A/N: The full bibliography is at the end of this chapter. At the end of the story I'll give a history of Helen and the Trojan War if requested. I recommend all the books listed in the bibliography.
Persephone's Daughter
To the Realm of the Dead or Ships
It took all that evening and the next day to bury the dead properly. We buried my father first, whose body lay just outside the palace, sword in hand. He had died a worthy death, while fighting, but the pirates had racked his body with swords. The wounds reminded me of blooming roses, open and bright red with bits of flesh hanging off. I myself covered him in his purple cloak and some how someone had found a coin to put under his tongue so he could pay the ferryman Charon to take him across the river Styx. Then we turned to the townspeople.
Everyone lay dead in the streets. The mud(it had rained one of the previous days) was red with the blood. Fisherman, traders, farmers, all were dead. There were no survivors. The whole island was eerily silent as my ladies and I watched the guards build the huge funeral pyre for the bodies. There was no choice but to burn the bodies; there were too many to bury.
No women but us remained on the island. I shivered to think what happened to the rest of them. Raped, then taken as slaves for some foreign women, I suppose. I felt so guilty and sad. My fate was with my people. How could I be spared and the rest of my island be utterly destroyed? Why didn't the screams of the men being murdered and the women being ravished and taken away carry up to the temple so I could have gone back and shared in their fate? Tears came to my eyes when ever those thoughts came to it. The bitterness I felt was overpowering. First my mother, and then this happened. Truly I drank deeply from the cup of sorrow.
The first two days we spent just burying the dead. There was still food in the farmer's huts that we could eat, and fresh water streams were all over the island. On the fifth day, our food ran out. With five strong men and eight ladies, we could expect as much. We should have offered to the gods at least once. Perhaps on the third day after the pirates, for three is a sacred number. I had no taste for gods who deserted us though, so we did nothing of the sort.
Instead, on the third day we decided to see if the pirates had found the caves where the treasures of Anthas were hidden and if there was anything left in the palace. I sent my men down to the caves as my women and I looked among the ashes of the palace. All we found were charred remains of precious wood, a few scorched chairs and such, and what few of the stone statues remained. One of my maids found her medal necklace, a rare keepsake for a slave. A balcony that belonged to the women's quarters had been left untouched, and I took one of the soft draperies and made a shawl for myself, the other I let my ladies use to clean their faces and bodies off. Luckily, the pirates did not discover the caves buried in the uneven hillside of the island and left it, thinking that we were poor. In truth my father was a great pirate and took many cities, so we had much gold for my dowry. At least I could give something to my future husband besides an island and my beauty.
My party and I sat and waited after that. We didn't know exactly what to do. A ship could pass by and see our burned out citadel up on the cliff and come to our rescue. But who knew if that ship would be friendly? They could kill my men and then take my women and I as slaves. Or a king or prince could come and kill everyone but me and take me as a concubine. No doubt my beauty would be tempting. Nothing like that happened though; we just sat on the beach staring out to sea most of the day.
Finally, on the ninth day, I found the strength to go back to Persephone's temple to pray.
Nine is a sacred number, even more so than three, and it is always a good idea to pray then. I went alone. The goddess would listen to her princess, but only if I came alone. I passed through the many meadows of flowers leading to the temple savoring everything. The birds sang sweet songs that carried on the wind. I could see the soft white flowers delicately placed at the foot of trees and the violet narcissus growing along the streams. I was afraid of what would happen to me and my home. If I left I would probably never come back, and if I stayed here in my beautiful home I would die of starvation.
I entered the temple slowly, my feet padded like a cats so I would make no noise. This place used to be my favorite in the world, but now it just made me sick. If I hadn't been here I would have been with my father in eternity. None the less, I had to pray, or Persephone would leave me here to starve on my island.
I retrieved one of the pyxis vases from a jar and let the oil drip on to the floor drop by drop. This was how I usually started, even if it was a bit unusual. It was how my mother had taught me.
I walked slowly through Persephone's temple. I stopped at the feet of the statue dedicated to the goddess. I sunk low onto my knees, holding my palms to the heavens. In a reedy voice I sang:
"O Goddess, hold me through these nights on my lonely island. Please, send help in some form."
I prayed to her until my head hurt, until I could think no more. I moved on to the idol of Core, Persephone when she was a flower-maiden. The idol was white marble under the paint that had been worn away by time. This was the most beloved figure in the temple. Love had worn away her paint. The statue also had the most flowers on and around it. I dropped to my knees and hugged the goddess's feet.
"O Beautiful Maiden for whom I am named, answer me this. Why did I escape my fate? How could I be the only free person of my people? How could you spare slaves and a princess and not the king? Why? How? O please Goddess, send me a sign."
I stayed there, and then the most extraordinary thing happened. A voice sounded, the beautiful voice of a women, singing a song without words, a song of comfort. It swam around me and into my heart and then suddenly it stopped, and spoke.
"Daughter, this IS your fate. You are meant to do more, not to stay here. Your heart will mend from your losses over time, do not worry. You will survive. I WILL listen and be near you."
It was my goddess speaking to me, assuring me. I felt rejuvenated, and for the first time in nine days I smiled. I thanked the goddess for favoring me with her voice and stood up, slowly backing out of the temple. I looked back towards the temple, knowing that I would not come back to it for some time, but I felt no sorrow. I knew my goddess would let me return. I smiled once again and continued on my way.
A guard came up to greet me excitedly. I ran to meet him. He fell to his knees before me, beaming and delivered happy news.
"Princess! O, my princess! There are ships! Ships have come for us! They appeared in our bay just this hour! We are saved!"
"Not necessarily, man, but there is hope. Let me prepare for these ships so that I may woo them to take us to help."
But still, I could not help but smile. My goddess did not desert me with the pirates. She had saved me, and she was saving me yet again. Somewhere, a nightingale started to sing, and I knew that it was indeed her. I let the guard lead me back to shore to prepare for the ships that would take us to our new destiny.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
INSIDE THE WALLS OF TROY by Clarence McLaren
GODDESS OF YESTERDAY by Caroline B. Cooney
TROY by Adele Geras
THE ILIAD by Homer(no, not Homer Simpson, an ancient storyteller)
GODS, GODDESSES AND MONSTERS An Encyclopedia of World Mythology(the Greek section) by Sheila Keenan
Greek Mythology Link website by Carlos Parada: http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/index.html
This story also takes some scenes from the book GODDESS OF YESTERDAY. I'll tell you when these scenes turn up. One of them is in this chapter, when Cora goes to pray to her goddess on the ninth day after the pirates attack. Anaxandra also goes and prays to her goddess the ninth day after the pirates attack her island, Siphnos. Her treasure is also untouched by the pirates and she also goes back to the palace to look for things. Her food also runs out on the fifth day. The comment about drinking deeply from the cup of sorrow is also taken from G of Y. The pyxis vases come from G of Y and INSIDE THE WALLS OF TROY.
Persephone's Daughter
To the Realm of the Dead or Ships
It took all that evening and the next day to bury the dead properly. We buried my father first, whose body lay just outside the palace, sword in hand. He had died a worthy death, while fighting, but the pirates had racked his body with swords. The wounds reminded me of blooming roses, open and bright red with bits of flesh hanging off. I myself covered him in his purple cloak and some how someone had found a coin to put under his tongue so he could pay the ferryman Charon to take him across the river Styx. Then we turned to the townspeople.
Everyone lay dead in the streets. The mud(it had rained one of the previous days) was red with the blood. Fisherman, traders, farmers, all were dead. There were no survivors. The whole island was eerily silent as my ladies and I watched the guards build the huge funeral pyre for the bodies. There was no choice but to burn the bodies; there were too many to bury.
No women but us remained on the island. I shivered to think what happened to the rest of them. Raped, then taken as slaves for some foreign women, I suppose. I felt so guilty and sad. My fate was with my people. How could I be spared and the rest of my island be utterly destroyed? Why didn't the screams of the men being murdered and the women being ravished and taken away carry up to the temple so I could have gone back and shared in their fate? Tears came to my eyes when ever those thoughts came to it. The bitterness I felt was overpowering. First my mother, and then this happened. Truly I drank deeply from the cup of sorrow.
The first two days we spent just burying the dead. There was still food in the farmer's huts that we could eat, and fresh water streams were all over the island. On the fifth day, our food ran out. With five strong men and eight ladies, we could expect as much. We should have offered to the gods at least once. Perhaps on the third day after the pirates, for three is a sacred number. I had no taste for gods who deserted us though, so we did nothing of the sort.
Instead, on the third day we decided to see if the pirates had found the caves where the treasures of Anthas were hidden and if there was anything left in the palace. I sent my men down to the caves as my women and I looked among the ashes of the palace. All we found were charred remains of precious wood, a few scorched chairs and such, and what few of the stone statues remained. One of my maids found her medal necklace, a rare keepsake for a slave. A balcony that belonged to the women's quarters had been left untouched, and I took one of the soft draperies and made a shawl for myself, the other I let my ladies use to clean their faces and bodies off. Luckily, the pirates did not discover the caves buried in the uneven hillside of the island and left it, thinking that we were poor. In truth my father was a great pirate and took many cities, so we had much gold for my dowry. At least I could give something to my future husband besides an island and my beauty.
My party and I sat and waited after that. We didn't know exactly what to do. A ship could pass by and see our burned out citadel up on the cliff and come to our rescue. But who knew if that ship would be friendly? They could kill my men and then take my women and I as slaves. Or a king or prince could come and kill everyone but me and take me as a concubine. No doubt my beauty would be tempting. Nothing like that happened though; we just sat on the beach staring out to sea most of the day.
Finally, on the ninth day, I found the strength to go back to Persephone's temple to pray.
Nine is a sacred number, even more so than three, and it is always a good idea to pray then. I went alone. The goddess would listen to her princess, but only if I came alone. I passed through the many meadows of flowers leading to the temple savoring everything. The birds sang sweet songs that carried on the wind. I could see the soft white flowers delicately placed at the foot of trees and the violet narcissus growing along the streams. I was afraid of what would happen to me and my home. If I left I would probably never come back, and if I stayed here in my beautiful home I would die of starvation.
I entered the temple slowly, my feet padded like a cats so I would make no noise. This place used to be my favorite in the world, but now it just made me sick. If I hadn't been here I would have been with my father in eternity. None the less, I had to pray, or Persephone would leave me here to starve on my island.
I retrieved one of the pyxis vases from a jar and let the oil drip on to the floor drop by drop. This was how I usually started, even if it was a bit unusual. It was how my mother had taught me.
I walked slowly through Persephone's temple. I stopped at the feet of the statue dedicated to the goddess. I sunk low onto my knees, holding my palms to the heavens. In a reedy voice I sang:
"O Goddess, hold me through these nights on my lonely island. Please, send help in some form."
I prayed to her until my head hurt, until I could think no more. I moved on to the idol of Core, Persephone when she was a flower-maiden. The idol was white marble under the paint that had been worn away by time. This was the most beloved figure in the temple. Love had worn away her paint. The statue also had the most flowers on and around it. I dropped to my knees and hugged the goddess's feet.
"O Beautiful Maiden for whom I am named, answer me this. Why did I escape my fate? How could I be the only free person of my people? How could you spare slaves and a princess and not the king? Why? How? O please Goddess, send me a sign."
I stayed there, and then the most extraordinary thing happened. A voice sounded, the beautiful voice of a women, singing a song without words, a song of comfort. It swam around me and into my heart and then suddenly it stopped, and spoke.
"Daughter, this IS your fate. You are meant to do more, not to stay here. Your heart will mend from your losses over time, do not worry. You will survive. I WILL listen and be near you."
It was my goddess speaking to me, assuring me. I felt rejuvenated, and for the first time in nine days I smiled. I thanked the goddess for favoring me with her voice and stood up, slowly backing out of the temple. I looked back towards the temple, knowing that I would not come back to it for some time, but I felt no sorrow. I knew my goddess would let me return. I smiled once again and continued on my way.
A guard came up to greet me excitedly. I ran to meet him. He fell to his knees before me, beaming and delivered happy news.
"Princess! O, my princess! There are ships! Ships have come for us! They appeared in our bay just this hour! We are saved!"
"Not necessarily, man, but there is hope. Let me prepare for these ships so that I may woo them to take us to help."
But still, I could not help but smile. My goddess did not desert me with the pirates. She had saved me, and she was saving me yet again. Somewhere, a nightingale started to sing, and I knew that it was indeed her. I let the guard lead me back to shore to prepare for the ships that would take us to our new destiny.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
INSIDE THE WALLS OF TROY by Clarence McLaren
GODDESS OF YESTERDAY by Caroline B. Cooney
TROY by Adele Geras
THE ILIAD by Homer(no, not Homer Simpson, an ancient storyteller)
GODS, GODDESSES AND MONSTERS An Encyclopedia of World Mythology(the Greek section) by Sheila Keenan
Greek Mythology Link website by Carlos Parada: http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/index.html
This story also takes some scenes from the book GODDESS OF YESTERDAY. I'll tell you when these scenes turn up. One of them is in this chapter, when Cora goes to pray to her goddess on the ninth day after the pirates attack. Anaxandra also goes and prays to her goddess the ninth day after the pirates attack her island, Siphnos. Her treasure is also untouched by the pirates and she also goes back to the palace to look for things. Her food also runs out on the fifth day. The comment about drinking deeply from the cup of sorrow is also taken from G of Y. The pyxis vases come from G of Y and INSIDE THE WALLS OF TROY.