Diomedes in Kyprios
By Gregory Michael Nixon
Audiobook Narrator: Simon de Denet
Publication Date: November 19th, 2024
Publisher: Historium Press
Pages: 243
Genre: Mythico-Historical Fiction
But Diomedes unexpectedly meets the avatar of the Goddess Aphrodite at her Temple in Paphos, the city of her birth. Will she take him from Lieia? Will his wanderings end, or will he head back to sea to seek redemption from the past in the further unknown? Aphrodite must also deal with the beautiful, impetuous youth, Adonis, who swears he would die for her.
The Bronze Age Collapse was a time of such chaos that empires fell, royalty was overthrown, palaces and temples were destroyed, and the hierarchy of the gods was doubted, yet people's self-reliance emerged like never before, and the ancient Great Goddess of the Cycles of Time, who had been suppressed, began to regain her former dominance.
Excerpt
“I know wolves,” Saba said. “I was but a lad tending a small flock of sheep when the wolves arrived. My brave shepherd dog put up a brief, noisy resistance but the wolves tore her asunder quickly. I ran into the forest until I found a tree to climb, but I do not think I was pursued. I was close enough to hear the slaughter, terrible sounds of bleating overcome by ferocious growling and tearing. The growling continued after enough sheep were killed as the wild beasts fought amongst themselves for top spot in the hierarchy.”
“Yes, they are vicious creatures as a hunting pack, but it may be that it was the wolf who first taught us to be human,” Diomede intoned thoughtfully.
“How is that possible?” Saba asked.
“Perhaps there was a time before sea travel, before horses, and before villages when we naked humans were weak and defenceless animals. Look at us next to a wolf, a bear, or a lion. What would an elephant have to fear from such a small creature alone?”
“Why, nothing of course.” Saba stared at the man without comprehension.
“Which one would you choose to face with your short spear alone?”
“These are all frightening beasts, but I’d rather fight a single wolf.”
“Of course, and that’s what the wolves taught us, to learn to hunt as a pack. As a cooperating pack, men have learned to unleash their savagery, and now any of the beasts just listed can be brought down. That is how the wolf taught us to be human. After that we went beyond the wolves, for such cooperation led us to village life and our hands allowed us to make always better weapons and farming tools.”
“I have never thought this way,” Saba peered upward at the stars coming out, as though any kind of thought were new to him. “But you said you became a wolf?”
“I was 15 suns, perhaps your age, when my father sent me along with other sons of the nobility into the mountain heights of the wild land we call Arkadia to take part in the kóryos, the ritual of becoming wolves. Most others were 16.”
“What are these names, My Lord?”
“The meaning of kóryos is too ancient to be known. Arkadia is the land of Arkos, the bear, though bears were no longer common when I dwelt there. One more name is all you need. We noble youths from the palaces of several cities were led to Mount Lykaion atop which was the sacred altar to Zeus Lykaios. Zeus is the thunderer, like your Tarhunta, a powerful god. Lykaios is the wolf. Mount Lykaion is also home to our wild goat god, Pan. Neither wolves nor Pan comes near to civilization; they dwell in the wild and avoid all villages or towns.”
“I would not want to be a wolf…” Saba thought aloud and shuddered.
“We did. Everyone of us wanted to prove our mettle by transforming into wolves for a full sun-cycle or two. One was all that was required, but many who had been wolves wished to stay a second year as bears, who directed the new wolves. Those who succeeded in surviving could then return to their city kingdoms as beginning warriors. They had learned to be savages and kill, but when it was over, they had to learn to be civilized warriors, take orders, and follow the social order laid down by the gods. Eventually, they could marry.”
“You killed?”
Gregory Michael Nixon
Gregory M. Nixon is a retired university professor who, after spending his professional years publishing academic papers, was pleased to discover he still had an active imagination. He moved alone to a nice cottage overlooking magnificent Okanagan Lake in western Canada to create his mythico-historical novels set after the Trojan War and the fall of the Hittite Empire during the Bronze Age Collapse. Nigel, an outdoor cat, also sometimes lives with him.
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This book sounds right up my street. I have added it to my to-read list.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for hosting Gregory Michael Nixon today, with an enticing excerpt from Diomedes in Kyprios.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Cathie xx
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