A Letter From Sicily.
“... How beautiful,
Sublimely beautiful, thou hoverest
High in the vacant air! Thou seemest uplifted
From all of earth, and like an island floating
Away in heaven. How pure are the eternal snows
That crown thee!”
James Gates Percival.
Ever since Zopyrus had seen again the girl whom he had rescued from the
Persian soldiery, he could think of little else. She filled his
conscious thoughts and at night he dreamed of her, but he had made up
his mind with stern resolution that he would be true to his promise to
Eumetis who seemed to love him devotedly. The wedding had been postponed
from the end of the Mystery celebrations to the third night of the full
moon.
An idea came to Zopyrus while he was in the library copying manuscripts
for Pasicles the afternoon following his eavesdropping near the
Acropolis. If the marriage ceremonies were celebrated one night before,
that is on the second night of the full moon, Corinna could not go to
Naxos with the stranger, for she would be obliged to attend the nuptials
of her sister. The idea had just impressed him as the best way to save
Corinna, when Pasicles entered the library and placed in Zopyrus’ hands
a missive, bearing upon its exterior the stamp of Hiero, tyrant of
Syracuse.
“Do you know,” cried the young man with delight, “this letter is from
Aeschylus! Will you not seat yourself and hear it?”
“Not now,” replied Pasicles, “I came only to deliver the letter into
your hands and to tell you that the writing of an ode for the recent
victor of the Nemean games, takes me immediately to Argolis and I can
not possibly be back until the day of yours and Eumetis’ marriage.”
“Oh,” cried Zopyrus with unconcealed dismay, “can you not come the day
before, as I wish to put the date one day ahead.”
Pasicles attributed Zopyrus’ disappointment to impatience for the
approaching marriage to take place, and laying a fatherly hand on his
shoulder smiled as he said: “One day is short compared to eternity, my
boy, and I shall have to hasten back to get here on the third night of
the full moon. Farewell and give my regards to my brother poet when you
write.”
“One day!” thought Zopyrus, “yes, it is short compared to eternity, but
sometimes one day will determine how we spend eternity!”
He fingered absent-mindedly the parchment which Pasicles had brought
him, then broke the seal and read:
“To Zopyrus at the house of the poet Pasicles in Athens, greetings from
Aeschylus at the court of Hiero at Syracuse:
“You have been in my thoughts much of the time since I left our fair
land. I have wondered how you fared at the Mysteries and if in the joys
and sorrows of Ceres and Persephone, you recognized life’s pleasures and
tragedies. Happy is he who has seen these things and then goes beneath
the earth, for he knows the end of life and its God-given beginning.
Remember, my son, that death is no ill for mortals, but rather a good.
Ceres, Persephone, Ares, Athena, Aphrodite, Hera, Hermes and all the
others are merely personifications of the various aspects of divine
truth and goodness which are in reality embodied in one supreme Being of
whom every star of heaven, every wave of ocean, every leaf of the
forest, every blade in the meadow, every rock on the shore, every grain
of sand in the desert, is a manifestation. But I will not bore you with
a rehearsal of my beliefs, for we shall have glorious opportunities when
I return to Greece to discuss these things at length.
“In company with the most noble Pindar whose lofty and dignified odes
have won him considerable fame, and the venerable poet, Phrynichus and
Simonides, whose poem exalting the battle of Marathon took first place
over mine, and the nephew of Simonides, Bacchylides and others, I
crossed the Isthmus of Corinth where a merchant vessel awaited us in the
gulf. There was little to break the monotony of our trip through the
gulf of Corinth. We skirted the northern coast of Achaia, stopping at
Patræ[6] for more food. At noon of the third day we passed between the
islands of Cephallenia and Zacynthus, and from then on for many days
only the vault of the heavens and the blue expanse of the Ionian Sea met
our gaze. Imagine then with what delight we first beheld the misty
contours of land! It was not Sicily which lay before us, but the
Southern end of the Italian peninsula. We got no nearer than to behold
it as a long line of purple clouds, but bore on to the southward until
in the glow of a magnificent sunset, Mt. Ætna like a giant clad in
crimson and gold seemed to guard the glorious panorama before us. Never,
my friend, have I been so impressed with the grandeur of nature, and so
it was with my friends! We stood in awe together and watched the volcano
grow gradually larger and more distinct till we could discern the little
homes clustered about its sloping base, each with its patchwork of
vegetable gardens about it. Above these, groves of olive trees, their
grotesque trunks entwined with grape-vines, flourished to add their
supply of olives, oil and wine to the rich exports of this island.
Lifting our eyes still higher we beheld another zone of vegetation, as
beautiful in its way as the lower ones. This wooded belt was densely
covered with evergreen pines, birchwoods, oaks, red beeches and
chestnuts, and was a veritable forest primeval. As the forest ascended
the hillside it grew thinner and more stunted in appearance till only
low shrubs marked its upper boundary, beyond which was barren rock, and
then as if Ætna hoped to leave a favorable lasting impression, its
snow-crowned summit stood out in dazzling relief against the roseate sky
which marked a dying day.
“This was truly a wonderful first impression of Sicily, but it was with
no less degree of delight that we passed around the little island of
Ortygia the next day, and saw for the first time the gleaming white
buildings and green parkways of Syracuse. Pindar called it the fairest
of mortal cities.
“We were warmly welcomed by Hiero, whose chief avocation is the
patronizing of the arts of which music, sculpture and painting are as
highly favored as poetry. He spares no effort to make us feel that we
are at liberty to discuss pro and con any subject that may arise. So we
often sit warm evenings in the garden of the palace about the
silvery-sprayed fountain and listen or give voice to various opinions.
“It has been our pleasure to visit the temple of Arethusa on the island
of Ortygia, where it is said the nymph for whose worship the fane was
erected, was changed to a spring to escape the unwelcome attentions of
the river-god Alpheus who had pursued her as she fled underground from
Sicily.
“The city of Himera demanded some of our interest and attention since it
was the recent scene of conflict and bloodshed. Hiero tells me that the
Carthaginians under the leadership of Hamilcar were routed by the
stratagem of Gelon, brother of Hiero and tyrant of Syracuse before him,
on the same day that the battle of Salamis was fought. You were no doubt
so interested in the affairs of Greece that the fate of her colonies was
of minor importance. This was true in my case, but I have since learned
that Terillus, governor of Himera, had been expelled by Theron, despot
of Agrigentum, a flourishing city on the west coast. In a spirit of
revenge, Terillus summoned the Phoenicians to attack Himera, but Gelon,
hearing that the Carthaginians had been assured of aid by a certain
traitorous Greek, sent a body of his own men to the Carthaginians as if
they were the promised help. This band of Greeks turned on the
Phoenicians and held them at bay till others rushed in and the city was
saved. In this conflict Hamilcar was killed.
“To the south lies a city that I love; Gela, named for the brave Gelon.
The fields of grain and the groves by which it is surrounded were
presumably the original haunts of Ceres and Persephone. It is here that
I wish my earthly body to be laid at rest when the spirit has fled.
“What of affairs at Athens? We hear that the shrine of Apollo at Delos
is the center of the new confederacy. I predict that Cimon will come to
be a great representative of Hellenic unity and he will accomplish much
through this Delian League. All this will be in opposition to
Themistocles’ opinions, but Themistocles has had his day and must step
aside for those who are younger in years and newer in ideas. I sincerely
hope there is no truth in the rumor that Themistocles may be ostracized.
Say a good word for him, Zopyrus, even if your views differ from his.
“Of one thing more I wish to speak before I conclude this letter, and
that is of my son, Euphorion, at Eleusis. You remember I told you I lost
a son at Thermopylæ, but I did not tell you of my other son two years
his brother’s junior. It would please me greatly to have you call and
see him. I have told him of you. You will have much in common, for the
lad shows the same love of poetry and philosophy that I do, and has
vowed from babyhood that he will follow his father’s profession. I know
you would enjoy such a visit to Eleusis especially since your initiation
into the Mysteries.
“Remember me to the noble Pasicles and his family. The length of our
sojourn in Sicily has not been decided, and I shall probably write you
again before I leave. If you find time I shall be interested in hearing
from you in regard to yourself and also affairs of state. May the
blessing of the One rest upon you.”