Several times during their descent, they rested their tired legs. They had made it this far, Pirithous wanted to say aloud, but he knew what his friend would say in return: they still had a long way to go. And when the first torch finally died, the King of Athens grabbed a burning one off the wall.
For most of the way down to the Underworld, the only sounds that reached their ears were their footsteps and the crackling of the flame of their torches. It was during one of their many rests that Pirithous first heard what sounded like a river. He grinned and asked Theseus if he had heard it, too. The King of Athens returned the grin. They cut their rest short to continue the journey downward.
They made several twists and turns through the maze until they came around one last corner where they stopped. Pirithous wanted to chuckle at the sight before him. The first thing he saw was a sea of souls heading towards a river. All the souls crowded near a dock at the edge of the river. Part way across the river, Pirithous could see a boat slowly heading across to the far side. And beyond that, the prince could see a field filled with more souls, plants and large boulders. How tempting it would be to see if he might be able to find his late wife among the souls who wandered there.
Beyond the field of souls, he could make out a palace. From where the prince stood, it looked grander than any palace he had seen in Hellas. They were so close yet so far from rescuing Kore. Now it was just a matter of getting to the other side of the river. They had the coin to pay the ferryman but they had little time to wait for him to return to this side of the river.
“There has to be another way across,” Theseus said as if reading the prince’s thoughts. “A bridge or another dock with an abandoned boat would be nice.”
“Agreed,” Pirithous said. “But where do we start looking?”
“Look to your right,” a whisper answered.
The prince looked to the right as the voice commanded and his lips curled up at the sight of a bridge in the distance. He pointed towards his discovery as he turned to Theseus. The King saw it and took the first steps in that direction.
“Wait,” Pirithous said, sending a hand onto his friend’s shoulder. “Leave the torch behind.”
“Why?” Theseus demanded.
“Do you see any of those souls on either side of the river carrying torches?” Pirithous returned. “We want to blend in, not get caught. Besides there is enough light for us to see by.”
Theseus groaned and reluctantly tossed the torch aside. The prince stepped past his friend, heading towards the bridge. When they passed the last of the souls along the way, they ran to the bridge as fast as their feet could carry them. At the base of the bridge, they took some time to catch their breath before beginning the climb.
On the other side of the bridge, Theseus stopped him. “It’s your turn to wait, my friend,” the King said. Theseus pointed to a large beast on the heading towards the bridge. “Do you see that three-headed dog? It’s coming our way.”
Pirithous followed the King’s lead and squatted down while the enormous dog walked towards the bridge. Each head looked in every direction and more than once, Pirithous could see their nose twitching. As the god turned to walk away from the bridge, they slowly crawled down to the ground below. Just beyond where they had climbed down, there was a boulder large enough for both of them to hide behind. Theseus raced there first and Pirithous soon followed. There were more boulders leading towards the palace.
Each time they made it to the next boulder, Pirithous would look to see if the dog was heading in their direction again. When it was, they waited before moving on. By the time there were no more boulders to hide behind, they were far beyond the dog’s reach, or at least Pirithous hoped so. They joined a line of souls towards a courtyard where Pirithous could see three men judging souls brought in front of them. Theseus wanted to halt their trip to watch what transpired but the prince reminded his friend what they were there to do.
“We are here to steal me a bride, remember?” Pirithous snapped.
Theseus nodded and followed the prince to the rear of the palace. On the other side, Pirithous spotted Kore walking through a garden with a man in armor at her side. She had grown more pale and thin since the last time he had seen her. And he could see that her belly was no longer swollen, but she carried nothing with her; her hand dangled at her sides. Where was the child he had planted inside of her?
Pirithous growled as he headed in Kore’s direction with Theseus close behind him. As they moved, Kore turned towards them. If it was possible, she lost more color in her face when she set eyes on him. She screamed and rushed behind her companion.
“I’ll have you escorted inside, my lady,” her companion said, “while these two demigods tell me their business in my realm.”
The Rich One! The prince felt his eyes widened as two guards appeared at the god’s side. Pirithous watched them escort Kore away.
“Welcome to the Underworld,” the Rich One said with a smile. “I am Hades. Please join me for refreshments and you can tell me what brings you to my court.”
“I am here for Kore,” Pirithous snapped as he followed the Rich One to a table covered with both food and drink.
The Rich One directed them to a bench as the good took a seat on a large stone throne. Theseus joined him on the bench as the Rich One spoke again. “Tell me again what brings you to my court, Pirithous of the Lapiths.”
The prince blinked as she stared at the man dressed in armor sitting in front of him and wondered who this Pirithous might be.
Chapter 8
Kore watched from a window as Hades entertained the two demigods. Her hear pounded uncontrollably in her chest. No matter how many deep breaths she took, it did nothing to calm the beating of her heart. She held her hands tightly together, her eyes rushing from Hades to each of the demigods and back. During the trip from her mother’s cottage to Pirithous’ palace, she had witnessed the prince dueling with her guards; more often than not he had them on their back within minutes. Would he challenge Hades to a fight?
And what of the demigod who had accompanied Pirithous to the Underworld? Was this the Theseus the prince had mentioned the day they met behind the tree? He had only spoken of Theseus that once that Kore recalled. She took a step back from the window when Hades rose from his chair and walked back towards the palace. The god had a grin on his face that only made Kore’s heart beat harder in her chest.
Hades had told her that Pirithous would be punished for his mistreatment of her, but he had not gone into detail. She had assumed that the gods would wait until the prince died and then send him to Tartarus like they did the rest of the mortals who angered them; it was how the gods governed their mortal children, Athena had told her. But sometimes, her cousin had explained, mortals needed to be reminded they needed to respect the gods, sometimes using fear.
But Pirithous had seemed unconcerned, and he definitely did not seem afraid of Hades, nor had his companion. The prince had approached her and Hades with the same confidence he had shown in the clearing and every subsequent meeting she had had with him until the day she had broken his arm. And he seemed to know that he would find her in the Underworld. Kore shivered at the thought as Hades entered the palace.
The goddess turned to her uncle as he came toward where she waited. “You used me as bait,” she said, her voice flat.
The god of the Underworld stopped several paces from her. “He abducted you once, got you with child, it seemed reasonable that he would be stupid enough to try again. He had to be punished for his crimes against the gods.”
“Is this the kind of treatment I can expect as your wife?”
Hades took two steps towards her. “I asked for a wife to share the responsibility of ruling the Underworld. That is how you can expect to be treated as my wife.” He went on to tell her the events surrounding the mortal King Sisyphus. “That cannot be allowed to happen again, Kore.”
“Do you love me?”
“Not as much as your mother, my lady, but, yes,
I do,” he told her. “Hermes should be here soon to escort you back to your mother’s side. Perhaps you would like to rest before you make the journey.”
Form behind the god of the dead, two souls approached. Kore looked at them and then back at Hades. Her uncle smiled as the souls passed him and stopped at her side. “I would prefer to see what it is you do here in the Underworld. Perhaps it would help convince me that I would like being your wife.”
“Of course, my lady,” the god answered. “I intend to spend the rest of the afternoon overseeing my judges.”
He offered her a hand. Kore stared at the tips of his fingers for a moment before she untwined her own fingers to extend her right hand toward her uncle. He gripped her hand gently and guided her through the maze of corridors that made up his palace. In all the time she had resided at the palace, she could still not find her way around. It was so unlike the small cottage she shared with her mother. It made her hating have to be escorted anywhere she wanted to go. She felt like a child who needed to be carried everywhere they went.
Several times she had tried to find her way from her apartment to another part of the palace, and she ended up having to ask the first servant she saw to escort her back to her room. She had only wanted to walk in the garden near the stables. If she would be marrying Hades, she would need to learn her own way around. She had no wish to be a prisoner here. She would draw herself a map, she decided, or have one of the servants give her directions.
On the opposite side of the palace, a guard pulled a massive wooden door open. Hades let her go out ahead of him. Several steps across the courtyard, Kore could see where the three judges of the Underworld held court and the long line of souls waiting for judgment. Off to one side stood a large stone throne; Hades guided her there, offering her the seat.
“If you join me in the Underworld,” Hades told her as she sat down, “you would have your own throne.”
Kore rested her hands in her lap, her eyes fixed on the three judges. They sent most of the souls to Asphodel. One soul was sent to the Elysium Fields. “Why was that soul sent to the Elysium Fields?” she asked.
“He was a hero, my lady,” Hades explained. “All heroes are sent there. Asphodel is where most souls go.”
“And then there is Tartarus where the wicked go, correct?”
“Yes, milady.”
“Will Pirithous be sent there?”
“Once he dies, I will take him there personally.”
Kore nodded and returned her attention to the judges and the endless line of souls that stretched all the way to the River Acheron. Soon, she leaned back in the throne and closed her eyes. Before she knew it, she was no longer in the Underworld but in the forests around her mother’s cottage. Her feet pounded on the moss and twigs of the floor, heading towards her mother’s cottage in the distance. She could see her mother in her garden, tending a tree near the fence.
In her ears, she could hear her own laughter then followed by the laughter of the nymphs. Kore turned to see the nymphs running beside her. Quickly, she returned her eyes back to her mother’s cottage. Her mother had vanished from the garden. Kore stopped in her tracks; Demeter never abandoned her gardening when she saw her daughter running towards the cottage. She watched the nymphs race past her, stilling laughing, only it sounded different. It reminded her of a lyre.
Kore opened her eyes to see Hades standing just in front of the throne. He looked like a statue with a short cape blowing in a slight breeze. She came to her feet and stepped to the god’s side. She shot her eyes toward her uncle’s as the soft strumming of a lyre hit her ears. She followed her uncle’s gaze towards the line of souls. Her eyes passed the judges as the three souls came to their feet.
Beyond the outer gates, walking along the souls yet apart, a figure could be seen. The closer the figure came the more details Kore could make out. This was a mortal male with a neatly trimmed beard and long hair pulled back. In his hands, he carried a lyre; his fingers were plucking at the strings. Even the souls waiting for judgment stopped in their tracks to listen. The souls that guarded the gates did not prevent this mortal from passing through the iron walls.
At the edge of where the judges held court, the mortal began to sing. “My name is Orpheus, the son of the muse of epics I am. I have known no joy since my wife Eurydice died…”
He sang of how he had been blessed with a wife who loved him in return, but on the day she wed, his bride had been bitten by a snake and died. Kore gasped upon hearing the news of the mortal woman’s demise. Kore longer to hear more, and the mortal did not refuse. He described in detail just how horrible his life had been since losing his bride. If only Pirithous had treated her so kindly, she thought as the last not of the mortal’s lyre echoed.
“I beg of you, O Rich One,” Orpheus continued, “let my wife returned to the world above with me.”
Kore turned to face Hades; the god still looked a statue unmoving. “Please, Hades, let this mortal have his wife back.”
The god of the dead turned to her. She could see a tear had fallen down the side of his face. “You would be so kind after all the mortals have done to you?”
“Two mortals who treated me ill does not make every mortal the same,” she whispered. “Let him have his wife back, please.”
“If I show this mortal kindness, my lady, it might persuade other mortals to seek out their loved ones, to beg for their return.”
She had not considered that. “Then make it a challenge for him. Make him prove his faith.”
Hades smiled and turned his attention back to the mortal. The god took two steps toward the mortal before speaking again. “Orpheus, son of the muse of Epics, your lady mother has trained you well. Your song has persuaded me to allow you to take the mortal who is your wife back to the world above.” He raised his hand before the mortal could speak of his gratitude. “But there is a condition: your wife must make the entire trip to the surface behind you.”
The mortal bowed as the god of the dead ordered the soul of Eurydice to be found. Just as the woman’s soul was brought up behind Orpheus, Hermes strolled into the courtyard. Hades walked up to the messenger god and spoke to him in hushed tones. A moment later, he returned to her side.
“My lady,” he said, “Hermes goes to see that my orders are followed. He will return for you once the mortals arrive on the surface.”
“Or he returns with the mortal’s soul,” Kore added.
Hades nodded. “Please join me inside. There are chairs more comfortable for you to sit in.”
He extended a hand for her to take and she quickly accepted. She kept pace with the god as they followed the path they had taken to the courtyard back to the palace. They entered the great hall just as the servants finished setting out both food and drink on the table. Since arriving in the Underworld, she had been careful to eat any delicacy that had been put in front of her or swallow any wine set near her hands. But her stomach still growled; she hoped Hermes would return soon for she did not know how much longer she could go without eating.
They came to a halt behind the table. Hades released her hand to pull a chair out for her to sit down. Kore took a seat, dropping her hands on her lap and stared at them as she listened to Hades’ footsteps behind her. She only looked up when the god of the dead took the seat across from her. Don’t eat anything, she reminded herself. She knew too well that she would have to remain in the underworld if she did. She would never get to see her mother again if she ate or drank in the realm of the dead.
“Are you certain you do not want to sample anything?” Hades asked, taking a fruit he had called a pomegranate into his hands.
“I am not hungry,” she lied, “but I thank you for offering.”
The god smiled, taking a knife to cut the fruit in half. Kore watched closely as the two pieces of fruit collapsed on the table as Hades moved his hands away. Inside the fruit, she saw small pieces of purple that reminded her of the seeds her mother used in her garden. Hades dislodged several of those
pieces with his knife.
“You seem rather interested in the fruit for someone who is not hungry,” the god said. He chuckled after speaking.
Kore looked up at the god’s face. “Even I know that eating the food of the dead will ensure that I must remain in the Underworld.”
“Your mother cannot keep you hidden forever,” the god snapped. “You’re not Athena who is a law unto herself. Nor did you get a promise from Zeus not to marry you off like Artemis. I can venture to say that you’re not Hestia either. Only those three goddesses were meant to remain virgins forever.”
Kore opened her mouth to protest but the god of the dead seemed to have read her mind.
“Any mortal with a daughter who had been tainted as you have been would be more than happy to wash their hands of you. They might even have left you with the mortal who had abducted you. Zeus spoke of a compromise that both he and Apollo had foreseen. You would only have to remain in the Underworld for part of the year. The rest of the year you could be with your mother.”
Kore blinked. “How do I know you’re not lying? That mortal told me plenty of lies. You could just be saying these things to get me to eat something.”
Hades nodded. “One lying mortal does not mean that I am a liar. You were able to see that mortal musician was not like that foolish mortal prince. I don’t blame you for your concern. It is true that if you taste on of these seeds--” He picked up the nearest seed to him. “—that you would have to stay in the Underworld. But nowhere does it say that you’d have to stay here year round. I leave regularly and I have tasted the food of the dead. Demeter would never allow you to stay that long. Even I know better than to anger your lady mother.”
The god extended the seed in her direction as a servant came to Hades’ side to announce that Hermes had returned to take their guest up to Olympus.
Twisted Mythology: Three Tales of Greek Mythology Page 6