Thais grimaced amusedly and slyly, and the Theban woman became alert again. “It will take a long time,” Thais thought, “until this young creature regains the human dignity and calmness inherent in free Hellenes. To the free Hellenes... isn't the main difference between the barbarians doomed to slavery, that they are in the complete power of the free. And the worse they are treated, the worse the slaves become, and in response to this, their owners go berserk.” These strange thoughts came to the mind of a young hetaera, who had previously calmly accepted the world as it is. What if she or her mother had been kidnapped by pirates, of whose cruelty and deceit she had heard so much? And she would now stand, whipped with a whip, on the platform, and some fat merchant would feel her ...

Thais jumped up and looked into a mirror of light yellow hard bronze brought by the Phoenicians from a country they kept a secret. Slightly knitting her stubborn brows, she tried to give herself an expression of a proud and formidable Lemnian that did not fit with the cheerful gleam of her eyes. Carelessly brushing aside her confused thoughts about what was not there, she wanted to send Hesiona away. But one thought, having taken shape in a question, could not remain without explanation. And Thais began to question the new slave about the terrible days of the siege of Thebes and captivity, trying to hide her bewilderment why this proud and educated girl did not kill herself, but preferred the miserable fate of a slave.

Hesiona soon realized what Thais was interested in.

- Yes, I stayed to live, ma'am. First, from surprise, the sudden fall of the great city, when brutal enemies burst into our house, defenseless and open, trampling, robbing and killing. When unarmed people, newly respected citizens who have grown up in honor and glory, are herded into the crowd like a herd, mercilessly beating the stragglers or stubborn, stunning with the blunt ends of spears, and pushing shields into the fence, like sheep, a strange numbness seizes everyone from such a sudden twist of fate.

The fence actually turned out to be the city's cattle market. In front of Hesiona's eyes, her mother, still a young and beautiful woman, somehow wrapping herself in scraps of clothing, was carried away by two shield-bearers and, despite desperate resistance, disappeared forever. Then someone took away the younger sister, and Hesiona, who had taken refuge under the feeder, to her misfortune, decided to make her way to the walls in order to look for her father and brother there. She did not move even two spans from the fence, as some warrior who jumped off his horse grabbed her. He wished to take possession of her right there, at the entrance to some deserted house. Anger and despair gave Hesione such strength that the Macedonian at first could not cope with her. But he, apparently, raged more than once in the captured cities and soon tied and even bridled Hesion so that she could not bite, after which the Macedonian and one of his associates alternately raped the girl until late at night. At dawn, the disgraced, exhausted Hesiona was taken to the dealers, who, like kites, followed the Macedonian army. The middleman sold her to the hippotroph of the Bravron house, and after unsuccessful attempts to bring her into submission and fearing that the girl would lose her price from torture, he sent her to the Piraeus market. A feverish shudder ran through Hesiona's body as she told the story, she sobbed several times, but with a great effort of will she restrained herself.

- I was dedicated to the goddess Biris and did not dare to know a man before the age of 22.

- I do not know this goddess, - said Thais, - does she rule in Boeotia?

- Everywhere. Here in Athens there is her temple, but I no longer have access to it. This is the goddess of the world of the Minians, our ancestors, the coastal people before the invasion of the Dorians. Serving her is against war, and I have already been the wife of two warriors and have not killed a single one. I would have killed myself even sooner if I had not known what had become of my father and brother. If they are alive and in slavery, I will become a port harlot and will rob the villains until I collect money to ransom my father - the wisest and kindest man in all Hellas. That's the only reason I'm alive...

- How old are you, Hesiona?

- Eighteen, soon nineteen, mistress.

- Don't call me mistress, - Thais said, getting up, seized by a sudden impulse, - You won't be my slave, I'll set you free!

- Madam! - the girl shouted, and sobs intercepted her throat. - You probably come from the gods. Who else in Hellas could do that?! But let me stay in your house and serve you. I ate and slept a lot, but I'm not always like this. This is after hungry days and long standing on the platform at the slave trader ...

Thais thought, not listening to the girl, whose passionate plea left her as cold as a goddess. And again Hesiona shrunk inwardly - and again blossomed like a bud, catching the hetaera's attentive and cheerful look.

- You said your father is a famous philosopher? Is he famous enough to be known in Hellas, not only in Thebes Hundred Gates?

- Once Thebes, - Hesiona said bitterly, - but Hellas knows Astyoch the philosopher. As a poet - maybe not, have you heard of him, ma'am?

- I didn't hear it. But I'm not an expert, let's leave it. That's what I came up with... - And Thais told Hesiona her plan, making the Theban woman tremble with impatience.

After the assassination of Philip of Macedon, Aristotle, invited by him, left Pella and moved to Athens. Alexander provided him with money, and the philosopher from Stagira founded in Lycia - in the sacred grove of Apollo the Wolf - his school, a collection of rarities and a dwelling for students who studied the laws of nature under his guidance. After the name of the grove, Aristotle's institution became known as Lyceum.

Taking advantage of her acquaintance with Ptolemy and Alexander, Thais could turn to Stagirite. If Hesione's father was alive, then wherever he happened to be, the rumor of such a famous captive must have reached the philosophers and scientists of Lycaeus.

From Thais' dwelling to the Lyceum there are fifteen Olympian stadia - half an hour's walk, but Thais decided to ride in a chariot to make the right impression. She ordered Hesiona to put on the hoop of a slave girl on her left hand and carry behind her a box with a rare stone - green with yellow lights - chrysolite, brought from a distant island in the Erythraean Sea. Merchants from Egypt presented it to Thais. From Ptolemy she knew about Stagirite's greed for rarities from distant lands, and she thought with this key to unlock his heart.

For some reason, Egesichora didn't show up for dinner. Thais wanted to eat with Hesiona, but the girl begged her not to do this, otherwise her role as a servant, which she wanted to honestly fulfill in Thais' house, would become false and deprive her of the good attitude of the servants and slaves of the hetaera.

The sacred pines silently and motionlessly carried away their peaks into the hot sky, when Thais and Hesiona slowly walked towards the gallery, surrounded by high old columns, where the old sage was studying with his students. The stagirite was out of sorts and met the hetaira on wide steps made of rickety slabs. The construction of new buildings has just begun.

- What brought the pride of corrupt Athenian women here? asked Aristotle curtly.

Thais made a sign, Hesiona gave the open box, and the chrysolite - the symbol of the Crown of Crete - sparkled on the black fabric that covered the bottom. The squeamish mouth of the philosopher twisted into a fleeting grin. He took the stone with two fingers and, turning it in different directions, began to examine it through the light.

- So you are Ptolemy's girlfriend? He was not a talented student, his mind was too busy with war and women. And you need, of course, something to learn from me? He cast a sharp, penetrating glance at Thais. Getera calmly met him, humbly bowed her head and asked if he knew anything about the fate of the Theban philosopher. Aristotle did not think long.

- I heard that he either died of wounds, or fell into slavery. But why does he interest you, hetera?

“Why aren’t you interested, great philosopher?” Is the fate of a brother, glorious in Hellas, indifferent to you? Thais flared up.

- Girl, your speech is getting cheeky!

- Have mercy, great Stagirite! Out of ignorance, I was surprised by your indifference to the fate of the great philosopher and poet. Isn't the life of such a person precious? Maybe you could save him...

- What for? Who dares to cross the path of fate, the command of the gods? The defeated Boeotian fell to the level of a barbarian, a slave. You can assume that the philosopher Astyoch no longer exists, and forget about him. I don't care if he's thrown into the silver mines or grinds grain for the Carian bakers. Every free man chooses his fate. The Boeotian has made his choice, and even the gods will not interfere.

The famous teacher turned to both girls and, continuing to examine the stone to the light, indicated that the conversation was over.

- How far are you from Anaxagoras and Antiphon, Stagirite! Hesiona shouted beside herself. - You are simply envious of the glory of Astyoch, the singer of peace and beauty! Peace and beauty - that's what is alien to you, philosopher, and you know it!

Aristotle turned around angrily. One of the students who stood nearby and listened to the conversation struck Hesiona on the cheek with a flourish. She screamed and wanted to throw herself at the thick-set, bearded offender, but Thais grabbed her by the arm.

- Rubbish, slave, how dare you ... - the student cried, - let's get out of here, pornionki!

“Philosophers have spoken without pretense,” Thais said mischievously, “let's run away from the abode of wisdom as soon as possible!”

With these words, Thais deftly snatched the chrysolite from the bewildered Aristotle, picked up the himation and set off running along the wide path between the pines to the road. Hesiona, without wasting a moment, followed her, and several men rushed after the girls - either zealous students, or servants. Thais and Hesiona managed to jump onto the chariot that was waiting for them, but the driver boy did not have time to touch the horses when they were seized by the bridle, and three hefty elderly men rushed to the entrance to the chariot, which was open at the back, in order to drag both women off it. One grabbed Thais by the hem and jerked towards him, but the flexible and strong geter resisted, clinging to the side of the wagon. The matter took a serious turn. None of the companions were on the road, and the evil philosophers could easily deal with defenseless girls. The driver boy, whom Thais had taken instead of the elderly groom, only looked around, not knowing what to do with the people blocking the way.

- Don't leave, harlots! Get it, you bastards! yelled a man with a broad, untrimmed beard, holding out his other hand to the stubborn Thais. At that moment, Hesiona, snatching the whip from the driver, poked it with all her might into the gaping, screaming mouth. The assailant choked, coughed, stepped back, and fell to the ground. Freed, Thais opened the bag hanging from the wall of the chariot and, snatching out a box of powder, covered the second man's eyes with it. The short delay did nothing. The chariot could not move, and the exit from it was closed, but Aphrodite was merciful to Thais. From the east, on the rocky road rising there, came the thunder of wheels and hooves. Four mad horses in a race chariot flew out from behind a turn. They were run by a woman! Golden hair fluttering like a cloak in the wind - Egesichora.

- Thais, malakion (my friend), hold on!

Knowing that the Spartan woman would do something extraordinary, Thais grabbed the side of the chariot, shouting to Hesiona to hold on with all her might. Egesikhora turned sharply, without slowing down, went around the chariot of Thais on the left and suddenly threw the horses to the right, catching the protruding axle on its axle. The shock knocked over the bearded men holding the horses, and they rolled in the dust, screaming, trying to avoid the hooves and wheels. The horses of Thais carried away, and Egesichora, holding back the four with unfeminine strength, disengaged the undamaged chariots.

- Drive, don't delay! Thais shouted, giving the boy a hard slap on the back of the head. The driver came to his senses, and the bay couple rushed off at full speed, pursued on the heels of Egesichora's four.

Behind them, shrieks, curses, threats came from clouds of dust. Hesiona could not stand it and began to laugh hysterically until Thais yelled at the girl, whose feelings were still not in order after the trials she had endured.

Before they had time to come to their senses, they flew past the crossroads of the Acharn road. Holding back the scattered horses, they turned back and to the right, went down to Iliss and rode along the river to the Gardens. Only after driving under the canopy of huge cypresses, Egesichora stopped and jumped off the chariot. Thais ran up to her and kissed her friend tightly.

- Did the amatrochia work out well? In the lists, such wheel traction is very dangerous.

“You really are Kiniski's heiress, Egesichora. But how did you happen to be on the road? Thank the gods!

- I came for you to ride, and you went to Likey. It wasn't hard to figure out that you were looking for Hesione's father, and that alarmed me. We do not know how to talk with wise men, and they do not like getters, if they are both beautiful and smart. In their opinion, the combination of these properties in a woman is unnatural and dangerous ... - the Spartan woman laughed loudly.

"And how did you manage to arrive on time?"

- I rode from the Likey Grove to the mountains, stayed there to wait with the horses and sent the groom to stand at the turn and watch when you go. He came running with the news that you were being beaten by philosophers, but apparently he hesitated. I barely had time to leave it on the road.

- What do we do? We must hide to avoid punishment - you have crippled my enemies.

- I will go to the Seven Bronzes, where Dioreus lives, I will give him the chariot, and then we will go to swim in your favorite place. Let your ephebe follow me to the turn, and then wait!

And the brave Spartan rushed on her frenzied four. She soon returned on foot, and all three girls, including Hesiona, frolicked, swam and dived until evening in a secluded cove, the same one where Ptolemy sailed two years ago.

Tired, Thais and Egesichora stretched out side by side on the sand, which hummed under the blows of the waves like a bronze sheet in the floor of a temple. With a screech and rattle, pebbles rolled from the slope that went under the water, and the beneficial wind gently touched the bodies tired from the heat. Hesiona was sitting near the splashes. Hugging her knees and resting her chin on them, she hummed something inaudible in the noise of the waves.

“The enraged Stagirite will file a complaint against you with the gynecologists,” Thais said, “he will not forgive us.

- He doesn't know me, - the Spartan girl teased, - and you called him. Most likely he will send a dozen of his students to sack your house and rape you!

- I'll have to ask my friends to spend the night in my garden. Perhaps it would be easier to hire two or three armed guards, only to pick up braver people, - Thais said thoughtfully, - I'm tired of them, my Athenian friends.

- I am not afraid of Stagirite, even if they find out who ran into the philosophers, - Egesichora said firmly. - After all, I have already decided to sail with the Spartans to Egypt. That's what I wanted to tell you on the walk.

- So why were you silent? - Thais got up and sat on her knees, realized the absurdity of her reproach, laughed and frowned again with concern. - And you leave me alone, without you, in Athens?

- No, why, - calmly retorted Egesikhora, - you are going with me.

"I didn't promise that to you or to myself!"

So the gods decided. I have been to a soothsayer, one whose name is not spoken, like the goddess he serves.

Thais shuddered and turned pale, bending her flexible toes in a chilly way.

Why, why did you do it?

- It is difficult for me to part with you, and I had to give an answer to Eosites Eurypontides.

- Is he from an ancient family of Laconian kings? And what did you say to him?

- Yes!

- And what did the one who sees into the distance say?

- That you will be dear to the ring for many years. And me, but my path is short, although I will be with you until the end ...

Thais silently looked ahead of her into the stony scree of the slope at the blades of grass fluttering in the wind. Egesichora watched her, and a strange sadness deepened the corners of the Spartan's full, sensual mouth.

- When do they sail? Thais suddenly asked.

- On the twentieth day of Boedromion of Gythium.

- And there?

- A week before you have to sail from Piraeus. His own ship will take us with all our possessions.

“There isn't much time left,” Thais said, getting up and brushing sand off her stomach, thighs and elbows. Egesichora also stood up, parting the curly strands of heavy hair with her palm. Hesiona ran up to Thais with a piece of cloth that served to wipe off the salt, wiped the Lacedaemonian too. Almost without talking, the friends drove to Thais's house. Egesichora, hiding her face under a veil, accompanied by a strong groom, went home already at dusk.

The next day the whole agora was excitedly discussing the adventure at the Lycian Grove. The Athenians, great lovers of gossip and gossip, excelled in describing a terrible catastrophe. The number of the crippled steadily increased, reaching fifteen by noon. The name Thais was repeated now with admiration, now with indignation, depending on the age and gender of the speakers. But all respectable women agreed that it was necessary to teach a lesson to “that metrothep of Kress” (a Cretan by her mother), who in her impudence did not hesitate to disturb the peace of the monastery of the great sage. The gynecologists have already sent their representative to Thais to summon her to court to testify. And although Thais herself was not accused of a serious crime and, apart from a fine, nothing threatened her even if the case was unfair, her friend could suffer severe punishment. Witnesses saw a woman rushing in a chariot, and the whole city knew that the tetrippa - four horses - could only be controlled by the hetaera Egesichora. Her patrons delayed the case, but it soon became clear that one of the sons of the influential and noble Aristodem was mutilated by hooves and wheels. Three more disciples of Stagirite demanded satisfaction for broken ribs, an arm and a leg. And in the "hard days" of Metagitnion - the last three days of each month, dedicated to the dead and underground gods - Egesichora at night suddenly appeared to her friend, accompanied by her slaves and a whole detachment of young people loaded with bundles with the most valuable property.

- It's over, - announced the Spartan, - I sold the rest!

- What about horses? Thais exclaimed in fright.

The gloomy face of her friend suddenly lit up.

“They are already on the ship, in Munichion. And I myself will be there before dawn. Well, the soothsayer turned out to be wrong, and the will of the gods separates us.

- Not! - Thais said passionately. - I decided too...

- When did you decide?

- Now.

The Lacedaemonian squeezed her friend in a strong embrace and wiped her tears of joy on her hair.

But I need time to get myself together. I will not sell the house, but leave it to the faithful Akesius. And the gardener

stay with his wife too. Others - Clonaria, Hesione and the groom - I will take with me. It takes three days...

- Let it be so: we sail to Aegina, and in three days we will return for you.

- No, better not come back, but wait for me in Heraclea. I will find sailors who will transport me willingly and without attracting anyone's attention. Hurry, we've got it all figured out.

- Thais, dear! - Egesichora once again hugged her. - You removed the stone from my liver!

And the Spartan, singing, began to descend to the Piraeus road at the head of her impromptu detachment.

“I took it off, and you put it down,” thought Thais, looking after the cheerful Lacedaemonian. She shifted her gaze upward to her favorite high constellations above the black tips of the cypresses, which had listened so many times to her silent pleas to Aphrodite Urania. Getera felt an unprecedented longing, as if she was saying goodbye forever to the great city, filled with powerful beauty, created by many Hellenic artists in dozens of generations.

She sent Clonaria, agitated by a mysterious nighttime visitation, to fetch Talmid, a powerful athlete who lived next door. Armed with a dagger and a copper club, he often accompanied the hetaera, who sometimes liked to wander at night. Thais paid well, and Talmid silently crept behind, not preventing the girl from feeling alone with the night, the stars, the statues of gods and heroes.

That night, Thais slowly went to the Pelasgikon - a wall of huge stones erected by distant ancestors at the base of the Acropolis. Perhaps it was a powerful people whose blood flowed in the veins of a half-Cretan woman? These stones have always attracted Thais. And now she touched the block with her hand and suddenly pressed her whole body against the stone, feeling its inexhaustible warmth and hardness through a thin chiton.

The darkness of the moonless bright starry night was like a translucent black fabric. Only in the transparent and luminous air of Hellas could one experience such a sensation. Night dressed everything around, like the thinnest veil on the statue of naked Anahita in Corinth, hiding and at the same time revealing the unknown depths of secret feelings.

Thais quietly climbed the worn steps to the Temple of Victory. A distant light flashed from behind Pnyx's shoulder - a lamp over Baratron - a terrible cleft that reminded the Athenians of the wrath of the Earth-keeper - Poseidon. Victims were thrown there to the formidable underground gods and Erinyes. The young hetaera had not yet thought about Hades, and she did nothing to fear the goddesses of revenge. True, the gods are envious... Bright beauty, fun, success and worship - everything that Thais has been spoiled with since she was fifteen, can incur their wrath, and then misfortunes will follow. Wise people even deliberately want good luck to alternate with failures, happiness - with misfortunes, believing that in this way they protect themselves from more crushing blows of fate. Thais thought this was absurd. Is it possible to buy yourself happiness by bowing before the gods and praying for the sending of misfortune? Insidious female goddesses will be able to deliver a blow so painful that after it any happiness will seem bitter. No, it’s better, like Nike, to climb to the top of the cliff and if you fall from it, then forever ...

Thais broke away from her contemplation of the flame above the Baratron and thought that tomorrow she would have to bake a magis - a sacrificial cake for Hekate - the goddess of crossroads, who smashes far and does not let belated travelers through. And another sacrifice to Athena Kalevtia - the goddess of roads. And there, do not forget Aphrodite Euploia - a favorable voyage, Egesichora will take care of this.

Thais' light, quick steps echoed clearly under the colonnade of her beloved temple to Nike Anteros, on the steps of which she sat, looking at the tiny lights, scattered here and there by the wind like fireflies, flickering on the streets of the dear city; the lighthouse at Piraeus and the two low lanterns of Munichia. There, probably, the ship with Egesichora has already left for the Gulf of Sarov, is heading south, to the nearby Aegina.

When Thais descended to the Agora, passed by the old deserted temple of the Night - Nikton, two "night crows" (eared owls) flew by from the right side at once - a double happy omen. Although there were many of these sacred birds of Athena around Athens and in the city itself, such a coincidence happened to Thais for the first time. Breathing a sigh of relief, she quickened her steps towards the grim and massive walls of the ancient shrine of the Mother of the Gods. With the decline of the ancient Minyan religion, the sanctuary became the state archive of Athens, but those who continued to believe in the omnipotence of Rhea and the feminine in the world came here at night to put their foreheads on the corner stone to receive a warning of impending danger. For a long time, Thais pressed her forehead and then her temples against the stone polished for centuries, but she did not hear a slight rumble or a barely perceptible trembling of the wall. Rhea-Cybele did not know anything, and therefore, in the near future, nothing threatened the hetero. Thais almost ran west, towards Ceramics and her home, so fast that Talmid growled behind her in displeasure. Hetera waited for the athlete, hugged him by the neck and rewarded him with a kiss.

Slightly stunned, the hero threw her into his arms and, despite a mocking protest, carried him home, as the best jewel for every Greek.

On the day of departure appointed by Thais, the weather changed. Gray clouds piled up in the mountains, lowered the high sky above the city, powdered the golden marble of statues, walls and columns with ashes.

Euryklidion, a strong northeast wind, lived up to its name of "raising wide waves" and quickly drove a small ship to the island of Aegina.

Thais, standing at the stern, turned her back to the receding coast of Attica and surrendered herself to the soothing rolling on a large swell. Yesterday's meeting with a stranger, a warrior, with traces of wounds on his bare arm and a scar on his face half-hidden by a beard, did not come out of her memory. A stranger stopped her on the street of Tripods, at the statue of Satyr Periboethon ("world famous"), sculpted by Praxiteles.

Penetrating glaucopid eyes looked at her point-blank, and the hetaira felt that it was impossible to tell a lie to this person.

“You are Thais,” he said in a heavy low voice, “and you are leaving our Athens after Chrysocoma, the Spartan.

Thais, marveling, bowed her head affirmatively.

- Things go badly in the Athenian state if beauty leaves it. Beauty of women, arts, crafts. Before, the beautiful flowed here, now it is running away from us.

“It seems to me, oh stranger, that my fellow citizens are much more busy trying to outwit rivals in war and trade than they are admiring what their ancestors and their land have created.

You are right, young one. Remember - I am a friend of Lysippus, a sculptor, and a sculptor myself. Soon we will go to Asia, to Alexander. You will not miss the same goal - sooner or later we will meet there.

- I do not know. Unlikely. Fate pulls me in a different direction.

- No, it will. Then Lysippos will appear - he has long wanted to see you, and so do I. But he has his own desires, I have others ...

“It’s too late,” said the hetaera, sincerely sorry. The attention of one of the greatest artists of Hellas flattered her. Beautiful legends circulated about the love of Praxiteles for Phryne, Phidias for Aspasia.

- I'm not saying - now! You are too young. For our purposes, the maturity of the body is needed, not glory. But the time will come, and then - do not refuse. Heliaine!

Historical context

The book is based on a historical episode known from ancient sources: the burning in 330 BC. e. Persepolis, one of the capitals of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, according to some historians, was provoked precisely by Thais. This episode was embodied in the painting by J. Reynolds (1781), which depicts the actress in the role of Thais with a torch in her hands. After some time, Thais married Ptolemy, and after the death of Alexander, she returned to Egypt and became queen in Memphis.

The action of the novel begins in 337 BC. e., shortly after the battle of Chaeronea, in which the Macedonian king and father of Alexander Philip II, who had previously annexed a number of neighboring states to his empire by conquest and bribery, defeated the Greek armies of Athens and Thebes. This gave him the opportunity to found the so-called. "Union of Corinth", giving him command over the armies of all Greek policies for the planned war against the Achaemenid Empire.

The historical period immediately after the victory over Persia became the heyday of Greek culture. During this period, all kinds of mysteries and philosophical schools flourished - not only in Greece, but throughout the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions, which contributed to the spread of religious syncretism in them. The only historical inaccuracy that the author deliberately made refers to ancient Greek sculpture - the characters of the novel could not discuss the statue of Venus de Milo, since it was created only two centuries later.

During the period of the events described in the novel, the powerful Nanda dynasty ruled in the north of the Indian subcontinent, and in the Apennine Peninsula the Roman Republic subjugated the rest of the members of the Latin Union - see Second Latin War. Ancient China is also mentioned in passing, divided at that time into several Warring States due to the weakness of the Zhou dynasty, and the Kingdom of Judah, whose rulers, after being released by Cyrus from Babylonian captivity, recognized the power of the Achaemenids and built the Second Temple.

» We invite you to travel to Crete. Training: "The Love Magic of Thais of Athens"

We invite you to travel to Crete. Training: "The Love Magic of Thais of Athens"

“Set yourself free, tsar,” Thais said.

- With you? Alexander quickly asked.

- And only with me. Then you'll understand why...

And after a night of love, the great commander said to his magnificent mistress:

“You are like me on the battlefield. The same sacred power of the Gods fills you."

I. Efremov "Tais of Athens"

Seminar leader – Elena Gamayun,

master of mantra and mudra yoga.

A woman with an unusual and mysterious fate, who underwent initiation into healing manthropy in Tibet.

Possessing the gift of healing words and sound,

"The power of mantras - what is it?".

WHAT IS THE SECRET OF THE INFLUENCE OF TAIS OF ATHENS ON MEN?

“... Ptolemy could not take his eyes off the stranger, like a goddess emerging from the foam and noise of the sea. A copper face, gray eyes and blue-black hair - a completely unusual appearance for an Athenian struck Ptolemy. Later, he realized that the copper-colored tan of the girl allowed her not to be afraid of the sun, which so frightened the Athenian fashionistas. The Athenians tanned too deeply, becoming like lilac-bronze Ethiopians, and therefore avoided being naked in the air.

And this one is copper-bodied, like Circe or one of the legendary daughters of Minos with solar blood, and stands before him with the dignity of a priestess. No, not a goddess, of course, and not a priestess, this short, very young girl. In Attica, as in all of Hellas, priestesses are selected from among the tallest fair-haired beauties. But where does her calm confidence and perfection of movements come from, as if she were in a temple, and not on an empty shore, naked in front of him, as if she also left all her clothes on the distant cape of Foonta? ..»

Just like geishas in Japan, in the 7th - 4th centuries BC in Greece getters were not just women for the pleasure of the body. They received an excellent education, went in for sports, rode horseback, could play various musical instruments and dance, entertaining their patron, and could, along with men, conduct philosophical conversations and argue about politics.

Wise hetaera she never humiliated her man, showing her superiority, but on the contrary, she skillfully played with her own weaknesses and imperfections, turning them into cute piquancy that delighted a man, awakening a conqueror in him and the desire to patronize his beloved. She did not tire to no avail with conversations, did not allow herself to be rude towards her beloved, did not argue, did not contradict. This is who other modern women should learn from. Physical pleasure and intellectual harmony - that's what awaited the man who came into the possession of the hetaera.

It is not surprising that the social status of the hetaerae over the centuries was very high, they became faithful friends of the greatest minds of Greece, muses for poets, singers, sculptors and artists, and had nothing to do with prostitutes (“pornai”). Furthermore, hetaera she could refuse any man in physical intimacy if she did not like him. In Athens, there was even such a board - Keramik, on which men wrote proposals for a date to getters. If a hetaera agreed, then she signed the hour of the meeting under the proposal. If not, no one had the right to force her.

Thais of Athens, knowing the secret of the ancient magicians, eclipsed the sun with her beauty! She managed to become a real earthly Goddess! But how, you ask?

Many centuries have passed since then, but the ancient temples and holy springs of Crete still keep the breath, the energy of the captivating hetaera - the myth in the flesh. Each piece of this wise land is saturated with a special exciting atmosphere in which

secrets of female seduction and perfection.

«LOVE MAGIC OF THAIS OF ATHENS. MYSTERY OF THE ISLAND OF CRETE»

On this journey, you will be able to feel the secret power of the rituals of the Athenian hetaerae, and the modern practices of the master of female psychology will awaken in your soul an endless source of youth, health, intoxicating magnetism and female wisdom. This wisdom is about how to bring up a woman of a special, perfect culture.

Here you will learn:

• The Art of Relationships. How to be close to a strong man? Secrets and rules of the game. How to maintain relationships, surprise and charm?
• Fatal mistakes of women in communication. How to make relationships interesting? How to create intrigue and excitement around yourself so that he is afraid of losing you, and he wants to give you gifts and attention?
• The message of the famous Athenian getters. How to be always sexy, exceptional, energetic? The best men at your feet. Your secret of sexuality.
• Ritual of the Golden Emancipation. Financial fairy - learn to inspire yourself and become a source of flowering and good luck for him!

“Every morning I perform the Golden Emancipation ritual and note with surprise how there are less and less disappointments, and more compliments and admiring glances from fans. I didn’t believe that this happens, but I even lost weight (from the 50th to the 46th size!), The pains disappeared and the fatigue in the body disappeared. I really love myself!!! And he stopped hiding me, became very attentive and gentle with me.

“How grateful I am to you, my love,” I began to hear more and more often, receiving another expensive gift. And I'm grateful to you!"

Albina, St. Petersburg

FOR THE FIRST TIME!

The call of your heart, what is it? The call of your heart as the main source of female flowering and good luck. Awakening the creative spirit. The practice of revealing individuality: your talents and abilities.

And also in the program of the seminar:

• Lessons of wisdom for Thais in the Temple of the Priestesses of the Night
• Massage ritual “Become the only one for him”, bestowed by God Eros
• Self-sufficiency is the key to love and success in life
• A ritual to eliminate programs and attitudes that interfere with women's happiness. Exercise for gaining female power

Let yourself break away from everyday reality! The magical secrets of the most seductive hetaera of Crete will turn you into a magnificent Goddess!

You will have the opportunity not only to discover the secret of the magic of Thais of Athens, but also to visit the Places of Power, where special rituals will take place to help you fill up with energy.

With those who decided to give themselves an advanced level of the program, we will visit the most interesting tours:

Cruise to the island of mystical beauty Santorini. Its location and the finds made there led many famous archaeologists to believe that if the legendary Atlantis really existed, then it could not have been a more suitable place for this ...

The famous labyrinth of the Minotaur - the Palace of Knossos of King Minos - is one of the main monuments of the ancient Minoan civilization, which is considered a world heritage.

And Thais calmly returned to contemplating the figurine. Nothing childish remained in the face and figure of a vigilant girl of a dangerous profession. Thais was especially touched by her mournful mouth and fearless look. This girl knew what was coming. Her life was very short, given to a deadly game - a dance with long-horned spotted bulls, personifying the crushing Earth Shaker Poseidon. Tauropol girls represented the main characters in this sacred ritual, the ancient, later lost meaning of which was the victory of the feminine over the masculine, the mother goddess over her temporary spouse. The power of a formidable animal was wasted in a dance - a fight with incredibly fast jumpers - girls and boys - experts in a complex ritual specially trained for the ballet of death. The Cretans believed that this warded off the wrath of God, slowly and inexorably ripening in the bowels of the earth and the sea.
The inhabitants of ancient Crete seemed to have a presentiment that their high culture would perish from terrifying earthquakes and tides. Where did they come from, these distant ancestors of hers? Where did they come from, where did they disappear? From what she herself knew from the myths that Nearchus told his two enchanted listeners, beautiful, refined people, artists, sailors, distant travelers lived in Crete even when the half-wild ancestors of the Hellenes roamed around. As if covered in spicy-smelling flowers, the magnolia rose suddenly among windswept pines and poisonous oleander thickets. The subtle, poetic beauty of the Cretan culture is inexplicable among the rough, warlike nomads of the shores of the Inner Sea and can only be compared with Egypt ...
Shaking her short, coarse hair, Clonaria, the slave, entered.
“There came this one.” The girl's voice trembled with deep-seated hatred for the human goods dealer.
Thais came back to life.
“Take the box of money, count down the owls for three minutes and give it to him.
The slave laughed. Thais smiled and gestured for her to come closer.
Let's count together. Three mines - one hundred and eighty drachmas. Each owl is four drachmas, forty-five owls in total. Understood?
- Yes, Kiriya. Is this for fivan? Inexpensive! The girl allowed herself a contemptuous grin.
“You cost me more,” Thais agreed, “but don’t judge quality by price. There may be different cases, and if you were bought expensively, then they can sell you cheaper ...
Before Thais had time to finish her sentences, Klonaria pressed her face against her knees.
“Kiriya, don’t sell me if you leave.” Take with you!
- What are you saying? Where will I go? Thais was surprised, brushing her hair down from the slave's forehead.
“Maybe you will go somewhere. So thought we, your servants. You don't know how terrible it will be to be with someone else after you, kind, beautiful.
Are there few good people in the world?
“There are few like you, ma'am. Don't sell me!
- Okay, I promise you. I'll take it with me, although I'm not going anywhere. How is the fiban?
- After they fed her, she washed herself so that she exhausted all the water in the kitchen. Now she sleeps like she hasn't slept in a month.
- Run, the merchant is waiting. And don't disturb me anymore, I'll fall asleep.
Clonaria quickly counted out the silver and merrily skipped out of the bedroom.
Thais rolled over onto her back and closed her eyes, but sleep did not come after the night journey and the excited conversations with her friend.
They moored at the Piraeus harbor rings when the port was already full of people. Leaving the boat in the care of two friends, Thais and Egesichora, taking advantage of the relative coolness of Levkonot, the “white” south wind that had cleared the sky, went along the large stand, where trade was already in full swing. At the crossroads of the Faleron and the Mediastinal Piraeus, there was a small slave market. A trampled, dusty area lined on one side with long, low sheds that were rented out to slave traders. Rough slabs, scaffolding boards worn by the feet of countless visitors, instead of the vast dais of light marble under the shade of the covered colonnade and enclosed porticoes that adorned the great slave market fifteen stades above, in Athens itself.
Both hetaeras indifferently went around along the side path. Thais's attention was attracted by a group of skinny people who were displayed on the outskirts of the market, on a separate wooden platform. Among them were two women, somehow covered with rags. Without a doubt, they were Hellenes, most likely Thebans. Most of the inhabitants of the ruined Thebes were sent to distant harbors and sold long ago. This group of four men and two women must have been driven to the port market by some wealthy landowner to get rid of them. Thais was outraged by this sale of free people of the once famous city.
A tall man with a powdered face bordered by a thick beard in large curls, apparently a Syrian, stopped in front of the platform. With a careless movement of his finger, he ordered the merchant to push forward the youngest of the women, whose cropped hair lay in a thick bun at the back of her head, tied around her head with a narrow blue ribbon. From the splendor and density of the bun at the back of her head, Thais determined what magnificent braids the Theban woman, a beautiful girl of about eighteen years of age, was deprived of, which is usual for Hellenes of small stature.
– Price? - importantly threw the Syrian.
- Five minutes, and it's for nothing, I swear by Athena Alea!
- You're crazy! Is she a musician or a dancer?
- No, but virgin and very beautiful.
- Doubtful. Military booty... Look at the outlines of the hips, breasts. I pay a mine, okay, two - the last price! Such a slave will not be sold in Piraeus, but will be placed in Athens. Come on, expose her!
The merchant did not move, and the buyer himself pulled off the last cover of the slave. She did not let go of the shabby cloth, and turned sideways. The Syrian gasped. Passers-by and onlookers laughed loudly. On the girl's round bottom were swollen stripes from the scourge, fresh and red, interspersed with scars that had already healed.
- Oh, you rogue! shouted the Syrian, who apparently spoke the Attic dialect well. Grasping the girl by the hand, he felt on her traces of straps, tightening her thin wrists. Then he lifted the cheap beads fastened around the girl's neck to hide the traces of the leash.
The merchant who came to his senses stood between the Syrian and the slave.
- Five minutes for a stubborn girl who must be kept on a leash! - the Syrian was indignant. - It's not easy to fool me. Suitable only for concubines and even carry water. After the defeat of the Hundred-Headed Thebes, the girls here have fallen in price, even beautiful ones - houses are full of them in all ports of the Inland Sea.
- Let there be three mines - for nothing! – said the subdued merchant.
- No, let the one who wanted to get rid of the unsuccessful purchase of this rabble pay, - the Syrian pointed to the Thebans, thought and said: - I'll give you half, after all, ninety drachmas. I take for my sailors on the way back. I said the last price! And the Syrian took a decisive step towards another group of slaves who were sitting on a stone platform a few paces from the Thebans.
The merchant hesitated, and the girl turned pale, or rather, turned gray through the dust and tan that covered her exhausted proud face.
Thais went up to the platform, threw back from her bluish-black hair the light gauze covering that rich Athenian women used to escape the dust. The golden-haired Egesichora stood nearby, and even the gloomy eyes of the slaves being sold were fixed on the two beautiful women.
The dark, stubborn eyes of the young Theban woman widened, the fire of anxious hatred went out in them, and Thais suddenly saw the face of a man trained to read, perceive art and make sense of life. Theonoya - divine understanding left its mark on this face. And the Theban woman saw the same thing in Thais's face, and her eyelashes quivered. As if an invisible thread stretched from one woman to another, and almost insane hope lit up in the Theban's gaze.
The merchant looked around, looking for the chariot of beauties, a sly smile crept on his lips, but was immediately replaced by reverence. He noticed two companions of Thais catching up with their friends. Well-dressed, shaved in the latest fashion, they sauntered through the parting crowd.
“I'll give you two mines,” Thais said.
- No, I came early! cried the Syrian, who had returned to look at the Athenians and, as is typical of all people, was already sorry that the purchase would go to someone else.
“You only gave one and a half mines,” the merchant objected.
- I'll give you two. Why do you need this girl - you can't handle her anyway!
- Stop arguing - I pay three, as you wanted. Come for the money, or you will come yourself to Thais's house, between the hill of the Nymphs and Ceramics.
- Thais! - respectfully exclaimed a man standing at a distance, and several more voices picked up:
- Thais, Thais!
The Athenian held out her hand to the Theban slave to lead her off the platform as a token of her possession. The girl clung to her as if she were drowning in a rope thrown to her, and, afraid to let go of her hand, jumped to the ground.
- What is your name? Thais asked.
“Hesiona,” the Theban woman said in such a way that there was no doubt about the truth of her answer.
“A noble name,” Thais said, “Little Isis.”
“I am the daughter of Astyoch, a philosopher of an ancient family,” the slave answered proudly ...

Thais fell asleep imperceptibly and woke up when the shutters on the south side of the house were thrown open to the Notu, the south wind from the sea, which at this time of the year blew the heavy heat from the Athenian streets. Fresh and cheerful, Thais dined alone. The sultry days weakened the ardor of the admirers of Aphrodite, not a single symposium was to come in the coming days. In any case, two or three evenings were completely free. Thais had not gone to read the sentences on Keramik's wall for many days.
Knocking twice on the tabletop, she ordered Hesiona to come to her. The girl, smelling of healthy cleanliness, entered, embarrassed by her dirty himation, and knelt at the hetaera's feet with an awkward mixture of timidity and grace. Accustomed to rudeness and blows, she obviously did not know how to behave with simple, affectionate Thais.
Making her take off her cloak, Thais looked at the flawless body of her purchase and chose a modest linen tunic from her dress. A dark blue himation for nighttime adventures completed Hesiona's outfit.
- Mastodeton - chest bandage - you do not need, I do not wear it either. I gave you this junk...
“In order not to distinguish me from others,” the Theban woman quietly finished, “but this is not at all junk, mistress. - The slave hastily dressed, skillfully arranging the folds of the chiton and straightening the strings on her shoulders. She immediately turned into a girl full of dignity from the educated upper classes of society. Looking at her, Thais realized the inevitable hatred that Hesiona aroused in her mistresses, who were deprived of everything that a slave girl possessed. And above all, knowledge that the current Attic housewives did not possess, forced to lead a secluded life, always envying educated heterosexuals.
Thais smiled involuntarily. They envied from ignorance of all aspects of her life, not understanding how defenseless and easily injured a tender young woman, falling into the power of someone who sometimes turned into cattle. Hesiona understood Thais' smile in her own way. Blushing, she hurriedly ran her hands over her clothes, looking for a mess and not daring to go to the mirror.
“It's all right,” Thais told her, “I was thinking about my own. But I forgot, - with these words she took a beautiful silver belt and put it on the slave.
Hesiona blushed again, this time with pleasure.
How can I thank you, mistress? What can I give you for your kindness?
Thais grimaced amusedly and slyly, and the Theban woman became alert again. “It will take a long time,” thought Thais, “until this young creature regains the human dignity and calmness inherent in free Hellenes. To the free Hellenes... Isn't the main difference between the barbarians doomed to slavery, that they are in the complete power of the free. And the worse they are treated, the worse the slaves become, and in response to this, their owners go berserk.” These strange thoughts first came to her mind, before calmly accepting the world as it is. What if she or her mother had been kidnapped by pirates, of whose cruelty and deceit she had heard so much? And she would now stand, whipped with a whip, on the platform, and some fat merchant would feel her? ..

Thais jumped up and looked into a mirror of light yellow hard bronze, the kind brought by the Phoenicians from a country they kept a secret. Slightly knitting her stubborn brows, she tried to give herself an expression of a proud and formidable Lemnian that did not fit with the cheerful gleam of her eyes. Carelessly brushing aside her confused thoughts about what was not there, she wanted to send Hesiona away. But one thought, having taken shape in a question, could not remain without explanation.
And Thais began to question the new slave about the terrible days of the siege of Thebes and captivity, trying to hide her bewilderment: why did this proud and well-bred girl not kill herself, but preferred the miserable fate of a slave?
Hesiona soon realized what Thais was interested in.
“Yes, I stayed, mistress. First, from surprise, the sudden fall of the great city, when brutal enemies burst into our house, defenseless and open, trampling, robbing and killing. When unarmed people, newly respected citizens who have grown up in honor and glory, are herded into the crowd like a herd, mercilessly beating the stragglers or stubborn, stunning with the blunt ends of spears, and pushing shields into the fence, like sheep, a strange numbness seizes everyone from such a sudden twist of fate...
A feverish shiver ran through Hesiona's body, she sobbed, but with an effort of will she restrained herself and continued to tell that the place where they were herded was in fact the cattle market of the city. In front of Hesiona's eyes, her mother, still a young and beautiful woman, was carried away by two shield-bearers, despite desperate resistance, and disappeared forever. Then someone took her little sister away, and Hesiona, hiding under the feeder, to her misfortune, decided to make her way to the walls to look for her father and brother there. She did not move even two spans from the fence, as some warrior who jumped off his horse grabbed her. He wished to take possession of her right there, at the entrance to some deserted house. Anger and despair gave Hesione such strength that the Macedonian at first could not cope with her. But he, apparently, raged more than once in the captured cities and soon tied and even bridled Hesion so that she could not bite, after which the Macedonian and one of his associates alternately raped the girl until late at night. At dawn, the disgraced, exhausted Hesiona was taken to the dealers, who, like kites, followed the Macedonian army. The reseller sold her to the hippotroph of the Bravron deme, who, after unsuccessful attempts to bring her into submission and fearing that the girl would lose her price from torture, sent her to the Piraeus market.
- I was dedicated to the goddess Biris and did not dare to know a man before the age of twenty-two.
“I don’t know this goddess,” Thais said. “Does she rule in Boeotia?”
- Everywhere. Here in Athens there is her temple, but I no longer have access to it. This is the goddess of peace among the Minians, our ancestors, the coastal people before the invasion of the Dorians. Serving her is against war, and I have already been the wife of two warriors and have not killed a single one. I would have killed myself even sooner if I had not known what had become of my father and brother. If they are alive and in slavery, I will become a port harlot and will rob the villains until I collect money to ransom my father - the wisest and kindest man in all Hellas. That's the only reason I'm alive...
– How old are you, Hesiona?
“Eighteen, soon nineteen, mistress.
“Don't call me mistress,” Thais said, getting up, seized by a sudden impulse, “you won't be my slave, I'll let you go free.
- Madam! The girl screamed, and her throat was intercepted by sobs. You must be descended from the gods. Who else in Hellas could do that?! But let me stay in your house and serve you. I ate and slept a lot, but I'm not always like this. This is after hungry days and long standing on the platform at the slave trader ...
Thais thought, not listening to the girl, whose passionate plea left her as cold as a goddess. And again Hesiona shrank internally and blossomed again, like a bud, catching the attentive and cheerful look of the hetaira.
“Did you say your father is a famous philosopher?” Is he famous enough to be known in Hellas, and not only in Hundred-Gated Thebes?
- Once Thebes, - Hesiona said bitterly, - but Hellas knows Astyochus the philosopher. As a poet, maybe not. Have you heard of him, mistress?
- I didn't hear it. But I'm not an expert, let's leave it. This is what I came up with…” And Thais told Hesiona her plan, making the Theban woman tremble with impatience.
After the assassination of Philip of Macedon, Aristotle, invited by him, left Pella and moved to Athens. Alexander provided him with money, and the philosopher from Stagira founded in Lycia - in the sacred grove of Apollo the Wolf - his school, a collection of rarities and a dwelling for students who studied the laws of nature under his guidance. After the name of the grove, Aristotle's institution became known as Lyceum.
Taking advantage of her acquaintance with Ptolemy and Alexander, Thais could turn to Stagirite. If Hesiona's father was alive, then wherever he happened to be, the rumor of such a famous prisoner should have reached the philosophers and scientists of Lyceum.
From Thais' dwelling to the Lyceum fifteen Olympian stadia, half an hour on foot, but Thais decided to ride in a chariot to make the right impression. She ordered Hesiona to put on the hoop of a slave on her left hand and carry behind her a box with a rare stone - green, with yellow lights - chrysolite, brought from a distant island in the Erythrean Sea. Merchants from Egypt presented it to Thais. From Ptolemy she knew about Stagirite's greed for rarities from distant lands, and she thought with this key to unlock his heart.
For some reason, Egesichora didn't show up for dinner. Thais wanted to eat with Hesiona, but the girl begged her not to do this, otherwise her role as a servant, which she wanted to honestly fulfill in Thais' house, would become false and deprive her of the good attitude of the servants and slaves of the hetaera.
The sacred pines silently and motionlessly carried away their peaks into the hot sky, when Thais and Hesiona slowly walked towards the gallery, surrounded by high old columns, where the old sage was studying with his students. The stagirite was out of sorts and met the hetaira on wide steps made of rickety slabs. The construction of new buildings has just begun.
- What brought the pride of corrupt Athenian women here? asked Aristotle curtly.
Thais made a sign, Hesiona handed over the open box, and the chrysolite, the symbol of the Crown of Crete, sparkled on the black cloth that covered the bottom. The squeamish mouth of the philosopher twisted into a fleeting grin. He took the stone with two fingers and, turning it in different directions, began to examine it through the light.
"So you're Ptolemy's girlfriend?" He was an untalented student, his mind was too busy with war and women. And you need, of course, something to learn from me? He cast a sharp, penetrating glance at Thais.
Getera calmly met him, humbly bowed her head and asked if he knew anything about the fate of the Theban philosopher. Aristotle did not think long.
- I heard that he either died of wounds, or fell into slavery. But why does he interest you, hetera?
“Why aren’t you interested, great philosopher?” Is the fate of a brother, glorious in Hellas, indifferent to you? Thais flared up.
“Girl, your speech is getting cocky!”
- Have mercy, great Stagirite! Out of ignorance, I was surprised by your indifference to the fate of the great philosopher and poet. Isn't the life of such a person precious? Maybe you could save him...
- What for? Who dares to cross the path of fate, the command of the gods? The defeated Boeotian fell to the level of a barbarian, a slave. You can assume that the philosopher Astyoch no longer exists, and forget about him. I don't care if he's thrown into the silver mines or grinds grain for the Carian bakers. Every free man chooses his fate. The Boeotian has made his choice, and even the gods will not interfere.
The famous teacher turned and, continuing to examine the stone to the light, indicated that the conversation was over.
- How far are you from Anaxagoras and Antiphon, Stagirite! Hesiona shouted beside herself. - You are simply envious of the glory of Astyoch, the singer of peace and beauty! Peace and beauty - that is what is alien to you, philosopher, and you know it!
Aristotle turned around angrily. One of the students who stood nearby and listened to the conversation struck Hesiona on the cheek with a flourish. She screamed and wanted to throw herself at the thick-set, bearded offender, but Thais grabbed her by the arm.
- Rubbish, slave, how dare you! .. - cried the student. “Get out of here, porniones!”
“Philosophers have spoken without pretense,” Thais said mischievously, “let's run away from the abode of wisdom as soon as possible!”
With these words, Thais deftly snatched the chrysolite from the bewildered Aristotle, picked up the himation and set off running along the wide path between the pines to the road, Hesiona following her. Several men rushed after the girls - either diligent students, or servants. Thais and Hesiona jumped onto the chariot that was waiting for them, but the driver boy did not have time to move the horses when they were seized by the bridle, and three hefty elderly men rushed to the entrance to the chariot, which was open at the back, to drag both women off it.
"Don't leave, harlots!" The harlots have arrived! yelled a man with a broad, untrimmed beard, holding out his hand to Thais.
At that moment, Hesiona, snatching the whip from the driver, jabbed it with all her might into the gaping, screaming mouth. The attacker fell to the ground.
Freed, Thais opened the bag hanging from the wall of the chariot and, snatching out a box of powder, covered the second man's eyes with it. The short delay did nothing. The chariot could not move, and the exit from it was closed.
The matter took a serious turn. None of the travelers were on the road, and the evil philosophers could easily deal with defenseless girls. The driver boy, whom Thais had taken instead of the elderly groom, looked around helplessly, not knowing what to do with the people blocking the way.
But Aphrodite was merciful to Thais. From the road came the thunder of wheels and hooves. Four mad horses in a race chariot flew out from behind a turn. They were run by a woman. Golden hair fluttering like a cloak in the wind - Egesichora!
- Thais, malakion (my friend), hold on!
Knowing that the Spartan woman would do something extraordinary, Thais grabbed the side of the chariot, shouting to Hesiona to hold on with all her might. Egesikhora turned sharply, without slowing down, went around the chariot of Thais and suddenly threw the horses to the right, catching the protruding axle on its axle. The bearded men holding the horses started screaming away, trying to avoid the hooves and wheels, someone rolled in the dust under the horses' feet, screaming in pain. The horses of Thais carried away, and Egesichora, holding back the four with unfeminine strength, disengaged the undamaged chariots.
- Run, don't delay! Thais shouted, giving the boy a hard slap on the back of the head.
The driver came to his senses, and the bay couple rushed off at full speed, pursued on the heels of Egesichora's four.
Behind them, shrieks, curses, threats came from clouds of dust. Hesiona could not stand it and began to laugh hysterically until Thais yelled at the girl, whose feelings were still not in order after the trials she had endured.
Before they had time to come to their senses, they flew past the crossroads of the Acharn road. Controlling their horses, they turned back and to the right, went down to Ilisse and rode along the river to the Gardens.
Only after driving under the canopy of huge cypresses, Egesichora stopped and jumped off the chariot. Thais ran up to her and kissed her friend tightly.
- Did the amatrochia work out well? In the lists, such wheel traction is very dangerous.
“You really are Kiniski's heiress, Egesichora. But how did you end up on the road? Thank the gods!
“I picked you up for a ride, and you went to the Lyceum. It wasn't hard to figure out that you were looking for Hesione's father, and that alarmed me. We do not know how to talk with wise men, and they do not like hetaerae if they are both beautiful and smart. In their opinion, the combination of these properties in a woman is unnatural and dangerous, - the Spartan woman laughed loudly.
“And how did you manage to arrive on time?”
“I rode from the Lycian grove up to the mountains, stopped there with the horses and sent the groom to stand at the turn and watch when you ride. He came running with the news that philosophers are beating you. I barely had time, threw it on the road ...
- What do we do? It is necessary to hide in order to avoid punishment - you have crippled my enemies!
“I will go to the Seven Bronzes, where Dioreus lives, give him the chariot, and then we will go to swim in our favorite place. Let your ephebe follow me to the turn, and then wait!
And the brave Spartan rushed on her frenzied four.
They frolicked, swam and dived until evening in a secluded bay, the same one where Ptolemy sailed two years ago.
Tired, Thais and Egesichora stretched out side by side on the sand, which hummed under the blows of the waves like a bronze sheet in the floor of a temple. With a screech and a creak, pebbles rolled down from the stone slope that went under the water. The blessed wind gently touched the bodies tired from the heat. Hesiona sat by the water's edge. Hugging her knees and resting her chin on them, she hummed something inaudible in the noise of the waves.
“The enraged Stagirite will file a complaint against you with the gynecologists,” Thais said, “he will not forgive us.
“He doesn’t know me,” the Spartan girl teased, “and you called yourself to him. Most likely he will send a dozen of his students to smash your house.
- I'll have to ask my friends to spend the night in my garden. Maybe it would be easier to hire two or three armed guards, only to pick up braver people,” Thais said thoughtfully. “They bored me, my Athenian friends.