Night befell Hellas as discord and strife corrupted the minds of men. Barbarians from across the Aegean sought their spoils, leaving only a ghostly silence in their path. The city of Athens was prepared to fall to the enemy who were swift in their assault. Aletheia and her lover scaled the city’s great walls under cover of darkness and sought refuge in a meek farming village inland, hoping its obscurity would shield them. But hard as they tried to escape it, war would reach the young lovers.
The barbarians now closed upon the village; their fires lit the hillside into a new dawn. Aletheia’s lover, deceived by the light, left their host’s home to prepare their horse for the journey ahead. Aletheia herself would continue to slumber until awoken by a sudden chaos and the snaping and twisting of wood by the main entrance. The door tore open, and the screams of the village filled the home as heavy steps and the rustling of armor now made their way towards her. She hid—as they searched one room, she fled to another, and when they made their do with wine, food and fabrics, Aletheia found herself and village stripped of wealth and company.
As day began to bleed over the horizon, Aletheia wept, until however, she did not weep alone. The distant cries of her lover, carried by Zephyrus, the west wind, could now be heard. Aletheia made haste following the cries, but it was beyond her reach. And as day once more became night, the cries left only a distant echo in her mind as darkness now consumed her.
Alethia now stumbled over shrubs and rocks; her once finely ruffled white dress now stained of ash and dirt, and face marked by fatigue and sorrow. Day revealed to her a vast meadow far from the main path. “Don’t you look lovely!” a voice suddenly called out to her. A herd of cattle and their herdsmen could now be seen; seeking clues to where the barbarians had gone, she approached. He was clothed in a delicate blue tinted tunic with a woven pattern at its hem—wealth she had never known any herdsman to have. His old face and wiry beard, unlike his fine clothing, bore the stress and beat of the sun and his voice was a howling wind.
“My master warned not to roam by night for he told of raiders from the sea,” the Herdsmen said. “He may know more of where they move and I will guide you to him, if you assist me on troubles of my own.”
The cattle were owned by his master and half of which were stolen by a man just moments ago. The Herdsmen’s life would take the place of the missing livestock and he could not find the strength to pursue the thief. He tasked Aletheia to retrieve the cattle for him, pointing in the direction he had ran off in.
Aletheia now saw the stolen cattle grazing by a distant field and made her way towards them. Before she could make her escape with the herd, she was confronted by the man. Unlike the Herdsmen, his features agreed with him, devoid of all finery and voice but a gentle breeze. The man explained to Aletheia a stranger had ran off with half of his master’s cattle the night before, including his prized bull and a fine woven tunic. The master, believing that he had sold them for money, cut off the hands of the man’s daughter and set her by a loom, claiming that if she can weave a tapestry by the end of the day, so beautiful that it was equal to the stolen goods, he will spare their lives. Aletheia agreed to follow the man to prove his story and they came upon a great house where a small garrison took camp. When presented with the daughter’s missing hands, Aletheia out of compassion agreed to help. They returned to where Aletheia last spoke to the Herdsmen but found only a vast stretch of wild before them. The man did not know how to weave but Aletheia did, and so they quickly made their way back to the daughter to finish the tapestry. The sun however, began to retreat behind the horizon and with it, their hope.
As their tears shimmered in the glaring light of the sunset, the Goddess Athena took pity and restored the daughter’s hands—blessing them so that she could thread strings from clouds, soft and light as air, and infuse the colors of the sky, earth, and sea into the finished tapestry. Aletheia hid, waiting for the master’s return, but instead of awe, the master was enraged when presented with the daughter’s restored hands holding the vibrant tapestry. Before his guards could slay the man and his daughter, Athena possessed Aletheia’s body and intercepted. Insulted by the master’s lack of integrity and disrespect to the craft she had gifted the daughter, she turned the master and his guards into cattle and made the father the new owner of the property and a full citizen under Athens. Athena revealed to Aletheia that the Herdsmen is more than just a simple thief, advising her to use the tapestry to capture him.
Guided by Athena, she found the thief and threw the tapestry over him as he slept. The thief felt nothing but the passing breeze, and as she wrapped and threw him over her shoulder, he was as light as air. Aletheia returned the stolen herd, and awoke the sleeping thief, demanding that he return the tunic and guide her to his master else he be thrown into the sea. Resentfully, he accepted, and Aletheia bid farewell to the man and his daughter—being gifted a horse to aid her on her journey.
Aletheia passed scorched fields and came across another slaughtered and torched village; a question began to grow within her mind along with a fury in her heart. They entered the deep woods, the path now flanked by trees which welcomed her in as she entered the master’s home, hidden behind the forest. Within its vast atrium, she saw a squat old man at its center—the house untouched and otherwise absent of all people with no guards at watch. Aletheia called out to the old man, claiming in return for his thief’s freedom, he would tell her of what he knew of the barbarians. The old man now grew to a towering height reaching the house itself as he now revealed herself as the goddess Eris. She demanded her son, a Pseudologoi, spirit of lies, to be freed else she meet a worse fate.
Aletheia freed the spirit and Eris proclaimed, “If you seek the truth, retrieve the pelt of the great wolf beast who guards the path you seek and return it to me. Then I will guide you to truth,” knowing if Aletheia were to succeed or fail, she will die either way.
On her way, Athena advised her to quickly slay the beast as it slept before dawn, however, when Aletheia saw it lay with pups, she could not. As darkness receded, Aletheia hid, troubled by what to do. Apollo directed a ray of light towards the den and the heat caused the beast to shed its fur. He revealed to Aletheia that Eris wished the wrath of Artemis upon her who the beast was dear to. Aletheia so devised to return with cattle from the man she had helped before, distracting the beast and quickly retrieving the hairs as it fed. She once more returned to the man’s home and brought the hairs before his daughter who weaved the beast’s hair into a believable pelt as another day once more passed.
Presenting the pelt before Eris, the goddess told Aletheia to bring the pelt as a gift to the beloved general of Athens, revealing he had brought victory to the city over the barbarian hordes and there will she find the truth. Aletheia set off as the beast slept but was distrustful of Eris’ words; since she last saw Athens, she was certain it would have fallen.
The acropolis loomed over Aletheia where the General and the people of Athens celebrated. Passing under the Propylaea, the revered statue of Athena Promachos towered over her as she offered the pelt to the renowned general. He was attractive and embellished in gold and expensive fabrics, wine sloshing from within the bloated goat skin from which he drank. Surrounded by song and dance, Aletheia suddenly rebuked the General for such expressions of excess and victory while the barbarians ravaged the countryside. A look of confusion swept away the triumph on the people’s faces.
“The barbarians fled upon their ships, accepting the tributes I offered them!” The General replied. “I escorted their fleet myself!” His voice so pleasant, it would impress the muses.
Unwilling to forsake the victory they had just won, the soldiers and noblemen looked satisfied, but Aletheia now understood what that tribute was. The fury grew within her, accusing the General of unleashing the barbarians upon the vulnerable and sparing the wealthy in exchange for his glory. His act doomed them all to a prolonged death! With none to sow the fields, they were left to starve and fight among themselves for what remains—too weak to fight off another invasion and none left to rebuild! A growing clamor of voices replaced song from the mass of people, yet the noblemen stood silent and restless.
“She threatens the peace and order I have returned to the city!” proclaimed the General.
His message overshadowed Aletheia whose clothes were torn, soiled and smelt of wild beast. The soldiers seized her, unsheathing swords and taking up spears while Eris watched in pleasure. They slew Aletheia and a uproar among the people condemned the General as they set upon him; the noblemen uncertain of who to feign allegiance to. Enraged at the innocent blood spilt on her sacred sight, Athena’s great statue awoke, crushing the soldiers’ defensive ranks at her feet and the people breached through. Athena took Aletheia’s lacerated body within her palms and healed her wounds before she approached the domain of Hades. Having been a victim to fate and deceit yet perseverant despite it, Aletheia became the personification of truth. Clad in blinding white, she now saw through the General’s guise; he was another of Eris’s children. The people dragged the General and threw him over the Acropolis walls and he tumbled upon its jagged cliff face.
Eris was outraged; wanting to doom Aletheia to the city, she challenged her, “For every moment you look beyond these people, my children will tear and claw at the fabric of Athens!”
Knowing this, Aletheia so established a new order which gave power to the citizens of Athens to rule over themselves. Truth may always be threatened, but through this act, it would live on in those who uphold it and never at the mercy of one man. As Eris fled and the people prepared for an uncertain future, Aletheia looked towards the rising sun and wept. The countryside was near absent of voices and she heard only silence from where her lover had gone. Despite this, Aletheia once more began to search for her—unwilling to know the truth.
Jose Calderon
Prof. Cundy
CLAA06
08/04/21
Introduction
Aletheia’s Story explores ideas with the “post truth era” which ironically characterizes our current period known as the “information age”—however, with a little more divine intervention. The narrative establishes an origin myth to the birth of democracy in Athens as well as the difficulties with disinformation which follow its creation. Using elements and themes from other Greek myths and tragedies, Aletheia’s Story is both unfamiliar in the micro sense, yet relevant and contemporary in the macro, revealing that not only lies, but truth may not be as it seems.
Characters
Aletheia
Aletheia—Greek for “truth”; Aletheia’s Story could be translated as “True Story”—is the personification of “truth” in Greek mythology (“Aletheia”). Subsequently, her questioning and discerning nature aids her—even the fire which deceived Aletheia’s lover did not wake Aletheia herself. However, it is her empathy which is Aletheia’s greatest asset. Helping the father and daughter out of compassion prove to be valuable in her second labor as If she were to have slain the wolf beast, it would have angered Artemis, goddess of the wild. Instead of violence through great feats of strength, each of Altetheia’s decisions works to undo the divisions and chaos Eris wishes to propagate. Her cause is firstly not driven by utilitarian need but out of human connection and emotion.
Night (Nyx) and Eris
The opening line “Night befell Hellas as discord and strife corrupted the minds of men” subtly introduces one of our principal gods, Eris, goddess of discord and strife, as well as Night (Nyx), mother of Eris (Hesiod, Theogony 223-225). These characters only appear simultaneously with each other, and each time are the narrative’s low points—all except for when Athena intercepts to aid the protagonist. From the beginning, the reader is told who the orchestrater of the story’s entire conflict is, however, it is not until the climax of the story where the reader is presented with a more nuanced understanding of social instability and injustice, not as a foreign entity, but something enabled by society itself.
Pseudologoi
Pseudologoi is a name broadly given to the children of Eris who are the manifestation of lies (Hesiod, Theogony 226-229; “Pseudologoi”). The first being the Herdsmen, a man with many contradictions. From their first interaction, the Herdsmen lies to Aletheia by mockingly calling her “lovely” despite her tired and disheveled appearance. His clothes are in deep contrast to his harsh features and voice. The Herdsmen’s outward, face value form of lying corresponds to the more simplistic way of rural society and is juxtaposed to the General in the city of Athens. The general—as well as Eris—does not speak one lie, but what they don’t say is more telling and manipulative.
Athena, Apollo and other gods
Athena, goddess of craft, is the first deity to aid Aletheia in her labors with the creation of the tapestry. The statue of Athena Promachos (which translates to “Athena who fights on the front lines”) is also the first to break the defensive ranks protecting the general which allow the people through. Also being the goddess of wisdom, Athena shares a connection to Aletheia, who would become the goddess of truth, along with Apollo—the second deity to aid Aletheia—who is associated with reason and the sun. Zephyrus, the west wind, plays a minor role by carrying the cries of Aletheia’s lover, appearing at the first dawn in the story just as he is the child of Eos, personification of the dawn (Hesiod, Theogony 379-380). “The domain of Hades” is also mentioned, who is the Greek god of the underworld as well as Artemis, goddess of wild animals, who cares for the wolf beast.
Themes and Symbols
Appearances
Appearances play a significant symbol throughout the story which communicates the outward expression of one’s interior motives. The Herdsmen’s clothes were a façade which betrayed his rough exterior and voice. Meanwhile Aletheia’s worn and unkempt appearance contrasts the general’s embellished clothing and attractive features, an outward expression of power over shadowing and manipulated against Aletheia’s message. His voice too, is described as persuasive, “so pleasant, it would impress the muses,” further indication how he uses truth to lie and manipulate just as the muses can tell both lie and truth (Hesiod, Theogony 25-30).
Honor Time and Geras
Aletheia’s lover is the victim of the ancient Greek practice of “honor time”—being objectified as the loot warriors take to symbolize their glory—as well as “geras”—the term that describes their most prized possession. The first of Aletheia’s labors parallels this slave-owner dynamic, where much like how women were seen as cattle to be owned in Ancient Greece, Aletheia encounters a literal slave whose daughter was instead punished by his master for the stolen cattle. The narrative focusses on the female perspective, challenging the unjust, patriarchal systems and reestablishing their power within them, thereby following themes presented in the Demeter-Persephone myth (Foley 80). Much like Demeter, Aletheia searches for her loved one who no longer exists in the mortal world, however the myth deviates in that the characters are not presented closure, a choice which more so reflects the reality of the established order whose actions are not so easily undone.
Nostos, kleos and tragedy
The story begins and ends with the city of Athens. Aletheia’s return to the complexities of urban society from the wilds and rural life is emblematic of the idea of “nostos,” or homecoming, most notably exhibited in the Odessey. Much like Odysseus who presents as a beggar to his household (Homer, Odyssey 13.416-440), Aletheia also undergoes “kleos,” or the loss of her glory when returning to Athens by presenting in an undignified form, unkempt after facing extraordinary obstacles.
Having failed in finding her lover and changed from her traumatic experience, Aletheia becomes a tragic hero. The myth is evocative of Greek tragedies which arose during the transition “from a dominant rural aristocratic society to a dominant urban democratic social formation,” and following many similar narrative beats (Csapo 103). Aletheia is subjected to tragic suffering, experiences “anagnorisis” (a moment of realization) when she reveals the general’s actions, undergoes a reversal of fortunes (a “peripeteia”) in her death and a resurrection where she is immortalized into a goddess. Aletheia also learns through her suffering or “Panthei mathein”—her loss of innocence a direct consequence to her awareness of suffering.
The Nature of Truth
Typical to Greek narrative, Aletheia faces multiple labors and like Euripides’ Hercules, Aletheia is a civilization bringer as she institutes democracy. However, she is still punished for having accomplished so through traits and actions that are transgressive in upholding the established system. Being destructive to order is a trait specific to the feminine aspect in Greek myth (Clay 18). The General did not lie when he accused Aletheia of threatening the peace and order of Athens, however, chooses to exclude important facts in his narrative. Deception is not expressed directly but evolved with the complexities of urban society to be discreet, more believable, not as outright lies but as pseudo-truth to manipulate a wider, more diverse population within the polis. With Eris’ final proclamation to set the personification of lies upon the city, the decentralization of authority both aids in the propagation of lies through the public space, as well as suppressing that disinformation. This intertwining of duality and deconstruction of binaries is another property of Dionysian literature.
The gods and barbarians themselves share more similarities to forces of nature than that of individual entities as they require people to channel their influence over reality. The General’s monopoly on violence and capital through the army and noblemen is what enables his influence. Though power becomes decentralized through democracy, the noblemen nor soldiers are held accountable; their status, considerable wealth and resources allow their voices to have a greater impact, and thereby a direct threat to the idea of equality espoused in the public space. Neither are slaves or women regarded as citizens in ancient Athens, another example where the ideals of equality remain within the conceptual rather than translated into material. And much like reality, though Aletheia is perseverant throughout her journey, when faced with colossal, hegemonic powers, she fails without the aid of equally powerful allies and is a victim of fate.
With the advent of the public forum such as the polis in ancient Greece or the internet in the modern world, ideas are given a larger platform to spread and are accessible to a wider array of voices. Ideas otherwise would be limited by geography and left at the mercy and whim to a centralized authority. But, when a population of diverse voices each seek answers to their unique situation, especially in times of crisis, disinformation proliferates where structural inequalities are not reconciled. The individual in their pursuit of closure to injustice, favors simplicity and what is advantageous over the complexity of the amalgamated truth. It is not to say that only the perspectives of the privileged or homogenous are to be upheld, but that disinformation is a direct reaction to the complexity of diverse thought. Acceptance of diversity, is made the solution to disinformation and, paradoxically, to uphold it is a rejection of voices that use the same mechanisms to disrupt that unity. The ending of Aletheia’s Story is open ended and bittersweet as the people face an uncertain fate and as art imitates life, with little time to wait and hope for divine intervention.
Works Cited
“Aletheia.” Theoi Project, https://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Aletheia.html.
Clay, Jenny. “Orientations: the Theogony.” Cambridge, GBR: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp.
18.
Csapo, Eric and William J. Slater. The Context of Ancient Drama. University of Michigan Press,
1994, pp. 103.
Foley, Helen P. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter: Translation, Commentary, and Interpretive Essays.
Princeton, NJ, USA: Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. 80.
Hesiod, Theogony 25-30,223-229,379-380.
Homer, Odyssey 13.416-440.
“Pseudologoi.” Theoi Project, https://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Pseudologoi.html.