Creative Writing: Aiolia Island
Before making landfall on Aiolia Island, a strong north wind blew the ship briefly off course towards the island of Delos. In an attempts to rally the moral of my companions after the loss of our friends, I ordered the ship to be docked for the night, and they were more then happy to oblige. Delos is an island of dense forrest trees, so thick one could not peer through the brush. It was difficult finding a clearing large enough to land the ship, wise Eurylokhos spotted a break in the foliage.
We made our landfall and were shocked by the serenity of the island. Not a sound could be heard, not the wind nor the birds made a peep. It was a stillness that could only be compared to the depths of the ocean where Poseidon sleeps. Tall cyprus trees …show more content…
that towered over men, created a forrest that contained gods knows what. Famished, myself and a handful of fit men set out to capture a stag. Walking a fair distance I spotted a beautifully fair buck, with wide antlers that sprouted clear from its head. We hushed ourselves, and I drew my bow to claim this mighty beast. Just as I lined my shot though, a noise from off in the distance startled the stag, and it fled through the trees. In a bought of anger I huffed and threw my bow to the ground, ready to reprimand the man that disrupted me.
To my surprise, it was a fair young woman, draped in a saffron robe that was tied up to expose her knees. Through this robe one could see her lean and muscled body, her arms were tensed with strong shoulders and a fierce, but a gentle face rested on top. She spoke no words, only looked at us, first with shock, then slight distain as her brows furrowed. She stepped towards us, and despite all the anger she clearly conveyed, her beauty made it hard to fear her. I could tell my men, who had not seen such a beauty in a long while, were getting excited by her mere presence. I maintained a cool head however, and waited for her approach. She spoke first: ‘Who are you men? Why do you stand in the cyprus forrest, marching along, scaring every bird on the island? Why do you hunt the beast that nature has preserved? What is your purpose?’ ‘My dear lady,’ I responded, ‘I must apologize for the intrusion if such guilt falls on us. We were not aware this forrest was under command of any force, and were merely looking for a bright stag to feed my crew. We are sailors you see, on a voyage home from delivering goods to the far away land of Ithaka. Unfortunately a great wind blew us off course and we landed on this island unknown to us. If you be so gracious as to inform us where we are? And who are the people that reside in such an abundant forrest?’ ‘Interesting, before I answer your questions grant me one, do you sailors have a name? Where do your mothers mother live?’
‘Apologies my lady, My name is Alibiades son of Alkaterine of Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades island. We have been at sea for 2 long years, and simply wish to return home to our families. May I ask what you are called?’
With this answer her distasteful frown turned into a small keen smile. ‘I am called Demetria, a villager on this island known as Delos, birthplace of the gods Artemis and Apollo. I welcome you, but be wary, if you intend to feast on the natural inhabitants of the island, make sure you offer the proper sacrifice to the Gods, lest you face the consequences.’ Demetria then made way to leave the men, however Drakon, the most hollow headed of the group, called out to her, ‘My lady, if you would be so kind as to grant us one last request, please come with us to feast so that we may know you better. A beauty such as yourself should not be out alone this late in the day.’
He ended his attempt at flirtation with a smile, Demetria however was not amused.
Unbeknownst to us, Demetria was not a simple village woman, rather she was the Goddess of the hunt and virginity, the great Artemis. And in her fury against man, she assumed her true form and quickly drew her silver bow- striking Drakon dead before we could even react. The arrow pierced his throat as a spear pierces a fish, the life draining out as quickly as it entered. She then turned her bow on me and spoke: ‘Not only do you attempt to deceive me cunning Odysseus, but your men foolishly try their hands at courting me? Unacceptable. The punishment for such actions can only reasonably be death.’ With this she drew her string taught, and I quickly attempted to calm her with my words: ‘Oh venerated Artemis, it was not my intention to deceive you. Had I known you were as you say you are I would have been truthful from the start. Unfortunately throughout my time on the unforgiving sea I have seen many heinous things, and one can never be to careful when considering the safety of their companions. That is why I was forced to turn to trickery to stay alive, do not put blame on me or my crew for these …show more content…
actions.’
With these words I hoped the goddess would grant us mercy and spare our lives.
She however would not lower her weapon, and continued to pull her string taught. ‘Odysseus, do you not remember your actions against Troy in the war? Your brutal slaughter of the innocent, women and children, you did not discriminate. Are you going to claim you were forced to turn to trickery then too? I granted passage to the greeks based only on the bravery of young Iphigenia, that girl holds more in her head then the rest of your army combined. Now that she is no longer here to protect you, I should be granted full access to punish you as I see fit. So tell me why you believe I should be
denied?’
I paused, fear now creeping into my heart. I knew Artemis’ position in the war, knew she was a supporter of the trojans. Her distain for me was clear, and in that moment I was not confident of my ability to sway her anger.
Pallas Athena was could offer no assistance, as she did not want to raise conflict with her sister goddess. Odysesus was therefore on his own, and with what wit he could muster he spoke thus: ‘Great goddess of virginity, childbirth, and the wild, your skills in hunting could never be matched. Your mercy towards women shows your infallible wisdom. Your strength As I stand before you a simple mortal, I can only offer one thing to appease your rightful anger. Of my companions, many have families back home. Of those families, many are daughters, we offer you our daughter’s virginity, and will swear them to a lifetime of abstinence in honor of you. If this offer does not please you then strike me down here and now.’
Artemis looked thoughtful for a moment, then slowly lowered her silver bow. ‘You would offer such a sacrifice on your daughter’s behalf? Very well, I’ll spare your lives in return for your daughters virginity. But beware, if any of your children convince a child, I shall assure it will be a birth more painful than ten hundred stabs to the stomach, with death for both mother and child. This I swear.’
With that, the goddess turned and quickly disappeared in the foliage as the stag before her. The men, still too shocked to speak, silently turned back towards the ship. We returned and briefly recounted the tale, mourning our lost friend.
We made our landfall and were shocked by the serenity of the island. Not a sound could be heard, not the wind nor the birds made a peep. It was a stillness that could only be compared to the depths of the ocean where Poseidon sleeps. Tall cyprus trees …show more content…
that towered over men, created a forrest that contained gods knows what. Famished, myself and a handful of fit men set out to capture a stag. Walking a fair distance I spotted a beautifully fair buck, with wide antlers that sprouted clear from its head. We hushed ourselves, and I drew my bow to claim this mighty beast. Just as I lined my shot though, a noise from off in the distance startled the stag, and it fled through the trees. In a bought of anger I huffed and threw my bow to the ground, ready to reprimand the man that disrupted me.
To my surprise, it was a fair young woman, draped in a saffron robe that was tied up to expose her knees. Through this robe one could see her lean and muscled body, her arms were tensed with strong shoulders and a fierce, but a gentle face rested on top. She spoke no words, only looked at us, first with shock, then slight distain as her brows furrowed. She stepped towards us, and despite all the anger she clearly conveyed, her beauty made it hard to fear her. I could tell my men, who had not seen such a beauty in a long while, were getting excited by her mere presence. I maintained a cool head however, and waited for her approach. She spoke first: ‘Who are you men? Why do you stand in the cyprus forrest, marching along, scaring every bird on the island? Why do you hunt the beast that nature has preserved? What is your purpose?’ ‘My dear lady,’ I responded, ‘I must apologize for the intrusion if such guilt falls on us. We were not aware this forrest was under command of any force, and were merely looking for a bright stag to feed my crew. We are sailors you see, on a voyage home from delivering goods to the far away land of Ithaka. Unfortunately a great wind blew us off course and we landed on this island unknown to us. If you be so gracious as to inform us where we are? And who are the people that reside in such an abundant forrest?’ ‘Interesting, before I answer your questions grant me one, do you sailors have a name? Where do your mothers mother live?’
‘Apologies my lady, My name is Alibiades son of Alkaterine of Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades island. We have been at sea for 2 long years, and simply wish to return home to our families. May I ask what you are called?’
With this answer her distasteful frown turned into a small keen smile. ‘I am called Demetria, a villager on this island known as Delos, birthplace of the gods Artemis and Apollo. I welcome you, but be wary, if you intend to feast on the natural inhabitants of the island, make sure you offer the proper sacrifice to the Gods, lest you face the consequences.’ Demetria then made way to leave the men, however Drakon, the most hollow headed of the group, called out to her, ‘My lady, if you would be so kind as to grant us one last request, please come with us to feast so that we may know you better. A beauty such as yourself should not be out alone this late in the day.’
He ended his attempt at flirtation with a smile, Demetria however was not amused.
Unbeknownst to us, Demetria was not a simple village woman, rather she was the Goddess of the hunt and virginity, the great Artemis. And in her fury against man, she assumed her true form and quickly drew her silver bow- striking Drakon dead before we could even react. The arrow pierced his throat as a spear pierces a fish, the life draining out as quickly as it entered. She then turned her bow on me and spoke: ‘Not only do you attempt to deceive me cunning Odysseus, but your men foolishly try their hands at courting me? Unacceptable. The punishment for such actions can only reasonably be death.’ With this she drew her string taught, and I quickly attempted to calm her with my words: ‘Oh venerated Artemis, it was not my intention to deceive you. Had I known you were as you say you are I would have been truthful from the start. Unfortunately throughout my time on the unforgiving sea I have seen many heinous things, and one can never be to careful when considering the safety of their companions. That is why I was forced to turn to trickery to stay alive, do not put blame on me or my crew for these …show more content…
actions.’
With these words I hoped the goddess would grant us mercy and spare our lives.
She however would not lower her weapon, and continued to pull her string taught. ‘Odysseus, do you not remember your actions against Troy in the war? Your brutal slaughter of the innocent, women and children, you did not discriminate. Are you going to claim you were forced to turn to trickery then too? I granted passage to the greeks based only on the bravery of young Iphigenia, that girl holds more in her head then the rest of your army combined. Now that she is no longer here to protect you, I should be granted full access to punish you as I see fit. So tell me why you believe I should be
denied?’
I paused, fear now creeping into my heart. I knew Artemis’ position in the war, knew she was a supporter of the trojans. Her distain for me was clear, and in that moment I was not confident of my ability to sway her anger.
Pallas Athena was could offer no assistance, as she did not want to raise conflict with her sister goddess. Odysesus was therefore on his own, and with what wit he could muster he spoke thus: ‘Great goddess of virginity, childbirth, and the wild, your skills in hunting could never be matched. Your mercy towards women shows your infallible wisdom. Your strength As I stand before you a simple mortal, I can only offer one thing to appease your rightful anger. Of my companions, many have families back home. Of those families, many are daughters, we offer you our daughter’s virginity, and will swear them to a lifetime of abstinence in honor of you. If this offer does not please you then strike me down here and now.’
Artemis looked thoughtful for a moment, then slowly lowered her silver bow. ‘You would offer such a sacrifice on your daughter’s behalf? Very well, I’ll spare your lives in return for your daughters virginity. But beware, if any of your children convince a child, I shall assure it will be a birth more painful than ten hundred stabs to the stomach, with death for both mother and child. This I swear.’
With that, the goddess turned and quickly disappeared in the foliage as the stag before her. The men, still too shocked to speak, silently turned back towards the ship. We returned and briefly recounted the tale, mourning our lost friend.