“Aeolus,” Machaon began carefully, “we seek Odysseus, but have not as yet been able to speak with him. We would be glad to know his account of the war and how it ended. Before we tell you what we know to be true, would you tell us what has been told to you?”
Aeolus, who enjoyed the telling of the tale as much as the hearing, readily agreed to the younger man’s request.
He began by taking a long drink, and then he retold Odysseus’ tale. He spoke of the ten long years of war, of the heavy losses on both sides and of the courageous Greeks who besieged the walled city. He praised Agamemnon, Ajax, Menelaus, Achilles and all the Greek generals. He described the clever deal that Odysseus had made with the chieftain of the Herdsmen to feed his men. He retold many amusing anecdotes centred on the general ineptitude of all but the Greeks, at which his pale family laughed heartily. Finally, he came to the story of the fall.
“After ten years away from their wives and their kingdoms, the Greeks were weary,” Aeolus explained. “It was only the great walls of Troy that prevented the superior warriors of Agamemnon from bringing Troy to its knees. If only the gates could be opened, then they could face the Trojans fairly, and victory would be theirs. And so the noble Greeks sought out the Herdsmen, who had shown them friendship, but who still had the trust of the Trojan king, Priam. It was the Herdsmen who held open the gates of the fortress and allowed Agamemnon to call out the fighting men of Troy. Unable now to run cowering behind the walls, the Trojans were vanquished. Agamemnon sacked the citadel as was his right as victor, and enslaved its people. So great was the valour of the Greeks, so merciful were their leaders, that the women of Troy willingly joined them, rejoicing that their brutish unmanly husbands lay dead on the battlefields.”
As the Warden of Gales finished, Hero wept, unable to control her horror at this depiction of her people. Aeolus and his family showed no surprise that she should react with such emotion, though they were mistaken as to its cause. The sons of Agelaus regarded their host with blazing eyes and outraged hearts. In the end it was Machaon who spoke.
“My Lord,” he said, his voice tight and controlled. “The tale of Odysseus is indeed one of valour and triumph, but with respect, it may be that there were some things that the King of Ithaca failed to see.” He looked briefly at his brothers and silently they agreed that they could not allow this story to lie unchallenged, whatever the risk. Lycon put his arm quietly around Hero, keeping her close, in case they should need to fight.
Aeolus and his large brood seemed intrigued, though wary.
“We found Odysseus to be an honest man,” their host warned them.
“And you bear the stripes of a traitor,” said one of the golden-haired daughters of the house. “We saw them when we bathed you.”
Machaon stopped, unsettled. It had never occurred to him that the scars left on his back by the whip would mark him thus. For some reason he had forgotten that enemies were killed, but only traitors and criminals were flogged.
“There are no traitors amongst the Herdsmen,” Cadmus spoke into the silence. “But there are those who have wronged us. Only Machaon bears the stripes, but all of us are marked.”
“Then tell us your tale, Herdsman,” said Deimara from her place beside her husband. “And let us be the judge of whose word is truth.”
Calmly, Cadmus started with the beginnings of the Herdsmen within the tribe that founded Troy. He told the family of Aeolus of the sacred trust they had held for generations as they defended Troy in ways that warriors could not. The walls of the citadel would offer no protection if the people starved within.
He recounted the day that Odysseus had come to see their father. He and Machaon had been just boys and Lycon even younger. Hero had not yet been relinquished by her mother into Agelaus’ care.
“The King of Ithaca asked for an audience with the chief of the Herdsmen. Our people have no such positions, but the word of my father held sway with his brethren, and so he spoke with Odysseus. Machaon and I hid in trees where the meeting took place. Odysseus offered to leave Ida in peace if the Herdsmen would supply the Greeks with beasts for sacrifice and food. If we declined Odysseus promised his men would burn the mountain and kill all who lived upon it.
“My father feared not for his people — the Herdsmen have long known how to disappear into the mountains of Ilus — but for the Trojans, who relied on our herds to withstand the siege. He convinced Odysseus that our flocks and herds were poor, and so, negotiated to tithe to the Greeks only a few beasts every month. We kept most of our animals hidden and we protected them with our lives.”
Cadmus described what they had seen of the battles from the heights of Ida. He painted a picture of Trojan warriors who were as courageous and fierce as the Greek invaders. He told them how Hector, the Prince of Troy, had faced Achilles and died by his hand, and how Achilles had desecrated the hero’s body in his own mad vengeance.
Machaon continued with an account of the day that Troy had fallen, whilst Cadmus was in Abydos.
“When it appeared the Greeks had abandoned the war, Priam accepted the great horse they offered, but he closed the gates again, for he was a cautious man. We Herdsmen took supplies for the celebrations that would follow within the walls. The gates were opened while we were still in the tunnels. There was no call for the fighting men of Troy to come out. The Greeks flooded silently into Troy whilst its people celebrated and slept. They spared no one. We saved whom we could, but we had to step over the bodies of women and children to do so. Many fled to the temples for refuge, but were slaughtered nevertheless. Ajax of Locris violated the Princess Cassandra whilst she clung to the altar in the temple of Athena. Priam and his son Deiphobus were killed by the altar of Zeus. The infant son of Hector was torn from his mother’s arms and thrown from the walls of Troy. Her screams rent the sky with anguish.”
Aeolus and his family listened, appalled as Machaon described the frenzied bloodlust and carnage of the sack of Troy.
“We did not see any mercy, or compassion,” he said finally. “The Trojans were not treated as a worthy foe, but destroyed and desecrated in a manner that offended the gods themselves.”
“Who opened the gates?”
“We do not know,” said Lycon. “We only know that it was not the Herdsmen. It is why we seek Odysseus.”
“To avenge your people?”
“No,” replied Machaon. “To ask him how the gates were opened and to find out why he tells the world that it was the deed of the Herdsmen.”
“Perhaps he believes the attribution to be true. To us, he spoke of the Herdsmen as friends of the Greek campaign.”
“He could not believe that, no matter what he says!” Cadmus shook his head angrily. “Many of our people were caught as they tried to bring survivors out of Troy. The forces of Agamemnon and Odysseus executed them. They knew we weren’t their friends.”
“And you?” A daughter of Aeolus looked at Machaon. “The stripes on your back. Was that Odysseus?”
Machaon looked at the young woman uncomfortably for she regarded him too intensely.
“No,” he said. “That was Scamandrios, the last of King Priam’s sons.”
“Why would the Trojans flog you if the Herdsmen were faithful?” asked Aeolus suspiciously.
“Because Scamandrios is a duplicitous, ungrateful, stupid ... ” Hero could be silent no longer.
“Scamandrios sought to blame our people for the loss of Troy,” said Machaon as Lycon tried to calm their sister. “He put me under the whip to extract a confession from my father.”
“And what happened?”
“Agelaus died protesting the innocence of the Herdsmen.”
“Your account certainly tells a different tale to that told by Odysseus,” said Aeolus thoughtfully. “What think you, my wife? Who speaks the truth?”
Deimara looked carefully her guests. Her smile was cold.
“Husband,” said she, “their tale is sad, but it does not entertain like the words of the Greek. Certainly I
preferred Odysseus’ description of the sack itself. Surely the account of the legendary King of Ithaca must prevail over the story of one marked as a betrayer. Is that not why traitors are flogged? So that they be marked and good people know that they cannot be believed?”
“Indeed,” said the daughter who looked with such intensity at Machaon. “Odysseus’ tale made us laugh as well as cry. His heroes were bigger men, who died honourably, and I think his descriptions of battle more exciting.”
“Yes,” agreed another daughter. “The Herdsmen’s tale was hard and dark — it had not the clever turn of language with which Odysseus entranced us. As a distraction, it did not hold me so well.” She looked at her sisters and giggled. “If there is nothing more that these men can do to entertain us, my verdict is with the King of Ithaca.”
Machaon glanced at his brothers in disbelief. This was not good. The sons of Agelaus stood. Lycon pulled their sister to her feet, but the men of the house were just as quick with their swords.
Aeolus looked at his guests a little sadly. “It seems you have visited my table with lies that defame a man whom I have called friend.”
“What do you plan to do with us?” Machaon asked as Cadmus and Lycon pushed Hero protectively between them.
But, Hero was not afraid. She had just relived the destruction of her people, her father and her life. And these strange women who wed their brothers chose to believe Odysseus because he was more amusing. Her outrage exploded forth. She raised her arms, and called to her gods in fury.
She appealed to Zeus, to Apollo and Poseidon whose cities and favourites Odysseus had destroyed. She called on Nemesis who was justice, and Aphrodite who had loved her brother, Paris. She petitioned war-mongering Ares to defend the honour of the Trojan warriors. She begged the gods to show their enmity to devious Odysseus, who acted without honour in victory and would not claim his own deed. She asked the gods to exercise their right and propensity to punish and avenge.
The sons of Agelaus were used to her aggressive piety, and so regarded her outburst with something akin to amusement, despite the circumstances. But the household of Aeolus, which owed its existence and power to the gods she invoked, was unnerved.
“What do you plan to do with us?” Machaon asked again, as Hero continued to pray and denounce.
“Let us not be hasty,” Aeolus said to his wife and children. “Let us think upon it.” He turned to his sons. “Secure them, but comfortably. Let us wait for the judgment of the gods.”
“From the clifftops they hurled huge rocks upon the unsuspecting fleet. Soon rose a din of splintering wood above which was heard the groans and wrenching screams of dying men.”
The Odyssey Book X
BOOK XIV
THE SONS OF AGELAUS and their remonstrating sister were taken to a room high in the stone tower of the palace. It was comfortable and furnished with well-crafted wooden beds, piled high with blankets upon soft mattresses. The heavy bronze door was closed and bolted after them.
Cadmus looked out of the window. They were well above the tops of the trees and could glimpse the turbulent sea as it broke against the rocks. He contemplated the distance to the ground.
“Don’t even think about it, Cad,” Machaon said as he fell back onto a bed. “You’d never survive.”
“I don’t know,” Cadmus murmured. “That shrubbery would break my fall ... ”
Lycon peered out of the window beside him. “You’re an idiot,” he said. “We’d only have to waste time burying you.”
“Hero,” said Machaon to his sister who was still muttering to her gods. “Please stop. Surely the gods would have heard you by now ... let’s try not to annoy them.”
Hero glared at him, but she stopped.
“You know, Mac,” Cadmus said still looking out the window. “We may have to work on the way we tell our story ... apparently it’s not amusing enough.”
“I’ll try to include a joke between ‘he bled to death’ and ‘the city burned’.” Machaon responded tersely.
“What do you think Aeolus is waiting for?” Lycon asked as he checked the room and its furniture.
“Hero scared him,” Machaon replied. “He wants to make sure the gods aren’t on our side before he kills us.”
“You think he’ll kill us?” Lycon was surprised.
“Why else would he keep us?” Cadmus replied. “Don’t let all the food and hospitality fool you, Ly, that family’s odd!”
“Odd isn’t the start of it,” Lycon agreed. “His children have taken each other in marriage ... what in Hades is that all about?”
Machaon grimaced. “I’m hoping it’s just a turn of phrase and they are not literally ... ” He didn’t finish.
“I don’t know,” said Cadmus. “They look alike ... ”
Hero listened amazed her brothers could be having such a conversation when they were prisoners.
Lycon winked at her. “Don’t worry Hero,” he said. “None of us would have you, even if you weren’t our sister ... ”
Machaon groaned and Cadmus laughed.
“Can we stop talking about this?” Machaon demanded as Hero threatened Lycon, “It’s too disturbing — the sooner we get out of here the better!”
“Well, perhaps you should turn your mind to how exactly we do that!” Hero said in exasperation as she shoved Machaon from his relaxed repose on the bed.
He smiled. “We could let Cad jump out of the window,” he suggested.
AFTER THEY had been confined by the Warden of Gales for three days and nights, the sons of Agelaus were considering the idea of jumping from the window more seriously. Hero had alternated between fury at their captors and at her brothers.
“Look, Hero,” Machaon said in the face of her latest tirade. “They will not kill us. There are only six sons of Aeolus, and they do not seem to be warriors. We could take their swords and defeat them, if we had to.”
“Then why don’t you?” she demanded.
“Because we may end up having to kill one or more of them, and we’d rather not.” He glanced at Lycon. They had both killed men in Troy. It could not be avoided then. “We are not the Greeks, and they haven’t really mistreated us.”
“If we could escape, we wouldn’t need to hurt anybody or risk you being hurt,” Cadmus added.
“But we haven’t been able to escape,” Hero protested. “And everyday Odysseus gets further away.”
“But we know where he’s going ... or gone,” Cadmus replied. “He’ll be back in Ithaca by now — we’ll just find him there.”
“Actually, no,” said Lycon who was staring out the window. “Look.”
They all looked towards the direction in which his eyes were fixed.
“What can you see?” asked Hero, for the sea and sky were just a blur of blue to her.
“The Ithacan fleet,” said Machaon in amazement. “They have come back.”
They watched the fleet moor as it had before. In time, Odysseus walked across the fields toward the house.
“This is perfect,” Machaon said. “He comes back here and without his men.”
Cadmus nodded. “If Aeolus confronts him with our version of Troy’s fall, then maybe we can find out what really happened.”
Hero did not share her brothers’ optimism. “Why would he tell us?” she asked. “The tale Odysseus recounts has us as the betrayers of Troy — he tells it so for some reason.”
“I think the Greeks want to paint their taking of Troy in a more heroic light. It is not such a noble deed to steal in, under the dark of night and kill the unarmed.”
“So why would he say otherwise now?” she persisted.
Machaon looked silently at Cadmus. Hero was right. Why would Odysseus suddenly claim what he had thus far denied?
“Many men give up the truth when they are faced with it,” Machaon said finally. “We know that the Herdsmen had nothing to do with letting the Greeks into Troy — let us challenge him with that and see what he says.”
Hero sighed. “That
’s a stupid plan, Mac, and you know it!”
“It probably is, little sister,” he said. “But unless you have another, it’s all we’ve got.”
And so they waited, sure that Odysseus would demand to see those who called him a liar. They passed the time by preparing the weapons they had fashioned from the furniture in the room. They would not have swords, but they would not be unarmed.
It was Lycon who again looked out of the window and saw Odysseus in the distance as he returned to his ship.
“Where in Hades is he going?” Cadmus exclaimed as Machaon banged upon the bronze door to attract one of the household. “They’re raising the sails Mac!”
Hero grabbed Cadmus, as Lycon joined Machaon in pummelling the door. “Don’t jump,” she pleaded. “It’s too far!”
Cadmus smiled, knowing that Hero’s eyes could not possibly see how far it was. “I’m not going to jump, Hero,” he reassured her. “Even if I did live, I could not catch him now.”
The ships of the Ithacan fleet pulled away from the island as the sons of Agelaus watched helplessly and cursed loudly. They threw the mattress and blankets from one of the beds and began using the sturdy wooden frame to force the door.
“Stand back, Hero,” Machaon warned as they battered the bronze.
It was probably because of this pounding that they did not hear the arrival of Aeolus and his sons, nor the release of the bolts. And so, when the door was opened, the unfortunate golden-haired men were laid flat by the impact of a bed being propelled forwards by three strong Herdsmen. Bedlam ensued. At some point in the scuffle each of the Herdsmen managed to procure a sword and by the time they were all standing again, they faced each other with an even number of weapons.
“We have come to release you,” Aeolus protested.
Chasing Odysseus Page 13
