Cursed by the Sea God

by Patrick Bowman

Gloutos: Buttocks.

  Hagios: A Greek condition meaning, approximately, “protected by the gods.” The best English equivalent might be “sanctified.”

  Himation: A garment, more like a cloak, probably worn overtop something like a chiton.

  Houmos: Hummus, the middle-eastern garlic and chickpea dip. Probably not an authentic ancient Greek word.

  Khalash: No meaning. Just something the Cicones said when they stabbed someone. An English translation might be “Yahoo!” or perhaps “Take that, you kopros sniffer!”

  Koprolith: A fossilized or otherwise petrified piece of kopros. Source of the English word coprolith.

  Kopros: Ahem. Dung.

  Koprophage: Someone who eats kopros.

  Koprophile: Someone who loves kopros.

  Kottabos: A Greek drinking game that involved flicking drops of wine from their goblet at a target.

  Kuna: A word with a variety of meanings, one of which is (only literally) a female dog.

  Kylix: A wide-mouthed, shallow drinking goblet.

  Krater: A large vessel for mixing water and wine. About the size of a punch bowl.

  Lawagetas: A mid-level military commander.

  Lotos: Untranslated. Homer refers to the “lotos-eaters,” from which we get the modern spelling of “lotus eaters.” He describes it as a “flowery fruit.” The seed pod of the opium poppy, from which we get heroin, could be called that.

  Methusai: Drunken women. An insult, especially when applied to men.

  Nothos: A person of no legitimate family, or more specifically, of unknown father. An insult.

  Ophion: Opium. Not clear that this word is authentic. Also means serpent.

  Pelagios: The name—at least in this version—of Odysseus’s ship.

  Pestillos: Pestle, as in “mortar and—.” Probably not authentic.

  Pithos: A large urn with a wide mouth for transporting liquids and grains.

  Rhyton: A cone-shaped cup or glass, often with a hole at the bottom from which you could pour wine or liquid directly into your mouth.

  Sakcharis, Sakchar: Sugar. It’s unlikely that the Greeks had the granulated white form that we’re used to.

  Skatophage: An eater of skatos.

  Skatos: Also known as kopros.

  Stratiotai: One of a wide range of words the Greeks had meaning soldier.

  Suagroi: Wild pigs.

  Sueios ekpneusis: Literally, bad smelling gas from a pig.

  Sueromenoi: People with a romantic attachment to pigs. Singular would be sueromenos.

  Troglos: Short form for the ancient Greek troglodytos, or cave dweller.

  Xeneon: The guest room of a house. Since there were no hospitals, a doctor would examine or operate on you in his xeneon. Ancient Greeks didn’t do many operations, but they did do amputations. The stumps were probably sealed and disinfected by cauterizing them with a burning torch. Chances of survival weren’t that high.

  Xenia, Xenios: The ancient Greek concept of the honour of hospitality. To the Greeks, giving gifts, especially amongst high-born families, was as much a source of honour as receiving them.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Greek mythology has fascinated me ever since I discovered a copy of Bulfinch’s Mythology in my father’s library as a child. Even so, my writing career took a twenty-year detour through software development before I became a full-time writer. I began with Homer’s Odyssey because it’s a classic story, but one that nowadays is rarely read outside of university courses. I wanted to create a version that young people would read for fun: a realistic adventure, told not by the traditional heroes but by an outsider. For centuries, readers have been seeing the destruction of Troy through the eyes of the Greeks; I felt it was time to see it through the eyes of a Trojan. Cursed by the Sea God continues the adventures of Alexi the slave from the point that Torn from Troy leaves off. The third book of the trilogy is underway now in Toronto, where I live with my family, watching the winters grow steadily milder and the summers muggier. We have no dog—yet. For a preview of the concluding volume, or to contact me, please visit patrickbowman.ca.

  DON’T MISS THE TRIUMPHANT

  CONCLUSION TO THE

  ODYSSEY OF A SLAVE TRILOGY

  To find his sister, Alexi must

  penetrate the fortresses of the

  Greeks and escape alive,

  encountering humans even more

  terrifying than the monsters

  of his past.

  TO READ THE FIRST CHAPTER

  OF THE CONCLUDING VOLUME, VISIT

  patrickbowman.ca