The Untold Tale of Helena Anagnos

The Untold Tale of Helena Anagnos

By Blue Berenguel

Maple Leaf Writing Project

Brattleboro VT

2019

Cast of Characters

Calliope Anagnos + Alec Anagnos =

Helena Anagnos + Hyacinth Anagnos + Haidee Anagnos

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Aegeus + Aethra

=

Theseus

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The king called out, in a solemn voice reserved for the Drawing of Names.

Helena Anagnos’s ears were still ringing with the names of the other victims, all thirteen of them, seven boys, six girls, when, in the back of her mind, she heard King Aegeus call out her name. At first she thought she had imagined it. But when he repeated her name, she heard him. And she knew what he had said.

As Helena lay on her bed she thought about all of this. Normally, at this time of day, she would be washing the family’s laundry with her mother, but her parents had excused her from all of her daily chores, seeing as the ship left at dawn.

As she lay, listening to her canary, Artemis, sing, she realized that she should go outside. She was not a strong girl, but she was strong enough to admit to herself that after tomorrow, she would never see the light of day again.

As she opened the door of her house, sunlight streamed in. she was surprised, because even though the Drawing of Names earlier that day had been outdoors, everyone there had been too depressed to notice the unusually beautiful weather.

Helena was mad at Zeus. Why couldn't he have poured lightning bolts from the heavens? Why couldn't Poseidon have made it rain bucket loads of water? Why had the gods decided to make it sunny and cool on the day that declared her fate?

As Helena walked the familiar streets on which she had walked so many times in her fourteen years, she realized something horrible. This was the last time she would ever walk down this road. The last time her bare feet would touch these hot cobblestones. The last time the old couple who lived five houses down from her would wave at her and smile. The last time, she at last realized, that she would ever see any of these things again.

It was early evening when King Aegeus announced that everyone was to come to the center of Athens immediately. Helena and her mother, her father, and her younger brother and sister arrived at the square among the early folks. The king was practically giddy, hopping up and down on his toes.

“What do you fink he wants?” she heard her five-year-old brother Haidee ask his twin sister.

“I dunno...” Hyacinth answered.

The twins’ conversation was interrupted by the kings excited shouts telling all to listen up.

“Everyone! Everyone! I have wonderful news! My long lost son Theseus has arrived from Troezen!”

There was a collective gasp from the crowd. A son? Helene figured this was not the son from his current wife. She had left him about a month ago.

Interrupting her questioning thoughts, the king started shouting again.

“My son tells me that he has news to share with you!”

The tall, muscular boy stepped forward and grinned.

“Good evening my new, loyal, subjects! I have heard about your troubles with King Minos!”

Well, he was right about that. Many years ago, King Minos’s son had visited Athens for a sporting event, and was killed by a flying discus to the head. When King Minos had found out, he had sentenced a punishment upon the Athenian children the age that his son had been. So, every seven years, seven fourteen year-old females, and seven fourteen year-old males were sent to Crete to fend for themselves in the Minotaur Labyrinth, a deadly maze filled to the brim with booby traps. And, in the very center, lurked a giant, man eating, half bull-half man.

“And,” Theseus continued, “I, Greek hero, savior of peasants, the humble Theseus, have decided to take the place of one of the male Athenian Tributes!”

There was a long silence. Then, as if he had just registered what his son had said, King Aegeus gasped, and passed out.

The ship to Crete was the largest one in Athens. It waited in the docks while its future passengers waited for King Aegeus to come and give the Farewell Speech. Helena didn’t really think he would show up, after his reaction to Theseus’s announcement the night before. Although it was a completely different reaction from Alistair Alexopoulos and his family. He was the tribute that Theseus had chosen to replace. They all simultaneously burst into tears. Their complete, utter joy was tear-jerking. Helena wished with all of her heart that it was her family celebrating in tears. But she was not the kind of person who believe in magic, or luck.

There was an announcement from one of the King’s heralds that there would be no Farewell Speech this year, there would be extra time for the families to say goodbye to their children.

Helena immediately rushed over to her four pale family members. She tried so hard not to cry when her younger sibling’s little faces looked up at her with those woebegone faces. But, despite her efforts, she burst into tears and fell into her family’s open arms.

She watched from the ship’s edge as her family waved and the ship slowly drifted out to sea.

Since she didn’t really have anything else to do Helena decided to examine her fellow passengers of death. First she peeked around the corner to spy on a girl she knew from getting water from the well. She was a beautiful, loud sort. She had sung constantly of the nereids, of whom she deeply admired for their beauty and close acquaintance with Poseidon. She was a huge fan of the water god.

At the moment, though, the girl staring at the dot that was their home city. Her face was a mess of tears, and she was still sobbing. Helena decided to flee that scene. She knew that she would just make things worse.

As Helena fled, she thought about her family. What would they do now that she was gone. Would her Mother and her Father go to the weekly support group at the temple for victim parents? Would Haidee stop going to school? Would he and his twin sister remember her when they were her age?

She realized that the first mate was blowing the horn for dinner. Which was the passengers standing in a line in front of him as he handed them each a small, stale roll. After that they all crammed into the cabin to sleep. Of course, the crew mates got the beds, and the passengers had to sleep on the floor. Helena tried to sleep, although the waves were rough. This meant she slept very lightly, and woke many times.

~*~

Finally, at about 5:00 the next morning the passengers were awakened by the ship docking in Crete. The 8next few minutes were complete blur to Helena. The victims were rushed into a chariot and they were all huddling together, keeping their heads down. As the chariot rolled down the streets of Crete, the Cretans spread to the sides of the road and started cheering and clapping. All but one of the passengers kept their faces hidden. Theseus the Humble was standing on a crate in the chariot waving and blowing kisses to the crowd. They loved him. Their cheers grew twice as loud. Helena just wanted to get to her room and cry. She figured she would have one, because of the stories she had heard at home. The royal Cretan family treated the tributes like royalty.

~*~

She had been right about the private suite. It was so beautiful, a real bed, risen from the wooden floor, not like the cot she had had at home.

That night Helena fell fast asleep as soon as her head hit the goose-feather pillow.

Today was the day. The day that Helena’s life changed forever. She was still in bed when a knock sounded at her door.

It was a servant, wanting to inform her that it was time for breakfast. Helena was in no mood to eat, after the feast king minos had stuffed her and the others with last night. But, to be polite, she dressed quickly and went down to the dining hall, where the others were already seated. The table was long, with five chairs on each side, and two on the ends. The ones on the end were for the youngest and oldest of each gender. On the end for the boys, both seats were filled. But on the girls side, one chair was empty. Hers. She tried to sneak there, but Theseus called out her name.

“Helena!” he called. “The bedhead is finally up!” Helena was completely taken aback. She had no idea how he had known her name. She certainly hadn’t told him.

She ate a few bites and then asked to be excused. She darted up the hall to her room. She flopped down on her bed and thought.

After a while, it came to her. She had known she was coming to Crete to die the whole time. But now, now it really sank in. She would never go back home. She was about to die.

The gates of The Labyrinth loomed overhead as the tributes were escorted to their deaths. The king made a long speech that sounded a bit like this:

“Blah blah blah the Minotaur bleh bleh labyrinth yak yak we’re about to kill you all yada yada goodbye!”

~*~

Helena heard a scream from deep inside the maze, and then the loudest roar she could ever imagine. It made her bones feel like sand. She was not the type to run towards danger to save someone. But today, something made her run towards the terrible roar.

It felt like she had been running for hours, but she couldn’t be fooled. She knew that the labyrinth messed with people's minds. She could have been running for weeks, or seconds!

When she finally reached the place that the noise was coming from, all that she saw was a body lying on the ground. It was breathing heavily and covered with blood. As she inched forward, she realized that the body was Theseus! She rushed over to him. She knelt down at his blood-spattered chest. He moaned.

“Helena . . .” he rasped. Helena jumped back. “You have to go! It’s not safe here!” He looked scared.

Before she could ask him why, there was a deafening . . .

“ROOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!”

The minotaur stepped out from behind a crumbling pillar. He roared again.

Then he charged.

Without thinking about anything that she was doing, Helena quickly scampered up a pillar and before she knew it, she was dangling from the ceiling. The Minotaur was confused, she could tell. He quickly recovered, and was grabbing at Helena who was scampering around like a terrified spider. The strangest thing about this scene though, was that she had never in her life had the slightest idea that she could do this. Never! It was like these talents had been stored up inside her, waiting for the right moment to burst out.

She was jerked back into the moment by one of the Minotaur’s hands flying by her face. He was trying to swipe her off of the ceiling! She quickly jumped off the ceiling, and, without thinking, leaped onto his back. She was riding the bull-man, and he was completely taken aback. He had battled tons of tributes before in his life, but none of them had really fought back. While he was considering what to do about this brave child, swift Helena climbed atop his head, and in a burst of strength from the Gods Above, the Minotaur’s left horn was yanked from his furry scalp.

Before either of them could think, The Minotaur was lying on the dusty earth, taking his last heavy breaths. Helena immediately regretted her fatal choice of revenge. She was the non-violent type, and she started thinking of quick ways to nurse the dying creature back to health. But she soon realized what had been done had been done. The Minotaur was dying, and it was the fault of a shy fourteen-year-old girl from Athens. She bent over to kiss his cheek, and with the last bit of strength he had, The Minotaur of Crete strangled Helena Anagnos until they both took their last breaths and fell to the ground, dead.

If you hear a story similar to this one today, about Theseus slaying the Mighty Minotaur, you will know that it is a complete and total lie. After Helena’s death, Theseus told everyone about how he had so bravely defeated The Minotaur, and how it had gotten to Helena before he could stop it. Of course, everybody believed him, because they knew Helena to be a shy and meek girl. The idea that little Helena could have defeated The Minotaur didn’t cross a single person’s mind. Of course her family mourned her severely. Her friends missed her as well, but nobody believed that she was the hero of Athens. As for Hyacinth and Haidee, they remembered her until their shared last day on earth. To this day no one knows the story of Helena Anagnos. Except me. And why, might you ask, do I know? Well, my dears, I am Helena Anagnos.