by George Moore
Tell me, Rhesos, how and when Aphrodite breathed into thy clay. At daybreak, Rhesos answered. Thou mockest me! cried Thrasillos. No mockery at all, said Rhesos, but a long story. Which thou wilt not delay to tell? Thine advice, Thrasillos, was that I should go to Phidias, and I rode away thinking thine advice to be good, and maybe it was good. But my horse wandered from the road to Athens into the road to Tanagra, and finding it hard to compel him out of it, I said: Let the horse be my oracle; and he ambled on, stopping in front of the old man that father met long ago coming down the hillside from Dekeleia. Father always speaks of him as an old man, and old he certainly is now; and having wasted all his life in seeking an interpretation of a dream — Leave out the dream! cried Thrasillos. We are weary of it. But Rhesos, as if he enjoyed his brother’s eagerness, continued: Never have I seen a man so like himself: white hair standing on end all over his head, a hooked nose and a prominent chin, an imperfect voice, and a hobbling gait as if his right leg were shorter than his left. Even my words should bring him before thee. On with thy tale, Rhesos! And Rhesos repeated the hexameters that had sent him to the green wood every morning till two swimmers appeared in the strait. Thou canst not guess who were the swimmers? he asked. Goddesses sent by Aphrodite, Thrasillos answered. Not so wonderful as that, but two beautiful girls, the daughters of Mnasalcas. Thy face shows some disappointment. Thou wouldst have had Aphrodite come in person to guide me, but the Goddess was wiser than thou. She sent me Earine, who will be both model and wife. Such is my reading of the oracle’s answer to my question, and all that hath happened since seems in keeping with it. Behold my Aphrodite!
Before I give another thought to thine Aphrodite, Rhesos, tell me of Earine’s sister, if she be lovely also? Innocent Thrasillos, of a certainty she is! The sisters will not be separated, and why should they be? Melissa gathered the bunch of daffodils which thou seest in the vase at thine elbow, and begged me to give them to thee. Go at daybreak and await her coming in the green wood, or on the open beach; sight of thee among the rocks will hasten them across the strait. But if we should be disappointed one in the other, said Thrasillos, and I should steal away abashed and reluctant —
And leave the sisters to swim back again indignant and ashamed? Rhesos asked. A perfect story hath always a perfect end, and thy guessings are wide of the scheme of our destiny. The Goddess hath woven it closely. So it would seem, Thrasillos replied, yet in every fate there is a loose thread. Brother, our destinies are firmly knit, wherefore be by the sea to-morrow. Melissa will please thee and thy pleasure will be hers. Thou’lt be with me? Thrasillos asked. Earine will be there, he added. Recount my Aphrodite to her, Thrasillos, and she will be consoled; it is herself. Now leave me. I have to go in search of a trusty carter to bring my Aphrodite to Tanagra. A wheel falling into a deep rut might turn it back into clay. In the firing it may crack, said Thrasillos. A thing that never happens, Rhesos replied, if the oven be not opened too soon. I will withdraw one of my carters from his work, Rhesos, and send him to thee. A promise? cried Rhesos. A man who will deliver thy statue to the manager shall be here within the hour, Thrasillos answered, and he went away, leaving Rhesos to wrap the Goddess in cloths that would ensure for her a safe journey — Unless indeed, he said to the carter, thy cart should overturn. My oxen are quiet animals, replied the carter, and by keeping my eyes on the road in front of me I shall be able to bring back a docket telling that the statue hath escaped accident — words that soothed Rhesos’s alarm at parting with his Goddess and left him following the cart in his imagination, till suspicions of ruts and stumbling oxen arose again and compelled him to the doorway, where he was stayed by the thought that however fast he might run he would always be behind the carter.
The statue will be fired without danger; and stepping back into his workshop he locked the door behind him and began to pile up enough clay for a second figure. Double the size of the one still jolting on its way to Tanagra, he said; part of a sculptor’s business is to provide against accidents. And he continued piling clay round a stick and wires, till this proving a wearisome task in his present mood he lay down to dream of the different subjects he had always had stored in his memory for achievement when his work on the Parthenon should be finished. A shaft of golden light falling between the pillars had revealed the beauty of a boy’s back to him as the lad bent forward to encourage his cock to the attack, and after the combat he had talked with the boy about the preparation of a fighting fowl, asking if he might be present at the shearing of comb and hackles and the fixing of spurs. A subject, he said, which Tanagra would be glad to accept and which I should be glad to execute. But he kept his hands from the clay lest a new work might rob him of the inspiration he had received from the Goddess, or lessen it. But temptation is watchful ever, and in the morning as he sat thinking of Aphrodite, now in the oven, a knock roused him, and recognising the shapes he needed in the boy who brought the message, he bade him strip himself of his tunic; and the hours passed without his perceiving their passing, till Thrasillos came to tell what had befallen him on the shore.
On catching sight of the kneeling boy Thrasillos’s face darkened and the words slipped from him: — Already unfaithful to the Goddess! The Goddess hath gone to Tanagra, Rhesos answered, and rewarding the boy with a drachma he bade him depart, saying on his return from the door: — Had he remained to hear thy story our secret would be common talk within the hour. But there was anger in thy voice, Rhesos, as if my interruption — I could not rouse myself out of the wonder of the boy’s back as he stooped to urge his cock to the fight, but now I am eager to hear thy story. Thou wert in the green wood? On the shore by the green wood, Thrasillos answered, and Melissa and Earine came over swimming as soon as they saw me. And thou’rt satisfied with Melissa? More than satisfied; she hath my whole heart. And thou wert presented to her with due ceremony? Yea; and afterwards we betook ourselves to the wood and found much whereof to tell each the other. Would I had been there to hear you! But didst deliver my message to Earine that her effigy had gone to Tanagra to be fired? Truly I did, Rhesos, and she said she would liefer thou wert by herself than by her sculpture. She will learn from me to love sculpture, Rhesos replied. But where is she now? Returned to Euboea, Thrasillos answered. Why didst thou not bring her here? I have begun another statue, and posing for an hour — Thou wouldst not have had her walk through the streets of Aulis naked? Aulis is a small place, Rhesos answered. Cast thine eyes round the workshop and see if thou canst recognise the larger figure which I have begun lest the smaller should meet with mishap. I need Earine — an hour would be enough. She and Melissa will come over to-morrow, said Thrasillos, to meet mother, father and grandfather — A knock interrupted their confidences.
.. My model returned! And what hast thou brought in thy basket? A cock, the boy answered, and Rhesos appealed to Thrasillos for praise of his model’s thoughtfulness and called to the boy to excite the cock to imaginary combat, saying: I would see him, feathers erect, in battle array, choosing the moment to spring and to strike. But the cock only chortled and strutted, apparently in search of crumbs, bringing down Rhesos’s wrath on the boy. Thy cock is a worthless coward! he said, to which the boy replied: — Master, let me fetch another cock to enflame him. Half-an-hour, Rhesos answered, an hour, perhaps, will be spent seeking; wherefore, Thrasillos, if thou wouldst be more than usually amiable, go in search of the needed cock and I wall continue my work on the boy’s back.
Thrasillos invented excuses, saying he knew not the house, nor even the street, and that the boy had better return on the morrow with two cocks. But Rhesos could not wait, he would make shift with one, aided by remembrances, and Thrasillos, disguising his impatience in an assumed attention to his brother’s modelling, warned him against an extreme of naturalness, making bold at last to remind him that they had many things to discuss together. Five minutes more, and I shall be ready to weigh and consider with thee, Thrasillos, if a year or two will have to pass before we cross the gangway of one of grandfathe
r’s ships to voyage — whither? The word weddings was on his Ups, and he might have blurted out as much of the story as would have set the whole town agog before evening if Thrasillos had not intervened: — I beg thee, Rhesos, to attend to thy modelling and to think of nothing else till it be done. And whilst watching Rhesos put his hand to add or to take away, he said to himself: I believe he looks upon a piece of sculpture as more important than Earine! How little do I know my brother, yet we love each other. And to while the time away he bethought himself of a phrase of his grandfather’s, he remembering the day and the hour: they were wandering round legendary ruins, and the talk turning on destiny Otanes had said: — From the beginning a man’s life is like an arrow, barbed and feathered. It springs from the bow on its fated journey, to fall short, to fly too high or too low. At last a well-directed arrow reaches the mark, and the Archer laughs, for the quarry is but a shadow. Thrasillos thought of other epigrams that had struck his fancy, but his stock was not large enough to carry him to the end of Rhesos’s interest in a clay cock, and at last, unable to command his temper any longer, he said: — I have business on the hillside and will return in an hour. To thy business, Thrasillos, whilst there is Ught; for me there is still enough for an hour’s work. My back is sorely tired, said the boy; I must straighten it for a while. Then rest, Rhesos replied, dejected, and Thrasillos said to himself: — Happily the sun hath no concern for Rhesos, else he would be modelling through the night, forgetful that we are to meet father and mother at supper to settle whether our weddings shall be postponed till after the dedication of the temple. As he was about to leave the workshop the day darkened suddenly, and Rhesos said: Now, boy, to-morrow at the same hour, and this time bring the second cock. We, Thrasillos, will enjoy the last hour of light on the hillside, and thou’lt tell me what thou earnest to tell but could not, my model being present.
Thrasillos began to speak, but Rhesos interrupted him, saying that he had begun to model the cock-fight because he could not work at Aphrodite continuously without a break; and he was about to develop the need of a break in a man’s work when the gloom deepened, and he said: A strange day to meet so early in the year, the air still as in autumn, no stirring among the leaves, not a bird to be seen or heard, the flowers crouching on their stems as if panic-stricken. A strange day, Thrasillos; hast thou known a day like it? A memorable day truly, Rhesos, if it hath cast all thoughts of sculpture out of thee! A scream came from the skies as if in answer, and the twain, thinking the Gods were upon them, hid their faces in their hands. But with each scream their belief in outraged Gods diminished, and looking through their fingers they saw eagles flying, screaming as they flew. Come down from Delphi, said Thrasillos, with tidings. With evil tidings, Rhesos answered; replete with calamity they fly. Thirteen eagles wheeling over Aulis! Let us hasten homeward; under our roof we shall neither see nor hear. A war may have broken out on Olympus, said Thrasillos. Yet what more natural than an outcry of eagles? The bleating lamb or a flight of doves would announce the return of Chronos. Otanes will tell us. Let not a word be spoken of our weddings, Thrasillos, on this evil day. Thou hearest me? not a word. The sky wears an evil look and the eagles are frightened as we are.... Thirteen eagles wheeling over Aulis! they cried, on entering the hall, and at the announcement of these tidings a hungry servitude forgot the supper still unserved by Biote’s order. Thou sayest that thirteen eagles float above Aulis? she asked. Come down from Delphi, no doubt, said Thrasillos, with the evil tidings that the Gods are at war; at which the reprimand she had prepared dropped out of her mind and she reproved her sons for the words evil tidings, warning them as they took their places at the table against speaking of omens, prophecies, soothings and the like in the presence of Otanes. For taking advantage of a recurrence of strength he is coming to eat with us, she said, and we must beware of disturbing his mind with tales of the flight of birds, which it may be amiss to interpret otherwise than that food is scarce upon Delphi and that they have come down in search of lambs and hares.
Biote’s youthful slimness had disappeared, but she was still a pretty, plump woman with streaks of grey in her hair, and Rhesos admired his mother, accepting her as a woman who might awaken in many a man the thought that it would be pleasing to take her in his arms. And he did not cease to study her till the length of her admonitions withdrew his thoughts from her and compelled him, as it were, to discover in Kebren a man whom any son would be proud to point out as his father. Never hath he cast out of his soul that first prompting to travel over Greece and her islands, declaring that Helen was more than the wife of Menelaus, rather the guiding-star of all Greece to beauty — Rhesos, of what art thou thinking? Of my warning? Of thee, mother. Such rare thoughts deserve to be put into words! and with lighted face she leaned towards her son. I was admiring thy constant youthfulness, mother. Thou hast always done thine own thinking, and to be ourselves always in our thoughts stays the wrinkles of age. A great discovery in one so young, Rhesos. Gathered from grandfather, Rhesos replied, who holds that all the knowledge we possess we bring into the world with us; Is not what I have told enough for thee, mother? My thoughts passed from thee to father, he continued, and very soon I was asking myself if he who was brought to Aulis by the voice of a God is scornful as thou of omens, descrying no other significance in the wheeling of eagles above Aulis than hunger. Hush, Rhesos! Grandfather is coming up the hall on the arm of Timotheus.... Why alarmed looks and hushed voices? Otanes asked. Was it of death you were speaking and ceased to speak at my approach, deeming death a thing not to be spoken of in the presence of an old man? But the fear of death passes with the years. If it was not of death ye were talking was it of fate and of prophecy? or of the strange colours witnessed in the sky this evening? or of the flight of eagles which have been counted variously at nine, eleven, and thirteen? So thou hast heard, grandfather, of the eagles? Yes, Rhesos; Timotheus told me of them on my way hither; he saith also that many of the townsfolk, disturbed by a foreboding, have fled to the hills. We shall lose some slaves, no doubt, Biote replied. And when Otanes was seated, and propped with cushions, he let the dish of roasted beans pass, saying: I have eaten all I care to eat in my room.
Since grandfather hath been told of the menacing sky and the eagles, said Rhesos, no harm can come to him if we put questions. Biote did not answer, anxious as another to hear her father speak, and Rhesos continued: A too-direct question may not be answered by the wisest soothsayer, grandfather, but I would hear if thou hast other reasons besides the eagles for believing in the destruction of Aulis. Only the reasons that were urged at the council, said Otanes, that it might not be wise to tempt Poseidon’s wrath by the building of a temple to Aphrodite within sight of his sea. The walls of the temple, I am told, are barely above ground, and the statue of Aphrodite is still in the mind — if it may be said to have taken form in thy mind, Rhesos. My statue hath passed into clay, grandfather, and the clay is being fired at Tanagra. Aphrodite sent me a pattern, and Thrasillos and I were agreed that the coming of the pattern should be kept secret till the will of the Gods became clearer; but now the moment hath come for me to speak of it. And when he had told of the bidding of the oracle, and of the arrival of Earine and Melissa, Otanes said: I remember them as the loveliest babes, not excepting thy mother, Rhesos. And a handsome fellow was Mnasalcas at the time when he turned down the blankets that I might see them better in their cots, a handsome man and a wise man, and of all, a great breeder of sheep. One look at a yoe and he knew all about her, and as for a ram, the smell of him coming over the fields told him how many yoes he might serve in a day. So well doth he know his sheep that I have often thought that there must be something of a sheep’s nature in him, and the twenty years we have been doing business together show no mistake in my first judgment of him. What sayest thou, Kebren? Every day our business with him increases, Kebren answered, and Otanes continued: The news that his daughters will marry my grandsons is what I would have wished, and I rejoice to hear it. But how did it come about?
for the lads were always in Athens learning their trades of hoisting pillars and carving statues. There was no courting, grandfather, only inspiration, the will of the Goddess being manifest in it. As I have told thee, having learnt from the oracle of Amphiaraos that I could get news of Aphrodite if I betook myself to the green wood — Yes, grandson, I remember thy story; whilst in hiding among the rosemary bushes, hoping to see Aphrodite, Earine and Melissa came swimming across the strait. And thou rememberest, too, grandfather, that it was thou who gavest the casting vote for Aphrodite, the votes being equally divided between the Goddess and Poseidon? I have not yet drooped into such forgetfulness, O Rhesos. My vote was given to Aphrodite for that she was more appropriate to thy genius than the rough Sea-God. On the day my vote was given my thoughts were that it might be wiser to place the town of Aulis under the protection of Poseidon; but our lives are governed by different duties, our duty to ourselves and our duty to the Gods. The Gods watched the battles fought before Troy and gave success to one side and then to the other, but they are not concerned in our every action. It would be unreasonable to think of the Gods hurrying about the world settling everything; the Gods are not busybodies. And, forsooth, philosophers are not always in agreement as to the existence of the Gods, some maintaining that the Gods live by virtue of and through our belief, and that heaven and earth being counterparts, all that ever happens on earth is distorted in the crooked mirror of heaven. The Gods are subject to our loves and hates; new Gods take the places of the old and the same stories are retold with variations. A tale comes to us from Babylon of a God that drowned the world that would not obey him, and we have a story, often told in the wilds of Euboea, of the eternal strife waged between Zeus and Poseidon for the kingdom of earth, Zeus raising mountains and Poseidon waves.
