by Joe Corcoran
Hercules leapt across the remaining gap to land at the side of the god. As soon as he was aboard, Poseidon twitched the reins, and the chariot moved off at a gentle pace, its wheels cutting through the sea with no more sound than that of a babbling brook. Hercules glanced back towards where Iolaus still stood on the deck of the ship, and Poseidon, sensing his unease, spoke in a new and calmer voice. “Don’t worry, I will soon return you to your friend, and I will even let you complete your mission. Except now, it will be according to my instructions and not Minos’.” Then he patted Hercules on the shoulder and began to explain.
King Minos, explained Poseidon, had become rich and powerful because of his navy. He now had so many ships that no other king dared to challenge him, and this had made Minos arrogant. New titles had been added to his name and new decorations to his palace, but lately he had gone too far, he had started to call himself the ruler of all the seas.
“Can you imagine,” burst out Poseidon, getting carried away in his anger at this part of the story, “his ships are just a few little specks floating on the surface of the water. It is like a flea calling itself the ruler of the dog.” Then he calmed down and continued in more measured tones.
Poseidon had asked the other gods of Olympus for permission to destroy the navy of Minos, but they had decided that this punishment was too great for the crime of boastfulness. So instead he had sent an ambassador, to remind Minos of his power. From the white foam of the surf he had created a magnificent white bull …
“A bull?” interrupted Hercules, “That seems like an odd choice for an ambassador.”
“Yes,” agreed Poseidon absently, “I would have preferred to send a dolphin, much more intelligent you see, but Minos has his palace on the land so a sea creature would not do.”
He went on to explain that all the bull had to do was to emerge from the water, proceed to Minos’ palace looking majestic, and then accept the apologies of the king. After that it would stay in Knossos, the capital city of Crete, to remind everyone of the power of the sea, maybe taking part in parades and festivals, but generally enjoying a quiet life and the adoration of the people.
“It seems like such a simple plan,” said Hercules, “I can’t see how things could have gone wrong.”
“Precisely my thoughts,” replied Poseidon, “but I didn’t then understand the sheer wickedness of Minos, and his total lack of honour.”
On seeing the bull Minos was indeed overcome with awe and wonder, at least at first. Then he instructed his soldiers to capture the bull and to put it in a cage. They treated it very badly. There were even rumours that they conducted strange and cruel experiments, creating a monster that Minos now kept hidden beneath his palace. Of course, the bull did not allow himself to be treated like that for long, he broke out of the cage and escaped into the countryside, setting fire to half the palace on his way. Minos and his whole army could not recapture the bull now that it was free, but he wasn’t man enough to apologise, so when he heard that there was a hero in Greece who could perform impossible tasks he decided to send for him.
“I must go back to Troezen,” said Hercules, as soon as he had heard the full story, “I cannot complete the challenge if it means harming your ambassador and helping Minos.”
“Not so hasty, nephew,” replied Poseidon, “remember that I said you would complete the task, but not in the way Minos wants.” The god winked at Hercules, and he was reminded of the wink that Pittheus had given when he was set the challenge. “You are not to kill the bull, although you must subdue him. Instead, the bull must be brought to Greece. It will be a sign that the time of Cretan dominance of the sea is almost at an end, and that a new power will arise to take their place.”
“That won’t be easy,” said Hercules, thinking aloud, “I don’t think I’d want a ferocious, fire-breathing bull rampaging around my ship on a long voyage.”
“You and your mortal friend have solved trickier puzzles than this one,” replied Poseidon. Then, from his robes, he produced a large shell, which he handed to Hercules, “take this. It contains the song of the sea. If you hold it to the bull’s ear then he will know that you are acting on my instructions. After this the bull will be your friend and will follow your commands as eagerly as the most obedient horse. The rest is up to you. Now, hide the shell, we have almost returned to your ship.”
Sure enough, Hercules saw that they had come round in a wide circle, and now approached the Minoan vessel from the rear. By this time the sailors had recovered from their shock, and had found arms and armour with which to equip themselves. Poseidon laughed quietly at the sight, calling out as he brought the chariot alongside, “You have no need of your weapons, you will all die soon enough, but not today and not at my hand.” Then, once Hercules had jumped back to the deck, he turned the chariot and raced away over the waves, without another word.
Everyone was bursting with curiosity to find out what Poseidon had said, especially the ambassador, but Hercules was very careful about the information he revealed. He desperately wanted to talk to Iolaus so that they could come up with a plan, but there was no privacy on board the ship and he could not be sure that they wouldn’t be overheard. By the time they reached the shores of Crete, just after noon the following day, Iolaus was as ignorant of the conversation as everyone else, and Hercules had had to decide his next steps by himself. They left the ship with many friendly words between Iolaus and the sailors and made their way up the hill to the city of Knossos, where Minos waited in his palace. The ambassador was carried in a chair by four servants, while Hercules and Iolaus were expected to walk. Iolaus found it odd to walk on dry land again, and he could still feel the rolling motion of the sea beneath his feet. The sailors had called it ‘getting his sea legs’ and had said that the feeling would go after a day or so, but would come back quickly once he was aboard a ship again.
By the time they had arrived at Minos’ palace, a large crowd had gathered to see the great hero. There were some cheers when Hercules came into view, but most people kept craning their necks to see who was coming behind. They had lived so long with the finery of Minos and his court that they expected a hero to be dressed in shining armour, they could not recognise the true strength that now passed so close in front of them. The king himself was no different, when finally Hercules and Iolaus were allowed into his presence. He sat on a high throne, peering down at his guests with evident disappointment. For a long time he said nothing, then finally he broke the silence:
“You’ll need help, evidently,” he said, “so I will put all my armies under your command.”
“I don’t need your armies, they’ll only get in my way,” said Hercules, in a rude tone of voice that made Iolaus glance at him in surprise, “they’ve been trying to catch the bull for weeks and have nothing to show for their ridiculous efforts. Why on earth do you think I’d want their help?”
Just as Hercules had planned, Minos was furious.
“You insult my army? Very well, let’s see how you manage on your own. You’ll not receive an ounce of help from me. I shall simply wait for your burnt, blackened body to be brought before me, and if by some chance the bull does not kill you then good luck getting back to Greece, no Minoan ship will take you.”
With that, the king sat back in his throne and waved his hand to dismiss them. From the shadows several guards emerged. They took Hercules and Iolaus out of the throne room and marched them through the palace until they found themselves outside the gates once more. This time there was no crowd waiting, just people going about their everyday business. Now they were alone, Hercules was finally able to tell Iolaus about his conversation with Poseidon and Iolaus understood why Hercules had refused any help from Minos.
“So,” said the young man, as they walked out of the city and into the countryside, “once we’ve found and captured the bull, all we have to do is to sneak it off the island and back to Greece. Have you any idea how we do that?”
Hercules shook his head, “Not a clue.”
That n
ight they slept under the stars. Fortunately Iolaus had brought some blankets, although there was nothing to eat for dinner and nothing for breakfast either. However, they soon found out that this didn’t matter. The next morning they discovered that, outside the capital city, the people of Crete were as hospitable as any other folk. Soon they had been given breakfast, and had also gathered plenty of information. No-one thought much of the efforts made by Minos to capture the bull. It seemed that the soldiers sent after it treated their time in the country as a holiday, eating and drinking whatever they could find in the villages they passed through, and always managing to be somewhere else when the bull appeared. This was not difficult to achieve, because everyone knew exactly where the bull was to be found at any time. Hercules and Iolaus simply had to follow the directions of the people they met, and later that day they found themselves looking across a large stream and into a field of daisies, where the ambassador of Poseidon was quietly grazing.
“You’d better hold the shell,” said Hercules to his friend, “it looks calm enough, but I wouldn’t want this to get broken.”
With that he waded through the stream, and began to walk calmly across the