Olympos for beginners
Ariadne, leaves her home island Crete to follow her beloved Theseus to Athens – but nothing turns out the way she expected.
Naxos
After three days at sea the motion-sickness had faded and she didn't feel like throwing up when seeing the horizon move or feeling the ship heave anymore. Nevertheless it was still bliss when the ship finally landed; on the shore of the rocky island Naxos. When the keel kissed the sand with a rasping sound Ariadne felt she had to leave the ship, to feel firm ground beneath her feet, if only for an hour or so.
She had left Crete head over heels and with very few belongings, as a refuge she had run away with the Athenians. This hasty event was caused by her helping their leader, the handsome prince Theseus to defeat the terrible Minotaur in the labyrinth, and to – with the help of a silk-thread – getting him out from there.
Her actions had made Ariadne into a traitor to her own land. She betrayed her land for love, and hadn't she followed Theseus when he and his friends took off in the depth of the dark, moonless night; she would have faced a certain harsh judgement and imprisonment. The choice had seemed so easy back then: to follow her beloved across the sea to the far-away land of Athens.
Today Ariadne was not so certain. Theseus had showed her little attention since they left Crete and the Athenian youths had been – if not outright hostile – yet cold and haughty, never making her feel like she was a part of the group. To them she had remained "the Cretan lass", the foreigner who didn't share their in-jokes or knew the games they had been playing with dices and markers to spend their time aboard.
However, since she had no maid to inform of her doings Ariadne had told two of the Athenian girls that she was going off the ship for a while.
" Need to smell the forest for a while", she had said, put on her walking shoes and taken a shawl with her. Chrysandra, the girl who shared cabin with Ariadne and two other girls, simply looked up and nodded. The petite Athenian with dark, curly hair and big black, owl-like eyes had been the only one who had shown a bit of friendliness, and Ariadne hoped that Chrysandra would notice Theseus when he and his trekkers were back on board again.
" I'm not going far", Ariadne mumbled to herself, while crossing the cobblestone beach and entering the bushes beyond. Yet soon she became mesmerized by the sound of flowing water. A creek or a stream nearby! Fresh water! Thank the gods! Ariadne felt the thirst in her mouth, the stale, foul water back on the ship was something she very reluctantly had drunk, and now she longed for the clean taste of pristine and cold water from a sparkling stream.
Ariadne followed the beckoning sound up a hardly visible path, through thickets of torn that tore at her arms and scratched her chin. She cursed the pain but didn't turn back. And soon she became rewarded with the most beautiful sight. A tiny waterfall streaming down in a dark pond surrounded by white waterlilies and pink wild roses like little babies fists.
The place smelt of enchantment, almost forbidden, but Ariadne hardly cared. She fell down on her knees, cupped her hands and drank greedily from the water in the pound. Then she splashed more of it over her hot face, wished she had time to take a bath, maybe washing her hair. But she did not know when Theseus and his men would return to the ship and she remembered him saying that the landing on Naxos would not be a long one. They wouldn't stay the night, since they didn't trust the people living on far side of the island.
" I have to go back" Ariadne reasoned. "But first I'll sit down for just a minute or two and rest." A nearby tree trunk looked very comfortable and Ariadne seated herself by it, closing her eyes. Soon she began to feel strange. Tired and odd, heavy in her limbs. The sound of streaming water and buzzing insects became more prominent, dulling her senses and the glittering sunlight on the water as well as the movements in the pattern of shadows and light on the ground began to have a hypnotizing effect.
The sound – the buzzing bumblebees and flies, it sounded almost like voices, talking to her.
Ariadne, Ariadne, lady of the Thread… you who betrayed your homeland. And Theseus' voice Come with us! I'll take you to Athens, make you my queen! Had he ever said that really? Had he ever said that he loved her? Why was he…? Ariadne, Ariadne, screaming voices The Minotaur is dead! The Athenian thug killed it! Get them! Get the Athenians, kill them all! No one must know…
Betrayal Betrayal Betrayal buzz buzz buzz Come to Athens… to Athens… to Athens… to Athens… buzz buzz buzz buzz…
Ariadne woke up with a shudder, disoriented, confused! Looking around, she recognized the pond and the waterfall. She also noted how light had changed, it fell differently, slanted, and with an orange evening tint to it. She had slept! How long had she slept?
The Ship! She must go back!
Quickly she rose and not looking back she started into the forest, towards the shore. Twice she was mistaken and had to turn back, but at the third try she reached the beach and the ocean. But – where was the ship? Where were Theseus and the others? Was it even the right beach? Ariadne began to look around, yes, there they were, the landmarks she had spotted when coming ashore. The whitened tree-trunk, the funny-looking rock – almost like a man with a big nose. And the bent fig tree. But no ship!
" Theseus!" Ariadne called out. "Theseus!" although she knew it was pointless. At the same time she couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that he was gone, he and all his Athenians. That he had left her, his saviour, stranded on a strange island far away from home. Left her and taken off while she was ashore and asleep.
"Theseus! Theseus!" Perhaps they had just relocated the ship. Found a better place to land it. Ariadne began to run aimlessly down the beach, and soon she found herself by the large rock. Without thinking she climbed it, stumbling once and hitting her knee, white flashes of pain dancing before her eyes.
Then she saw it – the ship. It had set sail and was heading out, away from the island of Naxos. It was leaving her! Theseus was leaving her behind, he had never loved her!
"Theseus! Theseus! Theseus!" Ariadne kept on screaming and screaming although she knew it was no point anymore, he couldn't hear her, and even if he had he wouldn't turn back. He had left her behind on purpose. Not bothering with what happened to her. Now he was going back to his beloved Athens on the ship with black sails.
" Curse you!" Ariadne mumbled, her voice hoarse from screaming. "May you return to death! May you never see you father again, the king you talked so proudly and longingly about!" Then she began to cry. With tears streaming down her face and broken voice she climbed down from the rock and sat herself with the stone as a seat, just as she had sat herself against the tree by the enchanted pond. Wet, soft waves lapped at her sandaled feet almost like they were trying to comfort her, and the sun was setting behind dark hills, painting the skies in burning crimson.
Why had she fallen asleep?
Why had he left her?
Why had she helped him in the first hand?
Why was life so unfair?
What was she going to do now?