Glyn Iliffe - King of Ithaca (Adventures of Odysseus)

‘This may not be the ideal time, Odysseus,’ he said, placing a broad arm about his shoulder and leading him to the very bench the prince had shared with Penelope weeks before, ‘but I need to know your answer to the little matter that remains unresolved between us. My daughter awaits your reply.’

‘Tyndareus, for these past months you’ve been like a father to me,’ Odysseus responded. ‘Indeed, to all of us suitors. You’ve given us the best of your food and drink, provided us with beds and kept us safe under your roof. No host could be kinder, and nothing would please me more than to become your son-in-law.’

His words pleased the king, who had been rather bemused by his daughter’s interest in the Ithacan. He wanted to make her happy, though, and was prepared to break his agreement with Agamemnon for her sake. The king of Mycenae would be disappointed and perhaps angry that Menelaus would no longer be chosen for Helen, especially as the council of war had been such a disaster; but Tyndareus was tired of his power stratagems and wanted an end to the constant – and expensive – feasting.

‘However,’ Odysseus added, ‘the events of last night and today have changed matters. I can no longer marry Helen.’

‘But why?’ Tyndareus said, clearly shocked and offended.

‘It’s my duty to marry Penelope.’

‘You’d turn down the greatest prize in all Greece for . . . for my niece?’

Odysseus shrugged, as if the comparison between the women was of no consequence. ‘She was dishonoured by an Ithacan and I feel responsible for that. That’s why, in fulfilment of your debt to me, I want you to persuade Icarius to let me marry Penelope.’

Tyndareus sighed, resigned to Odysseus’s inexplicable sense of honour. ‘I may hold sway over my brother in many things, Odysseus, but he’s very sensitive about his daughter.’

‘I’ve seen that already, though I’m also told he has little love for her. Perhaps he’ll be glad of a chance to see her married off.’

‘No king has much use for female offspring; they’re more trouble than they’re worth, as I will gladly swear by any god you care to name. But he relies on Penelope far more than he knows, and might think twice when someone asks to marry her. Especially if that person is you , Odysseus. He never liked you.’

‘And today hasn’t improved his opinion,’ Odysseus said, thinking aloud. ‘But nevertheless, you’ll persuade him for me?’

‘I honour my debts,’ the king reassured him. ‘I’ll do what I can.’

Chapter Twenty-three

THE FOOT RACE

The palace gates yawned wide to allow Icarius’s speeding chariot into the courtyard. Its wheels spewed up plumes of dust as they traced great arcs across the enclosure, following the circuit of the walls twice round before the king leaned back on the leather reins and brought the vehicle to a sliding halt. The four horses stood hock-high in a brown mist from the dirt they had ploughed up, stamping and snorting impatiently as their master spoke calming words from the chariot behind them.

Half a dozen attendants rushed out of the stables as Icarius stepped down. Beating the dust from his cloak, he watched three of the men unharness the team of horses and take them away to be fed on corn and white barley. The others dragged the chariot over to the stable and tilted it against the wall with its pole pointing up at the sky, before covering the body of the vehicle with a large tarpaulin.

Grudgingly satisfied with their efforts, Icarius turned on his heel and crossed the courtyard towards the main entrance of the palace. His work had given him an appetite and he was just beginning to look forward to a good meal when Tyndareus appeared, blocking the doorway with his well-fed bulk.

‘Welcome back, brother. Did you find anything?’

‘No. The overnight rain has washed away all hoof-prints, so I assume he has escaped through the mountain passes by now. Though I get a feeling that’s not the last I’ll see of him. But right now I have a voracious appetite to satisfy. Do you want to join me?’

Tyndareus stepped aside to let his brother pass. ‘I’m ahead of you,’ he said. ‘There’s food waiting for us in the hall. You see, I’ve a little request to make of you.’

Icarius did not wait to ask, but made his way at once to the great hall where two slaves were waiting to serve him. Tyndareus sat and watched him satisfy his hunger, wondering how his brother would react to the notion of Odysseus as a son-in-law, or how best to cajole him into accepting.

‘I’ve some news for you. Good news, I think you’ll agree.’

‘Oh yes?’ Icarius mumbled through a mouthful of pork. ‘The best news would be that you’ve finally chosen a husband for Helen and the palace will soon be free of suitors. They’re starting to show signs of restlessness, you know.’

‘Not yet. But it’s good news, nonetheless, and involves your daughter.’

Icarius carried on eating as if nothing had been said, but Tyndareus refused to play his brother’s games. He knew he had caught his interest, whether Icarius acknowledged it or not, so he determined to keep his silence until he received a reply. Eventually, after another mouthful of food, Icarius spoke.

‘Which one?’

‘Penelope, of course. Odysseus feels ashamed that one of his men was responsible for the offence against her. He wants to restore her honour by marrying her.’

Suddenly whatever Icarius was swallowing lodged in his throat and brought on a fit of choking. One of the attendant slaves stepped up and irreverently thumped him between the shoulder blades, sending a half-chewed blob of meat flying from the king’s mouth into the fire, where it fizzed into destruction. ‘ That pauper,’ he rasped, still struggling for breath. ‘I’d rather see Penelope die than marry a trumped-up commoner.’

Concealing the pleasure he took from his brother’s discomfort, Tyndareus offered him a cup of wine. ‘You should be more generous in your opinions. Odysseus may not be a powerful man, but he has a fine mind and a strong character. He’d make a good son and, besides, I have an inkling Penelope likes him.’

‘Do you indeed? And where does her opinion come into this matter? She’ll marry who I tell her to, and I have no intention of giving any daughter of mine to an upstart prince without a kingdom to his name. Why should Helen have the greatest suitors in Greece flocking to her, when Penelope has to make do with beggars and peasants?’

‘Because she’s my daughter, of course!’ Tyndareus snapped. ‘I’m the eldest of us, Icarius, and whoever marries Helen will inherit the throne of Sparta. They won’t get that from taking Penelope to wife, will they? That and the fact that Helen is the most beautiful woman in Greece, if not the world.’

Icarius shrank into his chair, withdrawing under Tyndareus’s vocalization of his own superiority. But his proud spitefulness forced him to bite back.

‘She certainly has the looks of a god,’ he retorted.

Tyndareus stood, his eyes blazing at the accusation. ‘Watch your wayward tongue, brother,’ he warned. ‘Now let’s say I’m telling you Odysseus would be a good choice for Penelope. Don’t you always say the girl gets under your feet? More than once you’ve said how you’d love to be rid of her. Well, now is your opportunity.’

‘Damn you, Tyndareus,’ Icarius squirmed. ‘Maybe I would allow it, if you insisted, but the truth is I can’t.’

‘Can’t?’

‘No. Someone has already asked to marry her. One of your guests.’

‘That’s ridiculous. They came here for Helen, not Penelope.’

‘Not this one, I think. He came here with Ajax.’

‘Zeus’s beard, Icarius. You don’t mean Little Ajax, do you?’