MYRIS: ALEXANDRIA, 340 A.D.
When I learned of the calamity, that Myris died,
I went to his house, although I avoid
going into the houses of Christians,
especially when they mourn or celebrate.
I stood in the hallway. I didn’t want
to go farther, because I noticed that
the relatives of the dead person looked at me
with obvious wonder and displeasure.
They had him laid out in a large room
and from where I stood I saw only part
of it; full of expensive carpets,
and vessels made of silver and gold.
I stood at one side of the hallway and wept.
And I thought that our gatherings and outings
Would no longer be worthwhile without Myris;
and I thought that I wouldn’t see him again
at our beautiful and lustful all night parties
laughing and enjoying himself, and reciting verses
with his fine feeling for Greek rhythm;
and I thought how I had lost forever
the young man I so passionately adored.
Nearby, some old women, spoke in a low voice
about his last day alive—
Christ’s name was on his lips all the time,
they said, and he held a cross in his hands.—
Then four Christian priests
Came into the room, praying
and offering supplications to Jesus,
or to Virgin Mary (I don’t know their religion well).
We knew of course that Myris was Christian.
We knew from the first moment
he joined our group two years ago.
But he behaved precisely as we did.
He was the most addicted of all of us to carnal pleasures;
spending his money lavishly on amusements.
Indifferent to the people’s regard,
he threw himself willingly into the nightly fights
every time our group happened
to come across an opposing group.
He never spoke of his religious beliefs.
In fact, I remember once we said
that we would take him to the Serapeion.
However, I remember now, it seems
he got annoyed with this jest of ours.
Ah, another two instances come to mind as well.
When we offered libations to Poseidon,
he pulled back from our group, and looked away.
When one of us proposed enthusiastically,
“let our group be under the auspices
of the great and all beautiful Apollo”—Myris whispered,
(the others didn’t hear him) “excluding me”.
In loud voices the Christian priests
prayed for the soul of the young man.—
I observed with what care,
and with what intense attention
to their religious rites everything was
prepared for the Christian burial.
And suddenly a strange impression
overtook me. I felt that, in some indefinable way,
Myris was leaving my side;
I felt that he joined, as Christian,
his relatives and that I was becoming a stranger,
a total stranger; I felt a doubt come over me:
perhaps I was fooling myself because
of my passion and I truly was a stranger to him.—
I ran out of their horrible house
I left quickly before the memory of Myris
got altered by their Christianity.
Manolis Aligizakis 