The Mysteries, A Novel of Ancient Eleusis

by David Sheppard

  *

  Myrrhine felt her daughter shudder in her arms, wake. Myrrhine smiled down at her, realizing Melaina knew nothing of the terrible tremor that had seized her while sleeping. The thunder of the horses' hooves filled Myrrhine's ears, and she watched the morning sun paint a warm glow on Melaina's cheeks as they approached the outskirts of Eleusis.

  The chariot filled the sanctuary with dust as it came to a stop just inside the Greater Propylaea. Slaves rushed to assist, two men for the horses and a long line of women for the priestess and her daughter. As they exited the chariot, the Hierophant appeared in the gateway. Myrrhine had never seen her father look so old, and his face now carried a worried shadow. Melaina ran to him, throwing her arms about his waist. Myrrhine heard her daughter ask, "Who's the young man who accompanied us here?"

  "Who?" asked the Hierophant.

  "Him, the tall, bronze young man."

  "That's Sophocles," her grandfather said.