Ivan Yefremov - Thais of Athens

There was no fresh news from Alexander or his comrades. There were neither caravans with loot nor carts with the sick and wounded. Perhaps the great conqueror had truly managed to realize his dream and go beyond the limits of Ecumene, to the forbidden boundary of the world?

Hesiona was worried. Thais started considering life without Ptolemy, in case he did not wish to return from the Gardens of Wisdom, having tasted the Water of Life. At four years old, Leontiscus already boldly rode a small horse delivered from Iberia, from the Sea of Birds, and competed with his mother at swimming in a lake. Leontiscus, who couldn’t yet read, already spoke three languages: Attic, Macedonian, and Aramaic. Thais did not want to part from her son. But she had to fulfill Ptolemy’s request and leave him behind under the watchful eye of the Macedonian veteran Roykos, his wife, and the Syrian slave girl who was utterly devoted to the boy. In the month of Gamelion, Thais left Ecbatana. Lysippus traveled with her to meet his patron and main client, as did Ehephilos, who allegedly went to see his Acsiopena, as Lysippus had promised them a trip to Eridu. He received quite a few leusa dregma dracontos — dragon glares, as Thais called them, flashed at him by Eris. The sculptor bore them valiantly.

Babylon met them with huge crowds of people, noisy markets, sounds of unimaginable languages and a mix of strange costumes. Ambassadors from various countries were waiting for Alexander, but there was still no news from him. Worse yet, there were rumors of his demise — first in the waters of the Indus, then somewhere in the mountains. Alexander’s envoy in Babylon was ordered to capture anyone who spread these rumors and bring them in for interrogation in order to discover the source of their information, under the threat of flogging or even death. The connections pointed to foreign merchants or politicians who wished to cause panic and somehow use it to their advantage.

Thais realized that the wait could be long and decided to rent the same house in the New City, on the other bank of the Euphrates, near the Lugalgira gates, where she lived before. Much to her astonishment, when she went to look, she did not find her former home there. Only the garden, the old wooden pier and the path remained unchanged. The house had been replaced with a beautiful pavilion tiled in translucent pink marble, with pillars of bright blue stone and gold surrounding the rectangular pool with clear fresh water. All this belonged to Alexander and was guarded by two savage-looking Scythians, who unceremoniously chased Thais away. An enraged Eris offered to kill them right there and then, but the Athenian, touched by this proof of Alexander’s love, ordered Eris in no uncertain terms to do nothing. In the end, all Ecbatana visitors settled at Hesiona’s house, much to Ehephilos’ joy. The city was overfilled.

Thais discovered other news in Babylon. The huge theater of Dionysus, of which she had heard from Hesiona, remained unfinished. Its construction materials, which were the remains of the Etemenanki tower, had been bought by the priests of the Marduk temple. Alexander had allowed its restoration against the advice of his old seer, Aristander. The old man had predicted great personal peril for the king should the sinister temple be revived; however, Alexander wished to increase his influence with the help of priests of various religions, and hadn’t listened.

Warm Babylonian winter came to an end, summer drew near with its threat of heat. As there was still no news from Alexander, Lysippus decided they should all take a trip to Eridu. The sculptor joked that Euryale and Eris were going to Eridu with Ehephilos. The four friends sailed down the Euphrates, but Hesiona stayed home to wait for Nearchus. She swore this was going to be the last time she waited. The next time, she would leave him forever.

In the south the river split into many streams and flows, forming an enormous swamp almost five hundred stadiums long. Only the most experienced navigators could find the main section of the river within that labyrinth of reeds and sea grass, since it deflected to the west where sticky clay and salt flats guarded the eastern edge of the Syrian Desert. They sailed nearly fifty parsangs, or fifteen hundred stadiums, in three days without a single docking. Then the Euphrates flowed in one broad stream, heading east. After another twenty-five parsangs, the river curved around an elevated rocky plain from the north. The plain had been the location of the oldest cities in Mesopotamia. Swamps and salt flats stretched all the way to the left bank, from the east and northeast. The endless spread of quiet water, swamps and reeds, inhabited by wild boars, reached the Tigris and went on for another thousand stadiums.

On the fifth day of their voyage, they docked at an ancient, half-destroyed pier with a staircase of huge stone slabs climbing the right bank. From there, a wide road drowning in hot dust took them to the ruins of an impossibly ancient city, then further southwest to a small town atop a flat hill. Majestic ruins, a few ramshackle newer structures, and a large inn surrounded three splendid temples. Two of them, or rather the one that was damaged the least, reminded Thais of the main building of Kibela’s sanctuary as well as similar structures of both Babylon and Susa. The third temple bore traces of multiple restorative efforts and as a result had peculiar architecture. Its foundation rested upon a platform with rounded corners and brick siding. In its center, a wide staircase led toward a portico with three pillars under a heavy, pyramid-shaped roof. Beyond that rose an incredibly tall round tower with several sloping levels.

Informed about the arrival of the guests, priests and servants met the Ecbatanians at the platform, bowing to them with dignity and humility. Most of them were dark-skinned, much like Thais’ Indian friends who had visited her in Ecbatana.

After the ceremonial greeting, the guests were taken to a side wing which was designated for rest and overnight shelter, and served nuts, dates, honey, rye cakes and milk. The travelers bathed and took time to enjoy their meal.

Eventually, a tall priest entered and sat down on a bench, pointedly avoiding physical contact with the visitors. He was dressed in white and his thick beard covered his face almost to the eyes. From the corner of her eye, Thais saw Lysippus make a sign in the air and point at her with his eyes. The priest rose, clearly moved, and Lysippus drew another oval in the air. The priest, apparently affected by this sign language, made a welcoming gesture and led Thais and Lysippus through a tall, narrow passage, then into an inner room of the tower. Two more priests joined them along the way. One was a dark-skinned man with broad shoulders who appeared to have tremendous strength. The other wore a colorful garment and a blunt, narrow beard beneath a mane of curls. The latter turned out to be an interpreter. After exchanging some information, both priests expressed their desire to offer their knowledge to the Helenians. That was when Thais realized that initiated Orphics had access to the temple’s mysteries.

As if wishing to prove this to be true, Lysippus and Thais were taken down the longest passageway, its wall ornamented by vertical rows of tightly stretched silver strings of various lengths. The tall priest walked, touching various groups of strings as he went, and the strings responded with a lovely, long moaning sound, echoing along the stone passage.

“This sound lives inside every person, connecting generations,” the priest explained. “Through centuries, flying into the unknown future. If you understand this symbol there is no need to explain the other one.” The priest pointed at the deep trenches running across the passage, covered with boards which had been painted with images of animals and mythical monsters. Thais interpreted this as separation between generations, filled with darkness and ignorance, driving human beings to animal state. She wasn’t too shy to ask the Indians. The priest smiled kindly.