Thais of Athens, page 32
Despite the fact that it was autumn, heat was brought to Babylon by winds from the limitless plains of Persia and the rocky plateaus of Syria, Elam and the Red Sea deserts. Nights were suffocating with stuffy humidity. But that wasn’t what Thais found exhausting. It was the silent and relentless struggle between her servants that wore her down. She always wished for peace and calm in her household. It was just as well that the Finikian was desperately afraid of the “sorceress” and didn’t dare openly express her jealousy.
Eventually the slave girls divided their duties. Much to Za-Asht’s delight, Eris let her have the personal care of Thais so that she could take on the management of the house and the horses, as well as the mistress’ protection. Despite Thais’ protestations, she considered the latter her primary obligation.
The Finikian eventually admitted that Lykophon, the young soldier from Leontiscus’ detachment, wanted to buy her from the mistress as soon as war ended and he was able to go home. Then they would marry. Thais questioned whether there was epigamy between Finikia and Thessaly and was surprised to discover that marriage was now lawful between all Helenian polises in Alexander’s new empire. The great army leader still called himself the chief strategist, but was, in fact, the king.
“You dream of leaving me,” Thais reproached her slave half-jokingly. “But why are you angry at Eris?”
“I would have never thought of parting with you, Mistress, but Lykophon is beautiful and he loves me. And you have always let your slave girls go for marriage.”
“I have,” Thais agreed, frowning slightly. “Aphrodite won’t let me keep them. It is a pity because I become attached to people.”
“To me, Mistress?” Eris asked suddenly, in the midst of picking over the flowers brought in by the gardener.
“To you too, Eris.”
Blue eyes suddenly lit up under the frowning eyebrows. The unusual expression completely altered the face of the black priestess, flickered and vanished.
“And you too shall abandon me for love and family.” Thais smiled, wanting to tease her strange slave girl.
“No,” Eris said indifferently. “I became tired of men at the temple. You are all I have in the world, Mistress. I shall not go running after love, like Za-Asht.”
“I’ve heard that before,” the Finikian said, and her black eyes flashed.
Eris shrugged her shoulders imperiously and left.
During one particularly hot night, Thais decided to take a swim in the Euphrates. She followed a path that led from the garden, through a narrow gap between clay walls to a small pier. Thais let Eris accompany her, but forbade her to swim. She feared the daughter of a southern country could catch a severe cold. Eris splashed her feet around a little, then climbed out obediently and patiently waited for her mistress. The night was silent in the sleeping city, broken only by the barking of dogs and voices of some merry party, carried by the humid river air.
When the slightly cool water took away the stupor of the hot night, Thais felt her usual energy return. She swam against the current toward the Old City and climbed out near a forgotten temple or small palace. She sat on the steps, enjoying her loneliness, securely hidden by the moonless night. She thought of Alexander, living somewhere nearby in a south palace of the Old City, and of Ptolemy, probably sleeping peacefully somewhere on his journey. Three thousand stadiums of sand and swamps separated the mysterious Susa from Babylon. Ptolemy would return soon. Thais knew from Leontiscus that the entire army was ordered to get ready for another march to somewhere.
The Athenian dreamed of getting to know Babylon, the ancient city so unlike Athens and Memphis. Soon the army would travel to the east, taking with them the soldiers who now filled Babylon. They greeted her everywhere, recognizing her as the friend of their leader, as well as Ptolemy’s lover and Leontiscus’ favorite “goddess”. On the second day after her arrival to Babylon, when Thais was walking down the Road of Processions to the temple of Ishtar, she ran into a detachment of Argiroaspides, or Silver Shields. Their chief recognized the Athenian as did some other soldiers, who remembered her from Alexander’s camp at Tyre. Before Thais could say anything, she was surrounded, lifted onto their shields and carried triumphantly down the Road of Processions, toward the temple.
The Babylonians were astonished. Eris, alarmed, dashed after them. The soldiers, singing a celebratory anthem, carried the laughing Thais to the entrance of Ishtar’s sanctuary, then let her go before the frightened servants of the goddess were able to shut the gate.
Naturally, that visit to the temple turned out to be in vain. The hetaera wondered whether the goddess had become angry with her.
The next day, through sacrifices and prayers, she did her best to convince the goddess that she was not trying to compete with her. She told the goddess that men’s admiration of women was customary in Hellas, where female beauty was valued above all things.
“The hilly Phtia of Hellas, glorious with the women’s beauty …” she murmured, remembering the beloved poem from distant Athens.
Argest, the eastern wind, rushed over the roofs of the Old City. Nearby alleys rustled and water splashed lightly at the bottom step of the staircase.
Thais dove into the dark water of the night river. Suddenly she heard clear, measured splashes of someone who was strong and a capable swimmer. The hetaera dove, hoping to get into the middle of the river underwater, then take another dive to get to the pool with the reed pier, where she was expected by the patient and predatory Eris. The deep water turned out to be cooler. Thais swam less than she had thought, then rose to the surface.
She heard a quiet, “Stop. Who are you?”
Thais froze. The voice was quiet but deep and powerful, like a subdued roar of a lion. It couldn’t be.
“Why are you quiet? Do not dare dive again.”
“Is that you, Majesty? You alone in the river, in the middle of the night? That is dangerous.”
“Is it not just as dangerous for you, fearless Athenian?” Alexander said.
“Who needs me? Who would look for me in the river?”
“Nobody needs you in the river, that much is true,” the great Macedonian said, then laughed. “Swim here. Are we the only ones who invented this method for relaxing? It seems that way.”
“Perhaps the others can’t swim as well,” Thais said, following the king’s voice. “Or are afraid of the night demons in the strange country.”
“Babylon was a city of ancient magic long before the coming of Persian kings.” Alexander reached out and touched the hetaera’s cool shoulder. “The last time I saw you nude was at the symposium, where you impressed everyone with the Amazon dance.”
Thais rolled over onto her back and gazed at the king, barely moving her spread arms, the mass of her black hair tossed onto her chest. Alexander put his hand over her hair and it was like he emitted a warm power.
“Set herself free at least once, my king,” Thais said after a pause as the current carried them toward the bridge.
“With you?” Alexander asked quickly.
“Only with me. You will understand later, why…”
“You know how to inspire curiosity,” the conqueror of Asia replied with a kiss, making them both sink underwater.
“Let’s swim to me,” Alexander ordered.
“No, King. To me. I am a woman and must greet you dressed and coiffed. Besides, too many eyes follow you at the palace, and not all of them are kind. What I have is mystery.”
“You are a mystery yourself, Athenian. You turn out to be right so often, as if you are a wise pithier and not a conqueror of men.”
They pulled away from the current just in time to avoid the bridge and arrived at the quiet pool where Eris, who had been dreaming and stargazing moments before, jumped up with the speed and a hiss of a wild cat.
“Eris, this is the victorious king himself,” the hetaera said quickly. The girl knelt in a respectful bow.
Alexander declined an offered cape, walked through the gap between walls and the garden, and stepped into the faintly lit front room in all the splendor of his mighty body, akin to Achilles or another beautiful ancient hero. Comfortable benches were built into the walls according to the Babylonian tradition. Thais ordered both her servants to dry and oil the king, and brush his hair, which was carried out with much anxiety.
The Athenian went into her bedroom, tossed her most precious coverlet of the soft blue wool of Taurus goats onto the wide bed, and soon appeared before the king in all the glory of her remarkable beauty. She had dressed in a transparent blue chiton, with a turquoise tiara in her tall coif, and the beryllium necklace from the temple of Kibela.
Alexander rose, pushing Za-Asht away. The hetaera gestured to both slave girls to leave.
“Are you hungry?” Thais asked, settling on the thick carpet. Alexander shook his head. Thais brought an ornate Persian goblet of wine, diluted it with water and poured it into two travel cups from green Cyprus glass. Alexander lifted his cup quickly, splashing slightly.
“To Aphrodite,” he said quietly.
“Wait one moment, Majesty.” Thais picked up the vial with a tourmaline stopper decorated with a star from a tray. “This is for me. Three drops,” she whispered, measuring three drops into her wine. “And this is for you. Four drops.”
“What is that?” the Macedonian asked. He spoke without caution, but with curiosity.
“A gift of the Mother of Gods. She will help you forget for tonight, that you are a king, a ruler and conqueror of people. She will take away the burden you have carried from the time you took the shield of Achilles from Troy.”
Alexander observed Thais carefully, and she smiled at him with that fleeting tinge of superiority the king had always found so attractive. She lifted the heavy glass vial and downed the tart and burning potion without hesitation. Thais poured him more wine, and they drank again.
“Rest a bit.”
Thais took Alexander to the inner room and he stretched on a bed. The mattress was made of leopard skins. Thais sat down near him, and placed a hot hand on his shoulder. They were both silent, feeling the inevitability of Ananka (fate) drawing them to each other.
Thais felt the familiar sensation of fire running up her spine and flowing through her chest and belly. Yes, this was the terrible potion of Rhea-Kibela. But this time she wasn’t frightened.
The beating of her own heart resonated in the hetaera’s head like tambourines of Dionysus. Her consciousness started dividing, setting free the other Thais. This Thais was not a human being at all, but a primal force, separate and at the same time inexplicably connected with every other sensation, sharpened to its limit. Thais moaned, arched her back and was caught by Alexander’s strong arms.
Through the thick blanket of sleep, Thais heard a vague noise, some subdued exclamations and a distant knocking. Alexander opened his eyes and slowly propped himself onto one elbow. The voices became louder and the hetaera recognized them as belonging to Leontiscus, Hephaestion, and Black Cleitus. The king’s friends and bodyguards froze in the doorway, not daring to enter the house.
“Hephaestion!” Alexander called. “Tell everyone to go to the ravens, including you. Don’t you dare bother me, even if Darius himself is attacking the city.”
All Thais heard in response were hurried steps down the stairs and away.
The great army leader came back to his senses only late in the evening. He stretched with a deep sigh and shook his head. Thais ran out of the room and came back with an armful of clothes, which she placed silently before the king.
“This is mine,” Alexander exclaimed with surprise. “Who brought it?”
“They did,” Thais replied, meaning the Macedonian’s friends.
Eris and Za-Asht had managed to tell her about the terrible panic that had ensued the morning after Alexander did not come back after swimming. His friends and bodyguards had eventually arrived at Thais’ home after scouring the entire city looking for their king.
“How did they manage to find me here?” Alexander wondered.
“Leontiscus figured it out. He knew I went swimming in the Euphrates at night and heard that you did the same.”
Alexander chuckled quietly. “You are dangerous, Athenian. Your name and death begin with the same letter[28]. Last night I felt how easy it was to die in your arms. I still feel light and transparent, without desires or cares. Perhaps I am already a shadow in Hades.”
Thais lifted the king’s heavy hand and pressed it to her chest. “Oh no. You are still filled with flesh and power,” she assured him, kneeling on the floor at his feet.
Alexander studied her for awhile, then said, “You are like me on the battlefield. You are filled with the same sacred power of the gods and the divine madness of the effort. You do not possess the first basis of care, which preserves life.”
“Only for you, Majesty.”
“So much the worse. I cannot do that. One time I allowed myself to be with you, and a day is completely ripped out of my life.”
“I understand. Do not say anything more, beloved.” This was the first time Thais had addressed the king this way. “The burden of the shield of Achilles.”
“Yes. The burden of the one who decided to know the limits of Ecumene.”
“I remember that, too,” Thais said sadly. “I shall not ask you anymore, even though I’ll be here. But then do not ask me, either. Chains of Eros are forged faster for women and hold them stronger. Promise?”
Alexander stood and picked up Thais as if she were a feather. He held her against his broad chest for a long time, then suddenly tossed her onto the bed. Thais sat up with her head lowered and started braiding her tangled hair. Alexander leaned forward and picked up the golden chain bearing a star and letter mu in the center.
“Give it to me as a memory of what took place,” the king asked. The hetaera picked up her chain belt, thought about it, then kissed the ornament and held it out to Alexander.
“I shall order the best jewelers of Babylon to make you another in two days. It will be made of precious red gold with a star of fourteen rays and a letter xi.”
“Why xi?” Thais lifted her long eyelashes in surprise.
“Remember. Nobody can explain this to you, except me. The ancient name of the river in which we met is Xarand. In Eros you are akin to a sword, xyphos. But for a man to be with you is epi xyron ehestai, as if on the blade of a razor. And also, xi is the fourteenth letter of the alphabet.[29]”
The Athenian’s eyes dropped under the king’s long gaze and her pale cheeks flushed.
“Poseidon the Earth keeper. I am so hungry,” Alexander exclaimed suddenly, smiling at the quiet hetaera.
“Then come. Everything is ready,” the Athenian said, perking up. “Then I’ll see you to the south palace. You can take Boanergos and I’ll ride Salmaakh …”
“No. I’ll take one of your Thessalian guards.”
“As you wish.”
Thais spend the entire day alone in her bedroom. She came out only in the evening, ordering Eris to bring kiura from the stash prepared with the unforgettable Egesikhora back in Sparta.
Eris reached out and touched the Athenian’s wrist with her warm fingers. “Do not poison yourself, Mistress,” the black priestess said.
“What do you know about this?” the hetaera asked sadly, but with conviction. “When something like this happens, Gaea is unstoppable. And I do not have the right to allow myself to have a child of the future ruler of the Ecumene.”
“Why, Mistress?”
“Who am I to make my son an heir to the great empire? He will get nothing from the fate except slavery and early death, because it plays with all people that harbor thoughts of the future, be they dark or light.”
“And what if it is a girl?”
“Alexander’s divine blood must not experience the cruel destiny of a woman.”
“But a daughter would be as beautiful as Aphrodite herself.”
“All the worse for her.”
“Do not fear, Mistress,” Eris said firmly, changing her tone. “You won’t have anything. Don’t drink kiura.”
“How can you know this?”
“I can and I do. We are all initiated in the ancient knowledge of Kibela about the mysteries of the moon’s influence upon a person. Everything in a woman’s body depends on it. You won’t have anything. You met with the king at such a time when all is allowed.”
“Why are we, who are taught all the wisdom of feminine art, not taught this?” Thais asked with astonishment.
“Because this knowledge is secret. A woman must not be free from the power of Gaea-Kibela. Otherwise humankind will vanish.”
“Would you perhaps tell me this secret?”
“Yes. You serve another goddess, but her purposes are the same as those of the Great Mother. And while I am with you, I will always tell you which days will have no consequences.”
“While you are with me. But when you are not …”
“I shall be with you till death, Mistress. I shall tell you everything before I die.”
“Who is getting ready to die here?” a merry voice rang out.
Thais squealed with joy and dashed to meet Hesiona. The two women hugged and held each other for a long time. Both of them had waited for this reunion ever since Thais had gone one way on horseback and Hesiona had headed in the opposite direction aboard a ship.
The Athenian dragged her friend out to the veranda where there was still some sunlight left.
“The Daughter of the Snake”, as she had once been nicknamed by a jealous Clonaria, had lost a lot of weight. Her face and hands were wind-bitten and her hair was cut short, as if she were a fugitive slave or a wife punished for being unfaithful.
“You look awful,” Thais exclaimed. “Nearchus will find someone else. There are plenty of seductresses here in Babylon.”
“No, he won’t,” the Theban replied. There was so much certainty and calm in her voice that the hetaera felt he really wouldn’t.
“Are you here for long?” Thais asked, gently patting her friend’s coarse hand.
“Yes. After the victory at Gaugamela, Nearchus is planning to build a dock and a port here. He will sail to Arabia, but not for long and without me. It is so wonderful, my star. The final victory.”
