The figure was walking through the air.
As she approached-for it was definitely a she-the reason for the aura became apparent. The lady was dressed in gold: gold helmet, gold shield, and in her right hand she held a spear tipped in gold.
It could be none other than Athena the goddess of War. Athena, the patroness of our city, for her home was atop the Acropolis, and it was from the Acropolis that she descended through the air.
The name Athena was whispered here and there amongst the audience, until it became louder and everyone was speaking it. Such a thing had not happened since the days of King Theseus. The more fearful stood and ran away in the opposite direction. Most stayed to see what was about to happen.
The Goddess stopped in mid-air before the people of Athens. She spoke these words:
ATHENA
Do not seek to flee, mortals,
For you are fleeing one who is not an enemy,
But gracious to all who inhabit Athens.
I, Athena Pallas, have come to you,
Entreated in this course by my father’s son, Dionysos,
God of the harvest and of the theater,
For he does not think it fit to come into your sight,
When impiety has been committed against him.
The god of the theater sends me to tell you this:
That there is one among you who has murdered
Within his sacred precinct.
The audience looked at one another. They all knew of the impiety that the Goddess meant. The murder of Romanos had been sacrilege because of where it took place. But the people had been told the impiety had been cleansed. Here was a goddess who begged to differ.
Athena raised her bright spear high. Its golden tip flashed in the sunlight.
ATHENA
Raises her spear.
See this spear? It is my spear of war,
Destroyer of men,
But today I carry not a weapon of war, but the spear of vengeance.
Every man and woman knew what that meant. If Athena declared her spear to be one of vengeance, it meant someone was about to suffer for the crime.
The chattering became loud.
ATHENA
Points spear at a member of the audience.
You it was, who murdered Romanos,
You desecrated this holy place.
You of all mortals should have known better,
You, Theokritos,
High Priest of my brother Dionysos.
Gasps from across the theater. Every eye turned to Theokritos, who as High Priest sat in a position of honor in the front row. It made him visible to everyone. Theokritos was already standing, like everyone else in the theater. Now he jumped up upon his seat.
THEOKRITOS
Shakes his fist.
That’s not true!
I deny your charge.
You can’t prove a thing.
ATHENA
Ignoring his interruption.
Let all Athens hear this.
You it was, Theokritos, who lured the actor to his death.
You ordered your men to wait
Outside the secret room he rented.
They met him with false cheer.
A LANDLORD
Jumps up from among the audience.
Hey, that’s true!
I was the landlord of Romanos.
A group of men did meet Romanos outside my house.
I saw it with my own eyes.
The people of Athens looked to the man who had suddenly spoken. They saw that he was a man just like them. More than that, he was known as the most honest landlord in Athens.
This ordinary, honest man had confirmed the words of the lady who floated in the air above them. They were all thinking the same thing: how could she have known about a secret room?
ATHENA
These men fed Romanos a drugged drink.
They led him to the theater and there,
While the actor was comatose,
They hanged him upon the god machine.
A double impiety.
Gasps from many across the theater. Someone in the audience called out, “The Goddess will make it right!”
ATHENA
I have had a chat with Sabazios,
The Phrygian god has agreed
That the making of beer will cease
And in return
The children of Sabazios will go unmolested
In my city of Athens.
There were groans from the crowd at this news. Many in Athens had acquired a taste for beer.
At that moment Maia leapt to the stage, from where she spoke with perfect projection, so that all of Athens heard her.
MAIA, A PRIESTESS OF SABAZIOS
I am Maia, a priestess of Sabazios,
I have heard the Goddess.
The Phrygians shall no longer make beer.
The point had been made. There was imbalance in the world. The Gods were putting it right. There had been impiety, committed by mortal men, led by Theokritos. Now it was only a question of who were these other men. Was the Goddess about to reveal them? Of course she was. She was a goddess. She knew everything.
A WINEMAKER
Jumps to his feet in fear.
It’s true!
I confess!
Theokritos said we must stop the beer!
Theokritos said we should do it!
THEOKRITOS
You idiot!
Theokritos bolted. Not through the audience; he wouldn’t have gotten ten steps. Theokritos turned and ran across the stage. As he passed by, Lakon put out his foot in an exaggerated motion that, had it occurred in a comedy, would have had the crowd laughing.
Theokritos sprawled.
The stagehands fell upon Theokritos. So did Petros, in the guise of Thanatos, and in his hands were the chains intended in the play for Sisyphus. When the men rose, Theokritos was in the stage chains. They were strong enough to hold one fat priest.
Exit Theokritos, chained, led away by Thanatos.
The winemakers who had joined Theokritos were rapidly making their confessions, before anyone could charge them with anything. Every man of them pointed at Theokritos who had told them, in his role as High Priest, that what they were doing was divinely inspired.
The murder of a metic hardly warranted a fine and exile. But the crime of impiety was invariably fatal. Theokritos was on his way to Hades.
The Goddess spoke one last time.
ATHENA
The Gods are always late, but in the end they are just.
With those words the Goddess turned and walked through the air back to the Acropolis.
The chorus had stood silent upon the stage. Now they sang.
CHORUS
Those who have a troubled house
Should place their trust in the Gods.
For in the end, the good shall get what they deserve,
But the bad by nature can never fare well.
SCENE 39
Sophocles, Aeschylus, and I joined the actors and crew backstage. Pericles and the archons were explaining what had just happened to the visiting dignitaries. I wondered what lies they were making up. The archons would be furious with me. I consoled myself with the knowledge that they would only be in power for a year. They had that long to make my life miserable.
Sophocles was not entirely pleased with me either. I and the others had hijacked his play. But, since he was expecting total disaster anyway, he conceded that not much had been lost. Mostly he was impressed by our staging.
“How did you get the actor to walk through the air?” Sophocles asked. “I might have a use for that effect.”
“You’ll have to ask Captain Kordax,” I told him. “He and his men strung the lines overnight. The lines were painted blue of course. He and his men were atop the Acropolis, controlling the machine. The machine was designed by … er … I must admit it was Socrates.”