"She told me where to find the Old Man of the Sea and I journeyed far and wide until, at last, I found Proteus sleeping on a beach, his sleek form stretched out upon the sands. I crept up slowly and with the greatest of care, for Cyrene warned me that his hearing was acute, and then I leaped upon him, seizing him and holding on with all my strength! He gave a frightened start, then on the instant I perceived that I held not an old man with seaweed in his hair and a drowned look in his eyes, but a fearsome shark that writhed and thrashed and twisted, straining to fasten its terrible gaping jaws upon me!
"I screamed with terror, yet somehow I held on in desperation, and suddenly the shark was gone and in its place I held a scaled sea serpent which coiled its length about me, seeking to squeeze the very breath out of my chest! Yet even as I felt its coils tightening around me and it seemed as though my bones would burst, I held on tighter, squeezing back with every bit of strength I had! The serpent gave way to a fearsome dragon which beat its wings about my head and seared me with its breath. I made my grip still tighter, squeezing the creature's throat with all my might. The dragon disappeared and in its place I held a kraken, then a griffin, then a hideous mollusk that stung me with its slimy tendrils. Proteus changed into every terrifying creature known to man and still I would not release him until, at long last, succumbing to my choking hold, he returned, spent, to his true shape and I knew that I had won.
" 'I know what it is you wish to know of me,' Proteus said, and he told me how to find the Secret Gates of Taenarus and pass through them to the Underworld. He told me all that I must do and I followed his instructions, willing to brave any danger so that Eurydice could be restored to me. I descended into Hades and there, in the cold darkness, I found Charon the dreaded ferryman, who knew my purpose and conveyed me across the River Styx to the gates of Death's dominion. I encountered Cerebrus, the slathering three-headed hound that guards the gates, and as it howled and snapped at me, I lulled it with a song until the fearsome beast was curled beneath my feet and sleeping. I played my lyre and sang to the lost souls and eased their torment and their anguish. The Furies, yes, even Death himself, were spellbound by the profound lament I sang, spellbound because I sang with all my heart, my grief pouring out from the very bottom of my soul. And yes, I found her, on the very brink of the Inferno, my Eurydice, and I called out to her and I saw her shade approach.
"Proteus had warned me that I must not gaze upon her, for men must always avert their eyes from those of ghosts or gods, so remembering his words, I turned from her and went back the way I came, bidding her to follow me. Yet as I crossed the River Styx in Charon's ferry, a fear came over me that she may not have boarded with me, that she had been left behind, and powerless to fight the impulse, I turned around. For the briefest instant, I beheld her standing there and as our eyes met, I knew that all was lost.
"Three times did thunder crash and my love cried out, 'You have doomed me!' and faded from my sight like smoke dispersing on the winds. I cried out, pleading with the ferryman to turn around, but he would not take me back across. He drew up to the bank and pointed with his bony hand, showing me the way back to the light of day. I had no choice but to go, for my time had not yet come. Gladly would I have remained in Hades with my love, but the Fates had not decreed it should be so. There were other challenges before me, other voyages to make before the final voyage that would reunite me with my love.
"So that is why I am here with you tonight, my friends, as we embark upon this perilous quest. That is why I have no fear of whatever lies ahead, for each man must make his own voyage in his own time. Who knows what lies ahead of us? Come what may, be it glorious success or fatal failure, I know that in the end, I will make the journey down to Hades once again and this time, I will remain forever in the Underworld where spirits dwell, united with my Eurydice. I have learned that no man should fear his destiny and that no parting should bring sorrow, for all shall come together in the end."
He stood silently, looking down at the ground, then slowly returned to his seat as the Argonauts nodded and murmured their approval of the tale.
"It grows better each time he tells it," Euphemus said to Andre.
"Do you think any of it is true?" she said. "What is truth?" said Idmon, the soothsayer. "If it were a dream, would it then be false? Who is to say what challenges the gods may put before us, even in our dreams? Who is to say that our wakeful state is not itself a dream dreamed by the Immortals? Life is a tale and therein lies its magic. The oftener the tale is told, the truer it becomes. When men stop telling tales, then life itself becomes a lie."
"What is the sound of one hand clapping?" said Delaney wryly.
Idmon turned to him and smiled. "Is it not the sound that is made when one hand claps?"
"You have me there," said Delaney, smiling. "I am neither soothsayer nor a wise man. Merely a seeker who asks foolish questions."
"Indeed," said Idmon, "yet who is the wiser? The one wise enough to know the answer or the one wise enough to ask the question?"
"Enough of this philosophy," said Menoetius. "Such musings are fit only for old men. We need tales of great deeds, not weighty thoughts."
"We shall hear a tale of a great deed then," Castor said. "Tell us, Theseus, of how you slew the Minotaur."
Theseus spat out a piece of pork fat and belched. "I was younger then," he said, patting his muscular stomach contentedly. "Young and full of fire to prove myself. Full also of anger at the unjust policy which each nine years sent seven young Athenian boys and maidens to the labyrinth of Crete, there to wander terror stricken through the maze until they were found and eaten by the Minotaur."
"Why was this done?" asked Hylas, eyes wide with wonder. "And what sort of creature was this Minotaur?"
"It was a manner of tribute paid by the Athenians to Crete," said Theseus, "and it was meant to appease the Minotaur. You may have heard that this creature was the offspring of an accursed, bestial love born of a mad and savage passion. It was said that Pasiphae, the depraved wife of King Minos of Crete, fell in love with a white bull which had a black spot between its horns, an animal held sacred by the people of Crete. In her mad obsession, Pasiphae had congress with this beast and from this union came a fearsome creature, cursed by the gods to be born in a shape that was half man, half animal. Its torso was that of a man, yet its head and hindquarters were those of a bull. Aghast at this horrible perversion, Minos wanted to remove it forever from his sight, yet he could not kill it, for it was the offspring of a sacred animal.
"He sought out the famed craftsman, Daedalus, and directed him to build a labyrinth to house the monster. Daedalus constructed this labyrinth deep within a cavern, with many passages which turned and twisted, forming a maze so intricate that once one entered it, the way out could not be found again. It was to the depths of this labyrinthine maze that Minos consigned the Minotaur and each nine years thereafter, youths and maidens were sent into this maze so that their blood would appease the creature. Over the years, this Minotaur grew large and powerful and terrifying, so that Minos greatly feared it.
"My father, King Aegeus, was the unhappy man to whom the task fell of selecting the seven sacrificial victims when the boat with the black sail departed each nine years for Crete. He was hated by the people for this, especially so since he was the one man whose own children were exempt from the deadly lottery. Anxious to prove myself in battle and test my courage, and to silence those who accused my unhappy father of being unjust, I volunteered to go, thereby sparing at least one family the agony of seeing a child depart on the ship with the black sail never to return."