Ivan Yefremov: Thais of Athens

To Yefremov’s fan he is known for his thorough scientific analysis, study of art and history, emphasis on physical and intellectual balance and strong female characters.

Maria K. is a pen name of Maria Igorevna Kuroshchepova — a first-generation Russian-Ukrainian immigrant. An engineer by education, an analyst by trade, as well as a writer, photographer, artist and amateur model, Maria brings her talent for weaving an engaging narrative to stories of life, fashion and style advice, book and movie reviews, and common-sense and to-the-point essays on politics and economy.

Huge thanks to my husband Gerry Seymour who had to put up with months of questions like, “Where in the world is Harmonia?!” and “Any idea where I might find a picture of a battle elephant?”

I bow before my incredible editor Genevieve Graham-Sawchyn, who took upon herself to untangle the grammatical mess that is an enormous work of literature written by a Russian and translated by another (albeit bi-lingual) Russian.

I am grateful to my sisters and brothers in writing for providing feedback on the illustrations and unedited snippets from the book I shared with them, and for cheering me on all the way.

A garment worn by men and women consisting of a rectangle of cloth, wrapped around and pinned or sewn at the shoulders. A woman’s chiton was ankle length, whereas a man could wear either a full length or a knee length chiton.

A sea nymph — daughter of Triton.

A heavier piece of cloth worn over a chiton as an overdress or a cloak.

One of the main temples of the ancient Athens is located at the Acropolis to the north of the Parthenon. It had an unusual asymmetrical layout due to the uneven ground on which it was built. The south side of the temple was decorated with a portico, supported by six marble statues of beautiful women.

A term used in the ancient world to describe the known part of the inhabited Earth.

A tubular cloth folded inside out from the top about halfway down, altering what was the top of the tube to the waist and the bottom of the tube to ankle length. The garment is then gathered about the waist and the open top (at the fold) is pinned over the shoulders. The top of the tube (now inside out) drapes over the waist, providing the appearance of a second piece of clothing.

Amber

Pasiphae was one of the daughters of the Sun, given in marriage to King Minos of Crete. Poseidon cursed her with lust for any male, and sent her a white bull. After mating with the bull, Pasiphae gave birth to Minotaur — the terrible half-man, half-bull, who dwelled in the Cretan labyrinth and killed many young men and women, until he himself was slain by Theseus. Pasiphae became a symbol of untamed bestial lust.

Mediterranean

Reference to Isis who was frequently portrayed with a snake and, according to legend, had power over serpents.

Helen of Troy. According to the legend, Helen’s mother Leda was seduced by Zeus who came to her in the shape of a swan. pier. The scuffed logs of its edge hovered just over Thais’ and Egesikhora’s heads as they stood at the stern.

China combined worship of the great goddess Ashtoreth or Ishtar and Jehovah split into two separate faiths. The former borrowed much from Crete, where women were deified, from the Cretan colony of Gaza, and from the ancient city of wisdom Byblos. The famous temple of Solomon was constructed to resemble Cretan palaces with the help of the builders from Gebal-Byblos.

Poisoned clothes of centaur Nesses. Hercules put them on and could not take them off, suffering cruelly as the clothes stuck to his body.

Very strong poison

Luminaries in the shape of goblets or jugs.

A kind of flute

Presently the Turkish coast of the Black Sea in the vicinity of Sinop.

A teenage boy or very young man

Akin do an admiral of the fleet, which was essentially Nearchus’ role in Alexander’s army.

Literally — man-haters. This was an epithet frequently used for the Amazons.

A famous march of Greek mercenaries, described by Xenophontus, when the Greeks were forced to retreat from Persia taking a longer more circuitous route.

Helenian army leader who dreamed of payback to the Persians.

“Arrow-shooting” Artemis.

Tibet

21 centimeters

Conversational Greek used around the entire Mediterranean.

To hell.

Greek god of death is Thanatos.

Ivan Yefremov does not provide an explanation as to the significance of this statement. The number fourteen could be associated with the fourteen gods of Olympus. The letter xi is also associated with bearing fruit — Alexander could be implying that Thais might become pregnant by him.

Friend

Calliroa — she of the beautiful stream is a legendary spring nymph. strong blood of the people of seagoing Crete, the relatives and contemporaries of the forefathers of India.

Goddesses of fate.

Aphrodite of Melos by Agesander is what will later become known around the world as Venus de Milo.

An alloy of poorly purified copper and silver impurities — primarily zinc.

Eriphilos is a seer who traveled to Troy with the Greek army, despite the fact that he knew he would die there.

Modern northwest Pakistan and southeast border of India

Desert regions of Pakistan, south Afghanistan and southeast Iran.

Modern Oman

Ormuz gulf

Somalia peninsula.

A portion of west Taurus and Ichel at the southern coast of Turkey.