The Music Man
by Amber
Workman
Phaethon
woke to the sounds of sheep grazing around him. He jumped up from the
shock of
them being so close, but not one of the animals ran off. Phaethon
frowned deeply,
rubbing his neck as he searched the landscape. He couldn’t believe how
many sheep were grazing around him. There had to be a hundred of them.
“How
am I
suppose to get to Mount Olympus now with all these sheep blocking the
way?” he
asked to no one. However, much to his surprise, there came a reply.
“Follow
me,” said a voice next to Phaethon that made him take a few steps back
with
freight.
Standing next to him, there was a small lamb. Now, Phaethon would have
normally
thought this was the strangest thing he had seen, but after a talking
sunflower and cypress tree, he wasn’t surprised that a lamb could speak
to him
as well. He shrugged and decided just to trust the animal.
“Do
you
know
where Mount Olympus is?” Phaethon asked the little lamb and watched as
it
kicked its small legs with excitement.
“Yes,
everyone knows that is where the great herder lives now,” the small
lamb
responded. Phaethon felt his heart skip a beat at the mentioned of the
great
herder. He knew his father Apollo was the god of herding and flocks.
This small
lamb was going to take him to see his father. He was finally going to
speak to
Apollo.
“Please
show
me the way. Apollo is my father and I wish to meet to him,” Phaethon
pleaded.
The small lamb started trotting off down the field to where they could
see mountains far
far in the landscape.
“I
bet the
great herder will be very glad to see his son after his other son, poor
Aesculapius, died but
the
other lambs
said that he has as many children as there are sheep in the valley.”
The small
lamb said, making Phaethon stop for a few moments before following the
small
lamb again.
“He
has many
other sons?” Phaethon asked quietly, but the sheep was very good at
hearing.
“Oh
yes, but
many of them have been killed by jealous gods. Poor Aesculapius was one
of
them. Jupiter was very upset with Aesculapius because he learned how to
bring
the mortals back to life after they died. He was very smart but Jupiter
thought
that would make humans just as powerful as gods so he killed him,” the
lamb
explained.
Phaethon
couldn’t help but feel a deep emotion over a half brother whom he would
never
meet. His bit down on his lip to try to stay strong as the sheep was
still
talking.
“That’s
when
my great-grandfather met Apollo! Apollo had killed all of Jupiter’s
servants,
in revenge, so he banished Apollo for nine years on earth. He watched
over our
flock all those years. Of course, it wasn’t all quiet. All the elders
say they
will never forget the day that Marsyas came and challenged our master
to a
music contest.”
“Music
contest?” Phaethon asked, making the small lamb look up at him.
“Yes,
Marsyas came walking into the field and found Apollo playing his lyre.
He had
laughed at the god and said that Apollo wasn’t as skilled as Marsyas
was with a
flute.
Apollo didn’t like this very much so he challenged him to a contest and
had the
village judge who was better.
“Well,
Marsyas played his first song and it was so beautiful, but when Apollo
played it
was just as beautiful. So they played a second time, Marsays playing so
many
notes and doing everything he could with a flute. Well, when it was
Apollo’s
turn, he started singing. Everyone knows when the God of Music sings,
it is the
most beautiful sound in the world. The village said he won. Marsyas was
very
upset about this fact. He accused Apollo of cheating.
“Apollo
told
him that since Marsyas used his breath to play the flute then Apollo
was
allowed
to use his breath to sing as well. So the great herder won the
contest,” the
lamb said, walking happily.
Phaethon
frowned, not really sure he liked how his father won the contest but it
seemed
like logical reasoning. “So does Marsyas live around here?”
“Marsyas?
Oh
no, Apollo won the bet,” The sheep repeated, making Phaethon sigh.
“Well
I just
thought that Marsyas lost and left,” Phaethon confessed, but the small
sheep
shook his head.
“Oh
no, no.
They had bet their skins. Apollo took Marsyas and sheared him just as
we sheep
get sheared once a year. All the village people were screaming that it
was such
a horrible fate but we sheep get it done every year for our wool.”
Phaethon
felt as if he was going to be sick. His father had flayed a person’s
skin off.
It was the most gruesome thing he could have ever thought of happening.
“We
are
here!” the sheep announced, making Phaethon look up to see that he was
indeed at
the bottom of Mount Olympus.
“Thank
you,”
Phaethon whispered, still feeling nauseated. The lamb quickly ran off,
leaving
Phaethon to his thoughts. However, he wasn’t able to give one more
thought to
the story when a bright chariot came traveling his way. The driver of
the
winged horses had the exact same hair color and eyes as the young man
standing
at the bottom of the road. Phaethon was going to meet his father.
Baby Lamb (Parvumopus
Blog)
Marsyas (Mlahanas
blog)
Apollo's Chariot (Thrice
Holy)
Author’s Note:
I followed along the
same lines of the story of Marsyas. I only changed a few details like
they had gone to another
village to
be judged and a few little things about how each song was played. I
wanted to add
the back-story to the myth as well about why exactly Apollo was on
earth.
His son
had been killed and he had gone for revenge. This was a slightly more
redeeming
quality. However, the fact that he had slightly cheated with the music
contest
and he flayed Marsyas showed the very wicked side of him. Both the
back-story
and the main story really helped to illustrated the different sides of
Apollo. He
loved his family and defended them; however, he was vicious and evil
when it
came to being the best. Phaethon learned this through a small lamb. I
felt the
lamb would be a good choice of story teller since Apollo herded the
sheep when
he was on earth. I am sure they thought this was the best part of their
history
and would pass the story down. However, I didn’t really want Phaethon
thinking
about it so long that he became used to knowing the story of what his
father
did. I wanted Apollo to show up right when the words were still fresh
in his
mind. He is finally going to meet his father. Will it be a happy
reunion or a
bitter one?