~Silvestria~
The Aphi-basilisk
Queen of the gods and wife of Almighty Zeus, Hera sat on her throne in her salon on Mount Olympus. Hera was angry. The object of this sudden and unfortunate fury was Heracles. Hera had never (although formally she had, and she always said she had) forgiven him for being Zeus' son. She was not always angry with him like this, however. This time he had got drunk at the party the gods had indulged in last night. Still she had nothing concrete to reproach him with. Yet.
There was a knock on Hera's door which was quickly followed by the entrance of Hebe, bringing Hera's wine. Hebe would have nothing to reproach Heracles with, Hera thought despondently, but here she was mistaken. Led onto the subject of her beloved husband, Hebe confessed that all was not well.
Hebe had been to the party last night for she served wine to the deities and Heracles had indeed been intoxicated. So much so that after the party Hebe had seen him trying to entice Artemis into his embrace!
Hera was, if anything, over the moon. Here was a valid reason to punish Heracles, for Artemis was well known to encourage no suitor.
Hera sent Hebe from the room and tried to think of a plan. Eurystheus, who had originally sent Heracles on his labours, was long dead, so she Hera would have to provide one. But how to make it seem natural? She ran her mind though the labours he had already performed. 'The Nemean Lion, The Hydra…' until she reached the eleventh labour. 'Surely, surely…' she thought, 'you can't count his having fetched the golden apples? He didn't even get them himself! He tricked Atlas into getting them for him. Eurystheus didn't know that; if he had done he wouldn't have counted it…'
Now it seemed nothing was left but to decide what to make him do. Heracles couldn't be killed; he was already immortal, so what would be a danger to him, without killing him…? And how could she trick him into believing the task was simpler than he thought…?
Chaiti grabbed a cloak and left the villa by the back door. The sun was not quite up and the morning was cool and dark. The grass between her toes was damp with dew as she walked, and she could hear the faint sound of crickets singing in the undergrowth. Chaiti climbed through the lines of olive trees, their silhouettes dark in the twilight. She came to a little stony outcrop above the farm on the hillside and settled herself down to watch the sun rise over Athens. She looked first to her right, to the harbour of Piraeus where the sun would appear first and then to her left where the city was still sleeping.
Chaiti watched the sun rise as much as possible. She liked to see it appear from the depths of the sea like Poseidon himself and illuminate the great golden statue of Athena on the acropolis. She liked to see the rocky, green islands appear in the haze and she liked to see her family's own olive trees become green and visible below her.
She always felt much happier with the world if she had seen the sun rise. She also felt far closer to the gods when she had seen Athena's majestic statue rising out of the city itself.
Now however, all was quiet. Or was it? Something seemed to be rustling behind her. Chaiti's paid no attention. She didn't mind the animals. This was their world, and it was also the world she felt most at home in.
A streak of gold light shot across the sea and turned it reddy-purple. Something brushed Chaiti's leg and she reluctantly turned away from the sunrise. Something was moving in the bushes behind her. She peered through them, and for the first time thought she could be a little cold. Something was in the bushes. It looked like a snake. Chaiti peered round a bush and saw her last.
Heracles leaned unhappily on the wall looking over Mount Olympus. He stared at the clouds below without interest, "How can I ever get back in her favour? I wasn't myself that night. What must I do?"
Athena continued polishing her armour, "Well, you must do everything she tells you to. I never thought she had properly forgiven you. She's like that with her husbands' children." Athena scrubbed particularly hard at a piece of her gold breastplate.
"Shall I go and see her now?" Heracles asked, "The sooner she sets me a task, the sooner my conscience can be cleared."
Athena laughed, "I can't see why you're so eager to do one of Hera's fiendish tasks, but go ahead by all means if you want to. I'll stay out to here to hear the verdict."
Nervously and with great trepidation Heracles knocked on Hera's door. "Come in!" she called.
Heracles entered and immediately bowed down before the Queen.
"So," she said, "I hope you feel sorry for what you did to poor Artemis. She was quite upset and I shouldn't wonder she would curse you as soon as she gets the opportunity."
Heracles bowed even lower if it was possible and said, "What must I do?"
Hera smiled like the cat with the cream, "Well, isn't it true that you didn't actually get the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides yourself? You got Atlas to get them for you, didn't you?
Heracles nodded, not quite sure where this was going.
"Well, you obviously didn't do that labour properly then. You must do another to compensate. And I have just the thing for you…"
She stood up and Heracles moved aside to let her pass, then followed her onto the covered walkway that ran around the mountain. She leaned over the wall and parted the clouds. They looked down.
"There," Hera pointed, "the country near Athens is being plagued by a basilisk. No-one can do anything at all about it. Why don't you have a go?"
Hera didn't mention that the reason the basilisk was plaguing Athens was because she had sent it. She also didn't mention that she had not told Heracles all about this particular basilisk. Athena suspended her cloth and listened. Heracles stared down at the supposedly peaceful city of Athens, "If it will finish my labours for me, and put myself back in Hebe's favour."
"You can be sure it will do both those things. Now get yourself ready, and don't return until you can show me the basilisk's head." She added sharply. Then added a hiss to the end of 'head' to herself, and she chuckled happily.
Heracles was about to go, when Athena interrupted, "Bringing back the basilisk's head would hardly be a good idea, Hera."
"You may close its eyes first." Hera agreed, somewhat reluctantly.
She swept majestically back into her throne room leaving Heracles and Athena together.
"Quick," cried Athena jumping up. She took a mirror from out of her pocket and handed it to him, "You know, of course, that basilisks kill people just by looking at them? And if they don't kill you then they petrify you, which is just as bad. Always use the mirror- I can't tell you more than that. Now you'd better go."
She watched while he picked up his bow and arrows and put on his lion cape of old. She walked with him to the steps that dropped down into the mist off Mount Olympus.
"And… Good luck, Heracles." She squeezed his hand, and watched with a slight frown as he stepped off the bottom step and glided down towards earth. Then she walked further along and leaning on the wall, parted the clouds as Hera had done and focused on wherever Heracles might be at that particular moment.
As for Heracles himself, he had never returned to the mortal world since his own 'death'. He wondered what had changed, and what was still going to be endearingly the same. Much as he loved his new home (not that it was so new anymore- he had lived on Mount Olympus for many, many years now), he was looking forward to having conversation with people who weren't the gods. It would be nice, he thought, to see Greece again.
He landed in the middle of Athens. People bustled round him, going about their every day business. Heracles soaked up the once familiar sights, sounds and spells. For example, the noise of sandals on the stone pavements, the sound of raised voices and the creak of a wagon, the barking of dogs and neighing of horses. He saw the glare of the sun on the stone buildings and the smell of food cooking at stalls.
People certainly seemed surprised to see him, for he was about eight feet tall, and clad in armour. They stopped and stared for a while. No-one seemed to want to be the first to move. A short, plump red-faced man with tufts of white hair who seemed to be important was the first to break the awkward silence. He cried, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Heracles nodded and said, "Can you help me? I'm looking for a basilisk that is terrorising your people."
The red faced man almost jumped up and down with excitement, "Thank Zeus! He can revenge my daughter's death!" There was a muttering in the crowd and one old lady whispered, "Thank Zeus!" again and raised her arms to heaven.
The white haired man held out his hand, "I'm Tadios. I own a farm outside Athens. I know the basilisk is near there because my own daughter was killed this morning."
The muttering in the crowd turned to sympathetic head shaking and tongue clicking. Heracles said, "May I go and see where she was killed?"
"Certainly, I don't know exactly where Chaiti was found but her sister Amithea would be willing to show you, I'm sure."
Heracles agreed and left with Tadios, who it turned out, already knew him because of his lion skin armour- he had read of him.
They entered the courtyard and the first thing Heracles saw was a young girl of about fourteen.
"That's my daughter, Amithea. Spirited girl, Amithea. Very game."
Heracles studied the dead girl's sister. By Greek standards she wasn't very handsome. She had very dark hair and greeny-grey eyes (though they were mostly green) and her skin was tanned and freckled. The Greeks' idea of beauty was a smooth pale skin.
"She has a little spirit about her- not one of those submitting, graceful ideal little girls you see most of the time. She's quite a rebel I'm afraid." Though he said this anxiously, Heracles could see that he was really very proud of his daughter.
She stood up and advanced towards him, smiling, "I'm afraid I am a bit of a rebel, but father doesn't mind. I behave like a good girl to mother though. Today I'm a bit out of spirits, though. I was very fond of Chaiti."
Now that Heracles looked closely he could see that Amithea's green eyes were quite red and swollen.
Heracles then asked where the basilisk had killed Tadios' younger daughter.
"I know," replied Amithea. "She will have been on the slopes above the olive groves. She went there as much as she could, to see the sun rise. I went with her, sometimes. I found her there this morning."
Heracles looked at Amithea's father, willing to let Amithea show him where the basilisk last was seen. Tadios shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of wine, "Well, Heracles, I don't see why you shouldn't take her with you. You're to come back immediately there's any sign of danger, however, Ami. If she is stubborn, bring her back by force," he added to Heracles in an undertone.
Heracles and Amithea nodded and they left shortly afterwards. Amithea took a cloak.
Amithea led them bravely up a stony mountain track. They went through the olive groves along the same route that Chaiti had made that morning. At last they reached a flat grassy area, surrounded by undergrowth and looking over a cliff; Amithea stopped again, "If she went anywhere, she went here. And if I'm not mistaken, this is where you'll find your basilisk, Heracles."
They looked around and Amithea pointed to a stone, "That's where we sat."
"I imagine the basilisk came from behind and she heard a noise and then she saw it," said Heracles thoughtfully.
Amithea nodded. She picked up a stick and started to poke around in the bushes. Heracles stopped her, "You're not to search for the basilisk, Amithea. That's my job."
Still, there was no sign of it. Heracles took out his mirror. He had decided what to do when he did find it, now he only had to find it.
Athena had watched Heracles all day, and she was now thoroughly bored. She felt Heracles needed help- he wasn't anywhere near the basilisk at the moment. So she summoned it and sent it right to the undergrowth near Chaiti's house.
There was a rustling in the bushes and Amithea grabbed Heracles' mirror. She was about top dash into the greenery, but Heracles held her back, "NO! Remember your father, Amithea! You're to go home now. May I have my mirror?"
Unwillingly Amithea returned Athena's mirror and walked down the stony path, giving Heracles backward glances very often.
Heracles, however, plunged into the undergrowth and soon saw the coils of a gigantic snake. He held his mirror in front of him and walked slowly towards the serpent. It was a bight, luminous green but did not stink quite as badly as he remembered the hydra and its swamps had done. He took an arrow from his sheath and quickly advanced towards it and stuck an arrow in its side. The snake reared up in pain and started uncoiling itself. Heracles quickly turned round and holding up the mirror so that he could see what was going, picked another arrow. (These arrows were not the arrows that he had had previously- dipped in the hydra's blood.)
His aim was to blind it. When it couldn't see, he could look at it, but how could he blind it without him seeing the snake's deadly eyes? Inching backwards towards it he stopped and waited as it swung his head round towards him. Heracles quickly turned around and lunged at its face. With one arm he grabbed the basilisk by the neck and with the other he almost stroked the face trying to find its eyes. The basilisk was strong however and fighting hard. Suddenly there was a shout from behind him, "Watch out, Heracles! Don't open your eyes! Wait!" Heracles didn't open his eyes but there was a slight thud and a scream of pain from the snake. Then he felt a wooden handle being pushed into his hand, "Here, use this! There's another head!!"
Heracles grabbed the axe without thinking and lashed out. He felt the axe come into contact with something and he hit it over and over again. He felt he was getting close to defeating the second head, when Amithea (for that was who the voice had belonged to) cried anxiously, "Have you forgotten the first head?"
Still lashing out with the axe at the second head, he picked up his arrow and stabbed behind his back. He could feel something tear behind him- he must have made a good hit. "Good one!" cried Amithea, "Now, to the right and stab again!" Heracles did so.
"You've got both its eyes! Open yours!"
Heracles could do nothing but obey her. He turned round and looked at a mass of bright skin and a face with two bulbous orange eyes which were pierced. He looked at the other head which was at the other end of the snake's body- where its tail should have been. It was writhing in agony and its head was almost cut off. Fortunately its eyes were not facing Heracles. He finished off that head by cutting it off then turned to face the first one. Though it was blinded, it was still squirming. Heracles, in one of the massive feats of strength that he was famous for, took its neck between his hands and squeezed any remaining life out of it. The basilisk with a head at each end gave a shudder and died.
Heracles looked down at it and then at Amithea who had blood on her dress, "Thank-you."
"It's a pleasure. You might have seen I wasn't going to disappear back home like a good girl, couldn't you?"
Heracles laughed, pleased that his mission had turned out so well, "I don't understand how you could tell me where to stab it, without dying yourself?"
"I was looking at it sideways on, so I never actually saw its eyes. I closed mine if I thought it was going to look this way. What exactly is the creature?" asked Amithea after a pause.
"It looks like a cross between a basilisk and an amphibeata, probably one of Hera's little ideas to help me get the most out of life." Heracles replied. He picked up each of the heads and slung them round his neck. "Good-bye, Amithea, it's been nice knowing you."
She sighed, "Goodbye, Heracles." Then she truly left for her home and Heracles made his way back to Mount Olympus.
FINIS