This passage in the epic fully shows the begging of Cruces at that time. In the end, Apollo did as he wished and brought the plague to the Mycenaean coalition. The nine-day plague caused countless casualties in Agamemnon's army. Therefore, it was through this point that Alcibiades dared to boldly determine that this plague must be related to Apollo. Otherwise, there would not be such a coincidence here. As soon as Apollo's oracle appeared, the plague broke out in Athens.
After Socrates listened.
He walked to the window and took a deep breath.
"If this is true, then...what exactly does Apollo want to do?"
"I don't know! But that's how gods are. They suddenly disappeared for a long time, and now they suddenly appear again, casting a shadow over the world once again. If you really want to defend Athens, why choose Cleon? So... I think my suspicion is correct. The plague in Athens is probably a conspiracy."
"If you say something disrespectful like this, be careful or the priests will come after you."
Socrates couldn't help laughing.
"But I agree with your idea."
"is teacher."
"You are very good. You have come to a conclusion through your own thinking. Although there is not enough evidence to support it, the current situation forces us to believe that what you say is true." Socrates sighed, and then said helplessly, "If this is true, then the gods would wish that Athens would perish sooner. Lady Athena has abandoned Athens, no... Athens abandoned Lady Athena. Later, although Lord Poseidon offered a helping hand, he was alone after all. Now that Apollo has come, it has turned into a bad thing."
"What will be the future of the Athenians?"
Alcibiades couldn't help asking.
Although he is not an Athenian now.
But he still cares very much.
Socrates shook his head, turned around and looked at Alcibiades in front of him: "I'm afraid no one knows the answer to this matter, because we don't even know the purpose of those guys. Since Apollo has the ability to remove the plague, why didn't he stop the plague in Athens in time? Since Cleon is Apollo's oracle, why has he been hiding? If, as you said, it is true, the day of Athens' demise is probably not far away."
Socrates' attitude has always been relatively positive.
But now, he also despaired of the current situation in Athens.
"Really, it's no use?"
"Now, all we can do is wait."
Alcibiades lowered his head in frustration.
Alcibiades really had no answer to what the future of Athens, the city-state that raised him, would be like. In short, he could only take it one step at a time. At least Athens still had Rhodes...
And another day passed.
Pericles' illness became more serious.
"Lord Pericles' condition is even worse today. He has almost lost consciousness. He could still talk to me yesterday, but now he can only breathe..." When Rhodes told Alcibiades about this, his eyes were red and he looked very sad. "I, what should I do? If Lord Pericles is really gone, I..."
"It's okay, it's okay."
Alcibiades could only offer comfort.
"Lord Rhodes, you have done very well."
"but I……"
"I'm afraid that this is the only way to treat Lord Pericles' condition. I've learned about this epidemic and found that very few patients can survive the disease. Even if they can survive, they are all young people in their twenties or thirties. All the middle-aged and elderly people have died... So, if you can't bear to let him go, you should arrange for Demosthenes to do whatever you have recently. You should stay with Lord Pericles for the next two days and accompany him through the last part of his life..."
Hear Alcibiades say this.
Rhodes couldn't help but shed tears again.
"Really, there is no other way..."
"Ah, yes."
The eighth tune, the second verse, a rather strange miracle
Although this was a big blow to Rhodes, Alcibiades had no other choice. As Pericles' successor, Rhodes had to face this cruel fact. Moreover, Rhodes knew better than anyone that Pericles was already terminally ill and there was really no hope for him.
"……I see."
Rod wiped away his tears and tried to cheer himself up.
"I'd better stay with Lord Pericles for the next few days."
"Okay, if there's anything you need my help with, just let me know."
"Um...how is your teacher, Master Socrates?"
Rhodes seemed to suddenly remember this matter and became a little worried.
Alcibiades smiled and said, "Don't worry, the teacher is in good health. However, he is unwilling to leave Athens and chooses to stay here. No matter what happens in Athens, he will stay here and witness the changes in Athens with his own eyes."
"Aren't you worried?"
"This is the teacher's decision. I have no right to change his mind."
Alcibiades shrugged, looking helpless.
"This is all I can do. However, if Athens is really in danger, I will bring the teacher back even if I have to drag him away."
"OK, all right!"
Rhodes also nodded with relief.
After that, Rhode stayed by Pericles' side. Even though Pericles was unconscious and close to death, Rhode still stayed by Pericles' side and talked to him. It had only been a year or two since they met, but this period of time was the happiest time for Rhode. As a fisherman's daughter, Rhode had trouble even getting enough food and clothing, but after coming to Athens, she had no worries about food and drink. At the same time, Pericles had been educating Rhode and teaching her a lot of knowledge.
Compared to his biological father.
Pericles was more like a mentor to Rhodes.
Not only a mentor of knowledge, but also a mentor of life.
And now, the old man who has always been with me is about to leave.
Rhode couldn't let go, but he was helpless. In this situation, as an oracle, Rhode could do nothing. If only Lord Poseidon had the power to bring people back to life, if only he had stopped Pericles from visiting the patient... But these were all ifs, and the reality was that Pericles would eventually leave. When he left, Athens would completely lose this legendary archon.
The era of Pericles is coming to an end.
This old man's one liter, is it right or wrong?
It can only be left to future generations to judge.
Rhodes continued to stay in Pericles' mansion. Now, the Athenians' patience was obviously running out for the increasingly tense situation in Athens. They had the plague at home and the Spartans outside. Under such circumstances, Rhodes and Cleon became their only hope. After all, in the simple minds of the Athenians, Rhodes and Cleon were both oracles, and there was only Brasidas on the Spartan side. In this way, two against one would always win.
Why don't you just do it?
The Athenians were very puzzled.
This confusion soon turned into anger.
Cleon was also under great pressure. He did not dare to go out and duel with Brasidas, and he had no way to solve the plague of Athens. He was caught in the middle. After the novelty of becoming an oracle had passed, Cleon could now personally feel the trouble of being an oracle, especially now that Cleon could do almost nothing and had to endure the pressure from the citizens of Athens every day. The Citizens' Assembly was also trying to put pressure on Cleon.
The goal was to defeat the Spartans.
under these circumstances.
Creon was also helpless.
It's not easy to defeat the Spartans. It requires absolute strength.
Athens' overall strength is now similar to that of the Spartan army that surrounded Athens, but the epidemic is rampant and the army is inevitably affected. Therefore, it has become impossible to defeat the Spartans on the front battlefield. Cleon only has one way left, that is, to defeat Brasidas directly.
but……
Defeat Brasidas?
Creon wouldn't dare.
He is still very cowardly.
Therefore, Cleon is also very depressed now. The fact that Pericles is seriously ill makes Cleon unable to gloat over other people's misfortune, because Pericles could have helped Cleon to withstand the fire for a while, but once Pericles died, the result would be very simple. Cleon would definitely be burned to death by the anger of the Athenians... Therefore, Cleon has no choice at the moment. He either has to take the initiative or can only hope for a miracle to happen.
But what Cleon never expected now was...
A miracle really happened.
Because the epidemic spread to the Spartan camp.
The city of Athens was closed, so the epidemic should not have affected the outside world. However, there were too many corpses every day, and the Athenians could not burn them, so they had to throw them into the sea and let them die on their own. Some of the corpses were washed onto the beach by the current, and the Spartan military camp was near the beach. They also observed the corpses out of curiosity, but if they were not careful, a soldier might be infected.
Once one soldier is infected, the infection spreads to others one after another.
This ten-day fever can take a person's life in just ten days.
Even the strong Spartans.
When dozens of Spartan soldiers were infected, Brasidas felt something was wrong. He immediately went to investigate the soldiers' situation. According to the judgment of the priests accompanying the army, it was found that this should be a terrible disease and it was contagious. In addition, the Spartans also knew about the outbreak of plague in Athens. Now, Brasidas was clear that it must be the plague in Athens that spread outside.
"Damned Athenians!"
Brasidas looked at the patients lying side by side.
He thrust his spear into the ground, and angrily said to the officer in front of him:
“How many more people are sick!”
"Currently, there are already... those with symptoms, all of them are here."
"How long has it been since the first patient became ill?"
"Five days."
"...Why didn't you report it before? Any soldier's illness must be reported! This is the iron rule of the army! Don't you know that?" Brasidas drew out his spear and put it on the priest's neck. "I'll let you go for now. Later, I will personally judge you for dereliction of duty!"
"Lord Brasidas!"
Tune 8, Section 3: A Great Joy in Athens
The priest knew that his ending would not be good.
Brasidas had always been strict, and this time, something big had happened in the army.
The priests may not be spared.
"Drag down."
"Lord Brasidas!!!"
The priest seemed to be about to pray for something, but was dragged out roughly in the end. Brasidas turned his back and sighed helplessly. The situation before him made the general a little overwhelmed. After all, he was a soldier, but he had no way to deal with the epidemic in the army. But now he couldn't wait any longer. If he just let it go, the epidemic in the army would probably only get worse... So Brasidas had no choice but to give the order:
"Order the entire army to prepare to retreat."
"retreat?"
"If our soldiers continue to stay here, they will not die on the battlefield, but will die of disease... We will retreat to Delphi, where I will personally beg Lord Apollo to calm his anger and do something about the epidemic among the Spartan soldiers."
Brasidas came out of the tent.
He looked at the towering walls of Athens before him.
I feel extremely depressed.
This is already the second time...
Brasidas had been trying to break through the wall, but he couldn't... The first time, Brasidas was busy dealing with things in the north, and Rhodes suddenly appeared in Athens. Brasidas always regretted that he should have taken advantage of the fact that Athens had no oracle and rushed into the city alone instead of fighting a war of attrition outside the city. This was the second time, Brasidas didn't dare to enter alone because of Rhodes in Athens, but he got this result.
"go!"
Brasidas' voice was filled with helpless indignation.
Now, he had no choice.
The Spartans were very fast. The Spartan army, which had been outside the city for a long time, quickly assembled, dismantled the camps, and began to evacuate from the city of Athens. By the evening, there were no bonfires in the Spartan camps, and the entire camp now looked particularly deserted.
in this situation.
Naturally, the soldiers in Athens knew about it.
Creon was particularly distressed when he learned about this.
Some people couldn't believe their ears.
"What? The Spartans are withdrawing?"
"Yes! Lord Cleon!!!"
The soldiers' surprise made Cleon feel that he should not deceive himself, so he immediately rushed to the wall and found that the Spartan camp was indeed empty. Cleon also immediately sent scouts to the camp to investigate, and finally when it was almost dawn, the result was that the Spartans had indeed left.
Cleon was the happiest person to hear the news.
"Long live!!!"
Creon rushed back to Athens in excitement.
