CHAPTER 20: The Seer of Epidaurus
The Hierophant's troop approached from the north, halting at a rise to take in the view. Below them, Asklepios' sanctuary sat in a sacred glen crowded with pines and stone buildings and enclosed by rolling hills. The dark thunderheads parted, allowing sunlight to rain down on the holy site, while shadows shrouded all else.
"Helios honors Asklepios with his rays," said the Hierophant. "The sanctuary has grown considerably since I was here last." Then he pointed out three buildings in the center of the glen. The first was a tall rectangular structure with marble columns. "That's the temple of Asklepios," he said. "The Tholos next to it is new, definitely not here when last I came, but it's quite something. Perhaps we'll learn its significance. The long building is the Abaton, where patients incubate."
"Incubate?" asked Melaina.
"You'll learn soon enough."
Melaina was disappointed when they didn't enter the sanctuary immediately. After the Hierophant dismissed their escort to return to the temple of Hera, each of the three separated a goat from the animal cart, bidding the slave couple wait outside the sanctuary. Then, each leading their goat, they went on foot up a hill to the southeast, Mt. Kynortion, ascending along with several other travelers.
"We climb to this hilltop to first sacrifice to Apollo, Asklepios' father," said the Hierophant. "He was the original healing god, and his son heals in his name."
Melaina saw a father and three sons carrying a fourth brother with paralyzed legs, and then listened while her mother questioned an old woman, who said she came in place of a daughter too sick with dropsy to make the trip. Another woman complained of a worm in her belly. Melaina also saw a boy with an oozing growth on his neck, and a man, wounded in the lung by an arrow, who was spitting up pus, a bowl a day, he said.
Before sacrificing to the god, they cleansed themselves at a fountain house where priests collected holy water the god had sent up from the ground. Then the three, along with their goats, trudged on up the mountain. On the hilltop, the three approached a small, open-air sanctuary set on a stone terrace. The temple's considerable age was obvious from its two gnarled timber columns that supported the slanted, patchwork portico, which sheltered the slaughter stone and the two priests performing the sacrifices. The three crowded forward along with other rain-drenched supplicants.
As they stood before the butcher stone, the Hierophant explained the need for sacrificing to Apollo. "The two gods, Apollo, the bringer of plague, and Asklepios, the one who cures, are representations of the same universal force. Through Apollo's son, the power to kill becomes the skill to heal. Before we can experience the healing light of Asklepios, we must acknowledge Apollo's deadly darkness. Apollo has been worshiped here since far back in time. After murdering his mother, Agamemnon's son Orestes came here seeking refuge. The sanctuary of Asklepios didn't exist then, just this temple."
After the sacrifice, they started down the hill with the rest of the supplicants, but the Hierophant stepped off the footpath. "Spread your cloaks over the damp grass," he said, taking a seat under a large oak and stretching out as if ready for a nap.
"Why are you delaying us again, grandfather?" asked Melaina.
"Patience, little one," he said. "I want to rest my head on the soft grass, listen to the rustle of the old oak's leaves, and pretend I'm at Dodona decoding the words of Zeus. Dealing with near-death experiences may be refreshing to you, but it's tiring to an old man. I shook in my sandals after that Persian knocked the breath from me. I don't care much for my own life, but to see that of my only descendents snuffed out would be more than I could bear." He looked at Myrrhine. "Tell her of the life and death of Asklepios, so she won't be bored while I try to restore myself. Growing old is such a delight when you can spend it witnessing the bravery of your grandchildren."
"It wasn't bravery, grandfather. I'm always irritable after a seizure. My ill temper caused my brashness. I worry that I could have gotten us all killed."
Since she'd not been able to sleep following the seizure, Melaina still hadn't fully recovered. She worried about her performance before Mys, realizing how certain she'd sounded when she told him of her vision. Had she really seen Ares and Athena? Or simply made a convenient assumption to win her argument with Hegesistratus?
Her mother began telling the myth of Asklepios, but Melaina wished her grandfather had told it instead. She loved his deep, mystery-filled voice. Her mother's voice was smooth enough, though quiet, and Melaina feared she might fall asleep.
"Apollo, deity that he is, was unlucky in love," Myrrhine began, "and so he was with Koronis, Asklepios' mortal mother who took her name from her beauty. While she was pregnant with Apollo's child, she lay with a mortal, which enraged Apollo, and he killed her. Her body was put on the funeral pyre, but Apollo couldn't bear to see his son die with the wild flames of the fire god lapping about it, so he snatched the infant from his mother's burning corpse."
Melaina heard her grandfather snoring and realized that he hadn't slept much lately because of his unspoken illness. She lay back beside him, watching the mountains of fluffy clouds sail overhead while her mother continued.
"All mortals, who have a divine father, also have an earthly one. The mortal side of Asklepios' myth is that Koronis, who in this version was also named Aigla, the Luminous One, was the daughter of Phlegyas, the most courageous soldier alive. He didn't know that his daughter was pregnant when he brought her to Epidaurus, so when she gave birth to Asklepios, she abandoned the child, who was then suckled by a she-goat on Mt. Titthion. Aresthanas, a goatherd, saw the child, who was being protected by the dog guarding the goats, and went to get him, but was driven back by dazzling light as if from a divine epiphany."
Melaina's grandfather stopped snoring. "The hill we're on is Mt. Kynortion," he said, "and was named for the dog that watched over the child. Mt. Titthion," he pointed to another hill in the distance, "that one there, was named for the goat's teat from which he garnered nourishment."
Her mother continued her story. "Hermes took Asklepios to the Centaur, Cheiron, the wisest and most learned of all beings, who taught him the art of healing. Though a son of Apollo, Asklepios was mortal. He became famous for inventing medications, and was so effective at healing that he could resurrect the dead. Zeus thought he might make humankind immortal, so he killed Asklepios with a lightning bolt. Thus, Asklepios was born and died in flames. Apollo, saddened by the death of his son, made him immortal."
"What's wrong with resurrecting the dead?" Melaina asked.
Her grandfather answered. "Mortals are not meant to spend eternity here on earth. The body is a prison for the soul. Remember your training in the Orphic myths. To raise the dead in this world is no boon. We must pass to the next life."
"Is there a connection between resurrection and fire?"
Her mother answered, "Remember the funeral pyres on Salamis? Fire is the coinage for transport to the world of the immortals. To go to the Elysian Fields is a resurrection. That's why Asklepios is there. It's another statement of the Mysteries."
Some of the other supplicants drifted close by, and the Hierophant said, "We'd better stop speaking of sacred subjects in public. We could be overheard."
They roused themselves and rejoined the stream of visitors descending the hill, but the Hierophant continued speaking of Asklepios. "The gods' temples are usually on mountaintops, as is this temple of Apollo, but Asklepios is a chthonian god and dwells below, so he may send up holy water and healing herbs. Thus, his sanctuary is in this sacred valley. In his worldly manifestation he lives both in the earth and atop it, traveling between worlds. The priests here will teach you about his method of communing with us: dreams."
The group reached a double stone wall, the two separated by a ditch that surrounded the entire cluster of sacred buildings. The Hierophant had the slaves take their sacrificial animals to a holding pen outside the sanctuary. There, inside a dormitory, the slaves were to remain and care for the animals until they were nee
ded for sacrifice.
The Hierophant and two priestesses passed into the sanctuary through a gate and over a small bridge. They met a groaning old man as he left, writhing in pain and assisted by two young men. "Beware the cures," he said as he passed. "Immortals apportion two trials for every blessing." Melaina wanted to question him about this, but the others had continued on, so she followed, wondering if some hidden danger lurked within the sacred glen.
A priest met the stream of visitors as they entered the grounds. Several assistants stood at his side, and as he determined each person's reason for coming, bade one of the assistants walk that person to the appropriate facility.
They witnessed their first cure. A mute girl, who saw a snake just as she entered the sacred grounds, screamed and returned home healed, having yet to even meet the priest. But Melaina witnessed something she'd not imagined seeing at a healing center. The man in line before them was very ill and being carried on a couch by his five sons. In spite of his dire need, the priest would not allow them entry. "But he's dying!" cried the eldest son. "Precisely why he can't enter," replied the priest. "No one can die in the sanctuary." The argument continued until a small troop of soldiers appeared and forcefully removed the sick man and his family.
Melaina started after them and had to be pulled back by her mother. "They've given him a death sentence," Melaina argued.
After sizing up the three of them, the priest said to the Hierophant, "Ordinarily our patients are assigned a space in the dormitory, but for dignitaries, particularly those of your stature, we put them up in a residence." He turned to an assistant, an old man whose eyes were strangely sunken and kept shut. The priest spoke quietly in the man's ear, then turned back to them. "During your stay here remember one fact. Whosoever passes through the Propylon, under whatever auspices, leaves the profane world and enters the sanctified." He looked directly at the Hierophant. "Make sure all your actions are in keeping with that thought."
Melaina wondered if her grandfather had taken offense, when the priest grabbed her hand and placed it into that of the old, shut-eyed man. Melaina realized that she was to lead the man, who was in fact blind, his eyes sunken, wrinkled, and seeming to suck his entire face into the sockets.
"Point me along the path," the blind man said, "and we'll find your accommodations."
Was that possible? Melaina looked to her mother and grandfather.
"Yes, I'm blind," the man said, "but still quite useful as a guide. I'm called Udaeüs, named for the forefather of Teiresias, blind seer of Thebes." He walked with a cane of cornel wood that he banged against her to test her position.
"Careful of my shins," Melaina said, wincing. "We know of Thebes, traitor to Hellas and co-conspirator with the Persians."
Udaeüs ignored her cutting remark. "Tell me, have you any idea where we are?" he asked.
"A small temple is on our right. It's not very well kept," Melaina said.
"Ah, the temple of Themis. A little farther then. My family is from Kolophon in Ionia, a Hellene colony founded by Manto, Teiresias' daughter."
"Another Persian stronghold," said Melaina. "Are you a spy?"
Her mother grabbed her by the arm, her eyes casting daggers, but Melaina had taken an immediate disliking to the blind man.
Again Udaeüs ignored her. "Where are we now?" he asked. "What have we come to?"
"A long building stretching away from the path to the right, and beyond it, a temple."
"The long building is the Abaton. You'll get to know that well enough, I suppose. Guide me to the temple. It belongs to Asklepios." He pulled her by the hand. "Come. Guide me, guide me. We don't ordinarily allow patients into the temple even for prayer. To stay on temple grounds is a great honor."
Then Udaeüs asked Myrrhine and the Hierophant to remain just inside the temple entrance. "Into the hall," he told Melaina, forcing her forward. As they walked, he played with her hand, traced a sensual circle over her palm.
She hated him for it. "Don't molest me," she said.
Udaeüs chuckled. "The tender digits of a young woman are such a comfort to an old man."
She led him to the back where he spoke to an elderly priest, who was shorter than Melaina. The three then returned to the entryway to the Hierophant and Myrrhine, where Udaeüs took his leave, speaking directly to Melaina as if he could see, although she realized he meant his words for the three of them. "You'll be seeing more of me. I attend the fires at all the altars."
The tiny priest then addressed them, Hierophant first. "My name is Theognotus," he said, clasping his hands before him. "I seldom work with patients anymore, but having such an illustrious group from Eleusis is a rare pleasure. I'll hear your ailments and recommend treatment. We're terribly overcrowded, so you'll stay with me until your incubation, if that's required."
With that, he led them into the temple proper, where they stood before the gold and ivory statue of Asklepios. The god was seated upon a throne, a serpent in his right hand, his left resting on the head of a dog. The face of Asklepios projected calm, solemnity, and suffering. Melaina turned to her mother. "The physician from Kos," she said, "bears this likeness." She felt great affection for it.
Theognotus dropped to his knees before the altar and raised his arms. "Lord Asklepios, who dwells within dark Earth and heals the suffering of mortals, bring Health to these three holy suppliants, answer their pleas brought from far off Eleusis. Come to them in the days ahead, O savior! Grant your gift of vigorous existence, and they shall grace your sanctuary with an offering befitting your miracle."
Then Theognotus took them out behind the temple to a nearby stone building, his own home, where they entered a courtyard and talked amid dappled shadows of grapevine-covered trellises. "At this healing center," he said, "as with Eleusis, we serve the individual. Whosoever comes suffering the sores of nature, Asklepios delivers from diverse pain. Others, their limbs wounded by bright bronze or hurled stone, he tends with some kindly incantation or soothing julep, swathing limbs with simples. He restores some with the knife."
"Do you heal all who come?" asked Melaina.
"The rituals we priests prescribe only open the pathway for divine intervention. Asklepios provides treatment for each differently, refusing in some cases. So tell me your ailments. Perhaps Asklepios can relieve your suffering."
They then revealed their reasons for coming, first the two women in turn, but when it came to the Hierophant, he refused to speak before his daughter and granddaughter, pulling Theognotus to a far corner of the courtyard. They whispered quietly for a while, then returned, the Hierophant bracing himself with his staff.
Theognotus prescribed treatment. To Myrrhine, he said, "Many women come to us with barren wombs. Treatment requires a night of incubation in the Abaton, as does your daughter's epilepsy. But before you can incubate, you must fast for three days, nothing but clear barley broth, and bathe in the hot springs. Each morning our attendants will massage your flesh to relieve the physical toll your lives have placed there. Remember, Asklepios was first a mortal man. He died because of his sympathy for the human condition and was made a god so he might improve it. Sunrise is sacred here. The resurrecting light is anastasis of mortal life and reprises the luminous child. Our hope is that you experience the solemnity of Asklepios' sacred healing center and return home cured."
He rose and so did they. "Now, I'll get Udaeüs. He'll see you to your quarters."
Melaina stopped him. "Question, please. At the gate a sick man was turned away because he was dying. What good is a healing center unwilling to attend the most grievously ill?"
Her mother pinched her arm, but Theognotus was not fazed.
"Excellent question," he said. "I've been deficient in my orientation. Death is not permitted here, nor is birth. As a priestess you must be aware of the contamination of the passageway between this world and that of the immortals when life enters or exits. The purity of the facility must be preserved, even if it means refusing entry to those too hopeless for trea
tment. I regret that your first impression of the sanctuary was formed viewing this grim limitation."
His answer multiplied Melaina's questions, but another of her mother's pinches silenced her tongue. They turned to go then with Udaeüs in the lead, but the Hierophant seemed perplexed, perhaps a little exasperated.
"My condition?" the Hierophant asked, then swallowed deeply. "Can you fix it? Or am I doomed?"
"Oh, yes, we have a procedure," and for the first time Theognotus smiled, "but you won't get to dream your way through it. Afterward, however, dreams will blossom every night and won't stop though you will it with all your might."
The Mysteries, A Novel of Ancient Eleusis Page 44