[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

up
a river.
The sign confirmed what legend had long held, that the Amazons did not much
care
especially for men, except as occasional partners in sex or commerce. But
still
I dared to hope that a lone traveler, unarmed and hungry, might be charitably
received.
Of course I could hardly be considered unarmed as long as I was carrying my
Page 274
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
huge
new club. But I had invested some time and effort in its making, and I
decided
to wait at least until I was challenged before throwing it away.
So I boldly crossed the river, and shortly after met a lone woman, rather
elderly, gathering firewood. When I asked directions, she told me I had now
entered a land called Themiscyra, on the river Thermodon, and if I followed
the
river downstream I would come in a few days to a good-sized city. While
telling
me these things my informant stared at me as if she had never seen a man
before.
Perhaps she was intimidated by the sight of my huge weapon; in any case, she
made no objection to my presence.
Taking the downstream path, on the theory that it must lead me eventually to
sea, I soon encountered a shrine to Diana, standing at the next river ford.
This
gave me strong confirmation that I was really in the land of the Amazons.
I had long known, in a vague way, as everyone did, that the Amazons were
worshipers of Artemis. (That goddess, as everyone knew, was generally
identified
with Diana, traditionally thought to be the twin sister of Apollo. Legend
called
her a virgin huntress who carried Arrows and a Spear, was of a vindictive
nature, and enjoyed a close association with the Moon.) If I could get the
backing of Artemis/Diana, in some convincing way, then the warrior ladies
ought
to be cooperative.
It was true that most humans lived their entire lives without ever
encountering
a god. But since beginning my wanderings, I had personally met several, and
so
far had had good results. So perhaps it was not strange that I began to nurse
hopes of somehow confronting the goddess Diana, in this the land of her
worshipers, and then making her my friend by claiming acquaintance with her
twin
Page 275
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
brother.
Somehow, in this later time when I am writing, certain legends have twisted
the
facts around to say that my trip to the country of the Amazons was a
deliberate
foray, undertaken to capture the girdle of their queen.
I find it hard to understand how my obtaining this garment would have
inconvenienced the Giants, mighty enemies of the gods, in any way. And now,
as
long as the subject has come up, it strikes me that this might be the time to
review the whole business of my supposed Twelve labors. These are tasks which
are often said to have been imposed on me the gods alone know why by King
Eurystheus. The list is given differently in different sources, but the
following sequence is widely accepted.
1. Slaying the Nemean lion, whose skin I was supposed to have worn ever
afterward. I feel I have already discussed this at sufficient length.
2. Slaying the nine-headed Hydra of Lerna. I have said how this came about,
and
how, because there were credible witnesses, my fame began to grow.
3. Capturing of the Hind (in some accounts the Stag) of Arcadia. Purely
fictional. In this case, legend, unadulterated by any facts at all, provided
this stag with antlers of gold and hooves of brass, and sent me chasing it
for a
full year in a determined effort to bring it back alive.
4. The wild Boar of Mount Erymanthus. In this tale, as in the next item on
the
list, there was a good deal of truth.
5. Cleansing the Augean stables.
6. Shooting the monstrous man-eating birds of the Stymphalian marshes. The
second purely imaginary adventure in the list. The story may have been based
on
a dream I once endured, though how the stuff of private dreams could be
Page 276
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
transmitted into legend is more than I can fathom, unless someone with the
talents of Prince Asterion might have been responsible.
7. Capturing of a mad bull that had terrorized Corycus. A very twisted
transformation of my activities in cooperation with the prince.
8. Ditto the man-eating mares of King Diomedes of the Bistones. Some
authorities
on my career omit this tale altogether, as well they might. I believe Enkidu
in
his own memoirs classifies it, correctly, as mere legend. Certainly
unnaturally
carnivorous horses (possibly something to do with centaurs) were supposed to
be [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]