Poseidon's Weakness Read online

from the dark corner of his brain, where Alexis’s lovemaking has sent them. He sat up in bed and after pulling a silk Egyptian sheet over sleeping Alexis’s naked body, he got up and walked out to the huge balcony overlooking the magnificent bay of Dolphins. Under the silvery moonlight, he could see his luxurious sea-cruiser anchored in the middle of the bay while dolphins were happily playing all around it. Tomorrow he would get into this vessel which drawn by the fastest dolphins in the world would transport him, in less than 60 minutes, to the official sea-port of Olympus some 300 kilometres away. The important thing he has to do right now, is to prepare a story which would have a reasonable chance of persuading the Council and preferably its chairman Zeus, that the event was not in the least due to Poseidon’s fault.

  He remained deep in thought and nearly motionless for many hours but a faint smile formed on his face just at the time when the first rays from the waking Sun brought their warmth to the cool surface of the earth. Believing he had put together a true sounding story, which may save the day for him, he got up from the balcony recliner stretched his arms to loosen up the muscles of his upper body and walked into the bedroom which by now was empty. Alexis had woken up in the middle of the night and quietly had retired to her own quarters. He walked to the secretariat of the palace and he arranged for a message to be sent to Olympus informing Hermes, the secretary of gods, that he will be appearing before the Council at the time when the Sun would be halfway on his daily stroll in the sky. The message was taken by fast sea and land relay which was the modern and fastest way to exchange messages between gods and their headquarters on Olympus.

  He felt ravenous from the previous night’s exertions with Alexis and the fact that he had not slept at all. He went to the dining room and he attended to the huge spread of freshly cooked food with nearly the same passion he had attended to Alexis a few hours earlier. While he was downing big quantities of tasty morsels accompanied by warm nectar, his favourite breakfast drink, he smiled internally and kept thinking how lucky he was to be appointed by Zeus as the eternal god of the Seas and Oceans. He was not going to allow a mishap to deprive him of an endless luxurious life but that is why he was particularly worried about the outcome of his appearance in front of the Council. If he was found guilty he could be stripped of his deity characteristics and he would become a simple mortal with all the hardships associated with such existence. He would rather be dead than live even a few years as a common mortal. Filling his mouth with a large piece of omelette made with free range eggs, olives from Kalamata, soft feta cheese from Thessalia, smoked ham from Argos and small red tomatoes from the island of Crete, he pushed unpleasant thoughts away from his mind.

  By the time he finished having breakfast the message came back from Olympus, that everything was in order and that he was expected when the Sun would be halfway his daily stroll in the sky. It was still quite early and Poseidon had no intention of going to Olympus earlier than necessary out of fear he might enter into a conversation with another god or goddess and say something that would compromise the strategy of his apology. He would leave about two hours before the appointment because from the Olympian port to the top of mount Olympus would take approximately 50 minutes using the special shuttle service provided by the Winged Pegasus company which was a subcontractor to the Facilities Manager of the headquarters.

  Poseidon looked at the sun dial in the garden and turning to me, Exarhos, his trusted secretary and biographer said: “I feel bloated with all this food I had, so I am going to the beach for a walk and a swim. Make sure that the fast dolphins are coupled to the sea-cruiser and that everything is ready for our trip to Olympus. We are leaving as soon as I come back from the beach” I took a deep bow and assured my master that everything was going to be ready.

  I must admit, that my excitement over the anticipated ingenious story, my master was going to offer to the Gods, was beyond description. I knew he was guilty as hell and I was curious to see how he would attempt to get out of it. I rushed to the staff quarters and instructed the captain of the sea-cruiser to couple the fast dolphins to the vessel and be ready for departure at any time. I went to my suite and carefully packed a change of clothes which should be enough given that we were not planning to spend the night on Olympus.

  I walked down to the beach and climbed into a little boat which drawn by a sea-pony transported me to the sea-cruiser. I sat, in the shade, on a luxurious recliner reserved for me, which was covered with hand made colourful pillows. The day was indeed absolutely beautiful, with light and warmth generously supplied by the Sun, balanced by the cool breeze sent by Eolos the God of winds. The blue of the calm sea mixed with the bright green colour of the leaves on trees, holding bravely on the slopes of the hills which decorated the shoreline, presented an incredible work of natural art. Adding the crispy deep blue and clarity of the Greek sky, one could indeed understand why Gods chose Greece to be their eternal domain. I filled my lungs with the fresh air, my soul with the beauty around me and my heart with the contentment of someone who has everything. I was happy! I was also slightly worried because I could see that it was time to depart and my master was nowhere to be seen.

  I stood by the stern of the boat scanning the sea in all directions but I could see no trace of Poseidon. Time was passing quickly and thinking that he had fallen asleep somewhere, I despatched sea-horses and dolphins with the purpose of finding him and bringing him to the vessel as quickly as possible. In the twenty five or so years that I had been in Poseidon’s service nothing, as grossly negligent from him as this delay, had ever taken place. He even often boasted about his punctuality. In my panic, because it was getting really late, I summoned a sea-horse and went back to Poseidon’s palace. I called the three mermaids, explained to them the situation and despatched them as well to search for their master. I run to the balcony and kept frantically scanning the sea. Nothing to indicate a return of the God! It was indeed unbelievable and I could not offer even to myself a faintly reasonable explanation. I kept looking out, but there was no possibility that even if he returned now we could make the trip in time for the Council. I do not want to think of the consequences in case of a non appearance. There was no precedent of a similar situation over the millennia of the world existence. It is a terrifying and extremely worrying uncertainty. I looked again towards the sea and suddenly I noticed a slight trembling on the surface of the waters; accompanied by playful droplets of mist which slowly started covering the entire sea like an ethereal veil! Oh,no,no,No ;it was not possible; it was not happening. Instead of being half way to Olympus, Poseidon was with who knows whom, enjoying a sexual encounter! Incredible but there was no doubt about it; the sea waters were heaving up and down in an ever increasing tempo, unmistakably in synchronisation with Poseidon’s movements. There were variations in the moves and actually it resembled a sensual dance governed by undefined joy and elation to the point of total separation from reality. The rhythm was interchanging between deliberately slow and violently fast, making the dancing columns of sea spray move like exotic dancers in a phantasmagorical interpretation of extreme happiness.

  Over the years I have witnessed many times the participation of the Seas in the emotional state of their God, be that anger, joy, sadness or love, but never before had I experienced the intensity and beauty of emotional co-ordination as the one which was on display today. On and on the onslaught of emotional variations continued for more than three hours. I was so mesmerised by the magic of the show that I did not notice the heavy mass of dark clouds which were coming from the West covering the sky with great speed. Suddenly the light from the Sun was totally blocked from reaching the earth and an ominous darkness engulfed the hills, the valleys and the sea. A flash of light and a thunderous sound from a lightning bolt split the curtain of dark clouds into two parts, while a second and a third bolt in succession enabled everyone and everything to recognise the God of Gods, Zeus, show his imposing figure standing on the flying Pegasus drawn chariot, in between the clouds. All the da
ncing and sounds of joy were replaced by an eerie silence awaiting the next act of the drama. Not many would have known the reason for the sudden visit by Zeus but I knew very well and this knowledge caused my entire body to feel like it was submerged into a pond of freezing water. The scene was quite far from the palace so I could not make out what was going on, but I was certain that the lightning bolts were falling very close to where my master was at this moment. I admired Zeus’s ability to find whomever he was interested in finding, even if he was thirty thousand feet high up on mount Olympus.

  I started trembling thinking of how angry or offended Zeus must feel in order to personally come to find the reason which prevented Poseidon from keeping his appointment with the Gods. Shivers of fear were traversing my body and I was totally helpless to be of any assistance whatsoever to Poseidon or myself for that matter.

  I kept on watching, with the hope of understanding the events taking place far in the horizon and near the island of Rhodes, but all I could see were the