The Dolphin Rider (12 page)

Orpheus went to the bow of the ferry and gazed ahead. He clenched his teeth, and tensed his neck until it became a thick halter of muscle so he could not turn his head. When he left the ferry on the other side of the river, he climbed toward the cave. The air was full of the roaring of the great waterfall that fell chasm-deep toward the River Styx. He could not hear her footsteps, and he could not hear her breathing. But he kept a picture of her in his mind, seeing her face grow more and more vivid with excitement as she neared the upper world. Finally Orpheus saw a blade of light cutting the gloom. He knew it was the sun falling through the narrow cave. And he knew that he had brought his wife back to earth.

But had he? How did he know she was there? Hades might have tricked him after all. No one can call the gods to judgment. Who can accuse them if they lie? And he was dealing with cruel Hades, who had murdered a great doctor for pulling a patient back from death. Hades, whose demon mind had designed the landscape of Tartarus, the bolts of those gates, and a savage three-headed dog. Could such a mind be turned to mercy by a few notes of music, a few tears? Would Hades, who made the water always shrink from the thirst of Tantalus, and who rolled the great stone back on Sisyphus, allow a girl to return to her husband just because the husband had asked? Had Eurydice been following him through the Flowery Fields, through the paths of Tartarus, through the gates, over the river? Had it been Eurydice or only the echo of his own longing? Had he been tricked into coming back without her? Was it all for nothing? Or was she there?

Swiftly Orpheus turned and looked back. She was there. Eurydice was there. He reached out to take her hand and draw her into the light. But her hand turned to smoke. The arm turned to smoke. Her body became mist, a spout of mist. And her face melted. The last to go was her mouth with its smile of welcome. But it too melted. The bright vapor blew it away in the fresh current of air that blew through the cave from the upper world.

Afterword

The Romans conquered ancient Greece but were conquered in turn by Greek ideas, especially by the Greek religion. The Romans simply took over the Greek gods, gave them Latin names, and worshipped them as their own. No one worships the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus today, but they live on in wonderful stories that have been told and retold for 3,000 years, stories that we call myths.

In the tales in this book, we have used the names of the gods and goddesses that are most often heard or are easiest to pronounce. Sometimes we use the Greek name, sometimes the Latin, or Roman, name.

Here is a list of the most important gods and goddesses with their Greek and Latin names, and their titles.

About the Author

Bernard Evslin (1922–1993) was a bestselling and award-winning author known for his works on Greek and other cultural mythologies.
The New York Times
called him “one of the most widely published authors of classical mythology in the world.” He was born in New Rochelle, New York, and attended Rutgers University. After several years working as a playwright, screenwriter, and documentary producer, he began publishing novels and short stories in the late1960s. During his long career, Evslin published more than seventy books—over thirty of which were for young adults. His bestseller
Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths
has been translated into ten different languages and has sold more than ten million copies worldwide. He won the National Education Association Award in 1961, and in 1986 his book
Hercules
received the Washington Irving Children's Book Choice Award. Evslin died in Kauai, Hawaii, at the age of seventy-seven.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright© 1976 by Bernard Evslin

Cover design by Olivera, Omar & Andrea Worthington

ISBN: 978-1-4976-6705-1

This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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