Hymenaios, or the Marriage of the God of Marriage - 9. Part IX. The Best of Friends

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Part IX. The Best of Friends

Some friends, the night previous the wedding day,

Feasted Hymenaios in his own house

As was the custom before the new bride

Entered the home she’d eventually rule.

Following the First Table, came dessert.

The honey-laced confection were arrayed

Before the three couches on the table,

Well within relaxed reach of the diners.

Hymen, Myiscus and seven more friends

Lounged then and laughed freely to the wee hours.

Along with the sweet course, servants hauled in

The large krater of bronze – four boys alone

Needed to bring it into the dining room.

It was freshly stocked with cool spring water

From which ladlesful would be mixed with wine

And served to the uproarious bachelors.

As was the custom, the boys got tipsy,

Knowing they could spend the night where they were,

Free from the worry of finding their way home

Drunk in the midst of a night turned morning.

About the second hour after midnight,

The wine stewards too – handsome lads themselves –

Were invited onto the couches to nap,

Some foot play, both innocent and not so,

Going on between the waiters and patrons.

In another hour, all were asleep

Except best friends Hymen and Myiscus

On the cushioned central couch of honor.

Slowly with care, the young men rose to stand,

The banquet a warm glow in their stomachs,

And exited as quietly as mice.

They headed towards the refreshing sounds

Coming from the wide-open main garden

With its fountain in motion night and day.

Upon the grass both cool and inviting,

The boys once more came to a settled rest

Lying flat on their backs – heels kicked up on

The curbs of the gurgling water feature –

They gazed up at the stars, folding their hands

Over their chests, and chatting like only

The best of friends feel able to do.

While Myiscus watched stars, Hymenaios

Watched his best friend, remembering the scene

The two had reenacted earlier.

 

Before other guests began to arrive,

Twin garlands of roses had been unbound –

Red for Hymenaios to praise Kathros,

And yellow for Myiscus to honor

A certain poet enshrined in his heart.

In a repeat of the first ritual

On the day he initially saw her,

The young men blessed their roses with a kiss

And bent down before Hymen’s household shrine.

Its bright red Corinthian columns glowed

In the welcoming afternoon sunlight.

The pair of paneled doors opened once more

To the wafting tribute of burning myrrh

And bathed the bare-breasted statue within

With the pale virtue of her ivory skin

And the veneration worthy of Love.

Then the boys strung their respective garlands

Around the opposing columns to join

Together at the temple’s pediment,

The welkin skies and flying doves painted

Within the shrine’s interior once more

Surrounded Aphrodite’s nakedness.

To clothe her in earthy glory as she

Rose from the bath of her birth – the great sea.

In repetition, each boy then knelt down

To clasp hands and silently pray to her,

But this time, instead of Her assistance,

The lads thanked Her for the delivery

Of their heart’s desire into their arms.

 

“Why do you stare at me that way, Hymen?”

Snapped from his reverie, the brightest son

Of his holy father Helios, grinned.

“Oh, nothing, Myiscus. A wandering thought

And remembering the tribute today

Before our household shrine to Goddess Love.”

“Yes, I can scent the sweet-hued blossoms now.”

“What’s wrong, Myiscus—” Hymen nearly laughed.

His friend’s tone told him something troubled his mind.

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just happy for you….”

As Myiscus’ volume trailed to naught,

The bright boy about to be married said,

“I never told you how the adventure

Of me being a Little Bear ended.”

“No, Hymenaios, I don’t think you did.”

The bright boy then let peal silvery laughter.

“You should have seen the sight when my Kathros

And her stern father trundled me back home.

Still pent in my feminine wig and garb.

My intended’s household was all a-gasp,”

The merry tone in his friend’s laughing voice

Made Myiscus turn his head and watch him:

“What happened when her mother first saw you?”

“Kathros’ nursemaid ran over to support

The woman she was sure would faint away,

And then Stratos – the girl’s father – announced

He’d given their daughter’s hand in marriage

To the likes of me. But before Mother

Had a chance to chastise any of us,

I suddenly remembered they thought me

A girl, so then revealed to them slowly

My true gender; status in life; parents –

All information of which amazed them,

Especially the nursemaid, who then cried.

Kathros calmed her down, but the older one

Had suddenly come to accept the fact

That a daughter she was about to lose

To the holy ties of matrimony.”

Hymen’s plan had worked well, for now his friend

Smiled and laughed in his best unguarded way.

Myiscus said, “I wish I had been there.”

“Me too, my friend, but”—Hymen’s tone now slipped

Into the shiningly bare and sincere—

“Tomorrow, Myiscus, I want you to

Stand there by my side as I pledge my vows.

Will you do that for me, dear companion?”

“I would be honored,” Myiscus confirmed.

There followed a silence with the two boys

Looking comfortably in each other’s eyes,

The fountain gurgling softly to the stars.

Hymen understood his friend very well

And recognized the glint he saw in him

Which defies explanation other than

The one, greatest reason of them all – love.

He thus told Myiscus very softly:

“You are looking rather solemn tonight.”

Blinking and catching a lump in this throat,

Myiscus asked his buddy plainly,

“Is it all right if I tell you something?”

“’Course it is; I’ll listen to you, always.”

“I’d been deceiving others and myself

To deny how I felt within my soul.

But the truth is, I love Meleager,

And that more than I love my own life, which

He pledges he loves in return for me.”

No great ‘told you so’ moment, Hymen

Reached and took his companion’s fingers.

“I’m so happy for you – for both of you!”

“But I feel so foolish to have wasted – “

“Tsk, tsk, my friend. What’s important is now

You have received love, and love in return

Will reward both of you with honor.”

“Thank you, Hymenaios.” He squeezed his hand.

“Don’t mention it, Myiscus, but I’m glad

You have taken the right and healthy course.”

“What is it you exactly mean, Hymen?”

“I mean that the denial of the self

Is a sore element of destruction

Upon a person’s true self-potential.

Blinkered then by such a mindset, if we

Toss off heaven-made matches, foolishly,

We destroy everything we’re meant to be

For mutable customs and laws of Man.

Such limitations must evolve – or if

They do not, cease to bind thinking minds or

Compassionate hearts seeking to live whole.”

Now letting a grin twist into a smile,

Myiscus told him, “I knew you’d get it,

And that I’d been one of those, foolishly,

Hind’ring myself from what really matters.”

Hymen let out a good-natured chuckle.

“I did get it and was waiting for you

To be willing to accept it too, but –

You have, and I couldn’t be happier –

And besides, just look at Meleager!

Anyone – male, female, or both – would melt

In the warm strength of such a man’s heartbeat.

You’ve made yourself and me proud by showing

You accept his love by returning it.”

“Speaking of that”—Myiscus flushed bright pink—

“The gods love all love but mostly sanctify

Those willing to testify commitment,

Regardless of conventions, equally.

That the union of loves, of minds, of hearts

Into one destiny is as old as the stars,

And millennia from now, it will be

Exactly the same as it is for us.”

“What is it you are saying, Myiscus?”

Both young men rose to sitting positions.

“Meleager and I have discussed it,

And know in our hearts of hearts we’re ready,

So if Kathros and you will grant it us,

I want you to be with me tomorrow

When my poet and I get married too.”

Hymen’s hand, open-palmed, went to his cheek,

Feeling moist heat from his friend’s happy tears

Slowly sinking into his whole being.

“As proudly then,” confirmed Hymenaios,

“As you stand next to my side tomorrow,

I’ll be by yours, and in fact any groom

 

Whose heart of hearts most truly loves, there I’ll descend

And be by one and all who beckons me attend.”

 

 

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