by Anna Harvey
There was a large square rock at the end of the beach, a short distance from the shore. It caught her eye, the smooth flat surface. Discarding her shoes, Thea waded through the current of the water, the waves pressing against her shins and calf muscles. Finding her hand-hold on the sharp jagged edges, she climbed up onto it, taking care not to graze her skin and lowered the weight of her body onto the rock’s smooth flat surface. The balmy breeze on her skin lulled her senses and she thought again about the project. Richard was right in his assertion they had failed. It was as if her whole adult life had been built around finding this place. Like a bolt from the blue, the realisation came to her. Had she simply wanted to get near to this man, this mythical hero Odysseus? And yet inexplicably she felt so close.
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He did not know how it happened. The light shimmered like a thousand splintered shields of highly polished silver. It dazzled and befuddled him. The face was paler then he remembered, a translucent white and sprinkled with freckles. And the eyes had become clear blue. But his senses recognised at once her fragrance of lavender and mountain herbs. And then the hair, the colour of spun copper, falling around her shoulders in the swirling mist. She wore a garment he had never seen before, dyed fern-green, the colour she most favoured.
He was unsure if he dreamed again. He reached over and grasped a handful of the thick bronze tresses, lifting them to his lips and breathing in her essence. He reached over to enfold her, embracing the moment to hold her in his arms once more.
*********************************************
There was a kaleidoscope of colours, like a thousand splintered mirrors. He looked more worn and aged than she had imagined, but she recognised his face and the copper flecks running through his silver hair. Through the shimmering light, he reached out, holding her hair to his lips. She felt the touch of his hands, the skin rough and calloused, touching and caressing her. Her senses defied reason. That she could see and feel him across the span of four millennia. Together. As if in this brief moment, time itself had dissolved and melted away. But for now, she surrendered to his embrace content to be in his arms.
*********************************************
He held her closer to him. Even if this was a phantasma, he was grateful that the goddess had allowed one more glimpse. He stroked her hair, the lush copper-spun curls, holding her body tight to him. ”My love, Kirke,” he whispered over and over in her ear.
*********************************************
“Kirke!” The voice was coming from somewhere in distance, as if in a dream, calling her. Thea sat up befuddled and disorientated. Re-accustoming her eyes to the blinding daylight, she blinked and looked around. The rock was deserted. The vision, whatever it was, had vanished. But the name came again, this time more distinct and louder. “Kirke!” Twisting her head round, she saw Rob wading out towards her from the nearby shore, the waves splashing against him.
“What did you say?” Thea asked, her mind confused, refusing to grasp what she had just witnessed as Rob reached her.
“I called you Kirke.” The look on his face was sincere and an easy smile played on his lips. He was stood almost level with her, refusing to be thrown off balance by the breaking waves. ”It must be wearing your hair down,” Rob said looking up at her. “You look as I always imagined Kirke did when Odysseus first met her.”
She stared at him wide-eyed. “I thought you had left the island. Belinda told us you had gone to the airport.”
“To meet my father and son.” Rob grinned, barring a row of white teeth. “They’ve just flown in to holiday on Kefalonia. I’ve been telling them about the island attractions and they couldn’t resist.” There was a teasing look on his face, as he caught her eye. “But surely you knew,” he said, his voice thick with emotion, “I wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye?”
She shook her head, the recent image still lingering in her mind, confounded by what to make of it all. “I didn’t. You always seem so distant or angry.”
He threw back his head, imitating the Greek gesture for No. “Then that’s my fault. For some irrational reason, I deeply resented your relationship with Dimitri Kampitsis. The man’s such as fool! If you were being kind, I guess you would call it jealousy.” His eyes lingered on her face, as if seeking her forgiveness.
“He’s just been deposed from the company and arrested for tax evasion. It looks like he’s upset one person too many along the way.”
He brought up a finger to his lips to silence her, shaking his head. “Thea, let’s not talk about that man. Not in this place. Not right now. But there’s something I do want to ask you.” She nodded her head, raising her ears, as he released his finger.
“Go on,” she said encouragingly.
Dressed in his cotton shirt, the sleeves rolled up and the light dancing on his face, Rob shifted awkwardly and nervously. “When we return home, would you like to meet up? I mean, spend time together, like watch a movie or go for a meal,” he asked, almost stumbling over the words, the muscles in his throat taut. “What I’m trying to say is I care about you and want to know you better. Would you like that too?”
Thea looked down at him and felt a burning attraction that only intimate lovers can feel. Could this passion or whatever it was transcend into something more steady and stable? Could it be the stuff of slow burning love and lifelong companionship? For a moment she paused, trying to grasp this unexpected twist. “Yes,” she finally answered, leaning her face towards him, “I would like that too.”
He reached out and pulled Thea down to him, meeting her lips with his own. As they embraced, he wrapped her in his strong arms and held her, as if he would not let her go for a long time to come. For several minutes, they stayed that way, locked in a kiss, until Rob broke the spell.
“Come,” he said, offering her both his hands, the skin rough and calloused, helping her down from the rock. “I want you to meet two very important people in my life: my son and father.”
*********************************************
When the light had started to cast long shadows, Odysseus finally stirred himself from his reverie. He decided to make camp that night on the beach. His mind reasoned that soon the orange glow of Dusk would appear, making it too late to make the steep ascent uphill. But in his spirit, he knew he was not ready to tear himself away from this place or disturb the memory the gods had bestowed on him. Not when he had felt finally so close to her. He scoured the beach edge and discovered a small sandy hollow protected by boulders, where he could bed down for the night. He built a small fire and ate the remaining rations. When night came, he lay down under the starry constellations, looking into the fathomless blackness known only to the gods. Order was breaking down on the mainland, the crops were failing and the northern Doric tribes were on the move, pushing hard down into the lands of the Achaian Greeks. Would there ever be peace to this land, he wondered. Could they ever live without grim War and Strife? When the moon had risen high in the sky, casting its silver light over the dark expanse of water, he finally fell asleep her name on his lips. Kirke.
Telegony
Across the water, under the same silver moonlight and the bright constellations of the gods, a boat had been hauled up. The planking had been hammered firm and the timbers well-pitched for that long sea crossing to foreign shores. Close by, under its shadow, the crew slept soundly. All fresh-faced young men, keen for adventure but untried in battle. They carried a deadly cargo. A son in search of a father, the warrior father he had never met. The father who had left even before the young man had departed his mother’s womb and taken his first gulps of air as a new-born babe. The son, whose hair was flecked with copper and whose mother had given him the name Telegonos. The Last Born.
Now as a man full grown he came seeking the same path his father had taken many years earlier, hoping to claim a warrior hero’s destiny. High expectations of prowess on the battle-field and glorious victory filled his d
reams as the son slept. And close beside him, his spear stood upright, planted in the sand like a sentry. The long tapered arm had been crafted from an ash tree, a gift from his mother not to destroy but to protect him from harm. But the metal head, bronze-tipped and dipped in the venom of the stingray, was fated to unloosen the limbs of the Achaian hero who had sired him.
But for now Telegonos slept, untroubled in Sleep. For this one final night, he dreamed sweet dreams. Gently he exhaled, the breath escaping from his soft lips, unaware of the intersecting destinies that awaited father and son. At the first light of Dawn, he would be ready to put to sea and complete the journey that the Fates had decreed.
Ithaki by Konstantine Kavafy
Σὰ βγεῖς στὸν πηγαιμὸ γιὰ τὴν Ἰθάκη,
νὰ εὔχεσαι νά ῾ναι μακρὺς ὁ δρόμος,
γεμάτος περιπέτειες, γεμάτος γνώσεις.
Τοὺς Λαιστρυγόνας καὶ τοὺς Κύκλωπας,
τὸν θυμωμένο Ποσειδῶνα μὴ φοβᾶσαι,
τέτοια στὸν δρόμο σου ποτέ σου δὲν θὰ βρεῖς,
ἂν μέν᾿ ἡ σκέψις σου ὑψηλή, ἂν ἐκλεκτὴ
συγκίνησις τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὸ σῶμα σου ἀγγίζει.
Τοὺς Λαιστρυγόνας καὶ τοὺς Κύκλωπας,
τὸν ἄγριο Ποσειδῶνα δὲν θὰ συναντήσεις,
ἂν δὲν τοὺς κουβανεῖς μὲς στὴν ψυχή σου,
ἂν ἡ ψυχή σου δὲν τοὺς στήνει ἐμπρός σου.
Νὰ εὔχεσαι νά ῾ναι μακρὺς ὁ δρόμος.
Πολλὰ τὰ καλοκαιρινὰ πρωινὰ νὰ εἶναι
ποῦ μὲ τί εὐχαρίστηση, μὲ τί χαρὰ
θὰ μπαίνεις σὲ λιμένας πρωτοειδωμένους.
Νὰ σταματήσεις σ᾿ ἐμπορεῖα Φοινικικά,
καὶ τὲς καλὲς πραγμάτειες ν᾿ ἀποκτήσεις,
σεντέφια καὶ κοράλλια, κεχριμπάρια κ᾿ ἔβενους,
καὶ ἡδονικὰ μυρωδικὰ κάθε λογῆς,
ὅσο μπορεῖς πιὸ ἄφθονα ἡδονικὰ μυρωδικά.
Σὲ πόλεις Αἰγυπτιακὲς πολλὲς νὰ πᾷς,
νὰ μάθεις καὶ νὰ μάθεις ἀπ᾿ τοὺς σπουδασμένους.
Πάντα στὸ νοῦ σου νά ῾χεις τὴν Ἰθάκη.
Τὸ φθάσιμον ἐκεῖ εἶν᾿ ὁ προορισμός σου.
Ἀλλὰ μὴ βιάζεις τὸ ταξίδι διόλου.
Καλλίτερα χρόνια πολλὰ νὰ διαρκέσει.
Καὶ γέρος πιὰ ν᾿ ἀράξεις στὸ νησί,
πλούσιος μὲ ὅσα κέρδισες στὸν δρόμο,
μὴ προσδοκώντας πλούτη νὰ σὲ δώσει ἡ Ἰθάκη.
Ἡ Ἰθάκη σ᾿ ἔδωσε τ᾿ ὡραῖο ταξίδι.
Χωρὶς αὐτὴν δὲν θά ῾βγαινες στὸν δρόμο.
Ἄλλα δὲν ἔχει νὰ σὲ δώσει πιά.
Κι ἂν πτωχικὴ τὴν βρεῖς, ἡ Ἰθάκη δὲν σὲ γέλασε.
Ἔτσι σοφὸς ποὺ ἔγινες, μὲ τόση πεῖρα,
ἤδη θὰ τὸ κατάλαβες οἱ Ἰθάκες τὶ σημαίνουν.
Ithaka (English Translation)
Once you set out for Ithaka
hope your road to be long,
full of adventures, full of knowledge.
Don't be afraid of the Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon
you'll never find them on your way
if you keep your thoughts high,
if rare excitement touches your spirit and your body.
You won't meet the Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
the wild Poseidon
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul puts them in front of you.
Hope your road to be long
may there be many summer mornings
when you'll enter with pleasure, with joy,
the harbours you've seen for the first time.
Stop in Phoenician trading stations
And buy fine things
pearls and corals, ambers and ebony,
and sensual herbs of every kind
as many sensual herbs as you can.
Go to many Egyptian cities
to study and learn from the educated ones.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Your arrival there is your destiny.
But don't rush the journey at all.
Better it lasts for many years,
so you're old when you reach the island,
wealthy with all you've gained on the way
without expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
For Ithaka gave you the beautiful journey.
without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing more to give you.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka hasn't fooled you.
Now that you have become wise with so much experience,
you’ll have finally understood what Ithakas mean.
Translation adapted from Miley lovato for Lyricstranslate.com
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/ithaki-ithaki-ithaka.html-0
Glossary
A list of Ancient Greek words and place names.
Achaia: A term used to describe an area on the Greek central mainland.
Achaian: The peoples from Achaia, an area of central and southern Greece in the Peloponnese. Often used interchangeably with “Greeks”.
Aiaia: Thought to be Cape Kirke, a distinctive promontory located on the Italian southwest coast.
Aphrodite: The Greek goddess of Love, including the sensual qualities of beauty and love-making.
Argos: A city located in the Peloponnese, southern Greece on the fertile Argive plain.
Atlantis: Believed to be the ancient name for the island of Santorini, destroyed by a cataclysmic volcanic eruption approximately 1200 BC.
Anax: The overlord or chief leader.
Basileos: A king or lord.
Boreas: The North Wind.
Chiton: A woollen tunic worn next to the body.
Doulichion: A separate island within the kingdom of Ithaka and most probably the modern island of Ithaka.
Hermes: The god of travel and communication, Hermes often acts as the messenger of the Greek gods.
Himation: An outer garment worn like a cloak or shawl.
Hubris: An excess of arrogance, pride or ambition that will ultimately cause the transgressor’s downfall.
Kephallenia: The ancient spelling of Kefalonia.
Kephallenians: The tribe of people from ancient Kefalonia and the surrounding areas.
Kleos: Lasting fame or glory from heroic deeds performed on the battlefield.
Krani: An ancient city on Kefalonia, located 3km from Argostoli to the southwest of the Gulf of Koutavos.
Kylix: A two-handled drinking vessel with a conical foot.
Lokris: An ancient town thought to be located in Phrygia, northern Greece.
Megara: A city close to Athens, situated on the Corinthian Isthmus.
Megaron: The large central hall within a palace. The plural is Megara meaning rooms.
Moly: Thought to be garlic.
Mykenai: The ancient name of Mycenae, a citadel located in the fertile Argive plain on the northeast Peloponnese. One of the first Mycenean sites to be excavated, the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann used its name to define the Bronze Age civilisation found in
central and southern Greece.
Myrmidons: The inhabitants of Phthie and Hellas now modern Thessaly, central northern Greece.
Notos: The south wind.
Oikos: The household, including the family, home and property.
Ogygia: An island thought to be Malta.
Pali: An ancient city located on the western side of Kefalonia.
Phaiakians: The inhabitants of Scheria, thought to be the modern island of Corfu.
Phantasma: A phantom.
Philoxenia: Hospitality or the rights accorded to a guest.
Phrygian: From Phrygia, a region in western Thrace, northern Greece.
Phthie: A town in modern Thessaly, one of the most northerly Mycenean kingdoms.
