Peter Fiennes - A Thing of Beauty: Travels in Mythical and Modern Greece

Acknowledgements

In grateful memory of Tony Elliott (19472020), who fuelled my love of guidebooks.

And a heartfelt thank you to all of the following: Lila and Pavlos at the enchanted Anemi Guest House; Nadja Argyropoulou; Fiona Benson of the RHS; Richard Buxton; Natasha Carlish, Jay Griffiths and the 12 attendees of the Arvon Nature Writing course, who sat through the first readings of this book; Yiannis Chalkias; Lloyd Cole; Christy Constantakopoulou; Simon Critchley; Angeliki Kanelli, Eleni Tzachrista, Eleftheria Tsoyknaki and all the Dancing Women of Vrisoules; John Dimotsis; James Head; Julian Hoffman (travelling companion and sage of the wetlands); Kevin Ebbutt; Catharine Edwards; Sicily Fiennes; Dimitris Ibrahim; the eagle-eyed Kathleen McCully; Conor McCutcheon; Andrew McMillan; Gill Morgan; Kenny-the-mushroom-man; Malvina Panagiotidi; Dave Rimmer; Kalliopi Stara; Mark Saban; Penny Saban; Oliver Taplin; Elias Tziritis; Chris Vrettos; the very erudite Jonathan Williams; Sue Willetts at the Hellenic and Roman Library in London.

Thank you to Sam Carter, thoughtful and incisive editor and cricketer, and to all the hard-working staff at Oneworld Publications.

Thank you to my agent Rebecca Winfield of David Luxton Associates, for her enthusiasm and support (www.davidluxtonassociates.co.uk).

And thank you, and with love to, Anna and Alex, who set me on my way, and lovely Natalie and Esme for all their encouragement.

I made a donation to WWF Greece (www.wwf.gr/en) in an attempt to offset the impact (and guilt) of having flown from London to Athens and back again. But...

Also by Peter Fiennes

Footnotes: A Journey Round Britain in the Company of Great Writers

Oak and Ash and Thorn: The Ancient Woods and New Forests of Britain

To War with God: The Army Chaplain Who Lost His Faith

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.

JOHN KEATS , ENDYMION

Contents

For Anna, of course

Glossary

An AZ of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, Heroines, Mythical Beings and Some of the Mortals Mentioned in this Book

All of the following appear at least once in A Thing of Beauty . I am very aware how hard it is to keep track of these names (even if youve spent the last couple of years immersed in the myths), but this glossary is here to help. The names represent a fraction of the totality: if theyre not in the book, theyre not in this list.

A word on spelling: I have gritted my teeth and followed Cassells Dictionary of Classical Mythology . So Dionysos is Dionysus and the river god Alpheius is Alpheius (and not Alfeios or Alpheios). Kallimachos is Callimachus. And so on. In the end, I chose consistency over my own random preferences.

Acheron One of the rivers of the underworld, over which Charon rowed his boat.

Achilles The greatest fighter in the Greek armies. Died in the war with Troy.

Actaeon Obsessive huntsman who saw the goddess Artemis bathing and was turned into a stag.

Aegeus King of Athens, father of Theseus .

Aegisthus Lover of Clytemnestra and co-murderer with her of Agamemnon .

Aeschylus Playwright. Author of the Oresteia . Fought at the Battle of Marathon.

Agamemnon The high king of Mycenae. Led the Greek armies to war against Troy.

Alcyone A beautiful princess who loved a man called Ceyx and was turned into a kingfisher.

Alpheius A river god who fell in love with the nymph Arethusa and pursued her to Syracuse.

Antiope Amazon queen, perhaps wife of Theseus and mother of Hippolytus .

Aphrodite The laughter-loving goddess of love and lust. Born out of the foam created by the severed genitals of Uranus . Married to Hephaestus ; lover of Ares . Adored by nymphs.

Apollo The far-shooting and famously distant god of prophecy, harmony, music, healing, plagues and fresh starts. Lived at Delphi for most of the year. Twin brother of Artemis .

Archedemos The ancient worlds most famous nympholept.

Ares The god of war.

Arethusa A nymph who was pursued to Syracuse by the river god Alpheius .

Ariadne Cretan princess, daughter of Minos , sister of Phaedra , lover of Theseus .

Aristotle Philosopher of the natural world, logic, politics, etc.

Artemis The goddess of wild places and animals, the moon and mountaintops, swamps, edgelands and the seashore. The virgin huntress. Oversaw moments of transition, adolescent girls and childbirth. Followed by nymphs. Murderous when angered. Twin sister of Apollo .

Asclepius The son of the mortal Coronis and probably Apollo . The greatest doctor who ever lived. Became a god.

Asopus River god who was told by Sisyphus that Zeus had abducted his daughter.

Athena The patron goddess of Athens, dedicated to war and crafts. Wise, like her symbol, the owl. Wore the severed Gorgons head.

Bellerophon Hero who rode Pegasus and slew the dreadful Chimaera .

Biton Brother of Cleobis , very nearly the happiest people who ever lived.

Briareos A fifty-headed, hundred-handed monster who decided that Helios should be the patron god of Corinth.

Byron, Lord George Gordon Poet (17881824).

Cadmus Founded the city of Thebes. Married to Harmonia .

Callimachus Third-century bce Greek poet. Gave us a version of the story of Erysichthon .

Calypso Beautiful island goddess and lover of Odysseus .

Cassandra Trojan princess, slave of Agamemnon . A prophetess who was cursed by Apollo to always tell the truth but never be believed.

Cecrops Early king of Athens, a man with the tail of a snake.

Celeus King of Eleusis, in the days when Demeter first came to visit.

centaurs Wild and untrustworthy creatures: half-man, half-horse.

Cercyon King of Eleusis, killed by Theseus .

Ceyx He loved Alcyone and died and was turned into a kingfisher.

Charon The ferryman who rowed the dead over the river Acheron to Hades .

Cheiron The wise centaur , teacher of heroes.

Chimaera A dreadful monster with three heads: a lion (front), goat (middle) and serpent (back). Killed by Bellerophon .

Circe A goddess and an enchantress. Sister of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos . Lover of Odysseus .

Cleobis Brother of Biton , very nearly the happiest people who ever lived.

Clytemnestra Wife and probable murderer of Agamemnon .

Croesus Legendarily wealthy king of Lydia.

Cronus Father of Zeus and other Olympians, son of Uranus (Heaven), whose genitals he sliced off with a sickle.

cyclopes One-eyed giants, sons of Uranus and Gaia , and/or maybe Poseidon , who forged Zeus thunderbolts. They built the vast walls of Mycenae and Tiryns.

Daphne Nymph who fled from Apollo and was turned into a laurel tree.

Demeter The golden goddess of corn and the harvest. Mother of Persephone . Her secret Mysteries were celebrated at the sacred city of Eleusis.

Dionysus God of wine, danger and delight. Madness, metamorphosis and ecstasy. Wild animals and rebirth. Followed by maenads and satyrs .

dryads Long-lived and lovely nymphs, some say born and dying with their tree.

Dryope Woman who had a son with Apollo , and became a nymph.

Elpenor Odysseus youngest crew member, who got drunk and died hungover, falling off the roof in Circe s palace.