Quoted By:
“Lord, Lord – forgive my trespass on your camp! But you have been sent by Zeus, surely – who else may have? All things in the sky and earth are within his remit; thank you, Zeus, thank you! Lord, Lord – you must follow me! My father – he has been in pursuit of my brother and I for three days; he seeks to kill us both!” The man immediately irritates you – his presumption offensive. He bursts into your campsite and then begs you to leave it? You speak your doubts aloud:
“And what business of this is mine, vagrant?” Your voice is cutting - you intend to cast aside -
“It is the business of all Hellenes – this war between Argos and Thebes! Please, Lord, you must come – my brother is at the top of a great oak, not far from here, my father prowls below – I only just escaped myself…”
The man’s words stun you – you clarify:
“What could you possibly mean, boy?”
“I cannot explain it all here – we don’t have the time, Lord! – we are masons, gatecrafters! My father, Koximos, was Royal Mason for King Oedipus; he is the bastard son of Itylus! Our family was ejected by Polynices, we wandered south from Boeotia in poverty. My brother and I – we seek revenge on the Thebans; you must come with me – you must stop my father!”
Your irritation vanishes; the boy’s pleading taking on an entirely different context. The name Itylus is vaguely familiar to you as a Theban one, but you cannot remember more … You put the thought aside as excitement grows – what have you stumbled across here? By chance, the former Royal Mason of Thebes and his warring sons fall into the lap of Hippomedon, prince of Argos? You wonder at the odds, but before you can ponder further, the boy has darted back through the bushes. Without a second thought, you are charging through the underbrush yourself, easily keeping pace with the boy; he introduces himself breathlessly as Charrados; his brother as Ilodros. Within a minute, the pair of you leap into a clearing, and you find that Charrados has been truthful:
An armed figure, spear at his side, is stacking sticks against the mighty hide of an oak tree, stuffing the gaps with underbrush and leaves. He is raging as he works:
“You will <span class="mu-i">BURN</span>, kinslayer! The Furies will pull you to pieces in Tartarus! What madness has taken you and your brother? <span class="mu-i"><span class="mu-r">HAVE I TAUGHT YOU NOTHING?!</span></span>”
And from above him, you hear the plaintive voice of a young man, presumably Ilodros, shouting back:
<span class="mu-i">“FATHER, NO! DO NOT SET ME ABLAZE! WE DID IT FOR YOU – FOR YOU!”
The men are slow to notice you – Charrados hiding partly behind you as you stride forwards into the clearing, spear in hand. Koximos whirls to face you, when he hears your heavy step, and seems to temporarily lose his composure at the sight of you, dropping to his knees, before he stands once more:
“Who are you? Is that my kinslaying son lapping at your heels? Thrust him into the bonfire as he deserves!”
>cont</span>