Previous Section : Ida's Story

Entering Aphrodite's Temple

The sun was high in the sky when Ida had reached the end of her story. After having sailed around Cape Maleas, the little ship started dancing in the waves of the open sea, pushed by a steady north-eastern wind and supported by ten rowers. The dark silhouette of Porphyris loomed at the horizon ahead.

"You are very brave", Clymene said to Ida against the noise of the wind in the sail, the wash of the waves, the groaning of the ship. - "You can help us better understand these ogres and curb them."

The waves came abaft. At certain intervals the ship nicely glided atop one of them, developing high speed, and the rowers worked as fast as they could, to keep the ship surfing as long as possible. At other times, waves slammed into the ship's stern, drenching whoever was in their way, and several rowers had to scoop water.

This went on for more than an hour. The three passengers were wet and busy holding fast to their seats, trying not to constantly bump into each other. No one felt much like talking.

The sea got calmer only after they had surrounded the eastern tip of Porphyris and passed two very small islands, the Dragonares. Greeting the tiny islands from short distance, the helmsman threw a small amphora over board, sacrificing it to the god of the sea and thanking for safe passage. The square sail was brailed up and the ship was rowed into a large bay, with the town of Scandeia at its very center.

For Areus and Ida this was their first real town. Close to the beach, a cluster of multi-storied houses clung to each other, divided in blocks by narrow cobblestone alleys, crowned on two sides each by a large red and white mansion. The emporium in Soleway had been awe-inspiring to Areus. Here he found buildings of that size by the dozen.

The harbor, too, exceeded any Areus had ever seen. The sandy beach was crowded with more than ten large ships, fastened with long ropes. People ran around, busily loading and unloading them. With a grinding sound and a hard bump their own small ship was driven straight onto the beach; two men jumped ashore and pulled a rope all across the sand up to the rocks.

Through narrow alleys, occasionally intersected with stairs, flanked by plastered white walls and painted wooden doors giving view into sunny patios and people going about their business, Clymene swiftly directed the two Pelasgians straight to the largest mansion in town. This was a palace indeed: the Great Temple of Aphrodite. The three-storied western façade was made of huge ashlars of three times six cubits size.

Passing a painted wooden statue of the naked goddess of lust, six feet in height, smilingly holding her open palms in front of her, they stepped up a grand staircase on the outside of the temple, connected to an enclosed vestibule from which colorful painted doors led in all directions. On their way along the corridors they met strange and noble looking men and women. Some greeted the minister; nobody took note of her two companions.

Allowing them no time for a look-around, Clymene rushed them through several doors, across stairs and finally into a large room with only a narrow window, where simply clad men and women were engaged in different activities. Some played a game of dice, others spun and wove; others just sat together and conversed.

"The goddess be with you", the minister addressed everyone, using a dialect Areus and Ida barely understood. - "I bring you two travelers from the continent who just have completed a wearisome trip. They are tired and in need of your skillful care. Feed them, bath them, anoint them, clothe them and then lead them to the reception room." - With this she left, and the two visitors were on their own, surrounded by strangers somewhere in the middle of Aphrodite's temple.