King of Ithaca (Adventures of Odysseus)

Eperitus had heard many tales about the gods appearing to men and women. The legends spoke of a time beyond the memories of the elders, when mortals and immortals walked the earth together, eating, drinking and even sleeping with each other. There were people he had spoken to, mostly travellers exchanging stories for food, who claimed to have met gods, and it was not uncommon for a woman in Alybas to explain an illegitimate child as the product of a god’s attentions. But in the age of separation from the immortals such tales were doubted, if not mocked, and those who claimed such experiences were regarded as liars or madmen.

So who would have believed him if he had said he saw a goddess that evening? Tall as a young tree, strong-limbed with skin as white as marble, she shone with an inner light that he sensed was only a glimpse of a deeper brilliance. Her young face was lovely and yet stern, set with large grey eyes that were dark with the knowledge of many things. On her golden-haired head she wore a helmet fashioned of bronze, and in her right hand she carried a spear which, by its size and weight, Eperitus doubted any mortal could hope to throw. Over her shoulders and left arm she carried an animal’s hide bedecked with a hundred golden tassels that danced as she moved. In the centre of the hide was a face, as repulsive as the goddess herself was awe-inspiring – the face of a gorgon.

She bent down and stroked Odysseus’s hair for a moment, before seizing his arm and pulling him to his feet.

‘Stop grovelling and stand up, Odysseus. If I was an assassin from Eupeithes you’d be dead by now.’

Odysseus dared to look at the goddess, briefly, before lowering his eyes again.

‘Is this how you greet your favourite goddess? I have protected you for the whole of your short life and all you can do is look away in fear.’

Eperitus could hardly take his eyes off her, and yet even in the presence of Athena, the virgin daughter of Zeus, he found himself thinking about Odysseus. Why should a lowly island prince be honoured by one of the Olympians? Who was Odysseus that a goddess such as Athena would choose him above so many others?

As he watched in awe, pressing himself as close as possible to the branches of the bush, Odysseus looked up at the goddess and Eperitus thought there were tears in his eyes.

‘My Lady,’ he said, then fell to his knees and held the hem of her robe to his face. To Eperitus’s amazement and disbelief she also knelt and lowered her lips to kiss his hair.

‘I have been with you all these years, Odysseus, watching over you and protecting you until you were ready.’

‘And am I ready?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Your time is near at hand.’

An owl hooted from the trees, startling Eperitus so that he caught his cloak on the branches, rustling the leaves of the bush he hid behind. Athena glanced briefly in his direction before turning back to Odysseus and pulling him to his feet.

‘You must listen to me, Odysseus, and remember what I say. The trouble in Ithaca is closer than you have dared to think, but you must not be there when Eupeithes makes his move.’

‘But my Lady,’ Odysseus protested, ‘I have to protect my father’s kingdom. Anybody who tries to take it from my family will taste the point of my spear.’

‘And you theirs.’ Athena put an arm about him and led him away from the pool, nearer to where Eperitus lay concealed. ‘Eupeithes is a fool. I might even kill him myself one day, but until then if you are to be king in your father’s place you first have to prove yourself worthy. The Pythoness wasn’t wrong when she told you that you will be king; but there are journeys to be made and alliances formed before you can hope to take your rightful inheritance.’

Odysseus stopped close to Eperitus’s hiding place and scratched his scar vigorously. ‘But if Eupeithes strikes soon and I’m away from home, then Ithaca will be lost.’

‘Don’t forget that you are only mortal, Odysseus,’ Athena warned him, rising to her full height. ‘Only the gods know the future, and you must place your trust in them if you ever hope to be king. I tell you truthfully that if a man follows his own designs and doesn’t place his fate in the laps of the gods, then his path will be dark, difficult and doomed to ultimate failure. I promise you my help, and you will receive it, but you must have faith. What is more, I want you to do something for me.’

‘Whatever you ask, mistress,’ Odysseus said, though with hesitation.

The goddess smiled. ‘I need you to go to Messene. I have a temple there which has fallen out of use. Hera put one of Echidna’s spawn there to spite me – a monster older than Python and greater in size. Now it’s keeping my followers away and even my priests dare not tend the altar.’ She slammed the butt of her spear on the ground in anger and spat. ‘I want the creature dead, and I want you to kill it for me.’

‘It won’t be easy, my Lady,’ Odysseus said, ‘but I will go if you command me to. What shall I tell my father?’