The bireme sped out of the port pushed forward by two rows of oars. Out at sea a pleasant breeze came up and the vessel gathered speed in a southerly direction. For the first time since Flavia’s death they had nothing to do and were able to sit quietly.
“Now then,” Alric said, “not that I’m ungrateful for getting away from Roman justice, or should I say retribution, but what are we doing here and where is Matapan?”
Philomenus smiled.
“Ah,” he said, “so many questions in one. “Where shall I start…?”
“Just start at the beginning,” Anthony said.
“Quite right, my young friend,” Philomenus chuckled. “The problem is, sometimes there’s more than one beginning, it all depends on our perspective and the questions we face, but let me see… the simple answer would be that we must hasten to Matapan with all possible speed.”
“So what is in Matapan?” Geetu asked impatiently.
“Matapan,” Philomenus said, “is where the entrance to the underworld lies. It is the one place where the dead descend into the underworld and the only place where those who have entered Hades dark realm can be freed.”
“Freed from Hades dark realm? What are you talking about?” Geetu asked.
“Hades is the God of the underworld,” Edward said.
“A Greek fairy tale,” Alric said disparagingly.
“Is it true?” Anthony asked. “Can people really go down to the underworld and bring back the dead?”
“The Gods themselves couldn’t do so,” Alric said.
“And yet it has been done before,” Philomenus replied. He looked across the sea where the coastline had receded into the distance. The sea was calm and the fresh sea air filled his lungs.
“A long, long time ago,” Philomenus began, “there was a man called Orpheus. He was the son of King Oeagrus of Thracia and renowned across the world as the best poet and singer of his time. It is said that his music and singing could charm the birds, fish and wild beasts, coax the trees and rocks into dance, and divert the course of rivers. He was a hero of old who saved the Argonauts, for when their ship came close to the bewitching singing of the sirens, Orpheus drew his lyre and played music that was louder and more beautiful, drowning out the Sirens' bewitching songs. But the deed he is most famous for concerns his wife Eurydice. On the day of her wedding, Eurydice was attacked by a satyr. In her efforts to escape the satyr, Eurydice fell into a nest of vipers and suffered a fatal bite on her heel. Her body was discovered by Orpheus who, overcome with grief, played such sad and mournful songs that all the nymphs and gods wept. On their advice, Orpheus travelled to the underworld and by his music softened the heart of Hades (he was the only person ever to do so), who agreed to allow Eurydice to return with him to earth on one condition: he should walk in front of her and not look back until they both had reached the upper world. He set off with Eurydice following, and, in his anxiety, as soon as he reached the upper world, he turned to look at her, forgetting that they both needed to be in the upper world. She vanished for the second time, but now forever.”
Mercury takes Eurydice back to Hades
Philomenus looked at his travel companions.
“So you see,” he said, “it is possible to venture into the underworld and come out alive again. It is possible to save a loved one, if we follow the instructions of Hades.”
Geetu clapped her hands in excitement.
“Now that’s what I call a pukka adventure,” she said feeling much better again at the prospect of saving Flavia.
“A pukka adventure?” Philomenus frowned disapprovingly. “It is not a matter to be taken lightly,” he warned.
“So let’s say we’re able to travel into the underworld,” Edward said, “how are we to soften the heart of Hades? We can’t sing like Orpheus.”
They all looked at Philomenus.
“Ah, yes,” he said, “that is a problem. We’ll just have to try and think of something.”
“Try and think of something?” Alric said incredulously. “You mean you want us all to go into the underworld but you don’t know how to get us out again?”
He looked angrily at Philomenus.
“I can think of something much better. Let’s pay the captain to sail past Greece and go far north where the free tribes live who have not been enslaved by Rome. There we’ll be safe.”
“But what about Flavia?” Anthony said. “We’ve got to save her.”
“Says who?” Alric replied. “People die every day and we too will go to the underworld soon enough. No need to hasten things.”
“I say we must save her,” Geetu said, “because she’s our friend and because we owe her. I owe her because I was with her in the water and didn’t see her slip, the boys owe her because they were too distracted by the horse to look for us girls, and you, Alric, owe her because it was your horse that caused the tragedy.”
“I suppose you have a reason why Philomenus owes her as well?” Alric said sarcastically.
Geetu shook her head.
“Why are you doing all this?” Edward asked.
“A famous man once said ‘If my body is enslaved, my mind is still free’. And it is so with me. I was made a slave but my mind is still free. My mind sees a young girl whose life is cut short and several of her friends who must suffer terribly for this. And my mind sees you too, Alric, taken from your home, enslaved and now in danger of your life. So what did my mind tell me? It told me to do what is right, to help those in need of help when it is in my power to do so.”
The others looked down feeling a little embarrassed. Then Alric raised his eyes to Philomenus.
“I don’t know if you’re the bravest man I’ve ever met, or the most foolish, but beside you I’m shamed into looking like a coward. I’ll follow you wherever you go and if it means doing battle in the shadowy lands of Hades, then so be it!”
The children jumped up excitedly.
“You can rely on us,” they said.