Quoted By:
“Here is the situation – we need information about the disposition of the Trojans. I had first considered meeting with King Macar – he is accounted a just man, and perhaps he would see reason. But King Perileos, the old coward, specifically warned us against stopping at Mytilene, and so I reconsidered. The ponce believes that King Philomeides of Mytilene is a brute, and in poor relations with King Macar, although he also said that he hasn’t seen the man in fifteen summers or more. Anyways, all the better - if Philomeides is in poor repute, then he is not likely speaking with his peers on Lesbos, and we’re likely to beat the news of our arrival to Ilion. Better that we arrive at Priam’s gates with no forewarning or fanfare.”
Ajax is next to speak, blunt as is typical:
“All you have said is fair and orderly, King Menelaus. I move that we sail to Mytilene.”
Odysseus chimes in, saying only:
“Brutes are not always easy to speak with, but we are in desperate need of information, I agree. And there is risk in meeting with King Macar – he has wealth, power, and more germane to our concern, he has fidelity to Priam. Detention or delay on Lesbos would be an unacceptable outcome. And we must endeavor to learn of Paris’ voyage home, and of Helen’s condition; all is lost if she has been treated poorly.” Menelaus’ façade cracks at this – his face collapses into despair momentarily, before he reassembles a neutral expression.
Pollux, interestingly, is quick to offer a calming word to his brother-in-law, patting him on the back of the neck:
“Fear not, Atreides. Helen is not defenseless, as you well know. She has her ways.”
---
The council is quickly disassembled - you were not expected to comment on the discussion, your presence more a marker of the rising star of your reputation. The course being set, your galleys quickly find an approachable beach on Lesbos' southern coast, only a short hike from Mytilene, and are properly stowed before mid-morning. The island itself is a veritable garden - it's perhaps the greenest place that you've ever been, densely packed with trees of all types, fields, meadows and all manner of pleasant landscapes.
A local Lesbian a citizen of Lesbos, you ingrates - Sappho will not be born for about 600 years is accosted by Teukros and Odysseus, and made into a runner to the palace of Philomeides. The man, taking a look at the group of you camped on the beaches, turns and flees at high speed up into the hills. Within the hour, the man returns with a bilingual representative of King Philomeides, a wheedling, balding man of common blood, who says in accented Hellenika:
"The mighty King Philomeides will entertain the nobility of this expedition at dinner tonight, as guest-friends."
The man is shooed away from your camp by Menelaus, and you once again have a day to spare before tonight's business will begin. But what to do?
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