- Why? Thais exclaimed.

- Because you will be kidnapped or killed. Then I will only have to ask my comrades to stab me out of shame that I failed to protect you, and in order to avoid the execution that Ptolemy will come up with ... but what is he, our divine Alexander!

The old warrior's sincerity put the hetera to shame. She swore with sticky water that she would obey. She is not going to leave the temple even on horseback: "In that case, one soldier is enough," the chief decided, "he will be able to cover the retreat while Thais gallops for help." Immediately, the young hestiot Lycophon, as handsome as Ganymede, moved from his horse to Salmaah, who submitted to the rider, and rushed to the house of the Macedonians for weapons. The four comrades waited for his return and, wishing the health of the beautiful ward, galloped off to join seven other Macedonians who were riding horses south of the temple. Thais knew the guide on the joint journey to Hierapolis and more than once noticed his enthusiastic looks. Smiling at him, Oka directed the pacer to the east, where the pines grew thinner, thinner, and hills of sand with tamarisk caps began. Several stages ahead, waves of sandy mounds surrounded a large grove of unfamiliar, poplar-like trees. Thais suddenly wanted to look into a solitary thicket that seemed to be hiding something forbidden. The horses labored conscientiously, sinking in the sand, until they approached a particularly large hill. As soon as the horsemen reached its summit, exclamations of amazement escaped from both of them. A small lake of the purest water glittered like a blue sickle at the foot of the hill. Where the lake deepened and the shadow of tall trees spread over the water surface, a thick turquoise color enchanted the eye. The wind from the east did not fly in here, and the reeds, which hugged the blue water in a green semicircle, swayed slightly with their thin tops. The newcomers did not notice any signs of a person, and Thais was eager to swim in this beautiful place. The vegetation indicated fresh water. At the northeastern end of the lake, the "sickle horn", springs boiling out there boiled.

“Go down, just a short distance away,” Thais said to Lycophon, “to feed the horses, and I will bathe and come to you.

The young Thessalian shook his head.

“Ippophone grows there - horse killer grass. It will be necessary to warn the comrades not to drive horses there.

Beyond the hillocks on the gentle plain swayed pale green thin-stemmed grass, cutting in stripes between wormwood bushes and tall tufts of chia. The thicket stretched to the edge of a distant pine forest along the edge of the oak-covered foothills.

- Then keep your horses, do not go down to the lake. We do not know what kind of water there is ...

- And for you, Mrs. Thais ...

The Athenian woman raised her hand reassuringly.

- I'll try before diving. You better tie your horses to a tree.

And Thais slipped down the steep sandy slope, barely stopping at the water's edge, threw off her sandals, tried with her foot, then splashed her face. Clean, coldish, spring water. For a long time Thais had not seen such water after the muddy rivers of the Nile and Euphrates. As a true Hellenic woman, she greatly appreciated good water. With a joyful squeal, the getter rushed into the glassy turquoise depths, swam across a narrow lake, jumped out onto a shoal of white sand, began to splash again, and finally rushed to the northern "horn". Here the ascending current of underground springs tossed her up, then, as if rolling in soft huge paws, dragged her down. Thais was not frightened, but surfaced, leaning back and swinging her arms widely. The keys were not cold. Thais played on the seething water domes, then, exhausted, she returned to the depths and lay down on her back again. So she swam and dived and splashed, washing away all of Anteros's nightmares, until the pacer's impatient neighing reminded her of the time. Refreshed and happy, Thais climbed the hill, where the horses and her guide nestled under a tree. From the blush on her cheeks and slight embarrassment, Thais understood that the young warrior was admiring her.

- You enjoyed the water as the best wine, lady, - said Lycophon, - and I wanted to too ...

- Go and see how much better it is than wine. I will stay with the horses, - the heterosexual patted Boanergos on the neck, at the same time stroking the face of the jealously squinting Salmaakh.

The Thessalian parted with weapons and a military belt only on the very shore. Thais approvingly examined his perfectly built muscular figure, which was in harmony with the beauty of his face.

- Are you married? - she asked Lycophon, when the warrior, having bathed, climbed to the top of the hill.

- Not yet! We do not marry before the age of twenty-five. Before the war, I couldn’t, but now I don’t know when I’ll get home. Maybe I won't get it at all ...

“Everything is in the hands of the gods, but I think they should be merciful to you. Good children will go from you!

The warrior blushed like a boy.

“But I don’t want to cause trouble,” the Athenian woman caught herself, “gods are envious… Shall we go?

Salmaach and Boanergos rushed at full speed as soon as they got out of the sands. In order to thoroughly stretch the horses, Thais turned north along the road and, having passed near the parasang, climbed the pass into the transverse valley of the Euphrates tributary. Gnarled, sprawling oak trees surrounded a mossy four-pillar portico that sheltered a statue of Ishtar Kutitum of smoothly polished gray stone. Chrysolite-green eyes glittered in the shadow. The slightly high-cheekbone Scythian face, framed by cut hair falling down to the shoulders, kept a contemptuous expression.

At the back of the portico, behind the statue, a narrow passage led to a small cell, well lit by wide openings under the roof. In the niche of the eastern wall above the blackened wooden altar, a slab of fired clay with very prominent sculptures was set in. The naked goddess stood, tightly closing her legs ending in clawed owl paws and raising her hands to face level with palms facing forward. A knot of rope was clearly carved in his left hand. Behind the back of the image, owl wings descended to half of the thighs, traces of plumage were visible above the ankles.

And Thais calmly returned to contemplating the statuette. Nothing childish remained in the face and figure of the vigilant girl of a dangerous profession. Thais especially touched her mournful mouth and fearless gaze. This girl knew what was ahead. Her life was very short, given to a deadly game - a dance with long-horned spotted bulls, personifying the crushing Earth Sway of Poseidon. The Tavropol 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 the formidable animal was wasted in the dance - the fight against incredibly fast jumpers - girls and boys - experts of a complex ritual specially trained for the ballet of death. The Cretans believed that this diverted the wrath of God, slowly and inexorably ripening in the depths of the earth and the sea.
The inhabitants of ancient Crete seemed to have a presentiment that their high culture would perish from horrific earthquakes and tides. Where did they come from, these distant ancestors of her? Where did they come from, where did they disappear to? From what she herself knew from the myths that Nearchus told his two enchanted listeners, beautiful, sophisticated people, artists, sailors, distant travelers lived in Crete even when the semi-wild ancestors of the Hellenes wandered around. As if covered with spicy-smelling flowers, magnolia suddenly grew among wind-spread pine trees and poisonous oleander thickets. The subtle, poetic beauty of Cretan culture is inexplicable among the rude, warlike nomads of the shores of the Inland Sea and can only be compared with Egypt ...
Shaking her short-cropped coarse hair, Clonaria, a slave, entered.
“This one came there,” the girl's voice quivered with deep-rooted hatred for the human merchant.
Thais came back to life.
- Take the box with the money, count three owls' mines and give it to him.
The slave laughed. Thais smiled and motioned for her to come closer.
- Let's count together. Three mines - one hundred and eighty drachmas. Each owl is four drachmas, for a total of forty-five owls. Understood?
- Yes, Kiriya. Is this for the Theban woman? Inexpensive! - the girl allowed herself a contemptuous grin.
“You cost me more,” Thais agreed, “but don't judge the quality by the price. There may be different cases, and if you are bought at a high price, they can be sold at a lower price ...
Before Thais had time to finish her sentences, Klonaria pressed her face to 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 loose hair from the slave's forehead.
- Maybe you will go somewhere. So we thought, your servants. You do not know how awful 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, madam. Don't sell me!
- Okay, I promise you. I'll take it with me, although I'm not going anywhere. How is the Theban woman?
- After she was fed, I washed so much that I drained all the water in the kitchen. Now she sleeps, as if she has not slept for a month.
- Run, the merchant is waiting. And do not disturb me anymore, I will fall asleep.
Clonaria quickly counted out the silver and gleefully ran out of the bedroom.
Thais rolled onto her back and closed her eyes, but sleep did not come after the night's travel and excited conversations with her friend.
They moored at the rings of the Piraeus harbor 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 the Leukonot of the “white” south wind that cleared the sky, set off along the large sta, where trade was already in full swing. At the intersection of the roads, Phaleron and Mediastinal Piraeus, there was a small slave market. A trampled, dusty area, lined on one side with long, low sheds rented out to slave traders. Rough slabs, planks of platforms, worn out by the feet of countless visitors, instead of a vast eminence of light marble under the shade of a covered colonnade and fenced porticoes that adorned the great slave market fifteen stadia higher in Athens itself.
Both getters indifferently walked around the side path. Thais' attention was drawn to a group of skinny people on display on the outskirts of the market, on a separate wooden platform. Among them were two women, somehow covered with rags. Without a doubt, these were the Greeks, most likely the Thebans. Most of the inhabitants of the destroyed Thebes were sent to distant harbors and sold long ago. This group of four men and two women must have been driven into the port market by some wealthy landowner to get rid of them. Thais was outraged by this sale of the 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 gesture of his finger, he told the merchant to push forward the youngest of the women, whose cropped hair lay in a thick bun on the back of her head, tied around her head with a narrow blue ribbon. From the splendor and density of the bun on the back of her head, Thais determined what magnificent braids the Theban had lost, a beautiful girl of about eighteen, usually small for the Hellenes.
- The price? - said the Syrian importantly.
- Five minutes, and it's for nothing, I swear by Athena Aleia!
- You're mad! Is she a musician or a dancer?
- No, but virgin and very beautiful.
- Doubtful. War booty ... Look at the outlines of the thighs, chest. I'm crying mine, okay, two is the last price! Such a slave will not be sold in Piraeus, but delivered in Athens. Well, bare her!
The merchant did not budge, and the buyer himself pulled off the last cover of the slave. She did not let go of the shabby fabric, and turned sideways. The Syrian gasped. Passers-by and onlookers laughed loudly. On the girl's round bottom were swollen whip streaks, fresh and red, interspersed with scars that had already healed.
- Oh, you rogue! - shouted a Syrian, who apparently spoke the Attic dialect well. Grabbing the girl by the hand, he felt on her the marks of the straps that tightened her thin wrists. Then he lifted the cheap beads fastened to the girl's neck to hide the marks from the leash.
The merchant who came to his senses stood between the Syrian and the slave.
- Five minutes for an obstinate girl who must be kept on a leash! - the Syrian was indignant. - It's not easy to fool me. Suitable only as a concubine and even carry water. After the defeat of the Hundreds of Thebes, girls here fell in price, even beautiful ones - houses in all the ports of the Inner Sea are full of them.
- Let there be three mines - for nothing! - said the subdued trader.
- No, let the one who wants 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, still ninety drachmas. I take it for my sailors on the way back. I said the last price! And the Syrian stepped resolutely towards another group of slaves, who were sitting on a stone platform a few steps 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 to the dais, threw off the light gas covers from her blue-black hair, which rich Athenians were using to escape the dust. Nearby stood the golden-haired Egesichora, and even the sullen eyes of the slaves being sold were riveted on two beautiful women.
The young Theban's dark stubborn eyes widened, the fire of anxious hatred extinguished in them, and Thais suddenly saw the face of a man trained to read, perceive art and comprehend life. Theonoya - divine intelligence has left its mark on this face. And the Theban saw the same in Thais's face, and her eyelashes trembled. It was as if an invisible thread stretched from one woman to another, and an almost insane hope lit up in the gaze of the Theban woman.
The merchant looked around, looking for the chariot of beauties, a malicious smile crept on his lips, but was immediately replaced by respect. He noticed two companions of Thais, who were catching up with their friends. Well-dressed, shaved in the latest fashion, they walked importantly through the parting crowd.
“I'll give you two mines,” Thais said.
- No, I came earlier! Cried the Syrian, returning to look at the Athenian women and, as is typical of all people, already regretting that the purchase would go to another.
“You only gave one and a half mines,” the merchant objected.
- I give two. Why do you need this girl - you still can't cope with her!
- Let's stop arguing - I pay three, as you wanted. Come for money or you will come yourself to Thais's house, between the Hill of Nymphs and Keramik.
- Thais! - a man standing at a distance exclaimed respectfully, and several more voices picked up:
- Thais, Thais!
The Athenian woman held out her hand to the Theban slave to bring her from the platform as a sign of her possession of her. The girl clung to her, as if drowning for a rope thrown to her, and, fearing to let go of her hand, jumped to the ground.
- What is your name? Thais asked.
“Hesiona,” the Theban said so that there was no doubt about the truth of her answer.
“A noble name,” Thais said. “Little Isis.”
- I am the daughter of Astiokh - a philosopher of an ancient family, - answered the slave with pride ...

Thais imperceptibly fell asleep and woke up when the shutters on the south side of the house were thrown open to Note - the south wind from the sea, which at this time of year was blowing the heavy heat from the Athenian streets. Fresh and cheerful, Thais dined alone. Hot days weakened the ardor of Aphrodite's fans, 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 the Keramik wall for many days.
Knocking twice on the tabletop, she ordered to call Hesion to her. The girl, who smelled of healthy cleanliness, entered, embarrassed by her filthy chemation, and knelt at the hetera's feet with an awkward mixture of timidity and grace. Accustomed to rudeness and blows, she clearly did not know how to behave with a simple, affectionate Thais.
Forcing her to throw off her cloak, Thais looked around the flawless body of her purchase and selected a modest linen chiton from her dress. A dark blue night-time chemation completed Hesiona's outfit.
“You don’t need a mastodeton — a chest band — I don’t wear it either.” I gave you this old thing ...
“In order not to distinguish me from the others,” the Theban said quietly, “but this is not old stuff at all, lady. - The slave hastily dressed, skillfully arranging the folds of her tunic and straightening the ties on her shoulders. She immediately turned into a dignified girl from the educated top of society. Looking at her, Thais understood the inevitable hatred that Hesiona aroused from her mistresses, who were deprived of everything that a slave girl possessed. And above all, knowledge that the current Attic housewives did not possess, who were forced to lead a secluded life, always envious of educated getters.
Thais involuntarily grinned. 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 one who sometimes turned into cattle. Hesione understood Thais' grin in her own way. All flushed, she hastily ran her hands over her clothes, looking for disorder and not daring to go to the mirror.
“Everything is fine,” Thais said to her. “I was thinking about mine. But I forgot, - with these words she took a beautiful silver belt and put it on the slave.
Hesione blushed again, this time with pleasure.
- How can I thank you, lady? How can I give you for your kindness?
Thais grimaced with amusement and slyness, and the Theban woman became wary again. It will take a long time, Thais thought, until this young creature regains the human dignity and calmness inherent in free Hellenes. Free Hellenes ... Isn't that the main difference between 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 become furious. " These strange thoughts first came to her mind, before calmly accepting the world as it is. What if she or her mother were kidnapped by pirates, whose cruelty and deceit she had heard so much about? And would she be standing now, whipped with a whip, on the platform, and some fat merchant would touch her? ..

Thais jumped up and looked into a mirror made of solid bronze, light yellow, such as were brought by the Phoenicians from a country they kept secret. Slightly knitting her stubborn eyebrows, she tried to give herself the expression of a proud and formidable Lemnian woman, which did not match the cheerful gleam of her eyes. Blithely brushing aside the confused thoughts about what was not, she wanted to send Hesiona away. But one thought, having formed into a question, could not remain without an 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-mannered girl not kill herself, but preferred the pitiful fate of a slave?
Hesione soon realized what Thais was interested in.
- Yes, I stayed to live, lady. 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, who have just been respected by all citizens, who have grown in honor and glory, are herded into the crowd like a herd, mercilessly beating those who are lagging or stubborn, stunning with blunt ends of spears, and are pushed into the fence with shields, like sheep, a strange numbness envelopes everyone from such a sudden twist of fate ...
A feverish shudder 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 driven in, in fact, turned out to be 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 the younger sister away, and Hesiona, hiding under the trough, unfortunately, decided to make her way to the walls to look for her father and brother. She did not leave even two pletars from the fence, when she was seized by some warrior who had jumped from a horse. He wanted to take possession of it right there, at the entrance to some empty house. Anger and despair gave Hesione such strength that the Macedonian at first could not cope with her. But he apparently rampaged more than once in the captured cities and soon tied and even bridled Hesione so that she could not bite, after which the Macedonian and one of his companions alternately raped the girl until late at night. At dawn, disgraced, exhausted, Hesiona was taken to the dealers, who, like kites, followed the Macedonian army. The reseller sold her to the hippotrophe of the Bravron deme, who, after unsuccessful attempts to bring her to submission and fearing that the girl would lose value from torture, sent her to the Piraeus market.
- I was dedicated to the goddess Biris and did not dare to know a man before twenty-two years old.
“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 there. This is the goddess of peace among the Minians, our ancestors, the coastal people before the invasion of the Dorians. Serving her is against the war, but I was already the wife of two soldiers and did not kill a single one. I would have killed myself even earlier if I had not had to find out what became of my father and brother. If they are alive and in slavery, I will become a harlot on the port 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 stayed to live ...
- How old are you, Hesiona?
“Eighteen, soon nineteen, lady.
“Don’t call me mistress,” Thais said, getting up, seized by a sudden impulse, “you will not be my slave, I will release you.
- Madam! - the girl shouted, and her throat was intercepted by sobs. “You probably descended from the gods. Who else could have done this in Hellas ?! But let me stay in your house and serve you. I ate and slept a lot, but I'm not always like that. This is after days of hunger and long standing on the platform with a slave trader ...
Thais pondered, not listening to the girl, whose passionate plea had left her as cold as a goddess. And again Hesiona internally shrank and again blossomed, like a bud, catching the hetera's attentive and cheerful glance.
- You said your father is a famous philosopher? Is he famous enough to be famous for Hellas, and not only in the hundredth Thebes?
“The former Thebes,” Hesiona said bitterly, “but Hellas knows Astiokh the philosopher. As a poet, maybe not. Have you heard of him, lady?
- I haven’t. But I'm not a connoisseur, let's leave that. This is what I came up with… ”And Thais told Hesione her plan, making the Theban woman tremble with impatience.
After the assassination of Philip the Great, 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 place for students who studied the laws of nature under his leadership. By the name of the grove, the institution of Aristotle 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 was, the rumor about such a famous prisoner should have reached the philosophers and scientists of Lycea.
From Thais' dwelling to Lyceum, there are fifteen Olympic stages, half an hour of walking, but Thais decided to ride in a chariot to make the right impression. She ordered Hesione 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 Eritrean Sea. It was presented to Thais by merchants from Egypt. From Ptolemy, she knew about the Stagirite's greed for rarities from distant lands and thought to open his heart with this key.
Egesichora for some reason did not appear for dinner. Thais wanted to eat with Hesione, but the girl begged not to do this, otherwise her role as a servant, which she wanted to honestly play in Thais's house, would become fake and deprive her of the good attitude of the hetera's servants and slaves.
Sacred pines silently and motionlessly were carried away by their tops into the hot sky, when Thais and Hesiona slowly walked towards the gallery, surrounded by tall old columns, where the old sage was studying with his disciples. The stagirite was out of sorts and met the hetera on the wide steps of rickety slabs. The construction of new buildings was just beginning.
- What brought the pride of corrupt Athenian women here? Aristotle asked abruptly.
Thais made a sign, Hesiona gave the open box, and chrysolite - the symbol of the Crown of Crete - sparkled on the black fabric that covered the bottom. The philosopher's obese mouth folded into a cursory grin. He took the stone with two fingers and, turning it in different directions, began to look into the light.
- So you are Ptolemy's friend? He was an untalented student, his mind was too busy with war and women. And, of course, you need to learn something from me? He threw a sharp, piercing look at Thais.
Hetera calmly greeted 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, hetero?
- Why is not you interested, great philosopher? Are you indifferent to the fate of your fellow glorious in Hellas? Thais burst out.
- Girl, your speech is getting cocky!
- Have mercy, great Stagirite! Out of ignorance, I was surprised by your indifference to the fate of a great philosopher and poet. Isn't the life of such a person precious? Maybe you could save him ...
- Why? 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 consider that the philosopher Astiokh no longer exists, and forget about him. I don’t care if he’s thrown into the silver mines or grinds grain from the Carian bakers. Each person from the free chooses his own fate. The Boeotian has made his choice, and even the gods will not interfere.
The famous teacher turned and, continuing to examine the stone into the light, showed that the conversation was over.
- How far are you to Anaxagoras and Antiphon, Stagirite! - Hesione shouted beside herself. - You are simply envious of the fame of Astiokh, the singer of peace and beauty! Peace and beauty - this 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 hit Hesione on the cheek with a swing. She screamed and wanted to rush at the stumpy, bearded offender, but Thais grabbed her hand.
- Rubbish, slave, how dare you! .. - cried the student. - Get out of here, porno!
“The philosophers spoke without pretense,” Thais said mischievously.
With these words, Thais deftly snatched the chrysolite from the confused Aristotle, picked up the chemation and started running along the wide path between the pine trees to the road, Hesiona behind it. Several men rushed after the girls - either diligent students or servants. Thais and Hesiona jumped on the chariot that was waiting for them, but the boy-driver did not have time to move the horses when they were seized by the bridle, and three large elderly men rushed to the chariot entrance, which was open at the back, to drag both women off it.
- You will not leave, harlots! The libertines got caught! Shouted a man with a wide uncut beard, reaching out to Thais.
At that moment, Hesiona, having snatched the whip from the driver, poked them with all her might into the angry screaming mouth. The attacker crashed to the ground.
The freed Thais opened the bag, suspended from the wall of the chariot, and, snatching out the box with the powder, poured it into the eyes of the second man. A short reprieve led nowhere. The chariot could not budge, and the exit from it was closed.
The matter was getting serious. None of the travelers were on the road, and the evil philosophers could easily deal with the defenseless girls. The boy-driver, 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 kind to Thais. From the road came the thunder of wheels and hooves. From around the bend, four mad horses flew out in a chariot of the lists. A woman ran them. Golden hair like a cloak fluttered in the wind - Egesichora!
- Thais, malakion (darling), hold on!
Knowing that the Spartan woman would do something extraordinary, Thais grabbed the side of the chariot, shouting to Hesione to hold on with all her might. Egesichora made a sharp turn, without slowing down, drove around Thais's chariot and suddenly threw the horses to the right, catching the protruding axle on its axle. The bearded men holding the horses screamed away, trying to avoid hooves and wheels, someone rolled in the dust under the horses' feet, screamed in pain. Thais' horses carried, and Egesichora, holding back the four with unfeminine strength, unhooked the undamaged chariots.
- Drive, do not hesitate! Thais shouted, giving the boy a strong slap on the head.
The driver came to his senses, and the bay couple rushed at full speed, pursued on the heels of the four of Egesichora.
Screams, curses, threats were heard from behind the clouds of dust. Hesiona could not stand it and began to laugh hysterically, until Thais shouted at the girl, whose feelings were still out of order after the ordeals she had endured.
Before they knew it, they flew past the intersection of the Acharn road. Restraining their horses, they turned back and to the right, went down to Iliss and rode along the river to the Gardens.
Only having entered under the canopy of huge cypress trees, Egesichora stopped and jumped from the chariot. Thais ran up to her and kissed her friend hard.
- Amatrochia came out well? In the lists, such wheel grip is very dangerous.
“You are indeed the heiress of Kiniska, Egesichora. But how did you end up on the road? Thank the gods!
- I called for you to ride, and you went to Lyceum. It was not difficult to realize that you were looking for Hesiona's father, and that alarmed me. We do not know how to talk with sages, and they dislike heterosexuals, if they are both beautiful and smart. In their opinion, the combination of these properties in a woman is unnatural and dangerous, - the Spartan laughed loudly.
- And how did you figure out to be on time?
“I drove from Lyceum Grove up to the mountains, stopped there with the horses and sent the groom to stand at the bend and watch when you went. He came running with the news that philosophers were beating you. I barely had time, I threw him on the road ...
- What do we do? I must hide in order to avoid punishment - you crippled my enemies!
“I’ll go to the Seven Bronzes, where Dorey lives, give him the chariot, and then we’ll go swimming at our favorite place. Let your ephebe follow me to the turn, and wait there!
And the brave Spartan woman rushed on her mad four.
They frolicked, swam and dived until evening in a secluded cove, the same one where Ptolemy swam two years ago.
Tired, Thais and Egesichora stretched out side by side on the sand, buzzing under the impact of the waves, like a bronze leaf in the floor of a temple. Pebbles rolled with a squeal and screeching from the rocky slope that was sinking under the water. The blessed wind gently touched the bodies tired from the heat. Hesione sat by the water. Grasping her knees and resting her chin on them, she hummed something inaudible in the sound of the waves.
“The angry Stagirite will file a complaint against you with the gyneconomists,” Thais said. “He will not forgive us.
“He doesn't know me,” teased the Spartan woman, “and you gave your name to him. Most likely, he will send a dozen of his students to destroy your house.
- We'll have to ask friends to spend the night in my garden. Maybe hiring two or three armed guards would be easier, just pick up braver people, ”Thais said thoughtfully. “They bore me, my Athenian friends.

Historical context

The book is based on a historical episode known from ancient sources: the burning in 330 BC. NS. Persepolis, one of the capitals of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, according to some historians, was provoked 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 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. "Corinthian Union", giving him command over the armies of all Greek city-states for the planned war against the Achaemenid Empire.

The historical period immediately after the victory over Persia was the flourishing of Greek culture. During this period, all kinds of mysteries and philosophical schools flourished - not only in Greece, but throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East regions, which contributed to the spread of religious syncretism in them. The only historical inaccuracy, which the author deliberately made, relates 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 events described in the novel, the powerful Nanda dynasty ruled in the north of the Indian subcontinent, and on the Apennine Peninsula the Roman Republic subjugated the rest of the members of the Latin Union - see Second Latin War. Ancient China, divided at that time into several Fighting Kingdoms due to the weakness of the Zhou dynasty, and the Kingdom of Judah, whose rulers, after Cyrus liberated from Babylonian captivity, recognized the power of the Achaemenids and built the Second Temple, are also mentioned in passing.

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

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

“Let yourself go free, king,” Thais said.

- With you? - Alexander asked quickly.

- And only with me. Then you will 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 "Thais of Athens"

Seminar moderator - Elena Gamayun,

master of mantra and mudra yoga.

A woman with an unusual and mysterious destiny, who has undergone initiation into healing mantropenia 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 THE CAIS OF ATHENS ON MEN?

“... Ptolemy could not take his eyes off the stranger, like a goddess who emerged from the foam and noise of the sea. A brazen face, gray eyes and blue-black hair - a completely unusual appearance for an Athenian woman struck Ptolemy. Later, he realized that the girl's copper-colored tan allowed her not to be afraid of the sun, which so frightened the Athenian fashionistas. The Athenians sunbathed 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 chosen from among the tallest fair-haired beauties. But where does her calm confidence and sharpness 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 Foont? .. "

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

Wise heterosexual she never humiliated her man, showing her superiority, but, on the contrary, skillfully played up her own weaknesses and imperfections, turning them into cute piquancy, delighting a man, awakening in him a conqueror and a desire to take care of his beloved. She didn’t tire her with unnecessary conversations, didn’t allow herself to be rude towards her beloved, didn’t argue, didn’t contradict. This is who other modern women should learn from. Physical pleasure and intellectual harmony - this is what awaited a man who came into the possession of a getter.

It is not surprising that the social status of getters over the centuries was very high, they became loyal friends of the greatest minds of Greece, muses for poets, singers, sculptors and artists, and had nothing to do with prostitutes ("pornayi"). Moreover, heterosexual she could deny any man physical intimacy if she did not like him. In Athens, there was even such a board - Ceramic, on which men wrote to getters with dating proposals. If heterosexual If she 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 hetera - a myth in the flesh. Every piece of this wise land is saturated with a special exciting atmosphere in which

secrets of female seduction and perfection.

“LOVE MAGIC OF TAIS ATHENS. THE MYSTERY OF THE ISLAND OF CRETE "

On this journey, you can feel the secret power of the rituals of the Athenian hetaira, and the modern practices of the masters 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 relationship... How to be close to a strong man? Secrets and rules of the game. How to maintain a relationship, surprise and charm?
• Fatal mistakes of women in communication. How to make your relationship interesting? How to create intrigue and excitement around him so that he is afraid of losing you, and he would like to present you with gifts and attention?
• The message of the famous Athenian hetaira. How to be always sexy, exceptional, energetic? The best men are at your feet. Your secret to sexuality.
• Ritual of "Golden Emancipation". Financial fairy - learn to inspire yourself and become a source of bloom and good luck for him!

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

- How grateful I am to you, darling, - I began to hear more and more often, receiving another expensive gift. And I am grateful to you! "

Albina, St. Petersburg

FIRST!

The call of your heart, what is it? The call of your heart as the main source of feminine bloom and good luck. The awakening of the creative Spirit. The practice of revealing your personality: your talents and abilities.

And also in the seminar program:

• Lessons of Wisdom for Thais at the Temple of the Priestesses of the Night
• Massage ritual "Become the only one for him", given 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 feminine strength

Allow yourself to break away from everyday reality! The magical secrets of the most seductive hetera of Crete will turn you into a luxurious 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 with energy.

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

Cruise to the island of mystical beauty Santorini. Its location and the finds made there made many famous archaeologists believe that if the legendary Atlantis really existed, then it was impossible to think of a more suitable place for this ...

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

Thais grimaced with amusement and slyness, and the Theban woman became wary again. It will take a long time, Thais thought, until this young creature regains the human dignity and calmness inherent in free Hellenes. Free Hellenes ... is not the main difference between 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 become furious. " These strange thoughts came to the mind of a young heterosexual, who had previously calmly accepted the world as it is. What if her or her mother had been kidnapped by pirates, whose cruelty and deceit she had heard so much about? And she would stand now, whipped with a whip, on the platform, and some fat merchant would touch her ...

Thais jumped up and looked in the mirror of solid light yellow bronze brought by the Phoenicians from a country they kept secret. Slightly knitting her stubborn eyebrows, she tried to give herself the expression of a proud and formidable Lemnian woman, which did not match the cheerful gleam of her eyes. Blithely brushing aside the confused thoughts about what was not, she wanted to send Hesiona away. But one thought, having formed into a question, could not remain without an 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 well-mannered girl did not kill herself, but preferred the pitiful fate of a slave.

Hesione soon realized what Thais was interested in.

- Yes, I stayed to live, lady. 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, who have just been respected by all citizens, who have grown in honor and glory, are herded into the crowd like a herd, mercilessly beating those who are lagging or stubborn, stunning with blunt ends of spears, and are pushed into the fence with shields, like sheep, a strange numbness envelopes everyone from such a sudden turn of fate.

The fence actually turned out to be the city's livestock market. In front of Hesiona's eyes, her mother, still a young and beautiful woman, who somehow wrapped herself in scraps of clothing, was carried away by two shield-bearers and, despite desperate resistance, disappeared forever. Then someone took the younger sister away, and Hesiona, hiding under the trough, unfortunately, decided to make her way to the walls to look for her father and brother there. She did not leave even two pletars from the fence, as some warrior who had jumped off a horse grabbed her. He wanted to take possession of it right there, at the entrance to some empty house. Anger and despair gave Hesione such strength that the Macedonian at first could not cope with her. But he apparently rampaged more than once in the captured cities and soon tied and even bridled Hesione so that she could not bite, after which the Macedonian and one of his companions alternately raped the girl until late at night. At dawn, 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 house, and after unsuccessful attempts to bring her to submission and fearing that the girl would lose value from torture, he sent her to the Piraeus market. A feverish shiver ran through Hesiona's body during the story, she sobbed several times, but with a huge effort of will restrained herself.

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

“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 there. 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 the war, but I was already the wife of two soldiers and did not kill a single one. I would have killed myself even earlier if I had not had to find out what became of my father and brother. If they are alive and in slavery, I will become a harlot on the port 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 stayed to live ...

- How old are you, Hesiona?

“Eighteen, soon nineteen, lady.

“Don't call me mistress,” Thais said, getting up, seized by a sudden impulse, “You will not be my slave, I will release you!

- Madam! - the girl shouted, and her throat was seized by sobs. - You, probably, descend from the gods. Who else could have done this in Hellas ?! But let me stay in your house and serve you. I ate and slept a lot, but I'm not always like that. This is after days of hunger and long standing on the platform with a slave trader ...

Thais fell into thought, not listening to the girl, whose passionate plea had left her as cold as a goddess. And again Hesiona internally clenched - and again blossomed, like a bud, catching the hetera's attentive and cheerful glance.

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

“The former Thebes,” Hesiona said bitterly, “but Hellas knows Astiokh the philosopher. As a poet - maybe not, you haven't heard of him, lady?

- I haven’t. But I'm not a connoisseur, let's leave that. This is what I came up with… ”And Thais told Hesione her plan, making the Theban woman tremble with impatience.

After the assassination of Philip the Great, 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 place for students who studied the laws of nature under his leadership. By the name of the grove, the institution of Aristotle 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 was, the rumor about such a famous prisoner should have reached the philosophers and scientists of Lycea.

From Thais' dwelling to Lyceum, there are fifteen Olympic stages - half an hour of walking, but Thais decided to ride a chariot to make the right impression. She ordered Hesione 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 Eritrean Sea. It was presented to Thais by merchants from Egypt. From Ptolemy, she knew about the Stagirite's greed for rarities from distant lands and thought to open his heart with this key.

Egesichora for some reason did not appear for dinner. Thais wanted to eat with Hesione, but the girl begged not to do so, otherwise her role as a servant, which she wanted to honestly play in Thais's house, would become fake and deprive her of the good attitude of the hetera's servants and slaves.

Sacred pines silently and motionlessly were carried away by their tops into the hot sky, when Thais and Hesiona slowly walked towards the gallery, surrounded by tall old columns, where the old sage was studying with his disciples. The stagirite was out of sorts and met the hetera on the wide steps of rickety slabs. The construction of new buildings was just beginning.

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

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

- So you are Ptolemy's friend? He was not a talented student, his mind was too busy with war and women. And, of course, you need to learn something from me? - he threw a sharp, piercing glance at Thais. Hetera calmly greeted 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, hetero?

- Why is not you interested, great philosopher? Are you indifferent to the fate of your fellow glorious in Hellas? Thais burst out.

- Girl, your speech is getting cocky!

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

- Why? 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 consider that the philosopher Astiokh no longer exists, and forget about him. I don’t care if he’s thrown into silver mines or grinds grain from the Carian bakers. Each person from the free chooses his own 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 into the light, showed that the conversation was over.

- How far are you to Anaxagoras and Antiphon, Stagirite! - Hesione shouted beside herself. - You are simply envious of the fame of Astiokh, the singer of peace and beauty! Peace and beauty - this 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 hit Hesione on the cheek with a swing. She screamed and wanted to rush at the stumpy, bearded offender, but Thais grabbed her hand.

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

“The philosophers spoke without pretense,” Thais said mischievously.

With these words, Thais deftly snatched the chrysolite from the confused Aristotle, picked up the chemation and started to run along the wide path between the pine trees to the road. Hesione, without losing a moment, followed her, and after the girls several men rushed - either diligent students or servants. Thais and Hesiona managed to jump onto the chariot that was waiting for them, but the boy-driver did not have time to move the horses when they were seized by the bridle, and three hefty elderly men rushed to the chariot entrance, which was open at the back, to drag both women off it. One grabbed Thais by the hem and dashed towards him, but the flexible and strong hetaira resisted, clinging to the side of the cart. The matter was getting serious. None of the companions were on the road, and the evil philosophers could easily deal with the defenseless girls. The boy-driver, whom Thais had taken instead of the elderly groom, only looked around, not knowing what to do with the people who had blocked the way.

- You will not leave, harlots! Gotcha, libertines! - shouted a man with a wide, uncut beard, stretching out his other hand to the resting Thais. At that moment, Hesiona, having snatched the whip from the driver, poked it with all her might into her angry screaming mouth. The attacker choked, coughed, retreated and crashed to the ground. The freed Thais opened the bag, suspended from the wall of the chariot, and, snatching out the box with the powder, poured it into the eyes of the second man. A short reprieve led nowhere. The chariot could not budge, and the exit from it was closed, but Aphrodite was merciful to Thais. From the east, on the rocky road that rose there, the thunder of wheels and hooves was heard. From around the bend, four mad horses flew out in a chariot of the lists. A woman ruled them! Golden hair like a cloak fluttered in the wind - Egesichora.

- Thais, malakion (darling), hold on!

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

- Drive, do not hesitate! Thais shouted, giving the boy a strong slap on the head. The driver came to his senses, and the bay couple rushed at full speed, pursued on the heels of the four of Egesichora.

Screams, curses, threats were heard from behind the clouds of dust. Hesiona could not stand it and began to laugh hysterically until Thais shouted at the girl, whose feelings were still out of order after the ordeals she had endured.

Before they knew it, they flew past the intersection of the Acharn road. Restraining the scattered horses, they turned back and to the right, went down to Iliss and rode along the river to the Gardens. Only having entered under the canopy of huge cypress trees, Egesichora stopped and jumped from the chariot. Thais ran up to her and kissed her friend hard.

- Amatrochia came out well? In the lists, such wheel grip is very dangerous.

“You are indeed the heiress of Kiniska, Egesichora. But how did you happen to be on the road? Thank the gods!

- I stopped by to pick you up, and you went to Lyceum. It was not difficult to realize that you were looking for Hesiona's father, and that alarmed me. We do not know how to talk with sages, and they dislike heterosexuals, if they are beautiful and smart. In their opinion, the combination of these properties in a woman is unnatural and dangerous ... - the Spartan laughed loudly.

- And how did you figure out to be on time?

- I drove from the Lyceum grove to the mountains, stayed there to wait with the horses and sent the groom to stand at the bend and watch when you went. He came running with the news that philosophers were beating you, but, apparently, hesitated. I barely had time to leave him on the road.

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

“I’ll go to the Seven Bronzes, where Dorey lives, give him the chariot, and then we’ll go swimming to your favorite place. Let your ephebe follow me to the turn, and wait there!

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

Tired, Thais and Egesichora stretched out side by side on the sand, buzzing under the impact of the waves, like a bronze leaf in the floor of a temple. Pebbles rolled with a squeal and gnash from the slope that went under the water, and the blessed wind gently touched the bodies, tired from the heat. Hesiona was sitting right next to the splash. Grasping her knees and resting her chin on them, she hummed something inaudible in the sound of the waves.

“The angry Stagirite will file a complaint against you with the gyneconomists,” Thais said. “He will not forgive us.

“He doesn't know me,” teased the Spartan woman, “and you gave your name to him. Most likely, he will send a dozen of his students to destroy your house and rape you!

- We'll have to ask friends to spend the night in my garden. Maybe hiring two or three armed guards will be easier, just 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, - said Egesichora firmly. - After all, I have already decided to sail with the Spartans to Egypt. This is 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 with concern again. "And you are leaving me alone, without you, in Athens?"

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

- I did not promise this to you or to myself!

- So the gods decided. I was with the soothsayer, the one whose name is not pronounced, as well as the goddess he serves.

Thais shuddered and turned pale, flexing her flexible toes chilly.

- Why, why did you do it?

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

"Is he from the ancient line of the Laconian kings?" And what did you tell him?

- Yes!

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

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

Thais silently looked in front of her into the 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 the boedromion of Gythia.

- And there?

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

“There is not much time left,” Thais said, getting up and brushing the sand from her belly, thighs and elbows. Egesichora also stood up, separating the curly strands of her heavy hair with her palm. Hesiona ran up to Thais with a piece of cloth used to wipe off the salt, and wiped off the Lacedaemonian too. Almost without speaking, 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 excitedly discussed the adventure at the Lyceum Grove. The Athenians - great lovers of gossip and gossip, were sophisticated in describing a terrible catastrophe. The number of the crippled increased steadily, reaching fifteen by noon. The name Thais was repeated sometimes with admiration, sometimes with indignation, depending on the age and gender of the speakers. But all the respectable women agreed that it was necessary to teach a lesson to “that metrotep Kressa” (a Cretan woman by her mother), who in her insolence did not hesitate to disturb the peace of the monastery of the great sage. The Gynekonomists have already sent their representative to Thais to summon her to the court to testify. And although Thais herself was not accused of a serious crime and, apart from a monetary penalty, she was not in danger even with an unfair turn of the case, her friend could be punished severely. Witnesses saw a woman rushing in a chariot, and the whole city knew that the tetrippa - four horses - could only be driven by the hetera Egesichora. Her patrons delayed the case, but it soon became clear that one of the sons of the influential and noble Aristodemus was mutilated by hooves and wheels. Three more students of the Stagirite demanded satisfaction for broken ribs, an arm and a leg. And on the "hard days" of Metagitnion - the last three days of each month, dedicated to the dead and the underground gods - Egesichora suddenly appeared at night 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 woman, - I sold the rest!

- And the 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.

- No! Thais said fervently. "I decided too ...

- When did you decide?

- Now.

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

- But I need time to get ready. I will not sell the house, but leave it to the faithful Akesia. And the gardener

with his wife will also stay. The others - Clonaria, Hesion 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, you'd better not come back, but wait for me in Heraclea. I will find sailors who willingly and without attracting anyone's attention will transport me. Let's hurry, we've decided everything.

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

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

“I took it off and you put it down,” Thais thought, looking after the cheerful Lacedaemonian woman. She looked up at her beloved high constellations above the black tips of cypresses, which had listened to her silent pleas to Aphrodite Urania so many times. Hetera felt an unprecedented melancholy, as if she were saying goodbye forever to a great city filled with powerful beauty created by many Hellenic artists in dozens of generations.

She sent Clonaria, thrilled by a mysterious night visit, for Talmid, a mighty athlete who lived next door. Armed with a dagger and a copper club, he more than once accompanied the hetera, 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, stars, statues of gods and heroes.

That night Thais walked slowly to 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-British 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 through her thin tunic its inexhaustible warmth and firmness.

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

Thais quietly ascended the worn steps to the Victory Cathedral. A distant light flashed over Pnyx's shoulder - an icon lamp over Baratron - a terrible crevice that reminded the Athenians of the wrath of the Farmer - Poseidon. Sacrifices were thrown there to the formidable underground gods and the Erinians. The young hetaira 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 bring their wrath, and then misfortunes will follow. Wise people even deliberately want good luck to be interspersed with failure, happiness - with misfortune, believing that by doing so they protect themselves from the more crushing blows of fate. This seemed ridiculous to Thais. How can you buy yourself happiness by bowing to the gods and praying for the sending of misfortune? Insidious women goddesses will be able to strike a blow so painful that after it any happiness will seem bitter. No, it's better, like Nika, to climb to the top of the cliff and if you really fall from it, then forever ...

Thais looked up from the contemplation of the light above Baratron and thought that tomorrow magis should be baked - a sacrificial cake to Hecate - the goddess of crossroads, striking far and not allowing belated travelers to pass. And also a sacrifice to Athena Kaleuttia - the goddess of the roads. And there, do not forget Aphrodite Euploe - a favorable voyage, Egesichora will take care of this.

Thais's light, quick steps were clearly echoed under the colonnade of her beloved temple, 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 lovely city; to the lighthouse in Piraeus and the two low lanterns of Munychia. There, probably, the ship with Egesichora has already left for the Sarov Gulf, heading south, to nearby Aegina.

When Thais went down to the Agora, walked past the old desolate temple of Night - Nykhon, two "night crows" (long-eared owls) flew from the right side at once - a double omen. Although many of these sacred Athena birds were found around Athens and in the city itself, such a coincidence happened to Thais for the first time. Sighing in relief, she quickened her steps towards the sullen and massive walls of the ancient sanctuary 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 to the corner stone to receive a warning of impending danger. Thais pressed her forehead and temples against the stone polished for a long time, but she did not hear a slight hum or a faint tremor of the wall. Rhea-Cybele did not know anything, and therefore, in the near future nothing threatened the getter. Thais almost ran west, towards Keramik and her home, so fast that Talmid grumbled behind him. Hetera waited for the athlete, hugged him by the neck and rewarded him with a kiss.

Slightly stunned, the hero threw her in his arms and, despite a laughing protest, carried her home like the best jewel for every Hellene.

On the day Thais had set sail, the weather had 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 ash.

Euryclidion - a strong north-east wind, lived up to its name "billowing wide waves" and quickly drove the small ship to the island of Aegina.

Thais, standing at the stern, turned her back to the receding bank of the Attica and gave herself up to a soothing rolling on a large swell. The memory of yesterday's meeting with a stranger to her, a warrior, with traces of wounds on his bare arm and a scar on his face half-hidden by his beard. The stranger stopped her on the Trenozhnikov Street, at the statue of the Satyr Periboeton ("world famous"), sculpted by Praxiteles.

The penetrating glaucopid eyes were staring at her, and the heterosexual felt that it was impossible to tell a lie to this man.

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

Thais bowed her head in amazement.

- Things are going badly in the Athenian state if beauty leaves it. Beauty of women, arts, crafts. Previously, beauty flocked here, now it runs away from us.

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

- You're right, young. Remember - I am a friend of Lysippos, a sculptor, and a sculptor himself. Soon we will go to Asia, to Alexander. You cannot escape the same goal - sooner or later we will meet there.

- I do not know. Unlikely. Fate draws me in the other direction.

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

“It's too late,” said the hetera, sincerely regretting. The attention of one of the greatest artists of Hellas flattered her. Beautiful legends circulated about Praxiteles' love for Phryne, Phidias - for Aspazia.

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