ashlynflagg

Happy Halloween, everyone! This isn't really a spooky story, but I thought y'all deserved a treat today. That being said, enjoy the prologue of my newest story: Agrossa Thrinakie! I'll be releasing a new chapter every Thursday until the story is complete, so look forward to that!

Millenia ago, there was a man. He was a hunter, and a good one at that. His name was Actaeon, and his life was ended by a series of terrible mistakes, not entirely within his control. That’s the issue when you’re dealing with gods. Oftentimes you find you’re damned no matter what you do, no matter what you choose, but the worst fate of all awaits those who fail to choose to begin with. To hear the poet Callimachus say it, the life of Actaeon ended the night he met Artemis. 

He was hunting, as hunters often do, and had wandered away from his party when he heard laughter. Laughter, voices, and the sounds of running water. Naturally he was curious, who would be out in the woods so late at night, laughing together with friends. His curiosity grew further when he realized the voices were women. Upon discovering the voice’s source, he stopped and stared, dumbfounded. How could he not? Right before him was the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen, of towering height and staggering beauty, and all around her were pretty, youthful nymphs, the lot of them bathing in a river. When his presence was revealed, the nymphs moved into a panic, shielding the taller woman from his view, but it was too late, he’d already seen, and the vision would etch itself into his memory for the rest of his life. A life that had suddenly grown much shorter.

The woman stood and revealed her true nature. Standing before him was Artemis, Goddess of the hunt, of wilderness, of the moon, and young women, and unfortunately for Actaeon, she did not care for men. She certainly did not care for men who would stare at her so brazenly. In some tellings of the story, she congratulated him on being the only man to have ever witnessed her naked form, but in all tellings, she warned him not to speak of it. For that matter, just to be certain that the man would not tell a soul of what he saw, she commanded that he not ever speak again, warning him that if he did, he would be forever changed into a stag.

Actaeon fled, now coming to terms with the consequences of his mistake. One word and he’d lose his humanity forever. Then, Actaeon fell victim to another great misfortune. As he pondered his predicament, his hunting party began to approach, and Actaeon, upon hearing them, cried out to his friends on reflex. In that single moment, that one impulsive mistake doomed him entirely. In an instant, he found himself transformed into a deer, and his party of fellow hunters were coming, along with his hounds. He fled, but he could not escape them, and in the end he perished, ripped apart by his own hunting dogs.

Years later, there was a man. He was a hunter, and a good one at that. His name was Sipriotes, and his life was ended by a terrible mistake, not entirely within his control. To hear the ancient Greek author Antoninus Liberalis say it, the life of Sipriotes ended the night he met Artemis.

It is with some regret that I must say the majority of Sipriotes’ tale is lost, but what little of the story remains tells us this. Sipriotes encountered Artemis under much the same circumstances as Actaeon, but rather than ogle her like Actaeon, Sipriotes averted his eyes and begged forgiveness, even before realizing who stood before him. Artemis being Artemis, she couldn’t accept a man seeing her nude without consequence, but upon witnessing Sipriotes’ honest remorse and earnest efforts to preserve her modesty, she decided to show him mercy. Rather than doom the poor hunter to death, she changed him in a different way. On that day, Sipriotes died, and a new, pretty young nymph was born.

Many many years after that, and hardly more than a couple years ago, there were two young women. Neither was a hunter, but still they wandered the woods. Their names were Chloe and Sophia, and their lives truly began with a choice, not entirely within their control. To hear the author of this current piece say it, the lives of Chloe and Sophia began the night they met Artemis.

ashlynflagg

A new series begins! I've been taking a classical mythology class this semester, so I got Greek Myths on the brain! Ever since I heard about Sipriotes I've been kinda obsessed, I'd definitely love for some tall powerful moon goddess to trans my gender, so I figured writing a story about that could be pretty fun. I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

 

Time for your Ancient Greek fact of the day! Grammar basically doesn't matter when it comes to the Ancient Greek language. The order of words basically just denoted importance, rather than following a specific structure. For example, the first line of the Iliad is often translated as "Sing, Muse, of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus!", but if you translate it directly, it's "Rage sing, Muse, Son of Peleus, Achilles!" If you know the story of the Iliad, the fact that the very first word is rage/wrath makes a whole lot of sense. It's not the story of the trojan war, not really, it's a story about rage and fury, and how deeply that affected Achilles.

That's also why this story's title, Agrossa Thrinakie, is what it is! It translates roughly to three huntresses, but I made the conscious choice to place the word for huntress before the number because I considered that to be the most important of the two words.