"Mary Renault - Greece 5 - Mask Of Apollo" - читать интересную книгу автора (Renault Mary)

on to hear his challenge, is a stand-in bit. Backstage, Meidias gave me his kilted corselet and his mask as
if he wished they were steeped in poison. Sure enough, when I came on this joker cheered, and set the
whole house off.

After this they had Paris in a long robe for Hector, writing in a line about his unwarlike dress; and
Meidias, from plaguing me in spare time, became a serious enemy.

Let us omit the daily chronicle of his devices. Sit down in any wineshop by any theater, and you will hear
some actor pour out the ancient tale as if he were the first man it had happened to; but at least the listener
has been bought a drink. We will pass by, then, the thorn in the boot, the sewn-up sleeve, the broken
mask-string, and so forth. One morning I found a dark sticky splash and a broken wine jar by the seat
where Demochares had taken the air. The wine had been neat, and I guessed who had sent it; but that
time he reckoned wrong. Demochares might be too easy with himself; but he was not easy enough to let
a Meidias make use of him. I think at this time he warned Lamprias we should have trouble. But
Lamprias wanted to hear of no more troubles than he had; and he knew about Meidias all that signified,
namely, that there was no chance till the tour was over of getting anyone else.

We had an engagement at Phigeleia, a small town near Olympia. This was an important date, because the
city had hired us. They were celebrating, on the feast of their founding hero, their liberation too.

This was one of the towns which the Spartans, after they won the Great War against Athens, gave into
the power of their oligarchs to keep the people quiet. Here as usual they had chosen their Council of Ten
from the worst of the old landowners, who had been exiled by the democrats and had most to gain from
holding them down. These Dekarchs had paid off old scores tenfold-done as they chose, helped
themselves to any pretty young wife or handsome boy they fancied, or any man's best bit of land. If
anyone complained, the Spartans would send a troop there, and when they had done with him he thought
he had been well off before. Then came the Theban rising; Pelopidas and the other patriots there had
shown the world that Spartans are made of the same stuff as other men; and while the Sons of Herakles
were rubbing their heads and running about to see what hit them, the subject cities seized their chance.
The Phigeleians had been prompt in this; but as they had begun by rushing with one accord to tear in
pieces the most hated Dekarch, the others with their faction had got away to the hills.

The City Council had sent us word of this beforehand, and asked for a play to suit the feast, no expense
spared; some of the Dekarchs' gold had been saved from looting. Lamprias had found just the thing for
them-a Kadmos by Sophokles the Younger, glorifying Thebes. It was a new, middling piece, which no
one has thought worth reviving; Kadmos, punished for killing the War God's dragon, is redeemed from
bondage, made king, married to Harmonia, and so on to the finale with Wedding procession. For good
measure Demochares, who doctored scripts well when his head was clear, had written in some
prophecies for Apollo, somehow dragging in Phigeleia. The Council was delighted. We had a week
rehearsing with our chorus, who were about as good as you would expect when leading democrats' sons
had been chosen first and voices afterwards.

I looked forward myself to this production, because it gave me more to do than usual, I had a few lines
as an extra (one of Kadmos' earth-born warriors) and for the whole finale I was standing in for Apollo,
since Meidias, who played him, was doing Harmonia as well.

This was the first time I had worn the mask of the god.

Meidias, who sneered at all our costumes to show what he was used to, despised more than anything this
Apollo mask. He said it must be all of fifty years old; and in this I found he was right. It was heavy, being