HISTORY OF THRACE

MYTHS OF HELICON MOUNTAIN

Part three, ATALANTA AND THE GOLDEN APPLES:

I’ve covered the history of Thrace, thanks to my friend Herodotus, using some of his very words. Atalanta and her Macedonian friends are in the Thracian settlement of Salmydesses, as are her father and the horse traders. Pretending to join an expedition to find the lost dome of Colchis, she crosses the Great Crevasse on a swinging rope-bridge to Bithynia and is safe from her father again. Prince Maenalus must now return to Thessaly alone with the terrible news that three of the horse traders are dead, two done in by wild beasts, one by a snakebite, he’ll say. He and others know otherwise. Once released an arrow flies straight to the mark, whether for defense or revenge. Will he ever learn that he can’t control Atalanta? He should have left well enough alone!