Proteus

=Proteus=

=Of Seals and Treachery=

[[image:small_head_shot.JPG align="left"]]
No sane man is arrogant enough to assume that he is able to overcome the gods and withstand their wrath, but Menelaus did just that. One sunny afternoon, when I was languishing with my seals on the island of Pharos, four mortals, foolish Menelaus and his crew, dared invade my private sanctuary. Menelaus was in search of information he did not need to survive; his greed compelled him to challenge a god. He and his men took the form of that which is most sacred to me: seals.

My flock is my reason for living; I provide them with the love and nourishment needed to survive in this harsh world, and Menelaus and his men encroached upon the bond we share. I would have taken vengeance for so outrageous an act, but Menelaus is one of those select few mortals favored by Zeus. My shape shifting powers would have saved me from Menelaus if my treacherous daughter had not deceived me and revealed my secrets to him. Once subdued, I was forced into my human form; I had no choice but to answer his questions, but I first asked some questions of my own to find out who this odious mortal was.

Invoking all my strength and power as a god, I asked him, "Who dares defy the laws of man and challenge I, Proteus, a god of the sea?"

"I am Menelaus, a great Greek king," he replied pompously.

"What are you doing on my island? No man or immortal has safe passage here without my good will, and you have earned none of that. Explain yourself."

"Well old man, since I am the one holding you captive, I believe I have a right to ask some questions of my own. I want to be here as much as you want me here. Tell me how to leave this cursed realm."

"The only reason you are held here is by my will. If you had not passed through in the first place, you would be long gone by now. Because of your insolence you are trapped on my island."

"If you will not tell me the secret to leaving, then answer me this: what has happened to the brave, triumphant Greek heroes of the Trojan War?"

"You ask of your friends? They have all perished. All but one. His journey, however, is delayed greatly by a goddess not as great as myself. Brave you call him? Then why has he stayed with Calypso for so long? Odysseus, they call him, has finally reached Ogygia and has been there for years. Who knows when he will brave the journey home."

"What of my destiny, my fate? Where will I end up once I am gone from this mortal realm?"

"You have no right to know this! But I cannot withhold answers from you now. You will live out your mortal life and then end up in the Elysian Fields, the realm of heroes, though, if you ask me, you don't belong there."

"What about my brother, great Agamemnon?"

"Agamemnon is no more. He was betrayed by his adulterous wife and killed by her lover. He and all his men were killed in one single attack. If you do not hurry home, another will avenge his death with no thought of your pride. Go now if you want the chance to bring down your brother's murderer."

Without a word of thanks, that insolent mortal Menelaus sped of my island as fast as the winds would carry him. He could not bear to hear anymore about his friends and their fates. That is where his greed led him, to answers he did not want and off an island he will never find again. Good riddance.