Leander and the Muses - 1
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(One - Music)
Seventh Century, BCE, Greece, near the village of Sasidava in the region of Thrace…
Ari walked out of the shack she and her mother and brother called home, and stared over the small meadow leading out to a bluff overlooking the beach beyond. She eyed the small kids and their doe mommas. Her brother Leander was sitting on the bluff watching his nearby charges enjoying the grass. It was almost uncanny how the goats never strayed from his reach even while unbridled.
“Maybe they know I will never harm them,” he had told his sister. “Cheese and milk enough to have and to sell keep them away from the cleaver.” The he-kids would all grow up and be sold or even given away to a family with the assurance they would be kept from harm. Ari did not have the heart to tell Leander that good things do not always follow good intentions; and that even an Uncle or a cousin can lie.
Even over the stretch of meadow, she could still hear Leander humming to himself. The gods must have a muse looking over him. Today it must be Euterpe whispering in his ear. Ari listened carefully, and her love grew immediately fearful and protective. At almost seventeen, his voice was still high and gentle. The boys in the village left no day without teasing Leander, and she wondered if her brother was destined to be deemed strange.
“Careful, Ariadne, or Lea will steal your intended! Spiros might even take that ‘sister’ of yours to bed instead of you!” one of the older boys said with a leer across his face. Ari of course knew of boys who might like other boys; she had a cousin in Capidava like that and no one worried about him.
She nevertheless feared what these boys in their village would do to her brother, and she fell to her knees by the home; lifting her clasped hands over her head in prayer.
“Oh, Athena! My brother Leander is so simple and gentle and has not the wisdom to heed the harsh words of his friends. I fear that his looks and voice will be the death of him! Send a Muse to counsel and guide him in how he should go? Oh blessed Hera? Save my brother from harm?” Ariadne fell to the ground and wept.
High above the mortal plain, two women looked down on the prostrate girl and then down at the innocent boy. He was so gentle and both women immediately took pity on him and his sister.
“She has asked for a Muse.” Hera said with a wry smile. She and even Athena at times could be capricious in dispensing mercy, but both women clasped each other’s hands.
“Young, wise, brave Ariadne of Sasidava? Protector of your gentle brother Leander? You shall have…” Hera paused and mouthed a few words. Athena nodded and both women spoke at once.
“You shall have all Nine Muses.”
No thunderclap or bolt of lightning came. No storm clouds fading to gentle rain. Just a calm breeze that quickly traversed the distance; quickly followed by the appearance of a figure standing next to Ariadne’s prostrate form. The fierce but beautiful woman leaned down and massaged the girl’s neck.
“Ariadne? Daughter of Helen... Take my hand?” Ari stood up and did exactly as she was told; such was the faith she had in the Gods that her prayers were answered.
“Oh, beautiful lady? Are you here for my brother?”
“On a manner of speaking, child, I am here for you both.” She patted Ari on the hand and drew a bit closer.
“I am here for you, so that you may be here for Leander. Let’s go over and begin!”
Ari gripped the woman’s hand as they began walking over to where Leander had begun to gather the doe goats and kids.
“You know my name, oh beautiful lady. May I ask you yours?”
“Of course, you may. I am known as Euterpe.” She smiled and suppressed a small laugh.
“You want to ask me why the Muse of Music visits upon two souls who are at peril?” Ari’s face grew hot and red, and she began to cry with shame. Euterpe stopped walking and drew the frightened girl into a hug.
“There is no need for shame. The question you never asked is a good one". Euterpe bent down just a bit and stared into Ari’s eyes; speaking in a gentle, motherly voice.
“Leander sings like a girl.” Euterpe seemed to sound just like her mother Helen might sound at that moment if she was there instead of off to the village on an errand.
“He sings like a girl, yes?” Euterpe repeated. Ari nodded and spoke with a bit of a stammer.
“Yehh…yes?!”
“Then you and I will teach him.”
“To…to sing like a boy?”
“No dear, sweet Ariadne,” Euterpe replied as they resumed their walk across the meadow.
“You and I will teach Leander how to be a girl.” She laughed softly; not a cruel, teasing laugh, but the laugh that gently encourages and dispels worry and doubt. Ari nodded without understanding but with a huge amount of faith.
As they neared Leander, Euterpe glanced over her shoulder and nodded at a woman standing in the doorway of the shack. Helen, the mother of Ariadne and Leander.
Helen took her arm and wiped away the tears that fell from her face. She looked upward and mouthed the words, ‘Thank you.’
And high above, Athena and Hera both smiled down at Helen. Of course, she could not see them, but she trusted them with all her heart that her children…her daughters would be alright.
Next: Dýo - Gennaiótita (Two - Bravery)
Title art by matintheworld
Leander and the Muses - 2
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Previously...
As they neared Leander, Euterpe glanced over her shoulder and nodded at a woman standing in the doorway of the shack. Helen, the mother of Ariadne and Leander.
Helen took her arm and wiped away the tears that fell from her face. She looked upward and mouthed the words, ‘Thank you.’
And high above, Athena and Hera both smiled down at Helen. Of course, she could not see them, but she trusted them with all her heart that her children… her daughters would be alright.
"You are welcome…” The woman paused while laughing softly. Helen stepped back.
“Helen of Sasidava… The Goddesses smile upon you.” The woman smiled broadly.
“What? What have I done to…to…”
“Gain the favor of Athena; she of the Wisdom of the Universe? You have trusted her. You have trusted Mother Hera….” The woman used her hand in a broad gesture across the meadow.
“You value your children above your own life but you raised them to value others. Not all mortals are so inclined. Your daughters...”
“My…my daughters….How did you…I have never told a soul…” Helen backed further away in trepidation at the idea that her thoughts were not here own. The woman raised her hand in caution, but accompanied with yet another smile.
“I would say that the Goddesses know all, but you yourself called upon Athena the day Leander was born. Helen’s face only went a little pale as she remembered that life-changing moment in time…
“What…why…” Helen looked up and pleaded with her sister Irene as she held the baby in her arms.
“Oh sister…I… “ Irene held the baby only a little bit away from her and looked under the blanket. Her face was a mixture of shock and wonder. She kissed the baby on the forehead before place the child in Helen’s arms.
“Praise Aphrodite that you are blessed with a child such as this.” To say Irene was making the best of a bad situation would be unfair. The moment was a situation, but what kind? Irene smiled nervously and spoke again.
“Praise Aphrodite and Hermes… for such a gift as this…” She shook her head and began to sob as Helen looked at her baby for the first time.
“Oh, Irene….he…she… I wish Nico could be here,” Helen said as she choked back a sob. Her husband was lost at sea only months before. She looked again through tears and a hopeful smile.
“I think… I know Nico would agree…My baby… our baby is beautiful… Help me, O Athena to know how to care for my baby.”
“Your baby was beautiful… Some might say Leander was born out of time, but Leander was born at just the right time to a woman who knew the boy would someday be made aright.” The woman seemed to be almost dismissive but for her continued, welcoming smile.
“Aright? There is nothing wrong with my…””
“Aright like a seed that blossoms into a flower, dear woman. Like a note that grows into a beautiful melody. There indeed is nothing wrong with a child who merely becomes what she was always intended to be.”
“My child…My child….” Helen stammered.
“Everything that lives becomes more of what they already are. Leander is becoming the girl - the woman she was intended to be.”
She raised her hand slightly and used it as if she was directing music. The woman across the way interrupted what seemed to be a very animated conversation and waved back..
“See? Hear? My sister agrees,” the woman waved at Euterpe and at once the meadow was filled with a very warm, comforting soft breeze accompanied with the sound of the music of lyres.
“You knew the moment Leander was born that while you and your sister saw something strange, your child was at once strange and wonderful.”
“You are so much wiser than I could hope to be, O woman.” Helen lowered her gaze and began to cry; confused and still somewhat scared. The woman stepped closer and lifted Helen’s chin slightly before bestowing a kiss on Helen’s forehead.
“I have only the wisdom Athena has granted me, Helen of Sasidava. I am but a mere muse; sent to be small part of helping you help your daughter…both your daughters become the women you always prayed they would be."
“I thank you…you…” Helen stumbled, uncertain of what she should call the mysterious stranger.
“My name? My name is Melpomene… I am known as the muse of tragedy, but one of my great desires is to see hope in the midst of loss. You still lament the loss of the father of your children…long gone and in the bosom of paradise before Leander was born. Take heart that Nico loved you and somehow I imagine he is smiling, knowing that his children are being raised by a woman who is wise enough to know she is not yet as wise as she will be.”
"I am not wise, oh blessed woman.”
“Say not so. There is none ignorant as those who believe they have nothing to learn, dear woman. You
have wisdom enough to know there is so much more in this world of ours to know, Helen.”
“What can I do to help? What is my part in Leander’s… growth?”
“Continue to blossom and grow and wisdom will bathe you like the warm glow of the sun. It will be a challenging time, dear lady… A time that will demand bravery to act upon what others might consider folly. But you are a very brave woman indeed.” Melpomene gently took Helen by both hands and backed away slightly
“Come…Let us go and meet my sister Euterpe and help her assist Ariadne. And let us go and meet your new daughter as well.” She let go of one hand as the two walked across the meadow.
Next: Tría: Mia méra gia choró (Three: a day for dancing)