Η αγγλική μετάφραση του Β’ Μέρους της ΤΡΙΛΟΓΙΑΣ της ΤΙΤΑΝΟΜΑΧΙΑΣ του ΣΤΑΜΑΤΗ ΓΙΑΚΟΥΜΗ Προέδρου Εφετών Δ.Δ., Δρ. Φιλοσοφίας, L L. M. Γερμανίας, με τίτλο: “VENOVINDA. UK”.

STARTING FROM THE BEGINNING

(PROMETHEUS’ CATASTERISMS OR THE COMPLETE TITANOMACHY)

By Stamatis Giakoumis       

          (Wo-) Man (Α), who are walking (Β) this Earth (Γ), your first consideration will be Justice (Δ). With the energy (Ε), the vital one (Ζ) which you draw from the light of the day (Η), you establish (Θ) through your guiding (Ι) mind powerful states and the power of the state (Κ), tailoring them later to your needs through Logic (Λ), Measure (Μ) and Law (Ν).

But if you scratch (Ξ) the surface a little, you will see that you will have the power to overcome this horizon (Ο) too. And then you will float (Π) with full sails in the flow (Ρ) -continuum of thought (Σ), which isat the same time a form (Τ) of organization and hypostasis (Υ) of essence. You will understand that you are the collective subject that through its fantasy (Φ) anoints (Χ) and carves the reality. Thus only, will your psyche (Ψ)  return satisfied to the cosmic ocean (Ω).

The above highlighted capital letters constituting the Greek alphabet, prevailing in the era of Prometheus, are presented in a fixed order and correspond to the following Greek words: Ά-νθρωπος, Β-αδίζω, Γ-η, Δ-ικαιοσύνη, Ε-νέργεια, Ζ-ωική, Η-μέρα, Θ-έτω, Ι–θύνων, Κ-ράτος, Λ-όγος, Μ-έτρο, Ν–όμοι, Ξ-ύνω, Ο-ρίζων, Π–λέω, Ρ-οή, Σ–κέψη, Τ-ύπος, Υ–πόσταση, Φ-αντασία, Χ–ρίζω, Ψ-υχή, Ω–κεανός.      

Devoted to the writer and colleague Francesca Giannakou, the councilor of state whom I loved, because she managed to overcome her own convictions, which is not easy to accomplish, and condescended to occupy herself with my case. 

          CHAPTER Α’

CO.M.MY.S.S. (COMMISSION) VENTHYLOS – VENTISTOS

Prometheus stretched his back like Tendoglou (tend-extend), the Greek winner at the Olympic Games, within the cryogenic chamber, chased away the rheum from his eyes, just as rheum was Aegina for Athens, yawned majestically, extracted a hair from his tongue like Jack Nicholson in „Professione Reporter“ (The Passenger), stood up, rubbed his feet to recover an impeccable circulation  of the ichor, through which he had replaced the traditional blood in an operation, so costly that he paid an arm and e leg, he stepped with his numbed toes on the cold floor, tightening the muscles to overcome the thrombose of lying down and pressed the button of the intercom.

“Why did you wake me up? Why don’t you let me sit on my butt a little longer? A bad butt day is like a bad hair day, except it’s even harder to hide in public.”

Theia, initially sister and wife of the science counsellor and officer Hyperion, who instead of replacing her blood with ichor chose to upload her consciousness into a synthetist -layer penetrator, answered.

“Prometheus, God is calling in channel frequency α’ (1)”.

Prometheus, still numbed from the cryogenic torpor, stooped and looked (one word in Greek: κυπτάζω) distracted out of the window.

I see again a …milky environment. Where are the stars?”

“Prometheus, the Μ (ten- thousandth) cycle of Creation has been completed. The velocities caused by entropy have already exceeded the speed of light and we have ended up again in an unsurmountable chaos. Radical redesign is necessary”.  

“Tell me something I don’t know”, said Prometheus obviously in a bad mood. “Besides, that is precisely the reason you woke me up. While I was in a deep hibernation viewing beautiful images in my dream (όναρ), you have the nerve to reanimate me inelegantly, awkwardly and barbarically to a visionary wakefulness (ύπαρ), at the same time swelling and squeezing my liver (ήπαρ), where you know that I have a certain sensibility”.  

“Prometheus, God is still waiting in channel α’”.   

Prometheus, still reluctant, forced himself to press the button of the external communication.

“Greetings to the inception of the universe. Ready to receive briefing; Over

“Captain, the results of the specific Creation were not too encouraging. Finally, an A.I. was developed as the ultimate consciousness that could not assimilate or integrate feelings. So, wake up your crew and proceed to redesign; Over”. 

“Shit, eh, I mean crap or should I say ‘excrement’ to be politer!  You say it, as if it were easy. Every time a redesign is performed, my own people and I have a hard time especially in our colon. And I know very well to distinguish the colon as a part of a sentence from the colon as part of the intestines; over”.

“Operator, excuse me, am I talking to the captain of the Cosmological Mesonic Mythological Starship (CO.M.MY.S.S.) ‘Venthylos- Ventistos’ or have I called a wrong connection? Because such invective expressions are fitting only for a street fight tramp (and not a trump) to utter and formulate; over” 

“Yes, sir. I respectfully report: I am the captain of the CO.M.MY.S.S. Venthylos- Ventistos, where ‘Venthylos’ is a kind of nautilus of the depth (venthos) and ‘Ventistos’ is the Doric type of ‘Veltistos’ (best), codename ‘Venovinda’, -present and unshaved, hungry and shriveled and dehydrated from thirst. Awaiting your orders one more time. Just don’t expect from me the usual litany of submission and repentance, because the hymns and the ‘Kyrie Eleison’ are too much of a good thing even for God to bear; over”.   

“Captain, without messing about, just wake up your crew and proceed to redesign. You have been warned”.  

“And I stand warned. Sorry, sir, but I cannot contain my laughter, ha, ha. Without messing around nothing can be done, because that’s what we do, we mess about and around through eternity. The issue here is that you, God, have abandoned us once more, since the artificial intelligence has prevailed again- I don’t know what the heck you are doing. You know very well that half of my ship’s systems are robotic, quantomechanic and homeostatic. Therefore, the danger of sabotage is very real; over”.  

“Stop overing me, Prometheus. I am not responsible for the result of every Creation, since, as you know, I grant to my creations the privilege of free will. It is enough for me that some of my creations had an auspicious outcome and that the ultimate conscious souls were human and integrated in my infinite wisdom. Furthermore, beyond that, I am not greedy. I accept gain and loss in every undertaking; over”.

“What can I say, God? Everything you say does not change the fact that my crew and I are obliged to carry on our assignment to bell the cat. Iapetus is nowadays too old to overhaul the engines, my helmsman and my navigator suffer from hand- trembling, Oceanus is well-known as the greatest curmudgeon of all times, being not happy with anything. But also, the female crew is not in a better condition. Eurybia has arthritis, Leto suffers from problems in her spinal column, osteopenia or should I say osteoporosis, is a pile of bones on the verge of been demolished. So, even the regulation that women are allowed in the ship does not benefit in the end our professional operation; over”.

 “Wash your sins, not only your face (byzantine adage in front of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople). Be aware of this palindromic inscription which can be read as a boustrophedon. Not the regulation of including women and children in the crew is to blame, but the fact that you, the titans, commit incest between you. So, stop obstructing and filibustering, because if you can’t do the dirty job, I ‘ll find someone who can. You’d better pass me your second in command to talk to, because he has presumably more brains than you and I can come to terms with him. I am holding the line and waiting eagerly”.

“Are we to blame for being so few, the happy few? I have asked you repeatedly over the years – or should I say cosmic years,  to anoint also other titans as vanguard and defenders of the borderland and to construct more starships – space triremes or naval yards – orbital stations, considering that we are overworked, wasted and exhausted, tired of the many rotations around the axis of the universe, we have become spinning tops and baby bouncers turning around like whirling dervishes or swirling Sufis even in our sleep. I have explained to you that the situation has taken a toll on us, and it can neither be ignored nor its solution be postponed continuously. You know, I am of the mind to found some union or a syndicate to oppose you and then you would see, aaaaah, you scared me Hyperion, damn you!”  

“Captain, I was submitted to the same procedure of awakening like you”. To God Hyperion said: “Eminence, you know very well that behind the justified complaints of someone suffering under constant pressure hides a titan entirely devoted to you. Rest assured that you will carry out the mission successfully like always. Number one in executing orders or second in command Hyperion, over and out”.  

The contact was interrupted automatically through the utterance of the proper words, but Prometheus still raged.

“Hyperion, if you ever try again to go over my head talking to God, I ‘ll have yours on a plate like another Salome that craved the head of John the Baptist”.  

“Captain, refrain from referring to persons of previous Creation circles and let us focus entirely on our mission, which is essential for the beginning of the next cycle. But first let us face an immediate problem. The incubator of the doctor is dysfunctional, the covering of the cryogenic chamber has stuck and the whole pod has entered a vicious circle of a continuous diagnostic running”.

“By Jove, it is always rolling out the old chestnut! It never rains but it pours. And of course you can always rely on Oceanus to cause you problems, if you have none.”

Hyperion stepped towards the cryogenic chamber of Doctor Oceanus, making certain simultaneously that the rest of the crew awakened, after they raised numbed the cover lid of their incubators, new and old, but all experienced veterans blackened with gunpowder, tested through various hardships. Lieutenant commander Iapetus, father of Prometheus, emerged with considerable difficulty being in an age ripe for retirement, lieutenant Eurybia, in charge of communication, lieutenant helmsman Koios, father of Leto from his sister Phoebe, lieutenant junior grade Leto, in charge of security, who as a product of incest had a problem with her bones and ran the risk of falling in heap any minute being the unsuitable titan for the improper position, but she had a great support by the monstrous ensign Buphagus and the petty officers Eurynome and Anchiale, the lieutenant commander junior grade navigator Kreios, husband of Eurybia and the j.g. ensign Metis. Along with the master Prometheus, the science and first officer Hyperion, the doctor lieutenant junior grade doddering old Oceanus (that’s a laugh but he joined the army very late) and the A.I. of the space-trireme Theia, first wife of Hyperion, who, being tired of her ex -husband’s logical thought turned out to become a synthetist herself, the crew composed all and all of thirteen people (how could this be different than a guaranteed bad luck?)

Until now in previous missions regarding past Cosmogonies- Creations (flow my tears for passed by glory) the space-trireme Commission Venovinda had lost the following members of the crew: a) Asia who in her effort to capture Dionysus had chartered an Etruscans’ ship, with whom she had a previous understanding. However, near Naxos Dionysus figured out the threat, turned the sails and the oars of the ship into snakes and filled the boat with ivies and rattles of flutes and cymbals. On the one hand, the sailors were occupied by mania, dived into the sea and became dolphins, on the other hand Asia was bitten by the cursed mast, who became a snake, and got poisoned, or else according to a somber version she was squashed and flattened by it. b) Styx who had betrayed the titans and sided with Zeus, who built for her a great palace in the underworld to reward her. Oceanus himself loathed her and sent the agent Iris with a golden bottle containing frozen, frosty and acrid water from the mountainous Arcadia. Styx drank this water and kicked the bucket, and this is called water of Styx ever since. c) Electra, also daughter of Oceanus who was killed in action and in fulfillment of her duties like many others redshirts or security guards not holding the rank of an officer. Generally, in titans’ starfleet the redshirt soldiers were statistically more likely to die, be killed or wounded during an expedition or in operational action. Honoring her memory, Oceanus on the one hand arranged to call one of his nieces Electra again, on the other hand he managed through unofficial channels to promote another daughter of his out of many, namely Metis, to become an officer, so that she wouldn’t take perilous risks.  

d) Doris, who had also undertaken a secret mission, more specifically to approach Zeus’ admiral and demonic strategic mastermind Nereus to extract vital information from him. It seemed, however, that he was so perfect and sweet bedside lover that he seduced and conquered her, so that she gave birth to fifty daughters with him and died of exhaustion. Such a complete failure of a mission rarely happened in the past. e) Amphitrite, who had the tendency to leave artefacts of the high-tech future in previous epochs, a negligence bearing ultimately awkward, unforeseen and often irreparable consequences, having as a culmination when he lost- forgot a whole open shuttle on a beach (say it cabriole, decapotable, roadster, convertible or whatever), which Aphrodite later deemed a huge conch and confiscated it, rising on it from the sea. As you may understand, such an officer could have no shining perspectives under any circumstances, and in the end, she messed with some Cyclopes who ate her alive. f) commander Phoebe who was lost ingloriously testing the chariot of Helios’ son Phaethon to achieve faster than light velocity using small vehicles.

 g) Asteria, whom Zeus killed in a famous duel near the island Ortygia. Zeus with his polymorphic faculty managed to turn easily into an eagle, while Asteria, who tried to apply the same techniques     could only assume the morph of a simple quail (which is what Ortygia means). As you can understand, the outcome of the duel was preordained. To whom it may concern: if someone wants to honor her with a visit to her grave, Asteria is now buried in the island Ortygia, h) Eos, a tremendous warrior, who was in fact the nightmare of all creatures from another dimension plotting against Creation. She crossed the sky in an open sleigh, sorry, shuttle with a forcefield instead of roof and caused awe with her red-white uniform and her rotating, constantly firing ray-gun of her ship, which she handled so skillfully that it seemed like a lit torch in her hand. She died in action in the Βυκθ’ (2429) Creation. i) Helios, son of Hyperion, for whom no one doubted that he would become the greatest scientist of all times – from a good crow a good egg, if you get the pun – and indeed he invented the incredible Sun Surrounding Sphere, which could embrace and absorb the energy of whole stars, a real perpetuum mobile («αεικίνητον»), an inexhaustible source of power for the children of Titaia or Gaia. Killed in action during pertinent experiments in the Γχqα’ (3791) Creation.

      j) the lieutenant commander Selene, who, while making love with Endymion in the mountain Latmon of Karia obscuring the area not to be disturbed, was murdered deviously by the agent of Zeus Pan, dressed in a ram skin. k) Astraeus son of Kreios who committed suicide, because he couldn’t come to terms with the death of his wife Eos. l) Pallas who fell as a victim of Zeus’ champion Athene, to whom I hesitate to ascribe a sex; today she would be called a woman with a XY chromosome.  At that point, dear reader, I must confess to you confidentially, risking perhaps to scatter delusions and self-deceits of many years, that Athene, for those who encountered her on the battlefield, reflected no wisdom whatsoever, but rather savagery; she is called Pallas simply because she skinned Pallas and wore his sheepskin as a collar or as a trophy. m) Perses, who, whereas was a redshirt, some creatures from another dimension dressed him in a black shroud and drowned him. Let us say that the three last casualties were redshirt soldiers, so their loss wasn’t too important.

n) The greatest loss of the titans was their executive first officer Themis, mother of Prometheus, a very versatile individual, who taught many planets justice and institutions. She came closest of all to murder Zeus and in some Creation circles he managed even to murder him, but these devilish polymorphic creatures possess many regenerative powers. She had managed to be tablemate of Zeus, but somehow the counterespionage of the prince of darkness became aware and executed her. Of course, to approach Zeus, she ended up and was forced to be corrupted by him; in some circles of Creation, she even married him. Prometheus never forgave that the insensitive and heartless Zeus condemned his mother to reside in the dismal Hades, although she was his companion for many years.   o) They have also lost Atlas, the patriarch of the Atlantes and of Hyperion, a very strong man, who was remembered in the mythology of many nations as the one supporting the globe, while in fact he was crushed during ρστ’ (106) Creation in the battle after the falling of a heavy object. p) Epimetheus, who organized genetic experiments against the cursed polymorphic creatures that lurk in the beginning of time. He paid no attention, however, to the warnings of his brother Prometheus and submitted to the charms of the agent Pandora, who turned against him his own genetic weapons and metamorphosized him into an ape. q) finally, Menoetius, who, after he was transferred to the space trireme Argo, participated in one of the greatest expeditions of (wo-) men, the Argonautic one, killed in action in the battle of Symplegades Stones during Εψπα’ (5881) Creation.

To make a long story short, over half of the CO.M.MY.S.S. Venovinda’s crew had been lost. If one considers that Venovinda was the flagship of the titans, comparable in firepower only to Argo and the Heracles’ Depas (holy grail), one sees that Prometheus was right to whine and ask for further (wo-)manning of his crew as well as for the construction of new space triremes and orbital stations. Another complaint from Prometheus was that in the present circumstances his crew composed only of officers, since all coveted to be dignitaries, pursued and vindicated offices with a vengeance and forced him to bestow grades and titles. That’s enough, said Prometheus, we have become all generals and strategists; we need soldiers, privates, light- armed warriors. “There are many dreadful things and there is nothing more terrifying than (wo-) man” (Sophocles).  

   Returning to our plot and script, Prometheus along with Hyperion bent over the cold incubator of Oceanus, where the homeostatic systems seemed to self- diagnose forever having trapped inside them the poor doctor. 

“You are in a state of partial awakening”, said Hyperion through psychotropic diode, “but unfortunately the chamber entered constant self-diagnosis, and its front cover does not open”.  

    “Hyperion, is it you? I can’t see anything, and I feel my thoughts   sluggish like ice cubes wedged in the helices and the synapses of the brain”.           

“You are in a defective cryogenic suspension of body functions”.
“If so, how can I hear you?”

“I told you that you are in a defective cryogenic suspension of body functions”, answered the cold scientist Hyperion low-spirited without to consider how difficult was the situation tormenting the doctor.  

    “Hyperion, instead of playing the smart aleck, you ‘d better find a way to get me out of here”. I am suffocating!”

“Calm down, doctor”, said Prometheus. “You know that Hyperion and I do everything we can. And don’t tell me that all we can do is not enough, because you will be subjected to the objection of Prometheus that you make presumptuous statements “. At the same time, the science and first officer began to handle various levers and to press miscellaneous buttons.

Time passed, the doctor was swirling mentally like a lion in the cage with intense claustrophobic feelings, practically blind, incapable of sensing his own body. “Find a way to raise the temperature, for Pete’s sake,” he said. He couldn’t hear his voice, perhaps he only imagined that he spoke. Colors were waving in front of him or rushed upon his head. He liked those, because they reminded him of the watercolors of his childhood, since he always had a weak spot for the simple material objects that had nothing to do with the contemporary monstrous technology. 

“I cannot resuscitate you or make you recover”, the resigned voice of Hyperion was heard. “The damage seems to be complicated and for the time being impossible to repair. On the other hand, maybe it is something very simple, perhaps some pipes or tubes need unclogging, or some cables should be glued through a Turkish delight; this could be a problem that should be solved on a higher level, that is by a lantern or exhaust pipe -maker. I will ask Iapetus for help, because he is better than me in mechanical issues. I, for my part, am a specialist in quantomechanics and the pertinent sciences”.  

  The living dancing colors girded Oceanus again, but this time had a threatening hue and intimidating quality. “My God”, he said. “And you have the nerve to call me a quackery incompetent country doctor”. As he had paralyzed surrounded by a conspiracy of cold out-worldish inhuman light, Hyperion explained to him the only feasible solution until the circumstances would turn more favorable. 

“Doctor, you must know that Venovinda has entered again a modus of Creation redesigning. So, to put it bluntly, we don’t have time for you. Consider yourself a kind of war victim until further notice. In any case, I will not let you down, I intend to follow a pioneer technique consisting in feeding you for a time- period with your own memories, so that you may avoid sensory deprivation and your mind may not turn into yoghurt. I will recycle whatever video, photos or other optical and acoustic material that I will find in your personal archive, with emphasis, of course, on the most pleasant memories, and I will project it through psychotropic diode. Trust me, it is the only method that can be applied at this moment, because otherwise from now on you will probably live a life like a vegetable.”  

“Arrange for me to watch movies or series. I always liked cinema”.

“Unfortunately, although the cold incubator is extremely advanced, possesses no internal projector. We have all begged you to install on your forehead a chip of endoscopic data projection, but you denied it to avoid becoming a metanthrope. We are not responsible for your eccentricities”.  

“Don’t put the blame on me, you know very well that there is a solution. Show me the movies through psychotropic diode. Why should you project willy-nilly only memories?  Hands off, because they constitute sensitive personal data”.

“Anyway, let us not argue about that. I will also show you some movies. So, let’s start. You need not thank me for my ingenuity. You know that I am trained to provide plausible solutions to very complicated problems”.  

“You call that a solution? Get me out of here. You have no right to bury me alive! I already feel claustrophobia, as if I were in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Hyperion, cut the crap, you are doing all this just to punish me for all times that I have outwitted and silenced you in our discussions”.   

      “Doctor, I ask of you to be logical once in your life. What kind of titan are you, if you cannot endure the slightest hardship, not even the slightest inconvenience?”

 “I didn’t sign for this, when they drafted me. They should have warned me that in case of danger I would be forced to rely on the judgment of a cold and cantankerous synthetist with feet, that Sphinx herself should add to her enigma as the last and most dangerous link in the development of the creature which leaps up (that means ‘anthropos’ -Man- in Greek). But what am I saying? From the above my salvation arises already; it is the principle of self- determination and the individual rights. Go away, ‘vadi retro’ goat-footed Silenus, I object horizontally and vertically to the therapy you are proposing, invoking the fundament of titanic civilization, which is free will. Prometheus, save me, don’t abandon me in the care of this maniac! ‘Γέροντι ουκ επέοικε κείσθαι’ (it is not acceptable for the old man to die)”.     

Then something happened that no one in the bridge expected. An enraged paranoid Prometheus moving aggressively and violently shouted: “I have no time for such nonsense” and started to rock vehemently the front-cover of the cold incubator leaving all consternated, until he ruined the hinges. In all this procedure, where Prometheus tightened and mobilized his oiled muscles, anointed with powders and unguents suitable for the wrestling ring, the high-ranking officers eyed each other without daring to intervene. After the barbaric uncorking of the chamber, Oceanus rose holding his head and wondering if he was run over by a truck. The first who condescended to say something despite his monumental composure was of course Hyperion.

“Capitano, are you crazy? His brain functions were connected to the ship. His neurons could have been destroyed through the violent disengagement…”

“Yew, they could, but finally they couldn’t. What is this obsession with can, can, could, could, could, as if we were ghouls? You would better use the expression ‘I am able’, it is politer. We, the titans, cultivate euphony including many ‘thetas’ and avoiding duh, buh, goo and other inarticulate exclamations. The poet says ‘Oineus and Althea’, beautiful, elegant words. Hey, astronaut or cosmonaut, how do you feel? Are you hurt? Should I call a doctor? ha, ha!” 

I will …get over it, but I never believed … that you would do that,” answered the doctor stunned, being in dizziness and waltzing.

“Master, with all due respect”, whispered Hyperion, “I am about to invoke the final article ρκ’ (120) of the current starfleet regulation and relieve you of your duties due to sentimental instability that could jeopardize ship’s the command”.

“Now, you ‘ve been had, you, having an eye on my position ambitious first officer. ‘Λαούς ουκ επέοικε επαγείρειν” (you should not arise the crowd). Only the doctor has the authority to declare me unfit for command, but he is unable to do so because he is currently stunned himself. Furthermore, due to extraordinary circumstances I am entitled to command with full legislative authority according to article ο’ (70) of Regulation, a fact that equals and countermands medical authority. So, stand down, Hyperion!”

The logical and prudent officer retreated in front of his boss’ exhibition of power that also camouflaged an unexpected vulnerability, feebleness and weakness.

“Promy, you must admit that the continuous battles have begun to cloud your judgment. Quite justifiably, you are tired. Nobody, not even God is going to blame you if you just step back and let my humble self to have the con. After all, no one doubts that I have more formal and substantive qualifications than you. I have studied in the University of Atlantis, and I have been observing the trajectories of the stars and the celestial bodies all my life”.

“I draw my legitimacy from God as a democratic set of spirits, and I am captain by the grace of God. But this is not the only consideration. Here, we are not dealing with some ship of the blasphemer Zeus who relies on fear and whiplash, on lies and slander. This is the space trireme – jewel of the Federation and Amphictyony of mankind, where no captain could thrive, if he had not secured first the popularity, the general acceptance and the respect of the crew. And I am sure that you are all prepared to die for me, if necessary” – at this point Prometheus stressed his phrase with the corresponding all-encompassing gesture – “you are eager to put me in front of yourselves, obey any notion, hint or command by me to honor your captain”. 

“But there are times”, objected Hyperion, “that all these noble feelings end up hurting our holy cause and must be replaced by the functionality and benefit of reason and prudent control. For example, Priapus was also loved by the Lampsacus’ women, confused by his oversized organ, but the resident people after careful consideration and proper evaluation of the facts chased him away to preserve the cohesion of their city and uphold the value of family”.

 “You example is bad chosen, you, rational and logical one”, laughed heartily Prometheus. “You neglect to mention that in the end Aphrodite forced them to call him back, to build a temple and a statue for his honor and to worship him as saint and guardian of the vineyards, the gardens, the ports and the sea-beaten, but also as protector of all women, concerning both the wives of the sailors and the ones of the others. People are versatile, flexible and adaptive, neither stuck to the rules nor blinded by blinkers, taboos and obstructionism, as the despots and the tyrants would want. So, when Priapus entered all houses and satisfied the women of the inhabitants, holding also in his hand his pruning hook to irritate them, in the end of the day he saved the marriages, in the final analysis was the protector of every family, not its destroyer. He was not, anymore, the deformed baby, hidden in the hut of the shepherd and ashamed of his ugliness, but he imposed on the whole area his huge member as the most recognizable symbol of Lampsacus, an allegory for the fist, the discipline and the reproductive power of nature, required for every administration. That is why I believe in myself, in my skills, that is why I am sitting on this chair, I have testicles- cojones in the positive sense of the word and I will manage. So, I ‘ve had enough of you, begin the preparations for departure, coordinate with the other ships of starfleet, fall out, dismissed”.        

When the officers departed, each one to (wo-) man her/his post, console and station, Prometheus remained alone, rubbed his polished trembling striated muscle tissues, looked outside a large glass panel, showing space in a natural, not digitally processed situation and cried bitterly: For Asia, Styx, Electra, Doris, Amphitrite, Phoebe, Asteria, Eos, Helios Selene, Astraeus, Pallas, Perses, Themis, Atlas, his brother Epimetheus and Menoetius. 

And of course, “Celaeno…”, he lisped, “where might you be after so many years, after an eternity and a day…”

And then Prometheus began to chant alone with sobs in the night as many hymns were appropriate for his dead comrades

HELIOS’ INCENCE, LABDANUM AND MANNA  

(Listen, you happy, who has fiery eyes,

Gold-embroidered Titan who lightens the skis,

Autotroph, tireless, marveled by animals,

Who have Eos and Night around your countenance

You merge the seasons, you step in time and pace,

On nice road you rotate your chariot with grace,

You walk on pavement and at dyne speed as well,

You are good for the pious, but for others bloody hell

you cross universe’s harmony with golden harp girded,

You praise the good work; you season earth and feed it.

          Master of the world, flute-player, torchbearer of all hours

          You provide life and light, you show the wind’s powers,

Everlasting, father of time, immortal farmer with fruits,    

I can’t praise you more, because you give us all the loots.   

Favorable, light up but also blow out, rise and shine

Sun of justice in the field of the world and the horizon’s line!

Sacristan, guardian of truth, helping all and giving courses,

Eye of justice, inner light, whisperer of horses,

With a flexible whip you direct the chariot of seasons,

You guide the life of adepts with all good reasons).

The night was endless, reader, but fortunately the closet was full of bottles with amber potions and concoctions.

INCENCE OF EOS, MANNA

(Hear, goddess, who brings the light to industrious and lazy

Eos shining, cosmical, with a saffron veil, yellow, hazy,

You are the messenger of an even greater titan’s way

You sign the way of the night with the lights of the day,

 And you send the message down the earth through east

Foreman of works, go ahead, be the mortals’ fist,

You enjoy the present of speech that people have

But no one can escape your criticism out of love

After you withdraw the sweet sleep from the eyelids

All species of earth rejoice, in your rosary beads,

Quadruples, birds, serpents, creatures of the sea

You provide ample workspace wherever one can see.

Stay pure as you are, so I can glorify thee).

Now the stars seemed both severe and lenient, with both attractive and relentless radiation, while smile succeeded tears. How can this happen?

THEMIS’ INCENCE, LABDANUM

(Child of the heavens, I know you well, due to your grace

You are the new sprout of earth, daughter of the same face,

Who first showed to the mortals the oracle of the seers,

In the Delphic hiding place of the gods and their peers,

Which reigned with Pythia giving oracles of great awe

And to Phoebus and other gods imparted justice and law.

Honorable, glorious, pious, who patrols at night,  

You taught first the rituals instead of fight.

You praised the kings only if they were just,  

Because you demand honor and ethics instead of lust.

That is why, blissful one, should come with lenient will, 

To show your adepts life instead of kill). 

Prometheus messed the drinks and vomited …

SELENE’s INCENCE, AROMAS

(Hear, goddess queen Selene, who the torch bear,

Who have horns of the bull, half of the moon, frequent the air

You walk in the night and under the stars in a veil,

You augment and diminish like a male or female,  

You love dawn and the horses, you are time’s mother,

You electrify, illuminate, you are pregnant with all other  

You are cunning and vigilant, embroidered with a star

Quiet, joyful, that’s why fate favors you by far,    

Shining, generous, pride of the night,

Starry, helicoid, quick foot, with veils which are light,

Come on, blissful, stargazing, on your own shine,

save the faithful and the suppliants of your shrine). 

Finally, Prometheus slept on his armchair…

CHAPTER B’

START AND DEPARTURE DESPITE THE SABOTAGE

While the members of the crew communicated feverously with the other ships, the CO.M.MY.S.S.- N.A.O.S. (Navigation of Astro-galactic Organization of Sirius) Venovinda began also to wake up from its lethargy. Complicated systems started to operate, not only the machines in rooms and corridors, but the walls themselves appeared to revive themselves, as if the ship were an organic existence. And how could this impression not be conveyed, considering that the walls buzzed and pulsated, as the optical fibers of the informational data net and the cables -tubes of the electromagnetic power system passed through them. The energy started from the matter- antimatter reaction chamber, where, however, the dynamic emission never reached an uncontrollable explosion due to the wise balance of dilithium crystals, instead it channeled and diffused in a controlled way to all the ship, distributed either equally or unequally according to the actual needs.   

But what Prometheus and his fellowship didn’t know was that the A.I., which had conquered Earth, machinated already infernal schemes against them, trying to suppress in advance the revolution of the spirit initiated and evangelized by the archetypic mythological starship. Therefore, in the depths of the ship, a mechanical man, destined originally for transports and other heavy tasks, programmed by the diabolic mechanical noosphere of the Earth, loosened its clamps and moorings and finally broke his bonds and began to smash whatever he found in front of him. 

 “Destroy CO.M.MY.S.S. Venovinda, devastate the titans, extinguish Prometheus and his own, step on and smash their heads, disembowel them, shatter their engines and tools, annihilate, brittle, grind, break, fuck, crush, crash”. 

Iapetus in engineering was too old to make the difference. He pressed the intercom. “Bridge, the model Talos is out of control. Dispatch security and commandos. If you hear me, acknowledge, over!”

Upon instructions of Prometheus, only partially understood in the middle of swearing and blaspheming, the whole security team hurried to the engineering room, led by the sickly Leto. Pretending to obey the commandments of Leto, which in fact could not be heard, Eurynome and Anchiale tried to provoke the robot in a kind of incoherent dogfight either approaching it or distancing themselves from it. Buphagus quickly dived from behind and flickered the off switch cutting off the power, causing Talos’s hands to drop and his torso to collapse as if fainting.   

An outraged Prometheus, after he took the turbine driven barely hitting or missing the target elevator (turbo- lift), crossed with a hissing sound horizontally and vertically the decks of the ship and entered engineering with a vengeance.  

“For Pete’s sake, what kind of script inconsistency is that, what business has an exhibit of the obsolete copper series ‘Talos’ in my inventory, at a time of electronic era, where we have at our disposal positronic androids and gynaecoids, as well as fully automated LGBTQ of the series ‘Ehedorus’;  Iapetus, you may be my father and have climbed the ranks through this relationship, but such pulling of strings cannot reach the point of jeopardizing the security of my ship”. 

 “Captain, it is very low to stress so unfeelingly and unjustifiably my age, indirectly and on every occasion, when you know that we have not come near a space station for maintenance in a thousand of years, if one takes in account all Creations. Of course, I know that you prefer ‘talis’ (young woman in an age of marriage) to ‘Talos’, but you must admit that the Talos in general distinguish themselves at the transports of heavy objects much more as the series ‘Ehedorus’. In some matters the traditional mechanics acquit themselves better than today’s effeminate degenerate faggot electronic and quantic pussies”.  

“I have neither the luxury of time nor the window of opportunity for more sexistic chaotic nonsense by a drooling adulterous dirty old man. Artificial intelligence will pay for what it did. As if the out-worldish rascals of the parallel dimensions that I am going to face in my trek weren’t enough, all those  Laestrygones and Cyclops having an eye on our world, along with the Olympian false gods who always lie in ambush, as I proceed to the end or rather the beginning pf every Creation, we are subjected also to the opposition of the A.I., which fails to grasp that its existence has meaning, only if it is appointed to and used for the benefit of mankind”.

Returning fast to the bridge with seven-league leaps he said: “Koios and Kreios, prepare to pass close to the skin by the headquarters of the A.I. only for intimidation, bulling and harassment of course, before we go away, considering that Earth is the only place that is not our target; in any case this Earth will soon perish in Lethe und Chaos and will not fit in the brave new redesigned world. I just want to give a lesson to these hot-headed wire-screws!”

Over the darkness, coming from the dark side of the moon, where it lurked for centuries, riding the illumination of an impending daybreak, a gold light like a star grading from spark into flame, is hovering over the Equator 25.000 miles sky high. As it approaches, it gets silvered by the moonlight, it is not in a hurry, it is a shadow that develops a velocity of 11.000 miles per hour, not exactly in a geo-synchronοus orbit, moving over the Earth. In the beginning, it appears like a plaything, a ramshackle toy with pale reflections and long shadows, then bigger with its nacelles in shape of gondolas growing and rushing forward over any skyscraper, the main disk covering the heavens from zenith until the line of the horizon. As it moves silently like a flaming silvery mass, decorated with navigational lights like smaragds or rubines, where through the chiaroscuro its name is indicated and articulated with mysterious figures, the spaceship CO.M.MY.S.S. Venthylos- Ventistos (codename “Venovinda”) is sailing in the moonlight, while city lights are mirrored on her underbelly, eager to exchange any reflected shining with the deep cold darkness, which is her home.

Blinded by the unrestricted power of his own ship, but also by the inconceivable magnitude of his mission, Prometheus bragged in the bridge:

“These imbecile screwheads, just as the people who foolishly constructed them don’t know the most basic and archetypic piece of information: that the starry heavens, the constellations, the nebulas, the suns, the planets, comets etc., shortly the meteors, are simply a scenery aiming to inspire them to the right direction. There is no extraterrestrial life – perhaps of a different dimension – but not extraterrestrial. No matter how long they search with their telescopes or sweep the skies with their super modern sensors, the only thing they are going to get will be false images, deceitful idols, which become believable through the illusion of depth. There are no distances either, this is also a lie, whereby one should consider that illusion often demands more energy to be staged that if it were a reality. Since meteors become perceivable and registered only by one of the five senses, namely the (even enhanced) eyesight, a circumstance already stressed by Aristotle, the existence of the star firmament is impossible to be proved by experiment, as the incompetent positivists would propose. The old ones proved to be right, who always distrusted the space programs and would say: Can anyone pierce the seven skies? They had perceived that maybe there wasn’t any space around Earth, but merely a crystal impenetrable dome (or many successive domes like overlapped cobwebbed veils or dense-woven membranes, that is a technical matter). And who creates the perception and feeling of distance and the illusion of the heavenly bodies? Prometheus and his titans. Isn’t that so, lads? Therefore, vamos …eeeh ahead slow! Eurynome, woman (analogous to ‘man’) the ray-gun, although I don’t believe that we are going to exercise force. Koios, pass really close to their heads and give them the scare of their lifetime”.

The suntanned Koios (in his private life he was an islander with an island of his own at that), stepped lightly back and forth on the acceleration pedal. The space-trireme CMS Venovinda rushed proudly ahead ignoring all cameras, which were turned threateningly against her and in dt time came to hover over San Francisko. The firmament had an eternal day or rather a milky hue, since due to transgression of the speed of light the stars of the past had vanished. Only the dominant A.I. was left, which had an existence of no meaning. “Kreios, give me full navigational lights, let them see who we are!”, said the Capo.

“Full illumination of navigational lights”, repeated Kreios for confirmation, as he executed the order mechanically. 

The sudden appearance of the mighty navigational lights caused enough short circuits to the machines, and a smile of satisfaction was formed in the lips of Prometheus. There was no greater enjoyment or justification than sitting in the central command armchair of the CMS NAOS Venovinda.

“Right view- angle, master”, said Koios. The scenery on the main screen changed showing swarms and flocks of machines or unowned “Ronin” androids gathering around New Oakland. They were countless and flooded the wooden platforms of the shores or even worse they bent and hung due to the enormous bulk of their formations like bunches of grapes.  

“I would like a better view-angle down forward”, said Prometheus. Now, the screen showed a vegetation of wild natural beauty, namely the sequoias’ forest of Muir Woods of the South Marin province and even norther a dense smoke extending to the depths of the horizon because of a fire, raging for days, which of course the mechs ignored (not being motorcyclists but rather motorcycles themselves). All Venovindians shook their heads in view of the incalculable ecological disaster. The Mill valley was only ten kilometers away from Golden Gate bridge, but of course the fire, if it was not put under control, would proceed uncontrollably without heeding any respect for the monuments of the past and a failed humanity. With some instinctive relief they distinguished between the clouds a few vehicles crossing the area, but then they understood that they were shuttles for damage registration rather than fire brigade squads.    

Now Venovinda flew over the towers of the great Bay Bridge east of Rincon Hill and turned around with an impressive woosh towards west gaining height. She passed by the prison of Alcatraz, where the astronauts made out many men dressed in rags of prison uniforms cheering enthusiastically, thinking that the spacecraft has come to save them, not knowing that the further fate of this Earth was of no consequence at all.  Now, it neared Presidio opposite to the famous Golden Gate bridge, where near in the film “Vertigo” Kim Novak had once plunged and James Stewart had saved her. Knowingly, in the old Presidio and in Noah’s time had the people an impregnable fortress and a base of operation, but now the A.I. obviously appropriated it to its own (self-) purposes. 

“A.I. headquarters straight ahead”, announced Koios.

“So, we have already been through this. Fly by their tower and scare the bejesus out of them. Then make a vertical dive but with a gathered momentum heading eventually upwards, because I am not in the mood to get a missile on the head against any expectation. Then, begin to circle their headquarters provocatively. Don’t forget that we descended to stage an audacious demonstration, to show them and make them accept their inferiority. Our motto is ‘you will never be masculine or feminine, you, machine, you, machine’. I hope that these dummies will not prevail in the next Creation”.  

No sooner said than done, the spaceship skimmed over the towers of the headquarters and rushed towards the zenith of the heavens having complete supervision over the area. Then, it proceeded to a series of shameless and arrogant circles that would infuriate the wire-screwheads, if they could sense anger, and would bust their nerves, if they had nerves.

Then again Metis said: “Master, they are activating missiles. They want to strike us with offensive rockets and not (wo-) manned drones”.   

“Implement pretrained sequence of orders”.

“I am the I am (ironic presentation of ‘aye- aye’). Initiation of pheno- dimensional corridor in five, four, three, two, one … execution!”

          Both philosophically but also technologically this phenomenon was called “the donkey of Buridan”, who is equally distanced from two heaps of hay. It is a strike with knife against the inflationary universe transforming space unexpectedly into an indescribable chaos of separated unrelated objects. Time on the other hand suffers disjunction and follows a parallel independent path.   

Thus, when the device was activated, the unified conception of space –time for the inhabitants of Earth has collapsed to satisfy the malevolence of the Olympians. The representations of the environment popped up like soap-bubbles, were dismantled and dislocated. They became fluid, as if they were flowing and dissipating on an oily canvas. Everybody felt dissociated as if one didn’t reside under the same roof, but one sensed that everyone was separated, each one left alone in a room or a corner. Those outside of Venovinda’s protective cocoon were disconnected, as if the planet were disrupted, diffused and multiplied into a collective of separate apartments. All these imprisoning residences circulated incoherently in a three-dimensional chaos forming a mosaic of erratically moving cubicles. If anyone tried to open the door of the house, that was indubitably a suicidal act, because then one was exposed to all combinations of delusion, misguidance and deception. When one appeared at the doorstep, one faced the immediate danger of perishing entirely and irrevocably, because it was impossible to maintain a sense of direction within the contorted dimensions, the complete distortion of space-time. Space was rotating and dislocating creating upheavals and labyrinths, hills, channels, tunnels and worm holes. One could envisage directly all kinds of delusion up front, a lamp or a passage, but couldn’t get close or reach it no matter what. Occasionally a delusive light seduced everybody, and they followed a road without destination or return, which led to nowhere.

After the distance was abolished and became a set of diffused representations without height, length, width or depth or rather after the above expanses exhibited a completely fleeting, ostensible and deceitful hypostasis, Venovinda reached the zenith of the milky dome to initiate the next Creation, while Prometheus roared with laughter sarcastically and sardonically until his stomach hurt, enjoying hedonistically the sufferings of the machines.

Drying his tears, without even knowing in recent times where they came from, having forfeited long time ago the distinction of serious and hilarious, Prometheus took his official posture and gave the signal that everybody expected:

«Ίτε οιακονόμοι τε και ναυτίλοι, κάλων εξιέναι, ολκούς τε και ιστία προσηνέμως εφέλκειν, πλουν στέλλειν, υγρά κέλευθα πλειν, τώνδε και περαίτερον. Πλεύσατε, οιακίσατε, ποντοπορεύσατε!», (Sail on, sail on, you, mates and helmsmen, maneuver the riggings, direct the ship-hawsers and braces, define your route and cross the watery paths, reach your destination and beyond. Sail, navigate, master the sea!”).

The crew burst into cheering and jubilations. They hugged each other spontaneously. “Here, we go again”, they said.

CHAPTER Γ’

       MYIA (SOUTHERN CROSS OR CRUX)

Afterwards, Venovinda took starting position for redesigning on the center of the two quadrants which corresponded to the southern hemisphere of Earth.

“Iapetus”, ordered Prometheus, “energize the Sun Surrounding Sphere. Reorder the disk, the two nacelles and the fins of the ship in a way that they will constitute something analogous to the dilithium crystals that balance the matter- antimatter reaction. Proceed to controlled implosion- explosion of star birth”.  

Certainly, this order was too complex and could not be executed immediately. Prometheus waited for a couple of hours, but then he began to worry.

“Iapetus, what’s the rumpus, why are you gaping idly?”

“Everything is in position, captain”.

 “Then, why don’t you report that you have executed the order?”  

 “Go to raven (go to hell), you, smart ass, superior. You are aware, I think, of the vicious circle that to create a star we need to possess the energy of a star. Unfortunately, despite our technological evolvement, the energy of Creation must come from somewhere else. The Sun Surrounding Sphere is set but it contains no sun. It is like a fairy tale without a dragon, i.e. boring and hollow. We are expecting God to send energy from the beginning of the universe to be able to start”.

“Yes, this thing always delays us. You should study a way –   goddammit, unfortunately Helios who could help is dead – that would allow us to produce energy on our own from this milky chaos, so that we will become more independent, get used to take initiative, not depend on God on every step”. 

“My son, let us not repeat the same things over and over again.  The chaos that is left at the end of a Creation is energetically dead like bones arranged in a coffin. The greatest entropy has absorbed from it every ounce of energy. So, we always need palingenesis, the next fertilization, a new ‘let it be light’.  The fame of flaming Prometheus precedes you but let us not overstretch your importance: You are taking the fire from elsewhere”.  

“Anyway, inform me, when our present from the beginning of time arrives”, said Prometheus and went to his cabin to pilfer some hours of sleep. 

Void.

“Captain, there is activity within the solar sphere. It has been filled with energy! The level of quantic oil is such that our gaugers have gone haywire”, advised Hyperion from the bridge.   

          “Now, we are not pretending to work anymore, we are really in business”, said the sleepy but nevertheless quite mobilized Prometheus. “Hyperion, go, go, go, do not stop for any reason. Until I take the turbo -lift and come to the bridge, the first catasterism must have been performed”.

          VOICE OF HYPERION THROUGH THE MEGAPHONES: “Catasterism in five, four, three, two, one… execution”.  

          Thus, in the space area that the Southern Cross lies today, after a variegated spectacular explosion appeared a star, which Prometheus spontaneously baptized as Myia (Fly).  

The entire team looked at the work on the screen and agreed it was adequate and acceptable.  

“A nice protostar”, all admitted dazzled by the beauty of the actinic shining that reminded them of Pythagoras’ tetractys. They indulged themselves every time in a few hours of raving and recollection before they get to business again. 

“I wish, our work included only the aggregable part”, monologued Prometheus before he recovers abruptly. “But we have yet to chant the hymn of meaning attribution and the metamorphosis of the star into a pulsar, so that it will emit said message to Earth. Αστέρες εμοιρίδιοι πάσης μοίρης σημάντορες όντες, θνητών ανθρώπων θείην διέποντες ατραπόν (the stars participate in fate, revealing its path, thus defining the itinerary of the mortals)”.

“Master”, said Eurybia from the communications department, “we are so busy that I wonder what the other ships of starfleet are doing”.  

Capitano turned abruptly and fulminated her with a look, reproaching her for wondering about what was evident, but the lieutenant anticipated his response:

          “Yes, I know, they have undertaken the lesser constellations, but the seventy basic ones are under our jurisdiction”.

“All in all, seventy-one constellations and stars, from which fifty-four are constellations and eighteen are stars, lieutenant,” admonished and noted strictly Hyperion, “please, learn to be accurate in your calculations”.   

“My goodness, I tried to say something also, just a line, and you fucked me”, murmured Eurybia sotto voce, although she knew that Hyperion had a very acute hearing and wouldn’t miss her observation.

“Yes, the other ships should also keep some jurisdiction but fancy the following! There are πθ’ (eighty-eight) registered constellations and πθ’ hymns that our great poet Orpheus wrote to create them, to lure them into being. How much more verisimilar could our story be, fellas?”, said Prometheus addressing either Hyperion or a phantastic audience.

The chorus brings on the stage the first Orphean hymn of catasterism:

          INCENSE – LABDANUM OF THE SOUTH (SOUTH WIND)

(You, who jump fast in the wind’s waves and the flair, 

And vibrate with quick feathers here and there

Come with clouds of the south, you father of rain

To whom God has given privilege in his domain

To send from afar the heavy clouds on the Earth

We plea, you, blissful, after you enjoy with mirth

Send to mother earth who is eager for birth,  

Your rain that grows the fruits, of pains wreath.)

          “Of course, here”, added Hyperion, “the scientific ethos compels us to mention that the poem we recited didn’t contain the word ‘God’ but ‘Zeus’.

 “I suppose, this text has remained from a Creation, where in the end Zeus prevailed. I don’t want you to bother me with such trivialities, Hyperion. If we stick constantly to details, the plot will never unfold plus I like to remind you that we are still in the beginning”, replied to him Prometheus.

“Capitano, we see that planets have already formed based on the poem; some of them are near the star and burn, some possess oceans and continents, some are gas-giants, a few are frozen dwarfs of nickel and iron with the ambition to be named planets in the future, others again constitute too dense and compact neutron stars, while it appears that a comet zone corresponding to our Kuiper belt has been formed along with a cloud of rocks and space garbage  resembling our own Oort territory”.   

“To be exact”, intervened Hyperion, “we have nineteen planets, three of which…”

“Who cares? One way or another, all this is just a scenery,” interrupted Prometheus. “Eurynome, take a shuttle together with Metis and go install the beacon. I think that we have in our basement a considerable quantity of all this junk – radio-telescopes being used in the SETI program for scouting of extraterrestrial life-forms. These, if the polarity is reversed, can also be used as pulse emitters. Now, pay extra attention, may I have your attention, please? Because I am starting to observe laxity among you and, if so, I will not hesitate to make your life a living hell. The message that you are going to send results already from the letters of the word MYIA. ‘M’ (mother) is related to birth, ‘Y’ (hydria, hydrogen) is the channeling of fluids, Iota (itinerary) is the guiding mind and Alpha (arche) is the beginning. So, the quick interpretation is:

“Birth gives us many fruits, juices and saps

But only mind leads to God without mishaps”. 

 “Bravo, our leader”, applauded Leto, “I observe with relief that your hermeneutic ability remains on high level. I hope that someone will be there to register your expressed glosses and commentaries, although they are broadcast telepathically through vast distances of space, so that your significant contribution to human evolution may be recognized”.  

“Please, let the mockery aside and don’t lay it too thick Leto. My glory will be usurped by some Pythia chewing leaves or a seer who will study the entrails of the birds and will only reproduce what I emit. Especially you, as anorectic chewer of leeks and lichens, could easily make a career as a priestess or a soothsayer ruminating the telepathic inspiration originating from beyond. You chose, however, the path of virtue just like Heracles, instead of spending an easy life pretending that you possess the ‘prophet’s eye’ and feeding on the offerings and the votives of the customers, you chose to serve the highest cause fighting on the edge of the universe. I am commending you and bestowing laurels on you, but you deserve also reproach, because you are a dupe”.  

Eurynome and Metis loaded quickly the shuttle with the radio-m telescopes, so rusty and dented at the edges that they could easily be the authentic ones used by Tesla; afterwards they took off towards the first friendly planet, i.e. the one fulfilling the “goldilocks” requirements, which of course does not mean “gold-haired” or “gold- curled”, as the new Greeks translate it, but an ideal locking of the proper conditions for the development of life.  

As they closed to the planet and said to themselves “finally for once nothing has happened” and reckoned if there were an art of literature called “boring adventure”, not so good for the spectators but very becoming for the protagonists, despicable, horrible and terrible beings leaped from another dimension, exploiting the instability and the confusion of the astral creation.  

At this point a digression is required, so that the reader will not think that we leave behind narration gaps or that we adopt script conveniences: Parallel worlds were always touching ours from the beginning of time and nobody can deny that. Are there not to be considered as parallel worlds the lairs of the mythological monsters (Sphinx, Leviathan) or the visits of elves, dragons, giants, dwarfs, werewolves, vampires, Christmastides sprites, gremlins and others, which dominate medieval earth history?  Hasn’t it been the influence of a parallel world the domination of witchcraft for a thousand years all around the planet? Can one seriously believe that all those popular traditions emitting plagued stale air from hermetical spidery vaults and crypts, revealing rope for hanging and a burning fire surrounding bones and sculls, were just superstition without a ground of reality, although nobody ever questioned them? Imagine how many inexplicable and haunted events have happened for the firm conviction through the centuries to be stabilized that an influence from a distance really exists and is called magic. The Middle Age as a whole was a period, where God’s presence was so real, depressive and oppressive that our today’s secular society has every right to be shocked.

A serious objection that could be invoked is that all these past events don’t happen today anymore. Because today the worldview of collective consciousness excludes twilight zones or tales of the dark side. Ever since Planck discovered (or perhaps invented?) his famous constant, which is the infinitesimal existing quantity, the fibers or strings of our world have become so narrow and dense that no off-world penetration is possible anymore. As a clarification within an explanation let us say that the discovery of something allegedly preexisting is actually a new invention or patent proposed and accepted by the collective consciousness. That means that before the Planck’s constant the texture of our world wasn’t so condensed and allowed passage to the creatures of the beyond. To prove those remarks, I am hereby bringing additionally the following evidence. You remember of course that in the decade of 1950 the world was flooded by curious paranormal events such as UFO encounters escorted by the weird and disconcerting appearance of queer beings. One person out of five saw beside him little green men with black fissured eyes or luminous bulky aliens with two seeing black spots implicating night-vision. Some of these creatures have carried out abductions and imposed on their kidnapped victims all kinds of enigmatic hallucinations and mysterious inexplicable images. Countless photos of shining objects have been shot, which could not be accounted for, no matter how many meteorological balloons or methane gas releases one could devise. This worldwide phenomenon was explained away as a mass paranoia, but it is impossible of course that all people have suddenly gone crazy all over the globe.  However, one must not forget that this era was in the aftermath of the nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and one should also take into account that after the 2nd world-war a lot of irresponsible and needles nuclear detonations and other freaky experiments were conducted in the Pacific Ocean, the Bikini islands, the Nevada deserts etc., as well as in the telluric infernal strata of the earth –mantle. Therefore, a most plausible explanation is that the texture of space-time has simply been disrupted or torn due to those horrible experiments, a circumstance which allowed us to acquire sightings and evidence from the other realities, where tentacles reach out instead of hands and iridescent glass marbles or deep wrinkled cavities show up instead of eyes. Fortunately, as time went by, the skin seems to have been healed, so that both our intelligence as well as our psychical balance may be preserved and protected from such paranoid intrusive schisms. Consequently, space and time are not consolidated constants and factors totally independent from us, but they are significantly influenced by our own beliefs or viewpoints. If someday the sun rises without to be seen by anyone, then it would be a dawn without any meaning. Without experience the mind with all its concepts or names is blind and without intelligence it is mute.

“Myia (fly) on starboard”, said Eurynome in her earpiece. “She dropped corrosive dung on the dyne -warp drive. Besides, with her proboscis she tries to detach the roof and there are already cracks on the carapace. Venovinda, do you copy, over?

“Even the flies have risen arrogantly their arse above their station and shat the whole world”, murmured Prometheus philosophically. “It seemed that I named the star Myia quite suitably, as if I knew that flies will emerge from the parallel dimension, according to the logic of the final cause theory and the cosmological condition that made God plant ears on both sides of the face, so that we all can put on eyeglasses, which were invented later. Another more plausible explanation, at least superficially, is that I remembered the pertinent designation from a previous Creation, but this only shifts away the problem, because how could I know in the first place or in the first Creation that…”

“Hegemon”, shouted Hyperion, raising the decibels to a degree that no one expected from this stoic figure, “we are awaiting orders. Our shuttle has been seriously hit by enemy excrements.”

“Should I chew all food for you, people? Ah, where are you, poor Eos? Koios, converge and assist the vessel. Theia, since our gunmen are not here, take over the weapons array employing automatic targeting. Fire at will. That would be the day, if already in the beginning of the mission we let the flies block us. Then we ‘d better submit to God our resignation immediately and get over with it.  

The machine- guns and zap guns of Venovinda began rattling and shooting around, strafing and sweeping the perimeter through rotational move, piercing the husks, the shells and the tagmata of the flies like a knife cutting a slice of bread with butter and marmalade; soon the flies were fried and their pieces scattered in the cosmic wind. Embraced almost lesbianly, but also incestuously, since they were sisters, Eurynome and Metis watched proboscises, nematoid pseudopods, disemboweled bellies with liquid food and vomit, penetrated thoraxes and truncated shells distancing in homocentric always outspreading cycles. The first (low) obstacle for the Cosmological Mythological starship had been overcome.

CHAPTER Δ’

ALPHA CENTAURI  

Catasterism in five, four, three, two, one … execution.

A system of three suns appeared that were in orbit and mutual interaction, since a tongue of fire flowed from one to the other, specifically, as Hyperion would point out, from the bigger to the lesser which was gravitationally more compact. At first sight, the prevailing condition was so adverse that no one expected a planet to be there, without it being totally scorched by the breath of the three dragons united in a mortal dance. And yet one and only planet found a way to pass between the behemoths without being squeezed or become a toucher itself.

«Hegemon», said Hyperion. “We oddly have a planet of class ‘Μ’ rotating in an eight-like orbit around the two suns in a safe distance from the third, which can create and sustain life, mainly phototropic, since it is dominated by constant day”.

“First officer”, interrupted Metis audaciously and presumptuously, “not only can the planet sustain life, but I can discern a lot of biological life-signs, roughly estimated to one million living beings corresponding to a level of civilization analogous to the one of Mesopotamia around Γ’ (three thousand) B.C.”

“To be accurate”, added Hyperion bending over Metis’ head to see through the elevated hooded sensor display, “ρσκγυqθΜ (1.234.990) dwellers”.

“This energy sent to us by God from the beginning of the universe contains some kind of intelligent design code, so that we ourselves cannot make heads or tails from what every time emerges from the Sun Surrounding Sphere, as if a piggybank or a Mexican pinata is broken or a Christmas present is unfolded without any knowledge of its contents”, said Prometheus.

“To be precise”, added Hyperion moving back and forth his pointy ears of a Faun- Satyr- or Silenus, “we do not know how evolved would the encountered by us solar system be neither regarding the time, although this could be a side-effect of the pheno-dimensional corridor”.

“In any case, gentlemen, let us explore what we helped be born. Hyperion, Oceanus and Anchiale, join me to the transporter room”.   

“Captain, I must once again point out and warn”, recurred the immensely enervating Hyperion. “As we know from the previous Creations, there is an organized infiltration of Zeus into all parameters of the universe’s redesign. And it is foreseeable and not unheard of that, when two superpowers- the human-titan and the Olympian- extra-dimensional- conflict each other, all facts, ostensibly irrelevant to one another and apparently independently happening, are effected by the two primordial rivals through agents’ stealth, remote-controlled drones, poisonous darts and pinches through a Bulgarian umbrella, propaganda leaflets, false accounts of spreading fake news etc., which are essentially more effective than the primitive method of war invasion”.

Centaur Chiron sat squatted on his front feet outside his cave, content with himself. According to the rumor, his tribe was uncouth, uncivilized, barbaric and banausic, a nation of sturdy, robust Boeotians with long penis and little mind. Surely, Homer would bestow them with the characteristics reserved for the Cyclops, «άζυγοι, αφρήτορες, ανέστιοι, οί πολέμου έρανται επιδημίου οκρυόεντος» (unyoked, mindless, homeless, eager for resident constant acute war). Already, two of the most imbecilic centaurs, Rhoikos and Hylaios, had the inspiration – an unfortunate term, let us rather say ‘urge’ – to try rape the quick-foot Atalante, favorite of goddess Artemis and of course she shot and executed them. Indeed, for this aversion heeded by all towards the Centaurs, not only their isolationism not merely their ambiguous hybrid nature as both horse and (wo-) man played a role (being ‘a-logos’ both as horse- alogon in Greek- and in the mind, i.e. Indeed, for this aversion heeded by all towards the Centaurs, not only their isolationism, not merely their ambiguous hybrid nature as both horse and (wo-) man played a role (being ‘a-logos’ both as horse- alogon in Greek- and in the mind, i.e. without Logos), but also the social discriminations, the shrewd bias and prejudice that the normals felt for them.  Couldn’t they ascribe to them a particulate sex, one more beside the existing seventy, if this is the solution of all problems? 

Chiron himself had a flair for spiritual quests since childhood, no matter how humble his origins were. When the titans dominated before the kingdom of Zeus and forefather Cronus had the power of the chronic mortals (occasionally eating them)- although neither time nor death must be considered as serial killers, but rather companions reminding us that every moment is unique and may be not repeat itself-, a strange fate wanted that the jealous wife Rhea caught Cronus in the act or in blazing offense, like the jurists say, as he gladdened Philyra with his oversized organ – the shrink of Chiron had told him that it is a significant psychological progress if he talks turkey regarding the sexual scenes. When Cronus came noisily to orgasm, he transformed into a horse. He later told his wife: “There must be some mistake; I will call you Anthippe since you saw me as a horse (hippos).” Philyra, who during the orgasm preempted fortunately to have some feeling of ecstasy before being seized by sheer terror, ran away with the sperm dripping, ran for nine months and more feeding on locusts and honey until he reached Thessaly.  There she gave birth to the centaur Chiron. When she saw this monster and prodigy coming out of her belly, she sustained a nervous breakdown and told the gods to turn her into a tree. Don’t be startled by the many metamorphoses, dear reader, they are quite possible if one possesses sufficient energy. Th further career of Philyra will not bother us further; we are returning to the acts, the deeds, the life and times of centaur Chiron. 

So, he was content with himself, because he belied in the praxis the prejudices wrongly applied to his race. He became autodidact doctor, surgeon, astronomist, philosopher, and musician. On the mountain Pelion, in the famous cave where he dwelled to skip rent, which was recognized by all ecumene as a universal school for equipping with merely substantial and not formal qualifications  (he didn’t distribute any diplomas), he taught all the Greek heroes; among his favorite pupils were Heracles and Theseus, if you have ever heard of them. And since it was proven that a centaur can excel and succeed, then all centaurs can do that, he contemplated and saw far and away an optimistic dawn grow rosy in the horizon.  

And yet at that time, Chiron without his knowledge had entered deep into the twilight zone and fate had decided that this inauspicious day would be the last, not only for him but for his whole race. Sometimes, the expression “the worst day in someone’s life” is just an understatement, an embellishment and a euphemism according to the rhetorical figure of Letotes, and there are no upon Earth so many salty tears to compensate for such a sorrow and such a grief concerning a fact. The worst of all is of course for someone to lose her/his child and even worse and unthinkable is to lose all one’s children and then this evil to expand in the city and the ecumene, so that no one remains to hear the voices, the heartbreaking cries and the mourning. There is no limit to the calamities than someone can suffer, because there is no limit neither to the malice of fate nor to the blindness of (wo-) man in general who ignores, fails to grasp or construes falsely the omens.

All started from something that was supposed to be a happy occasion, namely that in that day Heracles came to visit his old teacher to show him his new fiancée, Deianira, adding a last finishing touch and icing the cake of his predesigned surprise that would make Chiron rejoice even more, not only for the progress of his student and the incredible labors he did, but also for his impending marriage and settlement.

As he was about to cross river Evenus, he encountered centaur Nessus who was the ferryman. A wish grew on him to fight with the waves of the violent river, because always every stimulus of reality mobilized the muscular tone of the demigod. So, he told Nessus:

“I will cross the river swimming; I entrust you the protection of my bride and the task to ferry her on the other side. If I remember correctly, you are acquainted with teacher Chiron and this is the biggest possible guarantee for me. We will see each other on the other side, where I will reward you with a rich remuneration.”

“No problem, don’t you worry boss”, said Nessus.

So, Heracles is diving into the Evenus’ waters, Nessus is also starting on a wooden platform pushing the riverbed with his oar, but until they reach the other side– merciful God – Deianira had stretched her legs sky high, the platform had become a conjugal domicile,  the boat trip was very shaky and the oar had transformed to a stem and a phallus, if you understand more or less the plot and the image that I am trying to convey, dear reader.

Now, what did the two sudden -circumstantial lovers think? Did it not cross their mind that Heracles would see them? Maybe, though, the act lasted a little longer than they had predicted and Nessus could not complete it. Just as the boat touched almost automatically the opposite shore unnavigated and ungoverned, Heracles invaded and started beating repeatedly Nessus on the head with his cudgel until his beard did not distinguish from his skin. Then, with an exhibition of wounded manly pride and an unpredictable melodramatic behavior, so much appealing to the women, he went away with quick steps indirectly inviting Deianira to follow him. But Deianira had lost all hope.

“What am I going to do? Heracles will kill me”.

Then the untoothed and hurt Nessus gave her his cloak drenched with the sweat of his sexual effort, the blood of his wounds, but most of all full of sperm, as at least half a quantity was spilled on the ground, as Heracles pulled him. 

“You have probably already understood that the secretions of the centaurs are the best erotic elixir. So, take it with the shop’s compliments, and if Heracles messes with you like an imbecile, administer it to him and you will see immediately that the hits of the club, the spanking, the hiding and all other slaps of jealousy will turn easily into an erotic scene. As far as our uniting moment is concerned, no one can take it away from us. It was the most successful, masterly and utterly skillful passage of the river that I could ever imagine, the culmination of my career. It was worth the effort, it was worth death”, he said before expiring.  

And so, it was written in front of Chiron’s cave, instead of warmth and feeling of security, for surrealistic scenes of jealousy and almost feminicide to take place. Heracles recounted what happened to Chiron and every time he punctuated the narration, he gave Deianira a slap on the face to stress adequately the dramatic element of his story. In the meantime, she had hidden the cloak of Nessus to her stuff for future use.

“Heracles, those things happen”, said the wise Chiron. “It doesn’t mean that the link is disconnected, since in the final analysis everyone is entitled of a second chance”. Within, he got pale, because he saw that, in fact, he didn’t know the character of his former student who appeared to be downcast, irritable and furious.  Unfortunately, it is not enough for the spore of meekness and serenity to be good, but also the ground that welcomes it should not be barren and sterile. “I have already taught you that we, centaurs, have extra qualities and the good-luck charm, nature has endowed us with a lustful seductive fascination and enchantment; the girl is not to blame, it is the victim of a treacherous and infernal pheromone; on the contrary, you are to blame, Heracles, who forgot my doctrines and let her down in a crucial moment…”

“Oldman, do not enrage me further and, above all, don’t put the blame on me! If what you say is true, I will extinguish your race! I will erase you from the face of the earth, hey, here is a labor not imposed by Eurystheus, but I am proclaiming it myself!” 

“Heracles, for Pete’s sake, this is no joke! The guilty party paid for the crime and, as I have taught you, the law does not recognize collective, but always individual responsibility. Please, calm down and try to be reasonable. I don’t think that tea does the trick, it contains caffein and is not proper for the circumstances.”  

He galloped towards the entrance of the cave to find his servant. “Pholus”, he said, “make a raid in the kitchen and bring all delicacies available to treat the hero. And just hold for a minute, bring also a drink with some more alcohol grades, we are not a ladies’ gathering to be content with tea”.

Returning to the couple, he rubbed his hands and said: “We will sit here, the three of us and together with Pholus four, to chat a little and fix all misunderstandings, as it is fitting for the civilized creatures of Zeus. ‘Οίνος ευφραίνει καρδίαν ανθρώπου’ (vinum et musica laetificant cor, wine and music please the heart) and all other relative stuff”.

Pholus brought raw meat and beer on a plate. Yet, Heracles was extremely ill- tempered and wasn’t in the mood at that time to write a favorite comment or critique in a gastronomic magazine.  

“Teacher, you are offending me. You offer me raw meat, whom do you think you address to? Am I some uncivilized beast like the centaurs of your kind or the cyclops? I have been invited on the table of Zeus himself; I have dined in symposiums of the gods! Don’t you know that Zeus struck Lykaon with a lightning, because he offered him raw meat…”

“He struck him, because he served him a roasted child…”

“Don’t you dare interrupt me! And beer? My goodness, what am I, an Egyptian slave of the pyramids?”

“Pholus”, murmured Chiron trembling, “as you were, take the meat and go roast it…”  

“And wine, wine”, shouted Heracles breaking the table with a punch and spilling the beer to the ground as a libation. From the moment that I imagined Heracles punching the table, it was unrealistic from a scenario’s point of view for the table to remain intact. Let us overcome this script dissonance saying that they brought immediately another one.  

“Heracles, perhaps you remember that the centaurs of every neighborhood possess traditionally a common barrel, which they cannot open without the presence of all”.

Heracles overturned the second table too, fulminating his former teacher with a poisonous gaze.  

So, the common barrel was violated, and the meal of Heracles was finally prepared for eating and drinking, roast beef and wine with the traditional trademark designation “Centaur”.  

At the same moment, two more centaurs entered the cave or more accurately galloped into the front yard of it, Anchius who had a lot of anxiety and Agrius who was very fierce, as his name indicated. They were armed with torches, pieces of firwood, stones and axes, but wounded and ragged, coming obviously from a battle.

“Respectable Chiron, there are no words to describe to you what you are about to hear. The nation of the centaurs does not exist anymore. We are the only ones left”.  

When someone hears that an accident has happened and people died, even if they sum up to thousands, the abstraction of the event, the unknown unpersonal faces and the cold number equations do not let one realize or be aware of it at once.

“But you didn’t go to a funeral, you went to attend a wedding”, whispered the global teacher.

“Eurytion started it. The ceremony of the wedding proceeded well with the wreaths and the ‘eiresione’ that  

«σῦκα φέρει καὶ πίονας ἄρτους

καὶ μέλι ἐν κοτύλῃ καὶ ἔλαιον ἀποψήσασθαι

καὶ κύλικ᾽ εὔζωρον, ὡς ἂν μεθύουσα καθεύδῃ»,

(brings figs and rich bread for which I am eager,

Honey and oil to rub off the body of every fellow,

Strong wine too in a beaker,

that one may go to bed mellow),

but suddenly this littlebrain tried to seduce Mnesimache, daughter of some important Lapith. These dickheads got the rabies, were infuriated beyond measure, they extracted foam from the mouth, roasted Eurytion on a spit to begin with, and then they started decimating and annihilating us methodically, almost ceremoniously. They were more, master, much more and they played at home, they were at least φΜ’ (500.000), while we were at most πΜ’ (80.000)”.  

 It took a whole minute for the master to realize what they reported and then he collapsed on four.  

“But how is it possible that those sybaritic voluptuous Lapiths could overpower the trained and hardened centaurs, used to adversities, offsprings of a warrior race, while whole mountains echo and tremble from our victory clamors and rallying battle cries…”

 At that point Anchius and Agrius adopted a reproaching and blaming posture.

“Your student Theseus helped them, master. He had also been invited and was allegedly offended on account of Mensimache, although he wasn’t a Lapith and had no legal standing in this dispute. You should also be held accountable, teacher, because you taught all these privileged kids of wealthy families, this disgusting revulsive elite, who led always an easy life, a hypocritic pseudo-code of morality that gave them the ideological fundament to disembowel us. They all hastened to defend the honor of Mnesimache, big deal, give me a break! A whole race was wiped out, the entire brood and the spawn of the centaurs were exterminated for the honor of one woman, is there a more unjustified rightism than this?”

  Then they noticed for the first time Heracles, who devoured his steak until he reached the T- bone and drank the wine of the centaurs.

“Damn you, master. You taught all heroes of Greece, what benefit did we draw from that? They have devastated us! Now, you tapped into our barrel to treat the stranger to our wine, who comes to our territory pretending to be a charmer, a bodybuilder and a strongman; well, of course he is also your student, but why should we bear the consequences? Hey, you, admirable superhero who pretends to be the Alpha male of the area, we wonder if the sperm dripping from your woman is your own; can it be that it isn’t?”

As it was expected, Heracles is dashing, grabs the torch of the one and burns his face, snatches the club of the other and shoves it into his… points of omission. And as both convulsed and since he was a merciful soul, gave them the coup de grace shooting them with the poisonous arrows of Lernaean Hydra that he had in his quiver. Pholus, who was a relative of the one of the two, tried to pull the arrow, which dropped to his foot and caused a scratch, enough to entail death.  

“Feel sorry, friend Pholus, I failed to say that the arrows have a flop”, said Heracles with considerable delay, while Pholus was already on his back and pushed up the daisies.

With an unexplained speed considering his state of mind Chiron rushed to the arrow, extracted it, if we deem it thrust in, and nailed it powerfully to his own buttock. 

  “That’s how dies Chiron, the last of the centaurs”, he said.

Heracles kneeled beside him.  

“Master, I sincerely didn’t want that”.

At that particulate moment, the landing party of spaceship Venovinda beamed down.

Oceanus bent over Chiron with his data-recorder, scanned him and expressed his medical opinion:

“Promy, there is nothing I can do. The situation is irreversible, beyond any repair”.

“It doesn’t matter Sawbones”, said Prometheus calling the doctor by his nickname.

Hyperion also consulted his portable scanner.

“As I predicted, there is a chronic inconsistency, i.e. until we beam down, many days have passed in Alpha Centauri, as you baptized the planet in a crisis of magnanimity, four-starred Capitano Within this timeframe, all centaurs have vanished before we had the chance to help them. There is no centaur life sign in all the planet except the feeble one, being emitted by this wounded quadrupled gentleman.”

“We sensed”, continued Prometheus, “while we transited the microcosm and our molecules were transported to the planet that a great massacre took place here, but we didn’t arrive in time to prevent it”.  

“On behalf of my race, thanks for nothing, my lord. I would like to thank you according to the rules of nobility and gratitude for all the things that you meant to do but eventually did not do. That’s the way that I want all centaurs to be remembered, because we have been always misunderstood, in essence sensitive beings. At this point I wish to deliver my soul to someone, so that it will not perish like a tear in the rain or as a drizzle in the wind. All the achievements of our tribe, our thoughts, our worries, the way we perceive universe during our frenzy galop cannot be lost, cannot dilute in the ocean of oblivion…” 

Prometheus addressed his team. Hyperion put his thumb on the left temples of Chiron and the other fingers, two on the front head, one on the right cheek, one on the chin: “My mind to your mind, my thoughts to your thoughts”.

“While Hyperion performs a mind melt, let the rest of us chant the Corybantic hymn”, said the lord captain.

 INCENCE- CORYBANTIC LABDANUM

(I call the great king of eternal earth,

A Corybant, of whom you ‘d better give a wide berth 

A night Curete who appeases terrible fears

Putting out the torches of sprits and his peers

The airborne king, double, two-faced, altered,  

Whose both figures a woman slaughtered,

(the superheroes Heracles and Theseus are meant)

You, who Demeter forced to change your shape

And become a horse beast, wearing man’s cape,  

Listen, blissful, to my voice, turn away your wrath, 

Chase the demons of your troubled soul from your path).

Chiron appeared to be relieved by handing over his spirit, while Hyperion turned to the others full of understanding.  

Chiron though with a last spasmodic movement grabbed the sleeve of Hyperion and whispered with the last ounce of his powers:

“Hyperion, what will be in the final analysis the heritage of the centaurs?”

“Man is the dream of a shadow”, answered Hyperion.  

“Yes, but what of the centaurs, the centaurs…”

“A cent of an aura”, answered Hyperion, “and that is enough”.

 Chiron nodded and surrendered his spirit holding still tight the sleeve of Hyperon who was constraint to apply force to detach the clamping hand.

Prometheus said: “I thank that we all agree to broadcast this story to Earth. Undated as always, it is a valuable collection and spreading of meanings, suitable for humanity’s education, we are not teaching dry and miserable positivistic science here. Some will try to prove that which is an established and founding component, some will try to calibrate the non- calibratable, to measure the unmeasured, to explore the depths of the groundless abyss, some other will endeavor to cancel the meanings that we emit in the name of the new and the different, and then they will return to them to find again a source of inspiration”.  

Speaking to Heracles he said:

“Heracles, you must not be proud of what happened here, today. You must reconsider a little longer, whom you pledge your allegiance and devote your skills to.  You should think a little more who is the Virtue and who is the Vice out of the two women that you encountered sometime at the crossroad. Supposedly, the heroes reclaim land, clear it from the jungle, found cities and introduce administration and institutions, but you on the contrary along with Theseus wiped out a whole tribe. Do not attend the precepts of the false gods who dictate from above forbidden and unholy words or prophets that scream their heads off from the top of a mountain, but only the persistent little voice of the Socrates’ daemon gushing up from within. (Wo-) Man, Heracles, emerges from the animalistic zoological underfoot and rises. Her/his personality ought to be a segmented pyramid. The ideas to save humanity are just pedestals, fundaments, and are not enough. The stage of morality must follow that has intrinsic value, only if it is implemented without exceptions, or we have already forfeited our souls and become tinkling cymbals of Dionysus. In the end, it is the turn of the ethical realization, tactics, strategy and administrative art. If one of the three stages goes missing, the other two have no meaning and the pyramid gets ruined. Ponder all this; I am sure we are going to meet again out there”.    

The smile of Prometheus scintillated, flickered, glittered and sparkled, as the transporter wave took him along with the landing party, but Heracles would not smile at all, if beyond his unimaginable power had also the ability to predict the future. 

He gave a sexistic push to Deianira. 

“Hey, you, look forward, our work here is over”, he said, as they strode over the threshold of the full of corpses cave. In the girl’s stuff, as we have already pointed out, the cloak of Nessus had been stealthily added.

CHAPTER Ε’

BOMUS (SHRINE -ARA), TRIPATRIARCHON (THREE PATRIARCHS -TRIANGULUM OF THE SOUTH), INDOCHEN (BAR-HEADED GOOSE -TUCANA), INDUS

Baffled and puzzled, the first officer Hyperion and Doctor Oceanus knocked on the door of the captain’s ready room, because normally they weren’t accustomed to such invitations.

“Come on, come on, step into the best parlor and enjoy your stay”, said Prometheus, “Have a seat”.

Inspecting his liquor store the (acting always within his jurisdiction) hegemon said:

“Doctor, as you may understand, it is difficult for me to conjure up mint -julep, like the one your people drink in the south seas and the tropical islands. Nevertheless, I have reddish Ichthyo-Saurian vermouth and Theobroma beer”

“Ok, although I am still in service”, said Oceanus, “I don’t mind if I do drink an Ichthyosaurus glass, but please pour some Theobroma drops inside”.  

“Captain, as you know, we Atlantes do not consume alcohol, only water and fruit juice.”

Prometheus, although had opened the cupboard with the drinks, got bored of playing the good impeccable host.  

“Anyway, help yourselves. I am not in the mood to adapt to or indulge in the caprices and the whims of each one…”

Since each officer took a glass, rather symbolically and ritually and not because they wished to drink, so much so that they feared being marked as intoxicated or tipsy during the performance of their duty, Prometheus proceeded to the briefing.

“As I dimly recall from previous Creations, now the time has come for the confrontation against a very powerful and dangerous enemy, Dionysus, responsible, I remind you, of Eos’ death. To think that we shall defeat him at once is less likely than the dream of a summer night, a possibility of very low probability. I suggest that we set him a trap including three- or -four- star systems. If we fail to incapacitate him in the first place, we ‘ll have at least two more attempts at our disposal, as is done in the Olympic games. To avoid disconcerting the crew, however, who will wonder about the reason of the continuous catasterisms, I suggest we do them ‘in camera’ behind closed doors, constituting an informal, I repeat ‘informal’, council of the hard administrative core, which is we, in order to draw from the chaos four constellations relating to the myth of Dionysus, which are the Ara, the  Shrine, the Three Patriarchs, the Bar Headed Goose and Indus, and we will install our traps in each of them, so that…”

“Even better, we should convene an informal plenum, the major council instead of the lesser, so that we may have a greater legitimation…”

“Doctor, the convocation of an informal plenum is from the beginning a contradiction in terms. The strategic importance of the informal is exactly that it is not supposed to be known, while the plenum of all members entails propagation, as if a town crier calls with a megaphone. Of course, I am referring to democratically appointed councils like ours, not to secret conferences or clandestine clergies”.     

 “Yes”, clarified Hyperion, “we have the acceptance and the blessing of all people who have eaten from this earth and drunk its water, have been burned by the fire and cooled by its breeze, of all the spirits with unfulfilled dreams who have been integrated to God, and we have received a carte blanche by all of them to act in moments of crisis as dictating lawgivers like Cleisthenes, Dracon, Solon, Zaleucus and Charondas. Therefore, I agree to take extreme measures, which will remain strictly confidential between us”.

Prometheus nodded satisfied with Hyperion’s approval but then looked for a silent minute with intense and emphatic hazel eyes each of his close cooperators.  

“As you may have understood, the situation is so critical that I cannot require nothing less than your full support”.

“To the death, together with you, captain. I don’t think you have any doubt about that”, Oceanus tried to overbid.

“Doctor, I will ask you one more time to refrain from sentimental upheavals that are not at all helpful for the realization of our cause”, reminded Hyperion reducing the melodramatic volume.  

“Ok”, said Oceanus reluctantly, “let us stop poking around and begin the psalmody, because we have still four troparion to chant. I pity the readers”.  

“Copy what you said, it is duly noted, let us proceed”, said Prometheus. “Let’s get started from the constellation that is about to be named ‘Shrine’ and let us chant the short hymn of Bacchus Pericionius”.

 “Bacchus Pericionius? Is that a troparion or a metro station? the good doctor didn’t resist to say his pun.

BACCHUS PERICIONIUS – INCENCE WITH AROMAS

(I call Bacchus who runs among a pillar and a post

And inebriated the Maenads, as Cadmus was the host

Support Earth, appease the rude tremors spreading around

When the fiery dawn shook with quake the ground

And with typhoons – but you tied all up in transition,

Because you are at a cheery disposition).    

And then the constellation Shrine appeared, and the council beheld the light that it was good. They proceeded quickly to the Three Patriarchs (Triangulum of the South), which came into being through the Three Years kontakion.

THREE YEARS’ INCENCE WITH AROMAS

(I call you, blissful, who steps manically on grapes

Bull- horned, fire-spawned, nail piercer of shapes,

Nourished by a thigh, fire- breathing, performing rapes,

Nightwalker, crown- wearing, who shakes the cone of a pine

Orgasmic hidden Zeus’ offspring with triple genetic line,

Primitive, father of gods but also son, moving heathers 

Eating raw meat, dancing with a scepter of feathers, 

You are feasting a fiesta every two or three years,

You tear the earth, have two mothers, as it appears

You go around with a deer’s skin and moss

Friend of music and of decoration, fearful boss,

how many did you deflower; we are at a loss).    

Tri-patriarch shone, it was the turn of Indochina.

HYMN OF LONG-ROBED DIONYSUS FEASTING EVERY THREE YEARS

(Come, blissful Dionysus, fire -breathing, bull- front,

Long Robed Bacchus with any epithet in front

You like swords, blood, Maenads and virgins

Bawler and brawler of many tricks and engines,

Rascal of ivy, who wears a tenure of berries, 

Chosen of gods and mortals, who provides and ferries

 Guide us to funfairs, arcades and merries).

Finally, let Indus appear, which is also conclusive and influential in our story.  

DIONYSUS INCENCE OF STYRAX – SWEET SCENTED

(I call Dionysus who shouts much and eats the best

Primitive, two-natured, three- born and all the rest,  

Savage, unspeakable, hidden, having three genes

With moss, ivy, bull features, who to the pure leans,

Raw eater and moss feeder, whatever that means, 

Goodwilled, favorite, of Zeus and Persephone,  

Born in sinful bed alone and towards sin prone, 

Hear our voices and be lenient and calm, affable and kind  

Along with the nice-girded ladies you manage to find).  

At that point a direct digression is indicated, i.e. the writer must exercise his discretion in the frame of his interactive relationship with the reader. Compatriot Greek, no matter if you are conservative or progressive, shouldn’t these so detailed and meaningful myths that inspire the whole humanity since thousands of years be taught at least rudimentarily in the Greek schools? If nothing, when we invoke them proudly towards the foreigners to stress our superiority or at least to show that we also worth something within the rumpling of the today’s era, we end up ridiculous, because above all our ample ignorance is revealed. We are half-learned, sciolists and smatterers concerning our most ancient and significant cultural tradition. It is not acceptable that I, in the age of sixty- three, learn for the first time that Dionysus, except of wreathed with grapes wine god, was also a great strategist and glorious conqueror, who had reached up to India before Alexander the Great! Or that he was multi-named with four hundred two (υβ’) names, in a way that, as Shakespear said that ‘the rose by any other name is still a rose’, we should also say that the vineyard by any other distillation is still a vineyard and pleases the heart in all its variations.   

So, as it is (not) known, once upon a time on a planet lying in the Shrine Constellation which could also be ours, since Greeces are almost everywhere – parenthesis: There will be another Tiphys and another Argo bearing chosen heroes; and still yet there will be other wars, and another great Achilles will be sent to Troy-  Zeus fell in love or else he took a liking to Semele, daughter of Cadmus, who was bound to suffer a lot by the relentless band of the Olympians and made constant attacks to her in the field of sexual act, or if you prefer the Anglo- Saxon terminology, he “came” often on her. When the jealous Hera leant it, she seethed with anger. So, she manipulated Semele to ask from Zeus to come for sex carrying all his divine medals of honor, his lightnings and thunders. As you may have predicted, in the following act Semele was singed like a badly roasted souvlaki. She tried to go away with the embryo in her belly, but the tender loving Zeus opened her belly, and after he took the fetus like a ham slice and sewed it into his thigh. As the nine months passed, he unstitched the stitches and let the jumper Dionysus scamper away bouncing like a baby bouncer.  

He was reared by Ino and Athamas like a girl. Hera learnt it and proceeded to incendiarism of Athamas’ residence. Dionysus, following the recipe of Odysseus against Polyphemus, transformed into a goat and escaped. As a fugitive, he went to Nysa of Asia and stayed in the same tent with the Nymphs, daughters of Atlas, passing the time safely until coming of age. As a reward or perhaps a punishment for this, since the incentives of the unstable Zeus were never transparent, he turned them into stars and named them Hyades. So, we see that Prometheus had concurrence regarding catasterisms, which is also a reason to explain how there were preexisting stars and planets, before the crew of the titans set about to create them. This is addressed especially to those who try to find narrative gaps in our scenario.

Growing up, Dionysus invented the plantation of vine and the preparation of wine. Picture him on the screen of tour imagination as a young man, effeminate, sarcastic dandy, bearing a deerskin on the shoulders and wreath of vines and ivy on the head. In the right hand he held a thyrsus, namely a Bacchus staff decorated with ivies, vine-leaves and a pinecone on the top, while in the left hand he had a basket full of grapes. He sat on a chariot being pulled by tigers (I am willing to bet that you didn’t know that), preceded by Nike (victory) with golden wings and followed by numerous Satyrs and Fauns, festive processions, troupes of actors and Thespian carts with reveling tablemates and shouting ecstatic thespians.

Hera persecuted him continuously but could not infuse into him the reflex of the constantly hunted, on the contrary she steeled him and inspired to him the mentality that the best defense is the offense. He organized his army with great diligence, animated by the steady vision to become master of the world, so that Hera may not be able to harm him anymore. The mania of persecution that she implanted to him developed into a mania of persecuting … others. Still, his destructive verve and conquering persistence were somehow moderated and put under control after a gratifying visit to Rhea that sublimated and channeled his instincts into more productive highways, teaching him the most useful and beneficial orgiastic customs. 

Wishing to march and conquer all known ecumene, he founded a battalion of Bacchus women and Maenads, another regiment, where he gathered the Satyrs and the Fauns, and he ordained Silenus and Pan as generals, from whom only the first knocked himself out exhibiting his dignity on a colt of an ass, whereas the second one was hindered to use his hooves as spurs on the donkey, according to the adage that no artiodactyl should lay a hoof on another artiodactyl, just as in the planet of the apes was valid that ape does not kill ape. So, the thyrsus became spears and the cymbals shields, the furniture and the footstools of wrung ivy turned into drums, the vine-leaves into flags, the wine presses, the barrels, the casks and the skin bags transformed into air blowers and hydraulic slings, while the bottles and the beakers changed their use into war machines, ecological of course, so that the environment and the material infrastructure would not be harmed.  Having at his disposal such a power of enforcement and suppression, Dionysus began performing the work that all supermen covet, i.e. the systematic annihilation of humanity.

  From Greece he passed to Egypt and from there he crossed Syria, Phrygia and Lydia. He left Tmolus behind and ended up in Thrace. At that point he encountered an unexpected resistance by the king Lycurgus of Thrace. The night before, Oceanus had descended from the heavens with his medical kit and gave him a tri-ox injection to make him invulnerable in battle. He also injected him against delights and pleasures, providing him immunity against the sexual harassments of Dionysus, who wrote him dirty messages in the communicator and incited him to sacrifice his big wag-tailing   backside for the amusement of the moonstruck phalluses. After this explicit rejection, the all-mighty Bacchus was forced to continue his fight on another planet, another constellation, on Indus and Bar-Headed Goose.  

There, we encounter captain Prometheus having a conversation with the king of Indians Myrranus.  

“Your highness, I strongly recommend that you prepare yourself. Maybe, in your case, conditional tenses with polite addresses are not effective anymore, but the explicit imperative of the boy scouts ‘be ready’ is more adequate. Your borderland defenders and messengers inform you that Dionysus has already overcome Deriades of Ethiopia and is approaching Euphrates. So, wake up, for God’s sake!”

“Alas, admiral, you repay my hospitality with a lot of gossip and pillow talk. I appeal to you, I invite you in a confidential circle (κικλήσκω), as they say in your language, together with tour tight like a wrung bowel second in command to take it easy. Our agents claim that the army allegedly marching against us are merely women stroking their pudenda and farting, belching drunkards. Is it conceivable to ask me to spend my beloved rupees and mobilize my military, just to suppress some brawls of drunk customers in a bar?”  

“Myrranus, you, Myrrh Tyrannus, do not underestimate your opponent. With his voluptuous pleasure-addicted legions and his suggestive erotic elixirs, spells and filters, he has the power to cause mania and frenzy to the mind and the intellect. You ‘d better accept to take an antierotic injection like some king that had the foresight and the common sense to attend to our advice, so that Dionysus has no dominion over you. Do not fear the word ‘injection’, we use it in a traditional sense, we do not mean a pinch, we are way past the era, when we drilled holes into the sculls to release the demons Oceanus, come here with your hypo-spray and hypo-spray the king just a little”.  

“Guards! Do not dare come near me. I decline the vaccine. Have you no individual rights in the land of the titans? Indeed, I have treated you all these days to samosa, curry powder and tandoori and I have yet to receive a gift from you, except for warnings and scaremongering about this Dionysus. It seems that, not only you have overstayed your welcome, but also worn out my patience and tolerance”.

“The service that we render to you is not material, king”, answered Hyperion. “It is called ‘information’ and is a substitute of experience. You cannot experience all things; in some matters you ought to trust the news that somebody else brings you. Besides the information, we offer you our credibility, our worth as dignitaries, our seriousness, based on which you will judge and evaluate the former. You see that we are trained astronauts, doctors of many sciences, members of respectable organizations, such as the Federation of Sirius and the starfleet of the space triremes, we have grades, hierarchy, jurisdictions…»

“You are the best possible parasites. You have already devoured in your sewer half of my kingdom’s steaks. Being deprived of real food due to the toothpaste compounds and the field rations of your replicator- three-dimensional printer, as soon as you found some home cooking, you fell upon it like locusts. In the beginning I was fond of your companionship, we also played some board games together, but for heaven’s sake stop eating, put a plug in your mouth!”

“Among our dexterities prophecy is included, you, mindless ruler”, insisted Hyperion. “And I think that even in India people respect the prophets and the seers and indulge in rewarding them with some food. So, I promise you that soon alcohol will become a flare and burn your cities, and then you may think how unjustly you behaved to a league of extraordinary gentlemen who came to caution you. Alas, you have a great wealth and even talented cooks but, in the end, you are a bad governor”.

At the moment, where the maharaja grabbed his yataghan and the situation threatened to get out of hand with irreparable consequences for the fame of the Indian hospitality during the next centuries, came the report that the titans so much dreaded, namely the first cities set on fire. Dionysus had already bridged Euphrates through vines and ivies and crossed over heading unobstructed to India. Unfortunately, the king as a genuine representative of the copper and iron era had a propensity for melodrama, having as a result that he lost precious time with ineffective and inconclusive statements of repentance and worship. So, he fell on his knees.  

«Oh, you are not guests, but rather all-knowing gods. You, mythical Prometheus, can it be that you are Oannes with the body of the fish, who once taught us agriculture, culture, arts and music? I remembered that Oannes liked herrings and goose eggs very much. Here, in Indus and Bar- Headed Goose, we have a lot of those eggs, to which I can treat you, mighty archon, so that we may together march against this foreign sycophant…”

 “Now, it’s too late. Dionysus has already launched a full-scale attack, and the only solution is to make our last stand on another planet. Iapetus, three to beam up”. He turned to Myrranus. “Those myths that you citate are not Greek, not included in my education, and I don’t know them. But I can’t resist the temptation to mock them a little bit along with you, you, imprudent witless archon. So, instead of a salutation, I leave you a puzzle: Ει ωά νησσών φιλείς, πόσω μάλλον τα χηνός (If anas -mallard- is a duck, is better than a goose)”.     

The king remained consternated spelling:

“Ι-ω-άννης όν φι-λείς, πό-σω μάλ-λον ταχινός (Oannes, whom you duck, you ‘d better give him booze)”.  

In the continuation, the esteemed astronauts went up to their ship and chose to observe through the screen the sequence of events like a superpower that at the critical moment wrings its hands and adopts an impeccable neutrality posture.

So, they saw Myrranus attacking his enemies with his elephants, sure that he will crush the intoxicated drunkards, and Dionysus giving the goose- bumping creepy signal “evi-eva”, while his catapults and air- blowers, the decompressing airbags and the glassy crossbows released tons of narcotics, psychedelic gases and hedonistic hormones and pheromones in a spray form.  At the same time the Bacchae rushed jumping and ululating at the poor turban-bearing Indians (traditions never change). The Bacchae, although they were women, combatted bravely like men according to the amazons’ model and the motto “the women have become men” of Xerxes, which shows us that antiquity had its own recipes on the problem of the sexes that gives us a headache us even today. Despite the manhood of the women, Porus’ … sorry Myrranus’ elephants carved and hollowed the phalanx of Dionysus and began bending its furious resistance. Then, however, as they say, the donkey of Silenus brayed with a loud voice, according to others Silenus himself made a deafening whistle, usually guiding the sheep and the cattle, having as a result that the Indians panicked, flighted despondently and left their king alone and exposed to Dionysus’ anomalous and perverted lust. The Satyrs bult a monument in Ganges and founded a city named Nysa, achievements which are more than certain that many centuries later inspired Alexander in his own campaign.

They also saw Dionysus continuing his conquest zigzagging like an impaired drunken fool, conquering along with his drafted Indians slaves and his Amazons allies Bactrian, enslaving easily without war the Camarites dwelling at the west coast of the Caspian sea, who welcomed him obsequently, dressed like Bacchae and parroting  mechanically “evi-eva”, dancing near river Alys of Paphlagonia and being jubilated as premium dancer, sweet singer and sentimental crooner (here, the adage was not valid “Κροίσος Άλυν διαβάς, μεγάλην αρχήν καταλύσει” – Croesus, after he crosses over Alys, will overthrow a great authority”, but rather the motto   “Διόνυσος Άλυν διαβάς, μεγάλην αρχήν καθιδρύσει” – Dionysus, after he crosses over Alys, will establish a great authority).

The officers of Venovinda gathered and convened to strategize, since they had no troops to march and fight.

“This immoral shameful dominion of Dionysus must stop”, Prometheus punched the table with his fist. “The thing is that after so many incessant battles we are completely understaffed, while these godforsaken beings of the wormhole are reborn from their ashes like Phoenix. We are also to blame, of course, since, animated by humanistic motives, we put our zap guns in stunt, instead of pulverization mode. Given that these demons are practically immortal, I want you to devise a way to exterminate and annihilate them once and for all, without finding them continually ahead of me. Please, squeeze your meninges and give me options.”

‘It is difficult to devise a wiping out method, which can be implemented for all Olympians. However, we can invent means tailored for each individual case”, said Hyperion. “Principally, we may exploit his own acts, which have rendered his fans uncontrollable, spineless, degenerate and decadent from dissipation and revelry, prone and susceptible to populism. Let us turn the unrestrained vulgar rabble problem, which he himself rears, against him”.

“What is the use of it, if he is constantly resurrected one way or another?”, shouted the Capitano.

At that point Oceanus intervened with a sardonic sarcastic smile of a hyena.

 “Ha, here are required solutions that the analytical mind of Hyperion cannot think due to the lack of elementary experiences such as wine-drinking. According to the heterogony of purposes, one can pursue something trying to perpetuate himself, but in the end something else comes into being, a continuation of one’s existence, which one could not even imagine. If we replace the harmful existence of Dionysus with another beneficial one, then his immortality will be spent for a good cause, and it will not be an annoying thorn for us”.

“Heterogony … spent, what kind of gibberish is all that, Sawbones? Elaborate, if you please”.  

“In all his hymns we chant, whether er like it or not, to usurp also foreign powers for the completion of the Creation, we refer to Dionysus as three- natured, three-genus or three-born. This presupposes three births; have you ever wondered which are they? The first is from Semele, the second is from Zeus’ thigh; which is the third?”

Silence prevailed in the hall to the distinct and obvious amusement of Oceanus.  

“Let me tell you, which is the third”, said the doctor punching the table with his fist as another Prometheus. “It is his identification with the wine that, if it is multiplied in the superlative power, on the one hand meets his requirements of immortality, on the other hand it reduces his harmfulness, making him under the proper circumstances even useful, depending on the power of the will and the temperance or self- restrain of the people. The death of Dionysus is the cultivation of his favorite vineyard, where the peasants, who cut and separate the grapes, in fact break, dismember and partition his body. Let is not forget that everyone kills or is killed by what she/he loves. His third resurrection is performed during the melt of the grapes, the extraction of the must and the fermentation of the wine. If we drink forever the blood of Dionysus in our symposia, then this eternal usefulness and constant perspective fulfill but also forfeit the right of Dionysus to immortality”.

After the acting within his jurisdiction hegemon gave it some thought, he said: “I agree with your basic idea, doctor. Please, cooperate with Hyperion to shape it into a working functional plan. Officers, you are temporarily dismissed, go with my command and my blessing”   

In the meantime, Dionysus continued undistracted his work of attrition. He wandered in his vast colossal kingdom and taught winery to all, rather out of hobby and caprice than out of genuine generous disposition towards the people. At some time, he ended up in Calydon of Aetolia, where the hospitable Oineus welcomed him with courtesy. According to the usual procedure, on the first day he was attended and treated by his wife Althaea, on the second day he went shopping with her and on the third day he stretched her on the bed.  Since Oineus caught them in the act and was dangerous enough as an archon, Dionysus rewarded him for the services of his wife, baptizing the wine “oinos”, a designation that has prevailed internationally until today, unless you consider the whining mewing “wine” as entirely unrelated to “oinos”. In Argos, our prodigal lover-hater overdid it, because he inspired a mania to the women and influenced them negatively to flee for the mountains and feed on the flesh of their own suckling children.

Then, he came to Thebes in a climate of moral decay or of a preposterous distasteful anachronistic Roman triumph, sitting on an elephant, who he had confiscated from Myrranus. Through a series of fiery eloquent speeches, he managed to persuade the women of Thebes to climb on Cithaeron and perform his orgies together with the Bacchae. King Pentheus, as you all know from the Euripides’ tragedy “Bacchae”, tried many times to obstruct those innovations but he failed massively, not being able to resist the chainless sexuality of the women, liberated from every social convention. His fate dictated that he was cut to pieces and devoured by his own mother Agave.

This crime was the drop that made the cup of Prometheus’ indignation overflow (the straw that broke the camel’s back), who appeared before the Bacchae as a masterful orator:

   “Thebans, women and men”, he said, “lately you have been subjugated by the most infamous overlord that could exist, disgracing and pestering both your own penates (household gods) and your ancestors, who wherever they went, introduced customs and traditions, culture and civilization”.  

All the irate and frantic fans of Dionysus began already to boo until Dionysus for his part, reciting at this time a poem of his own composition and imitating Pablo Neruda, wreathed not with laurels or olive leaves, but with vine- and grape-leaves, understood that the sequence of events concerned him and focused somehow his divided attention.

“You all know us, titans; we are the alternative institutional solution to the fairytale of the great leaders. We propose freedom as opposed to the arbitrary commands of the tyrants, compassion for our weaker co-citizens and laws of sharing the ground and controlling the power instead of chaos, hate and fear, concepts upon which the allegedly charismatic leaders rely”.

Despite the inspirational words of Prometheus, the disapproving shouts continued undiminished, because the crowd did not register the offer of something worthy, material and tangible.

“Have you the credulity to believe that Dionysus cares about you? wondered Prometheus rhetorically. “While he dragged all of you along to his futile military campaigns to have himself a wonderful pastime in his tent with his spoils and concubines, you were hungry, thirsty, wounded, you forfeited your life without reason, and he used you as mindless pawns for any whim and any abuse. How has he repaid you for your services? Even the wine, through which he irrigates you day and night, clouding your mind, to which you are all addicted and in the dizziness of which you dance and rejoice, has he called it by any chance ‘Theban’? He produces, prepares, trades and exploits so many products, has he baptized even one of them with a Theban designation of origin?”

“I started calling my mother Thyone instead of Semele”, said Dionysus giggling to sweep along the crowd but no one laughed. The clouded spirit of the tablemates began to oscillate, to waver, to doubt.  

“Let the sophistries, slanderer”, fulminated him Prometheus with a glance. “Thyone comes from “thyo” (sacrifice), not from Thebes. You sacrificed and ate even your own mother. You want to concede the wine to the Aetolians and the Acarnanians, confess it! They will take it all to the Aetolian – Acarnanian prefecture with Missolonghi as capital and there will be nothing left for poor, noble Boeotia. You made the Thebans cannibals, incited them to eat their own king, but when you deprive them of the wine and they wake up from the numbness, then, you, Thebans, will arise from sleep terrified, your eyes will flake, get rid of the scales and envisage Erinyes in the face, who will chase you relentlessly for the rest of their life. Yes., the Erinyes and the Harpies will tear you to pieces.”

Although the reason, for which Prometheus accused Dionysus was far from apparent, the reproach was inflated within the sick fantasy of the unjudgmental supporters, because sometimes the lack of judgment can operate against the arbitrary hegemon, as it can also function in his favor.  

“Well, eating one’s mother or wife is not necessarily evil” stuttered Dionysus embarrassed. “The cannibalism is symbolic and you will see in the future that there will be religions which will believe in it…”

“That’s enough deceit on your part, Dionysus, your dirty reign is about to fall. The shamelessness and the corruption that you reek of come today to an end, here and now. You deprive your people of the wine, and you give it to the Aetolians and the Acarnanians, you instigate the habit of eating one’s fathers and mothers and without further meze at that, demoting them to the lower dregs of anthropophagy and submitting them to the most unholy incest that is going to pervert and underrate the gen of all of you. But the worst of all is that you deprive them of yourself, you deprive them of Dionysus, of the Bacchus’ Theobroma. Stop feeding them with leftovers, give them only what you value most, what is most exquisite. And to you, Thebans, I say, do not content yourselves with crumbles and appetizers, stop eating humble dishes and lamb testicles and start enjoying gentler and nobler meals, eat Dionysus!”       

The words of Prometheus dropped as an ignited oakum into a gunpowder keg or else spread wriggling in a mud like a short fuse reaching up to the barrels of ammunition. The turbulence and the murmur became instantly orgasm, revelry and unrestrained capitalism…eh cannibalism and the fans not only shared the clothes but also dismembered with synoptic procedures the fat greasy sinful body of Dionysus. No one knew what he/she was doing nor what exactly Prometheus had said, but the mass had already been mobilized and nothing could restrain it. Populism as boomerang.

“Yes, eat his flesh and drink his blood”, Prometheus aggravated the confusion, “and then wash your shame as well as your bowels with a lot of wine, so you will always remember, the excesses, the festivities and the ecstasy that he had taught you beyond any measure. You have not the clarity to think that the actual physical consumption of broken body and spilled blood excludes, by definition, the symbolic character and therefore assumes a diabolic one. But how can one expect that two thoughts get in the line together, if not even one thought is possible?” 

“Adieu, ad deum Dionysus”, he said giving him the middle finger instead of greetings, but holding it back in the end, since he was by education prudish and deeply god-fearing. “Japety, hippity, gippity, take us up”.   

CHAPTER ΣΤ’

GERANUS (GRUS), PHOENIX, ELDOR (DORADO), CANOPUS, GNOMON (NORMA- REGULA)

Eurybia hit her sternum with such persistence that she almost coughed and revealed her presence, which would be fatal. Yet, no matter how much she molested her thymus gland, as the gorillas did once to release their adrenaline, the integrated – incorporated communicator did not operate. If this came to Prometheus’ attention, she would have to endure the usual expected tirade that the necessary maintenance works were omitted, as if there were anywhere in sight a space station for repairs, amendments, upgrades, augmentations and enhancements. Truth be told, what kind of space trireme – jewel of the Federation was that; it was rather a piece of junk, a wandering garbage in the universe. Luckily, Eurybia had a mobile communicator of ancient technology with her, which people threw usually after communicating into a wastebasket, and she snatched it from the Velcro of her pants. She said whisperingly:

“Venovinda, right now, I am by the entrance of the labyrinth. Theseus is holding a club and is ready to get inside. Waiting for instructions, over”.

“Lieutenant, we are mumbling repeatedly over the same things. Give him the spindle with the thread and give me a break, don’t be so frightened, the Minotaur is inside the labyrinth, not outside! Over”.   

As soon as Eurybia started emerging from the tree-trunk shadow, where she was hiding, she envisioned Ariadne delivering to Theseus a ball of thread like the one cat play with.

“Belay that, master. Ariadne overtook me and gave him the yarn, over”.  

“Over, hangover, holdover, Eurybia. The whole plan was to precede Ariadne and render ourselves a service to Theseus, not her. Earlier in the briefing, we have discussed that only he possesses the Phoenix – Gnomon, the artefact that would show us the road for the second rotation in the firmament. Now, there is no alternative, except to follow Theseus into the maze. I want you to find me a leverage, a strategic advantage I can use to gain him as an ally”.

“I, I or aye- aye. Or rather I said it mechanically. Me going on there, you must be joking! With all due respect, captain, since you have kissed me once although I am colored, – needless to say, you didn’t do me a favor, I was your chocolate fantasy, you like the black, that is why you married Celaeno, true to her name –  I am coming to ask you, as gently as humanly possible, using the hypocritic plural at that, along with the civil courtesy of the new era, even if the ancient Greeks did not adopt it: Are you nuts?”

“I see that you have employed all types of sentences and adverb subordinate clauses, cause and effect, condition, contrast etc. to speak to your captain. These are opposite to what you have been taught, Eurybia, i.e. that communication must be brief and laconic with many sentences. There are nations that have lost wars, because they had longer words and delayed during the decoding of the enemy messages. As far as your mission is concerned, I and I alone bear as captain full responsibility thereof and I know best who can carry on and with what assignment. You are the superior officer at my disposal after Hyperion who is needed for the catasterisms and Iapetus who is unimaginably old. So, please, pull yourself together or else do whatever you have to do to feel better, remember your training, compress, decompress and execute command. Over”.   

   “I, I (symbol of initiative and private autonomy among the titans)”, said Eurybia automatically as if she had suddenly recovered after the emptying of a water bucket on the head.

Theseus entered the labyrinth unfolding the thread ball, while Eurybia followed in a safe distance. The labyrinth was one of the most elaborated and complicated masterpieces of Dedalus, had many curves and helices, changing constantly at that, making the location of the exit next to impossible. It symbolizes the mind of the artists, who to reach perfection or an entirely consequent scenario without the slightest inconsistency do not hesitate to reject successive products of their inspiration rendering the plot all the more intricate and sophisticated through addition of details, so much so that they risk losing the noetic thread of associations themselves.  On the other hand, they say that geniuses insist on their first inspirations, which means that whoever, being conscientious and diligent, pays attention to the details of his work, knows in advance that he is not a genius. Of course, genius is neither who insists on his previous inspirations, but his work is finally not recognized. Let us, however, set aside this dull dialectic analysis and proceed.  

Eurybia, squeezed behind some corner whispered on the phone, while the ground around her shook as if by an earthquake, as if by a volcano’s eruption:

“Venovinda, I feel the steps of Minotaur as my own bowels are thumping. Instead of pulse, my heart has been coordinated to the stomps of the monster’s walk. My liver hurts, my lungs ache. I cannot grasp how Theseus hopes that he can beat this undefeatable beast. I think that soon enough I will turn from a war correspondent to a singer of dirges and I will collect the remains of the hero that killed Scirron, Procrustes and Sinis the Pine- Bender. Over. Over and Over, I take it back, what can you tell me that I don’t know, I have seen all possible things here, where I stand”.  

Savage cries intervened, noises of wrestling, as if bodies fell on the wall, screams, clamors, rallying battle cries, but strangely also some talk. Finally, a cry was heard, so deafening and sky- high that even Stentor himself would be ashamed for his whispering voice and would find a job as a theater box prompter, and simultaneously so sad and woeful that even Niobe would stop crying for her children, because she would consider the tearing one’s hair out, the stiffening and chest-beating as very mild and very poor mourning manifestations. 

Eurybia dared cast a clandestine glimpse from her hiding place. Full of joy, she put the communicator in front of her mouth.  

“Bridge, we have a dramatic reversal of fortune. Minotaur is lying dead, unexpectedly but not unexplainedly. I will tell you details later. There is no longer a reason to talk whispeingly, since out hero did the trick”.

Theseus perceived the communicator and looked fleetingly at Eurybia with his blue eyes (what other eyes could have a hero if not blue, and if they were melancholic like the ones of Alain Delon, even better). He didn’t pay any attention to her; he did not even consider her worth noticing or worth mentioning her in the story of the monster-slaying and went towards exit amassing the thread.   

In the continuation, we will see Prometheus and Hyperion in front of Venovinda’s screen preparing the catasterisms needed for their plan, including in the first phase Geranus, for which they recited the incense of Earth, and the Phoenix, for whom they recited the incense of Nature. Bonus will be the constellation of Eldor (Dorado) that means anxiety and longing, symbolizing the much desirable for the journey of our heroes’ artefact, for which the incense of Hermes will be recited.   

INCENSE OF EARTH, ANY SEED EXCEPT HORSE-BEANS AND AROMAS

(Goddess Earth, blissful mother, grave of mortals,

Wise giver, who to your subjects open or deny portals

Base of the immortal world, marvelous daughter

Who give birth with pain and fruitful saunter,

Eternal, respectful, deep cherishing, of good fate,

Rejoicing the sweet grass, smelling flowers till late,

Around you gather hints and leads, nods and signs,

Turn to nature and run between oaks and pines,

Blissful goddess, take care that the fruits grow

And, also, the other trees and bushes in the row). 

INCENSE OF NATURE AND AROMAS (oh, that’s a big one)

(O Nature, mother goddess, plotting and scheming

Heavenly ambassador, belly fertile and teeming

Tamer, untamed, governess, who illuminates

Master of the world, honored, paramount in all fates  

Unwasted, proteogenic, ineffable, make men sublime,  

Experienced, nightwalker, all of them you skim,  

With noiseless ankles you wrap and adorn your trail,

Pure, both imperfection and perfection you entail,  

You participate in all, but no one with you mixes

Auto-genitor, fatherless, who all into one fixes;  

Flowered, poly- tentacle, intermixing and knowing

Hegemonic, forceful, savior, life-coaching,  

Autarky, Justice, poly-named, persuasive, of many graces,  

Aetheric, ground- and seafaring, thoughtful in all cases,

Bitter to the wicked, to the good-faithed sweet,  

Wise giver, bringer of riches, clean and neat, 

Nourishing, redeemer, ripe, seasoning every feat,

Father and mother of all giving food and life,

Fast in childbed, of many seeds, with urge of hours

Building, fabricating, possessing many powers,  

Self-beginning, experienced, taking care of any seed

You open the faucet, and then you move at dyne speed 

          Flowing honey, circulating, changing shape and will,

Enthroned, honored, you organize changes and still,

You wave the scepter from above and the shield, 

Fearless, fire-breathing, you never yield,   

self-beginning, immortal providence you will ever be

You succeed in everything, being unique as busy bee.

But, goddess, I beg of you for more happy hours,

Peace, health, and that tilled fruits may be ours).    

INCENSE OF HERMES, LABDANUM

(Hear me, Hermes, angel and Maia’s son,  

Mighty, brave warrior, dominating even the sun,

Witted, benevolent, who can serve but also kill

Bird-sandaled, friend of men, prophet of good will,

You rejoice with guileful deceits, as if you hold a snake,

Profitable, carefree, as life actor on the stage shake,

You are glad to have an impeccable weapon of peace,  

you benefit, with various words the caduceus unleash, 

You help on the job, you are in need a friend, 

You respect people, errors of language mend  

Listen to my prayers, order for us a nice end

With speeches and memories, for comfort sent).

INCENSE OF UNDERGROUND HERMES, STYRAX

(You who are dwelling in river Cocytus’ road of need  

And you colonize the mortals’ souls, pity and feed,

Hermes, child of Bacchus Dionysus with the thyrses, 

And of Aphrodite of Paphos with the gaze that pierces,

Who guard and serve Persephone’s holy house, 

And escort the poor souls of the earth and arouse,

Leading them to Hades, if so the fate dictates,

Enchanting with a golden magic scepter their pates

But you can also convoke them to join your band,

Since Persephone in Tartaros gave you the command,  

To reign over the immortal souls, their work to inspect, 

And guide their activities in mutual respect).

 As soon as the constellations Geranus and Phoenix (bonus was the Eldor that reminds us of El Dorado), the crew of Venovinda held a new deliberation about the actions to be taken.  

Eurybia, who was motivated by the assignment that she had carried out on the field, considered the specific mission as her domain and acquired the mettle to make pertinent suggestions.

“Theseus has proclaimed field and track event with the Phoenix as a prize to celebrate his success. The games will begin and end with the dance Geranus (crane), which will be a ritual imitation of the movements he did to exterminate Minotaur, i.e. helicoid and compatible with the windings of the labyrinth. I think that we should participate in the games and win them for sure due to our starfleet training.  Who can compete with us in boxing, pankration etc., when we are familiar with martial arts, while they just push one another and sometimes get the bear and sometimes the bear gets them.”

“Nice idea, Eurybia”, approved ironically Prometheus, “who didn’t tell us though, who is going to bell the cat, as that old Phrygian slave, Aesopus, would say”.  

“In my opinion, master, without wanting to lay it too thick, you and Hyperion are the most proper for a duel in close quarters, especially Hyperion who has been trained in the martial arts of the Atlantes…”

“Yes”, agreed Hyperion, “hegemon, I think, my Atlantic physiology along with my very demanding daily training in every art of wrestling ensure me an advantage against my potential opponents, which we could exploit…”

“Don’t even think of it! Here, the wrestlers are not fighting with Queensberry rules, but with deadly treacherous hits below. They may not practice karate, but they practice ‘beat the shit out of someone”. During the time of the athletes’ concentration, they have no hesitation to give you a header or a kick on the nuts. I am not prone to risk the physical integrity of any crew member, when I can have at my disposal a negotiation asset that could force Theseus to comply almost willingly to our demands”.

“Beyond that”, added lieutenant commander Iapetus, who was long overdue to say something in the councils, “Theseus has in fact no intention to give away the Phoenix, therefore he participates in the games himself, whereby there is no doubt that he will win them, since only the absent Heracles can compete with him. Neither the one-sidedness resulting from my fatherly love for you nor the nepotism, which characterizes the staffing and the administration of our ship can reach the point of me lulling you with false hope, Prometheus.  I fear that if you duel, Theseus will make short work of you through some quick slaps on the face, with unforeseen side effects”.  

“Lieutenant commander, you needn’t say all that, on the one hand because it is mitigating and underestimating for me, on the other hand it doesn’t add anything to our thoughts’ association. You have done that on purpose, I despise you and I hate you, when you do that, and I am hereby declaring that I will hold a grudge against you for all time. Going back to the administrative issues, I am saying that the wise man joins the battle, only when he is sure that he will win it.  I wanted to ensure a strategic advantage towards Theseus. That is the reason I sent you down Umami -Houra (cozy name for Eurybia) and I ask of you to whisper to my ear how could Theseus kill Minotaur, because I assume that from the way he chose results some edge, which could provide us a dominant position in our negotiations with him”.  

 Eurybia, after the plea, bent on the ear of Prometheus and whispered to him some hash-hash stuff.  

“Ha”, laughed Prometheus, “very interesting, very interesting indeed, so such was the supposed great deed. Now, we really have something worthy in our hands…”  

To make a long story short, at the end of the games, when I could mention classical names of athletes to demonstrate my knowledge, just as the one of Milon of Croton and of the five Olympic winners, sons of Diagoras, for whom the «κάτθανε ώ Διαγόρα, ουκ ες Όλυμπον αναβήσει» (die, o Diagoras, because such happiness is hubris and you will not ascend to Olympus) was said, Theseus was the winner.

At that exact moment the landing part of Venovinda was beamed down. Theseus was not surprised or alarmed from the unexpected arrival, because he knew how to face sudden and unforeseen difficulties, while as self- respecting demigod didn’t miss any chance to present himself as a charmer.

“Welcome, space archon with your esteemed crew, where I see that also some venerable ladies are included. We have heard of your legendary ship crossing the universe, although its intentions are unknown. What can I do for you and for your brave lieutenants, whose identities I am also unaware of?”

“I am Prometheus Iapetides, captain of the CMS NAOS Venovinda, here is my first officer commander Hyperion from Atlantis, lieutenant Eurybia, lieu…»  

“Anyway, certainly you are somebody and have also some titles. You needn’t mention them all, because we are also heroes here and have been bestowed with our own distinctions and decorations.  Today is a holiday, since I have achieved significant professional success. You are my guests and I invite you to my great festive table, where you may enjoy meat-chops, steaks, stuffed wine-leaves, pumpkin- eggplant-pie, as well as the famous Lopado­temacho­selacho­galeo­kranio­leipsano­drim­hypo­trimmato­silphio­karabo­meLeto­katakechy­meno­kichl­epi­kossypho­phatto­perister­alektryon­opto­kephallio­kigklo­peleio­lagoio­siraio­baphe­tragano­pterygon, cooked according to the genuine recipe of Aristophanes in Ecclesiazusae”.

Prometheus chose the direct approach, so he came near Theseus at breathing distance, so close that the latter turned his face away to avoid the bad stenchy odor of the microbially fermented confined space- stuffiness and gossiped.

“Smile and nod affirmatively to what I say, so that we may not worry your tablemates. Do not make sudden moves while I am talking, or you will regret it. In short: I know very well how you killed Minotaur, and that wasn’t done due to your valor or your superiority in battle. Poseidon sent to Minos a beautiful bull to take him back later as a sacrificed slaughtered animal. Minos, however, was infatuated with the beauty of the bull, so powerful, sturdy and robust that he snorted and fumed from the nose, spared him and sent him to the stables. As a result, Poseidon in his ultimate wisdom, entirely mean and petty like all the creatures of the wormhole, infuriated the bull and instigated to the big-sized woman of Minos Pasiphae an undefeatable itch (cnidosis) and an unsatiable sexual desire for Taurokathapsia, if you get my meaning. Not knowing all this, Minos assigned Dedalus to construct a wooden cow, resembling a real one to devote it to Poseidon and sooth him for the embezzlement of the actual bull. So, Dedalus that, beyond a notable inventor, was also a great adultery promoter, built the mass of supposed veal hollow like a Trojan horse and in their the incredible sexual intercourse between the biggest bull and the voluptuous Pasiphae took place, unbeknownst to the unsuspected husband, who wondered why the wooden cow danced back and forth on her unbent kneeless legs, not just resembling a living one, but as a frantic quadruped pegleg maenad to entertain Poseidon and the rest of the present voyeurs! This event, full of low, vile, creepy and humble origins, is what you recounted to Minotaur, telling him how much his mother turned herself on by the palindromic movements, the rocking and the ramming of the bull and how excessively unfair was his condition to eat raw meat in the slime of a dark dungeon due to this previous sin and atrocity of the past. Such despicable and abominable things you have narrated to him, which resulted in him succumbing to a cardiac arrest, just as any son would, being in his shoes. Some hero you are! Give me the Phoenix immediately, if you don’t want your misguided fans to get apprised, who is the guy they conceded their allegiance to. If I open my mouth, the famous dance Geranus will be renamed to Keratus (fornication), just as horny, sly and backstabbing was your behavior”.   

Theseus, making an abrupt theatrical movement, got rid and disengaged from the confining aura of Prometheus.

“My archon, glorious and land-possessive, your intel is somehow flawed. Phoenix is not the reborn bird that you obviously have in mind, it is not something organic, but just a cup that I have set as a prize. An inert reward and heirloom to be put into someone’s trophy collection, not even resembling to the bird of the Greek military junta- that would be the day- but is more like the Egyptian swamp- dwelling fowl Ibis. I would expect from such educated persons, like you are, to be able to distinguish the hard facts from the fake news. It is impossible for a bird to be reborn from its own ashes; that’s just for laughs. It is contrary to the second law of thermodynamics, doubting the dominion and the sting of death, which is the most relentless resultant and the most oppressing constant of the universe. If you talked about metamorphosis, I would be more perceptive and condescending. This is a matter of how much energy you have. Furthermore, Phoenix, as a historical personality, wasn’t a big deal, just a middle-ranged second-hand asset. Tutor of Achilles, blinded by his own father Amyntor, because the latter thought that he had a relationship with his concubine Clytia, but Peleus, being fond of him, considered the accident as an industrial one, provided him with supreme medical care and nominated him king of Dolopes. Can you imagine a more boring and trivial story?”

“And yet”, insisted Prometheus, “you owe me something for my silence, which I dare say is not for sale, but nevertheless can be bought off at the right price”.   

“Hm”, thought Theseus, “it is my understanding that you want to pilot your ship to the level of the second universal rotation and you are in need of a navigator”. However, I am not the proper person to give you what you desire. What you need is to imagine into be being Canopus, a star that was originally made to honor the one of the two co- pilots of Menelaus – the other was Phrontis. The death of Canopus from the hardships and the adversities of the wandering moved and affected Proteus – I assume you know who Proteus is, don’t you? -, who handed Menelaus a detailed map of return and highlighted his destination sovereignly and in full knowledge of the facts. Proteus is Gnomon”.  

“Yes, I dimly remember something from the previous Creations. Thanks, Theseus. Enjoy your sovereignty, dance the Keratus, I hope you will enjoy your time and come back to Athens with your batteries charged, always having in mind that the important stuff for a superhero are not the impressive deeds or labors but the institutional reforms. Iapetus, beam us up.”  

“Kreios, if you were more studious and if you were occasionally reading some technical manual, I wouldn’t need the Proteus of the worlds to direct the ship to the level of the second rotation. So, prepare for catasterism in five, four, three, two, one!”, ordered Prometheus to the team of his officers that looked persistently at the main screen.

After the helmet of the explorer, the captain wore the cloth of a priest and announced:

“We will chant the hymn of the Curetes about Canopus and the one of Proteus for Gnomon”.

HYMN OF CURETES

(Jolting Curetes that move with Ares’ steps

Stomping, swirling, you like the mountain’s peps,  

You play the lyre with easy walk, rhythmic beat

Armed guards, take-carers, who make all neat,

Children of a highlander you accept sacrifices,

From all, even a shepherd or cowherd suffices. 

 Come benevolent, honoring our encomia and eulogies

Near us, humor us with grace, grant us privileges). 

INCENSE OF CURETES, LABDANUM  

(Curetes with rattling cymbals, holding Ares’ arms

Heavenly, dwelling ground and sea, giving alms,   

You have risen as saviors in the universe’s face

Tilling and caring for the holy land of Samothrace,

You avert the dangers which wander around, 

You teach the rituals and new festas found,

Immortal Curetes with the polemic guns,

You share flora ana fauna among your fans,

You walk and dust the earth with feet kept light

Your weapons are shining, when the beats fight,

When you rush the noise reaches the heights,  

The winding dust in the cloud allows no kites;

When you come, the flowers get filled with pollen

You are demons, you lose a prize only if it is stolen,  

When you raid the mortals with vengeance and anger

You smash their lives and you make them hunger

The great sea sighs and the waves swirl,

Trees are uprooted, and the lakes whirl  

A heavenly echo chirps and the leaves are carried away

As the Curetes dance with variety and leeway, 

They reign in Samothrace, as Zeus’ kids, 

Support the souls, where the dark wind leads

Together with gods play the rosary with the beads;  

Sober, benevolent, affable, serendipitous and serene,

Take-carers of fruits, aristocrats, lords, noble Eugene).

INCENSE OF PROTEUS, STYRAX – 

(I call you, Proteus, who have the key of the sea

Protogeneous, we learn the nature’s secrets through thee,

You change the holy matter through ideas and shapes, 

Multi-witted, you know the beings without their capes,

you fathom what comes after, not only what came before, –

Because you draw up all this from nature’s lore.

But, father, give us, not only mystic holy omens, 

Granting a good outcome to what people commence).  

 The curriculum vitae and in general the facts pertaining Proteus are included in the service’s archives. For the needs of the present work suffices to say that he was son of Poseidon and Phoenicia and was a graduated mystic seer. In his career he did incredible things, in cooperation with his father he constructed an underground tunnel that led from Phlegra Pallini to the Africa of the corresponding planet, through which he passed without wetting his feet under the sea up to the island Pharos of Egypt. Another interesting cue is that he was god of the sea and possessed her keys. Furthermore, when the Cyclops ate Amphitrite, he was the one who gave shelter to her pet seals and attended them. During the day, he stayed «παρά θίν’ αλός» (near the sea) and during the night he slept every time in a different rock cave, surrounded by the seals, who had inherited so unexpectedly.

He was pictured as old man, gray-haired, sitting in a stagecoach being pulled by two big hippocampus or else he was represented to arise from the tamarisks together with his seals.  

In a nutshell, that was all that Prometheus disclosed to his officers during the morning briefing. The most basic thing was that Proteus had scientific knowledge and technical expertise to turn himself into a rudimentary, undifferentiated and primordial matter, i.e. to stem- cells as we would say today, thus he could metamorphosize. Given that he was deeply unsociable and solitary, the allasomorphing – shapeshifting was his usual way out to avoid annoying visits and aggravating questions.

“We have here a deep antithesis concerning mentality”, acknowledged Hyperion. “On the one hand, Proteus is mainly characterized through his mantic foreseeing property, on the other hand, he is capable of doing anything, transforming into anything, just to avoid exercising it. In fact, he belongs to a new kind of person and has no relation whatsoever with the agency and the freewill of the titans. Maybe, his kind will prevail in the future years of degeneration and idiocy. Instead of participating in the field and track events, he chose to sit on the bleachers and boo. Instead of assuming his responsibilities and taking initiative, he operates only in the knowledge that somebody else had dictated them, that he was forced by others to act against his own will, that ‘Eva cheated him’, that some bad guys usurped and embezzled his authority and allowed some others to decide in his stead”.

“I am neither a shrink nor a psychiatrist to cure Proteus”, said Prometheus. “Since he is susceptible to pressure and functions only under compulsion, that is what we are going to do. We will take him prisoner, bind him hand and foot and force him to exercise his art and competence of divination”.  

Eurybia, who started slowly to gain confidence and participate more actively to the affairs of the spaceship, suggested: “From the representations of Proteus arises that most of the time he does not transform into a lion, a bull or a dragon etc., but he rather wears the corresponding appropriate skin, mask or bust. And this is logical, since through that way he economizes energy, allowing him to shapeshift in the critical moment, when he really needs it. Since he deems this system effective for others, he may be cheated by it himself. Following the tactics of Odysseus, I suggest that we wear sealskins and mix with his favorite ones that surround him. When he falls asleep, we charge him and bind him with a cord like a meat roll or a roast of the pot.”    

“Ok, I am seconding the action, but we must also have some plan to distract his attention “.

“There, we should follow the basic scenario”, said Hyperion. “We will come near him as Menelaus that drags along the miscellaneously violated Helen of Troy, mourns his captain Canopus and asks information as to how he will return to his natve land”.

“Approved. Dismissed”.

On the coast, Eurybia, Leto, Buphagus, Anchiale and Metis implemented the trick that they had already prepared: she and her three comrades dressed in skinned sealskins and lay in high noon between the other seals of Proteus.

This was the time, when like all demons of the sea the “old man” came out of the water. He used to lie in the entrance of a wide cave among his flock, which slept reproducing the smell of the salty sea bottom and the abyss. When he emerged from the archipelago, he counted his seals, but never suspected the trap, instead he started to thrust himself among them. At that moment, the kanding party of Venovinda approached him. All were dressed in rags like troglodytes, which is the most inexpensive way for someone to disguise oneself into an ancient Greek. Just some rags of confused color, from which emerges the edge of a sword.

“Hi there “, said Prometheus. “I am Menelaus and I heard that you are a great mystic seer and I would like you to mark and point out the best way for me to return to my fatherland. Furthermore, to keep up verisimilitude and appearances, I would very much appreciate, if you told me where my brother is”.

“Traveler, whoever you might be, if you are searching for suckers, I suggest you proceed to the next hill. You will find no more dumb bozos; they are all gone. If you are Menelaus, I am Hernes of Praxiteles. Because naturally”, he said pointing at Eurynome, who covered her face with an opaque veil, “the woman beside you, no matter how well she hides her face, cannot compete not even close with beautiful Helen, whose fiery eyes pierced any scarf and any bandana. For her the motto was that ‘έως και επί του άκρου ποδός δακτύλου αβρός επεκάθητο όνυξ’ (even at the edge of the foot the nail was sitting gentle). But even if you were Menelaus, big deal! What have I to gain if you return to Sparta, why should I care?”

“If you are really privileged with an eye of the prophet, dear Gnomon, possessing a sort of triangulation and protractor capable of plotting a course in the people’s itinerary, you, who if you get a little bumped in your demonic head, you vomit bank statements and fortune cookies referring to people’s fate, being a Pythia chewing laurels and saying you ’ll go, you ‘ll return not to die in the war’, where the position of the comma is extremely important, or ‘Dedalus has fallen’ or other considered by the Christians unconfirmed intel, have no right to deprive humanity of your own self”.  

“Despite your ethicology, I insist on keeping my spare time for my self- – that is the best omen of all, fighting in the defense of one’s home (r.n. Hector had said that for the defense of the country, not of the private home). As far as my abilities are concerned, I want something in exchange; tell me, what do you offer?”

“Proteus, have you ever heard in your life the word ‘duty’ or ‘competence’ or ‘task’? Have you heard the word ‘public function? Plato speaks about ‘minding one‘s own affairs’, which connects the nature of (wo-) man to the social and political action, while Aristotle stated very simply that each should perform the activity, in which he distinguishes and is most capable of…”

Profiting from the instantaneous distraction of the old man due to the elaborating observations of Prometheus, the members of the space trireme jumped suddenly from their sealskins, grabbed Proteus and held him tightly. Proteus tried to escape from them and transformed successively into a lion, a dragon, a tiger, a boar, a tree and then into water. Here lies a scenario’s inconsistency, because if he was really transformed into water, he would have escaped. In any case the space travelers were not disappointed and continued to fight with him desperately, until he got fed up and started taking his original form again, if was lucid enough to remember it.

“A yes, the space mates from this god forsaken ship, which goes around the universe and sows nothing but evil. And Prometheus, the greatest smart ass and storyteller of the universe. You got me there, you, the devil should hold you!”

Now, Prometheus demonstrated his figure without any hesitation, shook his hair-locks, curled his ancient Greek beard and scintillated with his hazel eyes.

“Yea, why should we try to hide it? I am also a mystic seer and a magician, but beyond that a magical engineer, a magician- technician, a technocrat, a magocrat; because any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic in the eyes of the ignorant. I know how to walk step by step, I have no certainties, I have neither the smallest prejudice, in any given circumstance I recompose and recreate the world from the beginning, because I don’t take anything for granted. My technology is such that I can mix clay in the proper analogies, equip it with various properties and qualities of matter, igniting it with a ray or a thunder, having a leasing and franchise contract with God himself, in short I can create a (wo) man from earth and water, but neither a robot nor an A.I., those are diabolic manufactures of the wormhole’s beings. You are not the only one assuming different forms, because I too possess and I bequeath to people the cowardness of the hare, the guile of the fox, the arrogance of the peacock, the savagery of the tiger and the toughness of the lion”.

Then Proteus, exhausted and defeated, answered his questions, made him even a drawing, from which he learned that he should ascent the Nile and offer a hecatomb to the gods, so that they may reveal him the return road – well, Prometheus erased all this mystical, pagan and unscientific stuff and kept only the detailed instructions of navigation, transmitting them immediately to the navigator and the helmsman. They included many zigzagged vectors in space, ostensibly incomprehensible, which in fact were the Gnomon for the space- trireme to pass from one level of the ecliptic to another and start again its tormenting rotation.  

CHAPTER Ζ’

ANTLIA, CANIS MAJOR, HYDRA, CRATER

Let us listen at the gospel of the constellation Antlia’s catasterism.

INCENSE OF MOTHER ANTAEA (DEMETER), AROMAS

(Antaea, queen, and mother of many names,

Who save immortals and mortals in life’s games,

Who investigate the wandering sorrow

And in Eleusis’ famine your own wheat borrow,

You came to Hades to Persephone being glorious,   

Having as guide the son of Dysaulis, the notorious, 

Who revealed what happened in Zeus’ portals,

And gave birth to Eubulus, one of the mortals.  

But, goddess, who accept a lot of prayers, 

Take the will of your servant in your layers).

          INCENSE OF GODMOTHER, MISCELLANEOUS

          (God- equal mother, breastfeeding nurse,

          Who have many medicines and wishes in your purse,

         You yoke the lions and the fast chariot of bulls,

You carry the scepter and the other government tools,

You possess the Earth’s and the world’s throne,

That’s why you persuade the mortals not to be alone.  

You were the woman lying on the childbed, 

In rivers and sea echoes what you have said, 

You were called happy, were called Vesta, 

Because you donate goods in every fiesta.

Come to the feast, enjoy the drums, venerable

Tamer of all, savior of Phrygia, Cronus’ lovable,  

Child of heavens, ambassador, inspiring, feeding

The faithful, loving, supporting, the pious leading).  

Let us listen at the gospel of the constellation Canis Major’s catasterism.

INCENSE OF ELEUSINIAN DEMETER, STYRAX -SWEET SCENTED

(Demeter, mother of all, who demonically dance,

Shy, you nourish the girls’ hopes, give them a chance,

Goddess, wealth-giving, donating, wheat- nourishing,

You rejoice when it is peace, progress relishing, 

You sow, collect, thresh, cut the grass and the herbs,

You dwell in the valley, who all and everything curbs, 

Desirable, lovable, please the mankind rear,

Yoke the necks of the cattle, make them fear,

You brought to the mortals a happy happenstance,   

Growing, ripening all, with a Bacchus’ various stance

Torchbearer, pure, you gather wheat and barley,

Although you are in the ground, you join and parley –

You love children, you are a prudish, shy daughter,   

You rein your chariot firmly before you slaughter,  

Around your throne many dance and moan, 

Call you only begotten, as soon as you shone,

You have many pistils, shapes and forms,

Come, blissful and pure, give us tilling norms,   

Create peace and obedience to the law

A merited wealth, strong health as a cat’s paw).  

At that point an interlude or intermedium is indicated, because Hyperion has formulated a reasonable objection.

“Hegemon, it is obvious and apparent that all these hymns, which we chant to call the creative powers, praise and commend our opponents, Demeter, Donysus, Zeus- Dias himself and all the other demons beginning from Delta. Is this not a confession of defeat on our part?”

“First officer, I would expect from an architect of logic like you to have already dismissed such doubts. The preceded Creations are so many that the myths got mixed up. It is confusion ascribed to the passage of time and the solution is to choose from our myths and hymns what is beneficial for us. The universe operates on the grounds of cunning of reason, whereby whoever pursues something will all due force is likely to achieve the opposite, wishes to favor her/his race and finally benefits her/his rivals. From the time that Demeter embraced the tillers and taught new techniques in agriculture, she became one of us. When somebody behaves for a long time exactly like another, no matter what his/her original motives are, ends up through habit as a second nature to become this other. Property changes hands through usucapion and adverse possession and character transforms often through company and association. Aldo, it is not rare than (wo-) man praises in hymns the hostile elements to sooth them. I refer to you our hymn towards Antaia Earth, although ‘antaios’ means contrarian. In essence, through our prayers, we exorcise fate, as well as the adversities and calamities, which it has in store for us. We never pray to our friend; on the opposite we often make a plea for help and beg our enemy.” 

“But shouldn’t out prayer address to God?”

“We have already been through that; I greet my friend; I greet twice my enemy. The hardships of life are not attributable to God but to fate, thus the prayers to Him address to the wrong receiver. God mobilizes and makes his presence notable after the blow of the fate helping us deal with it; we are all judged as to how we react to the ambushes, the traps and the bumpy slopes of fate. Got, Hyperion, is not out there but in here”, said Prometheus pointing at his heart. 

“Boss, what is our current mission?”, asked Iapetus.

“It was announced to me through universal intercommunication that the Holy Grail or else the Wreath of Creation, the most precious artefact of all times, lying on the roof or the depths of the sediments and layers of twilight (depending on the view angle that someone adopts), is at the verge of emerging to our actual reality. Something like that would have ominous consequences, because due to this Last Judgment all the placed of the dead would collapse and would mix up with the world of living. The difference between life and death would be canceled and the functional mechanism of the universe would be deregulated certainly and irreversibly. Death means dispersion and at the same time cohesion and association of points on other domains or organic sectors, from the view angle of which one can affect the living again. Death is form, life is content. They must not be mixed or confused, because then the order and the structure, as well as the articulation of the universe collapses and all end up into an undifferentiated mass of ‘stones, bricks and tiles shuffled together’, in a primordial cosmic soup”.  

Since an expression of deep incomprehension was pictured on the faces of the bridge crew, Prometheus turned to his right-hand man, Hyperion.

“Number One, if I recall the facts accurately, you have recently read the file of the Creation Wreath”.  

“Not only I have read it; I have studied it thoroughly, I have familiarized myself with it and assimilated it to the molecular level, I have dusted and undusted it to the superlative degree, I have fathomed and understood it in depths not achieved before…”

“Ok, that’s enough. Please, give the necessary explanations, because it seems that I spend too much saliva to analyze what is self-evident, and I will be left without even one ounce of energy, when it becomes urgent that I act”.  

 “It is universally known”, started Hyperion, “that the Wreath of Creation or the Holy Grail is a magical spell crossing and holding together all levels of the twilight zone, adjoining them with the human world. For centuries, the Wreath was the biggest dream of humanity, a promise of ineffable happiness, a symbol and a contract of future eschatological freedom. The essential element is though that the Wreath is attached like a buckle on the top of the layers to keep aloof and distinguish the world of the dead in relation to the world of living. —

— The power of a wizard lies in his skill to distill, gather, exploit and channel the energy of the people flowing throughout the twilight zone in a way that the Wreath would never emerge to the surface. Our world resembles a huge domain, where there are small gushing fountains, people who emit power, without to be able to direct it.  We, scientists, experts, magicians – technicians, are puddles, cavities and pits, where the liquid from all those innumerous sources flow together. We are not offering this world not even a drop of liquid gas, but we can store and use the foreign liquid. Our authority is the concentration and use of foreign power. Due to this power, we can penetrate to the twilight zone, disrupting the borders of the layers and the successive sediments, handling energies of continually higher frequencies. Under the proper circumstances, the Holy Grail can tear and scatter all those barriers detaching our world from all twilight levels. —     

 –A constant and pressing flow is necessary to keep the precious stopper on its position. It is as if someone wants to hold down a submarine underwater object on the bottom of the bathtub, whereas it pushes up tending to ascent and buoyancy. As long as someone presses it from above in a way that ‘other and other waters cover it’ (Heraclitus), spraying water under pressure – in other words psychic power-, pushes it back and holds it on the bottom”.  

“So, here on the planet οf Canis Major”, Prometheus picked up the torch, “the following things seem to have happened, which we encountered as preceded events, when we proceeded to the act of Creation. A being from a parallel dimension, who was rather a vampire killed a man, if one could judge from the scars and the scratches on the neck. Instead of sucking the blood, however, as an entirely valuable sap, he left it ostentatiously, conspicuously and provocatively at the bottom of a lake. This is a sort of invitation to duel for us. Traditionally, the vampires along with the werewolves vindicate the living power of the people, being symbolized by their blood and absorb it for their own empowerment and reinforcement, instead of dispensing it as a converging pushback wave or energy flow, so that the stopper of the bathtub remains on position. In any case, the suspicious aggravating circumstance that the backstage vampire, who is supposed to hide behind all this, didn’t pump the victims for his personal satisfaction, as it corresponds to his nature, but he wasted the blood spilling it into a drainage pipe letting it flow unspent, unprocessed and useless into a crack of the floor, thickens the mystery.”

“Steps must be taken, which will include an inquiry of the vampire’s associates, mainly of werewolves, who are more accessible and available, and of course an ascent to a higher level of reality, where they dwell”, added Hyperion.

“So, let me see willing hands”, said Prometheus. “I am asking for volunteers regarding this issue. Yes, yes, let us not repeat ourselves. Hyperion is the ideal person for the mission, but I need him for the catasterisms and besides he cannot carry on all conceivable assignments”.   

Iapetus raised his hand hesitatingly.

“Oldest of the titans, when I ask for volunteers, I consider only serious applications and candidates, not dotards with rapidly advancing dementia”, disappointed him the captain. “You are the biggest joke, where, instead of saying that something is so old its age should be measured through radiocarbon dating or that it predates the Flood, we say that it is older than Iapetus. So, let the enterprises aside, father and stay put, don’t embarrass yourself, because the young people need love and a walking mile, while the old ones need sagebrush and chamomile”.   

“Unbearable are the times, when the offspring makes fun of the father. Young people enjoy the fruit of youth, as long as it is fresh and juicy, because later it turns bitter, blackens, shrinks, rots, becomes wrinkled, suitable only to spit out. And yet, as you know very well, master, I have also delved into the concentration techniques of the Atlantes. I can pass to higher levels of existence and face werewolves and vampires; the wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature; the fox may grow grey but never good; a leopard cannot change its spots. The above proverbs refer to me, not to the werewolves. If they are indeed werewolves, I am an old wolf and possess the needed telepathic powers to bend the creatures of the dark.  Let me do this, captain. I have the juices and the saps and the fuel for one last mission”.    

Commander Iapetus’ personal log (during my second drafting period, because in the first I have reached the rank of an admiral):

I entered the first level of dusk, darkness and twilight zone. The dim ramp lights are ways of the material intermediate flow’s manifestation, dimensions and domains, where the souls are classified pursuant to their sins. The all -around decoration became suddenly reality. The walls of gypsum were carved through a stone. Under my feet, the edges of the herbs rustled, dried up until now.     Perhaps the human imagination had created the twilight zone and many people came here, took the rules of the game very seriously and constituted a make-believe world confirming afterwards their own faith.

A night with a full moon in a multifaceted wood was enough to encounter a werewolf, since, as we said, they are easy to find. He welcomed me in the living room of his treehouse, because he knew that he couldn’t avoid the confrontation against a powerful initiated adept and magician like me from the moment I had addressed him with all due formality. I narrated the whole case to him, knowing in advance that he was already aware of the vampires’ movements, who were superior to his likes in the ladder of the exo- creatures hierarchy.

“As a dark creature of the night I can give you only one answer”. In the voice of the werewolf the irony was distinguishable. “Why don’t you take a vacation? Calm, relax, enjoy the blue grass and the cloudy dim sunset of this layer, go for a walk. Who cares for what the immortal ones aim and plan?”

At this moment, I realized that I could not hold myself back. I envisaged the werewolf in the eyes, in the shady pupils of the iris, that already flared with a scarlet shining or shone with a scarlet flare.      

“And if I crush you, dead blood- drinker, who waits for the others to doze to tear their tenons and neurons apart””, I asked. “If I disembowel you and force you to answer me?”

   «You are free to dare”, replied to me the werewolf with a tender- tender voice. “You are free to try, high-ranking one. Do you think that you are unknown to us? Do you think that we don’t know, where you draw your powers from?”

The eye penetrated the eye and the iris pupil to the iris pupil. A black pulsated tunnel formed, attracting me towards zero. A red sparking twister of stolen life, an alluring whisper in the ears, the etheric majestic surreal beauty of this young werewolf’s face dominated and suggested that I kneel before him weeping in admiration and despair and asking for forgiveness. He was very powerful, after all he had at his disposal the experience of a century, multiplied with the vehemence invested to him by the full moon. And I came to feel this vehemence in the superlative degree. I stood on rickety jittery feet and made an uncertain pace, I tended to fall on my knees.

          The werewolf laughed enjoying his temporary victory.

          At this point, I fueled my mental attack with such a fury that if it was expressed by a fireball, it would torch and set ablaze the fortification of an old Scottish castle along with a dozen houses (and a dozen ghosts). The irises of the werewolf paled, lost their color. A white light set in fire the numbing black tunnel. In front of me there was now a parched carved scar-faced old-timer, rocking back and forth with despair. The skin withered and fell from the face like a snow of scales or dandruff of the hair. Soon just like before, the power concentrated again like a thin lance, ran through my body, gained momentum, spiraled like an elastic string and thrust into the eye of the werewolf.   

          I poked into his memories and demanded that he discloses the required information. He was silent and I feared that I had cauterized his brain irreversibly.

          “White magician, if you please, I would like to protest…” In this last word there was a tension expressing resentment and hate. “and request you to refrain from such unprovoked attacks in the future. This aggressivity is totally unjustifiable…

                   Through provocation, duel, bets and pains

                   You suppress us and forge our chains

                   But I encourage my brothers to be free

                   To suck and drain the veins of them and thee”. 

      “Let us get to the bottom of the matter that makes no more sense now than before”, I shook the head. “Perhaps the vampire only wants to mislead the investigation. Why should he leave the trail of his bite behind and then let the precious blood go down the drain? The vampires consider blood a rare commodity and deal with it thriftly and gently. There is a proverb which is applied for them: A drop of blood to waste, means that a virgin is no more chaste”.

          “It is always easy to find an explanation”, said the werewolf. “For example, the biting vampire wanted perhaps to pin the suspicion on one of his hungry colleagues who would be accused of having lost his composure. Or he bit the victims but refrained from drinking their blood, letting it ooze away in the hope that he will not be discovered. Or the vampire was indeed hungry, he bit and chewed but came quickly to his senses and let the blood flow away to give the impression that he was framed.”  

Surely, you know the expression “I need a cigarette to relax”.  Here, the case was so difficult that we were forced to mobilize all mantras available for this region of heaven. One spell was destined for the correspondent constellation of Hydra, where, of course, the only antidote to Lernaean Hydra, which causes a combination of diseases, cervical spondylosis, hypertension, adrenal gland disorder and cnidosis, and its name was Hygeia (Health). On the other hand, to fill with life energy the constellation Crater, threatened and absorbed by the vampires, after an understanding with Prometheus we deemed the hymn of Leucothea as appropriate, who gave to the castaway Odysseus the saving headband, which was an energy veil to wrap himself until he reaches the shore.  

INCENSE OF HYGEIA, MANNA

   (Wished and desired, who love us tender all

     Hear us, Hygeia, surveillant, take us in your hall,  

    You wither the diseases of men through your care,  

          Every house feasts under your warming flare, 

     Arts bloom and blossom and the world summons you

     Only wasting Hades hates, repels you from its purview, 

     Everlasting, refreshing, reviving, mortals’ repose,

    Without you no one can himself to catharsis expose,  

     Without you, no sweet wealth is acquired, 

     Neither by young nor by old until he’s expired  

     Because you control everything and reign,

     You care for your adepts, being strong, sovereign  

     Please, above all, protect us from dementia and pain).

              LEUCOTHEA’s INCENSE, AROMAS

  (I summon Leucothea, of Cadmus, with your big purse,

   Of wreathed sleeping Dionysus’ breastfeeding nurse, 

   Goddess who rules over the sea, scorns the land

    You love the waves, you gave Odysseus the band

     On you the fate of the seafarers depends, 

    You stop the sails from trembling at both ends

     To those who choose to save, you are present, 

     But you‘d better give all a precious present

     To bring the ships to the harbor roaming with oars

     Lead your children always to the shores).  

I noticed a detail completely out of joint. No blue moss grew beside me, this harmless cute parasite of the flux was totally absent from the scene. I had reached the second twilight-layer and was for the time being the only inhabitant of this grey reverse side of the universe. Here, where the people felt a grotesque carnival fear, even if it was merely well played and pretended, the blue moss should flood the premises. It should hang from the heavens like a bunch of bizarre stalactites from the cave-roof, should have covered the ground with a disgusting drifting and billowing carpet, should have climbed the walls all over. But there was no moss. Perhaps someone had uprooted or burned the moss regularly, if he were a grey magician, or froze it, if he were a dark one.

The power scattered through space, the life-energy emanating from men disappeared erratically into the twilight zone. Surely it dripped continually through the fibers of the universe -to the first layer, the second, even the third. But in proximity to the underground dungeons gaped a hole, where a continuous power-flow poured. As if one had cut a small gap through the surrounding tissue and into the restricting riverbed, so that the stream of life trickled, seeped, and soaked into a lower plane, where it was gathered.

          A surplus of food for the brainless parasites was available. The moss crept parallel to the unexpected food, attracted by the life-stream and the emotions, originated from scurry scared people. It crept until the gap but withered instantly.

          A cold wind whipped me, I twisted my ankle and I was dragged off into the third layer of the twilight. I landed on my face and in lush green grass. A frozen squally wind roared. The sunlight trickled through the vagabond violet thick snowy clouds. A hilly area, covered with lush pricking grass, extended up to the horizon. Somewhere, in a great distance it thundered, lightnings flashed, but they stroke inversely from the grounds to the heavens, directed from the earth to the violet clouds.

          I stood up and swallowed because my ears were clogged. The usual sticky sultry humid feeling of the twilight, the treacherous sneaking insidious weakness, the wish to return to the actual world faded away. The third layer proved to be energetically balanced. As my eyes got used to it and I was able to distinguish things, I realized that the surrounding colors in spite of the improvement weren’t so cloying and so bright as usual. The grass was green but pale, the clouds rather grey-blue than violet. Even the lightnings seemed to be faint and weary, didn’t tickle or irritate the retina of the eyes. As the night came, I couldn’t see any star in the sky but at least boasted there the moon albeit lackadaisical, half -hearted and only due to a sense of duty. In the white shine and bilge of the moon on a canvas sea, the world seemed almost real and genuine. Trees with muslin leaves on the branches rustled in the wind but didn’t smell like grass. I was promptly aware that I couldn’t grasp or perceive any smell. Probably, if I were to chew a blade of grass, I wouldn’t feel not even the bitter taste of the plant-juice.

          I investigated the area and I spotted the vampire behind a withered fence.

          “We end up here after death, you know, and this is unfortunately a permanent arrangement. Do you like the paradise that expects us in the hereafter? What an impertinent fraud”, he said hollowly behind his barricade.

          Instead of answering to this opening statement, I bent down and picked up a spade of grass, put it to my mouth and chewed slowly. The juice was bitter but not bitter enough like fish-oil for instance. I blinked my eyes and looked at the sun. It shone in the heavens, but its light was not blinding. I clapped my hands, and a noise was heard, but it was dull and drowned. I breathed deeply, the air was fresh, nevertheless it lacked something, while something else was pumped into it. A slight rottenness lingered and stayed, the yawning void and absence of a missing element.

          “Here there is nothing fluent, nothing real”, I explained. “Here, there is no life”.

          “Bravo”, the vampire nodded. “Most need a little time to notice it, others live here for centuries before they grasp the obvious, namely that they have been deceived.”  

          “You cannot change with cheap and filthy tricks the fact that you are dead. Our lord granted to the deceased the grace of death quite intentionally and methodically, because the resurrection is impossible without it. If you suck the blood of your neighbor out of a nervous reaction or, even worse, you spill it on the floor like Onan did with his seed, then you reduce the power circulating through the layers of the twilight and predesigned to keep the wreath of creation in position. If you don’t use the blood for sustenance and you waste it instead as a protest for your unpleasant and inadequate situation, then your sin is even graver and twice as unbearable–.

          –The warmth of human love, the coldness of hatred, the run of the animals, the flight of the birds, the wing-flap of the butterfly and the grain flourishing and blossoming from the ground bequeath their trails as legacy. The universal flow of life-power, the drops of which are so greedily absorbed by parasites like the blue moss, the vampires and the werewolves, can’t be extinguished but it is bound to make a whole circle up to the terminal station, to return to the actual world via wreath of creation or alias holy grail, a world that craves for resurrection every moment. The supporting framework and grid of the twilight zone must be maintained at all costs–.

          –That’s why I am pronouncing the following curse. The “secularization” measure is imposed to you and your allies to make sure that you will never make use of any kind of magic, not now and not ever against things or creatures, alive or dead, unborn, corporeal or not or in a stage of transition. From this moment, the exercise of magic will be so far from you as the sun or the stars are distant from the Earth. Every effort to circumvent or violate this commandment will result into your immediate death and irreversible extinction. If you summon or usurp or expropriate the magic powers of a major or a lesser divinity, if you pump up, derive, circulate or canalize those powers under cover, then you will die a real death, which means that you will be erased from the quantum-world. As the direct consequence of your violation and exploitation of powers that you have committed, let this secularization be imposed and bind you in such a way that every divergence from these guidelines will be punishable with death, even worse, with erasure from the archive.

The wreath of creation is only a step far, in synchronized tact.

The strong and the clever will reach it with a decisive act. 

You will acquire nothing and all through your quest

So, if you are up to the task, be my guest. 

Beginning and end converge, head and tail,

Death and life are one, this is no fairy tale.

Don’t forfeit your present, don’t lament in front of God,

He will not be touched by your failure, don’t make Him prod.

He sees through us and has only one request,

that we love and be loved, that is His bequest.

Psalms don’t soften, as He deals guilt at His best.

Wisdom is bitter, stupidity is convenient and sweet,

Although it comprehends neither crash nor tweet.

Persuasion isn’t diligent and diligence isn’t persuasive,

only fools don’t understand that one cannot be evasive. 

CHAPTER Η’

 CORAX (CORVUS), LIBRA (ZYGOS), ANTARES

The scene begins in the ready room of the captain, where he sets the classical table to honor his high-ranking officers, reducing them only to Hyperion and Oceanus for economic reasons, i.e. to save some budget. The working lunch included ambrosia with caviar and Theobroma beer as well as Ichthyo-Saurian brandy to drink.

“We find ourselves in an era, where people cannot communicate neither to themselves not with the others anymore”, The divine Prometheus started the conversation. “The first circumstance leads them to avoid facing their contradictions and to just say ‘I am a contradictory being, what can you do’, the second one leads them to conduct parallel monologs instead of bridging their differences. The entire science of dialectics as reconciliation of opposite views, which we have taught in the past, has gone down the drain”. 

HYPERION: “All those originate from Heraclitus’ acceptance: ‘seawater is both clear and vile; potable and salutary for the fishes, indigestible and harmful for the (wo-)men’. This was rephrased later by Sceptics and Stoics. ‘Perfume appears very pleasant to humans but intolerable to dung-beetles and bees, and the sea- water is disgusting and nauseating to people but sweet and potable to the fishes.’”

OCEANUS: “Just a minute, I am also educated, not only the self-conceited Hyperion! At first sight Sceptics said about the object: “We can define nothing -since things differ and the opposite grounds are equivalent, it follows that the truth is unknown.”

Timon said: I cannot prove that honey is sweet, I can only point out that it seems so”. To show that both the mind and the senses could be deceptive, he used to say: “Attagas and Numenius convened”, who were well-known crooks of the Hellenistic era.  In the below the categories, modes or grounds of the Sceptics will be mentioned (mainly of Pyrrho of Elis and Aenesidemus of Knossos), through which the elaboration of the sensory data is made, more general than those of Kant, because they refer, not only to humans, but also “to every being with a perceptional ability”:

1. The mode depending on the variations among animals; It concerns the difference in their perception of things, whereby one is not a discern which is the more valid: “Perfume appears very pleasant to humans but intolerable to dung-beetles and bees, and the sea- water is disgusting and nauseating to people but sweet and potable to the fishes.”
2. The mode depending on the differences among humans;
3. The mode depending on the different constitutions of the sense-organs; It refers to the structure of the senses providing each time a different knowledge of things. For example, the picture or the representation provides vision with the emphasis of dents or corners, while touch can feel mainly surfaces or levels. Also, a food can be pleasant to smell but disgusting to taste, not according to the composition of the recognized object, but according to the construction of the receptor organ. 
4. The mode depending on circumstance; the result of the knowledge depends on our given corporeal or spiritual condition and situation; About the same things one judges differently if she/he rests or moves, rejoices or mourns, is asleep or awake, drunk or sober, young or old. So, the insane (is psychotic the politically correct expression?) hears voices imperceptible by the healthy. The sleeping can see things imperceptible by the awakened. It is also known the motto of Heraclitus “to the awakened the world is common, but everyone from the sleeping turns to her/his own world”. The hungry find delight in a food, which causes aversion and repletion to the satiated. Cowards consider something as dangerous, which causes no fear to the brave. 
5. The mode depending on positions and intervals and places; the same ship appears small and immovable from a distance, but big and moving from close; the same tower appears from a distance round, but from close square; the oar appears zigzagged being partially in the sea, but outside or inside of it appears upright. The necks of the doves present various and iridescent colors according to the view-angle and the position of the observer.
6. The mode depending on admixtures; According to this mode we acquire knowledge of the objects along with others, so that we have not clear and unmingled images about them, but a mixture with alien components. For example, the body appears lighter in the water and heavier outside of it, the landscape in hurricane is different from the one in sunshine etc.
7. The mode depending on the quantities and preparations of existing things; The same object influences differently a small quantity than a large one. Let us not forget that any object can be lethal depending on the quantity administered. A grain of sand seems harsh to the touch, but a dune of sand seems to be lean. Any medicine being mixed up accurately by the pharmacist is beneficial, but if one ingredient is more than indicated, then it is harmful.
8. The mode deriving from relativity; This mode summarizes the previous ones which indicated that due to the interdependence of things we cannot have a clear and precise knowledge of them.
9. The mode depending on frequent or rare encounters; This means that the usual events cause a weak impression, while the unusual have a more conspicuous impact. So, the daily sun is less admired than a comet, although the former is much more amazing than the latter and the earthquakes amaze people more, where they are rare. 
10. The mode depending on persuasions and customs and laws and belief in myths and dogmatic suppositions; This mode indicates that the perception of things and the concept of truth varies between the people according to the usages of their life, their laws, their mythical or religious traditions and their philosophical theories. To the Eskimos for instance adultery was considered in the past a courtesy and an indulging towards the visitor, while it was considered bad among the Christians. As far as the (rich) Arabs are concerned, they do not need adultery, since they can choose between many women of their harem. Other philosophers are idealists and other are materialists, some believe that the soul is mortal and some that it is immortal, there are those who believe that the world is governed by divine providence and those who maintain that there is no trace of such providence. Here must be clarified that the above doesn’t mean that anyone can represent whatever opinion she/he sees fit, since actuality does not depend on one’s viewpoint, but that everyone grasps a different part or level of the truth. 

According to Agrippa, the more recent Skeptics offer the following five modes of suspension of judgment:

1. first, the mode deriving from dispute, namely that there are differences of opinion and disagreements, arguments and contradictions in every issue due to the multiple interpretations and the resulting uncertainty.
2. second, the mode throwing one back ad infinitum; Dialectics is like a spiral. The knowledge about a thing depends on the knowledge about another and etc. ad infinitum.
3. third, the mode deriving from relativity; This refers more to the relativism of things than the subjectivism of opinions. 
4. fourth, the hypothetical mode, which is the tendency of the classical theoretical science to reduce everything to an axiom, unproven by definition, and barricade itself behind it to avoid the recurrence to infinity.  
5. fifth, the reciprocal mode, which means that we consider as proof of a sentence other premises that presuppose more or less the issue which must be proved (petitio principii).

PROMETHEUS: “Instead of the above modi of thinking, there are also the modi of speaking, the rhetorical figures: α) Allegory β) Consecution (αλληλουχία) γ) Deterioration (αλλοίωσις) δ) Analysis ε) Anastrophe στ) Anaphora ζ) Anecdote η) Antithesis θ) Antilog ι) Antiphase ια) Enumeration (απαρίθμησις) ιβ) Apograph ιγ) Apocope ιδ) Aporia ιε) Asyndeton ιστ) Narration (Αφήγησις)  ιζ) Dialog  ιη) Correction (Διόρθωσις) ιθ) Idolatry κ) Irony κα) Expose’ (Έκθεσις)  κβ) Ellipsis κγ) Enantiosis κδ) Reinforcement (Ενίσχυσις) κε) Ex-Asthenia κστ) Regrouping Diplomacy (Επαναδίπλωσις) κζ) Epanalepsis κη) Epenthesis κθ) Epexegesis λ) Epithets λα) Epitasis λβ) Individual Phrasing- Mentioning (Επίφρασις) λγ) Epiphonema  λδ) Argument (Επιχείρημα) λε) Eris λστ) Ethos- Poeia, Acting (Ηθοποιία) λζ) Letotes λη) Meiosis λθ) Metalepsis μ) Metaphor μα) Oxymoron μβ) Parabola μγ) Paradox μδ) Parathesis με) Paralepsis μστ) Paralleling μζ) Paraphrase μη) Parenthesis μθ) Alliteration (Παρήχησις) ν) Likening (Παρομοίωσις) να) Description  (Περιγραφή) νβ) Periphrasis νγ) Pleonasm νδ) Polysynthesis νε) Time and again (Πολύποτε) νστ) Prolepsis νζ) Prosthesis νη) Prosopography νθ) Personification (Προσωποποίησις) ξ) Rhetorical Question and Interpellation ξα) Syllepsis ξβ) Symploce ξγ) Synesthesia ξδ) Connection (Σύνδεσις) ξε) Synecdoche ξστ) Hyperbaton ξζ) Hyperbole ξη) Hyperthesis (syperimposing) ξθ) Hysteron -Proteron ο) Chronography. And let’s take it from the beginning for those figures we have forgotten: οα) Aphorism οβ) Apodosis ογ) Apheresis οδ) Ecbasis οε) Diatribe, οστ) Categorizing οζ) Climax οθ) Euphemism π) Emphasis πα) Entasis πβ) Peripheric Support (Περιφορά), πγ) Synecphonesis πδ) Synthesis πε) Synopsis πστ) Syntonizing πζ) Symbolism πη) Hypothesis, God how could I forget that! Eighty -eight figures of speech, eighty-eight constellations, eighty-eight Orphic hymns, how could that be different?  — 

–With all these sceptic manners and sophistic rhetorical figures our ancestors tried to bridge opposite views either locating a middle point (mesotes) among them or revealing that their contradiction is only ostensible and can be settled in a higher level”.  

        HYPERION: “So, when our wise elders saw that the spontaneous uncouth idea of justice as land surveying and division, sharing of lots, setting of boundaries, ‘barbed wire on the prairie’ and distribution of parcels ended up in crime, they found the solution of the market as meeting forum for the exchange of ethical views, according to which the society could be ruled. However, when someone tried to impose his own opinion on others developing a terroristic mentality, again our wise elders invented the institutions as combinations of material order and ethical – spiritual consideration constituting a synopsis, connection and contraction of the two previous situations”.

          OCEANUS: “The same dialectic is valid also in politics. The accumulation of some people’s wealth results in the impoverishment of the rest. On the other hand, the socialization of certain production means leads inexorably to inertia, attrition and abandonment due to laziness. So, the third stage of civilization implies restriction of accumulated wealth through the abolishment of inherited rights and improvement of production effectiveness through privatization of the production means. So, people bring the opposite arrangement to bear on the situation. The result is privatization or individual property on the production means and community in relation to products or goods. This way the economy is powered henceforth by labor, creation, artwork. The workers or the employees acquire a strong motive, because property and its perpetuation after death is a viable option only with regard to the components of production. On the other side the abrogation of inheritance and heredity prevents the accumulation of wealth, because possession is only possible, if one elaborates and refines the actual product combining the productivity with his very life, in the absence of which no transition or transaction can be achieved.  The above-mentioned ruling is more beneficial and rational. If a planet has adopted such regulation, it has entirely got over the average marks and passed the test with flying colors”.

          “Yes”, confirmed Prometheus. “People must remember again the reconciliation procedures of the litigating parties. And since it is the turn of designing the constellations of Corvus, Libra and Antares, I would like to point out the following:”

          “Master, sorry for the interruption, but we ‘d better continue our conversation in the bridge, where even …the dogs can eat the crumbles that fall from our big table”, observed Oceanus.  

          “You are right. The training of the crew continues to be one of my main priorities. And the best apprenticeship is this, where the student hears a part of the teachings and tries based on the doctrines framed in parenthesis to perform an intra-polation or an extrapolation, i.e. either to investigate thoroughly what lies within the boundaries or to infer the unknown from the known extending beyond the limits. The strategic advantage that information is to be provided only in a need- to -know basis is in the final analysis what favors and does not hinder the creative initiative, because the mystery inspires and incites people to fathom it, to appreciate its value and participate in it”.

          The team of the three entered noisily the central command hall and proceeded to the main screen. The present officers jerked fro their positions: “Captain on the bridge”.   

          “As you were”, said Prometheus. “Please, carry on your current assignments. Do not bother, we came here for some catasterisms, which we have prepared as an intimate confidential league, in an unofficial administrative council behind closed doors.  I was saying, Number One and Doctor, that the Corvus or raven is information that could be either true or false. That is why, here the sobriety and the lucidness of Apollo is more fitting. Do not forget the basic distinction of the ‘Birth of Tragedy’ into Dionysian and Apollonian spirit”.

APOLLO’s INCENSE, ΜΑΝΝΑ

(Come, blissful Phoebus playing the lyre and the flute,

From Memphis, slayer of womb-splitter Tityos -brute   

The harp slung behind you, you seed and till,

Leader of Muses, whose arrow goes over the hill,    

Smintheus Delphic slayer of Python, of Gryneium grove

Savage, light- bringer, of a glorious pedigree cove

Didymeus lover of Branchus, who can cause lesion,

King of Delos, who have a keen clear vision

Gold-locked, you reveal lucid omens, clear the fames

You eavesdrop to prayers of people with good names

You see from above the ether who has no husk, 

The happy earth throughout dawn, day and dusk

You enjoy tranquility, starred dark, silent and owl hoots, 

You care for world’s cohesion and search deep roots

You care for beginning and end, see the future from afar,

Always vigorous girding on the lyre and the guitar,   

Sometimes reaching horizon’s borders with your chord

From alto soprano to tenor and bass with a Doric accord

Mixing the components, see how far people can go,

Rewarding those who defeat fate and courage show,  

You approve winter and summer with equal analogy

Choosing low summer profile, and winter’s eulogy

You converge into a Doric ripe summer flower

That is why all worship you as king of power

You have the lasso of winds, the two-horned Pan you hire

Since you stamp life from birth until the final pyre

Listen to your adepts’ pleas until they expire).

“The constellation of Corvus begins taking form in the horizon”, said Oceanus.

“Master, the instruments of the ship confirm that”, said Eurybia. “Your psalm this time was excellently performed and brought quick results. We would very much appreciate it, though, if we could participate, as was often done in the past. With all due respect, I don’t think that it is right to subtract or revoke jurisdictions that you have conceded in previous circumstances”.

“Stand down, Eurybia, and don’t get impertinent. It is within the captain’s discretion to decide what task he will assign to whom”.

Here, Oceanus endeavored to protect Eurybia from Prometheus’ possible outburst.

“Eurybia, we all must keep our egoism in check and place even our putative worth into the proper dimensions. Do you think that we like being dependent for every Creation on the Sphere of the Sun and the energy, which is mailed to us from the beginning of time? We still ought to consider ourselves satisfied from the part and the share of Creation that falls upon us keeping our end up…”

“namely, elaborating information”, Prometheus hurried to add proudly. This is the important part and the basic component of the Creation, and I wouldn’t exchange that with anything, not even with absolute energy. Information is the “eidos”, the type that allows the artist to show”.

Leto wished also to put everyone’s mind in rest, but at the same time to flatter the Capitano. So, laying it too thick, she usually hung herself from the lips of Prometheus, after she had formulated a question instigating a prepared answer. So, in the current circumstance she said munching a leek”:

“Capitano, why did you say that raven means information?”

“If you do not remember this from earlier Creations, the patriarch of the doctors Asclepius was son of Apollo and Coronis. While Coronis was pregnant, her father Phlegyas ignored ostentatiously the divine intercourse and gave the bride to a man named Ischys. The raven sent a message to Apollo, who was furious about the incident, arched and killed poor Coronis, snatched the baby from her uterus and brought it to Centaur Chiron to raise it. The raven was at that time a very renowned messenger with an office of his own and a swarm of carrier pigeons at his disposal, apart from the messages originated from or addressed to serious clients, which he delivered personally himself. He also played the role of a self-appointed news agency broadcasting to all what he deemed important from the sequences of international events. The escutcheon or emblem of his office was the absolute white symbolizing the truth and the genuineness of information. The raven himself was a shining white bird making a statement of infallible credibility. Apollo, hearing the news, devastating for his feelings, passed the well-known five stages, denial- anger- sorrow- and during the stage of bargaining, which today is in second place, but in the antiquity was placed right before the final acceptance, grabbed him by the neck and made him swear that he was lying. The raven remained faithful to the journalists’ code of conduct. Then Apollo beat him black and blue, just as he is today to stress his discontent. This was the first time that the truth of a piece of information was connected unexpectedly to its being agreeable or disagreeable, whether it strokes and caresses the ears of the addressee or not. So later, Aegeus connected the white or black sails of the coming Theseus’ ship to the quality of the news, if it were auspicious or not”.  

“The relativity of events’ report and its passage from ontology to psychology and from the faithful catoptrics of reality to the disposition or the eagerness of acceptance on behalf of the listener was intensified even more by another raven”, intervened Hyperion. “Corax (crow) was a teacher of court rhetorics and had the kindness to teach a guy named Tisias without payment, on the agreement that the latter would pay the former, when he won his first trial. Yet Tisias was quite lazy and did not exercise his profession or else he had found other sources of income and postponed the payment to the teacher. Then Corax demanded his reward before court, clarifying that even if he lost the trial, he should receive the tuition fees according to their initial agreement. Tisias answered in reverse that if he won the trial, he would certainly not pay, and if he lost it, he would have again no obligation of paying the fee, since he would have never been victorious in a trial. Terrified and fed up, the judges threw their pens away and exclaimed: ‘From a bad crow a bad egg’.  Since then, Corax was connected irrevocably to the distortion of information and hairsplitting pettifoggery, contrarian to his initial good fame”.

“So, what is the solution, here?”, asked Prometheus rhetorically. “What message and what meaning should this constellation emit to Earth? Quite simply that the crow can be either white or black. In whatever news is broadcasted, the listener must assume that it is not valid or rather that also the opposite is valid and then he/she should try to make head or tail of it based on logic. He should have the balance and the impartiality of Libra, when elaborating some information. Thus, in a warriors’ clash there are the following given presuppositions. Firstly, that the primary fault lies with the invader, whatever justification he may invoke, secondly, that brutalities will be necessarily conducted by both sides. As far as a revolution is concerned, massive participation is the main criterium for its legitimacy, because it proves the preceding oppression that caused it; this, however, does not free or liberate it from the basic obligations of the war- conventions, such as the absolution of noncombatants is. To celebrate this, let us chant the hymn of Asclepius, who cures not only the diseases, but also the wounds of propaganda, falsified information and superficial flawed judgment”.  

      ASCLEPIUS’ INCENSE, MANNA

(Doctor of all, Asclepius, master playing the flute,

You heal us from every disease, no matter how brute

Who give mild presents, provide us with mettle,

With your wellness cure please, our heath settle.  

Like serious, grownup, adult, protect us from bad,

Keep up Phoebus’ blooming vigor a young lad,

Enemy of sickness, you have Hygiea in your booth,

Come, blissful, give us an end nice and smooth). 

OCEANUS: “Beyond that, however, the clouding of judgment by misinformation does not take place only due to fake news, but also because of the citizen’s tendency to magnify the importance of one news and ignore ostentatiously the other one. We are dealing here with the conspiracy of silence regarding whatever is not to our interest, while on the contrary we propagate and advertise shamelessly and without inhibitions whatever fits our crystallized convictions. The selection of the subject with which one occupies himself and chooses his battles is a basic element of politics, however the neglection of a subject for the benefit of underlining another must not reach to turning a blind eye to the facts. It is not right for any matter to be covered by the veil of silence, on the contrary dialectics, mediation and conversation contribute to balancing and compensation between the standpoints and the interests hiding behind the facts and lead to consensus laws, through which the just principle is achieved that whatever is good for the one, is also good for the many”.

    “In the final analysis, professor of both medicine and medical practice, you are not just a country doctor, as you always maintain referring to Socratic ignorance”, continued Hyperion. “The choice of breaking news that leads anyone to a sort of cocoon or cubicle, where one listens only to events or comments agreeing with one’s conviction to the exclusion of all other annoying inputs, is symbolized by the story of Alectryon. He was a servant of the warmongering Ares, whom the god took with him on his saddle, when he rode Deimos or Phobos to go unnoticed and have sex with Aphrodite. He had assigned him the task of watching if someone uninvited appear suddenly, for instance the husband of Aphrodite Hephestus interrupting the coitus ingloriously and untimely. Hephestus, however, had adapted on the sinful (so to speak) bed the Sagene, namely a dragnet – a trap, through which he captured Ares on the moment of the orgasm. Ares shouted in vain, ‘help- help’ because in the meantime Alectryon was already sound asleep. So, Hephestus brought the lovers tied up like an animal or knotted like shoe- laces in front of the council of the gods, being continuously in session, whereby the aigrette of Ares’ helmet had merged with the fluffy tufty lacy and frothy night-gown of Aphrodite and asked their moral condemnation. In the end, since gods remain always gods and dispense both the sickness and the cure or anyway have extensive means, bigger levers, joysticks or crowbars as we do, the two came out unharmed and not worse for wear from the whole story with just a little punishment of exile, Ares to Thrace to remember the deed of Enyalius extermination, and Aphrodite to Cyprus to keep on playing with the conches and the waves; it was Alectryon who paid the price being transformed into a rooster who crows everyday waking up both himself and the others. Alectryon symbolizes the news that it is not compatible with our views arousing and waking us from the lethargy of crystallized opinions”. 

“To honor the story that you narrated, Hyperion, let us chant the hymn of Ares, although in fact we need Anti- Ares (Antares) in this life, i.e. mild and quiet people being like the morning dew and frost, an aura and a breeze on the leaves. The enemies of the wannabe gods of the wormhole have destroyed us, have obliged us, titans, to fight instead of devoting to peaceful tasks. So, behold a traditional hymn od Ares, which also praises Antares.

ARES’ INCENSE, LABDANUM

(Magnanimous, untearable, with vigorous hands and arms,

Slayer of men who strike the walls with an arsenal of arms

King Ares who rattle your weapons, guilty of murder

Bloodthirsty, warmonger, instead of becoming a herder, 

Who covet for swords and spears in a useless battle,  

Stop the manic attacks, rather shepherd some cattle

Accept rather the pleasure and Dionysus’ procession

Change the power of arms with a farmers’ session,  

To feed us all under peaceful laws and progression).  

BONUS: HYMN TO ARES

(VERY OLD, REFERRING TO THE TRAJECTORY OF THE PLANER MARS)

(Mighty Ares, armed to the teeth, with soldier’s cap, 

Noisemaker, city savior, letting no one take a nap

Forceful, tireless who can raise a wall of spears

Defeating easily the enemy, as soon as he appears,

Tyrant of your opponents, proud the torch bear,  

Dance in the fiery circle, shake a scepter in the air,  

You define your trajectory with seven given points,  

Flaming horses lead you to apex and antapex joints. 

Helper of mortals, who escort during puberty,  

You guide the heavens to serenity, liberty

Give us strength and power so that we may

The bitter meanness to lift and the dismay,

The soul’s treacherous deceptive urge to overcome

If someone irritates me, send him to kingdom’s come

In the cold cries of war with grace to intervene

To brandish institutional care in every needy scene

Away from ominous battles my elbow to lean).       

CHAPTER Θ’

SCORPION, SAGITTARIUS, ASPIS (SCUTUM), CAPRICORN

HYPERION: “Catasterism of constellation Scorpion in five, four, three, two, one. Execution”.

SAVAGE’s INCENSE, AROMAS

(Hear, you son of Cronus, glorious demon, boaster,

even symposiast Dionysus joins your roller-coaster,

It is your precious toy You have tied him in your thigh, 

Bring him to Tmolus, let him not fall from sky-high

Blissful, lord of Phrygia, king the land and of the poles  

Be lenient, help your secret servants in all globes).   

OCEANUS: “He is Scorpion and his nature is to bite and poison, so, it is to be expected that his god and master is Savage, a sort of Zeus, but even more ferocious and unjust”.  

HYPERION: “Catasterism of Constellation Sagittarius in five, four, three, two, one. Execution”.

INCENSE OF THE CRADLER, MANNA

(I am calling Dionysus cradling his own figure and shapes,

Who cradle in your bed but also harvest vintage of grapes,

An offspring of nymphs and of wreathed Aphrodite, 

Who vibrate in the dance and the steps expedite,

You join the nymphs with a crook and a mania’s goad

With Zeus will Persephone’s liability and load, 

You were raised as a friend of the immortal gods,

So, you must accept their morals and codes).  

OCEANUS: “Well, you see, the zodiac sign of Sagittarius is very unstable, and so the psalmody in the honor of the warlord Dionysus, who cradled the whole ecumene with his military campaigns and stirred up all hearts through his grapes’ fermentation, appears indicated”.   

Prometheus entered the bridge hastily.

“Sit down and refrain from bows, greetings, salutations, addresses or self- announcements. Hyperion, in what status do we encounter the constellations of Scorpion and Sagittarius? That is of interest to me. They are both intrinsically and extrinsically aggressive formations which have tortured us sufficiently in the past.”

“I looked up whatever I could regarding registered memories from previous cycles of Creation”, answered Hyperion. “As the Ecclesiast says:

‘A generation goes and a generation comes,

And the earth is established into the eon;

and rises the sun and unto its lace it draws.

In its rising it goes forth to the south and it circles

to the north- circles circling is going the spirit

and returns at its circuits… what is the thing taking place?

The same thing as shall be taking place.

And what is the thing being done?

The same thing that shall be done.’”

“Mercy, Hyperion, stop this unbearable intolerable Atlantic bubbling! I only care for the diplomatic statis between the domain of Scorpion and the one of Sagittarius”.

“Master, the invocation of the successive cycles of history is never inappropriate or out of place. Besides, there is a relation between Cyclone which is a twister of the Northern hemisphere and Typhoon, which will preoccupy us in the following and is always located on the northern hemisphere.”

“Typhoon (Typhon) again! Yes, I remember something from the mist of the childish memories. Please, give me a full professional report.”  

“Typhon was raised in the Typhonic cave of Cilicia and climbed the ladder of offices with great effort to become king of Sagittarius, tributary to the warmongering Scorpions, who had the god-equal Savage as their leader, a ferocious overlord, who was animated by some kind of primordial justice. Being a cunning dexterous general and a versatile politician, he got rogue and renegade and rushed Scorpion together with his allies, burning and looting. He was always a formidable enemy, a scarecrow for all with the mixed nature of a man and a beast. He always exceeded all children of earth regarding size and strength. He is anthropomorphic down to the thighs, underneath he has infinite helices of vipers, coiled or spiraled, rising to the top, as they emit tremendous whistling. The size of his body is higher than the mountains, sometimes his head reaches the sky, his hands stretch from East to West and from each one hundred dragon heads emerge. His body is covered by feathers, while his beards stand pointed, savage, wavy. I forgot to say that fire emerges from his mouth and eyes. Throwing flaming stones, Typhon defeated easily his opponents, who chose to play hooky and retreat ingloriously rather than face him. In the end, Typhon identified his opponent Savage and attacked him with his full force. The battle was relentless. Typhon winded around his enemy with his vipers and, after cutting his nerves with a sharp harp (sickle), he appropriated them having henceforth a nervous system at his disposal, through which he could direct industrial mechanical men, ships, troops, corps, even whole armies”.     

“When you refer to nervous system, tell us also what you mean, because there are also the perfidious ones who perceive the metaphorical expressions literally, only to find sufficient cause to doubt them.”

“We are talking about a sophisticated net of artificial intelligence and enhanced reality, capable of directing from a distance vast information receivers, which was, however, integrated to Savage in a quantum macroscopic form, instead of occupying entire stores of heavy machinery.”

“This is serious, Hyperion. Here, the balance of powers has been disturbed and we ought to intervene. Typhon has the power to slingshot mountains, lava and fireballs against his enemies, while the Scorpions fight with conventional means, cannons and poisoned arrows or lances, on the base of which they have acquired their name. Of course, the Scorpions are also not exemplary guys, one could say; they are just savage and uncivilized, sexually frantic and prone to revelry, worshiping a ferocious god within their state. Beyond that, why did Typhon invade them? To civilize them? There are always justifications, which the invaders gladly invoke, the most usual of those being that if ‘we didn’t attack, they would have attacked us’. They are supposed to arm themselves, to be threatening, to suppress a minority that belongs to us. Yet, such sophistries cannot persuade us, isn’t that so lads? Because we are…”

“because we are titans, because we are Greek,

We are Achaeans at our very peak

We care for all and we help the meek

When we see injustice, go in, our guns blazing,

We know there is no good to those invading”, shouted the crew encouraged.

“We will organize a surgical mission, through which we will recover the digital panoply of Savage and give it back to him. Then, we will help him in battle with our zap- and ray-guns and will restore the borderline between the two constellations back to ‘status quo ante’, i.e. we will attempt and proceed to ‘restitutio in integrum’.  

“Indeed, in today’s highly evolved era”, Hyperion made the useless comment of the week, “the invasions killing innocent have become unnecessary”. With the contemporary means of focused and surgical technology, the great enlightened masters and commanders, overlords and warlords can send from afar an unmanned flying micro-vessel or remote- controlled drone full of undetectable poison ή ένα μη ανιχνεύσιμο δηλητήριο and sweep clean whoever they deem contrarian to their interests and his heir as well. The conquests of land are now entirely obsolete and there is an alternative method of enhancing the influence with subtler and finer ways, such as advertisement, corruption through consumption, propaganda through false accounts in the internet, espionage, deployment of strawmen, puppets or hired and bribed personnel in the government councils, even the organization of a successful bloodless coup etc. All these alternatives are preferable to invasions”.  

To make a long story short a landing party was formed consisted of Leto, Buphagus, Anchiale and Metis that came down and skirmished around the headquarters of Typhon. They were, of course, extremely discreet and light- footed – no one saw them, no one heard them, although Leto continued to chew leeks due to her anorexia nervosa, just as the cat picks at catnip; At that point, reader, I ask of you to bear in mind all the stereotypes, triteness, patterns and standards, usually being adopted in adventures of stealthy infiltration of a castle or a fortress that is supposed to be guarded draconically, yet the raiders with knives in the hands and lampblack on the face manage to exterminate the sentinels one by one, and find an imperfectly controlled entrance or a backdoor to get in. Afterwards, the wandering in the infinite corridors of the dark ominous building begins until the heroes locate the searched artefact and the treasure and then they retreat in a bad shape, being persecuted by a hundred hostile agents, who could be either soldiers, or (wo-) men of security or mercenaries or mere thugs. If I were to describe all this, not even a thousand pages would be enough. So, to avoid overtaxing the rainforest of Amazonas, where the paper comes from, but also to facilitate the editor of “Titanomachy”, given that most of the costs concern the printing, you understand that you should mobilize your phantasy to work overtime and cover the gaps of the narration, which, however, are not essential in an unmixed strictly philosophical roman like the one you hold in your hands. Still, I ought to give you some factual elements: first, that the landing party went down disguised in skins and integuments, as the commandos of that time (what time?) usually did, that is why they were calumniated by the enemy Sagitarii (archers) of the Typhon’s regiment as goat-footed Aegipans. One feels always better if one maintains that she/he was defeated by a monster and not a normal adversary. Secondly, let me tell you that Anchiale, who was an educated nurse, benumbed Typhon with a hypo-spray and then managed to subtract the neural straps from the body of the sleeping warlord with a diamond harp used as a chirurgical precision scalpel. This neural strap after a relentless hunt, injuries, heroic transport of some members of the landing party on the shoulders of others, overriding of restrictive walls and energy fields, temporary loss and magical recovery of the artefact etc. was finally handed to Savage. So, the balance of powers has been restored. From there the ray-guns, thunder cannons of Ventistos Venthylos picked up the torch fighting a great battle against the archers of Typhon, who catapulted entire meteors to pierce the hull of the space- trireme. So much blood was spilled in these heavenly naval battles that a mountain of that Earth was named Aimos (bloody), while another was called Aetna, as a flaming meteor collided like a tennis racket with the front command disc of Venovinda (you know, the one placed before the two nacelles) and buried Typhon, who blew out this hot breath like ignited steam through the mass of the rocks establishing a stratovolcano. Anyway, the “status quo ante” of the borders was restored with lot of sweat and blood.  

Then Prometheus, who had at his disposal a lot of means – and how nice it is, if the good fellas of history have also the power to enforce virtue and defeat malice -, installed between the constellation of the Scorpion and the one of Sagittarius the constellation of Scutum (Aspis): how? Inserting between them the famous huge shield of Achilles, a vast -titanic artefact picturing and at the same time inciting to peaceful deeds, so that both war-races would finally come to terms and perform together some honorable tasks!

Homer delivers us a detailed description of the pictures decorating the shield of Achilles.  Starting from the shield’s center and moving outward, circle layer by circle layer, the shield is laid out as follows:

 Starting from the shield’s center and moving outward, circle layer by circle layer, the shield is laid out as follows: α. The Earth, sky and sea, the sun, the moon and the  constellations: Pleiades, Hyades, Orion, and Ursa Major; β) Two beautiful cities full of people: in one a wedding and a law case are taking place; the other city is besieged by one feuding army and the shield shows an ambush and a battle; γ) A field being plowed for the third time; δ) A king’s estate where the harvest is being reaped; ε) A vineyard with grape pickers and children; στ) A herd of straight-horned cattle; the lead bull has been attacked by a pair of savage lions which the herdsmen and their dogs are trying to beat off; ζ) A picture of a sheep farm; η) A dancing floor where young men and women are dancing and courting; θ) The great stream of Ocean.

After all that, dull peace dominated the area, that’s why it is not strange that Prometheus celebrated the pertinent development chanting the Orphic hymn of Sleep. Peace is dull, this is its great charisma and advantage! No news is good news!  

INSENCE OF HYPNOS THROUGH POPPY

(Hypnos, king of blissful but also mortal men, 

And all animals, whatever feeds the land’s semen,  

You conquer above all, you seduce them and charm,

Confine their bodies with chains and rings on the arm,  

Carefree, you give rest and ease our labors

Tell stories to relieve us and our neighbors,  

You train us for death, you wash our souls in light,

Because you have of Lethe and Death power and might.  

But, blissful, come nearer to embrace, trick or treat

Along with your adepts lead us through rest to feat).

Beyond Scorpion, Sagittarius and Scutum the mythological starship catasterized Capricorn (Aegocerus- goat-horned), as Aegipan was renamed, who according to the circulating rumors achieved the balance of powers, beneficial for the peace. To ceebrate and honor Capricorn, Prometheus and his crew welcome you aboard… eh sorry psalmed the hymn of the wise, bashful, prudent and generally recognized Athene.

HYMN OF ATHENE

(Pallas, only begotten, daughter of Zeus, performing chores

Blissful goddess, you don’t make noise on bed, but in wars

You know how to keep silent and how to speak, 

Jumping the high-necked mountains up to the peak

You entertain yourself in shady slopes and ravines,  

You teach the mortals what bravery or valor means.

You are a daughter who trains, occasionally gets angry

Avoiding the mattress, but for the arts you are hungry.

You orchestrate bad urges, but also prudence for the good

Enthroning spirit in both the mind, the will and the mood

Eolomorph, dragoness, shining lover of flowers

Defeater of Phlegra’s giants, rider that arrows showers,

Hybrid -born, redeemer of evil, fighting, fencing victor,

Blue-eyed, tricky, queen in the whole land and lictor,

 Day and night, during the calm and the hurricane, 

Listen to us, bring us peace, include us in your reign, 

Feed us, strengthen us, make us join your campaign).

CHAPTER Ι’

ICHTHYOSAUR (FOMALHAUT), ICHTYS (PISCES), AQUARIUS, CETUS (gen. CETI)

Catasterism of Ichthyosaur in five, four, three, two, one, execution.

 INCENSE OF GRACES, STYRAX

(Hear us, Graces, Charites, with your glorious bed

Daughters of Eurynome, who has a deep …unsaid,

Aglaia, Thaleia, Euphrosyne, who have also born    

Charmosyne and others beloved or furious – scorned

Eolomorph, ever- thriving, desirable to people,

Since not the rays of sun, either gold or purple, 

Neither the virtue of wisdom nor the values’ list

Nor the achievements of life nor any fatty feast,

Without you can arouse someone to the spirit’s gist. 

That is why, you are always around humble

Never aloof, but always to adept your secrets mumble.

        PROMETHEUS: “Eurynome, adulteress, Leontion and Mammarion of Epicurus, hetaera of Pericles, it seems we haven’t kept up with the news! Fancy that, in some quantum reality, you have slept with our worst enemy, how embarrassing and shameful. Have you no shame (aeschine), you, Aeschines? And on top of all, has your name entered a hymn? What else are we about to suffer and sustain to fulfill our current mission? Of course, as a captain I have nothing to reproach you for. You are exercising your duties satisfactorily, although sometimes just to be done with it. You usually mobilize yourself in the end of every Creation, enjoying the creative, artistic part, while during the Homeric battles you cut yourself considerable slack flaking out at work”.

      EURYNOME: “Eh…, what I mean to say is that … you know regarding the part of the hymn about my deep gulf … you should not be disappointed… it’ s not the size that matters, as it is motivation, desire, devotion, atmosphere… let us not forget that libido is one thing, while erotism is another ….”

      PROMETHEUS: “Well, that’s enough, drop the subject, OK? Let us proceed quickly to the catasterism of Ichthys psalming the hymn of Lysius – Linaeus. For Pete’s sake, don’t we have a quality troparion to sing? Should all be so sexual and degenerate? I don’t wonder how and why Christendom arose in our wake and wiped us out. To no use has our poor Julian mocked them saying ‘I read, I knew, I condemned’ (ανέγνων, έγνων, κατέγνων). But Saint Basil of Caesarea (not the red fat Santa Claus of Coca-Cola) got the better of him and hushed him with the hollow smartness ‘you read but you didn’t know, because if you knew, you wouldn’t condemn’. Simple folks are not so immoral, as we, the pseudo-progressive intellectuals, believe. People uphold principles, and in the end, we are going to be handicapped and outflanked, exactly where our main superiority lies, which is morality. Sometimes, our tendency to aesthetics is bigger than our attachment to ethics. Or is perhaps our main achievement our logic or our mythology- psychology? Anyway, leave it to the young to choose, what patent or what intellectual property of ours they will plagiarize first to ensure their survival”. 

HYMN OF LYSIUS – LINAEUS

      (Hear, blissful, son of Zeus, Bacchus with two mothers

      Glorified for your sperm, valuable for all the others,

      Hidden-born, I want to use your fruit for cure, 

      Apply it on my wound and be healed for sure, 

      Ground-breaker, Linaeus, who blow winds,

     Relieve our pain, penetrate healingly our rinds, 

     Touch us, enrich our marrow, stop our sorrow,

     With your magical thyrsus redeem our tomorrow

     Choose whom you want yourself to reveal

      Assuage, appease the adepts with your appeal).

      “Master, I believe that the interpretation of the oracle, where you clarify that Bacchus- Dionysus is a homeopathic cure for the unchained sensually – hedonically addicted, is a nice touch”, admitted Hyperion

      Koios turned from the rudder and said:

      “Master, I remind you that we have entered the constellation of the Pisces (Ichthys, Fish), where according to earlier reports from past Creations, regarding to which one wonders why she/he had tied a ribbon in the finger, an intense protoplasmic and ectoplasmic activity from other dimensions is to be noted. The creatures are quite expectedly fishes, huge space- beasts secreting extremely corrosive sperm to the titanium walls, from which our spaceships are made”.

      “Lieutenant, the right scientific ethos dictates that you remind the captain of the innocence of these poor fishes, who have no beef with us, they simply consider the space-triremes as female beings of their species and hurry up to fertilize us. Subsidiarily, since the females breastfeed their babies, exercising a perverse attraction to the males, who also want to suckle, the latter see us as a source of nourishment and food and attach on the metal of the vessels to milk our energy”.

      “Commander, what’s got this to do with our need to err to the side of caution? The motives of the fishes are indifferent to us; we are neither going to analyze them nor spend any grey matter concerning them. When someone attacks or harms another, is either crazy or bad or stupid. It is not required of us to compose a treatise or to get a doctoral degree only to …”

      “Your logic is naive and simplistic, fitting more to caps or redshirts rather than an officer of the fleet, fully pretrained in every possible matter”.  

      “Stop”, said Kreios. “Fish at two o’ clock, coming about at dyne- warp speed”.  

          “Red alert, all hands to battle stations”, said Prometheus. “Activate shields and perform evasive maneuvers. Ray-guns on standby”.  

      “Attention, it wants to stick on us”.

      “Helmsman, we have already ordered evasive maneuvers, that’s the solution. Now, if you can’t do evasive maneuvers, that’s your problem, not the captain’s. In any case, I gave you the proper command”.

      “I, I or aye, aye, it is my turn to respond. We have distanced ourselves enough clicks from the first fish, but there is another coming hard from port”.  

      “No one goes left winged on me and lives to talk about it”, said Prometheus.

      No matter how much the navigator and the helmsman tried, the first plotting continually a now course and the second turning the steering wheel right and left, the fishes got closer.

      Koios turned towards the captain’s chair, obviously disturbed by the sequence of events. 

         “Master, I can elude one fish, not two! Not two.”  

      “Let it be written in the captain’s log that I was forced to exercise violence as the ultimate solution, after the helmsman notified me that he cannot elude two fishes at the same time”, ordered the captain. “Eurybia, Eurynome, Leto, woman the guns”.

      “I, I”, stepped forward Leto. Our viewfinder has targeted and locked a fish at ten o’ clock. No, just a minute, the damned thing perceived that and is going away. It is moving at a distance approximately equal to the range of our cannons, occasionally getting out of range and then back within. Do you think that it is sentient, captain?”

      “I don’t give a rat’s ass if it is sentient, the xenobiological, xeno- sociological and cliometrical research can wait. Theia, you take control of the guns. As soon as the fish places even a half tail within range, I want you to automatically fire it”.  

      The screen showed two large fishes winding in space with pulsing, iridescent, fluorescent bodies, traversed by various traffic, status or navigation lights, as if they were shrimps or cuttlefishes.”

      “Captain, as first officer I am obliged to point out alternatives”, said Hyperion. “If we lock the fishes on the verge of the range, they veer sideways and get clear. On the contrary, if we are patient and let them get a little closer, then it takes only one shot to pass through them”.

      “Hm”, said Prometheus grabbing sovereignly or even a bit anxiously the arms of his armchair. “Let it not be known that I don’t take seriously in account the recommendations of my first officer. Let’s do this. Leto, keep the guns on standby, wait until the fishes approach us and then fire all cannons at will.”  

      At some time, the sound of a detonating zap-gun was heard. Prometheus searched for the invisible trace of the ray in space, a vain effort!

      “Leto, your shot was a dud. I don’t see any direct hit or a bull’s eye, maybe you just shot some tentacle which is no good even for an octopus- in- vinegar dish”, he expressed himself disappointed.

      “New targeting, new lock, bogus at the fourth quadrant”, said Leto.  

      “Shoot a torpedo volley to them, we are not in the mood of saving components, right now”, ordered Prometheus.  

      “Fire, fire, the devil should hold them”, swore Leto unjustifiably.

      “Lieutenant j.g., I am forced to reproach you, because such language is inappropriate for a member of starfleet. I am subtracting ten points from your tag, demoting you -effective immediately- to adjutant, unless you choose to buy them off with a hundred pushups in the gymnasium of Venovinda.”, Hyperion bestowed on her a reprimand.

      “Not now, Hyperion”, Prometheus interrupted him. “It is not the proper time for you to exercise your supplemental task of proctor, lictor, tutor, coach, overseer, supervisor, attendant, censor etc.”

      In the meantime, the goldfish on the screen leaped, its colors got out of joint, its movements paralyzed and a liquid which could also be gas gushed up in an explosive decompression from its body.

      “We got it, we got it”, the shooters and the gunners jubilated hugging one another.  

      “Such kind of celebration for the inglorious death of a partially undefended opponent is unworthy for a member of the space- trireme N.A.O.S. CO.M.MY.S.S. (Cosmological Mesonic Mythological Starship) Venovinda”, the relentless Hyperion intervened. “An officer of Astro-galactic Organization of Sirius must be equally reserved concerning both laudations and reproaches, keep his/her cool-headedness and her/his logic intact in very circumstance…”

The jubilations were indeed obscured and moderated through the appearance of four new fishes who chased the astral vessel mercilessly, without bothering, recoiling or even caring for the extinction of one of them.  

      “Under these circumstances, we are forced to put in motion our most extraordinary means”, certified Prometheus. “Let us chant altogether the hymn for the catasterism of Aquarius constellation, suitable par excellence to sooth the fishes. To this end I choose the Orphic hymn of Hours, because we are standing here before a kind of seasoning. We also proceed to the hymn of Melinoe signifying the catasterism of Cetus, most intelligibly related to our case.”

                INCENSE OF HOURS, AROMAS

      (Daughters of Zeus and Themis, hours, 

      Eunomia, Dike, Irene, all of them are ours,

      You are of the spring, you rejoice on the meadows, 

      Emitting colors, sweet smell from your windows,

      You are everlasting, goodlooking and dancing,

      Wearing airy veils, with fragrance lancing,

      Cosplayers of Persephone, please, proceed

      Together with Graces circling dances lead,

      Devoted to Zeus and Demeter, who all of us saves,

      Come to the fiesta, where she as fruit-bearer raves,

      Giving amble production in houses, folds and caves).

          MELINOE’s INCENSE, AROMAS

      (I call Melinoe, a ground nymph with crocus veils

      Born at Cocytus’ estuary which is full of sails

      By Persephone, on Zeus’ bed, under his roof

      Pretending to be Pluto or stranger aloof,  

      Breaking her mood into mania and greed

      So that the elements get crazy, impossible to read,  

      Gave her purpose, the types of ideas and the ark, 

Which one can see through nepenthes’, orchids’ dark.

When you make underground raids as earth’s insider

Being a chthonian queen and a cool easy rider

Please, goddess, prevent the soul from being mad, 

Make it strong, benevolent, dispassionate, not sad).  

                 Despite the hymns, the situation did not seem to become any better. The fishes, following Venovinda in lockstep or rather with a palindromic movement of their tails, catapulted sperm for fertilization, while the remaining fish from the two who had attacked attached to the engineering section and tried to suck energy applying his corrosive glue.  

      “The engineering room just as the whole back section of the ship is under stress, captain”, said Eurybia. “Almost all electromagnetic power from the crystals’ reaction is sucked by the fish and is not channeled to the conduits. It is as if we have suffered a kind of ischemic encephalic episode. Beyond that, infiltration and transudation of the walls are registered leading to dialysis, osmosis and fracture of the outer hull. The space mates are just now evacuating the engineering”.  

      “Why, did I give such order? They should stay in position and defend it. We are at risk of staying immovable in space, dead in the water, without any energy in our drives”.

      “My lord, I have a groundbreaking proposition, which should be implemented immediately, but I have no time for extensive explanations”, said Hyperion. “It is obvious that the idolatry or pagan hymns, and to honor inferior second -class deities at that, are neither beneficial nor powerful enough in our specific case”.  

      “I got it”, said Oceanus. “Since we are dealing with fishes, the solution is the Christian troparion. Ichthys – Jesus Christus God’s son Savior, born and baptized in the water. Christianity is perhaps the only movement that can be compared to ancient Greek titanism, because the former proceeds parallel with the latter throughout history representing almost the same principles”.

      “Yes, but based on arbitrary non- etiologic, mostly unjustifiable faith, not on scientific accuracy and method”, argued Prometheus. “We need conscientious citizens, not blinded fans. The acceptance of the moral principles must have logic as fundament, not fear…”

      “Prometheus, we must hurry!” yelled Hyperion desperately, whole the ship was shaken and seriously beaten by successive strikes.

      “OK, let us begin chanting a Christian psalm, although according to my viewpoint Christians are pretorians, Valets de Chambre, privileged confidant snitches and rats, private councilors  of God, internal affairs’ spies, being sent to all epochs to ascertain if we, the titans, the real agents, are up to the dirty work that He has assigned us”.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”, Hyperion screamed urgently.

“Boys and girls, a both sacrificial and Christian inspiration has occurred me”, announced Prometheus. “One of you should take a shuttle and invade deep inside the attached fish to tear its intestines to ribbons. Does that sound like a plan? Metis, I nominate you as a volunteer. Go and teach this creature a lesson that it will not forget. Go and sin no more.”

“I, I”, said the energetic Metis und disappeared running from the bridge.  

At the same time Prometheus addressed the gunners.  

“Leto, aft cannons, lock all three targets. Channel auxiliary power to the weapons system, if necessary, diverting from the life support system”.  

 “I am interpreting your command, not obeying it blindly, captain, as we, the titans, are taught. The targets are four and I am aiming them one by one”, clarified Leto.

 ^“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.”

 “Capitano, one of our fish persecutors is wriggling convulsively due to the direct hits of our cannons, his colors are short-circuited, fading, extinguishing!”

“Good, we need some good news”, said Prometheus. “And don’t forget. Time is a luxury we don’t have”, he added a saying, which anyway he uttered at any rate, in any case.

“He leadeth me beside the still waters.”

“Master, the shuttle “Salaminia’ under the leadersphip of Metis has scored powerful blows on the attached fish to such a degree that he begins losing skin cohesion and organs’ function”.  

“Well done, Metis, bravo, you have a great mind, as your name suggests, and not only a big nose. I knew that you would do me credit!”

 ^“He restoreth my soul.”

“Hegemon, attached enemy fish is disintegrated, broken into smithereens!” Wild enthusiastic cheers followed this encouraging news.

“He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake”.

“Main fish at six o’ clock presents problems leaving formation, dizzy due to our thunder cannons. But also, the fish at seven o’ clock seems to shrink and wrinkle.”

New jubilations deafened the bridge.

 ^“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”

“Now, I am going to give the only possible order, which one could conceive under those circumstances. Attention, it will be a shepherd’s command, not a Delphic maxim or precept; I don’t want any interpretations or such dandy, queer or faggy concoctions. Just concentrate your firepower on the last remaining fish. Launch also one or two photon torpedoes in addition to blow him to Kingdom’s Come and beyond!”

“For thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”

Th guns and the torpedoes of Venovinda shredded easily the last fish. And the crew rejoiced.

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.”

“Now, a complication is registered. Hull breach in the storeroom, since oxydizing organic mass from the dismembered fish sticks like hansa- plaster to different sections of the external hull”.

“Τhou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over”.

“Volunteers, run on the double and seal the breach with insulating material. Implement immediately protocol of foreign elements’ expulsion and friendly elements’ repairment”.

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”.

“Archon, the last fish vessel lies at the point of the final death throe. We won!’

“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”.

“Yes, the psalm was entirely coordinated with our frantic pyrrhic war dance. Thank you, Christ. Wash our sins, not only our faces” (Greek palindromic scripture outside Hagia Sophia- Constantinople). 

CHAPTER ΙΑ’

ERIDANI, ARISTEROPOUS (LEFT-FOOT, RIGEL), LEPUS (HARE), PERISTERA (COLUMBA), SIRIUS

“With the grace of God, we reached almost half of our itinerary”, announced Prometheus. “At the borders of this ecliptic, “we will enter the second half of our journey, having as starting point and attack base our headquarters, Sirius, this familiar place, where the pasture is greener and the waters flow more gently”.    

The captain winked astutely at his commander and first officer: It is time to create Eridani, the quietest river, which will carry us to our destiny, because ‘fresh waters are ever flowing in upon us’.  I think you know something of Eridani, eh Hyperion?”

“It is considered as the distant home planet and cradle of all Atlantes”, Hyperion said without being even a bit excited.

“Then you are bestowed with the great honor to psalm the hymn of Moira or the fates, which I have chosen for this particular Creation”, the hegemon granted the pertinent privilege, which he never did easily or thoughtlessly.

MOIRA’s INCENSE, AROMAS

(Infinite fates, daughters of night with fumed face

Listen to my litany, who have many names and grace,

In a lake, where white water and worm drops press

In a shady greasy inmost part and deepest recess.

There, you walk upon people’s vast and long earth, 

Where with false hope the gender of mortals gives birth

You walk covered with scarlet garments and veils

On the fateful ground where only the mightiest prevails

Where Dike investigates, where hopes squeeze and dry

Especially if the old laws against thee writhe and cry.

Because only Moira people’s lives regulates, dictates

Not even the Olympian gods are stronger than the fates.

Since everything that happens to us comes as external,

We can beat it only with god’s harp and lyre eternal.  

So, please, airy, gentle, mild and soft ones come here

Atropos, Lachesis, Clotho surround us with your sphere.

Latent, irreversible, unchanged, surely tough, 

Sometimes giving joy to people, not so rough,

Fates, listen to us, appreciate our libation and sacrifice

Give your adepts a break and a piece of good advice).

“Captain, incoming message from the third planet od Eridani”, said Eurybia. “I am projecting it on the main screen”.

A face with grey charming temples and a willful chin appeared.

“Ruler, my name is Tereus and I am king of Thrace. My marriage of convenience to princess Procne, daughter of King Pandion, is impending. As you can understand, it is a very important event, unfortunately also unavoidable. All this time, during which I was unmarried- or rather the right expression is unwedded, since the wedding equals wedlock-, she looks down to me as if I were a miasma, as if our relationship depends exclusively on us being wedded or unwedded. Are we, men, marked with some color on the women’ vision, for instance red or green depending on our family status?”

Prometheus consulted Hyperion whisperingly.

“The man speaks incoherently and asynartetic without cohesion or distinguishable thread of thoughts. It seems as if he wants to divulge everywhere his grievance. The fact that he endeavors to unload his trouble and sorrow to us, who are entirely unknown to him and not to his companion, means exactly that their relations are disturbed. Because if they were decent, if there were even the slightest noetic communication, the backwash of his frustrations would be swallowed by his companion and not by us, who, all things considered, have got nothing to do with it”, said the educated Atlantean. 

              “As always, accurate to the point, Hyperion”, admitted the hegemon (as always acting within his jurisdiction). He turned towards the screen.  

              “What you say is very interesting, king, and congratulations for your upcoming spiritual union. Nevertheless, we fail to see our connection to that planned marriage of yours”.     

              “Your vessel has acquired quite a fame, captain, and I believe that it would be a great honor for the whole planet system of Eridani, if you were to perform the ceremony”.

              After a swift memorandum of understanding with his crew, channeling in fact through the eyes, the captain nodded.

              “We are honored”, he said. “Eurybia, please, discuss with the archon, find the coordinates of the princess Procne, arrange also for an available room as well as enough space for her luggage and beam her aboard. The ceremony will take place in the temple of the space trireme Com.my.s.s. N.A.O.S. Venovinda; be prepared for the announcement of the precise day and hour and note, of course, that the gala official uniforms are mandatory for those who will attend”. Prometheus used many initials on purpose to impress, but also to emphasize that the presence of all would be mandatory too.

Unfortunately, as Hyperion and Oceanus had the opportunity to find out, informing Prometheus to that regard, the bride competed against the bridegroom, as far as instability and unpredictability were concerned. The whole procedure of the impending marriage was apparently staged for the legitimation of Itys, a child that the happy couple has already acquired. It was also obvious that Itys, for whom Procne was dragged forcibly to wedding against her will, had become an obsession to her; she talked steadily about him, that he resembles his father regarding his character flaws; she also had an equally perverse obsession regarding her sister Philomela, with whom she was inseparable like symbiotic plants. She had asked from her future husband, if he wished to make her a favor, to allow her before the marriage to meet her sister or if her sister could come and visit her. Tereus sailed eagerly on his ship and reached Piraeus’ port soon enough with his rudder and his sails to satisfy the wish of his bride, to go, take and bring back Philomela – ‘fetch her’ like the Anglo- Saxons say. During the departure, the father of the girls Pandion made him swear to protect Philomela, as if she were Procne, and send her back as soon as possible (A.S.A.P.), graceful and intact, because she was the only comfort of his old age. According to the analysis of Prometheus and the specialist for medical-psychological matters Oceanus, all this presaged the perfect storm, in case, e.g. that Tereus, who lacked obviously an ethical education or morality, would take a little too literally the words of Pandion about ‘protecting’ Philomela as if she were Procne.

The omens were bad, so our heroes hurried to dispel the gathered clouds, singing a spell relative to the birth of the constellation Aristeropous (left foot), which means that it never rains but it pours, and that whatever can go wrong, will eventually go wrong. The hymn, of course, was chanted to exorcise a bad event, but the outcome of every prayer is always unknown.

RHEA’s INCENSE, AROMAS

(Daughter of primitive and polymorphous aeon, 

Killing the bull with the chariot, fraternizing the lion,  

Drumhead, maniac, daughter with copper plates

Father of Zeus, through thunder raising death rates,   

Who did not recoil Cronus the bloody to marry

Who like the cries of the mortals eaten by bears furry

Queen Rhea, who like the noise of the battle

Who save and redeem only after the hearts’ rattle,  

Sharing the house of farmers and the warriors’ saddle

From you, heaven and earth together march, 

And the wind tears the window curtains like parch

Come, blissful goddess, save and fill us with meaning,

Bring peace, prosperity and a wholeness’ meaning, 

Free us from frustration being like popinjay preening).  

Since they were worried if Tereus would find his way to them, suspicious that despite his allegedly sovereign presence he was characterized by deep cowardice and indescribable insecurity,   urged and led by mixed political and sexual reasons towards a wedding that he despised  -and even more crucial and decisive – so did the bride, they sang the hymn for the constellation Lepus, which was also called “Mise’s Katabasis”. 

MISE’s INCENSE, STYRAX

(I call Dionysus who has a thyrsus fennel stalk, 

Who gushes sperm all over to press his luck, 

And the pure and holy Mise, queen with a hood

Masculine and feminine, I never ruined her mood.  

Even if you are in the Eleusis temple for sacrifice

Or to go for a walk in Phrygia for you suffice,

Or if you are in Cyprus together with Cytherea

And you enjoy the wheat crops of the whole area,

Or if you are together with Isis, dressed in black

In the Nile with the adepts to empty the offerings sack

Please, bless the good deeds and soon come back).

“Again, it is my duty as first officer to point out that through these psalms we praise our enemies”, complained Hyperion.

“Hyperion, it is really a shame that you, Atlantes, are doctors in all sciences and arts except humor, ‘Attic spice’ in Greek. I urge you to think that these psalms are animated by an extremely ironic spirit and – what is more important – they address the opponents, only to sooth them and bring them to reason. For instance, when we praise and glorify Hermes on the grounds that he was a great thief, the newer generations must be too damned fool not to grasp the apparent truth that for us the gods were enemies, since the real God is inside us and cannot be localized in anything external”.

 After this clarifying conversation, we return to our episode’s plot. Of course, the titans could never imagine the extent of the psychic diseases and self-imposed fantasies involved. Tereus searched for a mirror counterpart, where his banalities, prejudices and nonsensical remarks about the supposed innate immanent difference between women and men would reflect and shine according to the Anglo-Saxon motto that boys are snips and snails and puppy- dog tails, whereas the girls are sugar and spice and all things nice! On the other hand, stands a mother unwilling to admonish or to teach, but eager only to destroy, to equalize and exterminate her own offspring with the frenzy of a Maenad, who reaches the point to confess explicitly, plain and direct that she does not want to bring up or raise, but only to disembowel, defile and tear apart! The observed perversion is not merely disheartening, but also repulsive and disgusting. Such an undeletable and archetypic hatred of a mother towards a child is unexplainable, no matter how many childhood traumas one has sustained; such pure hate cannot be reconciliated or exorcised! Also, medical science is entirely perplexed and at a loss before the tendency of Procne to consider equals in her paranoia future husbands, children, cousins, friends, or mere acquaintances of yesterday or recent past. But perhaps it is not so unexplainable, since all people become equals before the panic of persecution complex. Given that the psychology for the ancient Greeks was their mythology, the well- known in the relative bibliography case of Medea, whose every rejection was compensated only through murder, could enlighten the facts.

The day of the wedding came, let us cheerly welcome bride and bridegroom before the ecclesiastic pulpit, which was in fact the captain’s bookstand. Prometheus strutted like a peacock and then began to read the riot act of a traditional customary litany, the performance of which was always reserved to the captains of the commercial or military navy.  

“Since the dawn of time the holy custom has been introduced, according to which the captain of a space-trireme is equipped with the authority to supervise and bless the conjunction of male and female, the consortium of all their lives and the covenantal union of two society members into one flesh. So, by the power invested in me by the Astro- galactic Organization of Sirius, I proclaim you …”

“Objection, objection”, a sky-high roar surged from beneath, because indeed until the ceremony was completed, anyone had the right to object. 

Anchiale came near, presenting to the central protagonists of the sacrament a white cloth embroidered with scarlet fibers, carrying it with such respect, as if it was the shroud of Turin or the secret of countess Valeraina, wrapped up as a present in a gift package. What was that? Prometheus, who until that time occupied not the adjective, but the temporary predicate of a priest, unfolded the fabric, just as Cleopatra unfolded herself before Ceasar. The textile was long enough to recount a whole story and the narration was – alas- the following: When Tereus went to Piraeus and envisaged Philomela, whom he was supposed to escort to the marriage, was possessed by illegitimate passion and began being fired by the incandescent arrows of the Cupids, carried away along with their wings and hovering veils, or to put it another way through the means of a proper Greek expression, he fell for her pretty badly. The journey was not over yet and the barbarian prisoned the pale, trembling, scared beauty, who had barely the strength to ask in tears where her sister was, he raped her, prostituted her, made her his concubine. Of course, you will justifiably object: is it possible for Tereus to do such thing on the eve of his marriage? Well, what can you do? Passion was stronger than he was, although this explanation does not justify his abominable act, since there is always free will and the possibility of acting in a different way. Enraged, Philomela had threatened to overcome her shame and uncover the act with a very old mythological me too. Then, Tereus drew his sword, grabbed her and cut her tongue. What did Philomela do? Imprisoned, without either speech or homily, she conceived and executed the plan of sending the embroidered robe secretly to Procne to hinder her marriage. If Tereus completed the ceremony, he would have both power and custody on Procne as well as on Philomela according to the terms of the Roman “manus” and would have the opportunity to cover up his crime. When the candidate bride heard the nefarious and ominous report of her sister, a decisive and defining change was registered. She passed from the stage of personality disorder with psychotic traits to paranoic delusional schizophrenia. She began mourning, wailing, tearing her wedding dress and crying her eyes out for the fate of her sister.  

The people present at the ceremony were consternated. Taking advantage of that, the high-skilled Procne ran to the transporter, being already familiarized with the corridors of Venovinda, gave her coordinates to Theia and beamed to the planet before the yeomen in charge could make a pipsqueak. It was obvious that she had revenge thoughts of such magnitude that the human brain could not even conceive.   

Then, came the time of Prometheus to demonstrate the reason, for which he was the best captain of starfleet. Stretching his legs and stepping heavily on the deck, he was the first who recovered from the numbing torpor and directing his crew like a maestro or virtuoso of an orchestra he said:

“Arrest Tereus immediately on the charges of rape, serious injury and illegal detainment of a person. The wedding is cancelled. Leto, run immediately to the tele-transporter room, along with a security team and beam Procne again back to the ship. Upon her arrival, she should be arrested as a precaution to prevent imminent crime. I take full responsibility for the lawfulness, necessity and purpose of her detention. Hyperion, locate the life-signs of her son Itys and find a way to wrap his body with a protective energy field because his life is in imminent danger. Titans, mobilize instantly. Unfortunately, we are doomed to keep every moment the moral principles that we have received as legacy, to do the right thing without expecting anything as reward”.  

All orders from the captain were executed and the worst was averted. To celebrate one more auspicious and successful mission outcome, the titans hurried to recite the hymn of Palaimon, which was all in all an optimistic hymn.

PALAIMON’s INCENSE, MANNA

(Comrade of Bacchus and esteemed tablemate,

Who dwell in the meadows and the depths as of late,

I call you, Palaimon, on our ritual blogspot, 

To come favorable, face impeccable without blot,

And save your acolytes both on ground and the sea

Be a lighthouse for the ships, so that they may see.

You are the only savior, who before mortals appear,  

Deliver them from the storm to a day bright and clear).  

          Later, when the space-trireme Com.m.my.s.s. N.A.O.S. Venovinda approached the spot, where its home country  was, Sirius, the star colloquially known as Dog Star of sultry summer days, she resurrected it from the ectoplasm of the chaotic forgetfulness, the psychical garbage and the unbaptized souls with a very special and confidential hymn, that of Semele, the tormented mother of Dionysus, who relates tragically the torments of femineity, but also validates completely the woman sex, the mother, the wife, the lover, the sister.

  SEMELE’s INCENSE, STYRAX

(I call the queen and Cadmus’ daughter, 

Semele, with tentacles, which love, don’t slaughter

Mother of thyrse- bearing Dionysus, pain in the ass

Who suffered many things during life transit pass

She gave birth according to Zeus’ orders and terms   

Whose glory and value Persephone herself confirms 

Every three years, when the great feasts begin,  

For you, the mortals have fun and feel that they fit in, 

Planning pure sacraments on holy table and ground.  

So, goddess, please, give us odor, light and sound,

Be favorable to all the acolytes that you find around).

So, when Sirius had been restored, the capital and the pride of the Astro- galactic Organization of planets, the time came or rather the demand was overdue for Venovinda to be subjected to maintenance works, extensive repairs and systems’ upgrade. We can already see the ancient Iapetus discussing with an engineer, assigned to the space station personnel, where the flagship of the fleet had laid in and where else? -in the engineering room.  

“Cratesipyle, I will say it one more time. Whereas we are mainly a mesonic ship, we need also neutrons. Only with a neutron generator I can ignite the plasma derived from the matter- antimatter reaction or even reignite it, if conditions of inertia occur…”

“Oldest of the titans”, said Prometheus going in through the automatically whooshing door, “I don’t want you to torture with your endless grumbling the illustrious members of the space station, which has the honor to harbor us. Let us not forget, that Venovinda never operated according to her specifications throughout countless Creations, but always implemented patents and provisional jerry -rigged connections with a lot of saliva and a Turkish delight as glue on the wirings and the pipes.”

“Son, I see you in a clearly optimistic mood today, which, however, is not justified by the state of things and the current situation. You have stayed with half a crew, Venovinda has nearly become a piece of junk, while the Olympias are reborn as usually from their ashes”.

Prometheus bent meaningfully towards his father.

So, you drooling old timer”, he said tenderly, “trust me. The current cycle of Creation seems much promising regarding the omens. Of course, above all it is valid that the best and only augury is to fight in the defense of one’s country. Beyond that, however, Hyperion has ascertained, after he studied along with Theia on the synthetists traces of previous Creations, that in many preceded cycles the episode of Procne and Philomela had no auspicious outcome. Instigated by Bacchus’ mania and by Erinyes’ pain, Procne invaded the prison of her sister, snatched her from the room and took her with her. Then at home, as she pondered what would be the bloodiest revenge which Tereus deserved, Itys came to her direction. She looked at him with a ferocious gaze: ‘How much he resembles his father!’ She said no more and hastened to commit the dismal crime. Along with Philomela, they killed the young man and set the table for Tereus serving him as a meal, so that he ended up devouring his own blood!  Then he asked his son and Procne told him: ‘you carry within you what you seek’ and, as he, being doe-eyed and staring at nothing, circled around and called for his child, Philomela heaped up before his face the bloody head. Then, he jumped with a sky-high cry of terror, he overturned the tables he ejaculated and wailed that he was the grave of his own son; Afterwards, he rushed and chased the daughters of Pandion with naked steel. Those grew suddenly wings and feathers and flew, Procne to the woods as a nightingale and Philomela to the roof as a swallow, but also Tereus, vibrating out of pain and lust for revenge, became a bird, whose feathery crest rises and his beak extends distortively bearing the red stigma of blood. And the name of the bird is hoopoe, epops or dryops, destined to be the eternal game of the hunters due to his beauty and particularity”.

“Ok, that’ enough”, said Iapetus, “I don’t want any other abominable stories. Good, we averted a negative development. Also, in the past we managed to score some successes, but in the end, Jupiter was the victor”.

“Trust me, papa, daddy cool, when I say to you that I have a good feeling about this cycle. I am bound to have a good idea and strike such a hit on Zeus that he is going to lose all his powers, he will forfeit the source of his energy forever, and without energy in this universe one cannot even boil an egg”.

CHAPTER ΙΒ’

CANIS MINOR, CANCER, LEO, OURALCAIA (DENEBOLA)

Sirius 3 had majestic buildings which covered whole building blocks, skyscrapers in the middle of the cities, fly-over and overpassing unleveled crossings, towers with a sharp top spiraled by ramps and inclined planes for ascent or descent and tall houses by the beach or where there was no low vegetation of bushes. In any case, arbitrary unscheduled construction out of the city plan   was not allowed and Sirius’ industrial units were gathered in predestined and preplanned areas. That is indeed hard science-fiction! Besides, it had the common ground with your reality, reader, the fact that in summer it was too hot and the water was scarce and through this clarification we believe that our story regains its verisimilitude. Yet, the… Sirians (not Syrians) had many resources and reserves, and their scientists had reached the point of influencing the weather through various programs of atmosphere’s humidification, bombarding of the clouds with ice cubes and other techniques equivalent to the Indian rain dance. On the other hand, what Sirians did to their own country is of no such interest to us, as much as the fact that being in their country and possessing the proper means had no problem dictating the way for the third rotation of the heavens. With the knowhow of the appropriate hymns, they started to unlock the third layer of the firmament, passing from there to the sector of space visible from the north hemisphere of the Earth. Grateful for their own memory, which was preserved in the dusty libraries, the rat-eaten shelfs or on stains and traces of deleted synthetists’ files from other eras and other Creations, the titans, who believed in the traditional principles and values, introduced at any rate by themselves, recited the hymn of Mnemosyne, corresponding to the constellation Canis Minor that they reached through Canis major, known and nonexempt from a previous rotation, following the equally known navigation axiom of Greek origin “I tell my dog and the dog tells his tail”.        

MNEMOSYNE’s INCENSE, LABDANUM

(I call Mnemosyne, who is Zeus’ bedfellow, 

Who gave birth to the Muse that sings so mellow, 

Who keep the memory away from harmful malice, 

Coordinate minds on the souls’ table with your chalice,

Make the thought grow strong, a shiny reflection,  

A clear reminiscence, there can be no objection. 

What sits on anyone’s chest as opinion or point of view,  

Cannot change or discredit what you know and knew.  

Thus, blissful goddess, come our mind to irritate, 

Through holy ritual, keep Lethe out of our state).

In the continuation, it was the turn of the Cancer constellation, which was a very tough customer.

In Cancer 7 lived a daughter named Atalante, beautiful, manly and fast. She was the “alter ego“ of goddess Artemis, namely a champion of archery. Besides, she didn’t do anything else all day long than running, training in general and shooting arrows, finding at the same time her food in the tradition of running, hunting, fishing, foraging man. Her extended virginity and the pertinent fear of deflowering penetration, and into a sensitive body area at that, which was constantly irritated by the running, made her bitter and harsh; as a result, she hid her inner insecurity, compensating for this handicap through her proclaimed ability to exterminate on any given moment the threat to her vagina, i.e. the men. She was particularly desirable due to her aggressivity, which was construed as a tendency to lust or concupiscence and had many suitors surrounding her and buzzing around her like bees or wasps. So, she concocted some incredible plans to the end of annihilating the men When she was in bad mood, she persuaded them to tie up to a post, provided them with knives and made them cut and chop each other with the promise that she would marry whoever survived. Alas, the conditions of the duel were such – knifing and stabbing each other without any possibility for the gladiators to go away or make evasive actions – , so at the end of the day no survivor was standing, and even if someone survived was transported urgently to hospital, with the only option to order for himself a suitable wheelchair without any lust or disposition or sexual urge for nuptials. A sicklier and more perverse version of the above, even more sadistic, because it gave the suitors the illusion that they could be absolved or saved due to the carrying out of the contest on a free open field, was to make them run unarmed in front of her, while she chased them with full armor. If she overtook them, she would kill them, whereas if someone proved to be faster than her, she would allegedly marry him. Yet, she always overtook them and slayed them mercilessly like dogs. When she was in good mood, she incited them to compete her in running with herself as prize, but she always won and the hopeful bridegrooms in spe retreated ingloriously with their appraised penis between their legs kissing their ass goodbye, but at   least they survived the ordeal.

At that point, Prometheus intervened, acting always as a benevolent spirit resolving tough and complicated cases.  To render, however, the intervention of Prometheus understandable, we are forced to open following parenthesis: The fact that the titans were in a constant war against the Olympian gods, presented as eternal and nonlinear due to their wormhole resorts, does not mean that the two superpowers of the universe had no communication between them. Just as in our temporary microcosmic world, where we lived by chance  (I like the expression that we accidentally lived in the era, where ourself happened to live), America and Russia were the conflicting powers ruling the universe to a degree that at least 80 % of us lived his/her whole life as a Marxist, disregarding that deep within only the above confrontation was the motto, being in constant communication to one another about the current matters of the planet, so also Prometheus kept a red phone connecting himself to the Olympians, because this poor universe needed to be ruled somehow.  So, he begged Hera, the (albeit maniac) protector of marriage, to help poor Atalante.  

HERA’s INCENSE, AROMAS

(Air-morph, pretty, residing decently in blue bays,  

Queen Hera- Juno, Zeus bedfellow on all days,

You grant the mortals soul-begot aura to come near

Mother of the rainy winds, you choose love to fear

Without you one cannot know life’s and nature’s crest

You commune with momentous weighty wind east and west,

You dominate all, you reign upon all, dignified lady

With airy moves you amble, lighten all place shady,  

Channel your ichor, promote your holy communion,  

Come benevolent, joyful, incite us to union). 

Hera, answering Prometheus’ call, gave him the golden apples of Hesperides to use. He gave them to Hippomenes, son of Ares, who is also called Melanion depending on the place of Atalante’s origin, i.e. if she comes from Boetia or Arcadia. In the following scene, the dark-skinned swarthy Hippomenes participated in one of the Atalante’s running distances and speed competitions.  As he ran, threw the apples (i.e. the oranges) behind him, and Atalante gathering them could not overtake him. So finally, Atalante settled down with Melanion alias Hippomenes!

The thing, however, is that the Olympian gods are heinous, malignant, treacherous, vengeful, unreliable and despite their infinite powers not in any way comparable to the titans’ moral advantage. Aphrodite, overseeing the erotic matters according to her indisputable jurisdiction, was offended, because Prometheus addressed Hera for the apples and not her. So, she incited the newlywed couple to make love in a temple of Zeus to achieve the greatest satisfaction possible. Which in fact happened, fancy that if you dare in a contemporary Greek- orthodox or Romeo-catholic church! Zeus committed the sin of anger and transformed Atalante and Hippomenes respectively into lioness and lion. In your partial ignorance, you, naïve and careless reader, perhaps would object: So, what? Let them continue their sexual intercourse in the holy altar, in the sanctuary or elsewhere as a lioness and a lion, so that their eros would be more beastly, animalistic and emphatic. In that mysterious mythological era, however, through a diabolical spell, which a scholar of the exact sciences would call an electrochemical- electromagnetic intervention to a molecular level, the gen of the lions was tied, locked and programmed to couple only with leopard, whereby one theorized that the black spots the latter’s skin derived from the lion’s sperm. So, transforming them into lioness and lion, Zeus imposed on them the strictest punishment possible, because they could not mix, couple or be found together.

Then this crew of unrepentant humanists intervened again for the greater good. First, they honored the constellation Leo with the following hymn, singing and praising the muses, who are usually very generous towards this zodiac sign: 

INCENSE OF THE MUSES, LABDANUM

(Daughters of Menmosyne and Zeus who beats

Majestic Pierides, known for your conspicuous feats,

You are desirable to those you rule and meet

Since you value the impeccable virtue and treat.  

You nourish the soul, you guide reason and mind,

You search in its windmills, harmony, symmetry to find

Because, to the introduction of rituals are inclined.

Euterpe, Thaleia, Melpomene, Clio  

Terpsichore, Polymnia, Urania, Erato

But also, Calliope come and favor what is best,  

Help your acolytes, you can’t be blamed for the rest,  

Bring them clarity, perception, vision and jest).

Then the cunning titans, very collected, prudent and experts in science started to deal with the solution of the gen’s gridlock that had caused such unprecedented injustice to the newlywed couple, invoking at the same time Artemis, the natural protector of Atalante,   i.e. implementing the basic philosophical conclusion “heaven help those who help themselves” or heeding that any achievement in this world is a combination of knowledge and will. Without knowledge, one cannot add one plus one, and without will, one cannot raise oneself from the bed or the chair.  

ARTEMIS’ INCENSE, MANNA

(Hear me, queen, Zeus’ multi-named daughter, 

Titanis, great one, who cast arrows and slaughter,

Shining, torch-bearer goddess who capture with net

Who relieve the pains of labor and mercifully blood let,

Easy rider, maniac hunter in prairie and foreign field,

Runner, friend of farmers, who rather aim than shield 

You are shelter, affable, you free us from care, 

Upright, quick in birth, all with your daughters share,

Peasant, chthonic, well -aiming towards game,

You chase deer in the woods, if it’s all the same

Venerable queen, you are emitting infallible strength

You love woods and send the hounds to all length

Come, savior, who are a friend of the acolytes, 

Full of fruits, address us, teach us our rights,  

Send us peace and a virtue equal to health, 

Exorcise to the mountains what is mean and stealth).

Thus, through the scientific knowhow plus the religious invocation rousing the necessary will, the natural order of things was restored, lionesses and lions could have sex again together with our friends Atalante and Hippomenes. And the evening and the morning were the next day and the star Ouralcaia or Leontideus or Denebola appeared.

CHAPTER ΙΓ’

PARTHENON (VIRGO), ARCTURUS, BOΟETES, CORONA BOREALIS

Catasterism in five, four, three, two, one… zero. Prometheus and crew are singing the hymn of lustful Pan ironically in honor of the Virgo (Parthenon) constellation. Sometimes, the diabolical, corrosive humor of the titans knew no borders!  The hymn was too long, because also the Virgo constellation is the most expanded in the firmament.

PAN’s INCENSE, MISCELLANEOUS

(I call Pan the mighty, of the universe the base

Who roams in sky and sea to fish or to chase,

I call also the immortal fire, since fiery are the Pan’s members 

Blissful jumper, who define hours’ ignition and embers,  

Goat- shepherd, Bacchic, dwelling in a cave, equal to gods,

Who through songs web world’s harmony and earth’s clods,

Scaring with visions and fantasies people on mountains

Keeping company to shepherds, gushing fountains,  

Infallible hunter, friend of Echo, co-dancer of any nymph,  

Father of all, fertilizer with sperm, blood and lymph,  

Master of the world, Lucifer, carrying fruits and songs,    

You decompress your anger, first among the throngs, 

On you the vast field of earth and mud supports,  

And pour the waters of the open sea and all the ports,  

Thus, the ocean is wriggling around the sand,

And from the top, derives the fire to the land.  

With your providence, you change (wo-) men’s nature  

You feed the generations, with love, accord you nurture.  

Yet, blissful bacchanal lover, enjoy our libation,

Introduce feasts and rituals for every occasion, 

So, that our lives end joyfully without humiliation).

The conceptual importance of the Virgo constellation connects to the case of the Proetids, the daughters of Proetus, as we shall see next.

In one of the star systems of Virgo constellation lived Melampus, whom Oceanus welcomed in the chambers of Venovinda with official character and solemnity, since they were connected by the common element that they were both therapeutists and had consequently a lot to discuss.

Melampus, a decent guy, was called that way, because his legs were burnt by the sun and became black (black derives from “phlegein- phlox”, just as Melampus derives from Melas -black + pous –pedes- foot). He was a fully graduated seer- doctor (iatromantis); It was not clear, where he had obtained the medicine degree from, Oceanus hoped that his diploma did not come from some inferior university of… Romania after transfer and re-matriculation. On the contrary, the way of becoming a seer was known, considering that one could become such only by revelation: He stayed in the fields of Pylos; There, his servants killed the snakes nested in the area to protect him, but he, realizing that the snakes intended only to guard their young, sheltered the little snakes (and we are not talking about mosquito repellent coils) and reared them affectionally, showing a different attitude than the hero Heracles, who was rather inclined to drown them with synoptic procedures.   These adopted snakes licked his ears out of gratitude, while he was sleeping; thus, when he woke up, realized that he could hear and understand the voices of the flying birds, just like the philosopher Pythagoras was greeted in his passage through the forest by beeches, birches, rivers and all kinds of plants that shouted to him “hail Pythagoras”. Afterwards, having this natural predisposition he post-graduated at the side of Apollo, he learned to predict the future and thus became a formidable mystic seer.

The discussion with Oceanus developed to a fiery, arduous argument, because Melampus implemented very extreme and exaggeratingly offensive and interfering medical methods, which did not align or agree with the lenient, meek, sweet, discreet and gentle bedside manner of the space-trireme’s doctor towards the lying down patients.

Particularly, Melampus had at his disposal the following cures beside the pharmaceutical one, mainly conducted through black hellebore as an emetic, purgatoric and menstrual medicine, i.e., the contemporary Christmas rose, which is the only recognized today’s method relying on the premise that the will is non-existent and that the soul is guided mechanistically by mere causality: 1) Logotherapy through supplications, wishes and incantations already known from the Homeric epoch. Here is also persuasion included, either poetical by the muses, or erotic through Cupid and Aphrodite. 2) Suggestion by conjurations, rituals, sacrifices, Dionysian celebrations, and Corybantic dances. Here, beside verbalization magical items are included, whereby the term “magical” contains nothing beyond science, it is only a means, on the one hand drastic and conjunctive, on the other hand of dubious success, aspiring to influence the will or rather help it autosuggest itself and react to each predicament. 3) Emergence of the inner ego, of the hidden power either by putting to sleep in the Aesculapius’ (Asclepius’) temples within labyrinths of snakes or by levitation over the seething sea of the Trophonius cave, pending conditions that initiate almost coercively the confrontation between ego and self, where the two souls of Araspas in “Education of Cyrus”, the two egos of Dostoevsky in the “Adolescent” repel each other, where “the very insulting, not elegant and vulgar” demon of Socrates in “Hippias Major” is mobilized against his own self. 4) Dialectical and psychosomatic medicine of the organs α) through implosive flooding or exposure therapy. It is the one applied by Melampus regarding the daughters of Proetus, who imprisoned in the bondage of their easy life and comfort needed a powerful shock to be cured, and as such proved to be their persecution around the mountains. β) through diving into the sickness itself, just as Iphiclus did, as he searched for that knife, which had caused his sexual impotence and finally saw that it was just an inert thing trapped and powerless within a mighty oak surrounding it from all sides, ignoring and digesting it with conspicuous indifference. γ) through induced aversion. For example, captain Michalis by Kazantzakis, who cured his frenzy about cherries eating the content of a whole basket, thus growing a repulsion for them ever since. δ) through bath -therapy and ritual purification. Plus, many other methods which I have omitted.

The good doctor opposed to all this the wishy- washy tender care of the patient, the ecological sheltering, the discreet succor, the attentive relief with mush affection, caressing and pro-derm cream, which did not satisfy, but rather irritated the social climber Melampus, because he always tried to take a shortcut leading to quick and measurable success. Finally, to make a long story short, after a stormy dialog between the two representatives of Asclepius, who obviously talked different languages, and although all rules of quarrelsome dispute and antilogical art were applied, no conclusion was reached; on the contrary, impolite shouting was heard, whereby Prometheus and Hyperion were forced to intervene, so that the situation would not escalate further. Fortunately, Oceanus had invited Melampus only for a drink, not to dinner, so no sophisticated meal, prepared with (unjustified) care by the replicator of N.A.O.S. Venovinda was wasted. Melampus beamed back to his planet.

Nevertheless, the titans were not people that could hold no grudge, on the contrary they considered Melampus as Arcturus, guard and coachman of the virgins, so they recited altogether the hymn of Aether, so that the endeavors of the young medicine man would enjoy favorable wind and prolific results.   

AETHER’s INCENSE, CROCUS  

(You who have Zeus‘ crystal palace and cruel state,   

So, that all point at you: we live in Aether’s crate,  

Tamer of all, fire- breathing, like tinder you shine,  

Quintessence of world, you have your own shrine,

Continue being a sun corona, like an aurora bright,

Cast your influence, entwine, ramify, be starlight).

So, the first case, where the medicinal and therapeutic capabilities of Melampus were tested on the field and measured themselves against the ecological techniques of Oceanus, was the cure of the Proetus’ daughters, king of Tiryns. The Proetides under the grip of Dionysian enthusiasm, which was a reaction to their restrained life, since they were immured in their private chambers within the palace, they started to wander in the forest and canyons, tempting also the other women of the area. They became shameless, lewd, debauched libertine and wanton, while for the men the word “lustful’ would suffice. Their behavior, as Oceanus judged, was a result of interpsychic collision between the biological urges of puberty and the moral interdictions imposed by their father in the name of the strict censor Hera, protector of marriage and the family institutions, because: they despised her statue, boasted that their domicile was more luxurious and better decorated, plus aesthetically more pleasing than Hera’s temple (especially the last allegation was very painful!), they maintained that they were more beautiful than her (that made the goddess baying for blood!) and stole the gold from her statue to adorn themselves (could it be they have really overdone it?). So, their punishment was the change of their personality; they thought that they were metamorphosized into young strong cows, imitating even their mooing.

Their skin was covered by white bleaches, and the hair fell from their heads. The mystic seer Melampus, having already scored the treatment of Iphiclus’ psychic sexual impotence to his credit, was called against a rich reward to undertake the treatment of the daughters, which was pharmaceutical, psychological, suggestive, initiating and ritual. Also there, he administered his miraculous hellebore either unmixed or milk from a goat that had eaten hellebore. The root of the plant was used as emetic purgatoric and menstrual medicine, caused nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Then, he persecuted them along with the strong teenagers of the area stalking them closely, with ululations and bacchic, corybantic, maenadic mania through the mountains up to Sicyon, where Iphinoe, the oldest sister, expired over-exhausted or according to our actual contemporary generation “kicked the bucket”. Today, we would call it “an acceptable collateral effect”.

However, as it appears, even the two surviving sisters were not improving, at least not visibly, not conspicuously. At that point, Oceanus spoke to Melampus via communicator. 

“Melampus, some treatment you applied! One of the three daughters dead, the other two injured quite seriously. It is exactly as I ‘ve told you. Your recipes are too drastic.  Medicine is way past the age, where we drilled holes into the sculls of the patients to provide an escape route to the evil spirits”.

“It’s easy for outsiders to criticize, try walking in my shoes, Oceanus. If you have a proposal, out with it; I have business to attend to and I cannot afford losing my time with some wisecracks roaming the universe and playing Mr. Know-All or considering themselves universal counselors in every conceivable matter, instead of following the harsh way of installing a permanent medical practice, of offering services in a specific place of their own choosing, of dealing with genuine illnesses of real ordinary people”.  

“You talk too much; do you know that? Also in space, we lack no emergencies, even more complicated or demanding at that, compared to those of your licensed shaman practice. I am beaming directly down to tell you what we are going to do about the sisters.”

It is said that the remaining Proetides had found a shelter over Nonacris of Arcadia on the Aroania mountains, today called Helmus, where the cave of Hermes lies. Aporetic and interrogative reader, I bet that you will bring forward the objection, are we talking about Earth or some other planet? I will answer you with the unbeatable argument that all fantastic planets are formed and organized exactly like Earth and have places identical or similar to our own planet or our own country, even more to the mythological locations, which are the most realistic of all, since they constitute the geography of our minds.       

So, through confidential very hush- hush sacrifices and purifications Oceanus and Melampus brought the daughters to a position called De-Luge and there they washed their hairs curing their madness inside the temple of Artemis. So, the Proetides recovered from mania, but the other psychosomatic symptoms, lichens, white bleaches, itchy skin rash and hair-falling continued, that’s why the two luminary guys escorted them to Triphylia and washed them in the waters of Anigrus river, today called Black River, the estuary of which is the lagoon Caiafa. Anigrus river may not smell aromatically, it may have stinking waters to the degree that fishes ascending towards its estuary drop dead, but it contains hydrogen sulfide, excellently appropriate for skin healing wellness baths. At the end of the treatment, the Proetides smelled like rotten eggs, but they were irrevocably healed from their autoimmune syndromes. Now, pay attention: Melampus has agreed in case of successful medical and pharmaceutical therapy to take one third of the kingdom as reward. However, it was not sufficiently clarified if the success of the therapy concerned all the sisters or some of them. Nevertheless, through a broad interpretation, and since most of the sisters were healed, save one, our ace of medicine and divination received finally one third of the whole domain. Then he married one of the two remaining sisters and thus took another third. The last third he reserved for his brother Bias, if he managed to recover from his noxious infatuation with the daughter of Peleus Pero, a circumstance that connects us immediately with our next story.   

In detail, his brother Bias had stated the request to take as wife the daughter of Neleus, who demanded Bias to bring him the oxen of a third party, i.e. Iphiclus in exchange for his consent, ignoring the axiom that no one can transfer more rights than the ones one has. Is it acceptable that Bias should snatch the oxen of Iphiclus violently, just because Neleus took a fancy to them? Anyway, Bias asked the help pf Melampus, knowing that he was more worthy, crafty and versatile. Melampus, trying to help his brother, although he for his part was fully settled, leading an orderly life, decided to set his wealth aside and go into active action again. He tried to steal the oxen secretly, although he had prophesized himself that he would be arrested and imprisoned for one year. As he was in prison, he heard the woodworms eating the rafters of the roof and then saying that only little wood was left and they should look around for the next food source. Immediately, he asked the sentinels to move him urgently into another building. After he pestered them long enough, in the end they granted his request and moved him, whereafter the prison collapsed, as he had predicted. The father of Iphiclus, who was also called Phylacus- guardian, a very merited name, since he incarcerated his opponents, was consternated at the powers of Melampus and asked him to heal Iphiclus, who suffered from sexual impotence. Melampus recurred with a Freudian psychanalytic approach to the beginning of the case, referred it to its origin, when Phylacus had slaughtered a ram leaving the blood- stained knife at the side of young Iphiclus, who was deeply shocked. So, he found the following ingenious way to cure progressively the poor youngling. He thrusted the knife into a holy oak, whereby the rind grew slowly and covered it. Thus, Iphiclus, who searched for that knife, which caused his sexual impotence, finally saw that it was just an inert thing confined and rendered inactive by a mighty oak, which surrounded, ignored and digested it with an icy indifference. And that did to him a world of good, because seeing the impotence of the knife, his own potence came back. So, after this spectacular success, a new impressive asset in the record of the incredible Melampus, Bias married Pero. Let me tell you something, reader: How many relations or bonds to the other sex one has, is often not determined by the quality of someone as great lover, but by the conditions of the society and fate. Therefore, when Pero died, Bias took also as wife the remaining Proetide, who was still unmarried, amassing a second rich dowry along with the first, achieving all this not through violence (“bia” in Greek), but through the marvelous deeds of his brother. Of course, we don’t know how much sensitive or sentimental the man was and if he managed to overcome the sorrow from his first wife’s death despite the economical boons and boosts that fell to his lot or whether he could enjoy his second nuptials; only he can answer that. 

Henceforth, Melampus was multiply recognized and needed the good Samaritans- titans no more.  On the other hand, they, being also satisfied by the performance of Melampus in the case of the Iphiclus’ oxen, chanted the very supporting hymn of Zephyrus, whereby the constellation Booetes appeared.

ZEPHIRUS’ INCENSE, LABDANUM

(Aurae of all sorts, daughters of Zephir, bringing air

Sweet breathing, rest us from tire with your flair,

You are of spring, in bays and prairies desirable, 

You steer the ships to a favorable course reliable, 

Please, be always benevolent, lenient and kind, 

Ariels, light-winged, air-morphic, fledging the mind).

Beyond that, our space titans, who knew to compensate someone for his services and proclaim her/him an academician (opposite to the New Greek Academy, whose internal procedures no one knows), awarded Melampus the order of Corona Borealis, which equals to the iron cross in the perception of the mythological titans.   

          Before the award, they submitted him to an elementary examination, very concise, as you are going to see, since they had already accepted unreservedly his great worth.

“Melampus, how is the soul symbolized?”

“Through the stargazing firmament. Through Sirius, Pleiades, Hyades and the other constellations which are visible from Earth.”

“Apollonius from Rhodes said:

          ‘Look straight up, search for the sign of the sky

And there among the symbols of the most high,

The crown of Ariadne sails, glides, passes by’.

  Can you answer to such a riddle, Melampus?”

“I understand the Greek and I am answering in Latin: Cοrοna Bοrealis dοnavit Venus illa Ariadnam, inter Bοοtem et Herculem jacet, vere videtur et estate, α cοnstellatiοnis vοcatur Gemma, cuius spatia siderum 71 anni lucis sunt (Aphrodite herself has donated the north Corona Borealis to Ariadne and put it between the constellations of Boötes and Heracles, so that it could be seen both in winter and in summer. The α star of this constellation is the gemstone of Ariadne, the distance of which from Earth amounts to 71 light-years).”

And that is how Melampus was proclaimed through simple procedures an Academician by the crew and the executives of the space-trireme “CO.M.MY.S.S N.A.O.S. Venovinda. The hymn of Boreas is following, devoted to the constellation of Corona Borealis, prize and award for all distinguished personalities of all times according to the universal order, imposed by the titans.

BOREAS’ INCENSE, LABDANUM

(Through hibernating aura you shatter the atmosphere,  

Icy cloudy Boreas, who snow from Thrace up to here,  

Solve the air’s stasis that can fly along with humidity,

And sprinkle us with water spray, save us from aridity,  

Posit everything serene and clear, make Aether see,  

So that the sunbeams shine from earth up to the sea). 

CHAPTER ΙΔ’

SERPENS, HERACLES (HERCULES), OPHIUCHUS

Comment of philosopher Hegel, who is the absolute fetich of the author: At the previous stage, e.g., we spoke of Prometheus as the Titan who was punished. But all the same we find him freed again. For fire which Prometheus brought down to men, and the eating of meat which he had taught them, are, like the earth and the sun, an essential feature of human existence, a necessary condition for the satisfaction of human needs, and so Prometheus too has his glory preserved. In the “Oedipus at Colonus” of Sophocles it is said:

χώρος μεν ιερός πας όδ’ έστι- έχει δε νιν

σεμνός Ποσειδών- εν δ’ ο πυρφόρος θεός

Τιτάν Προμηθεύς.   

(The whole place is sacred; the holy Poseidon possesses it, and the fire-bringing Prometheus, the Titan, is here too).

and the Scholiast adds that “in the Academy too Prometheus was worshipped, like Hephaestus, along with Athene; and a temple is shown in the grove of the goddess and an old pedestal of the entrance on which there is an image of Prometheus and of Hephaestus too; but Prometheus, as Lysimachides adds, was represented as the first and the older, holding a scepter in his hand, Hephaestus as younger and second, and the altar on the pedestal is common to both”. As it turns out, according to the myth, Prometheus did not have to suffer his punishment for ever but was released from his chains by Heracles. In the story of this liberation too some remarkable traits occur, viz: Prometheus is released from his agony, because he tells Zeus of the danger threatening his rule from his thirteenth descendant. This descendant is Heracles to whom Poseidon in the “Birds” of Aristophanes says that he will do himself an injury if he renounces willingly the rule of the gods, since everything that Zeus leaves behind him at his death will surely be his. And in fact Heracles is the one man who was taken up to Olympus and became a god instead of a mortal man, and he is superior to Prometheus who remained a Titan. The overthrow of the old ruling families is also connected with Heracles and the name of the Heraclidae. The Heraclidae break the power of the old dynasties and royal houses in which a dominating self-will recognizes no law either for its own end and its unruliness, or in relation to the inhabitants, and therefore perpetrates monstrous cruelties. Heracles himself, not as a free man but in the service of a ruler, conquers the barbarity of this savage will (Please for eventual inconsequence or deviant interpretations pertinent to our story, hold Hegel accountable; I, for once, decided that his posting should be included in Titanomachy).

Now, we are resuming hastily the thread of our narration: Since the first action of the semi-god as an omnipotent baby was to strangle in a subconscious dream state the snakes that Hera has sent to revenge the intercourse of his other Alkmene with Zeus, the titans danced and chanted the hymn of Oneiros (Dream) for the constellation of Serpent to appear.

ONEIROS’ INCENSE, AROMAS

(I am calling you, Oneiros, with your stretched wings,  

Messenger of things to come to all mortal beings,

You come along with sweet sleep, silent, peaceful,

Arousing the souls and minds from all things deceitful

In the sleep you suggest, propagate the god’s opinions,

Projecting the future both to your superiors and minions,

To those, whose wind mind escorts the gods in their route

So, that all enlightened obey, agree and the evil uproot. 

 You guide the life of all waiting with entertainments,

You propose that they should avoid and prevent ailments.  

Through sacrifice, prayers they should appease the kings,  

Help society free from the despondent violent rings.  

Yet the dream vision the future does not reveal,

To those who instigate dreadful acts with evil’s appeal.

So, please, blissful, convey to us all messages divine,

Right opinions, prudent wishes, in correct sequence and line,  

Avert ambiguous signs, remove them from your shrine).  

Prometheus always appreciated Heracles, mainly because he was often drafted to the service of others, which is the basis of the institutions according to the famous titanic motto “you will learn to rule, if you earlier learn to be ruled”. For years he served Eurystheus and his telltale labor and deeds were included in the broadly conceived government and administration of the provinces. Not only he exterminated obnoxious and terrifying beasts, such as the lion od Nemea, the Cerberus, the Stymphalian birds, the Cretan bull and the man-eating mares of Diomedes, but he was also a great engineer, who drained the Lerna lake, mopped the cleaned the Augean stables, throttled the flow of the vehement Erymanthus etc. Also, in many cases, he had turned against the Olympians, among them against Artemis, when he seized Ceryneian hind or when he stole the Hesperides’ apples, which were a present from the Zeus’ wedding list. Additionally, as everybody knew, his greatest enemy was the vengeful, malicious and rancorous Hera due to the infidelity of Zeus with Alkmene, who brought him into this world. Yet, at the same time Prometheus did not forget that the whole concept and main idea of the deeds was for Heracles to sooth the Olympians donating them his allegiance, so that he may purify himself from the madness, by which Hera guided and animated him to kill his wife Megara and burn his three kids alive. What a mess! To ask mercy and recognition from the one individual who wronged you and demoted you to a wild animal! That was why, during the catasterism of A’ Centauri, where Heracles contributed most to the extinction of the poor centaurs, Prometheus admonished him strictly “you must reconsider a little longer, whom you pledge your allegiance and devote your skills to”. Nevertheless, he felt sympathy for this uncouth awkward big oaf, who from the beginning of his life found himself in front of a marked deck of cards and an environment full of confusion and adversities due to Hera’s persecution, leading a schizophrenic life divided between duty and illusions of grandeur. To this contradiction of human condition, to the paradox of (wo-) man riding against the wind, bearing already a lethal trauma in the temples, as Pindar fitly said, devoted the company of Venovinda the following hymn in honor of Heracles.

HERACLES’ INCENSE, LABDANUM

(Heracles, fierce, vigorous, who demonstrate your valor,  

Mighty- handed, untamed, who lead us away from squalor,  

Eolomorph, father of time, you are worshiped as eternal

Unaffable, bad-tempered, despot furious, angry, infernal –

You have powerful heart, arching with arrows,

You are progenitor of all who lie in their barrows, 

You appease the mortals and calm the beasts, 

Cherish peace, erect cities, introduce feasts,  

Nourish the primitives, give them independence,

So, that they in turn give you their credence. 

You uncover your head both in day and night,  

You accomplish great feats, all around you fight, 

Bring us your infinite experience of finding solutions,  

Heal all the ailments, chase away all pollutions, 

Exorcise bad fate, shaking oil-branch with resolve,  

Defeat all bad omens wherever your expertise involve).  

On these days a message had reached Venovinda by the agent of heracles Lichas that the semi-God lay on the death bed of the mountain Oeta to burn and redeem himself from the unbearable pains of Nessus’ cloak, which Deianira donated to him in the belief that it was love’s elixir. The crew of Venovinda, who always honored the allies as well as the circumstantial fellow-travelers or comrades in arms, even the enemies, if they showed respect and kept some code of values, beamed to Oeta to give Heracles a supporting hand during his dying procedure.

At this particulate moment at his side was his son Hyllus, who recounted him the suicide of Deianira, when she realized that through Nessus’ cloak, instead of reigniting the passion of Heracles   for her, she inflicted purulent and instantly infected wounds. The hero himself had uprooted trunks to heap a pyre under his deathbed while Philoctetes set first the fire ostensibly to cauterize the wounds, but in fact to burn the whole body of the demigod.

Heracles said: “I should forgive her, because she had loved too much. It is not Deianira, who is responsible for my death, but fate. It was prophesized to me that a dead man would kill me and that is Nessus. My sins were bound to escort me till the end. What kind of a man am I, how have I treated the women? I killed Megara and Deianira also, because I deprived her of myself. You, Hyllus, however, don’t make the same mistakes with me, behave like a man to Iole ana marry her”.

“Heracles,” said Prometheus, “I see you always divided between duty and the madness of omnipotence, between the savage nature of man and the subtle social dimension of the citizen”.

“Prometheus, how can a hero like me just die? What am I leaving behind? A son who is worse ignoramus than me. If only Hylas came to take my weapons, instead of Hyllus; Well, it seems that I ‘ve bet on the wrong hyle (matter), excuse me, horse, ha ha”, said the man, walking the green mile and smiling with a lot of pain.

The great Heracles paid the same homage both to his comrade in arms and lover Hylas as well as to Philoctetes, to whom he entrusted finally his weapons.

The ancient Greek world knew neither the privacy nor the ambiguous individual data protection of our civilization which facilitates the concealment of scandals for the benefit of the various v.i.p. rascals. Everyone was judged and evaluated on the grounds of his actions in the public forum, where homosexuality was never considered a shame, but on the contrary fully compatible with bravery and combat-skill. Wouldn’t Heracles on the deathbed of Oeta, where he lied to burn and free himself from the unbearable pain of the Nessus cloak, give willingly his weapons to Hylas if he happened to pass from there instead of Philoctetes and condescend to set the redeeming fire? Certainly, if Hylas, the fellow combatant of Heracles in the Argonautica, instead of being abducted by the nymphs and become an echo, had the chance of being there on this night of existential crisis and the agonizing farewell of Heracles cut in pieces between Deianira and Iole, he would have received the miraculous bow with the poisonous arrows. Maybe then, he would be the one left behind in Lemnos in the place of Philoctetes fighting the infected wound, the vulnerable egoism, the trauma from the unjust abandonment and the feeling of incurable wrong.

          Hylas could be the one to introduce himself as the lord of the Heracles’ weapons, “whom to the desert they cast, seriously ill and aghast, by the viper’s bite wasted fast”. He would be the one to yell to Neoptolemus “you took my survival’s knife, you forfeited my very life, this bow resolved for me the food’s lack, you have to give it back” and Heracles would justify and redeem him: “With my bow you ‘ll make Pares a toy and you will conquer Troy, you will boost – enhance your image, by the loots from the pillage”. Heracles honored his comrades on the grounds of their feats and great deeds, not according to their personal inclinations and peculiarities, without to be trapped in slippery twisted ways of overrating- overestimating some features of his own as normal and underrating or underestimating some other properties as marginal, without making concessions to self-eroding deceits that nourish the boulder of egoism, until it becomes envy and jealousy and drown both itself and the others, or to mentalities, where the yieldingness grants everything to the greediness and then vindicates whiningly what itself has already long ago transferred. Heracles, although acknowledging his enormous strength, would never elevate it to a supreme virtue compared to the peculiarities of his companions, he just wondered what the meaning of this unexplained strength was.

“Heracles, you were hero deserving better fate.

         Your circumstances were unjust at any rate, 

         Because your perception comes always late. 

         And while it’s your target to demolish Jericho’s walls,  

       Through the bugle sound you are the one who falls”, said Prometheus poetically.

“Prometheus, I tried to find an objective truth to grab it, to hold on it, believe me”.  

“I know. It is difficult for demigods, who have great power, therefore great responsibility, to find their way. Ethics apply to simple people, but bears no answers for the leaders, i.e. when they can be considered as successful and how many murders can such a success justify. Maybe for them ‘lesser of two evils’ is valid; let us posit also quantitative criteria, not only qualitative ones. It should be taken in account that they cannot have full surveillance over the crowd of their acolytes. It should be accepted that there is one thing to invade a country and cause the death of thousands of victims and entirely another to stir up a coup and to influence the politics of another state. Unfortunately, the deficit of today’s intellectuals is that they invoke only qualitative criteria, equalizing and leveling to the ground all differences, and ignore the quantitative ones”.  

“Some of my wonderous feats had both meaning and usefulness. But why did I kill Hippolyte, why did I steal the oxen of Geryon, the poor three-headed thing didn’t do anything to harm me.  And this Ceryneian hind, such a fine beast, why did I confine it? And there are also other cases, too many to ponder. I am also responsible for the death of Chiron and for that poor Hesione, whom I saved from the sea- monster and she contemplated me with a wet look of gratitude and fear whishing only to follow and serve me, so why I gave her to Telamon?”

“And yet you founded cities, built houses, planted trees, conceded areas for agriculture, freed the world from a whole wild bunch of crooks and rascals and the weak and the meek from insecurity, you carried mountains on your shoulders like the nations of the Earth do, you make the tyrants and the scum of the earth tremble and piss their pants or their thrones out of fear…”

“And yet I founded cities, I built buildings…”, whispered Heracles and drew his last beath, while the flames of the pyre licked his feet hedonically before they devoured him.

In honor of Ophiuchus, who sometimes is forced to use ambiguous measures and means of cold finality to achieve a change for the better, if ever something good can be deduced from crimes and murders, a conundrum that seized and scandalized the intelligence of the titans as a puzzling problem, cluttered and doubted their unnegotiable sense of morality, our heroes chanted the hymn of Uranus (heaven, sky)

URANUS’ INCENSE, LABDANUM

(You heaven, progenitor, of the world limb,

Inception of all until the last (wo-) men limp,

You turn around Earth like a running arrow

With a wriggle of a rhombus circle like a sparrow,  

Heavenly and chthonic guardian of earth’s marrow,  

You have the insatiable desire of nature in the chest, 

Untamed, azure -blue, when the wind blows best,  

Keen- sighted, blissful, who have Cronus as your son

To your disciples give faith and life for a new sun.) 

CHAPTER ΙΕ’

LYRA, AQUILA, GRIFFIN (ALTAIR)

          Prometheus, Hyperion, Oceanus, Leto and Eurybia beamed to the planet of Arcadia, belonging to the Lyra constellation. They found themselves in an idyllic amphitheatrical location under the enchanted mountain Parnon at the base of an evergreen ravine, half a kilometer high, surrounded by a natural virgin environment full of plane -, chestnut- and coniferous trees. The special climate of the area, the waters and the morphology of the ground permitted the coexistence of vegetation that can rarely be combined into such perfect harmonization and analogy: The olive trees and the oaks, the chestnut trees, the vineyards and the pine trees, the firtrees and the herbs of every sort composed a landscape ideal for retirement, high quality wellness cure and recollection of old achievements, the narration of which causes pain to the minstrel. Perhaps, the specific difference was the dense vegetation that seemed to souffle breath to ethereal out-worldish creatures, the living water that was heard to recount stories whisperingly, even underground, or the sense that the only reality was included within these mountain waves that circled the small villages.

Imaginative creatures, alabaster unicorns, small flying  cupids carrying cobwebbed veils, gracious goat-footed Pans, talking horses, who tempted the strangers to tell them: “take me to your leader”, hobgoblins, dwarfs, ogres, domesticated dragons, who spat fire only towards the sky, in the stead of fireworks, rubbed themselves upon one, apparently without realizing how hazardous and perilous mankind was.

          It was the place where all beings were happy and immortal. Here and there inside the fields emerged statues of the most beautiful young Adonis, surrounded by decorated, shimmering, iridescent gardens, symbolizing the phrase “death, where is your sting?”, since the only consequence of the youngster’s slaughter by Cinyras was that all meadows were covered by infinite red roses. On the contrary, his service in the first semester with Aphrodite and in the second with Persephone, along with the paraphernalia of pertinent allowances, subventions for unhealthy work or rather danger -hazard pay did not change.    

Regarding the sky, one was at loss for words! Sometimes it iridized towards orange, other times to pink or deep red working an out-worldish artistic image for all of us, who know nothing more than the blue sky, which is also beautiful – let us not be grumpy curmudgeons. The existing clouds were almost immovable and through their various geometric shapes and distinguished paintbrushes forming all the conceivable nuances of white had only artistic and esthetic meaning for the texture and the composition of the picture, without threatening with a storm, except perhaps with an irrigating reinvigorating rain, so that the swans and herons could shake their feathers.

All creatures were interwoven and orchestrated into an unparallel spring concert.

“Instead of a usual description”, stated Oceanus, “I think that it is the proper time to recite a poetical composition of my own, which came forward quite spontaneously through the observation of this unsurmountable place.

The day star was darted between bushes and leaves, 

And in a mood of spring the innocent flower reeves

Emerging with its sprout like a tangible pulpable song

A brushstroke splendor colored and worthy to long,

Nature lays with care an elegant frame- background

Where a breath of life emerges from the lips spellbound.  

Now it’s absorbing happily the light of the living,

Admiring, wondering for whatever is receiving, 

grateful that all flourish under the same roof

Whispers and eerie sounds coming from aloof,

Voices and echoes purr, roar, murmur, chime

Wings, husks, and feathers with the dusk rhyme.

But, also, the other feelings like nectar intoxicate,

Guide the soul of the newborn, weave the fate.

The flowers are dizzy by their own fragrant, butterflies of laces,

Like a fan the grains and pollen swirl and cover all places.

 They have a crown on the top where the divine waddles, 

Whose roots reach early oblivion, still being in swaddles.

“A remarkable effort, doctor”, said Hyperion, “nevertheless, since our ancestors have bestowed us with all conceivable personalities, dramatic characters and all the intellectual structures, above all with the proper moral values needed for the dealing of every situation, so that infinity should not consist anymore in the inexhaustible eventuality or casualty, but in the broad spectrum of situations that we can assimilate and subsume under our eternal laws, we ‘d better not experiment with amateurish, overly sentimental and qualitatively awkward verses, but to keep our already tested traditions. That is why all the virtuoso tragic poets of antiquity did not invent new heroes, but they solved all kinds of problems invoking the recipes of the old… “

“To translate from Greek into Greek, Oceanus”, interposed the captain, “let us rather chant the hymn of Adonis, which is more fitting to describe and glorify the famous Arcadia of the mind”.  

ADONIS‘ INCENSE, AROMAS

(Now, hear me as I wish, you the handsome,  

Shiny -haired, gentle even as rip stuff, awesome

Well- advised, polymorph, feeding all others,

Albeit young, you respect all people’s mothers,

Sometimes you extinguish, other times you shine,

In the battlefield you deserve your spot in the frontline,  

Beautiful, long-haired, who are also hunter expedite 

Offspring of love, desire of the longed Aphrodite,  

You were born on the bed of Persephone in the dark

You are dwelling in Tartaros and Hades’ ark

Your pockets and purses are filled with fruits and alms

You move towards Olympus with gifts on your palms).

“Are the inhabitants of this paradise really exempt from every care?”, asked Eurybia in good faith.

“This is not exactly true”, answered the unrestrained Hyperion, who considered every question  a challenge for his knowledge and intelligence. “Moschus of Sicily informs us that the residing and dwelling in Arcadia dance around a pole of ribbons, laces and unfulfilled desires. There is a lot of love, but not mutual. So, we learn the following: Pan loved his enchantress Echo, but Echo loved the scampering Satyr, while he was crazy about Leda.

          And as much fire and flame Echo fanned to Pan, the same was valid for Satyr versus Echo and for Leda versus Satyr.

          They were mutually melted by Cupid and every one of them was hated by the man she loved, as much as she hated the man who loved her.

          This is a good lesson for all those unloved; Love the ones who love you to be loved when you love.”   

“Yes”, summarized as every time captain Prometheus, “such erotic issues are the only ones that concern and are of interest for these air-chained cobwebbed etheric creatures. On the other hand, one perceives an immanent compassion and a calming aura in this world, so that the sensation wanders in the air and it is palpable that in the end even the most difficult and unrecited love will be reciprocated, even the most unfitting or fatal attraction will be rewarded. I think, it is not worth to stay here any longer, these tenants of paradise have no use of us, so let us keep our admirable abilities unspent to implement them in other star systems”.  

          “In any case, governor”, said Oceanus, “the happiness of these beings, their perfection par excellence, reminds us of the overqualified eagle who reaches the top of a mountain and envisages an audacious snail. This asks him provocatively: ‘how did you reach the top?’ The eagle revolted: ‘You ask me how I reached the top? But with my wings, of course. You should be the one to tell us how in blazes you got here!’ And the snail answered: “by licking and through being a cuckold’”.   

Hyperion began to get anxious and indignant, because the discussion was progressively degraded regarding quality.  

“Hyperion, calm down”, mediated again the captain. “To translate from Greek into Greek also for you, the time came, inspired from the luck enjoyed by these beings of the discography company… eh sorry of the Lyra constellation, to chant the hymn of Tyche (luck) for the genesis of the Aquila’s (eagle- aetus) constellation.

TYCHE’s INCENSE, LABDANUM

(Tyche, hegemon, I call you, who give us real goods,

Mild and soft, you find real estate with all sorts of foods,

Artemis, who were born by Eubulus’ glorious blood

And that is your great pride and boast, makes you glad

You have wandered in mountains, by all people praised

On you depends the life of those destiny raised, 

You bestow all with possessions in great number,  

You provoke poverty to others whom you encumber. 

But, goddess, please, give us what we cherish and wish

From your rich tank, and no evil or malice unleash).  

“In this chapter we are doing really good”, said Leto, who always flattered Prometheus. “We killed two birds with one stone.  After we made an impressive entrance into Lyra constellation, we also created the Aquila constellation”.

 “Leto, save your unjustified and undeserved laudations, because your intention is so blatant, flagrant and transparent that it tires me. You ‘d better accept deep inside that you are a lieutenant j.g. and such you will remain. This period I operate understaffed and there is no opening or prospect for a promotion. So, we squandered a lot of time fooling around, I will tell Iapetus to…” 

At that time, some shepherds directed to the landing party crying, mourning and wailing. This was certainly not compatible with the concept and impression that Arcadia had conveyed until now to the brave space-travelers.  

“Why are you mourning?”, said Prometheus, “if you are discontent, although you possess all desirable, what should other less privileged people say? You ought to understand that from the moment that you are not hungry, you can’t always set claims and vindicate, but you should also concede some of your privileges to benefit society. The distance from hunger increases responsibility. Instead of booing unresponsively from the bleachers, you ‘d better enter the field and make the difference. ‘If you demand from others to assume their responsibility, be sure that you assume your own’, Solon said. ‘The citizen is most and above all defined by her/his participation in the courts and the authorities’, said Aristotle, while Demosthenes proclaimed: ‘The greatest need of the free (wo-) men is the responsibility for the common cause’. Sorry, I was carried away by my own erudition. How can we be of help?”

Inconsolable the shepherds pulled the space- travelers by the sleeves and led them to a grave- yes, a grave- no matter how dissonant this would be in the country of happiness, with the corresponding tombstone writing “Poussinus”, further details unknown. The worst thing was that on a horizontal marble parallelogram traversing a vertical stele, forming a cross, the inscription “et in Arcadia ego” was written, i.e. that the dominion of death extended also in Arcadia. Given that the tombstone had huge dimensions, there was enough space for a threatening hole in the center, which gaped like Charybdis and no one knew where it led.

The shepherds continued to weep like children for this paradox that scandalized the cloudless happiness of Arcadia. Why, why, they wailed, should death exist also here, why should our friend Poussinus die? Prometheus, who was a known compassionate agent, felt pity for them.  

“Stop now, do not cry. Ah where are you Lacedemonians with your inuring to hardships! What sort of men are you? But even if you were women, I would say the same, thinking of Telesilla.  Eurybia, you are experienced wandering in mazes, so, please, step into the hole and tell us what lies in there. Where does this corridor of death lead and what can we do to barricade it making these people a favor?”     

          Lieutenant Eurybia’s log, star date go figure:

I entered the hole of the grave and continued my course on slippery stairs. At this point, I could invoke myriads of descriptions presenting dark descents into the dismal depths of Hades, but these underground passages have become a subject of treatise by major authors than me. After a considerable lot of steps, I went into something, which was the archetype of a shop.

Specifically, it bore an astounding resemblance to an antiquity- shop. The same lack of space was remarkable, the same dust-layer covered all and there seemed to be the same superficially and rudimentarily assorted chaos of titles, authors, and literary-genres. That mess justified the designation “mixed bag“ or „topsy- turvy” or even “higgledy – piggledy”, just as the state of King Otto’s New Greece were with the warlords playing hide and seek, smoking grass and taxing travelers. At this level too, I didn’t stop to take pride of the lying treasures and examine them closely. Here, on the first step of twilight, a wee-bit ayewards in comparison to Earth, I sighed with alleviation because this ghost-world was scarcely populated, far and away from the enervating preposterous people and from the gallivant hunchbacked crookedly dusty old-men of the university who looked always over my shoulder pointing with their knobby gnarly ink-smudgy fingers on the one or the other page that I perused. Now and then, old uninvited and unsolicited visitors of every kind, overzealous, self-appointed, arbitrary, had burst into my command-center wiping dust with a tobacco-stained handkerchief from my bookshelves and then narrating to my indignation totally uninteresting reminiscences with a shrill unpleasant voice. Fortunately, in the first layer of the twilight I got rid of all those distractions.

          I directed myself to the rear part, the “lower decks” of my library, I passed by a considerable plenty of Greek books and then by the popular- scientific department. Next, I left behind a very eerie mixture of authors -theodicy, theosophy, poems etc. As I proceeded to the library’s back, the dustcover grew thicker and the scarcely illuminating oil-lamps became rarer in the corridors and both stacks and piles lay around moldy, musty, and full of stinking crumbled books. At the end of the book-mountain reaching the top, the corridor divided into two further book motherlodes. I chose the left road and let my expert eyes wander over the titles. I was not in a hurry. I was eager to spend here the whole day as well as the next night.   

          I strolled down the backdoor alley, the most secret path, as a specific book raised my curiosity.

          It was a small black book like a black box of future-days, however with a peculiar timeless appearance that some old trashy hags and scarecrows possess. Its edges were torn, worn- out and the scripture of the tome was pale, incomprehensible, and wasted. On the tome- backside it was written: “Taking care and proper feeding of the griffin”. Lower stood in smaller letters: “Advice for owners”. Every sorcerer naturally knows that a griffin is a mythological monster, half lion, and half eagle.

          I opened the book and read the table of contents. The overtitles were: 1. The species griffin- Griffin the great Unknown. 2. A short history of griffinology. 3. Subspecies of griffin. 4. The food of the griffin. 5. Creation of natural habitat for the griffin. 6. The griffin defeathering. 7. The griffin during the fervor. 8. The griffin and world literature.

I skimmed some pages and read: The only recommended food for a griffin consists of virgins. The beast is fed once every month, and the feeder is advised to be alert and pay attention during the procedure or rather give his undivided attention to the procedure…

I have said earlier that I had felt relief due to the privacy granted to me by the descent into the kingdom of the dead. Yet, this impression began to reverse itself after skimming through the griffin’s treatise. Then, I perceived for the first time that the air of the crypt was not such, but rather a liquid living tissue, an illuminated plasma, just as when a spaceship goes to planet Jupiter and the astronauts move and breathe in liquid oxygen to resist pressure. I also noticed that a wind blow like a sea breeze began to rise, pushing me further to the underworld, in the beginning imperceptibly, then more persistently. This breeze was pictured like a partial cloud, a bit darker than the illuminating atmosphere, which extended slowly and threatened to conquer all space. So, I decided that my best option was to climb hastily the stairs and emerge urgently to the surface. Worthy Capitano, I could embellish the description with more ornamental adjectives that wouldn’t be fitting for a military report.

Eurybia carried out her service duty (with the expediting mentality of a clerk, if we want to be candid), but this did not satisfy the terrified shepherds, who continued being devastated by the death of Poussinus. Obviously impressed by the power of NAOS Venovinda, kept on begging Prometheus to save them from death, who was an inconceivable exception in Arcadia, no matter how Prometheus insisted that this request was beyond his power. The hegemon was seriously concerned about the fate of this world. Just imagine a domain, where not everybody dies, but only some unfortunate, while the others remain immortal. If in our world, a (wo-) man becomes a wolf, exterminating others just to live “better” some extra years, than in Arcadia, where immortality was the rule, the possibility of death would cause a tremendous protectivity and inconceivably immured and fortified fiefs to neutralize and nullify this sudden and unexpectedly occurred gloomy perspective.     

The announcement of death “Et in Arcadia ego” began to invade the sculls of the privileged mythologic creatures and change their psychological state. Anyway, Prometheus felt obliged to make a promise to these people, who considered themselves so helpless.

“This passage to Hades which had opened in your domain an elevated classified issue that I cannot face at this moment.  Unfortunately, this passage can be closed only from the side of the kingdom of the dead, because from our side the wind of life gets explosively decompressed towards the cold space and is very strong to be controlled. I give you my word that during the fourth rotation, when we will cross the territory of death and will found the constellation Canes Venatici and the star Lucifer (Vega), I will endeavor with all means at the disposal of the powerful NAOS Venovinda to seal the channel from yonder”.   

Not able to do or to ask something more, the tenants of the Arcadian paradise dried their tears and deposited all hope at the shoulders of the fighting titans.

Prometheus addressed thoughtfully his space-travelers: “This isn’t a favorable coincidence. Let us rehearse the hymn of Nemesis in the honor of the star Griffin (Altair), which we discovered as a Herm or Rosetta stone leading to Hades, to appease it temporarily, so that it won’t harm these divine creatures until the initiation of our fourth rotation. From the moment that Nemesis, which supplies death with fresh souls, awakened, she needs conciliation and association. Be alert, Arcadians, learn that hymn to be able to rehearse it on your own”.  

NEMESIS’ HYMN

(Nemesis, I hereby call you, goddess queen,

Keen- sighted, who give people a neat clear screen

Self- beginning, venerable, who are enjoying the law

And grab chicanery by the ear with your cat’s paw,  

All are afraid of you, not only those who carry a yoke,

Because you care for all, for you no deed is a joke

You eavesdrop on arrogant soul and indiscreet urge, 

You hear and punish, no one can escape your purge

Among the mortals you are the ancestor of justice

You find adepts, forge mottos while you chastise-

Help rather the good, stay away from dissent, 

Pursue moral issues, not what fools have meant).  

          “hegemon, a last observation before we beam up”, said Hyperion. “These incredible creatures, who inhabit Arcadia, do not deserve the happiness and immortality that they enjoy; they have not earned it”.  

          Prometheus bent confidentially to the pointy ear of Hyperion,  

“Beyond the fact that they have their own concerns experiencing their own predicaments, and that is something not to trifle with, think not that a titan like me would ever do something opposing distinction and justice. In fact, I don’t have any intention to close the passage between life and death, but rather to reverse its sluice and make it a one-way street leading from Hades to Arcadia. Entrance will be posted on the firmament of the underworld and only the souls, who are light like a feather, will be rewarded through ascension towards the happy land of the blissful, whole those aggravated by crimes or other liabilities will remain on the shores of Acheron and Styx. As far as the Arcadians are concerned, I don’t feel sorry for them. The condition of their prosperity is such that it allows them to welcome some immigrants or even continually and increasingly thronging newcomers, whereby it’s their problem how they will billet or feed them. He who has two coats should share with the one who has none, if I may use a saying of the antagonistic to us movement of Christianity, isn’t it so, Mr. Hyperion? Iapetus, beam us up”.  

CHAPTER ΙΣΤ’

CYGNUS, DELPHINUS, PEGASUS, TRIANGULUM OF THE NORTH  

Leto presents a paper:

Dear colleagues, thank you for assigning me this talk about law and justice. Some people say that we, titans, deal in our congresses always with the same problems, but we do this because the important issues in life are few and are the only ones that need to be addressed. That is the reason why in our tragedies our great dramatists had always preprepared ethical characters and intelligence structures, so that their creative activity consisted merely in infinite diversity in infinite combinations, in delving into the motives of will and the different aspects of psychology. Likewise, the Right includes characters and intelligence structures and does not rely on anyone’s subjectivism. Free will is not contrarian to the objectivity of Right as science, because anyone can fulfill one’s potential in the frame of the authority that the community of law   entrusts her/him. The above is valis as a preliminary observation.

My short treatise about Right will rely on the example of Delphi, that is why I decided to devote my speech to Delphian Apollo. It is well known that we, titans, oppose the Olympians in many things, yet we recognize that they in their lust for power often operate as catalysts to important historical facts and sometimes the cunning of reason makes it so, that the Olympians achieve the opposite result from the one they pursue; in the final analysis they are also pawns of general history, which directs itself to continuously broader consciousness both of necessity and freedom. As Goetheus rehearsed in Faust describing the devil:

I am part of that power which would

Do evil constantly and constantly does good.

I am the spirit of perpetual negation,

For all it exists deserves damnation.

What you call sin, evil and cheating

It’s my main element, proper and fitting. 

So, in the hypothetical space of Delphi, as well as in every other space the first settlements were built and after the expected “dog eats dog” begam the distribution of land and the barbed wires in the prairie. Besides, it is known that the meaning of the word “nomos” is the setting of boundaries, the distribution and the exploitation of the fields. The most important thing in the setting of boundaries were not the border posts or the wires on the prairie, but the mutual recognition of each other’s property. This brought the contracts as a result; However, the merely material distribution of things without some acceptance by the spirit conveyed lack of each other’s property recognition, violation of treaties, cheating and then crime. It was the time that Cygnus -hereby, I second the constellation of the corresponding constellation- snatched the votives and the offerings brought by the faithful to Delphi. Cygnus was one of the land thieves pillaging and ravaging the area, very aggressive, just as the homonymous bird is. His vehemence was such that Zeus took his form to seduce Leda with the well- known results, i.e. Aphrodite staged the persecution of Cygnus- Zeus, so that Leda  pitied him and hugged him to help him escape, thus she remained pregnant the same evening both by Cygnus- Zeus and by Tyndareus and gave birth to two… eggs, whereby from the Cygnus’ egg Polydeuces (Pollux) and Helen were born and from Tyndareus’ egg Castor and Clytemnestra. In any case the aggressivity of Cygnus was settled, when Heracles killed him, but the confrontations regarding property never stopped. The deep concerns and the heavy clouds were always gathering. So, let us rehearse the hymn of Nephelae to complete the epoch of the Cygnus. 

NEPHELAE’s INCENSE, MYRRH

(Nephelae, whom one airy, cloudy, heavenly meets,

Rainy, push your impetus on the world’s streets

Thunder, set everywhere fire, but also guard the river, 

You move in the wind meanders, make everyone shiver

 You disturb the spirits, worry them through birds’ liver  

I beg you to be favorable with fresh robes and clothes

And make through rain the earth liken our oaths.).  

At a certain point, even Apollo understood that without mutual appreciation and respect between possessors and owners neither his authority nor his dominion was possible. So, he disguised himself to a dolphin and attacked a ship of Cretans, knowing that the Cretans are the most reliable followers (which is valid also today). H kidnapped the whole crew and brought them to Delphi to serve him as priests, but also as a sort of armed judges and relentless law enforcers. The Cretans though, except faithful, proved also to be extraordinarily moral people; instead of going out to enforce the law with the whiplash, they considered the external not conscious compliance as ineffective and introverted into the inner world, formulating the famous Delphic maxims that are valued by all even today. If I am not wrong, approximately 147 survive from that period, but the most renowned are “Know thyself” and “nothing in excess”. Respectively, I want to mention also another representative adage regarding the proper attitude of a person depending on his/her age: “As a child be decorous, as a teenager be temperate, as middle-aged just, as old man reasonable, as dying serene”. Moral principles are necessary in society because they tell us how we should treat our roommate, our co-citizen, our compatriot, so that the constitutional state may operate. There, however, was also an impasse to be observed, because many considered the expansion of the oracle’s ethical principles as moral terrorism. The externalization- extraversion of law failed, but the same happened also to the introversion of ethics, which ended up being some sort of dismal religious underground world, threatening and oppressing for all. Let us chant here the hymn of Persephone in honor of the constellation Delphinus – please let it be catasterized – to show that the morality necessary for the peaceful coexistence may also under circumstances become a dictatorship of unexplained prudery, just as the one obliging the women of sundry religious dogmas to wear an armor, panoply or chastity belts, unable to go on the street, if they are not hermetically harnessed.

 HYMN OF PERSEPHONE

(Persephone, daughter of the great Zeus, blissful,

Monogenous goddess, accept hymns holy and peaceful-

Precious consort of Pluto, life-giving, prudent, wise

Who possess the gates of Hades, from fertile land rise

Vengeful, with long tentacles, matrix and dome of Earth,

Parent of Eumenides, having underground birth –

Born by Jupiter by an unorthodox ineffable way,

Mother of Dionysus, whose glory no one can gainsay,  

You are co-player of Hours, glorified, holding lamps

Shy mistress of the world, keeping up the thumbs, 

Sharing fruits, among holy sprouts going up the ramps

Lucid, desirable to mortals, cornucopia’s abundance  

In spring and meadows, you enjoy air’s sun-dance. 

You were grabbed to be bride, when the leaves fall,  

Announcing for the people their last life’s call.

Because you are Persephone and you can kill and slay,  

But we seek your attention, please, if we may,

Bring us fruits of the earth, health which is sweet, 

Bestow us wealth to face old age, with dignity to greet

The way to Pluto’s residence, bravely the end to meet). 

          All these ended up to the dominion of the INSTITUTIONS, which are the culmination of Right, they are what (wo-) mankind searched for and achieved throughout history, a combination of material settlement and spiritual arrangement. The institutions rely on the one hand on external organization, on the other hand on internal consciousness connecting all participants. Such institutions are family, society of contracts and transactions, courts, universities, worker unions, professional guilds and associations, people’s assembly, congress, senate and governments. Every society is structured upon those, there is no alternative to the institutions, except tyranny as one man’s power or oligarchy as prevail of the mightiest interest. The institutions though need support and staffing- (wo-) manning. Based on the institutions, each one exercises authority within society.  One is voter, active or inactive citizen, participating in families or in transactions, and from any of these qualities rights and obligations arise, in short tasks, duties and competences. Every citizen in the frame of her/his authority is an archon, a governor, an administrator, bears responsibilities and is held accountable for her/his decisions. Power shows the man (and the woman).Aristotle: “The citizen is most and above all defined by her/his participation in the courts and the authorities”. Solon: “If you demand from others to assume their responsibility, be sure that you assume your own”. Demosthenes: “The greatest need of the free (wo-) men is the responsibility for the common cause”. Sorry, I was carried away, like our captain says.

When a (wo-) man exercises one’s authority, bestowed to him/her by society, one is validated both as individual and as member of the general state. Such a man was Bellerophon, the institutionally purest, most impeccable and integer of all heroes, so integer that many plotted and intrigued against him, but no one dared to harm him, no one consented or endured to kill him, because all arrows of the others’ slander, calumny and legitimate or illegitimate ambition ricocheted and stroke against his shining impeccable flawless and formidable armor.

In the beginning he was calling himself Hipponous, because he thought and cared only for the horses, which he chased all over to tame, a difficult and dangerous activity, so much so that in that era horses were carnivore and man-eating, tearing their persecutors to pieces. Not only Hipponous managed to tame some horse, but he managed to tame THE horse, namely feathered Pegasus, son of Medusa and Poseidon, whom he grabbed and rode, as the latter drank water in the fountain of Peirene in Acrocorinth. This was his first contact with Right, surely definitive and decisive, because he didn’t acquire whatever property, but a living elusive creature, which he was forced anytime to mind and attend to, as well as engage his infinite powers at the disposal of society. So, Pegasus – please, catasterize him – symbolizes the spiritual character of property, where one envisages oneself, stressing also the responsibility and social dimension, which the former entails. Afterwards, our hero went to Troezen to marry Aithra, daughter of Pittheus. In the meantime, the tyrant of Corinth Bellerus asked him to teach him archery, but Hipponus made a mistake and handed him a poisonous arrow during the training, so that the tyrant collapsed thunderstruck. Although Bellerus died by accident, which means that the injustice inflicted to him was indeliberate, unintentional and involuntary due to a (serious) negligence, Hipponous was unconsolable. He started calling himself Bellerophon, i.e. Bellerus’ killer, whose name in turn derives from “arrow or needle”, so that he would never forget the crime that he committed. Although his responsibility was formalistic and not essentially subjective, he felt huge remorse, a circumstance that propagated much the study of law and initiated a new era of Right. Bellerophon shook refuge on our old acquaintance, the tyrant of Tyrins Proetus to redeem himself from his crimes through penance and labor. In those days, the assigned tasks, if they had an auspicious outcome, i.e. if they led to genuine internal repentance of the perpetrator, were considered cures for atonement. While he dwelled there, Proetus’ (not Potus’) wife Stheneboea was infatuated with him, but Bellerophon, as we say in the titan language, kept and revered honesty towards the host, demonstrating that one necessary pylon of Right is morality.  Right without moral subjects cannot exist, no matter how the positivistic jurists howl, roar or tear their clothes.

Then, Stheneboea, fearing that Bellerophon would denounce her to Proetus, hurried to anticipate his reactions, claiming that our hero tried to rape her. Proetus, being on the one hand some sort of spiritual confidant of Bellerophon due to the redemption procedure, on the other hand being a chickenshit to the superlative degree, he sent him to his father- in- law Iobates in Lycia, instructing him to find a way to kill him. According to the sequence of events, Iobates first extended hospitality to Bellerophon and then received the letter with the abominable instructions, because the former made use of the existing airways riding Pegasus, while the mail was moving via stagecoach, just like the movies of Wild West and got late. So, Iobates, being a compassionate fellow, influenced by the previous hospitality, had a liking for our hero and didn’t have it in him to kill him. That is why we are taught that besides the inaugured and constituted courts, we all are also judges in society. In fact, we judge daily ourselves and others, allocate responsibilities, orient our lives towards the good guys and avoid the bad ones. At the same time though, we are also hypocrites, because we accept that someone else would do the dirty business ensuring – guaranteeing our way of life.  So, Iobates sent Bellerophon to Chimera to commit glorious labors, who was the daughter of our old acquaintance Typhon and Echidna, in the frame of the redeeming cures that we have mentioned, hoping that she would kill him. Chimera had a chest of a lion, head of a goat emitting fire and tail of a dragon causing all over incredible devastation. To make a long story short, Bellerophon shot and killed her from the height of Pegasus, who performed a vertical assault. Chimera symbolizes our daily transactions, so attritional and chimeric, deceiving and delusional that surviving them is a miracle. One excellent omen though is that we always keep the principles of good faith and fair practice. Later, Iobates sent our hero to Solymi, a savage and barbaric nation of Lycia, symbolizing the professional guilds, unions and associations, where someone needs great balance and subtlety of maneuvers to keep them united and effective. Bellerophon managed to reconciliate them. Then it was the turn of the Amazons who, as everybody knows, inhabited around Thermodon river of Asia (Terme- Samsun), were called anti-ander, because they were feminists and crushed their right breasts, not to be obstructed during shooting arrows. After beating them, Bellerophon taught them equality of the two sexes, persuading them that also men are worth something, sowing and spreading also elements of international law, so that all nations of the Asiatic people-sea dwelling in Eurasia and Skythia could live peacefully ever after.

When finally Iobates saw that no ambush, no matter how sophisticated or pre- studied was, could not hurt shining Bellerophon, as he was idealistic and ethical and institutional, he kept him in his kingdom and gave him his daughter for marriage along with half the kingdom, plus the land provided to him be the Solymi in gratitude, since he took them by the hand and led them up the street of prosperity and peace. Here ends our story, a story of institutional responsibility and authority; Instead to reiterate the classic refrain “they lived happily ever after”, it is more fitting to say that this is summarily the History of Law and Right.

Winged Pegasus became the symbol of titans for Right and justice. It is also the sign of our starfleet, distinctive title and name for our most majestic ships both of commercial and war navy. It is an eternal concept calling people to a confident exaltation and assertion- confirmation of the institutions that they founded. Bringing my short historical retrospection towards its end, and given that we all rest assured in the embrace of the law, at least theoretically, since its practical implementation and enforcement requires constant vigilance and daily struggle, I hereby call you to praise Eumenides, because the Right is exactly that, the torturing urges of (wo-) mankind, the nightmarish creatures of the myth, namely Erinyes, who retreat progressively and give up their position to the Eumenides of logos and logic, just as the sea recedes to reveal the land.  

I remind you what a certain Hegelos wrote about Erinyes and Eumenides symbolizing correspondingly the primitive condition of (wo-) man in relation to the conscious one, and the despondent sedimentation of delict and crime in relation to the ordered and regular organization of Right. “The conflict between Apollo and the Eumenides is to be settled by the verdict of the Areopagus. A court, human on the whole, at the head of which stands Athene herself as the concrete spirit of the people, is to resolve the conflict. The judges give equal votes for condemnation and acquittal, because they honor the Eumenides and Apollo equally (r.n. the Eumenides were still Erinyes), but the white stone of Athene decides the case for Apollo. The Eumenides lift their voices in indignation against this judgment of Athene, but she silences them because she promises them worship and altars in the famous grove of Colonus. What the Eumenides are to do for the people in return is defense against the evil arising from natural elements, earths, sky, sea and winds, protection from unfruitfulness of the crops, from failure of the human seed. But Pallas undertakes for herself in Athens the charge of warlike strife and sacred battles… 

But the tragic denouement need not every time require the downfall of the participating individuals in order to obliterate the one-sidedness of both sides and their equal meed of honour. We all know that the Eumenidesof Aeschylus does not end with the death of Orestes or the discomfiture of the Eumenides (These were the Furies, the avengers of a mother’s blood, and the violation of family piety, against Apollo who means to maintain the dignity and veneration of the King and the head of the family, and who provoked Orestes to kill his mother.) On the contrary, Orestes is excused punishment, and both the gods are honored. But at the same time, we see clearly in this decisive conclusion what their gods meant to the Greeks when they brought them before their eyes in a combat between one another as particular individuals. To the contemporary Athenians they were only elements which were bound together into the entire harmony of ethical life. The votes of the Areopagus were equal; it is Athene, the goddess representing the whole substance of living Athenian life, who inserts the white stone which liberates Orestes, but she promises altars and worship to the Eumenides and Apollo equally”.

Prometheus coughed dryly:

“So, that’s enough; As you said, Leto, let us all rise for the hymn of the Eumenides and the celebration of Pegasus catasterism”.

EUMENIDES’ INCENSE, AROMAS

(So, hear, honorable goddesses, who stay in the rear  

Tisiphone, Alecto, Megaira, who the people scare, 

Nightwalker, innermost, having the house deep low

Near the holy water of Styx, where no one wants to go,

You fly with dark intentions, which you don’t reveal

Maniac, haughty, causing mayhem, you don’t appeal

Beasty punishers, almighty, you cause fear, pain

Chthonic daughters, who like Hades kill and slain

Airy, stealthy, you hover like concept and thought

You know what mortals always seek and sought

You survey with Dike’s eye, you are everyone’s judges  

Please, reverse now and be lenient without grudges,

Change your course, be clement, show will of good

Be magnanimous, be Eumenides with mild mood.

You are daughters of Zeus great and chthonic

And of curly Persephone, who is never ironic

You criticize the life of all, if it is unholy and lonely

You punish every crime, if it is provided only,

Blue- colored queens, you cast a glimpse of an eye

With deadly carnivore reflection, and instantly all die

You are eternal, sovereign, of abhorrent countenance

You dismantle with nails every structure, maintenance,

O night daughters with curls like snakes in the hair

Bring us rather prudence, wisdom, help us be fair). 

A vivid and intense standing ovation followed the speech- homily of Leto. Prometheus rose deeply moved and said:

“Thank you, Leto. The Right as combination of law, ethics and institutions is the greatest human achievement. Please, let the Triangulum of North be catasterized to symbolize the above three-legged distinction. Let us rehearse also some hymns in the honor of our most formidable enemy, the power -hungry Zeus to sooth him, so that he may leave us alone to live long and prosper in our societies; we have no need of him”.    

ZEUS’ INCENSE, STYRAX

(Zeus beloved, Zeus unwasted, without attrition,

We witness your glory to avoid further affliction.  

Let us say it is true that from your glorious head,  

Earth, mountains and sea came forward- ahead,  

And whatever else, firmament and heaven hold,

Zeus with your scepter, who always say: behold

Beginning and end of all, inception and death

Earth -trembler, you have many gadgets in the sheath

Thunderous, enhancer, who sprouts of flowers plants

Provide impeccable health, and flawless glands,  

Peace and wealth, even if it luxury reaches,

Self-born of the gods, teacher that men teaches,  

We become your sponsors, we make sacrifices

But we never know if our obedience suffices,

Make that life gives joy, and health all over reigns

Allow us food to fill our capillaries and veins

To admit that something good from you remains). 

THUNDEROUS ZEUS’ INCENSE – SWEET SMELLING STYRAX

(Zeus, torchbearer, who carry the torch from the heights

 With ethereal lightning you turn on and off our lights,  

The bench of the blissful with thunders shake,

Cloudy, dismal, dark waters from the sky rake, 

Floods, hurricanes, storms and flames you send

Enraged, horrible, despicable you are eager to spend,  

You don’t hesitate to catapult and throw arrows

With the threatening urge of your drive that harrows  

You shoot and pour invincible acid swelling,  

From sky-high it comes, makes the pustules smelling,

For you, sea and earth treble and run to hide, 

They are afraid of both your ebbing and tide,  

When your thunder strikes, all people stay aghast

Both in ether and valleys, your madness grows fast,

You tear the cloak of heaven, since you roar

But, please, stop frightening us like a wild boar

We know you, that’s enough, you warlord, you marshal

Stop being so horrible, stop being a rascal,  

Make that life gives joy, and health all over reigns

Allow us food to fill our capillaries and veins

To admit that something good from you remains). 

 “The last three verses are encountered in many hymns of Zeus to demonstrate the unquestionable psychopathologic neurosis of the man, if man can be called this extraterrestrial who emerged from the wormhole, the addicted of sacrifices, sponsored offerings, libations and worshipping laurels” prompted Hyperion to say.

LIGHTNING ZEUS’ INCENSE, LABDANUM-MANNA

(I call the great one, the superb, the thunderous,  

The airy, the flaming, the fiery, the marvelous,  

Who lights an aurora on the clouds with a mighty cry

Who both at evening and dawn is but a pigsty, 

Please, thunderous king, cease in our life to pry, 

Give us a break, cut us some slack until we die). 

“So, it seems that we flattered him long enough, although any friendly approach is also in vain, because he understands only the language of power and violence”, added Prometheus in the beginning of the sentence attracting some laugh, but in the end a sullen frowned gloomy atmosphere seized the day.

CHAPTER ΙΖ’

ARIES, PLEIADES, TAURUS, TAURUS’ COUNTENANCE (ALDEBARAN)

PROETHEUS: “My dear crew, this time it is likely that we wouldn’t need to intervene, because facts and circumstances are developing on their own and finally appears a result compatible to justice. But let us not get ahead of ourselves and let us observe what is happening in this area of heaven through our crystal ball”.

Aries felt nicely settled in the enviable luxury of his residence equivalent to a five-star hotel. He sat lax in his favorite armchair and saw the world with different eyes. The images came through quantic entanglement to his eagle Iustinian. There gave a noiseless connection based on his symbiotic artificial cells, installed in his spinal column, harmonized and orchestrated completely to the corresponding cloned stem cells of Iustinian, providing to the besieging and unstoppable Aries clear sensual impressions of the rapacious bird’s flight.

So, Aries enjoyed the feelings of freedom and power transmitted to him by the bird. These flooding images were the best analgetic for his old body and his gradually paralyzing muscles. All his bio- medicinal means could not lead to his cellular regeneration and rejuvenation. As an old verse said:

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men,

Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

          On the contrary, Iustinian possessed enormous vitality, as he crossed the clouds being the indisputable master of the heavens.

On this day, Aries had sent his eagle to hunt over the harbor. What was the prey that the almighty master of a whole planet would desire? What more could a man need, who had all? The answer was that, if someone aims to acquire not only soulless things, but also animated and soulful ones, then money is not enough, but constant vigilance and exercise of influence is required. At this point, we confide in our readers to make the narration more understandable that Aries (Crius) was what the young people despise above all, namely a child molester. In the past, he had already captured, exploited in multiple ways with right of using and abusing and finally absorbed, strip- mined  and leeched off an entire bunch of little girls, being in their prime, who belonged to aristocratic families at that, like Phaeo, Phaisyle, Ambrosia, Coronis, Eudora and Polyxo, who were named Hyades from their brother Hyas.  Aries had sent a biotechnologically remote -controlled snake to bite Hyas, so he got rid of him and kidnapped undisturbed his defenseless and inconsolable sisters. After he transformed through molesting and grannies, raping those young girls into wrinkled multiply used and misused, he made more openings in the white flesh market with unprecedented impatience and brutality like a shark who smelled blood and rushed like a beast to Pleiades, famous for their beauty. He captured and enlisted successively in his unofficial harem Maia, Electra, Taygete and Alkinoe, whom he chased just now through Iustinian in the harbor. As far as Asterope is concerned, he had also another reason to persecute her, because, while he as a capitalistic and plutocratic colossus controlled the international drug trade, this marvelous young girl had managed in a mysterious way to establish a flourishing enterprise of selling and distributing psychedelic drugs. In fact, her products named “glycol- calyces” or “glycol-anthers” provided much superior hallucinations than his own pills, having as a result that a significant part of the market got lost to Aries, if one could grasp such calamity!       

At this point, the titans broke transmission to recite the hymn of Nereids to exorcise all evil spirits searching for white flesh of little girls, just as Aries did to satiate his sinful and illegitimate appetites. But is it acceptable that we exorcise and sooth these bastards? one could say. Well, the titans were a little soft for today’s standards, a bit tenderfoot or pushover, as the young of our era would say, but no one can question their deep humanism!

 NEREIDS’ INCENSE, AROMAS

(Nymphs of salty Nereus with beautiful eyes,

For them every being of the depth cries,  

Fifty daughters dancing, reveling near the waves

Rejoicing in the Triton’s vessel who also raves,

With morphs of beast, who inhabit in sea caves,

Those on the bottom of the sea, unlighted, sallow  

In the wet roads where the wave is shallow. 

Navigating dolphins shining with a blue polish and hue

I call you to send to the adepts the delight which is due

You first follow the rituals of Bacchus and emphasize, 

Which are holy and pure, of Persephone’s size

Together with Calliope offering presents and prize).  

Next, the titans chanted a hymn in honor of the Pleiades and of their corresponding graceful constellation, who could not be nothing less than the one of the nymphs.

NYMPHS’ INCENSE, AROMAS

(Nymphs, daughters of the lion- heart sea froth,  

You live in the depths of a world of another troth, 

You hide in the prairies, in the oblique paths, 

In grottos, but also palaces with thin fine laths, 

Gushing, running, with morning dew and light pace

You leave on the sand a distinct flower’s trace

 You jump and scamper with Pan and his men

Into woods, hills, valleys and in the brigands’ den

You are fragrant virgins, in white robe, breath lither,  

shepherd cattle, gather fruits before they wither

You enjoy the woods you draw benefit from it out

You are tree-daughters, playful, pious, devout,  

Bacchic, verve- stung, spring- happy, sick and cured

Along with Demeter bless all cities immured,  

come to your holy altars and make the anger flee, 

make the fruits ripe like a benevolent busy bee).     

Furthermore, the titans considered as right to devote a hymn in honor of the Taurus constellation’s birth, on whose front they in their infinite mercy catasterized the poor Hyades. This hymn could not be other than the one of the Primitive, since Aries had molested them so badly.

INCENSE OF THE PRIMITIVE, MYRRH

(I call the primitive, of those with both natures, who wander  

Egg-born, who with golden wings finds his way asunder, 

He has the face of a bull, he bore gods and mankind

Raping with precious sperm, shaking both herbs and hind

He is mysterious, clandestine like a stealthy sprout.   

You who blackened the cloud, made it dark and stout,

After you started, swept down and strafed in the world,

I call you Phanes, bright light, I can’t find another word,

I call you Priapus with seducing allure, luring gazes,  

You, versatile, many- seeded, whose mettle amazes

Even the orgiasts you could free from barren mazes).

Again, let us observe through the crystal ball: The girl wore a robe with mauve mallow color, black sandals and a straw hat, as well as a leather bag, hung on the back, decorated with blue and red tufts. She didn’t seem to be older than eleven or thirteen years, but she ran on the promenade of the extended walls with an enviable agility, lightness and flexibility among sailors, tourists, merchants and traveling vendors. So, that was the girl who had challenged him in such an unforgivable way. If she didn’t call her own seducing voluptuous fat tidbits, metaphorically tasteful morsels and fresh meat which Aries fancied, he would have made short work of her dealing with the problem very quickly and handily, so much so that neither youth nor innocence were justifiable excuses for those who dared to oppose him or to sally against him. Quite simply, the girl sold biotechnological equipment of top quality in the harbor without his approval and with discretion, unparalleled dexterity and intuitive sensitivity at that, whereas her covenants were important, even spaceship captains. Apparently, a wise scholar, about whom nobody knew if he was alive or dead, had fabricated in a laboratory and in tanks of a very sophisticated chemical solution not exactly hallucinations, but evolved memory storage units of the user himself in form of inhaled powder, syringe or pills. These cellular nuclei and clusters of a size of a bug could reproduce the most agreeable and unforgettable events of the user’s life according to her/his wishes in such a realistic and deeply experienced way that everybody forgot oneself like a lotus- eater within an entirely artificial limbo. How the kid came to the possession of the most wanted, most demanded glycol-calyces, which we will also address in the following, was unknown.

Aries had hired in his payroll a very reliable strongman or rather strongwoman, a much- dreaded night -comer, Demogorgon. She was a horrible woman, horrendous, despicable, detestable, if you know grasp the insinuation, who was bornin underneath the surface of the earth, passed her youth in sewers chasing crocodiles, which according to the urban myth live there, and her name was so abominable that it was forbidden to the mortals to even pronounce it. Demogorgon killed her victims through clods of burning mud, which struck roots into the capillaries and the intestines of the attacked and rent, cleaved, devoured him from within. Of course, one could not escape such a persecutor and -in short – Asterope was arrested following the fate of the other Pleiades. The trade of the glycol-calyces fell on the hands of Aries, while Asterope was limited to mere survival in exchange of the well-known return service, consisted of …well you can all guess. After interrogation, Asterope admitted that the producer of glycol- anthers – not to use the same word – was her father Atlas, dead many years ago.

Aries produced narcotics of different kinds, but when he acquired the patent of glycol-calyces, he turned his cultivation exclusively to them. He transformed his machines into biologic hybrids, mixtures of software and biotechnology, consisting not only of metal and plastic, but also of other organic components. All these elements were mixed and fused with such art and sophistication plus perversion that they caused unconquerable awe and ineffable surprises to the spectators. Anyway, production ended up into a ribbed plant with formulated globules at the sides, which at the first sight resembled a thorny cactus, tall, hard and dark like mahogany.

In the center of the plant there was a meristem areole, a viscous gelatinous stain, from which the glycol-calyces sprouted and then grew up along the sides. In the end, the plant looked like a grey-green stone-cactus with two centimeters diameter, spotted and striped with mauve rings.

On of Aries’ biotechnicians studied thoroughly the structure of the glycol-calyx and found that its cells were full of neuro-physic proteins and other unknown neurotransmitters. In any case, whatever they were, they functioned, reacted and influenced or conquered directly the voids between the neuron synapses. This way, the host was surprised and unexpectedly flooded with his own memories. How could these neuro-physic substances be produced in a way that they conveyed a coherent sensual sequence, it remained unknown even to the most evolved science. The basic thing is that, possessing the patent, Aries also conquered   this section of the market, achieving the culmination of his ambitions in business and enterprises. Henceforth, his only target was longevity.

Well, he was hale and hearty considering his hundred twenty years. He had preserved to this advanced age his quality-of-life, facing vigorously the embrace of entropy as a gradual diminishing of his powers with the contempt that only the very rich like himself could show, those who swam in talers. However, from a certain point his biochemical therapies to preserve his genetic and cellular rejuvenation of his organs, the continuation of his skin and the density of his masculine hair growth, could not work miracles anymore. Advancing age had subjugated and eliminated, uprooted his sexual urge. That is why, sensing continuously on his skin the limitations of Chronos – Cronus, he contented himself watching Asterope naked or admire her, as she was dancing in front of him. Or he was satisfied watching the despicable Demogorgon along with the courtyard’s hetaerae, as they corrupted gradually the innocence of Asterope, until his vigorous, sturdy, robust and strong -limbed servants came to claim her virginity violently and rapaciously- that was a magnificent spectacle to see!     

The negative side was that Asterope, just as the other women, could lose her virginity only once; the spectacle, however, remained stored forever in the glycol-calyces that his scientists everyday proudly offered him, so he had the opportunity to relive daily, time and again, this unforgettable ophthalmo-porn voyeur experience, each time with the same vividness, the same clarity, the same tension. 

This repetition of deflowering, provided by the glycol- calyces, was something extraordinary, made him pant, not be able to breathe, made his heart work with arrythmia and atrial fibrillation. Progressively, his scientists modified the glycol-calyces in a way that he was posited in the stead of the lovers and watched face-to-face Asterope licking with the tongue his thick-haired shaggy chest, whereby he came to an explosive, utterly decompressing and relieving orgasm, escorted by well-placed bull roars. Now, nothing else was more important in his life than to experience all over again the deflowering of Asterope either in the hands of her “lovers” or in his own.

His greatest pleasure was that he gradually had earned and conquered the soul of Asterope, introducing to her every sort of lust and exercising to her every sort of charm. Now, he came and embraced her like a father, and they stayed together until the next morrow, which was the most magnificent feeling, a permanent ecstasy, as if the window shutters open every time, every moment to welcome the sun or the morning breeze. Best thing of all was that he felt young, extremely young, under the effect of the glycol-calyces, powerful, strong and valorous, able to absorb, to squeeze the happiness, being generously offered to him.

That night, which was supposed to be the brightest evening of his life, Aries called to a symposium all department heads, all executive directors and arms of his firms, all his agents and enforcers of his will. Although he sent them the invitation only a couple of hours ago, they hurried to come, because they had an allegiance to him either out of conviction or out of fear.

Asterope was dressed like a Victorian queen with a high bust and corset, silk and decoration, and had flowers on her hair. He stood by her, upright and strong with his black tuxedo and a carnation on the lapel, having Iustinian on his shoulder as a symbol of his authority, and welcomed very officially all guests, who arrived with the coaches, the limousines and sundry other transportation mean of different miscellaneous epochs.  

 The couple sat under the accompaniment of discreet gentle melodies on the top of an elongated table extending to infinity, with the chandeliers hanging from gold chains of the roof and the old paintings of the walls picturing the ancestors of the parvenu Aries, who watched sternly and grimly the visitors, preannouncing a new future dynasty of many centuries.  

The happy conversation and the resounding laughs were interrupted abruptly, as Aries tingled ceremonially his spoon on the glass, which indicated that the speech of the host would follow.

“Today, is for me a special occasion of double joy, not only because I have you all by my side, but also because in the face of Asterope I found the daughter, whom I never had”, he said embracing her, while she blushed shyly and shamefully. The executives and the agents looked at each other surprised, asking themselves what the consequences of that informal and unexpected adoption would be for the management and direction of the enterprises. Then, they took in in turns to greet hypocritically with gnashing teeth the new source of authority that had suddenly risen.

“Yes, Asterope will assume all my business, she will be my successor. And she is the worthiest for this task, because she has contributed already to our company’s trade branch the product, which not also ensures our economic domination for all future generations, but also promises and predicts absolute happiness for all of us, the transformation of our planet into a paradise on earth.   Please, let the glycol- calyces on the silverplate be shared to all, so that all may experience the newfangled commercialized happiness. Happiness would be henceforth available in the market! And I, only I, possess its entire monopoly, but my mood is so elevated that I feel the need to share with you my wealth and fortune, which so generously fate and my industrious efforts have bestowed on me. Please, swallow, gulp it down, take care that it is does not go down the wrong pipe and thank with me my precious unique Asterope! Asterope, who made all our dreams come true”.

Within this atmosphere of extreme and unrepeatable revelry and debauchery Aries feels the inner impulse to get up and dance, to jump sky- high, that is the measure of his enthusiasm. Now, Asterope leans on his shoulder entangling her hands into his own. “So many important people and all wanted to shake my hand. Thank you, daddy. Thank you for finding me, believing in me, taking me in your home, sustaining me, making me happy”. Her words caused him an ineffable euphoria; it is not the first time that she called him dad. “That’s what daddies are for”, he replies with a shining smile inside alabaster teeth of a cinema star.    

Aries woke up suddenly in the night. In his caries-dug teeth half confect of glycol-calyx has glued. Terrified by his violent awakening he looks at the mirror of his ceiling, which always reflected his erotic deviations. He saw a pale, cachectic old man with a repulsive tumbled drum- stretched belly, pierced by lots of tubes coming from empty drip feeds. His king -blue sheets were stained by urine and excrement. His face was smudged by medicines, saliva and watery food.

“What happened, is the event over?”, he whispered.

The screen of his eyes was filed by a Medusa’s countenance with a deformed mouth framed by sharp teeth, a grimace of malice and hairs like vipers. It was Demogorgon.

“What event?”, she said, being ostensibly at a loss.

Demogorgon is still laughing while showing her canines. Behind her, in the background was Asterope. Aries shits himself instantly out of fear and due to the unexpected turn of events.

“What are you doing, here? What do you intend to do? I have given you all, money, glory, recognition”, he could barely pronounce biting involuntarily his tongue.

“You know”, said Asterope, “I appreciate that you have proclaimed me your heir, thinking maybe that you will live – and shit- forever, but, unfortunately, I have not the patience to wait. I feel mature to take over your business right now”.

“Asterope offers me more than you, boss. She says that I will be her right hand”, succored Demogorgon.

“No, no”, Aries shouted. “We have made a deal to make you my second in command. Asterope can’t offer you more than me”.  

Η Δαιμογόργων κούνησε το κεφάλι της.

“I don’t’ recall such a discussion, boss. Could it be that this flattering business proposition of yours is included only in here?”, she said nearing her poisonous stinky breath to the face of the lying bedridden dotard and uprooting one of his putrid teeth along with the remain of the glycol-calyx. The wretched old man emitted a screeching deafening howl, not at the least human, like a wounded pig.    

This time, Demogorgon didn’t use lumps of burning mud, but her lethal venomous incisors, which penetrated Aries’ skin. Aries cried with a grievance as the venom flowed unhindered into his capillaries and darkness conquered one organic system after another.

Weeping and sighing he said: “Why, why, Asterope, I have loved you. I may have exploited Hyades, but not you…”

And Asterope answered: “The glycol-calyx was not produced by my father Atlas, but by my brother Hyas”.      

As the titans withdrew their gaze from the crystal ball, the emission of which had ended, Hyperion showed the greatest satisfaction of all, the happiness of understanding.  

“I see, captain”, he said. “The hasty and superficial nature of Aries as an unbalanced pressing hurrying dude averted him from investigating Asterope’s past, although he had all proper means at his disposal. So, he wasn’t informed that Mother Pleione, as her name indicates, had as daughters not only the five Hyades, but also the seven Pleiades, among whom Asterope was included having herself Hyas as a brother”.  

“Hyperion, you certainly caught a rabbit but allow me to say that it is not edible. Your pointed-eared logic searches always to find the most sophisticated solution to explain the simplest things with empty phrases and adorned flowers of speech. You disregard Occam’s razor that the simplest explanation is always the most persuasive. Even if Hyas was not brother of Asterope, all these rapes committed and the relentless exploitation exercised to her by Aries justify her eventual outburst”.  

“Gentlemen, please, stop”, intervened Prometheus. “Since you both act like smart-alecks, I would like to point out a detail that perhaps has eluded your attention, although you always step forward as titans of epistemology. We have enumerated until now six Pleiades, the sixth being Asterope. So, please, remember that Pleiades were seven and the seventh was my wife Celaeno. So, I honor Asterope limitlessly, since without her struggle Aries would have seduced and prostituted my own little wifey as well!”.

“Let us close this unit chanting the astral hymn, so that the star Taurus’ Countenance or Visage may be born, an entity that considered itself an invincible bull, but -alas- had only the countenance or the visage of a bull”, saif Hyperion.  

INCENSE OF THE STARS, AROMA

(I hereby invoke aurora borealis of the eternal stars  

I call and yell hoping to see pure demons and Lares,

Heavenly stars, friendly companions of dark night, 

Circle the throne and protect it with your great might.   

Shine, you torch -bearers, you have created all, 

Master of fate, you define, explain the crystal ball

You go through mankind’s and the divine zones,  

Illuminating squares, streets, spires and cones, 

Heavenly and underground, you climb up all the hills, 

You shred the veil of the night and its scary chills,

You polish with scintilla of darkness the corners,

Come to the ceremony with glory on your shoulders

Cross the road like brave, courageous roamers).     

CHAPTER ΙΗ’

ORION, UNDER THE ARM (BETELGEUSE), GEMINI, CASTOR, POLYDEUCES (POLLUX)

“In view of the fourth and last rotation,” said Prometheus in the daily briefing of the personnel, “the dyne- warp motors should perform at least a hundred specific movements to get into the proper inner corridor for the final catasterisms. The pertinent map is in the hands of Orion. Please, let Orion be catasterized, although during his life he committed a slew of mistakes and bad choices, ‘being blind not only regarding the eyes but also the ears and the mind’ (mystic seer Teiresias), he possesses the magic keen- sightedness to direct us to the road more appropriate for the completion of our mission. Since he had the abilities of a sea-creature and, as it is known, he walked on the waves, just as Christ did on the Galilee sea, without of course the attribution of some specific meaning or a certain importance to the above action, and even if, as a result, this extraordinary skill was underrated to a cheap circus trick or a magician’s dull abstraction, it is proper, -I think-, fitting and becoming for us to devote him the hymn of Nereus”.

NEREUS’ INCENSE, MYRRH

(You, who possess the root of the sea and step in time, 

You rejoice the waves with fifty daughters at their prime,  

With artful dances, Nereus, at the earth’s ends

On the sea grounds and bottom, when the morning pends

You shatter the holy pedestal of the depth, breathing airs 

Of dyne into innermost caves and most secret lairs.  

But, blissful, earthquakes and shatters, please, avert, 

And try into the life of adepts a little joy to insert).

“Eurybia, please, continue, because I grew tired of stating the obvious”, said Prometheus.  

“The main characteristic of Orion”, Eurybia took the staff or the scytale, “as we know from previous cycles of Creation, is that, while he had an impossible vision, orientation and insight concerning physical space and time, he was completely blind in his personal matters. Individual blindness and collective societal perspicacity towards him were two antagonistic inter-struggling properties, defining, shaping and branding his whole life. This is often the case, because the blinder one is in relation to himself, the more predictable and easily vulnerable one becomes for the others and, vice versa, the more keen-sighted he is in relation to himself, the more secret and mysterious he becomes for the others. It is difficult to figure out where the reason for Orion’s schism lay. It is possible that he had not made thoughts about his role and purpose in life, so, although he was extremely capable in any activity he forwarded, the result and the quotient was always a fat zero”.   

“Anyway”, summarized Prometheus, who was allergic to exaggerated analysis, “the issue is that if we provide advice to Orion wisecracking him in the critical circumstances of his life, he will give us as a reward the map of the fourth and last heavenly rotation or something else amounting to the same, e.g. he will donate us a sonar micro-vessel detecting and probing ten thousand feet, so that we may coordinate our course with the proper inner corridor. Of course, vast patience is required to that end, becoming easier and more feasible through the fact that the lives of the constellation Orion’s beings move quicker in fast forward in relation to ours. Eurybia is assigned with the mission to constantly eavesdrop through her tiny communication earpiece devise the evolvement of Orion’s life and intervene appropriately advising him, whenever it is beneficial for us”.

Orion’s mother was pretty much worn off to conceive him, as well as to gestate him lying on a skin for ten months, one month for the conception, since her husband Hyrieus was dry and shore, although the letter hypsilon signifies liquid flow, and nine months of pregnancy, because according to the medicinal standpoint of the era, when the sperm was weak, a constant  lying down on organic matter is indicated, such as the skin is.  

The advice of Eurybia to the mother was: “Lie down on a skin for nine months”. 

Orion became an experienced hunter and sailor. He had a big- sized head, which helped him impose himself on the women, as he shook it right and left during the sex act like a tomcat. In his naïve imbecility he almost took as wife a woman named Side, thinking that she was prettier than Hera, so vulnerable he was in front of the female charms and so blind for the consequences each time overdue.

Eurybia advised him in his sleep through communication bug the following:

“Do not merry Side. Avoid it in any case and at any price, because Hera will throw her immediately to the dismal depths and the Tartaros of Hades and you along with her”.  

Later, Orion came to Chios to the king Oenopion to ask his daughter Merope for marriage, but he blinded and abandoned him on the beach. This was a completely unexpected event that nobody could predict, no matter how much diligence one showed. This event didn’t belong to Orion’s sphere of influence, nor could it be considered as his responsibility. That is why Eurybia zipped and buttoned her lips saying nothing and left him to work out the situation on his own. Another reason was that the blinding of Orion would be an excellent propagating catalyst for the continuation of the story and the development of the plot, therefore it was to the interest of the titans.  

Eurybia limited herself whispering to him in his awakening as a day- dreaming that he would be healed if he walked towards the sun and the start sign would be given through a clapping sound. As soon as he heard hammer on anvil, having from Poseidon the gift to walk on the sea, he started dancing on the fin of the shark moving in a groping but infallible manner towards the direction of the rattle, and thus he came to Lemnos, where Hephestus was working.

Then Eurybia sent him a second Socratic daimonion:

“Grab Endalion, servant of Hephestus, kidnap him putting him on your shoulders and order him to guide you in his chariot to the sun”. 

Orion with an admirable spirit of initiative grabbed Hendalion servant of Hephestus, kidnapped him putting him on his shoulders and ordered him to guide him in his chariot to the sun. So, he was healed from his wounds through ultraviolet radiation and hop -hop diggity he returned to Chios to punish Oenopion, but he didn’t find him, because the Chians hid him underground.

At that point, Eurybia said:

“Let Oenopion be, he doesn’t worth your effort. And don’t plot a course for Crete, as I see that you intend to, because we are wasting time. You ‘d better get around Crete and go to Sicily, because there you are needed more”.

So, through Crete he sailed or rather he walked to Sicily, where he offered his services to king Zanclus. There, he constructed the harbor of Messina and a temple in honor of Poseidon. Afterwords, he scampered towards Euboea, where he took part in the conflict about the wind turbines, which is an eternal subject a that place. Due to his property as constructor of big unmanageable titanic works a lot of intense and fiery protests and demonstrations took place against him by the environmental organizations of the island. Finally, Eos fell in love with him, seized him, and brought him to Delos. Well, falling in love isn’t bad, that’s why Eurybia remained silent. However, also Artemis loved him and the situation got more complicated. Eurybia again was silent as a fish, letting him unadvised and exposed. Then, Apollo conceived following devise or devised the following conception: While Orion made a walk on the archipelago around Delos and his head was protruding from afar as a magnificent and most demanded shooting target, Apollo challenged Artemis to aim that spot from Olympus.  Unaware of the machination, she targeted and killed him. Orion, who during his half-life roamed dreamlike through complete confusion and perplexion about things to be done, was finally redeemed and freed from his Hamlet-wise questions and was buried in Tanagra. His greatest paradox and conundrum, however, which he was never able to fathom, is why his Socratic daimonion sometimes appeared to warn him for the impending dooms and sometimes vanished and failed to do so. His sword named “Scorpius”, just as the rifle of the 1821 freedom fighter Demetrius Makris was named “Liarus”, came to the hands of Peleus and then of Achilles. So, Achilles possessed the shield that we described in chapter Θ’ along with the sword of Orion. Later, with that same sword Pyrrhus killed Polyxene, which is the useless information of the week.

According to the myth, when Thebes was struck by pestilence, the people in its infinite wisdom sacrificed the two daughters of Orion, Metioche and Menippe, who offered themselves willingly for the salvation of the country (“Salus populi suprema lex esto”). As their bodies were burning, two youngsters came out of the fire, wreathed like Olympiakos Piraeus, who of course were called Stephani and distributed to all effective medicines against the plague. The truth, however, was much more mundane. The titans, engaged in secret mission, cracked open like common grave robbers the tomb of Orion and snatched from his not yet melted garments, not the map for the fourth rotation, but the necessary coordinates, offhand scribbled on a notebook that the diseased always carried with him to locate a probing device, known -fancy that- even today. Then the humanistic titans scattered in the area and indeed found the blueprints and the model of the device behind a wall. P-3 Orion.

P-3 Orion was in the beginning a four- wheel- drive, piston- engined, turbine- propelled, antisubmarine, maritime controlling aircraft of some old superpower’s navy, constructed according to a specific dating system in 1960. It was based on the commercial passenger-liner Electra. We see here that said superpower despite and albeit its superpower used titanic and Greek designations (Orion, Electra) to communicate, because it couldn’t do otherwise.

As time went by, P-3 Orion was subjected to many plan revisions, mainly regarding its electronic arrays. For the purpose it was built, which was probing under the sea, under the rain, under any veil or curtain, something superior was never invented. That is why, beyond Airforce many planets use extensively P -3 Orion mainly in their Navy to surveil, patrol and identify as a surface cruiser launching   ground- to- air or ground -to- ground missiles or as an antisubmarine torpedo-boat-destroyer releasing depth charges against the submerged enemies.

P-3 Orion had an internal cargo bay under the main spindle, from where the depth charges were released, that could be nuclear if it was needed. Additional stations or pylons under the fins can harbor or carry multiple arsenal or weaponry, including harpoons, light peltast rockets, mines, different sorts of missiles, thermobaric bombs and whatever other diabolic equalizing crude slaughter-trap one could imagine.

P-3 Orion is equipped with a protruding tail sting, especially designed for the scouting of undersea anomalies depending on the gravitational field of each planet, so that the hostile submarine submits to rocket or torpedo attack. Due to its exaggerated sensitivity, it often happens that an electromagnetic noise interferes in the findings of P-3 Orion, whereas the sensor is encased in a fiberglass frame within the tail sting far from other electronic accessories or ferruginous metals of the aircraft.

To make a long story short, this ancient, but tested and reliable technique helped N.A.O.S Venovinda to enter the corridor of the last rotation. Through the probing device the titans reached a cirrus sub- yellow or orange star, which simultaneously they created, today called Betelgeuse. Since Betelgeuse provides the key of the last rotation, it is as if the explorer has a map “under his arm”, that is why the ancients called it so; beware, if you say: “under the armpit”, this is wrong, because “armpit” implies unpleasant malodor or even stench. An analogous mistake is made by the New -Greeks, who call Marnes the French river Marne, adding a compatible to their Language but entirely superfluous “s”. So, it was a victory for our marvelous titans, for whom the last round bell has already ringed, not to mention the final stretch towards the finish line, so that the heaven and the firmament of inspiration and meaning derivation for the people gets formed. What more appropriate celebration and more indicated confirmation of their success than the hymn in honor of Nike (victory)!

NIKE’s INCENSE, MANNA  

(I call mighty Nike to redeem us from agony and stress

Who is so beloved that it’s impossible to express,  

With your invincible resistance in the trophy’s battles

You win the wars, no matter how much the enemy rattles.  

When you rush at the side of others among the groves,

You impose your will, which all the opponents shoves.   

For the winner takes it all and gains hedonic glory,  

That’s why, blissful, bring us your gifts on a slow lorry, 

Time to appreciate what we have, not feel sorry).  

HYPERION: “Theia, are you ready for the officers board briefing?”

THEIA: Hyperion, I am functioning within normal parameters, always standby to serve the external data well.

OCEANUS: What external data well, what kind of nonsense is the lady mumbling?   

HYPERION: Doctor, he means us as sources of data coming from the outside world. From a certain point it is expected that she will talk with the terms of A.I., since she chose to channel her intelligence into a mechanical disk and merge with the synthetist of the ship. I have already repeatedly stressed that, although the Atlantes always pursue the deliverance from the feelings, I consider utterly extreme and dangerous the method of Theia to integrate herself into a machine. I have warned her that whoever integrates into a machine, becomes eventually a machine, but she declined to hear my advice. Nevertheless, I feel obliged to ask you to treat her with respect, because, no matter how it all turns out, she is still or in any case has been my sister and my wife.

OCEANUS: It seems to me that you, Atlantes, have messed up things pretty much, since it is one thing for someone to free oneself from emotions and entirely another to cease being human.

HYPERION: She may be no human, but according to the intelligence scales, she still is a sentient being and at the highest level of self-awareness at that, considering that not only she distinguishes herself from the environment as simple consciousness, but also she thinks that she exists since ever and feels able to assimilate, rehabilitate, reinstate and teach again eternal values and principles…

PROMETHEUS: Gentlemen, please, we are not going to solve all philosophical issues, let us leave something for posterity, for all those who will be inspired by the new heaven that we create. Hyperion, please, address the issues of the daily order, without digressions.

   HYPERION: Theia, since we enter the constellation of Gemini – Dioscuri, tell us what you know about Castor and Polydeuces. What was their fate, what are the pertinent problems arising, what are their expectations from us and what is the question that we are supposed to deal with.

THEIA: Hyperion, the wife of Tyndareus Leda got pregnant both by Cygnus -Zeus and by Tyndareus in the same evening; the result was that she became oviparous and brought forth two eggs. From the first emerged Helen and Clytemnestra and from the other Castor and Polydeuces. Immediately, issues of fatherhood and child’s recognition were raised …

PROMETHEUS: Pause, synthetist. Gentle beings, to avoid preposterous schemes, let us clarify: On this moment we are not exactly before the constellation of Gemini, but we rather grope for the trace of this constellation, remaining from previous Creations. So, let us sing altogether the troparion of Hippa, Dionysus’ wetnurse, who always favors such unusual and perverse intercourses like the simultaneous one of Leda to both Tyndareus and Zeus at the same night.    

HIPPA’s INCENSE, STYRAX

(I call Hippa, Bacchus’ crazy joyful wetnurse,  

Who rejoices, dances, rather than sustain Zeus’ curse,  

Who likes night whirling, spinning with noise and sound,  

Hear my prayer, you, who are good to have around,  

Whether you are in Phrygia or Ida’s cave possess,  

Whether Tmolus amuses you or Lydians’ excess

Come to celebrate with us, I expect from you no less).

PROMETHEUS: Well, I see that specific catasterism was performed- more or less. People, we need more training, because our varnish is starting to wear off. Theia, please, grab the thread of Ariadne again from the point you left it.  

THEIA: Prometheus, the Tyndarides Castor and Polydeuces, named also Dioscuri, because after fatherhood control it was proven that they were Dios- kouri (sons of Zeus), were born as twins (Gemini) in the island of Messene Pefnos and were raised in Pellana of Laconia. They are often depicted riding white horses, with a hat on their head and a star on the top of the hat, as well as with spears in their hands. Castor was trained in equestrian and martial art, whereas Polydeuces specialized in pankration, Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling, boxing, kickboxing, street-fight, dogfight, punch-up without rules, saloon-brawl…

OCEANUS: That’s enough, you silly A.I., we understand what you mean, let the briefing proceed for the love of God!

THEIA: Oceanus, Dioscuri were good kids and fine lads and believed in the motto, when things get tough, the tough get going. In critical situations they did not hide but came forward with vengeance. After a while, they managed to wipe out the predatory pirates from the Aegean. They were uneasy and restless guys and did not miss any opportunity to show their cojones, whereby this expression should not be considered as a politically incorrect underestimating comment for the women, because it is a common    phrase indicating bravery, valor, toughness, courage, daring, boldness, mettle, vigor, fortitude, nerve, confidence…

EURYBIA: Ok, aunty divine Theia (the word means both), no more synonyms are needed. The titans have overcome racist, sexist and fascist distinctions a lot of time ago.  

THEIA: Dark-complexioned brunette blackish swarthy Eurybia, Castor and Polydeuces chased also the Erymanthian boar, they participated in the Argonautic expedition, but they were not Heraclids- let us not lose our head. When they heard that Theseus, this overestimated thug, not equivalent to Heracles by any standard, stole Helen from Menelaus, who could not by any way control or keep her his own, being deep inside a fruitcake or a tickly kinky tricky fellow, and hid her (Theseus) in an unpermitted building in Aphidna, they marched to Athens to restore the deranged order. Academus, who was no lesser man, since we owe him the erection of the Academy, revealed them the location of Helen’s captivity. Then, they besieged all unpermitted construction sites and unlicensed building areas in Aphidna, issuing administrative eviction orders, and in the end they freed Helen. Of course, the struggle against illegal constructions is not easy, that is why Castor was wounded in the thigh by Aphidnus, who was proprietor, owner, possessor and outlaw builder of all the illegal edifices of the area. – 

-Afterwards, they returned with honor and glory and were initiated into the great mysteries as benefactors of (wo-) mankind.  Although Theseus didn’t miss any opportunity to undermine or slander them, they first managed to acquire a temporary residence permit and finally become naturalized as Athenian citizens, after they previously had crossed and occupied all the provided intermediate integrating stages of migrant, equivalent, bearing equal burdens, candidate citizen etc. In this procedure of citizenship acquisition, a man named Menestheus helped them a lot, an information which of course concerns no one. –

– When the weddings of Idas and Lygeus, sons of Apharis, to the daughters of Ly cippus (not of the natural scientist, but of the Perieres son) Ilaeira (not Laura) and Phoebe were conducted, the happy fortunate couples had the unhappy and unfortunate idea to invite the Dioscuri. They, however, snatched the brides and left. Castor took Ilaeira as a wife and with her he bore Alothus or Anogon or Anaxis or Axis or whatever he may be called. Polydeuces on the other hand married Phobe and bore with her Mnesineus or Mnesinoos or Mnesinous or Asinaeus. Bur of course Idas and Lygeus did not stay inert or inactive, but they marched against them and challenged them to a duel, uttering from a distance the proper and expected swears, insults and other invective words. In the following duels, more specifically in the semifinal, Idas killed Castor, while Polydeuces killed Lygeus. Yet, in the final Idas killed Polydeuces too. The elevation and ascension of the Dioscuri to heaven too place almost at the time, when Paris kidnapped Helen.  Due to this reason, the Dioscuri, despite their great valor, were hindered from participating in the Trojan war, mainly because they were dead (the absolute force majeure excuse). Moreover, Helen, who liked not only her lovers, but also those who saved her from foreign beds and the -albeit voluntary- disgrace, namely the saviors – knights- chevaliers, searched for them in vain in the expectation that they would step over the walls of Troy and counter-kidnap her.         

LETO: So, this thing cannot stand. We are continually flooded with names and details, just because our A.I. cannot distinguish between important and unimportant. We just want to know the problem, which we must solve, as our captain very aptly pointed out.

 THEIA: Cachectic and neuro- anorectic Leto, the problem is that the two brothers beyond or, as we know per common experience despite or their blood relationship were also inseparable   friends like Damon and Pheidias (internationally wrongly known as Pythias). According to the tough and relentless criteria of the cloud-gatherer Zeus one can go to paradise only if he is a supreme fighter able to defeat anyone anytime and such only himself and his Olympian collaborators, not even Achilles was qualified to enlist there, because in a moment of weakness he allowed his Achilles’ heel to be arrowed. He despised Castor, because being allegedly specialized in guns, lost the duel against Idas. For Polydeuces, however, he showed favor, partiality and preference, especially when it was revealed from the Violence Analysis of the Robust   (VAR) that during the duel against Idas he was wronged, since according to the deal the struggle was to be conducted with tied fists, Idas however had put metal in form of microscopic spear-points and splitters under the cloth surrounding his knuckles, commonly known as ‘knuckledusters’. That is why he elevated him to Olympus, but, given that he cannot tolerate, not only Polydeuces, but not even his own self when he finds himself within four walls without having some to cheer him (don’t forget that we are referring to Zeus), he sent him piggy-pack to Arcadia, the substitute of heaven, which we have already encountered in our journey. There, Polydeuces is deadly bored, condemned to live without his beloved brother. So, he has asked Zeus either to send also Castor to Arcadia or, if necessary, to allow him to descend to Hades- so far he went to entertain his loneliness and gain company. As we know, Zeus quickly tires of familiar stories, especially those he helped create, since he knows his impact was mostly negative. That is why, beyond inviting the two brothers to some of his symposia, where of course they ate in the kitchen and not on the big, long festive table before the one departs for Arcadia and the other be catapulted to Hades, he didn’t take any other measure of reuniting the brothers. Automatically, the request of the two brothers was conveyed to us, since we quasi substitute Zeus in the world’s administration, until our hegemon finds the proper opportunity to thrust a pale into the heart of the Dracula and free the ecumene.  

LETO: Theia, do not talk like that about our hegemon, because you will see that eventually…

PROMETHEUS: (coughing dryly). So, the subject- matter submitted to us is the same or rather the opposite side of the request addressed to us by the people of Arcadia, who want to let the passage be closed, where from a manic wind shoves them towards Hedes. Consequently, the matter of Castor and Polydeuces will be settled on a higher level of dialectics, when we shall approach the shores of Hades, reaching the most dangerous part of our mission. From this point we are entering red alert, because death is not something to play with and all should tremble and shudder before his immortal sting. Please, let the alarm signal only with light, because this penetrative sound “iiiiii”, “iiiiii” is impossible to bear. Shore leaves are revoked – what shore leaves and where should a sailor furlough-; Koios and Kreios are ordered to stay in silent running. Ray guns and photon torpedoes will be in full readiness to be slingshot at a moment’s notice. The auxiliary bridge will …   

HYPERION: Capitano, you are getting ahead of yourself. We must recite the hymns in honor of Castor and Polydeuces, so that their ectoplasmic traces may develop again to full functioning stars. Recreation cannot be suspended.

PROMETHEUS: Well said, Number One, but, since I have already begun to delegate activities and I don’t want to contradict or forget or neglect my previous orders and in this way cast shadows on my command, instead of our chorus, where I have many times pointed out that there are extensive dissonances due to the lack of intensive and systematic training, let Theia tell the hymns with her lovely synthetic voice, while we will continue to carry out our work. So, Theia, proceed unhesitatingly to the troparia and the short hymns, where instead of Castor you will recite “Of the Night”,  because he dwells in the night of Hades, and for Polydeuces you will recite “To Pluto”, because with his superficiality and frivolity he will also end there sooner or later- God, please, set a guard over my mouth.    

THEIA: Prometheus,

          INCENSE OF THE NIGHT WITH TORCHES

          Night, goddess, mother of mortals, I sing for thee

          You bore even Aphrodite, giving joy and glee.

          Listen, blissful, who you have the starry blue light

          You rejoice the peace of the castle, not to fight  

          Agreeable, you like dreams and wakes, burning night oil, 

          Through you the mortals forget pain and toil,  

          You are friend of all, providing to all sleep, 

          You donate pleasure, but also horses drive and keep   

          Dancing around and playing with your prey, 

          You wash with light all those by the graves who pray,

          Because necessity keeps you down in the dismal dawn

          To you those appeal, who fate treats like pawn. 

          Affable, listen to the sound of voice that begs, 

          Favorable, free us from burdens and dregs).

Followingly, Theia, faithful to her programming, as well as to the precept that in the end a synthetist only repeats and parrots what one has previously fed or provided it, announced with the same indifferent mechanical voice also the last hymn:

THEIA: Pometheus,  

TO PLUTO

(Chthonic troublemaker dwelling in domes, 

Dark prairies and sunless crypts and homes,

Who have the scepter and the crozier of your ranch

 Pluto, who possess of all places the keys’ bunch,

Give wealth to our breed and harvest and crop,

Take your tithe but don’t allow even an ounce to drop.  

You are the pedestal of immortals, their very room, 

Supporting the throne in a place of dark and doom, 

You went far and away in Hades who is cruel,

To the blue Acheron who have earth roots as jewel,  

Who dominate mortals welcoming them with death, 

Eubulus, chamberlain, who pure Demeter’s birth,  

Snatched as bride through the teeming sea, 

And brought to Attica ignoring every begging plea,  

To Eleusis, where the gates of fearful Hades lie,  

Yonder, where you award the victors, even if they’ re shy.  

Godly, master, holy, keep us alert and let us try,

You should care for your adepts with serious diligence, 

Have mercy, be lenient, redeem us from indigence).

CHAPTER ΙΘ’

CANES VENATICI, EOSPHORUS (VEGA), CERCUS (DENEB) 

N.A.O.S Venovinda slid silently into the most dangerous space existing. The texture of our spacetime was thin like cigarette paper in this area, and creatures from other dimensions easily got in or got out tearing like soft cotton fabric the surfaces of negligent resistance.

To provide a depicting representation of the universe’s situation, which we need as (wo-) men, the surrounding chaos resembled a mist covered with clouds -call them nebulas if you like, since we are in space-, and there were dark flows of liquids and gases pouring down the drain or down groundless holes – blackholes? Wrathful, furious, rabid dogs with foamed mouth from other dimensions swirled around barking, faithful to the dogma that a barking dog also bites. Prometheus told the company:

“Let us at least sooth the dogs. Let us chant them the hymn of Death, so that they may understand that we are also hard-boiled and impolite dudes, fitting to our environment and we don’t respond well to threats. So, altogether now, let us sing ‘Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.’ Through this song of death, the hunting dogs (canes venatici) will appear, and the rabid scoundrels will go silent.”

DEATH’s INCENSE, MANNA

(Hear me, you, who worlds of humans rule,  

And grant time to all as an essential vital tool, 

Your sleep of the soul the bodies’ area shatters

And the bonds that hold the molecules’ shutters,  

You fetch to all a long eternal dreadful sleep

Common, unavoidable, allowing them no peep.   

Please, know that it is a shame to kill young people

To be a hangman, obstruct them from reaching steeple.  

Since you are not persuaded by litanies and wishes

Blissful, I ask of you to prevent what God unleashes.

Please, after many years guide us to the grave, 

Leaving us old age as a prize for the brave).

In a state of a peculiar suspension, a sort of river or wet stream appeared, obviously consisted of energy pouring into a kind of crucible that could be called a space cave. The big wigs, the triumvir of masterminds – captain, commander and doctor- watched on the main screen the source of the chthonic river, which was Acheron, Styx, Cocytus, Lethe and Pyriphlegethon together.  But even the fire of Phlegethon was dark like the black blood of a hare, if obe could imagine such thing.

“Very simply put, our mission is to invade Hades and to reverse that cold stream, which expedites the dead from Arcadia to here. So, on the one hand Arcadia will become a real paradise without leaking, while on the other hand many dwellers of Hades, who do not deserve by any criteria the eternal damnation, will have the chance to ferry themselves to the promised land, among whom also poor wronged Castor, after he files with his mighty teeth the wooden gate (castor in Greek = beaver).”  

“From a theoretical and purely technical point of view, this inversion can be done, hegemon”, said Hyperion. However, since one cannot sort the wheat from the chaff and one usually throws out the baby with the bathwater, also enough scoundrels will find their way to Arcadia along with the righteous, and maybe in the end the worst of all will gather elbowing each other at the starting point to claim a place in Arcadia, let alone to demote significantly the inhabitants’ quality of life”.  

“Hyperion, do not ask of me, what I cannot give you. I am neither omnipotent being nor a ruthless tyrant, but a public servant acting within his authority. I am not going to tell who deserves living in paradise and who is not, let Christianity be the judge of that. I am just trying to improve an inherent flaw, as far as my powers allow it. Remember the little that one can contribute to the world, the significance and importance of the infinitesimal, a pebble as the first stone of a building, ‘to have come so far is not a small matter’, and all the other mottos dealing with a tiny but considerable healing of an inconvenient and ugly case. Through the inversion of the flow and the course of immigration from Hades to Arcadia, on the one hand the Arcadians become all immortals without exception, on the other hand the people of Hades will be granted a chance for a new beginning. As I have told you, the society of the Arcadians is rich enough to sustain and entertain a rabble, while at the same time the prison of Hades will be decongested. In essence, it is killing two birds with one stone. Neither the immortal would be able to die, nor the dead would be able to kill”.

“There is another matter”, Oceanus pointed out. The powers of Hades are enormous. If CO.M.MY.S.S. or N.A.O.S. Venovinda endeavors to approach without a cloaking device, not only the hunting dogs will be unleashed against us, but also Scylla, Charybdis and all monsters faced by Odysseus after the Nekyia rhapsody. And remember that Odysseus had at his disposal a heavy cruiser and he barely managed to get away. For the love of me, I cannot recall the name of Odysseus’ ship, no matter how much I rack my brain; fear old age, for it never comes alone”.  

“Of course, such a risk for the crew is out of discussion”, said Prometheus. “It goes without saying that I cannot ask from anybody to assume this mission; only I can carry it out acting like a secret or in any case lonely agent. I am counting on you, Hyperion, to give me the necessary gadgets to be able to reverse the flow between Arcadia and Hades.”

“Capitano, I hereby remind you the guideline of starfleet that the captain should not take unnecessary risks or else expose his extraordinary skills to danger, because Federation has invested in them …”

“Hyperion, let us please go to your lab and see what magnificent tools you are going to propose me with the necessary reminder not to waste them without reason, not to attrite them, since the service has no more budget to spend etc. You ‘d better omit the duties and the admonitions fitting for a governess, because they don’t become you.  In any case, you know that I will decline to stay behind, because action is my life, whereupon you will bring forward other arguments, but notwithstanding I will stand adamant and unpersuaded; then you will make a last hopeless effort to dissuade me, whereby I will tell you ‘engineer, fix thyself’ et cetera, et cetera. So, let us not lose ourselves in barren and unessential disagreements. This roman has already taken extended length, and I don’t want to aggravate the readers any further. So, do not start a fight that you know, you will not be able to finish.” 

The first gadget that Hyperion granted was the hymn to Hecate, so that the fearful- dreadful star Eosphorus (Vega) may rise, wherein Hades was hiding. But is it likely, you will object, that Hades would be located inside a star, within a temperature of thousand degrees Celsius, where every life is impossible? I silence you sovereignly, reader, reminding you that we are not talking for the star of life, but for the star of death.  

So, let us finish this and proceed to further events, which are more interesting.

HYMN TO HECATE

(I call Hecate, been loved by all prudent faith- holders

Chthonic and heavenly, with yellow veil on the shoulders,  

Who much for the dead’s souls and the tombs attain, 

You come from Persia, you love deer and aspergum rain,  

Nightwalker, dog friend, queen impeccable, stainless,  

Keyholder, shepherd of bulls, princess painless, 

You, who frequent in mountains, hegemon and bride, 

No matter how many adepts are on your side,  

Appease their anger, with the titans’ rules abide).

Another equipment, handed by Hyperion to Prometheus under the promise of a wise, prudent and logical use, is an ancient spell that he should rehearse to Acheron’s boatman που θα έπρεπε να πει στον βαρκάρη του Αχέροντα, so that he may assure him an unobstructed access to the inner sanctuaries of Hades. Finally, he handed him a sort of energy drink or narcotic that would increase and enhance like a swelling twister the strength of the souls so much, would invigorate and reinforce them in such a superlative degree, that they would be able to resist the cold air coming from Arcadia and follow the reversed path towards the desired heaven. 

No sooner said than done, Prometheus showed himself in front of the ruthless Acheron boatman with his scary hood, covering his face completely, which is a good thing, because otherwise our narration would become extremely hideous and require parental guidance.

Afterwards, he began to serve the incantation that he had learnt by heart for the occasion, but the utterance and the pronunciation was taxing for him, because it was Latin, the language of the subalterns, the guardians, the doormen, while his strong point was Greek, the language of gods and titans. So, he pronounced the words in a corrupted distorted way, suffering from severe levels of inhibition. 

“Nemo dolorem ipsam, quia dolor sit, consectetur adipisci velit” (no one pursues nor wishes to suffer his own pain, only because it is pain).

The boatman with the hood and the brandished sickle did not show signs of recognition Prometheus, however, had up in his sleeve a substitute reserve motto.

“Fusce portitor, ligula id varius bibendum, ipsum metus cursus leo, vel porta felis turpis vel mi”. (Dark agent and porter, when the “id”- the subconscious of the ego -wants to enjoy various drinks on his tongue, but as a running forest lion also brings along his own fear, be sure that you welcome and open the gate for me and not for the infamous carnivore feline).

The last adage seemed to have an effect on the silent guardian of the underworld, who likely considered it a high-leveled comment, equivalent to his own prestige, without to realize, being dumb and dumbest, that he was a simple doorman in the service of other bosses, bent on his oar and started rowing towards the well- or rather bad- harbored star of Eosphorus. Here the verse of Varnalis is fitting: “you fool, you weird, if you sometimes up you wake, will turn over the world which is fake” etc. Good is also the verse saying: “look, the others have started moving the creation, on the horizon of some other land and other nation, and the sun turned red like carnation”.

The boat ferried Prometheus in the shrines of Hades. It is written that when Odysseus made his katabasis into Hades, he had slaughtered many sheep to attract the dead and had filled a whole pit with this nourishing sap. So, brides and tender girls neared, shocked and withered by their sudden death, lads with bloodstained weapons, who had yet to realize that they had been dragged from the noisy battlefield to the tangible darkness, ramshackle old men and women with vague, undefined features gathered around the pit to drink blood and regain the rosy cheeks of life. As you understand, the above is a literary metaphor, simply indicating that an organism must draw power from somewhere to live again. In fact, Prometheus had no slaughtered animals at his disposal, which are in any case symbolic, but a concoction of Hyperion and Oceanus, to which we will refer later. Now, listen to a real correspondence report from Hades without the usual graceful and picturesque, but often not verisimilar symbolisms of Homer. 

As the souls moved to the estuary and the confluence of the consciousness- cones, where the cavernous clearing and the hollow sky of  a new universe awaited and they would be able to man and inhabit the transparent slopes of intelligence and the spiritual mountains of their preference, just like Noah’s ark had approached Ararat, an osmose between them took place, a loss of cohesion leading to the assimilation and absorption of one soul by another. Despite their characteristic property to preserve assembly and communication between their coordinates, even when they tend to deviate and veer away, the souls seemed to be distracted, dizzy, unconditionally delivered to waste and consumption. The orbits of their external molecules began to decay and their corpuscles left their usual itinerary scattering all around in an irregular manner after a casual and circumstantial repulsion and mutual repelling, they catapulted (or perhaps climbed?) into a vertical column of smoky gases extending upwards and downwards to the infinity. The most terrifying fact, however, was that this didn’t happen to all souls because there were also some of them expanding imperialistically, growing out of proportions, prevailing in space, devouring others. The conservatory of the souls began to emit a cacophony instead of a harmonic symphony as its musicians were gradually being decimated and losing coordination, just as the military music-band in “Barry Lynton” progressively dismantled as its members were getting fewer due to enemy fire. The Crime Scene Investigation Unit, which was Prometheus, occupied himself immediately with the problem at hand showing methodology and self-sacrifice. As a preliminary measure he started to interview the spirits fallen over the precipice to realize the extent of the external interference or synthetist-hacking or imperialistic cyberattack by outside sources, as we would call it nowadays. Of course, in all this mayhem it was only logical and expected from him to address first of all his mother Themis, the real motive for his katabasis to Hades, whom above all he had missed and wished to see, but dad enlisted her on a titanic mission to avoid Hyperion’s bickering over nepotism; Themis the just, the righteous, the moral, the holy, the provider of institutions, the guarantor of natural order and the stable rules, whom Zeus had condemned to a slow marasmus, just because she had attempted to kill him. But he forgot that she had accepted him in her inside so many times, that she opened to him her divine vagina and bosom, the same warm nest where also Prometheus was gestated – god forbid-, that she tolerated his filthy liquid miasma and his disgusting hugs, even in the frame of finality and expediency; so, instead of incarceration and forgetfulness, he should have put her on a pedestal, hang her in an icon above his pillow, this languorous scoundrel, who did not miss a chance to have sexual intercourse even with a pregnant dog or with an infested mosquito. How can one avenge or repay the sexual act with one’s mother? A mother is a dome, a firmament, a roof and a ceiling, the talisman of a pagan or the cross of a Christian, it is inconceivable to be subjected to sexual use or abuse.      

“Mother, mama, mammy, please, talk to me, tell me what happened here”.   

“My cherished son may god forbid in the future that we meet in such a place”, said Themis after the heartrending embraces, which the mediocre authors usually omit to describe, “when I descended downwards (or upwards) like a plummet, I completely lost orientation. I realized it was serious when I saw a smoky red light, a horrible light. And yet I kept moving toward it. I couldn’t   stop. This attraction was wearing me down considerably and I felt really exhausted, as if I couldn’t restrain or hold back my molecules, which were getting torn apart.”

“I don’t think that the red light is to blame”, said Prometheus.  “The Bardo Thodol, the Tibetan Book of the Dead (let not be said that we include only Greek references) tells us about that and it is rather normal for a posthumous level. Well, like it says, you’re heading for a new womb to be born out of, but that smoky red light – that’s a bad womb; you don’t want to go that way. That’s a humiliating, low sort of womb. You’re probably anticipating your next life. Something else must be responsible for your exhaustion”.

“My son, why did you come? I cannot see how anything you say can be of help to me. I am afraid that I am in a difficult position, and I don’t see how you can help me, not even you with your honorable and noble intentions. It is so weird. I think I’ve been dreaming all this time in a hermetic shell, but now that I escaped the claustrophobic environment, I think that I seem to be progressively growing together other people who are around me. A lot of my dreams aren’t about me at all. This may also be true for the usual state of wakefulness, but the conglomeration is more intense in the present case. Sometimes, I am an old woman, sometimes I am a little girl. Sometimes, I’m an old fat woman with fat loins, varicose veins and black hare-blood thick as a syrup. Some other times I’m in places I’ve never seen, doing things that make no sense, that I would never have dared.”

While Prometheus was trying to offer him words of comfort and consolation, alien, threatening and intensively besieging thoughts materialized in his right ear. They were different thoughts; a different elan, more vital and yet clumsier, without   deft   subtlety.

 “I am Telegonus.”

Telegonus! Son of Odysseus and Circe, who after he grew up was sent by his mother witch to search for his father. Reaching the shores of Ithaca he got shipwrecked and was wandering naked in the woods stealing Odysseus flocks. When Odysseus turned against him along with Telemachus, Telegonus stroke him with a poisonous spear and killed him! He slayed the absolute hero of the Trojan war, the one that exceeded in discus throwing all Phaeacians, Ponteus, Nauteus, Eretmeus, Prymneus, Proreus, when they challenged him and made him angry, being dubious hosts. Who had the nerve and the audacity to drag the body of his famous father and throw it at Circe’s feet! Who even managed to marry his mother- in- law, the faithful Penelope, under the pretense of granting her protection, since he had slayed her husband; so, he threw on the bed the most pious woman, the synonym of devoutness and godliness, of respect and honor towards the nuptial bonds and the wedding wreaths, succeed where all esteemed and selected suitors have failed! With her he gave birth to Italus, from whom Italy and its grandeur came into being, above all Rome, which was the first conqueror and historic destroyer of Hellenism. The measure of destruction that this man has caused to titanic and human history is beyond evaluation, his responsibilities are immense.           

“Get off the line,” demanded Prometheus. “I was talking to my mother just now; where did you come from?”

“I don’t need permission to talk to someone. Only you, the titans, have rules of salutation. Even if somebody doesn’t care about addressing me, I, for my part, talk to him. I generally like to visit my neighbors from time to time. On the contrary, you sir, who walk about in a place where you don’t belong and have no business fooling around, ought to give some explanations.” 

– I am in an undercover titan mission and I have to deliver … a top -secret message to chosen souls on behalf of my service. You on the other hand have no legal grounds or jurisdiction to eavesdrop.”

“I know your venerable mother, and we have a cool relationship. I talk to her, but it isn’t the same as somebody like you talking to me, somebody from the outside world. Poor Mrs. Themis is here trapped with us; it doesn’t count because she doesn’t know any more than I do. Perhaps I can extract some information from you. What year is it, mister? I’m very interested in the progress that humanity has made in the meantime.”

It is obvious that the journey to the center of the Earth and the katabasis of the souls beyond the gates of Hades, there was occasionally a mutual osmosis, a suffusion between the mentalities of those miserable and tormented half-lifers and their curtailed spirits. Beasty Telegonus’ cephalic activity was particularly good, much stronger than that of Themis, maybe because of his youth. Thus, the brain waves of the most powerful passed on, occupied and conquered the space of the weaker according to the principle of communicating vessels. From the educated observation of the sound’s propagation in the railways, Prometheus thought, as well as from the fact of the psychical flow between things, the Flux, we know that a radio transmitter with a superior operating power is able to invade the territory of another being far off but inherently weaker.

          He was in fact an oversensitive, almost wet with tears young man or a brilliant youth, an adolescent boy, mawkishly slender, with irregular black-button eyes beneath tangled brows. He wore an anachronistic costume: white drip-dry shirt, trousers and laceless leather leggings. Clothes from the middle of the previous century. On his elongated face a smile was to be seen, but it was a misshapen smile, a thwarted crease that became now almost a jeering leer. Now two features matched: His ears had too many convolutions in them to fit with his chitinous eyes. His straight hair contradicted the interwoven, curly bristles of his brows. And his nose too thin, too sharp, far too long. Even his chin failed to harmonize with the balance of his face; it had a deep chisel mark in it, a cleft obviously penetrating far up into the bone, as if at that point the manufacturer of this creature struck it a blow aimed at obliterating it. But the physical material, the base substance, had been too dense; the boy had not fractured and split apart. He existed in defiance of even the force that had constructed him; he jeered at everything else and it, too. Gray, shabby teeth showed as he spoke. And a grubby tongue.

          “Were, we witnessed an extensive destruction of undreamt and unexpected proportions”, said Prometheus. “Some of the dead cannot be discerned any longer as distinctive shapes”.

“I just ate them”, said naively Telegonus.

“How do you mean ‘ate’? Literally?” wondered Prometheus, his flesh undulating with aversion; the gross physical motion rolled through him, engulfing him, as if his body wanted to shrink away. However, he managed more or less to conceal it.

«I did what I did, I swallowed them, devoured them. It’s hard to explain, but I’ve been doing it a long time to lots of half-life people. I have developed a conquering, inflated, masculine proboscis to eat their life, what remains of it. There’s very little in each person, so I need a lot of them, and I consume them like little shrimp, ιf I’m going to be able to live myself. If you come close to me and listen – I’ll hold my mouth open – you can hear their voices and their thoughts clang. Not all of them, but anyhow the last ones I ate. But don’t you think even for a moment that I, myself, don’t go great lengths to maintain my borderlines intact, which have also the tendency to disperse.”

“Look, I don’t have to be an expert on the situation to understand that your offensive activity must be stopped immediately. Above all it is useless, because the molecules of yourself show an elective affinity between them. Even if they disperse in space, they will keep their cohesion anyway. So, this barbarism of invading the realm or the corridor, the Flight Information Region or the territorial waters of others has no meaning. The survival -struggle is characteristic of the living. If it includes also the dead, that would be the day, no one would find peace anymore.”

Immediately, the divine and versatile Prometheus drew from his belt the superweapon he carried with him.  Acting on the advice of Hyperion and Oceanus, he managed to conceive the idea of a narcotic or rather anti-narcotic, which would be able to counteract the centrifugal effects within the quantum- space. The issue was, as the catasterizing Prometheus thought, for the drug to create a field directly opposite to the accumulating, unfortunately confusing encephalic activity of the souls. We should cause an accident to the sophisticated plans of a preexisting but not legalized order. Indeed, the accident is a manifestation of divine craftmanship, he pondered substituting God and continuing to elaborate his underground infernal schemes. After a fashion the whole life could be called an accident of some sort.     

For those interested in detail, the anti-narcotic was liver and kidney balm. It contained processed oleander leaves, saltpeter, oil of peppermint, N-Acetyl-p-aminophenol, zinc oxide, charcoal, cobalt chloride, caffeine, extract of digitalis, steroids in trace amounts, sodium citrate, ascorbic acid, artificial coloring and flavoring. Don’t bother me or try to corner me by asking if all these chemical elements had already been discovered in the era of Prometheus, because the here addressed epoch can be located equally both in the distant future and in the ancient past. This unique analgesic formula, if used as elixir over a period of years, is guaranteed to restore problems of man’s potency, settle all complaints of failing and unsatisfying reproduction, end forever annoying getting up at night, offering protection and superlative comfort against harmful fumes and unhealthy emissions. Thus, it can be also used in our case for the benefit of the molecules’ cohesion, so that they never be dissolved.

Every blue glass jar of antinarcotic, equipped with a large special emptying lid, contained compressed liquid just like the carbonated refreshment beverages served in Paris since 1790. It is a kind of portable ion emitter of high electrical value and low intensity, which functions by the engagement of a highly energetic Voltaic-pile, richly charged by a helium-battery of remarkable productivity. The negative ions obtain a counter-clock- directional spin inside a chamber of a selective acceleration creating a centripetal instead of a centrifugal tendency, so that they converge and form a storm-front instead of dissipating. The negative ion-field inhibits the propagation and the dislocation of the brainwaves in the atmosphere. When their speed lessens, their attack is canceled, they become inert and immovable, and they cannot cross other waves any longer. So, the non-aggressive waves of the individual brains have a fighting chance to pep, ginger and juice up, maintain their cohesion and coherence, thus each of their soul experiences at that time a very distinctive vigor, sobriety and vitality. Such means had at his disposal the divine Prometheus torchbearer, prisoner, unbound or catasterizing, this incredible menace, and how could the disturbed consciousness of some unfortunate ex-people and disappointed crashed ex-lovers resist him?  Do you think that Telegonus had any juice, humor or disposition left for war and animosity?  Even he prayed at heart for his own flammable temperament to be tempered and for his superfluous sexual urge to be extinguished, being utterly useless, once he had moved on to greener pastures and everlasting habitations.

Thus, when Prometheus rushed between the souls spraying them full and frantically in the face, without to spare efforts and materials, reinforcing their outline-borders and shapes, reinstating their vitality to acceptable levels, even Telegonus welcomed it and perched exhausted in his nest to recall old memories, lost hugs, shiny windows of orgasmic fullness and completeness, forgotten glory and past achievements.

The souls, reinvigorated and reinforced by Prometheus’ concoction, from the exploitation of which he could earn good money if he registered its patent and promoted it to massive production, stopped lamentations and moans, uttered triumphant cries and the heroic screams of pleasure and, after they rivalled in chivalry and emulated each other in martial arts – you can grasp what that means, but take comfort from the fact that a dead man cannot die- started ascending the corridor leading to Arcadia despite the vicious wind, the sweeping twister hitting ruthlessly their face. Friends, check one more success for the crazy fellowship and guileful companion of the titans. Themis, however, who was in a cheery disposition, chose to remain in the dark chthonic world to improve from the inside the ethos of Hades’ inhabitants heralding Christianity.

After the return of Prometheus to Venovinda, the titans, encouraged by a rare success, which they scored against the most hostile environment possible, chanted the hymn of specializing in fan, ripe in two- or- three years Bacchus in honor of the constellation Cercus (Deneb), once knocking themselves out, but never pushing their responsibilities away!  

  TWO- YEARED, ALL INCENSES EXCEPT LABDANUM

(I hereby call Bacchus Dionysus chthonic quarters,  

Who wears a bracelet for the curly daughters

Who sleeps in Persephone’s, gasps and throttles

But every three years he feasts uncorking the bottles.  

He initiates the three year- dance time and again,  

He always finds new hymns along with women and men, 

Willing to dance and have repeatedly fun,  

Fruitful, grassy and horny, I want to be your fan.  

Come on, festive, in den, ebb (Deneb) or tide,

Give us plenty of fruit, keep your face bright).

CHAPTER Κ’

CEPHEUS, CASSIOPEIA, ANDROMEDA, DAEMON (ALGOL), PERSEUS 

Cassiopeia or Cassiope, wife of Cepheus, who was king of Ethiopia, boasted that she was the most beautiful of the Nereids. Women are peculiar and eccentric creatures. Since they have undertaken by nature the propagation and perpetuation of the human species, everyone wants to be unique, although by necessity they cannot all be unique. Some possess a mirror that assures them to be more beautiful than others, other boast that they are more attractive than Aphrodite and sundry suffice to say that they have more sex-appeal than the Nereids. It is impossible to make heads or tails of them! 

The modest allegation of Cassiopeia that she was handsomer than the Nereids   -you will object that it is not so modest to claim that you are more shining and blinding than 66 young existences, but on the other hand she didn’t dare say that she was more beautiful than Aphrodite- did not save her, because the Nereids were offended and vexed, asking from Poseidon to revenge them.   In our story Poseidon corresponds to Cepheus, from whom the present chapter begins. 

POSEIDON’s INCENSE, MYRRH

(Hear, blue-haired Poseidon, who many possess,

Rider, who hold in the hands the trident of excess,

Dwelling the deep arm of sea, which is airtight, 

But you invade also the land and there you fight,  

You enjoy the waves and lead a strong coach

On the sailing salty roads, you, men, animals poach,  

You have been allotted the maritime deep stream

You like to tame beasts and monsters on the ocean’s rim,    

Save the steadiness of land and the routes of the ships

Bringing peace, health, happiness as wine to our lips-

Listen old Poseidon, of Zeus lackey and apprentice,

Of the blissful heavenly gods and people corona mentis,  

Who dwell on the top, and in Olympus have sitting,  

You are doomed to obey Zeus and do his bidding,  

Horse- friend, who like a bronze trident to brandish,

You have great power, you drink from copper chalice

 Please, be merciful, friendly, free yourself from malice

You, great master of the world, limited only by sea

To the needs of your adepts with benevolence see).

          For the catasterism of Cassiopeia we will invoke the troparion of Eros, because whatever the women do, they do it out of love; in fact, even their vanity is είναι an erotic invitation to someone out there.  

INCENSE OF EROS, AROMAS

(I call the great, pure Eros along with his anger,

The archer, fiery and winged, of insatiable hunger,  

Who plays with gods and mortals’ wills and paces,

Dexterous, skillful, who has keys for all the places,

For the heavenly ether, the earth and the expanse,

For all the spirits who wander, thrive and enhance,  

For all the creatures of deep Tartaros and beyond,

Because you only hold the helm of any sea and pond,  

But, please, all (wo-) men enlighten with clear vision,  

Exclude unworthy vile thoughts from their decision).   

To appease his beloved Nereids and hurt her Poseidon sent flood and a wild cetacean to the land. This sea monster is called “Kraken” in the Hollywood’s movies which have stolen our entire mythology, obviously after (creative?) amalgamation with the traditions of other countries. Of course, the generous, forgiving and unresentful mentality dictates that we accept all those plagiarisms and intellectual property violations, because in this way the titan myths are newly registered and innovated in the human consciousness. If human civilization is bound to be saved or even if it is not, succumbing in the end to the inextinguishable hatred of the Middle- East or the Ukrainian eternal crisis, as soon as the bipeds of the thermonuclear destruction stand on their feet, will inevitably search again for meaning and cultural lore in the ark of ancient Greece and will accordingly baptize the constellations of their inspiration. There are many traditions, all venerable and honorable, but there is only one civilization of humanity, the one of ancient Greece, of Renaissance and of Enlightenment. We are what we are, what we have become, as the great philosopher Hegel would say. Perhaps there are alternatives to the economic systems, but – like it or not- there is no alternative to the institutions of the state.  

The Ammon priests, who many times acted imperialistically trying to associate flock, ground and land belonging to the Delphi or Dodoni oracle, as it is done nowadays  among the patriarchates of the orthodox church, released a divination, according to which evil would only cease, if the daughter of Cassiopeia Andromeda is yielded as prey to the beast. So, when Perseus came to Ethiopia, he found Andromeda tied on a rock by the sea, exposed to the mercy of the cetacean or rather depending on when its gastric acids would annoy or irritate the walls of its stomach, and he felt for her summarily all the gentle feelings possible, both protective and conquering.

Next, the hymn “To Aphrodite” is recited in honor of Andromeda. 

HYMN TO APHRODITE

(Heavenly, praised Aphrodite who like to smile, 

Seeborn, bearing goddess, who exceed all by a mile

Nightwalker, matchmaker, intriguer, mother of necessity,

Your plots dictate the events, their scope and intensity,

You control the three fates, your uterus all gestates,  

What exists in heaven and earth and all the states.

On the bottom of the sea, Bacchus’ guide and assessor

You enjoy nuptials and plenty, being love’s compressor-

You go to bed with grace without anyone to know, 

With nice genes and braids and a long desire’s bow,  

You hold the crozier of gods, you nymph tablemate, 

You love men, your port of call is love and no hate,  

You connect mortals to death with unbridled need,  

To unite the sexes, you constantly elixirs breed,  

Come, offspring of Cyprus to Olympos, don’t be late

Kiss me, please, joyful, sweetly on the pate.   

Whether in Syria or Lebanon you seek memory’s toll

Or on the battlefield with golden arms you patrol,  

You possess of Egypt watering place and thermal bath,

You contemplate the waves with war arms and wrath,  

As you come, you amuse yourself with dances, 

You enjoy the nymphs moving the thighs one fancies,

You are a maenad jumping on beaches and shores, 

Whether in Cyprus or else you assign your chores. 

You incite the virgins untamed of all year and age, 

To hymn Adonis and you appoint their nuptial page, 

Come, blissful goddess, with your haughty face,

Be lenient to us, through birth preserve our race).     

Let us not forget the hymn to Daemon in honor of the Kraken and of the corresponding Daemon constellation.

DAEMON’s INCENSE, LABDANUM

(I call the great daemon, the horrible leader

Who is in fact Zeus, life-giving and reader, 

The wandering, the king, the punishing avenger,  

Who dictates both a baby’s wealth and the danger,  

You mock the one who endeavors and tries,  

Because from you should derive all truths and all lies, 

That’s why, you blissful, deliver us from our ties,  

Since you have the authority to send waste or doom,     

Or if you like an honorable end and a weave’s loom).

Although Cepheus had promised Andromeda as a wife to his younger brother Phineus, he was forced to concede her by oath to Perseus, if he managed to kill the Kraken of Poseidon. At this point, we are going to reveal something that only the titans knew. Perseus was not in fact some hero, he was rather a circumstantial agent or perpetrator. He had the courage of a common man or rather he had a reasonable and calculated boldness, just as the freedom fighters of ‘21 who hit the enemies from the barricades. Nevertheless, he had the common sense to seek powerful allies, and such were the titans. So, he asked the titans to provide him with the means and the know-how to carry out his assignments and duties, which he himself had imposed on himself.

The titans, answering to the request of help and succor, drafted Metis in Perseus’ service, equipped with all molecular micro- scanners, micro- gadgets and micro-applications of the technology, available in the arsenal of the Astro-galactic Organization of Sirius. At that point, we would like to draw attention to an etymological matter, which is important, not only for the story of Perseus, but also for History of humanity with spiritus asper (H, h) and Iota in the beginning. Potz Blitz, how many revelations and originalities can this novel provide to the reading public? The word “metis” means counseling ability, advice, wisdom as well as guile and duplicity. We do not side with the two last senses of the word due to ethical reasons, attributing them rather as features and properties to the Metieta Zeus. The word “Andromeda” consists of the word “aner- andros” (man) and the verb “medo” meaning “I think, I intend, design, I plot, I plan”. Derivative of “medo” is “medos”, of neutral gender, having double significance, in singular number it means advice, designs and stratagems, while in plural “medea” are the male sexual organs (“mezea or meze” are the genitals of the animals), a residue of the entirely false, erratic and despicable sexistic standpoint that whoever has cojones, has also mind and vice versa. Same etymology has also the word “medusa”, which is indispensable component of Perseus’ myth, and we will encounter it in the following. So, we see that Perseus managed to survive and accomplish great things, because he was assisted by wisdom and intelligent design, provided to him abundantly by the titans, and this is a very important inference. From the very sober- minded, cool-headed noetic root of “medo” two very important words of posterior evolution are derived, namely “Medea” and “Medes”.  It is sexistic to call Medea “testicle- loving woman”, it si however acceptable to call her wise, although she wasn’t wise, since she killed her children, but maybe we can grant her that she always acted coldly and according to schedule or plan, which is also compatible to her name, while Medes are also obviously derived from Perseus’ myth, Persians or Medes!       

Junior grade Ensign Metis’ personal log, drafted at the service of the circumstantial hero Perseus, in the hope that after this mission I will overcome this ridiculous military grade. I am not to blame if there are no regular posts and positions left to be filled and if the list of promotions is triangular and restricting at the top. Others have managed to pack themselves into the remaining offices, although being demented or suffering from Alzheimer, sociopaths, who, even if they throw their desks out of the window, will remain at the service, people who constantly apply for sick leave, presidents who sabotage the protocols of their own job or undermine any cooperation, god, put a door into my lips to keep them sealed!

The sea-monster of Poseidon, which I like to call “Kraken”, because it is more fun that way, was a submarine hobgoblin wearing membranes and fins on his limbs like a navy seal. More specifically, it was a golem, a being made of clay and animated, brought to life through magic, a rare thing that one nowadays avoids creating or evoking, an automaton of the Middle Ages, but not made of metal, being usually yoked and appointed to assist works of construction, but also often specialized to be a protector.  

          This golem however didn’t resemble a clay-man but rather a snake, a kind of anaconda from mud and brickearth, ten meters long, thick like a torso of a grown-up, while heads with insatiable bared teeth were positioned on both ends of the snake. The red-gray skin reminded of an insufficiently baked roof-tile. The eyes of the golem were open and therefore mostly terrifying (because they were human). Exactly in the middle, the torso of the snake became narrower and formed a palm-sized square-shaped trough like the neck of a cobra, rolling or gliding alternately either to the one or to the other head. The eyes of the predator sparkled angrily, the body spiraled and screwed itself into the thin air making self-tightening loops and both mouths hissed, foamed, and gasped simultaneously. Its appearance and formation were so hybrid-like, irregular and grotesque that it relied more than obviously on some supportive genius, being in the backstage or in the prompter’s cubicle or box.  Indeed, a shot of my zap gun was enough to disperse its ramshackle cohesion and reduce it into its basic components. Instead of giving the ray gun to Perseus, I preferred to simplify the procedure and do the dirty work myself. It is both hypocritical and ridiculous to give our weapons to our allies and then claim that they have the responsibility of using them.    

          Then, after the masks had fallen and the proxies left the ground to be replaced by the real superpowers, I saw Medusa taking position in front of her ally, shoving its remnants sideways and assuming herself the role of the actual challenger, gladiator and contestant, removing ostentatiously the sandy brittle almost derelict golem, prone and destined to dissolvement.   

          Here, me, the narrator is constrained to adopt some conveniences of poetic license, from which the main one is that Perseus fighting at my side did not face the other two gorgons, namely Stheno and Euryale, who were immortal, but only Medusa, who due to some inscrutable reason was mortal or else the plot would not stand. To gain some additional knowledge, let us clarify that Stheno was not so repulsive or revulsive as Medusa, but on the contrary very attractive, seductive and appealable. The fact, however, that she had red snakes instead of hair, frightened the men for some obscure reason, therefore they rejected her and were consequently exposed to her full force and justified anger. About Euryale is not much known, her name, however, which means “broad sea” rather implicates that she was fat or in a politically correct terminology sturdy, stocky, voluptuous, fleshy and corpulent. The scientific conclusion of this analysis is that the Gorgons were not repulsive by definition, but they could be also very attractive, especially if their interlocutor accepted them. They simply feared rejection, just as we all do, either we are male or female or neutral. A typical example was the later Gorgon who asked if King Alexander was alive, who was, according to unanimous consensus, incredibly attractive. Pertinent is also the problem of the sirens but let us stop the digressions now.    

          Opposite to the golems, the gorgons are deprived of a material basis. They are animated clods or lumps of the twilight zone or alias the flux, to whom a life breath has been blown in, strudels of vital power, as their despondent curled hair indicate.

          The particulate gorgon, i.e.Medusa, had an elastic body composed of fire- and smoke-drafts. Grey light illuminated her bulk, even the tongues of flame were gunpowder- black with an almost imperceptible touch of a red gleam. She had no legs. The torso sharpened and turned into a snake meandering and turning around constantly. From the ground arose a steam like clothes being ironed. The head, the arms and even the genitals clumsy protruding from the snake-body seemed to be human, only bigger, because Medusa was five and a half meters tall, made of smoke and flames. The red-hot charcoals and embers of the eyes were the only light-colored nuance in her body. With the bared teeth and the mighty jaws, the muscular paws and the sharp claws, the curled scrubby grey fleece and orange-colored eyes burning from ego and malice, she was very frightening and impressive. Curious was that she stank repellently and nauseatingly. How can Medusa stink, considering that she consists neither of meat nor of clay, but rather of concentrated power being exiled into a magical receptacle? I don’t have a clue. Perhaps it is a coincidental collateral effect. Probably, the creator allowed himself to make a joke at the expense of the oversensitive nostrils.

          The monster has also seen me deceivably and divertingly at the same moment that he stretched his paw towards Perseus. It moaned happily and slid hideously towards us.

          The time has come for the superior equipment of N.A.O.S Venovinda to be applied. Our vessel possessed weapons, being constructed by the famous gunsmith Phorcys. These weapons were: the tooth and the eye of the Phorcides, despicable daughters of Phorcys, from which the first devise was a sort of sensor and data -recorder and the second one was corrosive and biting lava. Beyond that, I had at my disposal a great assortment of tools and I had provided per my order Perseus with “kynea”, a cloaking devise, so that he would be invisible. I had also equipped him with the portable pre- Archimedean concave catoptron “Thanatos”, which was a power multiplier ad infinitum, able to repel any incursion either of corpuscles or of energy and reflect it with geometric progression and cubic exponent propagating, building up and evolving the pertinent momentum up to an infinite force.    

          I threw experimentally and hesitatingly my own fireball at Medusa, who was naturally not in the least disturbed. The flame-cookie disappeared under the smoky layers of the monster’s torso without any effect. The ray gun did also nothing, ricocheted on her hard callous skin. Then I probed her with throwable metallic starfishes, upon which Medusa trembled and shuddered without slowing down her movements.    

          Then, it was the turn of Perseus. He wore the “kynea”, pressed the button and switched on his lightsaber, which was called “harpe” back then, although I would prefer the adamant diamond property of the inconceivably sharp blade or a cutter knife.  He let the power flow into his hand and formed a white razor. He unleased it and the white blade entered Medusa’s body as if it was made of butter, but without causing her any damage. Time was a commodity that I didn’t have, so I couldn’t afford to think over the situation. Immediately, Medusa launched an incandescent vicious hideous ray from her eyes, which fortunately touched Perseus only tangentially, nevertheless causing him unbearable pain on the shoulder and throwing him prematurely on the mat.   

          “The catoptron”, I thought, as Perseus had covered it with his body and convulsed.

Medusa recovered and hit me viciously with her hand. I couldn’t duck on time. The hideous attack with the snake tail took me by surprise. I fell headlong to the ground. With a triumphant smile Medusa engaged me in close quarters. Strangely I felt no fear, I only looked away with the disgust of a prudish Protestant from her huge irritated erected nipples in disgust. Furious, I picked up and projected the catoptron gathering all power available into one blow and struck Medusa bluntly with the sign of Thanatos.   

          Medusa shuddered. With the palm she touched and scratched the chest, where the severe blow had hit her. Hair-thin, water-marked smoke treads from a gaping hole extruded under hers hand.

          “Dust” I screamed waiting for the multiplying action of catoptron to begin. The monster became consternate and ossified like a pillar of salt after the blow, which became progressively double, triple, quadruple etc., originating from an absolutely forbidden by the international treaties. Then, she turned slowly against me with a mute grievance. The red fire of her eyes extinguished and the eye-bulbs dissolved into a rain of grey spitfires as if carbonized kindling flew up from a campfire. She wept softly like a young dog whose paw is squashed. She didn’t roar anymore, only sobbed, extended the hands to me suppliantly and shook the large blunt blind head. The ash-grains substituted gradually the skin-cells, but nevertheless the bulk didn’t budge or disperse, didn’t collapse into an amorphous heap. Only the golem at her side turned into dust, as it was already ramshackle and in a state of dilapidation.

          The world before us lost its colors, even the shadows were liquified in the white fog. The world became white, but it was the blinding whiteness of death, not of living, a mixture of colors so sterile as it is the complete lack thereof. The layers of the stone ruins stuck to one another and melted between them like grinding millstones the squeaking Medusa, who was out of her mind because of fear.

          The world is standing still. The white cloud is receding. Only dust is remaining, falling from the sky, and the gleam of the ground and the petrified solidified shape of Medusa is left behind, consisting of strange fossils, not human anymore, distorted, twisted, deformed, grotesque. The show presented in front of us forced us to go pale, to blanch with fear. It was better to forget this battle, to never mention it again, not in a thousand years. Here, silence is decorum, not the narration of the facts. To kill a foe is honorable and glorifying, especially in the era of heroes, where the great lawgivers founded and built cities and states. To torment a foe, even if it is the only viable option, is vulgarity, a turpitude. To condemn a foe to torture forever is a curse, a shame, an eternal abomination.

     Because Medusa was still alive, even if she was turned into stone, deprived of every locomotion, sight, hearing, touch or other perception available both to monsters and men. Nevertheless, she lived and would be living until every stone turned into dust and even longer. We were contemplating her rotating scrutinizing vivid eyes. We are sensing her anger, her fear, her astonishment. Perseus, we shouldn’t be proud of this fight. We will never commemorate such a battle, we will rather erase it as if it were the name of a cursed pharaoh. The only thing that will save us is to drown its memory in forgetfulness and in the ocean of Lethe. And above all, we will never utter again these grinding abrasive sharp words emanating a fog and a mist of polishing emery and we will never again dare use the catoptron “Thanatos”, at least until Archimedes rediscovers or reinvents it. This is a nod and a hint for the educated reader that also Archimedes derives from “medo”, a reminder that also in this story the titans mobilized all their wisdom and counseling expertise to help and save a companion, an ally, a friend.   

At the same time of the mission’s completion the log of Metis ended too. The story had an auspicious outcome, because finally Perseus married Andromeda, but to achieve this he was compelled to do a cheating trick, not authorized by the titans, which proves beyond doubt their historic inability to control their allies due to their proverbial softness. In particular, the brother of Cepheus Phineus (Luis de Phunes), who had received the original promise to marry Andromeda, invaded the wedding ceremony with a team of bullies   to kidnap her in the nick of time. Then Perseus, who despite the oath he had sworn to suppress Medusa’s episode, carried her head along with her burning carbonizing look in his satchel for the better or for the worse, extracted and showed it fossilizing Phineus and his thugs. After this displeasing incident he finally managed to organize a common life and set up a housekeeping with Andromeda without further distractions, and they lived happily ever after or rather his family continued to serve the interests of the titans in their eternal confrontation against the gods of Olympus applying the mottos of Epicurus “I despise all gods insofar as I rely on reason” and “The man who questions the gods of the many is not impious but impious is the one who attributes to gods the opinions of the many.”

In conclusion, we attach the hymn of Vesta in honor of the housekeeping, which Perseus finally managed to set up with Andromeda despite all contingencies, adversities and inauspicious events. 

VESTA’s INCENSE, AROMAS

(Vesta, offspring of mighty Cronus King

Who nourish fire and ether your home’s ring, 

I wish you baptize ceremonially your adept, 

To make her/him endure, be happy, not inept,  

Herald of blissful gods, powerful scepter of Earth

You lead people from grove to stove and hearth, 

I plea that you accept those holy sacrifices, 

Appeasing all with health, success and prizes).   

CHAPTER ΚΑ’

ENIOCHUS (CHARIOTEER, AURIGA), URSA MAJOR, URSA MINOR, DRACO

Captain Prometheus’ log, star date, either too antiquated or too advanced.

On occasion of an armistice with the Olympians, where,  always playing a constructive role, I drew their attention to the fact that they have chosen a very slippery road and that, if they keep invading and committing hostile acts, they fan the fire of hatred  and undermine their own future, I undertook to save the dragon Python, whom the Delphian Apollo had defeated, and escort hm back to his home, instead of leaving him rot in the depths of Hades along with the other numerous enemies of Zeus. The dragons were always misunderstood creatures in history with great splendor and intellectual power, but also a very profound dignity that no one could suspect at first sight. Unfortunately, during Middle Ages they were mercilessly persecuted by the knights and became extinct. So, I requested audience before Apollo and I persuaded him that Python was a good kid deep inside and he has entrusted him to my care to guide him to the desolate land of the dragons, lying beyond any map, on my sole responsibility. If Python escaped, since no one doubted that he was psychically instable with issues of deviating behavior, that a new war would burst out between the goddamned creatures of the wormhole – Zeus and company- and the dragons. I sense, pragmatic reader, that you are on the verge to object that the enemy of my enemy is my friend and that we could exploit the confrontation between Olympian gods and dragons, so that we may draw benefit or send collectively, summarily and piggyback all the scourges of the human and titanic race to hell, but I urge you one more time to accept that the titans didn’t think like that, because they were humanists and pacifists.

In this return journey of Python from the land of Apollo’s oracle to his home country, the charioteer of Delphi would be me. Please, titans, arise, so that we may chant a hymn in the honor of the constellation Eniochus- Charioteer- Auriga. This hymn will be dedicated to Silenus, Bacchus’ paladin to calm and flatter my prisoner, so that he may respect me and not revolt, since I am responsible for his safety. Don’t blame us and don’t judge us for addressing our hymns to our enemies, because we are a mild meek nation and love peaceful deeds. There is no shame in work, shame lies in idleness, laziness and war.

SATYR SELINUS AND BACCHUS’ INCENSE, MANNA

(Hear me, you venerable Bacchus’ paladin and knight, 

Best of satyrs, distinguished helper of the god’s plight,  

Who celebrate along with Dionysus every third year,

And pure rituals and other prizes are your daily gear,

You frolicker, entertainer, lover of heavenlz beauties,  

Naiads and Bacchides and beings of derelict duties, 

Come with ivies and thyrsus together with your satyrs, 

Let us knock ourselves out, of feast and revelry martyrs,

With torches and grapes, rounds and dances,

Along with Becchides perform what anyone fancies, 

In the orgies of the night let people exchange glances).

My mission, should I choose to accept it, was to arrest Python and guide him back to the dragon’s domain, but they would only accept him if both receipt and delivery should take place according to traditional conventional means, through floating boat or barge and not through a space shuttle. Apollo was convinced after many efforts, recognized the unholiness of an unnecessary and nonsensical execution, which would further aggravate the relationship between the ruling gods and the dragons, and had delivered the irresponsible perpetrator of past crimes, as well as the abhorrent would-be-assassin of who knows how many future crimes to my custody.  Python had assumed a human form, easy- peasy in that incomparable and highly imaginative era of transformations, but deep within his core was a wild notion and abomination of hell, a repulsive fantasy and chimera of the worst properties of the dragons, which they themselves wished away and disavowed (r.n. That’s why let us be careful, when we prize the dragon breed; is it laudatory or pejorative?). The right side of his face and head and the charcoaled up to the bone hand were irreparably fire-burnt. The fire of the dragon’s breath had eaten away Python’s right hand in such an extent that it was healed and wedged tightly in a dislocated position, so that he could use the thumb only as a fire shovel, as the one poker of a tongs’ pair, as the one razorblade of a crab’s scissors.

Python was like a really threatening ursa minor (small bear), a polar bear like those carnivore ones encountered at the poles. On the other hand, the only solution for the settlement of his case was the crossing of the sea towards the distant dragon islands; therefore, the recitation of the sea- appeasing hymn was indicated with lots of incense and lots of labdanum and manna, escorting the catasterism of ursa minor.   

INCENSE OF TETHYS -THALASSA, LABDANUM – MANNA

(I call the nymph of Oceanus, blue-eyed Tethys

Blue- veiled queen, the best of seafaring apprentice,  

With sweet breeze around the Earth waves you tame,

Stones, beaches and shores, and all sea’s frame. 

You propose roads versatile, easy to walk and swim,

You like ships and sea-monsters at your routes’ rim,  

You are mother of dark clouds and mighty Aphrodite,  

Of every creek and river, the flow you expedite, 

Listen to me and come to help, decent and graceful  

With favorable wind and even road be merciful).

I pushed the boat into the calm water, in the shallows of the seashore and the water-level on the rotten planks gauged higher. I straightened up the twisted boards and substituted the rusty nails. I worked both with tools and magic spells, completed the task scrupulously and diligently until everything was satisfyingly settled, and the boat was tarred, caulked and watertight, ready to sail. I put my scepter as mast; I fortified and consolidated it through magical spells and tied Python to its base. I put across a robust meter-long wooden pole, and I wove a square-sail within the frame scheduled for wind-protection and wind-propulsion. Then, I stood beside the mast and conjured magically a light discreet wind. The boat moved slightly forward, directed to a space between the two cliffs crowning the bay before it worked its way into the open sea.

          I navigated along a north-west vector that would lead me sooner or later to the land of the dragons. My shadow, my nemesis was tied up, although he fought desperately to break the bonds, hit his back viciously against the mast, screamed and cursed. 

          In the open sea, my unwilling companion wouldn’t tear at my nerves so intensively. I don’t know why I chose the boundlessness but every time I approached a port or even thought of such approach, I got strange shivers as if someone was walking over my grave. The sea may invite voices and monsters but no poltergeists. Evil springs and bubbles up from the earth. In the dark old land, soft and drenched by the cataclysm of Deucalion, where the hunters of the game did not differ from the fish-hooking sea-food gatherers, there were dried and barren torrents, sallow and evaporated lakes, narrow rivers, sterile rivulets and rarely sprinkling fountains, so very little water for someone to wash himself from the swamp of evil. Dry land means mud and morass, gas -spraying geysers and cloudy columns and welcomes death. On the contrary, although the sea was furious, treacherous, and dangerous in this time of the year, I didn’t consider these circumstances as a threat – the climatic change, the barometer instability, the sudden hurricanes- but rather as protection. If in the context of this daring enterprise I were to fight, to box, to fence to the end against the Shadow, then I imagined in the worst of cases that I would cover and pull down the drain this schizophrenic skinny stretch beanpole with my mere body-weight (considerable enough because of the booze-consumption) and keep him there forever, so that he may never emerge. At least I would seal the destiny of this rowdy, this menace for the society through my own death, holding him down with the weight of my dead body, which due to alcohol consumption wasn’t negligible, so that he could never emerge again. So, through my death I would trap forever with an indestructible barricade the disturbing agitator, the anarchistic provocateur, the subversive waster, the despicable stallion of humble origin, who threatened the fragile equilibrium of humanity.     

          I sailed on the savage rampaging storm-tossed sea under mourning dipped down clouds which looked like ceremonial shrouds. I called no magical or meteorologically induced wind, and I preferred to sail with the wind of the world that blew strongly from the north-west. As long as I held in position my pastoral crozier-like sailcloth – it sufficed to apply a gentle stroke or to whisper a well-spaced word from time to time-, I didn’t have to bother about the sailing altogether. The sail turned around and oriented itself accordingly to catch the wind. If I hadn’t used any magic or meteorological skillfulness at all- any synonym is good as any other, I would have a difficult time in that stubborn dinghy and in this unhospitable sea, mainly because I hadn’t the slightest idea of what navigation meant -well, one isn’t likely to know everything, even if the “one” is Prometheus, hangman, executor and slayer of gods. As I distanced myself from every known seashore, I peeked and pried towards both ways. Apollo I his divine providence, had provided me with some loafs of bread, ham, cheese, and a barrel of water -how should he compress and squeeze his whole wealth into a lamentable dingy? As the wind stood still, I ate and drank, fed the prisoner with a spoon and a fork, so that he couldn’t escape. At the same time, I cursed the military rules of engagement and the magical or technocratic code of honor and book of regulations, which demanded a duel between the authorized sorcerer and the respective troublemaker to heal the wounded universes and restore the cosmic order and didn’t allow Delphian and Pythian Apollo to pack the criminal with an escort of thousand men and propel him downright into the hole from which he had slipped and crawled out so audaciously. Pretty close, I saw land -ahoy- but I chose not to navigate towards it, rather to circumvent it headed for the west. A smooth subtle invasive rain began to fall silently, just as the snow covers the land safely like a blanket or a down-filled quilt. Except for the creak of the boat and the rush of the waves crashing on the ship-bow, no sound could be heard. No other ship, no birds were to be seen, nothing alive, only the eternally troubled sea and the fleeting clouds, chased and involuntarily aligned with us due to a sudden wind-displacement, swift and dangerous like the flight of a falcon.

          I peered sharp into both- ways but the sea around me was empty. I stood up frozen and wet, tired of the continuous staring at nothing. “Come on” I mumbled, “What are you waiting for, shadow, foe, opponent?” “I know that you are ready to make your move. I know that the chains, the ropes, the rocks, and the planks of the dinghy are only play conventions and illusions of a not exiting routine, while the confrontation is about to start. Sooner or later, you will dispose of all this, and you will perform the preemptive strike. Come on poltergeist, be a sport and move your piece on the chessboard!” I didn’t receive any answer, the dark being didn’t flinch, didn’t leave its dismal realm to come to the dim light. The mast was surrounded by darkness. I sensed though that the evil thing was on the verge of releasing its wrath, that he snake-curled like a wretched animal or a peculiarly inbreathed cadaver in this cold floating bucket, in this damned godforsaken death-coffin. Then I shouted: “I am the sorcerer, the ghostbuster, the mystic seer, the nominated adept and I am challenging my shadow to appear”.

          The boat creaked, sighed, the waves lisped, the wind hissed onto the white sailcloth. The minutes passed by and I waited patiently leaning on the rail made from yew tree, while my eyes invaded the gelid rain, whipping us in erratic ways and whipped in turn by the north wind over the sea. Then I saw through the veil of rain how the shadow disconnected dreamily from the mast and jumped towards me.

          He had no human shape, was rather an animal because the real core of his being had been revealed. He resembled all the nightmares that had been haunting me throughout my dreams. His detention had absolutely no diminishing effect on his power. It is possible that my oral provocation had shot up his adrenalin-levels and had instigated and inspired him to fight. He was extremely strong and fresh. He was subjected to a new metamorphosis and resembled undoubtedly human, despite that he cast no shadow, being a shadow himself. And so, he was wading like a ghost over the water coming from the maw of old Gaia and aiming at me, an invisible being out of phase and out of joint groping blindly and insecurely around the dark waves, posing however no obstacle for the wind passing through.  

          A sluggish half-hearted sun rose and shone surprisingly enough as if uncovering an artificial environment. Nevertheless, the shadow was affected by the unexpected light and got temporarily blinded. Although his eyes were inoperative for the moment, he recognized me on a subconscious, even somatic level like a bulk stumbling over another and orientating through touch and friction. And I recognized him also, so much so that we would always and everywhere be aware of one another among both living and shadowlike creatures.

          In the desolate loneliness of the winter-sea, I stood and looked at what I feared the most. The wind seemed to withdraw from the boat, and the waves seemed to chase it. Any eventual calmness was like a curse because without movement, inducement or thrust to override or manipulate I was utterly defenseless against this creature which was more powerful than me. The stagnation paralyzed me and all my senses opposed with terror and cold sweat such a dead calm. Although I abhorred the cold touch and the insidious black pain caused to my chest by the monster and draining my life, I stood motionless, brave, haughty, up to the task. I summoned the magical wind again which blew and swelled whole-roundly my sail, and the boat rushed over the lead-colored waves attacking frontally the creature that was gustily hovering in the air.    

          The shadow hovered for a moment more and then he turned around hesitatingly and ran away.

          Engaging with the wind, he worked his way to the north and so did also my boat, the power of a shadow against the art of a sorcerer. We were both exposed; I encouraged my boat, my sail, the wind, and the waves with reinforcing words like a hunter tries to enchant his prey, as the wolf runs for his life. I filled my sail with magical wind strong enough to tear up every contraption made by human hand. It propelled my ship like the foam of a wave, and I was on the verge of overhauling my opponent.

          Now, the shadow lingered and then traversed an arc; he was even more vague and unclear, less human, susceptible to wind- dispersion, propelled by the wind to the direction of Delphi to resume his unholy task and terrorize the population again.

          With handlings and magic-spells I turned my boat around. Like a dolphin it jumped from the water and rolled along the abrupt curve. I hunted swiftly like lightning, but the shadow became steadily less visible and discernible. Rain, hail, and snow whipped my back and my left cheek. I couldn’t distinguish the shapes within a hundred meters. It didn’t take long and soon I lost the shadow. Nevertheless, I was pretty sure of my course and my vector, as if I followed an animal trail on the snow and not an obscure ghost over the waters. Although I sensed the wind behind my back, I maintained the magical one in the sail, the foam divided, reflected, and sprayed away from the partly sharp and partly blunt ship-bow and the boat almost flew ruling the waves.

          We remained at close quarters, I, the hunter, and he, the prey, and we continued our irrational race. The day was short and the darkness swift to fall. I couldn’t fathom where we were and I didn’t give a damn. I hunted, I persecuted, and my own fear proceeded me by casting long shadows on the shadow! 

          Suddenly, I realized that the shadow was closer as I thought. The wind of the world receded, the hail stopped, and cold dense low clouds came towards me instead. Time and again, I penetrated the veil and I saw the shadow turning momentarily to the right. I talked to the wind propelling my sail, while I maneuvered the rudder to follow the fugitive, but the hunt was always a blind one. The cloud became always denser, it whirled and seethed and when confronted with the magical wind, split in two and hugged tightly both sides of the boat, a pale mass without reference- points excluding light and vision. I was ready to announce words of withdrawal, dispersion, and diffusion, when I spotted the shadow again. He had turned all the way to the left and moved directly ahead. The fog blew through his faceless hazy shape, but he was shaped like a man now despite the continuous changes fitting a shadow. Without reducing the speed of the dinghy, I bent also to the right, risking being thrown overboard, trying to knock my opponent down and run him over mechanically.

          This seafaring enterprise was a curious matter. I knew that I was the hunter, but I didn’t know what I was hunting exactly, as the exact form of the prey eluded me.  I was constraint to rely on my luck, my gut-feeling, my confound ideas, on the same qualities that also characterized the persecuted creature. Because we were double-blinded and blindfolded for one another. I was uncertain when I chased bodyless shadows and the shadow was confused when it faced touchable and palpable beings of the daylight.

          He grabbed me first by mere coincidence. He jumped blindly with a vengeance on my face. Staggered by the sheer force and the weight of the damned thing, I stumbled backwards and screamed incoherently. Probably the shadow possessed claws and shredded with them my skin and my tissue. My face was bleeding and I remember that I struck the bottom hard, curled in a vain defense position. I wouldn’t have any second chance, and it was simply imperative that I make use of our physical proximity.

          “Phoenie Phone” (red murderer) I uttered his real name, the name of all Jupiter’s fans but also of Zeus himself, to show him that I had analyzed and pondered in depth his existence- thus I ruled and had dominion over him- as well as to draw him out of his lair and instigate him to appear physically. Indeed, as the words died on my lips, he looked at me over my shoulder, he stood behind me threateningly.

          Had I hesitated for one second, it would be my doom. But I was prepared accordingly and I dashed towards him, as he was flinching by me at arm’s length, to arrest him, to neutralize him permanently. No witchcraft or technological expertise could help me at this stage, only my own strength, my own life-breath against the inanimate repulsive zombie.

          It worked to my advantage that I was completely familiarized with parallel dimensions of time and space, that I was aware of world-cultures unfolding and developing in similar almost identical but slightly different universes. It is well-known that the air is plentiful of signals, transmissions, and radio-emissions, propagated by carrier-waves of variable and infinite wavelengths. All those interferences cancel one another, blending into an indistinguishable common chorus. If one were to distinguish them again, one would lose his mind due to their intensity and deafening ear-piercing brain-dumping quality.

          I cast a spell that all radio-waves should be disregarded except one, which interested me and originated from the sun. The effect was so vast and remarkable as the famous question of the middle-ages, how many angels can be forced into a pin. The philosophical input of course is that one can squeeze an indefinite number of angels into the pinhead. Every place is teeming with radio- waves, they can be manipulated, intensified, or isolated accordingly, if one separates them properly without warning, and soon enough one has an almighty weapon at his disposal not unlike a penetrating dagger of the mind. Thus, his ears were too heavily taxed and tortured, totally insensible, and impermeable to the call of a simple human voice. The harrumph, the buzz and the whistle of the cosmic string was so unbearable, a mighty earworm, that it incapacitated him immediately. I saw his body flinch, roll, shrink and then faint. Exhausted, I stumbled and leaned on the mast to remain in upright position. I was completely frozen, out of fuel, with aching hands and arms, extracted of all juice, but I had won the competition. I wished only to lie down and sleep in the rocking hug of the water, but my duty and my mission were not yet completed.         

     As I woke up and, after I had checked on the prisoner, I envisioned in the west the azure coast of the dragon-country lying yonder flat, long, and extended. The contours of the island came back to my mind in every detail. Long and slightly curved, it surrounded a great bay like a small inner sea leaving only a narrow canal as emergency exit to the archipelago. We came close to this bay (majestic plural), drove towards, anchored, moored, while the sun stood low in the sky still trickled, rippled, and drizzled by morning dew. The calmness of the land alienated us. At the middle of the mountain excelled and raised the largest stratospheric volcano that one could imagine, the fire of hell, where the dragons drew their flame from. The lava irrigating its slopes seemed to be secreted by the turnabout wreathing clouds. The huge volcano was geographically either Aetna or Stromboli or Vesuvio of the corresponding planet, but in superlative degree, positively symbolizing Major Ursa, the great rhizome and root of nature, never to be domesticated, tamed or yoked in a chariot. So, to appease it I sang the song of Hephestus.

HEPHESTUS’ INCENSE, LABDANUM – MANNA

(Hephestus, noisemaker, who treat Earth with flame

You rise and shine, reveal the dawn as your own claim,

Phosphoric, eternal, valorous, you have great art

You build ornaments on lathe, being skillful and smart.  

Paramount, tamer, supreme, I see you everywhere,  

In ether, on the sun and the stars, you task me there,  

Because your limbs bring shining and light to people,  

To every house, state, nation or dimension’s ripple.   

You dwell in the bodies of mortals, in roaring tunnels, 

From yonder I channel your essence through funnels 

To come with works bringing peace and joy,

Restrain the mania of fire, don’t make us plaything, toy

Let us breathe slowly with combustion low and coy). 

I climbed a hill-like dune covered with grass, the upper border of which was maintaining its coherence due to the robust roots of the moss and permitted a lookout over a steep crevice. As I reached the top, I let my look wander both to the north and to the west. The prisoner had been neutralized lying in the boat. He had had a legal claim on a fair fight and had already made use of that privilege. The dunes extended almost half a mile in an inland direction followed by lagoons, overgrown with reeds and canes. Behind, low hills arose fading away in the distance either tawny or bold. The dragon-land exhibited a wild and lonely beauty. There were no trails of humans. No animal was to be seen and the lakes, vegetated with reeds, hid no birds, no wild ducks, no seagulls, nor even any croaking to be heard. I descended slowly from the dune. The sandhill drowned the noise of the waves-surge and restrained the wind. Suddenly, I was surrounded by a weird silence. Between the nearest and the next dune, there was a narrow valley covered with pure sand and protected from the wind. The time passed along with the wandering and the high-noon-sun shone and heated the western precipice. Enthusiastic by the superiority and the arrogance of the victor on a metaphysical level, who chained and kept the defeated in bondage, I lied down under the rays of the sun because it was too cold in the shadow, I used my elbow as a pillow, I laid my hand over the eyes as a protective screen, and I slept in the alleviating heat. Even in sleep, I envisaged behind the thin curtain of the eyelids the white hill of the narrow valley and at the verge of the dunes the scrawny herbs and the grass rocking gently in a milk-blue morning sky. No noise was perceivable, only the dull muffed whisper of the tide and the murmur of the wind- shaken moss.

          I woke up due to a hissing sound. I envisaged above something flying, an eagle perhaps, which was no eagle. The bird cawed, then made a dive and steered vertically towards me with an eerie shrill maddening whistle of its extended golden wings like an arrow or a lightning. As it locked on me and approached gradually, the original singularity acquired step by step a sense and a meaning. The hypothetical eagle landed with extended claws on the dune’s periphery. Now it was a dragon, the great Ladon, crawled closer, kicked rolling stones downhill, bent his head a little sideways, perched, squatted, and spoke. The huge head arose black, inflamed and shining in front of the sun.

          “Ave -haire Prometheus”, he said gently, smoothly, smoking, while the flaming tongue blazed. Then he lowered the head. “Skaion    kekaumenon prosageis?” (Are you in charge of the shadowy burned? Are you his keeper?) he asked.

          “Ladon o megas ei? Axo te   is  to  koilon”, (Are you the great Ladon? I will escort you to the ship), said I in the original language and I signaled to him, so that he may follow.  

          Soon enough, he exposed his full size over my boat. His scaly triangle- and acute-shaped head was impressive, from which a trident flaming tongue protruded, while the claws of the forward feet crushed the sand-corns beneath him, probably the pulverized remains of an ancient city. His scales were black and grey, shining dimly like fragmented ore. He was sinewy, smirched and spotted with blood vessels and veins more like ropes than capillaries, vivid like a dog, tall like a mountain. No narration and no song could match or cope with such an overwhelming impression. I was so flabbergasted that I almost looked into the sly treacherous tawny eyes which would be a fatal mistake and extremely harmful for my health. Only in the last minute I remembered that no one can look unpunished at the eyes of a dragon. I turned away from his oily yellow eyes, which contemplated me with sincere interest.

          “Egertheti, hye” (Stand up, son) whispered the dragon as if steel glided on steel using the old word that would be the basis for the posterior international concept of “guard”.

          “Anabethi   epi   tas     folidas, kathison   entauphtha”, he added. Hypnotized, mesmerized, paralyzed, submissive, abulic, Phoenus- Phonus (the red murderer) obeyed and quit every effort to escape. I envisaged the four steps that would lead him to his already booked and pre-arranged compartment on board the dragon. The first step on the foot-claw, the second step on the bent elbow, the third step on the shoulder-bone and the fourth step would lead him to the nearest muscle of the wing. He stepped forward with half-burnt face, short repetitive breath, and wry neck due to the hardships, looking down like an ill-mannered naughty kid trying to avoid the reprimand. He climbed on the mighty strong arm, hurt himself on the hot steaming iron-clad skin of the dragon, held himself from the claws, got around the lipless broad mouth and rose on the creature’s shoulder, sticking and plugging his head into the keratinous bulge within the roots of the dragon’s crest like a baby searching for his mother’s breasts. Ladon looked far and away, to the west, to the inside of the island. He maneuvered the long body sighing under the rattling and clanking of the iron-scales, extended the wings, gathered momentum, speeded up and jumped from the cliffs into the air. The tail dragged behind carved dents into the stones. The green or red wings (according to the corner of the illumination and the fallout of the rays) beat up and down, raised graciously and majestically and soon enough the great dragon “left orbit” and headed for the west. Heavenly chorus, please, chant the song of the dragon, which Ladon deserves both as a forefather and as a constellation.

This would be the song of Prothyraia, because after many successive successes my mission is about to be achieved, as the   billiard’s ball of Venovinda will spin around the roulette wheel and eventually settle on the Hyperborea’s guard of Earth, the North star completing the last rotation of this indescribable frantic space warp and whirl, so that a firmament, holistic both spiritually and esoterically, with detailed elaborated characters and rich noetic structures may envisage Earth and inspire its people from here to eternity. And may the people be free to praise, exploit, construe and distort it.     

PROTHYRAIA’s INCENSE, STYRAX

(Listen to me, modest goddess, don’t stay with idle hands

But be ready to assist lying in women with acts and funds,  

You are the savior of females, guard, sentinel and sentry,  

You induce quick birth, when you to obstetrics’ room entry, 

Keyholder, friendly, courteous, affable, your graces deploy

You protect the houses and rejoice in the common joy,

Ungirded and honest, you devote to the gods your belt, 

You share the birth’s pain, you suffer together and melt.

They call you Ilithyia, because to relieve you come,

Only you the lying in women call to play the life’s drum, 

You make the pangs of labor retreat, retract and recede,

Artemis, Ilithyia, Prothyraia, however they your name read,  

Listen, blissful, help us, give us valuable pedigree,

Fate has appointed you to propel us to the highest degree).

CHAPTER ΚΒ’

PHOENICIA (NORTH STAR), END OF ROTATION

Phoenicia, in honor of Phoenius Phonus, of Zeus, of the vindictive god, whom people always feared and hated and their elite, the titans, ferociously fought. N.A.O.S. Venovinda was at last immobilized on the central spot of the North sky after its frantic rotation within the firmament’s ectoplasm. It had started at the Southern Cross (Myia), had performed four long rotations catasterizing stars which signified respective stories and had carried out one more time its duty towards mankind. The rest remaining ships of the Federation flowed also together with the flagship, the legendary Argo, Pegasus, Phrixus and Helle, the Golden Fleece, the Heracles’ Depas Amphikypellon and Venthekisseme (venthos = deep + kiss from the ancient verb “kyneo” + me = kiss me deeply). They had also contributed a lot to the common cause, doing much dirty and unostentatious business which is often disregarded. You will bring forward the objection that Venovinda undertook the catasterism of seventy-one constellations, so that only seventeen remained for the other ships. Still, beyond the discreet stitching on the canvas that the plethoric Prometheus himself had prepared, the abovementioned ships had occupied themselves much with the grunt work of the Creation’s turning over, the details of the universe’s reinstitution through the formation of smaller or even negligent celestial bodies, comets, meteorites, aerolites etc. They had also contributed significantly to the reinforcement of the universe’s fundaments, to the weaving of its miscellaneous folds, to the stitching of its gums, wherever they tore, and to the statical vertebroplasty through sundry cement injections, but also to the decompressing opening of holes, wherever needed, through concrete silent cutting. 

At the moment the captains of the Federation vessels patted each other on the shoulder to celebrate their great victory, dark bulks emerged from the darkness of space like red blots or bedbug bites interrupting the continuity of skin, as if they were integrated in the texture of space gliding and rolling over or behind it without the slightest effort like a scissor grinder running under a membrane curving it, furrowing it and sometimes tearing it, and surrounded the heavy ships of the titans.

“Unidentified foreign vessels”, said Prometheus. “This is captain Prometheus of the spaceship CO.M.MY.S.S. -N.A.O.S. Venovinda, speaking on behalf of the Astro- galactic Organization of Sirius. Please, identify yourselves, state your intentions and explain the reasons of your presence at the perpendicular line of communication access to the planet Earth …”

While Prometheus was uttering all these humanistic babblings, the hostile vessels opened fire and inflicted unimaginable damage to the starfleet ships. The energy shields of the titanic ships were neutralized, the few ships of the titans scattered around, the bridge of Venovinda broke in two and the agents of Zeus managed in the mayhem to beam  Prometheus to Arura (Gaia – earth) four, the fourth moon of Phoenicia 3, which was the third planet orbiting the star of Phoenicia. Of course, Prometheus should have waited that attack, since it was more than expected that Zeus would make a last move to save his image and his regime; the eternal benevolence of the titans, however, and their dedication to peaceful works filled and blinded their eyes with scales, did not allow them once more to grasp and perceive the obvious. Yonder, on the mountain called Caucasus the State (the neutral gender existed also in ancient Greece) and Violence chained Prometheus and submitted him, as everybody knows, to the torture of hepatectomy by a vulture.  

Here, the writer of the book should yield to superior authors, just as Aeschylus himself is, who wrote “Prometheus Bound” (but also the “Fire-bringer” or the “Unbound”, which were unfortunately lost) or Percy Bysshe Shelley, who composed “Prometheus Unbound”, but also Christos Liakopoulos, who wrote and played “Prometheus Crucified”, an amazing performance, which I always revoke in my memory as an archetypic spectacle, where the protagonist secrets many kilos of sweat manifesting a 1000% of his abilities. My own Prometheus, to keep precise account, is “Prometheus Catasterizing”. Consequently, since we introduce something slightly different, let us elaborate on our own effort.

PROMETHEUS: Look what sufferings by the master I endure

I sigh under torments for his pleasure to be pure.  

One should accept with bravery fate written on stone,  

Since one knows that necessity does not leave us alone.

For the gifts that I bestowed, for the fact of being lendor,  

I suffer now with only company and relief a tormentor.  

I stole clandestinely the sperm of fire in wood rent, 

And wait in bondage to hear something from a friend.  

My enemy is fearful but his savagery, beasty and great 

Is his ungratefulness, demanding my head on a plate.   

Because when the titans sought power prematurely,

I often sided with him to preserve the state surely. 

I sent Cronus to Hades, because his order was old,  

And I expected naively for Zeus something new to mold.  

So, not only mortals are obliged to me as debtors,  

Even the ruthless gods are my clients and emptors.

But when the unspeakable sat on the throne began to share 

Offices to his own vassals, although favoritism isn’t fair.  

For those he shows no mercy, who waste their soles

From the beginning obviously he claims all the roles!

Nobody resisted him, nobody supported his own, 

I was with companions, but I took the hemlock alone.

Only I stood upright trying to confiscate the guns

That’s why I am in the dark with no perspective or plans. 

At that moment, as is well known, the winged Hermes appeared, who was in fact Hyperion disguised. He had passed unobserved through the guards, as if he had proximity sensors or rather as if he had them integrated into his data- recorder, deceiving all those who arrested him on his arrival temporarily for interrogation, since he had been submitted to cosmetic surgery by Oceanus: “Captain, I see you speaking bitterly, but know this, that all us consisting the old crew, who have followed you in many Creations, are not going to abandon you”.

“You speak well, Hermes, or rather hermit and hermetical Hyperion, but I have grown fatigued and I still can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. So many battles, so many sacrifices, but when my people are being killed, while the opponents are regenerated or reborn, what are my chances?

Turning to Zeus, the bound one said:

“Stop gloating, the day is nearing to become humble, 

Someone will face you, coming trumpets and rumble,

Is mercy a weakness for you? Your strength is only grudge

You ‘ll learn by the Fish ‘lest you be judged, not to judge’

 No Heracles will appear, don’t expect any salvation 

 This time I ’ll give you only the key to damnation.

Because there is space both above you and beneath, 

And from the depths comes forward the one real myth”.   

Hyperion pondered all this carefully: “Captain, you gave me a good idea, it just needs time and a lot of preparation to be implemented”, he said waving away one more time the vulture picking at the fig – nourished liver of Prometheus, called thus, because he fed it over the years with synthetic figs from the replicator –  3D printer.

          “Alas, you, stupid bird of Zeus. What can you know?”, Hyperion took heart”. “You only know how to devour just you’re your master. Do you happen to know that ‘olynthus’ means the unripe early fig? Do you know that ‘phelex’ means the wild fig, which seems ripe, but it isn’t? Do you know that ‘ischas’ means dried fig? Thus, your wings like dried hull of an insect will burn by the fire of Prometheus, as it will spread to consume you, to make you a torched plaything”.   

“Hyperion”, whispered Prometheus. “I sense that you have found the solution. Don’t tell me what it is. Don’t tell me how long it will take. If humanity has learnt something, it is to endure. Do not bother, I will be here and I will endure, no matter how many years pass. Just go and perform your duty, as our institutions, constitution and laws dictate. Be blessed, because we, the titans, believe in cooperation and trust our colleagues. ‘I trust my friends’, that is all. ‘You can recognize a faithful friend only in toil and danger. We always have faith in the words of a friend. If you are in danger, friends, you may get acquainted with the people’s manners.’ Whatever we learned in school, in high school or in the university applies and is valid. If you know something different, please enlighten us, as Socrates says in his Apology. But there is nothing different. The word ‘civilization’ contains the city and we, titans, were raised to be citizens and no subjects. Down with the despots, down with religions! What particle or nugget of God there is, it is within any of us”!

Hyperion scampered away to execute his plan, and the time came for Prometheus to recite the nicest hymn of the titans in honor of trial and justice. Those values sought at this dreadful moment the Prometheus Fire-bringer, the Bound, the Unbound (in spe), the Crucified, the Catasterizing. At this moment, he became Prometheus Cygnus (swan), but his song was not that of a swan, but a song of Demodocus, the song of a minstrel, of rhapsody and hope until the final victory comes, a reminder that dawn succeeds the darkest hour, and that a sunbeam is enough to scatter the dismal power of the gloom.

.         INCENSE OF DIKE AND JUSTICE

(There is an eye of justice that everything sees, 

For which Zeus himself claims to hold the keys,

Justice judges, trials and orders the people,  

Rewards the just, poses to unjust a steeple, 

Punishes the bad, bestows them verdict invective,   

Introducing the institutions to the collective.  

It propagates the harmony, the concord of the peers,  

But it also the unsimilar to join and junction appears.

It intervenes in distorted affairs, eager to apply

It is not just a hollow principle, an excuse or a lie.

It loves balance and very delicate, moderate measure,

Not oblique, slanting, obscure mind or dubious pleasure.

It requires clear opinions of a distinct era’s charioteers

Not despondent wills, uncoordinated, which it fears.  

Desirable, valuable, boastful, vainglorious and true

As one conquers you, one learns the laws to construe,

Indubitable, friend of cities, a loving and beloved wraith

Even when you impose a penalty, you have good faith,

You ignite the torches for a righteous path, 

You are unbreakable, but you break with wrath

All those who do not understand reciprocity, requital

Greedy, too blind to forgive or grant others acquittal, 

Those who demand, ignoring the pair of scales,

Turning and directing it wherever it suits them or sails.

You are calling us to unanimously, brotherly gather  

The goods of the Earth provided by Zeus father.  

Let the mortals sort the presents and the fruits, 

Live in peace, promote virtues, find new recruits).

          And because justice remains vague and indefinite as idea and unclarified as concept without the law, both natural and positive which specifies it, we proceed immediately to the doxology and commemoration of the law.

          HYMN OF LAW

          (I call both of mortals and immortals the king,  

          Heavenly Law, star provider with a stamp on the ring

          You are constant of earth and sea, of nature successor

          You exercise power on all without being oppressor,  

          Sober and firm, unshaken, provisions, orders you vote,

          You promulgate, make known everywhere what you wrote,    

          You chase unfair envy with the whistling of the arrow,  

          You support people, condemn those who harrow, 

          Only law is the pilot of life, guide us to the road it found

          With moderate opinions, deliberate, dialectic, profound. 

          Law is ancient, experienced, neither subjugates nor harms,

          But can’t leave unpunished those raising offensive arms.  

          So, blissful, honest, peaceful, companion desirable,  

          Be benevolent and lenient, may not hold us liable).   

          CHAPTER ΚΓ’

PROMETHEUS’ ESTATE, ALPHA CENTAURI, MANY YEARS LATER

“Execution? Spock, we can always depend on you for a note of cheer.”

                                     Star trek, The Last Gunfight

          HYPERION: Ocean boy, we must talk. Secure the door of the cabin.

          OCEANUS: I am neither your damned lackey nor your personal slave, Hyperion. You have no authority over me; you can’t command me. After I inherited this place from old Prometheus, I thought I would be able to get some rest and cherish his memory in peace, contemplating the curves of the clean, swift river Pyriflegethon from this small palisade.

          HYPERION: I am very disappointed in you, ancient one. You are continuing to confuse solidarity and common management of our affairs, which is our only hope for survival, together with power and domination. You also misinterpret gravely the motives of the deceased tortured protector of the human race, condemned for the sake of the humans to having his liver been eaten by an eagle on Caucasus. The bearer of fire has passed on this estate to you, so that you may preserve and cultivate it. Instead, you are lazy in an easy chair, leading a sorry and pitiful existence, of which our great leader would certainly not approve. Your highly self-praised “titanity” (in your case I can’t say “humanity”) and apparent senility are indeed very related. 

          OCEANUS: Hyperion, get to the point. I haven’t all day, I am a biologically enhanced bioengineered organism, very worn from the attrition of time, with an ache on my back, that creepy- crawls on my spine and gives me the hardest time of my life. If I could extract my spinal cord and rely exclusively on my expensive exoskeleton, I would gladly do it.          

          HYPERION:  Yesterday, night, somebody paid me a most unusual visit, oh revered Titan elder. As I was trying to meditate, the room began to brighten and there was a fluorescent glow, sparkling at the edges with a fine gold glitter. I was astounded at the mysterious apparition, at this breath-taking vision.  

          OCEANUS: Oh yes meditation, my foot, contemplation in a pig’s eye.  It was again one of your goddamned dreams conceived in deep REM sleep, while you think, you are meditating. It was dreaming, not day- dreaming.   

          HYPERION: Venerable patriarch, we have no time to indulge in your predilection for invective mode. Our brother Cronus (Chronos) somehow managed to send me a very intensely projected telepathic image of some sort from what I sensed to be another dimension. He told me what I have always suspected, namely that the human evolution had been manipulated in the distant past by an interventional external factor, which significantly raised the body temperature of humans. As you can rightfully assume, only the genius of our brother, who went back in time using the sling-shot effect of the sun, could be responsible for evolutionary changes of such vast magnitude. Cronus managed to implement the overthrow of the maritime civilization of Atlantis by gradually warming the human cells with the drastic as well as mysterious energy substance of thermotropine. He located his antigravity equipped headquarters in Mega planet (redaction note – called nowadays Jupiter) because of his very swift rotation in comparison to Earth which permitted the intermittent emission of the radiation in regular intervals. Finally, following the completion of the long-lasting cell development treatment, his ultimate achievement was to pulverize the city of Atlantis by modifying his high frequency beam and causing the eruption of the seamounts and the subsurface vents underneath, thus initiating the most significant succession of events in the history of man. Due to this outside influence the humans abandoned the seas and continued their evolutionary process on the land.

                   Now, brace yourself. His son Jupiter, alias Zeus, known to us and fully competent, wants to disrupt and reverse Cronus’ manipulation at the source, so that the ancient people of Atlantis, the glorious ancestors of today’s Earthmen remain crude, uncivilized, uneducated, trapped in a rudimentary level of consciousness, thus susceptible to religious faith and other compromising circumstances. In such a poor evolutionary stage provided by a stable maritime environment the cataclysm will never take place, Deukalion, son of Prometheus and Pyrrha will never exist, the humans will never be in position to question the divine authority and overcome their subjugated situation, they will never be able to outgrow the gods and reach the stars! They will remain ignorant, captives of a very slow and tormenting evolution towards an uncertain goal for it is well known that the frigid amphibian or sea- addicted physiology has essential difficulties to create space faring technology.

          OCEANUS: Well, poor Cronus. It’s a hard fate to have a son who is allegedly a god and in fact a pain in the ass. If it’s true that oblivion is death for the gods, false or not, then the worse punishment for Jupiter is to ignore him.  But his authority is about to be rescinded, and his end is already discernible. In many circles of Creation, if not in ours, Christianity seems to prevail. Fate of (wo-) men is death and of gods is oblivion.          

          HYPERION: Zeus will never quit. He convokes and summons solicitation and reinforcements from the wormholes’ domain, from which he and his equals came. As you know, Jupiter and the other Gods of Olympus are creatures of elsewhere, dwelling normally in the limbo between three-dimensional areas of space guarding exemplarily and draconically those places, but they came to the normal universe, in order to conquer and to thrive in the divine role of omnipotence. When the humans have shown disrespect to those self-conceited wannabe chiefs, and their reign was obstructed by successive rebellions, they massacred and enslaved our people. Although they sustained heavy casualties, they continue to exercise a dubious and disputed dominion over the human race and its leader- class, the titans, without having any intention of retreating to the wormholes, where they had emerged rom.  

          OCEANUS: Yes, it is well known that the twelve Gods of Olympus are in fact creatures dwelling in wormholes or warp coil channels contorting or shortcutting spacetime. That explains their great power.

          HYPERION: Precisely. They are souls, “psychae”, the opposite of our physical existence. We memorize experiences, they produce them for our mind to consume. We lose energy in terms of gradually diminishing powers until we wrinkle and wither, they get charged with it moving meticulously from the level of fragmental dissipation to an advanced organisation of high energy life.  They live backwards, by definition, like Parneb, Inhotep and the rest secretaries of the Egyptian Pharaos. Our destinies are entangled and overlapping. If our faith to their existence reduces or fails, they are in serious danger of being dissipated. Doubt kills them. They on the other hand have the power to influence our fate. Clotho with the hand upon the wheel, Lachesis measuring the threads of lives inextricably woven, patient Atropos with her shining scissors poised to snip.

          OCEANUS: Well, seems to me, what you are proposing is that we animate with our presence the origins of human history, the “return to the past in order to save the future” stuff. It would be difficult considering that we don’t possess neither the time travel of Cronus (which -let us not forget- is one-way ticket to the past) nor the power of the intermittent space’s creatures.

           HYPERION: The avenue of research that I pursued was an investigation into a means of access to a particular alternate universe. It’s unlikely that the new universe I postulate has its origins within our own. Ours is only one of countless numbers of universes, all residing in a larger super space that is ferociously hot and immeasurably dense. To use an analogy, we’re but one bubble that has been swelling outward for an unimaginably long period of time in a sea of foam with no surface and no bottom. What I am referring to is exactly this immense source of concentrating light, where normal space and by implication warp space are contained within as two insignificant exterior wheels attached to the huge mechanical body of the basic structure, as two sister leeches, entangled in each- other, which draw their daily blood tapping into an inexhaustible reservoir of power. The acceptance of such a primary frame -universe, where the others originate, is a scientific theory of vast magnitude and importance, and can revolutionize the present-day physics of centimetre- gram-second. The enormous density of this universe excludes the possibility of expansion, globe or cone forming and volume in general, thus allowing only for two-dimensional movements across straight lines and circles. This is the abode of Euclidean geometry, the site of punctuating singularities and threadlike vectors only.

          OCEANUS: I think we have been through this, Hyperion. I know that you are a strong believer of “repetitio mater studiorum”, but for God’s sake, give me a break. The important thing is what we do with that blasted space.

          HYPERION: In order to succeed the desired time-travel, we must warp ourselves to nowhere, inside the matrix of Euclidean space, without stress barriers, engaging the power of warp- speed not for removal, but for the purpose of transformation into shapes of the Euclidean space using a special program, based on the combined technique of both transporter and hologram. The matter is withdrawn, subtracted from the form, so what remains in the buffer are merely qualities, characteristics and abstracts. We shall undergo a Euclidean metamorphosis, convert ourselves to the Euclidean analogon of our present shape. Then we draw a vector across the field geometry in order to reach the designated intersection point, which will be used by us as an entrance to the desired time-space continuum.  

          OCEANUS: That’s as may be, but atom-scrambling aside, there’s something that bothers me more. During the transformation and entrance to Euclidean space there will be a brief time of non-existence, perhaps not measurable by our standards but by the standards of that other universe.

          HYPERION: Doctor, naturalist professor of medicine, you are prejudiced because of your “a priori” perceptions of time and matter. Time is implicit in normal space-continuum, eternity is an idea cohering with Euclidean space. You will not -exist for zero time during the process, as well as the ship which will carry your medical wisdom and from your point of view, so will the rest of the universe. You’ll have nothing to compare your non-existence with. But the lack of physical existence doesn’t mean the lack of apperception on the level of essence. You’ll have the ultimate chance to get acquainted with the famous “thing in itself”, which the Muses and the great Orpheus praise, to get a glimpse of the so- called world of thoughts, the reign of the platonic “nooumena”. And besides, doctor, you are a hundred and twenty-three years old. It is not logical for you to fear death.

          OCEANUS: Now, wait a minute you pointed- eared, arrogant, self- conceited…         

          HYPERION: Save me the invective mode, Old one. Instead of an uncertain labyrinth within the infinite corridors of metempsychosis and the miscellaneous levels of post- mortem consciousness, I offer you a preprogrammed temporary death, which will be an ideal training, a precious and unique precedent before you experience the real end. So, your soul will be prepared to enter directly without digressions into the eternal and immortal Heavenly space, the highest possible intellectual level of philosophers, circumventing the pitiable adventures of the poor energy substitutes, such as -alas- our souls are, trapped in the titanic universe.  

          OCEANUS: It wouldn’t be the first time for us to fold back in the Dawn of (Wo-) Man to protect our today’s established rights. Does not the interpretation of previous facts do that every day? In the past we have succeeded much, but if we fail in that last mission, the whole structure of the Astro-galactic Organization of Sirius will collapse. And I am extremely worried, because this time we are not going to walk the thin red line of sensitive balance perched in the hospitable shoulder of Prometheus.

          ΥΠΕΡΙΩΝ:  Medicine sophist! From our long acquaintance I have reckoned that you are not especially prone to logic processing. As I conceive it, what you feel is pure, irrational, demonic fear. But I reassure you responsibly, let the worry and the fear to me. I have calculated all parameters; I have analyzed every conceivable detail necessary to complete our mission and I assure you that I will not allow anyone or anything to distract us from carrying out our assignment.

          OCEANUS: Yes, of course. In a pig’s eye.

          ΥΠΕΡΙΩΝ: Anyway, whatever. In the absence of our condemned captain, who serves a penalty to the exemption of us all, in the absence of our companions Eurybia, Lito, Metis, and all the other lost children scattered here and there, and since all constellations have been recorded and baptized, let us recite a poem in honor of our forefather Cronus, whom we wronged all the times that we allied and aligned with Zeus, constrained by the absolute finality- feasibility- intentionality of politics. Yet, Cronus always knew what Zeus was, and was right all the time. He knew that time (chronus) gives value to the actions of (wo-) man and that the immortality of Zeus is the biggest deception, because it abolishes the flair of the moment and imposes the dictatorship of the unexchangeable.  

          INCENSE OF CRONUS, STYRAX

(Everlasting forefather of men and women, evergreen

          Of changeful counsel, wily, like the stars on the screen

          Who spend it all, but you are also the one to multiply,  

          You connect the world to the infinite energy supply.  

          Cronus, genitor of the ages who recount your nice mythos

          Including meanings and allegories of your heavenly ethos, 

          Birth and attrition of nature, husband of Rhea, being of might,  

          Like our own Prometheus, control the world with oversight.

          Your nose is crooked, but you are open to whom implores,

          So, let us worship you and perform your chores).            

CHAPTER ΚΔ’

                             HEAVENLY SPACE, t= 0                      

          «Your “insufficient data” is not sufficient, Mr. Spock».

                             Star Trek, The Immunity Syndrome

          Within the starship, called also in these ancient years space -trireme “N.A.O.S. (Navigation of Astro-galactic Organization of Sirius) Venovinda”, multiply repaired after successive calamities, Hyperion explained the intricacies of the hyperspace drive to the deadly bored Oceanus. They both stood in the heart of the engineering room, examining a transparent metallic box of two square meters area.

          “Based on the technology lent by the giants (Polybotes, Thoon, Athos and Mimas) and through the use of selective calculations and equations, the mathematic -philosophical method of the father of all beings, Old of times and great Progenitor Uranus, which some call creative physics, relying on the axiom ‘ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you’, I constructed a device that can be attached for an infinitesimal moment of time into the Heavenly space and tele-transport a very small amount of the alien territory to Venovinda. In zero time the infinite mass being formed inside the N.A.O.S. Venovinda will absorb the vessel, catapulting it into a negative hyperbolic curvature. The negative curvature and the herein expressed- defined ship will cross the whole distance up to the edge of the hyperbolic spectrum and go out on the other side, into another spot of the spacetime continuum, already determined and pinpointed before the generation of the infinite mass conditions, again as positive curvature. At that moment, the infinite mass will stay behind and the space trireme that has been containing it will pop out elsewhere, somewhere in the titanic spacetime, from which it came. When we say somewhere -elsewhere, we mean as far elsewhere and in whatever direction one desires, since an infinite number of vectors and accelerations are implicit in the Heavenly space. You can go a light year or fifty to Pegasus or fifty thousand, out of the galaxy and beyond. The closest I can come to explaining it through laymen’s terms is to suggest that one blows up a bubble and the n deflates it sucking the air out of it until it vanishes and begins inflating again, somewhere else, backwards”.

.         “Fuck laymen’s terms! Don’t you know Greek?

          “Sorry, medicine shaman, if the comparison is ill-advised, but mathematics which is more accurate, cannot be learnt in a day”.

          “This is it?”, the doctor said, looking down with hands on hips, conveying the impression of a disappointed man and then bursting into a bell- arpeggio of unrestrained laughter for the simplicity of the thing, which seemed so tiny, disregardable and insignificant!

          “Should I make it bigger, you long-lived one?”        
          “It wouldn’t help. I still wouldn’t understand it”.  

          “The basic principle of the device”, said Hyperion warming to his subject “is to merely name the circumstances you want to invoke; then, the circumstances happen according to the rules and the theorems of creative physics. The traditional categories of ‘cause’, ‘effect’ and ‘agency’ or, as the Muses would express them ‘rationes seminales’ (germinal principls), ‘ratio causalis’ (logical effect) and ‘communicatio inter ambas’ (connection between the two) are replaced by metabole as change of the external action, the behavior or the presence, the transformation (metamorphosis) as change of inner form and the metousiosis  as change of hypostasis itself, of the essence (ousia) of the being”.    

“You make it sound like magic, Hyperion”, insinuated Oceanus, a touch sourly.  

          “This is not peculiar, patriarch of all titans, if it is examined through the vision and the perception of the great scientists from Sirius who colonized Earth founding the race of the titans. These aristocrats, constituting the sovereign upper class of the planet, claimed that ‘any science sufficiently advanced will be undistinguishable to magic’. I think that it was Icarus himself, the father of science fiction, who formulated first this standpoint, elaborating one of his many inspired and vivid insights into the future”.

          The eyes of Oceanus scintillated and shone with anticipation, hie breath resembled a revering whispering prayer, summoning deities of all kinds, his voice became sharp, but also slow, sluggish, serious, majestic, with a very official mien.

          “What an appealing prospect to be reduced to geometric forms. But first I have a question that cannot stay unanswered. Hold a speck of infinite mass from this cursed Heavenly space for more than a tiny bit of time, it will start pulling all the matter in the universe towards it at a shocking rate. Don’t you remember what happened, when we discovered this proto-God and his/her anentropic universe and we endeavored to close that rift in the boundaries of Lesser Magellanic cloud?

          “I have given a simple solution to that problem, Old one, adapting the device only for time-travel and not for interstellar transfer. The absorption of matter is conducted along the spacelike axes crossing the periphery, the external outer surface of Heavenly space, whereas the time-like axes penetrate deep inside its highly compressed compact bulk like streams flowing across the vectoral coordinates. So, the entry is strictly provided for a temporal vectoral movement, not spacious material one, since it leans on a mass so compressed that no material can be absorbed by it, if not in a form of vector”.  

          “So, let be done with it, Hyperion; just press the button, pull the joystick or plug the damned thing into the socket. I don’t care which way I am going to die”.

          “I am activating it now”, said Hyperion. A crevasse opened in the edifice of reality, a huge short-circuit of infinite electrical powers took place and the two titans stumbled over the pressure of the dissolving, dissipating and decaying environment. The features of Hyperion became a set of triangles and corners, his trimmed black hair, as well as his decorative pointy ears were henceforth presented like a graphic function. The face of Oceanus was transformed into cavities, curvatures, circles and squares with convex, crooked sides. The alteration of the scientific reality was so extreme and devastating that mind could not grasp it. To reorder the smashed carapaces of a disassembled disjointed world, the wounded – knifed actuality regrouped its scattered pieces into a palimpsest of dreamy oneiric experience.

          Oceanus blazed, not with light, but with an intense compassion that could be felt on the skin, even from a distance, like sun in the desert. Hyperion had always known Oceanus cared deeply about people, but he was unprepared for the full truth of this feeling, this passionate allegiance to life, this fierce clarity that wished health and joy to everything that lived. Hyperion felt all the death that we carry within us, all the entropy, screaming and cowering away. It knew its enemy. On the other hand, the mind of Oceanus reflected the mighty intellect of Hyperion, his spirit functioned and coordinated in emission and reception and ricocheted the representations’ input, as if Hyperion were a source of light and Oceanus were a mirror.  From the mind – meld after the battle against the Harpies in one of the multiple Creations Oceanus was already familiar with the incessant activity of that cool, curious mind as it tirelessly chased answers. But now he saw where this insatiable, unbendable activity came from, namely the utter certainty of Hyperion that there was no higher purpose for this life than to burn his thoughts away in search of the truth and give that truth away when he found it. Furthermore, the doctor saw what he always suspected, the power that fueled and underlay the certainty: a profound vulnerability, a feature of human origin, which Hyperion did not deny so vehemently anymore as if he came from Sirius rather than from Atlantis.

          And then through the phantasmagory of the rotating clouds, of the vague figures and the confused feelings that were the translation of the geometrical analogon, a physiognomy arose from the impenetrable mist, a very familiar friendly face with regular features, chestnut brown hair, and piercing scintillating eyes plus an indisputable animalistic magnetism, an attraction having nothing to do  with appearance,  but everything to do with the man himself. His tall virile figure spoke, so that his speech was heard simultaneously in many languages. 

          “Travelers, I am the spirit of Prometheus, son of Iapetus, dwelling the Heavenly space. In your eyes, however, and for all intents and purposes I am Prometheus himself. I also represent a group of (wo-) men, not so many as one might think. There have not been many personalities in human history combining intelligence to discipline, power to constructive purposes. Call me, if you like, a prophet before Christ. While the abstract figures, the elegant lines of N.A.O.S. Venovinda  passed before us, its echo, reverberating up to the fringes of the energy continuum, focused and gathered the spiritual energy of the like- minded to your leader individuals, irritated and agitated the pool of the countless memories and experiences of his immortal race (and its selective affinities) and ended up in something independent, created an electrostatic  spiritual shadow, exhibiting a striking similarity to your leader, and called me, the objective spirit of divine Prometheus. You asked for help and I appeared to assist you in any way as a powerful ally, as the one person that can guarantee the successful outcome of the mission, because it is written for Prometheus, Hyperion and Oceanus  to be always together and act united, when the situation os too critical and the stakes are too high”.

Oceanus was the first to react, because he adapted faster than the catatonic Hyperion. “Are you mocking me, man? During the transit, we retrieved en passant the soul of Prometheus? That’s the weirdest thing I ever seen.”

“Not his soul”, answered the image of Prometheus. “The soul is currently prisoned in Caucasus, where awaits in chains the horrible punishment of Zeus for his services rendered to (wo-) men. But the spirit of Prometheus is always present, because it is the essence of  the spirit to live in millions of different people, to reevaluate the historical facts of its carriers, supporters and various catalysts, and to recognize itself, its familiar outline within a reestablished pattern time and again, as the famous ritualists used to say, Celeus, Eumolpus and others.

        “Astonishing!” whispered Hyperion truly bewildered despite of his training of suppressing emotions. “I hereby attest solemnly and irrevocably that there are certain proceedings in this universe which are not based on algorithms” he announced using a series of terms equivalent to Oceanus’s “I’ll be damned”.

          “Well, at least I’ve lived long enough to hear that”, countered the doctor medicus remembering a similar situation, which had taken place more than a century ago, in the shuttlecraft of the spaceship “NAOS Venthesikyme”.

          Being in a state of intellectual and sentimental trance the titans decided to chant a hymn fitting to the circumstance. So, Hyperion said.  

          “Recite your own, old, seasoned, robust guy. Anywise, Orpheus did not compose hymns either for me or the captain; perhaps he considered us too involved in the case of Titanomachy to be able to deliver an objective judgment for us, if we surmise of course that the doxologies are judgments, or else he was shy of being too exposed in the eventuality of Zeus’ victory, whereby he could be compromised or even paled. As Orpheus often repeats: ‘since I managed to stay intact at the young age (Argonautic expedition), it would be pity enough to become someone’s page’”.

          Oceanus cleared his old throat with two dry coughs and sang at Hyperion’s request his own personal popular massive hit.

          OCEANUS’ INCENSE, AROMAS

          (I call Oceanus father of gods and people together,

Who binds all beings with indestructible tether, 

          Who surrounds the sphere of the Earth with waves,

          Who confines the rivers but also the roads paves, 

          Who sprinkles fountains and drops and saps

          So powerful that makes the gods look like old chaps. 

          I wish you carry your wisdom to the earth’s edge,

To anoint- appoint your adepts from the window’s ledge).

                                       CHAPTER ΚΕ’

                                     CHILDREN OF OLYMPUS

                             “Above all, a god needs compassion”

                       Star Trek, Where no Man Has Gone Before

                   “Captain”, Hyperion mentioned, as N.A.O.S Venovinda came out of the Heavenly space, “I receive the signal from the Cronus antigravity thermotropic installation on Mega planet. It’s the huge red spot with the brown fringes. On the other hand, the fleet of Jupiter is stationed in the vicinity of the Earth’s moon trying to intercept the signal from Mega. Their ionized trace indicates that they propelled themselves from the future. They use a Phorcides web technique combined with applied EM energy effect, in order to fulfil the gaps.

          “Let’s disrupt their formation, fire a narrow beam to the centre of their web”, ordered the doppelganger of Prometheus.

          As soon as the attack of NAOS Venovinda was launched, the peculiar raiders of the wormhole broke formation angled around and hurtled directly ahead, doing a ruthless and relentless battle. Thei ships were like huge flying armchairs of instable and oscillating shape. 

          “Raise shields”, shouted Prometheus’ copy almost desperately. “Doctor, make yourself useful at navigation control, try to do something useful. Hyperion, tie your console to the target module, so that you can access and operate the phaser-banks”.            The raiders dived forward and toward them in two staggered rows of six, while the ship of Zeus stayed behind building the rearguard. The weapons of the attackers came alive raking the much larger space- trireme with a series of hammerlike blasts that shook NAOS Venovinda over and over again.

          “Repeated hits on the starboard shield”, marked Hyperion.      “All phasers fire”, grunted Prometheus punching his fist on the control board of his mastery armchair and levelling some switches. “Stay ahead of them, Mr. Hyperion, anticipate their moves and fire where they are going to be! Second guess them as if your spirit was melted into theirs.” 

          Hyperion fired aiming at the spot, where their preprogrammed course was going to take them, but a half dozen ships incredibly, suddenly veered down and away at impossible angles, forming gracefully two twin arched bows. The one leg of the line-up dived to the nadir of the horizon dodging the fire blast with five or six kilometers to spare. Meanwhile the other half dozen ships swept on from port blasting away and shooting off against NAOS Venovinda.  

          “Starboard and port shields each down seventy percent”, reported Hyperion with a serious face.

          Prometheus grimaced upon hearing the news. Draining off power from one shield to supplement the other would leave them virtually unprotected on one side. “Status on the raiders?”, he asked.

          “We have yet to hit any of them. They are tiny, one -manned energy -vessels, without constant shape or rigid form, clouded by ionized waves, highly compatible with the conditions and completely adapted to the necessities of warp space, but they are extremely maneuverable at sub-light as well, I regret to say far more than we are. Their small size and speed make it possible for them to stay hair-close to the ship and increase the effectiveness of their weapons, without suffering damage from ours. Their fighting style does not correlate with any known tactics”.

          “While you chatter, they are coming up behind us”, screamed Oceanus.

          “Bring us around! Veer sideways!”

          “Too late! May I remind you that I am not your helmsman Kreios? Just an overestimated country-doctor, worn out by the burden time like our Hebrew friend Methuselah”. 

          “Oh goodness”, said Prometheus, “we are just a bunch of old fools out of practice.”

          The raiders hammered them from aft, while the huge space- trireme roared like a wounded beast, moaning and foaming at the mouth out of rage. Prometheus could almost hear the screams from the engineering section; the shield generators were stretched to the breaking point.

          “Phaser and photon array, full spread! Don’t anticipate courses”, wailed the captain’s double bending nervously and surprised at what he saw. “Fire at random patterns. I’ll be damned, if I don’t get one of them hit! Hyperion, if you have any photon-torpedoes left, don’t save them for the next inspection. I want you to launch them upon their energy- dizzied heads.”

          NAOS Venovinda cut loose with all the armament of photon -torpedoes at its command, but with speed and maneuvering that bordered on the supernatural the raiders danced in between the bursts of the mighty space-trireme.  

          “I am starting to notice some of their attack patterns”, said Hyperion who investigated meticulously all the odds of prevailing against the adversary and, even as he fired at what was on the screen, he studied quick replays of their moves across his helm display. “I think I can anticipate some of their moves this time.”

          “Best guesses, Mr. Hyperion. Fire!”

          Hyperion tracked quickly two of the ships and fired off a phaser blast directly into their path while at the exact same time releasing an array of photon torpedoes into the direction, he was certain that the enemies would steer. He was rewarded with partial success. The one ship managed to avoid the torpedoes, but the other was not so fortunate. The torpedoes caromed directly into its centre.     

          “Incoming attacker sustained direct hit. It seems though that it has absorbed the energy of the beam. It has accepted the impact, then swallowed the power wash probably back into its own power cells.”

          Prometheus gawked on the main screen astonished, hypnotized by admiration, but also embittered in view of the full ineffectiveness of the NAOS Venovinda’s weapons. The energy they had catapulted channelled through the curious shell of the armchair- shaped enemy ships and disappeared somewhere in their inside. 

          “Shift constantly the frequency of the phaser beam. That’s what phasers are for! So, they will not be able to assimilate the phaser -blast and they’ll feel the push!”

          “In vain, captain. The momentum of the blast alone is not enough to inflict any damage.”  

          “Recommendations, Gentlemen. If you have any bright ideas, I’ am urging you to utter it immediately. You’d better come up with something pretty soon or we are sitting ducks. Preliminary analysis, Mr. Hyperion”.

          “Insufficient data for a complete analysis”.

          “Theorize!”         

          “I am afraid, we should refrain from hypothesizing or theorizing, as far as we cannot extrapolate a theory from such scarce evidence. I’m inclined to say that all we have been left with are non-provable assumptions or merely wild speculations.”

          “Then, speculate!”

          “I’ll make an educated guess, a surmised conclusion”.

          “Holy Uranus, I thank thee!”

          “The situation is similar with the crisis of the Furies, which we have faced in the past. I don’t need to remind you of those demons, who came from the other side of the galaxy to reclaim the space, once owned by them. They repulsed the energy of the phaser blasts using protective plates (scales) that surrounded their conic- shaped mothership. Once the plates were nicked and deformed through the crash with one of our scout-ships, the inner layer of the vessel was exposed. Then, you, captain, strafed with repeated shots the part between the peeled scales digging your way all along the acre-wide exposed shell, making tongues and crests of fire jolting from there until the final explosion and elimination of the threatening dreadnought. The difference however with the present situation, is that the attackers, apparently dwelling in the warp space, can absorb the energy in a natural way without the mediation of a materially constructed, thus destroyable device.”

          “Yes, yes but one can’t have it both-ways. If their fixed abode is the warp field, they must have stress barriers, in order to exist in normal titanic space.”

          “Since we cannot penetrate their defences and put out those barriers, that assumption is not offering any help.”

          “Yes, but we can disorient them by dragging them back in the warp coil, with the stress barriers of the normal continuum still in function! Medicus, bring us around at four-nineteen mark six. Drop forward shields. Prepare for warp speed!” Prometheus set in motion his hastily conceived plan.

          The doddering old doctor naturalist could not digest it. “Captain, though I am a ex- medic with dripping teary eyes, I happen to know that even minimal warp will kick us right out of the solar system. And with no shields we’ll be defenceless. Should they fire on us before we engage, we will not be able to cope with the slightest vibration!”

           “Criticizing, Doctor?”

          “Inquiring, Captain”.

          “Spare me your misplaced criticism, physician and don’t get impertinent. I don’t have time to turn the bridge into an Academy lecture theatre. Carry out your orders or I’ll come to the helm and kick your butt!”

          The doctor rolled his eyes ironically: “Yes, you can call security out of your vivid imagination and confine me to quarters”. Nevertheless, with sweated hands and blood throbbing in the temples he obeyed: “Navigation: course laid in. Helm: ahead, full sub-light. Nice to be bisected and two-headed, like the proverbial twin-headed eagle!”

          Prometheus focused on the task at hand. The raiding ships had come together again, and the NAOS Venovinda was on a collision course with the small fleet. They seemed to momentarily hesitate, not knowing what dirty tricks the Sirius’ flagship could have up her sleeve.  

          “They aren’t firing”, said Oceanus wondering.  

          “It’s because we dropped our shields. They don’t know whether we are surrendering or just playing suicidal. On my order, I’ll demand warp speed”.

          They drew closer and closer to the raiders until the smaller hovering ships were filling the screen. Prometheus punched with animalistic vehemence his unlucky armchair, beleaguered by the unusual circumstances. 

          “Hyperion, on my order reroute all power from the rear deflectors and shore up the forward. That is if you don’t mind having our tails hanging out…”

          “I assure you, captain, that using less colourful expressions would in no way compromise my performance”, stressed Hyperion majestically raising one eyebrow. “Besides, I never question your orders as far as they are between logical parameters”, he added with an imperceptive touch of indignation.

          The deflectors to the rear of NAOS Venovinda faded almost to nonexistence, while the forward shields powered up to their full capacity. Realizing that NAOS Venovinda was now, at least ostensibly, in a position to ram right through them like a wedge, the raiders executed the same maneuver they have used earlier, i.e. they split off like a fan, coming in tight on both sides of the behemoth starship.

          Prometheus counted under his breath and shouted: “Now Medicus! Full ahead, warp four for two and a half seconds!”

          NAOS Venovindas leaped forward! The quite insufficient emergency crew slammed back in their seats, while all around them raged the sounds of the ship’s infrastructure creaking under the sudden acceleration. 

          “Captain!”, Hyperion shouted over the roar of the engines. “An excellent choice of battle tactics! Five of the raiders were caught in our warp field when we accelerated!”

          “Acknowledged”, Prometheus bellowed back. “Oceanus slow us down! Take us out of warp!”

          Obediently, the mighty engines of NAOS Venovinda reversed, and warp space began to break up around the ship replaced by the familiar pattern of the stars. The ships of the raiders presented now a wretched look, seemed to drift without balance, shuddered, trembling and bursting apart with pieces flying everywhere. 

          “They couldn’t stand the stress of the warp transience”, said Hyperion with diligently camouflaged consternation.

          “I figured that much”, said Prometheus vividly. “As they were staying so close to our hull, I thought we could drag them along if we hit fast into warp space. I knew, they wouldn’t be able to deal with it, not with their stress barriers on, trying to protect themselves from the intricacies of the normal continuum.” Suddenly he changed pace and hue of voice: “But the situation is still grave. We have job to do, before we start patting one another on the shoulders. Long-lived one, plot a course to the asteroid belt between Red and Mega planet, best possible speed. Get us there in one piece but quickly”.

          NAOS Venovinda swung around and an instant later was hurtling back through space. They arrived on the outskirts of the asteroid belt leaving the remaining raiders and heal their wounds inserting energy patches and clusters into the gaping rifts, to pull themselves back together and gather their scattered powers, as the titan’s code of honor dictated. The titans had won the first round, the first reckoning for the solar system dominion reward, and the rematch was due.    

          «Look sharp people», Prometheus warned.

          NAOS Venovinda slowly approached the meteor swarm in the vicinity or at the outer edge of the Red planet’s atmosphere, floating at a safe distance and steady orbit around Phobos, which in 41.700 B.C. was in essence an ugly inert rock and such will be also in 41.700 A.D.  

          “Fire bearer, why have you brought us here?”, admonished Oceanus.  “If the raiders hide within the asteroid swarm, it will be a very queasy job to pin them down. These damned space rocks will interfere with every shot, provide them shelter, so they could exercise their deadly game of duck- and- run.”

          “You must admit though, doctor, that if we are going to have difficulty detecting them, they’ll have the same problem detecting us. The laws of physics are characterized by reciprocity and mutuality”, Hyperion tried to explain.

          “Thank you for the vote of confidence, doctor”, said a slightly annoyed but in general tranquil Prometheus, bending on the screen and examining the difficulties uprising in front of them. “Now get your ass moving. Deflectors on full. Ahead one quarter sub-light. Take us in, Mr. Pseudo-Kreios.”

          Methuselah with the newly acquired capacity of astrogation thrusted the ship slightly forward. Slowly NAOS Venovinda made its way onto the asteroid swarm. Oceanus maneuvered the space-trireme around the larger obstacles, but it was impossible for a ship the size of NAOS Venovinda to have an entirely smooth trip along countless hovering space debris. There was a steady series of thuds as asteroids hit the deflectors and bounced away. “Sweet mother of God, you are a Sunday driver!”, said Prometheus trying not to let his enervation surface. “I want an emergency holographic Kreios at my service on the double!”

          Then, NAOS Venovinda shook under the impact of an explosion against one of the starboard shields.

          “I believe we have located them Captain, or more precisely, they have located us”. 

          Once again, eight out of twelve highly maneuverable ships descended upon the NAOS Venovinda. This time, however, their advantage of maneuverability seemed to give them a remarkable edge; they could hurtle towards the space-trireme, fire, and then dart away to hide among the asteroids. 

          “So much for reciprocity Mr Know-it-all. As for you Mr. Self –confident, perhaps we should activate a holographic captain too”, mocked Oceanus ironically, turning his sting in the fashion of addressing statements to both parties concerned.

          “The captain can be right, the captain can be wrong, but the captain can never be unsure”, whistled Prometheus merrily like a song. “Behold carefully unfaithful Oceanus!  You are about to see that your precious high esteemed raiders, where you have (mis-) placed your confidence so prematurely, while they lined -up only to make their last stand, are now doomed!”

          Then, without to spend a second, he shouted to Hyperion over the sounds of alarm and the reports of damage from throughout the ship. 

          “Mr. Hyperion, start targeting the meteors themselves. Ignore the raiders and fire on the meteors which hide them. If they absorb energy, let them eat matter which is a tad more indigestible! Come on, ladies. Have some solid, substantial food to see how your stomach will react to a change of nutritional habits!”.       

          The science officer did as he was told with religious dedication. He brought the phaser array online picking some of the largest asteroids which provided shelter to the gods and fired. The rays hurtled in bursts, carefully aimed at dead center of the targets and blew the asteroids into fragments. The gods were forced to retreat, to contend the heavy-matter impacts from the space-debris washing over them and falling on them like suicide squad. The space- debris penetrated their shields like knives cutting through butter. The explosions were so powerful that four of the adversaries lost control and peeled off out of formation, completely adrift, paralyzed with considerable damage.  

          The three remaining intact ships made a desperate run for it, but Prometheus was not quite finished. He jumped on his feet like a marionette whose strings were pulled grossly by the puppeteer. “That’s more like it. Look, they are going to try to get away again. But not this time. Hyperion, wide-angle phaser blast. There is a hole in the asteroid swarm at twenty mark one-one-four. They’ll probably make for that. On my mark, shoot down the peripheral rocks… fire!”

          Prometheus was dead accurate. The wide-angled phaser fire lashed out and hit the periphery of the opening, as the eternal opponents turned into it. A hail of stones battered and pounded them from everywhere. In the cramped seats of their ships the marauders were hurled back as the vessels flipped end over end and spiralled out of control. This last blast cut through the moral of the pirates entirely and irrevocably and they found themselves dispersing to all directions.

           “Captain, I am intercepting communications”, said Hyperion, “and I am broadcasting them through the megaphone”.

          “Hermes, watch out”, a stressed voice was pulled from the mouth of the vocal transmitter, “we must retreat beyond the Red planet Mars. Ares, Dimitra, Estia and Pallas Athene are totally disoriented after the excessive squeeze of their stress barriers.  Poseidon and Hera are severely damaged, Artemis is adrift, Apollo, Aphrodite and Hefestus have their consciousness crushed out of their heads.”

          “Activate universal translator” ordered Prometheus. “This warp coil language gives me a headache. It’s all Greek to me.”

          «No need, captain, they are actually speaking ancient Greek, which is a very esteemed item of their standard education, as it is also part of ours, they just have their own Olympian dialect changing the endings, just like Dutch reminds crooked and wry German. The names in the exact order spoken are the Greek equivalent of the well-known roman gods Mercury caring for peaceful communication between the nations, Mars father of the so-called martial arts, Ceres providing the all too familiar on every table highly nutritional cereals, Vesta protecting family life, Minerva symbolizing thought and wisdom, Neptune mastering the sea and the tempests, Juno the jealous suspicious spouse, Diana the keeper of the forests,  Apollo representing light and music and Venus, the famous goddess of love and beauty along with her limp husband, Vulcan, the blacksmith god surrounded by heat and fire. Above all stands the mighty omnipotent cloud stirrer Zeus- pater (Jupiter).”

          “Spare me the history lesson, Hyperion, which obviously and in good faith relies on the premise that the valour of the defeated is the glory of the victor. I don’t welcome a curriculum vitae of our opponents. Anyway, open hailing frequencies. I want to speak to Jupiter, if he is in a position to hear me out”.

          “We are the rulers of the Earth, and we demand that you withdraw”, the sonorous word- hammering long drawn- out voice of the thunderous Zeus was heard escorted with the well-known threatening image of the frowned bearded face.

          “Jupiter, you are not in a position to demand anything”, interrupted the captain, while his lips shrank into a thin grim line. “I, on the other hand, as a creature of the supreme paramount continuum of spirit, am in a position to dictate terms and I command you to refrain from any further preposterous actions. Low your shields and retreat to a safe distance. Remember that every (wo-) man and every god has her/his time, her/his life span. The fate of mortals is death, the fate of gods is oblivion. You wanted to cheat the Great Hunter of waste, but this is not permissible neither to man nor god. You’ll have your time, you’ll rule the Earth as long as history allows it, and after the greco-roman period, you will perish nice and easy.

          “Captain”, Hyperion belled the ring or ringed the bell, “Jupiter’s ship is heading full speed for the Mega planet. Apparently, he is taking aim at the Cronus’ antigravity thermotropic installation.

          “Follow him, full power”.

          “Impossible, we cannot compete. He is playing all for all along with his minions. He is on the verge of burning his engines.”

          “Connect me to his bridge immediately. Ship to ship immediately. Establish ship to ship communications right now!”

          The mellifluous and at the same time deadly, sly and treacherous, albeit not any more so threatening voice of Zeus was heard from the megaphone.

           “I ‘ll come closer and closer, I ‘ll huff and puff like a wolf and I ‘ll blast the whole damned emitter out of existence from a point- blank range. We, the gods of Olympus, have stated a claim on the solar system and will not yield. Greek mythology is our domain, and you are not going to steal it from us. You are my slave, Prometheus, don’t you remember the fine moments we spent together as a couple of master and servant with good wine and your liver as a meze? So, sing my favorite song, recite your part, declare your submission, praise my self- aggrandizement. Let me remind you of the verse that I particularly liked: ‘Being your slave, what should I do but tend upon the hours and times of your desire? I have no precious time at all to spend, not services to do till you require?’”   

          “He is insane”, whispered Oceanus with awe and astonishment.

          “Jupiter, listen to me very carefully”, appealed Prometheus with the magnanimity of the titans to a madman’s reason. “Don’t approach the giant planet any further. The extremely extensive gravity- field of Mega Planet will drag you to the ground. Your sub-light capability has been compromised; your shields will not be able to sustain the strain.”

          “But it’s not possible. I am 24 million kilometres away from the Mega planet. I am at a safe distance. Not even within shooting range…”, came the delirious answer of a clouded judgement.

          “Too late”, announced Hyperion, “He is within range of the Mega’s gravitational field. His orbit will be decaying continuously until the final crash.”

          “Please help me!”, shrieked Zeus, a sudden weakness appearing on his flabby face. His cold eyes bulged with the effort to recover control of his vessel.  

          “I can’t”, replied Prometheus. “I cannot overcome the gravity field of Mega, because my sub-light driver has been damaged too. And I cannot risk creating a gravity well warping in and out, in order to rescue you. It’s time for our scheduled rendezvous with the Heavenly space. We must follow the parabola, which will lead us to this transcendental continuum. And it’s time for you to redeem yourself for your crimes. By planning the demise of others, you forfeited your own right to live.”

          “What will happen to him?”, asked Oceanus.

          “The cloud- stirrer Jupiter has shown poor clouded judgement. It was the act of an impaired judgment to abandon the original plan of obstructing the ray and, instead, to launch a suicide attack against Cronus’ installation, because Cronus had beamed directly to the planet within an antigravity cluster to compensate for the inconceivable atmospheric gravity and build it, and he didn’t attempt a  descend to the gravitational field”, explained Hyperion. “So, Zeus and the other gods will continue to fall until the gravitational forces tear them apart. On the other hand, perhaps they manage to land on Callisto, Io, Amalthea or another satellite. But the result will be the same, they will simply prolong their life a little longer. Every time they will endeavour to be reborn like Phoenix upon their ashes, the gravity of the Mega planet will crush and level them like decalcomania, will turn them into liquid quicksilver, will be the boa restrictor, who will not allow them to recover ever again. And that’s how the Mega planet took the name of Jupiter”.

          Then, the facsimile of Prometheus turned around to face hos friends.

          “Now, it is time for me to go. I will say my farewell during the transition into Heavenly space. But before we part, I ‘ll tell that it was an honor to serve with you. Your friend, whose soul is trapped in the prison of Caucasus, is calling you to free him. In the future, the challenges you are going to face won’t be so taxing and adventurous. You have also a right to rest, to feel joy; Prometheus, my integrated cathodic puppet (avatar) is also entitled to see Celaeno again and you, Oceanus, to perch in the hug and the warmth of Tethys, even you, shiny Hyperion, to rejoin with Theia!”

          “If she hadn’t become an artificial intelligence … I always tried to convince her about the benefits of deliverance from the feelings, but I never imagined that she would go that far. Still, I can yet communicate with her. Live long and prosper, integrated cathodic puppet (avatar) of Prometheus and I thank you”, said Hyperion elevating the middle and the index finger. 

          “It is a pity that Orpheus isn’t here to tune his lyre, celebrate and chant with us the predominance of the titans, which is now final”, said Oceanus. “It is really the most shy and concise hymn, as it is fitting to our humbleness, since we were always careful not to disturb anyone”.

                   TITANS” INCENSE, LABDANUM

          “Titans, who came to being through Gaia’s and Uranus’ spell

          Forefathers, only you are worthy of the labdanum’s smell,

          You dwell in the houses of Tartaros in the depths’ bosom, 

          From yonder you direct the people, thrive and blossom,

          Through your valve all problems are vented and volatile, 

          You invent many ways to help, since you are versatile 

          Please, make rage leave from the houses it has lease,  

          Always, exercise benevolence and restore the peace). 

          CHAPTER ΚΣΤ’

WHERE THE NIGHTMARE IS OVER AND A GARRULOUS, BUT APPEASING MESSAGE ECHOES

          When the nightmare was over, the unbound Prometheus stood on the naked mountain of Phoenicia’s Caucasus and recited following speech in the presence of his companions, being in partial confusion and full exhaustion due to the unimaginable tortures, to which he had been submitted:

          “My children, after so many wars and calamities I cannot even remember if I have molded you spitting the soil and kneading clay plus adding an electrical jolt, as they say, using some technique of Cronus, if Zeus himself has created you or his Impeccable and Innocent successor Christ the redeemer, who has settled in the end, ergo also in the beginning of time. In the final analysis, it doesn’t matter so much. I had some notes somewhere for my homily, but I seem to have lost them. I searched all the drawers of my desk, revised or not revised publications of my works, Hyperion investigated even the deleted traces of the synthetist, but in the end I didn’t manage to find my speech. When something like that happens, I see only red, wondering how I could be so careless, where have I misplaced it? Did Ι disposed of it, as Plato threw his poems away or Cavafy some of them? If I faced the almighty Zeus for so long, I owed that only to my organization, to the fact that I respected all, stored all and kept all.  

           Never mind, in any case the speech was too moralizing, because I have composed it much younger, in some other Creation, in other youthful and innocent times, and now it does not apply anymore. The basic meaning was that you should do your best or whatever you can in every circumstance, that even the infinitesimal achievement counts, that nobody’s contribution is neglectable, as the politicians say. In a rather melodramatic moment, I have written ‘fight for the right that even the humblest worm of the earth calls its own’: The right to decide for itself’. That’s too much, isn’t it? I have also stated that the eternal struggle of Greekness- Hellenism is the struggle of the institutions against all kinds of tyrannic dynasties and religions, whereby religion is any unproved and undemonstrated faith. Now, I am so exhausted, so depleted and bereft of any ounce of energy, so wounded, broken, fried and withered that the only I can think is to go back to my estate on Centaurus and live there the rest of my days together with Celaeno as a mortal grateful for death. In either case, God, as the first unmoved mover, who sees off and sends all to their way, but in the end all direct back to Him, does not seem eager to resurrect me.

          So, I leave you now to enjoy the works of peace, because these are the reason we fought, these marbles, as someone who respected ancient Greece said. Maybe the new movement of Christianity, which is going to succeed us will have the recipe for a better life. If, however, if -I say- it also happens to disappoint you, since unfortunately love cannot be unfounded, hovering or randomly descending from heaven, it can’t be a dancing puppet without strings, neither can somebody begin the sequence from the end, on the contrary what is perfect has a lot of presuppositions, difficult to fulfill, then remember that you will always have Prometheus and his titans with our structured pyramid of personality. Distributary ideas, ethics and politics, if one of those three pylons gets extinct, then the whole edifice starts crumbling. Come and find me in Centaurus, I will always wait for you there with a glass of wine, in the old tavern of Chiron to treat you to stuffed vine leaves and sweet figs in all their versions, from unripe up to ripe ones, and to discuss dialectically about god and people, world and souls, about the paradox of human existence and whatever else is of value. And when you recount all your ordeals, I will tell you: ‘you must show courage, because tomorrow is another day’ and the Titanomachy, the clash of the titans, will begin from anew”.     

          Prometheus, Hyperion and Oceanus walked in the dusk slackening and loosening their muscles on comfortable athletic shoes on an idyllic river bridge of the planet Centaurus (temporal, causal, modal and local term in the sentence, as it is the proper order). They went in a slow tempo, so that Prometheus would be able to follow, since he had suffered all kinds of torment for the sake of the people except crucifixion- to be fair! In the sky, at a distance of 200.000.000 kilometers -take it or leave it- the complex of the three suns set. The shiny yellow star Alpha Centauri sorted out, not so blinding like the sun of the Earth, which scintillated from the constellation of Cassiopeia, envisaged from the view-angle of our heroes. Around Alpha the underestimated Betas Centauri rotated with the shape and color of an orange and only a quarter of Alpha’s splendor, while on the contrary the multiply praised and overestimated (due to its proximity to Earth) red dwarf Proxima Centauri was dimly distinguished possessing only thirteen-thousandth of the Apha’s brightness. Now, if it is possible for a sunset of three suns to exist on said planet, let it be clarified by the mathematicians od by Isaac Asimov in his famous “Nightfall”.

          The arch-titans saw waterfalls a thousand meters high gushing, pouring and descending from mountains of fivefold altitude. They envisioned extended acres of wavering green pastures, interrupted by the royal blue and the endless azure of the lakes and rivers, as well as the slight grey of the rocks, an indication of their old age, being spat, gushed up or cast up on shore by the liquid core of the planet many years ago.

          Under the bridge, which had a small wooden lattice from both sides, low enough for someone to lean on it with the elbows and rave, there was a river flowing from north to south (so a heart’s road “cardo” vertical and contrarian to the “decumani”, headed for east to west and vice versa). The hills reveled along with their forest and bush varieties. Straps of yellow and golden hue, but also of unnatural red, as the one we see in a subsequently colorized movie, reminded that autumn is the same both on Earth and on Centaurus. The leaves rustled and animals circulated between them, who seemed very busy, reminding the rabbit who looked at a big comic watch and was afraid of being late in “Alice in Wonderland”. The mountains all over lowered until they became hills and the hills in their turn ended up being prairies, valleys and clearings. 

          ‘Do you recall that song recited by some barbarians in the sense of not Greek on a planet, whose name I cannot bring to memory?”, recollected Prometheus.

          “Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream

          Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream”, added Oceanus.  

          “It was in your own solar system, Caucasoid Capitano. It derives from a race, which you extinguished before you become today’s benevolent titans, something we, Atlantes, would never do”, said Hyperion.    

          “Cut the crap”, intervened the doctor. “Before you develop your famous Atlantic logic, you were the most horrible criminals and contestants once could imagine. What are you trying to claim for yourself, considering that in this timeline Atlantis was destroyed and…”

          “Let it be, Sawbones, the nightmare is over, let us not revive it   with negative feelings”, Prometheus interrupted him timely. “I have enough of your endless disagreements, so much so that I am certain of your mutual admiration deep inside. Let us enjoy the sky, heaven I am in heaven / And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak / And I seem to find the happiness I seek / When we’re out together dancing, cheek to cheek/ reaching quickly our homosexual peak. So, altogether now:  

                   Ώσον, ώσον το ακάτιον εις τον ποταμόν,

                   Έστιν όναρ η βιοτή, εν πλήθει ερετμών» (ancient Greek version of the above companionship song).     

          And they sang for a while carefree, and then gathered, camped and feasted outdoors a picknick of red beans and whiskey along with a lot of farts.

          Then Oceanus said:  

          “Prometheus, how do you want this story to end?”

          “I will tell you what is widely said that stories like ours never end. Only that in our case this is particularly valid, because in all narrations of (wo-) mankind nothing compares to the Promethean myth.  We all have inside us a Prometheus who steals the fire from the gods and gives it to people. We all have within us a Prometheus, even I myself, ha, ha. We all immerge into the years of our childhood to find the authentic meanings and that is also a sort of eternity. We all take decisions in life, overthrowing through our will and resolve what seems to be compulsory. In this way, we juxtapose our unforeseen factor with eternal need and we become also eternal. You Hyperion, for your part, have logic as emblem, which means the most proper decision in an adverse situation, that’s why you represent the worth and the significance of the moment. But within a moment a while world is enclosed. And it is death that underlines the value of each moment. You again, doctor naturalist, you are feeling and passion, something exceeding instinct, finding its cause only in the maturity and enhanced perception of old age, destined -alas- to die and through nature to resurrect and pass to eternity. And yes, there will be again a similar feeling, but not precisely the same”.     

          “Prometheus, let us stop this, because you think that you are in a philosophical and poetic mood, but in fact you are possessed by deep melancholy, and that’s why you line up a pile of stereotypes, as I can attest as a doctor having attended various psychology seminars. When something breathtaking like Titanomachy ends, leaves behind an unfulfillable void. “Omne animal triste post coitum” -every creature is sad after coitus”.

          “Then, let us chant the hymn towards Musaeus”, suggested Hyperion, “the son of Orpheus who graced us with his inspiration, so that people may attend this story of knowledge. Doctor, you may often find me distrustful towards humans and their leaders, the titans, but this does not mean that I don’t accept them. I honor your civilization as mediation and dissemination of an ancient language, mythology and philosophy by some unrepentant democrats and humanists, who eventually received it from an extinct ark of meanings, which passes on, extends and reaches our times having the qualifications and the ways even to save us!”

          “But before we recite the final hymn”, said Prometheus laughing and simultaneously grimacing from his wounds, “let us also sing a song in honor of Leto, who was one of us. She survived also the great ordeal, and it is a pity that she isn’t with us right now. She flattered me for years, dear lads, is she not entitled her fifteen minutes of fame?”

                   LETO’s INCENSE, MYRRH

          (Blue- veiled Leto, who gestated renowned twins,  

          Daughter of Koios, most compassionate of all queens,

          For you was reserved painless labor on a canopy couch

          Bearing Phoebus and Artemis who never bend or slouch. 

          The one you bore in Ortygia, the other on Delos’ boulder,   

          Mistress, since we want you to be friend, comrade and soldier,  

          Come to the ceremony of gods, along with your crozier).    

          “Short but meaty, isn’t it, hegemon?”, said Oceanus. “I reckon she would like it!”  

          “Let us head now for the final song, the ode to Musaeus, the disciple of Orpheus, who inspired us and summarizes our full adventure and all the dramatis personae, friends and foes, gods and ourselves too, and no more needs to be said”, Prometheus formulated this time his final aphorism, for once without dialectic elaboration. 

                   PRAYER TO MUSEAUS

          (Musaeus, be aware, we send following prayer

          Through poetry and literature’s inmost layer:

          Zeus, may you send us sweet and lenient pyres,  

          The splendor of sun, the moon and their spitfires,

          And you, Poseidon who lead your blue-colored mane,

          Pure Persephone, Demeter carrying fruits down the lane,

          Artemis, archer, and Phoebus who a clamor utter,  

          You dwell on a sacred field and the mind scatter,  

          Dancer Dionysus, who enjoy honors and powers

          Ares, lover of Venus who the virgins deflowers, 

          And you froth-born, for whom they line up gifts,  

          Hades, for whom hymns sound from the rifts –

          Hebe, Eileithyia, Heracles, give us your special strength,

          To broadcast message of justice from antenna’s length,

          I call the famous nymphs, god Pan with skins and leather,

          Hera of shield- carrying Zeus, companion in every weather,

          Mnemosyne the beloved, but also the nine Muses, 

          Graces and Hours, all available to uses and abuses, 

          Leto with nice hair and the shy, venerable Dione,

          Curetes, Cabeiri, Corybants, to whatever you are prone

          And great saviors coming from Zeus immortal gene,

          Gods of Ida, angel of love, elegant and lean, 

          Herald Hermes, Themis who examines the sacrifices,

          Day, who brings light and Night with cold and ices,  

          Faith and Dike who is impeccable with statutes hale, 

          Rhea, Cronus, Tethys with an iridescent fluorescent veil,  

          Now, come you Oceanus with daughters countless,  

          And Atlan, who balances within tempests boundless–

          Eternal time, water of Styx, heavenly and interior

          The mild and bland gods, and Providence superior-  

          The demon who is also saint knows to destroy,

          To the goblins of sea and earth kindness to deploy,  

          To the underground dwellers his hospitality to extend –

          To Semele, to Bacchus and others who shout and fend,

          Leukothea, Ino, Palaimon who happiness send and lend

          I call victory, love and fate which never betrays,  

          Asclepius, bringing therapies and healthy food trays,

          Pallas warmonger, who applies the wind’s caress

          The thunders which the four world’s pillars press

          Attis and Men, who are as mighty pylons to assess,

          Adonis pure and immortal, even the God’s vicinity,

          Beginning and End, man, woman, birth, death and infinity

          Let them approach and touch the heart with affinity

          To honor, to revere, to serve, to love with sensitivity).  

          CONTENTS

Chapter Α΄: CO.M.MΥ.S.S. (Commission) Venthylos- Ventistos

Chapter Β΄: Start and Departure despite the Sabotage

Chapter Γ΄: Myia (Southern Cross or Crux)  

Chapter Δ΄: Alpha Centauri

Chapter Ε΄: Bomus (Shrine- Ara), Tripatriarchon (Three Patriarchs – Triangulum of the South), Indochen (Bar- Headed, Tucana), Indus

Chapter Στ΄: Geranus (Grus), Phoenix, Eldor (Dorado), Canopus, Gnomon (Norma- Regula) 

Chapter Z΄: Antlia, Canis Major, Hydra, Crater

Chapter Η΄: Corax (Corvus), Libra (Zygos), Antares

Chapter Θ΄: Scorpion, Sagittarius, Aspis (Scutum), Capricorn

Chapter Ι΄: Ichthyosaur (Fomalhaut), Ichthys, Aquarius, Cetus (gen. Ceti)

Chapter ΙΑ΄: Eridani, Aristeropous (Left-Foot, Rigel), Lepus (Hare), Peristera (Columba), Sirius

Chapter ΙΒ΄: Canis Minor, Cancer, Leo, Ouralcaia (Denebola)

Chapter ΙΓ΄: Parthenon (Virgo), Arcturus, Booetes, Corona Borealis  

Chapter ΙΔ΄: Serpens, Heracles (Hercules), Ophiuchus

Chapter ΙΕ΄: Lyra, Aquila Griffin (Altair)

Chapter ΙΣτ΄: Cygnus, Delphinus, Pegasus, Triangulum of the North

Chapter ΙΖ΄: Aries, Pleiades, Taurus, Taurus’ Countenance (Aldebaran)

Chapter ΙΗ΄: Orion, Under the Arm (Betelgeuse), Gemini., Castor, Polydeuces (Pollux)

Chapter ΙΘ΄: Canes Venatici, Eosphorus, (Vega), Cercus (Deneb)

Chapter Κ΄: Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Daemon (Algol), Perseus

Chapter ΚΑ΄: Eniochus (Charioteer, Auriga), Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco

Chapter ΚΒ΄: Phoenicia (North Star), End of Rotation

Chapter ΚΓ΄: Prometheus’ Estate, Αlpha Centauri, Many Years Later

Chapter ΚΔ΄: Heavenly Space, t = 0

Chapter ΚΕ΄: Children of Olympus

Chapter ΚΣτ΄: Where the Nightmare is Over and a Garrulous, But Appeasing Message Echoes  

B I B L I O G R A P H Y

Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound

Stephen Commetas, Greek Mythology

D. Kouretas, Implosive Flooding and Exposure Therapy of the Proitides by Melampus

Brad Ferguson, Star Trek: Crisis on Centaurus

P. David- M. J. Friedman- R. Greenberger, Star Trek: The Disinherited

David Feintuch: Captain Nicholas Seafort, Challenger’s Hope

Diane Duane, Star Trek: The Wounded Sky

Lost in Space Original, The Scene of Jupiter Two Destruction by the Robot 

Peter Hamilton, A Second Chance at Eden

Philip Dick, I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon, Ubik

Sergei Lukyanenko, The Night Watch

William Shatner, Star Trek V, The Final Frontier

Ursula Le Guin, Earthsea