SHORT STORIES

ABOUT EOS, THE GODDESS OF DAWN

Where there is a Talk about the Love Madness of Eos

We were at Aristobul's house, very near Pirra's port in Lesbos. From there we can enjoy the view of the nice harbour, well protected against the dangerous winds, thanks to the mountains all around. Not even after death will I be able to forget this sweet island, neither the nice harbour of Mitilene.
    We were at the house of Aristobulo as I said and I had brought a big amphora with the best wine from the Atica. Although people here is very proud of their own lesbian wine, they accepted in a polite manner my gift. He was here, on a voyage, the wise Herodonte, and I asked my friend to invite him to the symposium. They have passed years since last time I heard him to talk. Next day, early in the evening, there was a bunch of friends ready to drink all the wine from the island when at last the wise man arrived. Some of them knew of him from hearsay and all of us were ready and eager to listen his words.
    The wise man was on his third goblet of wine, lightened with the fresh water from a cave spring nearby. He sipped a little wine and the muses filled his mind with his sweet words. We all remained waiting and he started saying:

"Many are the manias we are prone to because of love. Even the gods can not be safe from these fevers and quite often they loose their perennial and divine composure. How distant are these fool adventures of love: How far they are from the holy stillness they show when they watch at us from their high statues in the silent temples."
    "It comes to my mind now some stories from Eos, the goddess of dawn. No more than just at the end of the night that she already gets on his golden chariot, the goddess of the pink fingers. And giving a sharp shake to the reins of her horses, Lampus and Phaeton, she just goes flying by the space of the air, while she lets floating on the ether the folds of her gown. Just in a hurry she directs herself to the Olympus to awaken the gods there that are still sleeping in their beds. This causes a great disturbance among the gods that are more prone to loafing at night and hard drinking. So the dawn goddess calls them all with a shrill voice: Wake up! Wake up, all of you, lazybones! He is just arriving my brother Helius in his fire chariot! There is no more time! Wake up! Wake up!"
    "In hearing these shrilling words, all gods start to stretch up their arms and to rub their eyes with their divine fingers. They want to free them from the chains of the sleep. This is how the new day starts in Olympus."

We all were captivated by the strength of words pouring from Herodonte's mouth. The Muse was putting in his tongue a word after another in a sequence very sweet and harmonious. He made a pause, sip a light drink from the gobble of wine and followed with his tale.

"And all this comes to my mind because I am going to tell you some words about this goddess. Just early in the morning, she shows her pink fingers to call us to work. Because of this daily nuisance It is a goddess rather controversial. In fact not everybody accepts her divinity. Some even come as far as to argue that she is a mere physical phenomenon."
    "I have travelled in all countries of the world, and never I saw a single temple of the goddess Eos. However it is said that she produce in the young people a quest for the unknown. All of you know that they get dazed and lost in the darkness of the night. They are wandering and do not come back home because they are waiting for arrival of the dawn. They leave out the house at night by the window, as they fear to make noises turning the heavy door. They go from a place to another and get lost in the dark allays and unknown paths. Places these of fear in the dark hours of night; for the robbers and bandits could be stalking on every corner."
    "The goddess of dawn has a fame of abducting the young men strayed in the late hours of night. It is said that she carries them to her bed. They say this because sometimes a young man that was wandering at night get lost after leaving out a tavern and nobody sees him again. Also we recall this story because the young man and many adults, awake at dawn with an erect member full of strength. So they say it is the power of goddess calling the men to the pleasures of love. This is why many husbands call their spouses early in the morning; it is for getting a profit from the goddess inspiration."

We were all amazed for the easy words of the wise Herodonte and how his stories were filling our heads with knowledge. Also the servants stopped for a moment while listening the magic of his words. There was a short pause to fill again the goblets because nobody wanted to loose a single word from his mouth. The wise Herodonte sipped a little wine and continued.

"There is another story not very well known. All you know that Aphrodite feels a great passion for Ares, the Tracian beardless god of the war. And this attraction is reinforced in her by his perverted way of loving. A kind of that modesty advises us not to explain in public. There was a day when the sweet Aphrodite saw a pair of muscular buttocks shaking in frenetic lovemaking. She new at once of whom were the wonderful buttocks. She was used to saw them in a great silver mirror hanging over her bed. This mirror was a wonderful piece of light that was made by god Hefaistos, the lame smith, in memory of better days, long ago."
    "Aphrodite saw at once her lover was in bed with Eos, shaking with youthful vigour. But he was not realising the presence of the love's goddess who was looking with her eyes full of rage. The tellers say that the goddess throw a course to Eos for this trick. 'From now onward, you will feel an unbridled desire of the young mortals. And this desire will be insatiable and eternal.' These are reputed the words uttered by Aphrodite in her course."
    "This story explains the wandering of young people drifting from a place to another in the darkness of night until dawn comes. They are hoping to find the goddess of dawn"

A long murmur of approval closed the story of the wise Herodonte. He smiled sweetly and took another sip of wine from his goblet. He presented the goblet asking for more wine and everybody begged him for another story. He hesitated for a moment shyly but we all continued begging him for more. Herodonte took another sip before starting a new story.

This is a fragment from Afrodisia
     Author: Leopoldo Perdomo