The Song of Orpheus by Tracy Barrett Read Free Book Online Page A

believe his good fortune. He put on his best tunic, borrowed new sandals from a neighbor, and set sail for Athens. He and Kydippe were married the next day, and Akontios made sure that apples were served at the wedding feast.
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    Wondrous Artemis
    Today Artemis is somewhat eclipsed by her flashy brother, the sun god Apollo, but in the ancient world, she was hugely important. Her temple in Ephesus, Turkey, is the largest Greek temple ever built. It made it onto everybody’s list of wonders of the ancient world. The poet who put together the most famous of these lists said, “I’ve seen the wall of the high city of Babylon, which is so wide there’s a chariot-track on top of it; and the statue of Zeus near the Alpheus River; and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; and the great Colossus of the Sun in Alexandria; and the huge pyramids; and the great Mausoleum; but when I saw the temple of Artemis, which reaches to the clouds, those other wonders dimmed in my sight, and I said, ‘Except for Mount Olympos itself, the sun has never seen anything as grand as this.’”

ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR
    So Akontios was a little sneaky, but some people in the myths did really bad things to get the one they loved—sometimes even murder. There’s a myth about a king’s daughter that I don’t think gets told much today.
    Stop me if you’ve heard this.
    In my day, the most important job qualification for being king was to be the best soldier around. I’ve learned from what I’ve overheard lately—oh, say, in the last five hundred years or so—that it’s different now. I hear that the rulers of most countries have more to do with things like laws and taxes than with combat, and that even when there’s a war, they hardly ever fight. Is this true? It’s hard to wrap my mind around.
    Anyway, kings who rule by military might usually want to make sure that their daughters marry men who are good fighters. Perhaps that’s why so many myths and fairy tales are about a young man who has to perform a valiant deed in order to gain a princess’s hand in marriage. Winning a challenge would show both strength and courage, proving that the man was worthy of his bride and could protect her and their children.
    In these stories, the woman doesn’t usually get involved in the challenge, but in this one, a girl changed the outcome of the contest.
    King Sithon of Thrace had two daughters, Pallene and Rhoeteia. He was determined that his girls should marry men who were strong and brave, so when Pallene, the older girl, reached marriageable age, Sithon declared that he would give her only to a man who could beat him in a swordfight. That way, he would be assured that his daughter’s husband was strong enough to protect her, their family, and their kingdom.
    Potential grooms came to Thrace from all over the Greek world. Some of these men were eager to marry this intelligent, beautiful girl from a powerful family, while others were more interested in showing off what great swordsmen they were. One after another, all of them died at the king’s hands.
    Pallene grew more and more eager to leave home and start her own life. She couldn’t inherit the kingdom; women weren’t allowed to rule countries in those days. She was frightened of her stern father, and she hardly knew her mother, who was a nymph and spent most of her time in the woods. Her closest companions were her sister and the palace guard who had taken care of the princesses since they were small. He loved them as if they were his own daughters, and they loved and trusted him.
    King Sithon eventually became too old for combat, and suitors stopped coming to the palace. No warrior wanted to win a fight only to hear people say that if Sithon had been younger, the contender would certainly have lost. So despite the attraction of the princesses and the large kingdom, potential husbands stayed away.
    But one day, two suitors, Dryas and Kleitos, unexpectedly appeared at the palace and presented