Gary Corby: Death Ex Machina

I pushed back the circlet of blossoms upon my own head, sat up straighter and looked about the audience to see what had become of Diotima. I found her in the stalls reserved for women, where she sat toward the front. She caught my eye-she’d been searching for me as I had her. We waved nervously at each other. We had a lot to be nervous about, but didn’t dare show it.

An elbow jabbed me so hard that I almost fell into the stranger to my left. Pythax wanted my attention.

“Here, lad,” he whispered. He reached under the material of his chiton and pulled out a bag. This he offered to me. The bag dripped red.

So that was the reason for his sudden paunch. Pythax had smuggled a wineskin into the theater.

I whispered back, “I knew I’d married into a good family.” I took the wineskin from him and squeezed the contents for a good mouthful. I handed it back to Pythax so he could do the same.

The play began. The chorus walked on, singing the opening song. They stopped before the city’s statue of the god Dionysos, to whom they bowed in homage.

The play went as planned, with fewer stumbles than might have been feared. Sisyphus the crafty king of Corinth managed to offend everyone. When Zeus had had enough, he sent Thanatos to collect the miscreant king.

The audience was hushed. The god of death was about to descend from Mount Olympus.

In the background, the long arm of the crane rose. It was painted to match the background. The mechanism by which the God would descend was quite difficult to see, even if you knew it was there.

As the arm rose, the rope that was attached to it also rose. It was like a giant fishing rod. Only at the end wasn’t a lure, but an actor. Any moment now we’d see him appear over the top of the scenery.

The God appeared, suspended from the machine. It was Thanatos, as Sophocles had designed him. His neck was slumped over, his body flaccid.

Everyone gasped at the realism.

Then the head of Petros, who played for his brother-in-law, suddenly perked up. He spoke.

THANATOS

I, Thanatos, god of death,

Bringer of doom to mortal man,

Have been sent by mighty Zeus

to bring to justice King Sisyphus of Corinth,

whose crimes of murder and

worst of all, impiety,

have infuriated vengeful Zeus.

Hades awaits this miscreant king with open arms.

I bear these chains of oh dear Gods what in Hades is that …

Someone behind me said loudly, “That doesn’t rhyme.”

Sophocles almost jumped up, but I pulled him back down. The playwright scowled angrily and said, “Those words aren’t in the play. I hope that fool isn’t about to improvise.”

Petros on the god machine pointed over and above and, rather strangely, behind the audience.

Everyone seated in the audience looked behind them.

Every man, woman, and child in the theater gasped at the same moment.

Descending from atop the Acropolis, two hundred paces behind the audience, and a hundred above their heads, was a figure swathed in bright light.

The figure was walking through the air.

As she approached-for it was definitely a she-the reason for the aura became apparent. The lady was dressed in gold: gold helmet, gold shield, and in her right hand she held a spear tipped in gold.

It could be none other than Athena the goddess of War. Athena, the patroness of our city, for her home was atop the Acropolis, and it was from the Acropolis that she descended through the air.

The name Athena was whispered here and there amongst the audience, until it became louder and everyone was speaking it. Such a thing had not happened since the days of King Theseus. The more fearful stood and ran away in the opposite direction. Most stayed to see what was about to happen.

The Goddess stopped in mid-air before the people of Athens. She spoke these words:

ATHENA

Do not seek to flee, mortals,

For you are fleeing one who is not an enemy,

But gracious to all who inhabit Athens.

I, Athena Pallas, have come to you,

Entreated in this course by my father’s son, Dionysos,

God of the harvest and of the theater,

For he does not think it fit to come into your sight,

When impiety has been committed against him.

The god of the theater sends me to tell you this:

That there is one among you who has murdered

Within his sacred precinct.

The audience looked at one another. They all knew of the impiety that the Goddess meant. The murder of Romanos had been sacrilege because of where it took place. But the people had been told the impiety had been cleansed. Here was a goddess who begged to differ.

Athena raised her bright spear high. Its golden tip flashed in the sunlight.

ATHENA

Raises her spear.

See this spear? It is my spear of war,

Destroyer of men,

But today I carry not a weapon of war, but the spear of vengeance.

Every man and woman knew what that meant. If Athena declared her spear to be one of vengeance, it meant someone was about to suffer for the crime.

The chattering became loud.

ATHENA

Points spear at a member of the audience.

You it was, who murdered Romanos,

You desecrated this holy place.

You of all mortals should have known better,

You, Theokritos,

High Priest of my brother Dionysos.

Gasps from across the theater. Every eye turned to Theokritos, who as High Priest sat in a position of honor in the front row. It made him visible to everyone. Theokritos was already standing, like everyone else in the theater. Now he jumped up upon his seat.

THEOKRITOS

Shakes his fist.

That’s not true!

I deny your charge.

You can’t prove a thing.

ATHENA

Ignoring his interruption.

Let all Athens hear this.

You it was, Theokritos, who lured the actor to his death.

You ordered your men to wait

Outside the secret room he rented.

They met him with false cheer.

A LANDLORD

Jumps up from among the audience.

Hey, that’s true!

I was the landlord of Romanos.

A group of men did meet Romanos outside my house.

I saw it with my own eyes.

The people of Athens looked to the man who had suddenly spoken. They saw that he was a man just like them. More than that, he was known as the most honest landlord in Athens.

This ordinary, honest man had confirmed the words of the lady who floated in the air above them. They were all thinking the same thing: how could she have known about a secret room?

ATHENA

These men fed Romanos a drugged drink.

They led him to the theater and there,

While the actor was comatose,

They hanged him upon the god machine.

A double impiety.

Gasps from many across the theater. Someone in the audience called out, “The Goddess will make it right!”

ATHENA

I have had a chat with Sabazios,

The Phrygian god has agreed

That the making of beer will cease

And in return

The children of Sabazios will go unmolested

In my city of Athens.

There were groans from the crowd at this news. Many in Athens had acquired a taste for beer.

At that moment Maia leapt to the stage, from where she spoke with perfect projection, so that all of Athens heard her.

MAIA, A PRIESTESS OF SABAZIOS

I am Maia, a priestess of Sabazios,

I have heard the Goddess.

The Phrygians shall no longer make beer.

The point had been made. There was imbalance in the world. The Gods were putting it right. There had been impiety, committed by mortal men, led by Theokritos. Now it was only a question of who were these other men. Was the Goddess about to reveal them? Of course she was. She was a goddess. She knew everything.