threatened her with his ax.
At the next chops,
the oak, this huge tree signed, blood ran by the wound and the Nymph who lived
inside, while dying with it, predicted sacrilege Erysichthon punishment.
The Goddess then
appeared in her whole divine grandeur and asked: “ Who is that profane that is
cutting my sacred oak?”
The slaves fled in panic,
begging for mercy. Demeter actually pitied them and let them go without hurting
them in contrary to wicked Erysichthon who would face a very harsh punishment, a little later.
Goddess Demeter
asked from “Famine” who lived in Scythia with fear and cold, to visit and come
upon Erysichthon. She asked her to make him unable to relieve his hunger with the
rich gifts that the Earth gives to man. Famine obeyed Demeter’s orders and
visited him at night, while he was sleeping. After that Famine left and returned
to her house. Sacrilegious Erysichthon dreamed he was hungry, and when he woke up his hunger was
indescribable.
From then on, Erysichthon started eating whatever he was finding. After he had eaten
everything edible in his house, began to go around the streets and grab the
offerings of the altars. Nobody could help him; neither his parents, nor his
grandfather Poseidon due to his hubris against another God. Meanwhile Erysichthon was being more and more tortured by the hunger.
His daughter Mestra,
who had inherited from Poseidon the ability of being transformed, was being
constantly transformed to a slave, in order to earn money to “save” her father.
But in the end,
nothing was able to saturate Erysichthon
hunger. So, having nothing else to eat, he started eating his own flesh, until
he found cruel death, in this way…!”
Bythos took the
speech:
-“ But even after Erysichthon punishment, many still go to the mines to mine gold and metals,
polluting the environment constantly, making Sirens stronger and stronger,
because of their intolerance and greed. You must be very careful as Sirens will
have an army of vicious wolves with them.
The Cabeirian Horses and the Giant brass Eagle will be waiting for your
arrival in order to help you arrest Sirens. Apart from your crossbow, the
Cabeirian Horses with their fiery breath and the brass Eagle will offer you a
powerful weapon. God Pan with few Nymphs
remained on the island, will also try to help you, but their help will be
little as they are very weak”
Glaucus was looking
at them thoughtfully. How worse could the situation be, since he had already
faced Medusa accompanied by numerous sharks, moray eels, rays and swordfish?
-“And when do we
depart?” , Glaucus asked.
-“Immediately” , Protomedeia
replied.
Ichthyocentaurs
kissed him and wished him good luck.
Coming out in the
fortcourt of Throne, Nereus, his wife Doris and the rest Nereids goodbye him
wishing good luck.
Protomedeia was
transformed into dolphin having Glaucus hooked on her, although his armor
incommoded him enough, and they started their travel to Anthemoessa, with the
pleasant accompany of Protomedeia’s sisters.
Anthemoessa
This time the travel was
much shorter than that in Hesperides. When they reached Anthemoessa Glaucus
descended from Protomedeia who took her human form again.
-“Do not get out
of the sea yet, I will tell you when.” Protomedeia said to Glaucus.
“I have to give you a philter to drink again so as to breathe
regularly in the air.”
She put out of her
red sash, tied around her waist, the small vial which had Poseidon’s trident
painted on it, and told Glaucus to get out on the surface.
Glaucus got out of the
water and drank the magic herb. He started to cough and pump water from, his
filled with sea, lungs.
It was true that hat he
felt sickish for a while, as he had felt dizzy because of the constant coughing
until his lungs cleared from the water. Throughout this time, Protomedeia was
embracing him and trying to encourage him saying that he would be as fit as a
fiddle.
Indeed, after a while he
was able to breathe normally and the feeling of dizziness had definitely gone.
-“Do you feel better
now, my dear Glaucus?”, Protomedeia asked him with love.
Glaucus took deep breaths and felt the cool air in his lungs. The
sea breeze gave him a wonderful special aroma in the air as if it was the first
time he had smelled it, although he had grown up in the sea.
He had never imagined
himself to feel so nice just because of breathing the…air!
-“I feel much
better now, thank you” , Glaucus replied.
“And now what?
-“Now, we have to
wait. Let’s sit under the trees. The Sirens have eyes everywhere.
Ravens roam everywhere; they are Sirens’ eyes.”
The landscape was
dismal beyond the sea. The mountains were dried without trees and black fumes
were coming out behind the mountains.
-“Glaucus, you
cannot hear their songs and see Nymphs and Graces’ dance that accompany Pan and
Artemis, because there are no crops in the meadows while the springs and the
rivers are polluted.
The man is a child of
nature. He is born and dies here. Being in unity with nature, means you are
alive. Being isolated from nature means you are dead.
Many people have been
isolated from nature and they face it in a utilitarian way taking only what it
offers to them, being oblivious to the pain they cause to it. However the
mother, even if she suffers, loves her children. The more independent and
isolated humans are, the less sensitive they become. When you feel more and
more connected with nature, for example, then it will be a part of you which
offers food to you. Everything is an endless, united ocean. When you inhale,
you take oxygen inside you, when you exhale you give carbon dioxide. Trees
inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. There is interdependence everywhere in
nature.
This relationship has
been deranged on this island and this is why Sirens have been installed here.
Now we are waiting for Pan and
the Nymphs to bring the Cabeirian Horses and lead us to Sirens Aglaopheme, Molpi and Thelxiepeia nest, through the tracks they know. I have to admit, however that
we are lucky that their other three sisters Graeae, but aslo Scylla and Charybdis are too far to
help them.”
Protomedeia’s words
were interrupted by a noise heard from the glade behind.
-“Hide yourself”, Protomedeia said anxiously.
-“It’s us, Protomedeia”,
a female voice was heard
behind the trees, “your cousins Amaryllis, Arethousa, Chrysopelia,Caria ,
Valanos, Krania, Aigeira, Ptela. Pan with the Cabeirian Horses and Hephaestus’
brass Eagle arrives in a while as well.”
behind the trees, “your cousins Amaryllis, Arethousa, Chrysopelia,
All eight Nymphs got
out of the trees immediately. They seemed to be distressed, very weak, and
their clothes were torn. They would certainly be very beautiful, but in their
present situation they seemed less beautiful than the Nereids. Sadness and fear
were depicted in their eyes.
-“But Poseidon”
Protomedeia yelled and ran to embrace them in tears.
“What did they cause to
you? How could they do that?”
-“Death is everywhere here
Protomedeia, ” Amaryllis said with
grief. “It is very difficult to survive here.
Even the beasts that follow Sirens have no food anymore, they become brutes. People bring food for the slaves by their ships and leave. No one wants to stay here anymore. They take gold and ores and leave. No state can survive here.”
Even the beasts that follow Sirens have no food anymore, they become brutes. People bring food for the slaves by their ships and leave. No one wants to stay here anymore. They take gold and ores and leave. No state can survive here.”
-“We will stop that with
Glaucus’ help, I swear to you”, Protomedeia cried and put out another “magic” philter
of her sasha that gave them to drink.
A raven was heard in
the sky that moment and they saw a ravencircling above them.
-“Hurry Glaucus,
shoot it, it must not inform Sirens that we are here.”
Glaucus armed his crossbow, aimed and shot like a lightning
without wasting time.
The shot was well-aimed; the raven fell to the ground trapped by
the special net of the arrow.
Nymphs caught it and put it in a sack. Straight after that,
gallops were heard and two huge brass horses appeared, while the goat-footed
God Pan, the protector of forests and shepherds was following behind them.
Hephaestus brass Eagle
appeared in the sky above them. He was shining and seemed enormous. A trolling
sound was heard as he opened and closed his wings. Once the eagle landed, a
cloud of dust was raised beside Pan and the brass horses.
Pan was called
goat-footed, as the upper part of his body was human, while his lower one had
the shape of a goat. Pan was holding his beloved flute in his right hand.
He had constructed the flute when the God of love hit him with his arrows, making
him fall in love with the beautiful Nymph Syrinx. He had seen her near a river
one day and approached her to confess his great love to her. Though the nymph
felt scared seeing the strange God and ran away to be hidden. The river was in
front of her so Syrinx was able to escape.
Then she wished to be
transformed into stubble in her desperation, and she immediately was. Pan, sad
as he was, he made his flute with these reeds to remind him his beloved Syrinx.
Since then he had been playing his flute, but this time they had
to be quiet, so he was just holding it in his hand, expecting the moment when
they may win to play and dance with the Nymphs.
Every time the brass
horses breathed, fumes were getting out of their nostrils. The truth was that
their appearance was scary, but luckily they were in their favor, and that was
important. Once Protomedeia and the Nymphs saw Pan ran to embrace and kiss him.
-“Thank you for
this welcoming my ladies” , Pan the swift-footed said.
“Is this young man our little hero?” , he asked smiling.
Glaucus blushed and
bowed his head.
-“Glaucus has an
excellent heart filled with love and he is a very brave child” Protomedeia assured him
. “He had already captured the Mermaids”
. “He had already captured the Mermaids”
-“Not bad at all,
then”, Pan smiled and caressed
his head friendly. Glaucus said nothing. What to say, moreover, Pan was
caressing his head. It was impossible!
“Well, Glaucus, are you
good at riding?”
-“Very good “, Glaucus said shyly.
-“Let us see then.
Ride this giant. But be careful because if you go very close to his nostrils,
their breath will burn you.”
Pan joined his palms making a step so that Glaucus could get on as the Horses were very tall.
Pan joined his palms making a step so that Glaucus could get on as the Horses were very tall.
The Horses were
gray-green and they emitted much warmness from their brass bodies. Protomedeia
gave him his shield and crossbow and he got on the brass horse.
-“However, I have to admit that the horses
suit to your armor”, Pan said
and laughed loudly. It was also known that Pan was a great joker and liked to
make fun of.
Glaucus was afraid
as he seemed to be very little and fragile on the enormous brass Horse despite
his armor. He was looking around as if he had been abashed, not knowing what to
do. The brass horse was sniffing, making a strange and eerie sound, sending
heat waves to Glaucus.
Protomedeia and the
rest were looking at him impatiently, something that made him feel bad, and he
felt that he had disappointed them. So, he grabbed the reins in his hands and
slammed his feet on the horse’s croups to walk.
The brass Cabeirian
Horse did not move at all, though. Glaucus resumed the hitting, but nothing
again. Drops of sweat appeared on his forehead.
-“I got embarrassed”, he thought.
Pan smiled when
Protomedeia nudged him.
-“Help him, ”
she said.
-“Glaucus this horse is
unlike the others. Just think where you want to go and the horse will obey
immediately”, Pan said still smiling.
Glaucus looked at
him with question.
-“I want to go
quickly on the hill on the right” , Glaucus thought following Pans’
advice. The brass horse began to gallop noisily following the route Glaucus had
in mind.
The ground was trembling from the horse’s gallop and weight. The
Cabeirian brass Horse was carrying out Glaucus’ every single thought
automatically.
-“That is wonderful”, Glaucus cried. Then he
thought that he would like to see the horse’s famous fiery breath. He had just
thought about it when the horse raised its head and two big flames got out his
nostrils. Pan followed him running and shouted:
-“Do not overdo it, Glaucus, the whole island will hear of us.
Come back.”
Glaucus returned
with Pan, at the point that the Nymphs, the other Cabeirian Horse and
Hephaestus’ brass eagle were, with disappointment.
-“How was it
Glaucus?”, Protomedeia asked.
-“It is…. It is
fascinating Glaucus said. “With these
horses and the brass Eagle our victory is certain.”
-“Do not underestimate Phorcy
and his daughters. Surprises may be waiting for us tomorrow” Your presence
disturbed the balance and Phorcy has already complained to the Gods of Olympus .
The situation may
not be so easy tomorrow. We are going to send spies tonight, and we will decide
what must be done tomorrow morning. Tonight we will be hidden in a cave at the
raven’s gorge, a place that ravens which are Phorcy’s and Sirens’ eyes and
spies avoid, because a raven had been punished there by Apollo many years ago.
In this rough old
gorge, once there was a fount whose water was considered to be sacred and the
residents used it in sacrifices. So they had to send someone to this difficult
and uphill route to bring the “holy” water for that significant sacrifice.
Suddenly a voice was
sounded from the nearby trees. It was one’s husky raven voice who offered to
undertake this venture.
Despite the surprise
that the residents felt listening to the raven’s voice they decided to entrust
this mission to him, as because of his wings, he would arrive easily and fast
to the fount in which this “holy” water was running.
So people gave a small
jug to the raven, he grabbed it with his nails and flew in the sky towards the
fount. The raven arrived quickly at the fount. He saw a fig tree full of figs
next to the fount and greedy as he was, he started to taste some figs. But the
figs were unripe and the raven decided to wait until they ripen, having
forgotten the mission he had taken on, on behalf of the people. He had
eventually been waiting for two whole days until the figs ripened. He had eaten
a lot and at last he remembered the real reason why he had gone to the fount.
He started to think of excuses for his delay. Finally, he filled the small jug
with water, he saw a large snake in some bushes, grabbed it with his beak, and
flew to the town.
When he arrived at
the town, the residents wanted to know why he had been so late to return from
the fount. The raven put the jug and the snake down and claimed that the snake
was sipping water from the spring and it consequently started to desiccate.
Then he told them that
when the snake fell asleep, he filled the jug with water and clutched the snake
to present it to them. The people believed him and killed the snake with stones
and wood. But that was Apollo’s serpent and the God of light became furious and
decided to punish the raven for his lie.
So from that day every time that the raven tried to drink water
from a spring, it was dried up. This torment of thirst had lasted for a long
time until Apollo felt sorry for him and made him a star in Heaven. From then
on, when people are very thirsty they use the phrase “I am so thirsty like a
raven!” As it is also normal the ravens do not approach that gorge.
-“So how about going
to the raven’s cave?” , Pan asked.
The whole team
started the upgrade to the rough canyon in the raven’s cave except for
Hephaestus’ brass Eagle, which was hiding under the trees on the beach for fear
not to be seen in the sky. He would fly to the cave at night in order not to be
visible.
Glaucus and
Protomedeia got on to both Cabeirian Horses, while Pan was ahead to detect the
path they were following. The remaining Nymphs were transformed into sparrows
and watched the area from above.
The process of
transformation on land was a little different from that in the sea.
A white cloud encircled the Nymphs here from the feet to the head,
and their new form was gradually revealed.
Even with the Nymphs
transformed into sparrows, Glaucus’ company was difficult to skulk as the
landscape was dry with minor trees. Only the fumes getting out behind the
mountains helped the situation somewhat because of mining.
The route was
exhausting because the path was steep and rough, especially from the enormous
and heavy Cabeirian Horses. During the route no one was talking as everyone was
thinking of the following day.
It was getting
darker when they finally arrived at the raven’s cave. The Cabeirian Horses were
very big and were emitting much heat to stay in the cave, so they left them out
under a clump of large trees.
Glaucus with Pan
and the Nymphs entered the cave and lit a fire to stay overnight.
-“Glaucus, you
must sleep and rest”, Protomedeia said stroking his hair.
“Take off your equipment and make yourself comfortable where you
can. Unfortunately, we have no luxury here”.
-“And what about
you? Won’t you rest?”, Glaucus asked.
-“Do not
worry about us dear Glaucus, rest so as to be ready in the morning” , Protomedeia
reassured him. Glaucus smiled and yawned. He found a corner and lied down.
Protomedeia had pronounced to Glaucus the prayer again as she used
to before he fell asleep.
His eyelids were
getting heavier so he slept quickly despite his anxiety for the next day.
Once Glaucus slept, Protomedeia and the rest Nymphs, made a circle
around him and joined their hands, closed their eyes and lowered their heads.
Beams of light began to appear around their hands and spread out to the point
the child was sleeping.
This dim light
bathed him for a while.
This time he was
worried during his sleep. He dreamed that he was a small eagle and his mother
was teaching him to fly. But his wings were weak and he was constantly falling
on the ground. After several attempts, he managed to fly, it was difficult for
him to control his flying though. As the time was passing, he managed to
control the strength of his wings and fly with his mother. It was so nice to fly
and see the world below, so small…!
Pan, in the
meantime, ordered the Nymphs to be transformed into owls and rummage the island
to discover the Sirens. The eight Nymphs fled in pairs, two for each direction,
North, East, West, and South.
He woke up hearing
talks and commotion in the morning. When he opened his eyes, he saw Pan hotly
debating with the Nymphs outside the cave entrance. He got up quickly and went
to meet them. Arriving at the entrance of the cave, he saw the plateau beneath
the cave, full of Centaurs.
Centaurs were humans
from the waist up, and horses from the waist down.
They all had quivers and bows past on their backs and were holding
thick wooden spears in their hands. There was fog everywhere around, it was
apparently Pan’s trick so as not to be localized.
-“What is wrong?”, Glaucus asked with
questions.
-“Unfortunately, we
have some bad news”, Pan said.
-“What do you mean? ”,
Glaucus asked
-“I mean that
the situation is much worse than what we had expected to. Phorcy sought help
from Hades, who opened his gates and Cerberus the guardian of the under World,
the awful dog with the three heads and the dragon’s tail, but also Griffin and
Chimera came on the island. Griffin has a lion’s body, eagle’s head and wings
and snake’s tail. Chimera, with the fiery breath same as that of Cabeirian
Horses, has a goat’s body, a lion’s head and a tail that ends up to snake.
Phorcy is also
hidden here, having as a guard his sleepless son, dragon Ladon with the hundred
heads.
We need, as you can
see, something more than luck and bravery, we need intelligence. Phorcy and
Sirens know that we are here and they will attack to us. We will not have,
therefore, the advantage to surprise them. So, we need to make a move of
diversion that they are not predicting.”
Pan said.
“This is why we called for the Centaurs to help us, as you can
see. The wise Centaur Chiron, famous Chiron’s grandson, has already a plan that
he will explain to you. Let’s go to meet him”.
They got out of the
cave heading to the cluster of trees where Centaurs were gathered, peering into
the two Cabeirian Horses and Hephaestus’ brass Caucasian Eagle.
The eldest of all began approaching them. He was old in age but he
had imperious look
-“Chiron is coming”, Protomedeia said
-“Good morning,
Glaucus, nice to meet you”, Chiron said with a hoarse voice.
-“It is my honor to
meet you, wise Chiron”, Glaucus said respectfully.
-“Well, Glaucus, my
dear, I will assign a mission to you, that we hope it will be successful and
offer us the victory. As you have learnt the forces of destruction have become
very powerful with Hades’ help. We need to make a move that will subvert the
balance of forces.
Phorcy and his daughters are aware of our
presence here. What they cannot predict is to be attacked at the crucial moment
by powers considered to be theirs.
Hephaestus’ brass
eagle alone is not able to give us advantage in the air.
You must, therefore, fly with him to Helicon, where Pegasus the
winged horse is.
As you know Pegasus was born when Perseus beheaded Medusa, who had
been pregnant by Poseidon. He was born by the blood that fell to the sea.
Pegasus, of course,
would never come to help us. For this reason, you have to go quickly to
Helicon, with Hephaestus’ eagle, and drop the philter Protomedeia will give you
in the river where he drinks water.
Once Pegasus drinks
this water, he will lose his consciousness for a while. For as much time as you
need to close his eyes so that he does not know where he flies. When will come
back hidden on Pegasus, during the battle,
Sirens will think that he is coming help them. Then you will exploit the
opportunity to help us. We hope this move to bring panic to them. Before you
leave you must have your hair cut and your whole body painted white so that you
cannot be easily recognizable onto Pegasus, from afar at least. When you are
close enough to them, we hope it will be too late for them. Well, what do you
think? Will you make it?”
-“I will try with
all my mighty, wise Chiron”, Glaucus replied.
-“Nice, so I
consign you to the beautiful Nymphs to take care of you, so that will leave as
soon as possible” Chiron said and went along with Pan to meet the rest
Centaurs.
-“Come on, Glaucus.
Let’s go to cut your hair and paint your body”
Protomedeia said stroking his dense, curly hair which would be past after a
while. The grooming by nine Nymphs was wonderful and definitely deserved to
lose some hair for it!
In a while, Glaucus
was unrecognizable, having been white from his feet to his head, as if he had
fallen into a pot with milk.
-“You remain
gorgeous, even like that” ,
Protomedeia said boosting his morale.
Protomedeia said boosting his morale.
The other Nymphs were smiling. Protomedeia gave him the philter
destined for Pegasus, kissed him on his forehead and told him:
-“You guide
the eagle in the same way as the Cabeirian Horses, with your mind.
Hold on it tightly and do not be afraid, it will take you to
Helicon safely.”
It is true that
when Glaucus heard about flight with the eagle, he was terrified! And what if
he fell down?
Icarus’ story came
to his mind. Icarus was ingenious Daedalus’ son, who had been punished for his
arrogance to want to fly as a God. His father Daedalus had built the Labyrinth
in Crete, for King Minos, to have the Minotaur live inside. Minos imprisoned
Daedalus and his son Icarus in the Labyrinth, though, because Daedalus had
helped Minos’ wife, Pasiphae, to be united with Poseidon’s Bull and so the
terrible Minotaur to be born.
But Daedalus and Icarus managed to escape from the Labyrinth with
the help of the wings that Daedalus had constructed using feathers and wax.
They put these wings on their shoulders and flew in the sky.
Icarus, though,
being amazed by the flight, disobeyed his father’s order not to fly neither too
high because the wax of his wings would melt by the sun’s heat, nor too low
because their wings would be untied by the moisture of the sea.
He flew too high,
wanting to imitate the sun, and as a consequence the wax melt and his wings
ablated. He fell in the sea and lost his life.
The sea area, where Icarus died, has been named Icarian Sea since then.
But Glaucus did not
intend to disobey anyone, so he hoped everything to go well.
He was caught tightly by the eagle’s brass body and the eagle
immediately started to raise skyward, with a strong shaking of its wings.
Glaucus brought in mind immediately the flying techniques he had dreamed of,
something that helped him control the Caucasian eagle.
The feeling of flying
was unique, if the fear caused by this feeling is excluded.
From this altitude, you could realize how small the man is in
comparison with the vastness of the world….!
The time was passing
very quickly, apparently due to some divine intervention, so the alternation of
the images was also very quick.
THE RAVEN’S GORGE
Back at the raven’s
canyon, agitation prevailed. Wolves’ cries were heard from everywhere. And not
only cries. Lions’ roars and some other unidentified scary sounds covered the
preparation of Pan, Centaurs and Nymphs’ camp.
In the centre of their array, Centaurs had dug big pits in the
ground, having put branches and leaves in them so as to be covered and not
visible.
According to the
plan, Protomedeia and the rest Nymphs, transformed into eagles, would try to
keep Sirens busy until Glaucus with the Caucasian eagle and Pegasus returned.
The Centaurs were
lined up in a straight line in the woods, with a Cabeirian horse at each end of
their array (one on the right and the other on the left), having the intention
to retreat from the centre to the edges through some alleyways that had left
between the pits, in order to mislead their adversaries to fall into them.
Then, they would
lash out from their two reinforced edges, creating a circular move to trap
their rivals. The Centaurs were lined having Pan and Chiron between them and
waited…
Suddenly, a
multitude of wolves seemed to come at a high speed from the dry area in front
of the forest, with the frightful figures of Cerberus, Chimera and Griffin to
distinguish in their centre. The image and the sound of the menacing army of
destruction that pounced were scary.
The nine Nymphs
were transformed to eagles in order to face Sirens in the air, expecting
Glaucus and eagle’s return from Helicon.
The Centaurs’ line
was waiting patiently for the herds of beasts to approach to a striking
distance.
Once this
happened, a barrage of arrows towered in the sky forming an arc resulting in
beasts’ line. Many of the arrows found their target, creating confusion and
raising clouds of dust, which made the onslaught of the beasts even scarier.
The arrows falling
on Cerberus, Griffin and Chimera did not seem to cause any damage to these huge
beasts. Some of the arrows just hit on them and fell on the ground since they
could not penetrate their hard skin, while others were simply hanged on them.
-“Are you
ready?”, Pan asked Chiron.
-“As much as you”, Chiron replied meaningfully, cocking
to him and blowing the horn he was holding in his hands.
The sound heard,
marked the beginning of Centaurs’ attack. Centaurs’ line trotted towards
beasts’ line. Then the flames coming out of Chimera’s mouth could be
discriminated, in each of her trots.
Centaurs’ first
line met the Wolves and Hades’ beasts with momentum.
Dust was spread everywhere in the battlefield, voices and screams
resounded in craw’s gorge.
Centaurs, wolves and Hades’ beasts embraced in a fatal struggle.
Centaurs were
hitting the wolves and Hades’ beasts with arrows and wooden spears.
The wolves were rushing furiously trying to bite the Centaurs.
There were two
critical points in the battle. Both the edges and the centre were.
At the two edges, the Cabeirian horses because of their size,
their armour and their fiery breaths had made the wolves flee. Those, who
managed to approach them, were trying to bite their brass bodies, in vain. When
Sirens realized the problem at both ends of their array, flew there. Griffin
followed them, flying to the opposite edge, so as to cope with the losses that had
been caused by the powerful Cabeirian horses.
Protomedeia with
the other Nymphs, transformed into eagles, flew to meet the Sirens, but the
battle was unequal as the Nymphs were weak due to the hardships, unlike the
Sirens, while Griffin had no rival without the Caucasian eagle. The Sirens
forced them to retreat easily without even a chance to face Griffin.
Protomedeia and the rest Nymphs returned to the Craw’s cave, where Protomedeia
took care of remaining Nymphs’ wounds, which had been caused by Sirens’ sharp
claws.
The situation in
the centre of Centaurs’ array was really bad. Despite Chiron’s and Pan’s heroic
efforts, Chimera and Cerberus had easily disrupted the centre of their array.
Hades’ beasts had had sowed panic due to their size, strength and
terrifying appearance.
In the
battlefield, Chiron tooted retreat towards the centre of their array, so that
the beasts misled into the traps dug among the trees. The Centaurs that were
there along with Pan and Chiron retreated among the trees using the safe
alleyways behind the pits-traps.
Most Centaurs hidden behind the trees ran to the edges, while Pan,
Chiron and a few more, stayed behind the traps to lure the beasts in the
pits-traps.
Cerberus and
Chimera, followed by some wolves, furiously persecuted the Centaurs, who were
retreating, and they consequently fell in the pits with a large number of
wolves.
The beasts behaved
as if they were crazy, screaming, trying to climb to get out of the pits.
Chiron and Pan had minded the pits to be big enough. Nevertheless, Centaurs
were standing above, discouraging all the efforts of the beasts to get out of
the pitfalls.
Griffin, the only
beast still free, was trying by air to put the Cabeirian horses out of the
battle, with Sirens’ help as the Cabeirian horses had placed the wolves in a
difficult situation at both ends.
Then, Ladon the
terrible dragon with the hundred heads, appeared. Dragon’s Ladon participation
would obviously make the fight unequal, despite Centaurs’ brave defense.
PEGASUS
Glaucus, arriving
at Helicon, looked for Pegasus, the wonderful winged white horse.
It did not take him long to see it. Glaucus looked at him dazedly;
this horse was wonderful and unique. Following Chiron’s instructions, he walked
to the river upwind, above the point that Pegasus was. He opened the philter
Protomedeia had given to him and threw it in the river.
While Glaucus was
waiting, he was thinking what to have happened back to the raven’s gorge. Would
he obviate to take part in the battle?
And on the other
hand, what if he only found the Sirens and the beasts when he returned at the
canyon? What would happen to him if Protomedeia, Pan and Chiron had lost the
battle?
Anxiety started to
capture him. Sometime, Pegasus approached the river and drank water. After that
Pegasus seemed to be dizzy until he fell on the ground with thud having lost
his consciousness.
Glaucus ran
immediately to him and bandaged his eyes with the white cloth Protomedeia had
given to him. After a while Pegasus began to regain consciousness, and stood up
tottering. Glaucus managed to climb up on him before Pegasus came round
thoroughly. It was important to take the horse’s control before it throws him
off.
Pegasus neighed annoyed and tried to throw him off his back but he
was still weak.
Glaucus managed to calm him down using the power of his mind.
After a while, Pegasus did not show any resistance while Glaucus was caressing
his neck.
-“It is time to go,
my boy”, Glaucus shouted, immediately Pegasus stood up
in the air.
The Caucasian eagle stood up too, immediately after, following
Pegasus from distance.
Glaucus could not wait for the moment he would help his friends.
THE FINAL CONFRONTATION
Arriving at the
raven’s canyon Glaucus saw the battlefield and feared. A huge monster with
hundred heads had already extinguished the Cabeirian horses, while Centaurs
were retreating to the cave.
The Sirens and
Griffin had gone to the pits, in which Chimera and Cerberus had been trapped,
and they were trying to release them.
Glaucus nestled up
Pegasus’ body and flew towards Sirens hiding Hephaestus’ crossbows under his
body.
The Sirens did not realize Pegasus’
arrival immediately, but once they did, they left Griffin in the pits and went
to greet him, considering that he had come to help them.
Once Sirens reached
the point shot, Glaucus with a motion as fast as lightning, put Hephaestus’
crossbow out and scarred on them. When Sirens understood what it was going on,
it was too late as Aglaopheme and Molpi had already been trapped by Glaucus’ arrows.
Thelxiepeia turned trying to escape from the arrows but the brass eagle
prevented her.
Glaucus, taking advantage of the eagle’s involvement who delayed Thelxiepeia,
scarred and trapped her.
The three Sirens,
trapped and unable to fly anymore, fell on the ground.
Griffin and Ladon, being furious, directed towards Glaucus and the
Caucasian brass eagle.
Fortunately, he did not risk of Ladon as he was flying. The
Caucasian brass eagle cut Griffin’s way when he met him in the air, giving a
scary fight but depriving Glaucus of his possibility to shoot him.
Glaucus ordered the
brass eagle to leave the battle, so that he could shoot Griffin.
The Caucasian eagle retreated and Griffin then grasped him with
his nails from behind, pushing him to one of Ladon’s hundred heads. Ladon
crashed the eagle in the enormous jaws of one of his heads.
Glaucus was staring
at this beast being amazed. How could he beat it? It seemed impossible. His
arrows were powerless in comparison with Dragon’s size.
Glaucus was trying
to scar on Griffin
The maneuvers he was
forced to make in order to avoid Ladon did not permit to him to scar on
Griffin, who deliberately misled him near Ladon.
Protomedeia with the
other Nymphs were transformed into eagles once again to help Glaucus against
Griffin.
When Nymphs
distracted Griffin
-“Glaucus,
Ladon cannot be beaten by the arrows of the crossbows. Let’s go to the craw’s
cave. I will give you some special vials full of philters, which you will have
to throw in Ladon’s jaws so as to sleep him”,
Protomedeia cried.
-“You could
have said that earlier,” Glaucus told her laughing and trying to amuse the situation.
Ladon, was destructing the trees being in a frantic state, trying to approach
craw’s cave, having received a large number of arrows by the Centaurs, who were
being hidden behind the trees.
Cerberus, Chimera,
Griffin and the Sirens were screaming trapped in the battlefield.
There was no time to waste. Glaucus and Protomedeia reached the
raven’s gorge. Protomedeia gave him seven vials that contained some red liquid.
-“You are very
brave Glaucus,
”
Protomedeia said.
“But now you must be very careful in order to be able to sleep
Ladon. You have to approach him fairly close so as to throw at least three of
these philters in some of his jaws to make him sleep. Though, one wrong move
may be fatal. Be very careful please.”
-“Thank you very
much Protomedeia”,
Glaucus said, took the seven vials with the
philter and turned to leave.
-“Glaucus wait a
minute”,
the Nereid shouted and gave him a kiss on his
forehead. “This is for good luck.”
Glaucus blushed and
smiled from embarrassment. He had left Pegasus tied outside the cave. He got on
him right away and flew to dragon Ladon who was destructing everything in his
passage. The Centaurs and Pan had retreated to the rocks under raven’s cave.
They were throwing not only arrows but also stones and rocks and
whatever available they found around trying to delay him.
Glaucus made
three rounds above the dragon trying to disorient him, something that fortunately
was not so difficult as his size made him extremely cumbersome.
At the end of
the third round, Glaucus attempted vertical pounce on the side with the fewest
heads. Just before reaching very close to one of them, he threw the first vial
which found the target. Immediately after, he raised to the sky avoiding the
jaws closing behind him.
Ladon’s jaw in
which the philter had been dropped, filled with red liquid and foams, while it
began to make circular moves banging awkwardly over his other heads.
Ladon took then a terrifying scream that made Glaucus shiver.
-“Two more
only, I have to make it”, Glaucus thought while the Centaurs with the
Nymphs and Pan were cheering him up to encourage him.
Pegasus and Glaucus
continued the circles around Ladon and after two additional pounces Glaucus
managed to find the target once more. Twice missed and the philters were
dropped on Ladon’s back and from there on the ground.
Glaucus continued
his attempts and in the end he managed to drop one of the philters in the third
head, too.
-“Yes! I
made it” He shouted once it happened while the gorge resounded with his
friends’ cheers.
Ladon was
floundering in its full of red foams jaws. Eventually Ladon fell noisily to the
side, breathing with scary noise unable to move.
The Centaurs, Pan
and the Nymphs came down from the Craw’s cave and approached to see the
fearsome dragon up close, shouting Glaucus’ name.
Glaucus descended
from Pegasus to take part in the celebration.
Everybody expected to hug the little boy, the little hero who
dared to mess with so many beasts and monsters on land and sea.
Glaucus had a
smile up to ears and not time to listen to the applause. Here’s his dream
became reality. He became himself a little hero even if no one knew about it,
neither his friends, nor his parents. It was important that he and his divine
companions lived it.
Protomedeia
informed him that Phorcy hid in the depths of the sea, after his children’s
defeat, so they will not have to worry about him anymore.
In the evening, a
feast was set up, worthy of the adventure that all participants lived.
Glaucus lived in
the seventh Heaven, he, a little mortal from Lemnos was among Nymphs, Centaurs
and Pan drinking and singing. Pan with the beautiful Nymphs spearheaded in
dance and song as it was normal.
When the feast
was over the Centaurs and Pan Goodbye Glaucus with emotion while Glaucus and
the Nymphs returned to Craw’s cave to spend the last night they were together.
There, Protomedeia
explained that because of their victory, the balance would tilt in his world
too, the world of humans, that was to say, to the forces of creation and peace.
Protomedeia looked
him in the eyes with love and said:
“Tonight Glaucus you
will sleep with us in raven’s cave for the last time.
When you wake up, you will be back in Koukounisi within your boat
to return home.
You have to know that you are a very special and dear child for
us. For this reason whenever you want to meet us again, before you fall asleep
the previous night, you should repeat the prayer you have heard me telling you
the nights you are with us.
The next day you
should go to Koukounisi and I will be waiting there for you to take you back to
Poseidon’s kingdom again.”
Glaucus wept for
joy. The recognition and love he received by all and especially by his good
Nereid was really touching.
-“I do not know
how to thank you, sincerely” , Glaucus said.
“What I experienced during these three days was beyond my
imagination. You are all so kind to me, thank you very much”, Glaucus
said.
-“Each one
of us Glaucus is co-creator of reality and it attracts what he is. The mind,
the thoughts, the feelings, the expectations and behaviors create our reality.
When we change, our reality is changing too. Positive thoughts and
positive feelings attract and create positive realities. Do not forget that.
Also you should not forget to abide in your life what I will tell you.
Pray with
sunlight when you wake up in the morning. You do not need to search the Gods,
but avoid what makes you unable to realize their ubiquity presence.
Gods will listen, just talk to them.
Search within
yourself, be yourself. Do not allow anyone to create your path. The way is only
yours. Others can talk with you, but no one can walk in your place.
Be empathetic for
those who have lost their way. Ignorance, conceit, anger, jealousy and greed
bloom from a lost soul. Prey to find guidance.
Try to keep
yourself balanced. Your mind, spirit, soul and body must be kept pure and
healthy. Sharpen the body to strengthen the mind. Be enriched in spirit to heal
physical and mental ailments.
Always be
honest. Honesty is the measure of someone’s free will in the universe.
Take conscious decisions about who you are, and how you react.
Only you, you are responsible for your actions. Bad thoughts cause illness to
your mind, body and spirit. Make positive thoughts.
Never take
something that does not belong to you, neither from someone else, nor from a
community or from nature. If it has not been donated to you, or you have not
won it, it is not yours.
Respect whatever
exists in the planet, either people or plants and animals.
Nature is not for us. It is a part of us. It is a part of your
global family.
Honor other
people’s thoughts, wishes and words. Do not interrupt others, do not mock
anyone and never imitate someone rudely. Recognize everyone’s right of freedom
of expression. Respect others’ religion. Do not try to impose your own views.
Respect everyone’s personal moments and property.
All people make
mistakes and all mistakes can be forgiven.
Never refer to others with a bad manner. Do not hurt others’
hearts. The poison of the pain you have caused will return to you. Negative
energy, sent to the universe, is multiplied when it returns to you.
Children are the seeds of your future. Sow
love in their hearts and water them with wisdom and life lessons. When they
grow give them space to be developed.
Be true to
yourself. You cannot help others, if you do not help yourself first.
If you have good destiny, share it with other people!
But it is time you
rested, Glaucus. Lie down and we will mind everything.”
Protomedeia said giving him a kiss on his cheek.
The atmosphere was
emotionally charged as everyone’s eyes were in tears.
-“I will
never forget you”,
Glaucus said, bowing his head and
trying not to cry.
Despite his effort, however, tears flowed from his eyes.
Protomedeia
turned to the other side so that Glaucus could not see her own eyes which also were
full of tears.
Glaucus was too
excited to be able to sleep even though he was exhausted as he knew that he
would not see his beautiful Nereid Protomedeia when he woke up.
At least he hoped to have been told the truth, that he could see
her again.
But the fatigue
overcame him so his eyelids drooped.
Once Glaucus
slept, Protomedeia with the other Nymphs made a circle around him again,
joining their hands, closing their eyes and lowering their heads.
After a while beams of light began to appear around their hands
and spread to the point Glaucus was sleeping. That dim light blazed him down
for a long time…
THE RETURN
Glaucus was
awakened by the seagulls’ voices and the lapping of the waves.
He opened his eyes and saw that he was in his boat that had been
roped at Koukounisi.
“It is over”, he thought, smiled, stood
up, unhitched his boat his boat and began paddling fast to the beach of his
village.
How much had he
missed his family? He was sure that his absence had not been observable, since
Protomedeia had assured him the time had stopped at the moment they reached
Koukounisi three days ago.
What
a adventure, he thought, a Divine bless for me. Gods were so generous with him.
When he decided to go to Koukounisi, he could never imagine that he would live and
fight along with Gods, nymph and monsters, like other great heroes in the past.
His achievements might not been witnessed by
other humans, but he knew that he too, become a small
hero, and he was proud for himself. Maybe one day he would also have kids, and
he would tell them his story as a fairytale.
If only their victory at the Poseidon kingdom has been also the end of the war at home likewise Protomedeia told him that would be great.
If only their victory at the Poseidon kingdom has been also the end of the war at home likewise Protomedeia told him that would be great.
CLAUCUS
With the passing
of time Glaucus changed into a beautiful and wise young man and Protomedeia’s
promise came true as he was spending a lot of time in the seabed with her.
So he was handing
out his time between the island and Poseidon’s kingdom.
There Nereus taught him not only to predict the future, but also
to carry out the noble wishes of humble people, as Kymopoleia had done for him.
Glaucus never
forgot his love for the people of the sea, whom he always helped when they were
in danger, and this is why they commemorated him as the protector of sailors
and fishermen.
So when you find
yourself in the sea, lift up the three fingers of your hand, the index and the
middle fingers as a symbol of Poseidon’s trident, make a wish and you never
know, our little hero Glaucus may listen to that and make it true…!
Chletsos Vassilis Copyright © 2013 All rights reserved not for commercial use
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