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Gold,
diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds; indispensable elements of
hundreds of fairy tales, myths, legends; of course turned into stories
in the languages of civilizations passing through Anatolia; they have
been told for thousands, hundreds of years….
SPOONMAKER’S DIAMOND
In 1699, in Egrikapi trash collection grounds in Istanbul, a poor man
finds a round stone. He takes it to a spoon maker and exchanges the
stone for three wooden spoons. The spoon maker sells the stone to a
jeweler for 10 akcha (old Ottoman currency, ed.). The jeweler shows
the stone to a friend of his; when the stone is discovered to be a diamond,
his friend asks for hush money and they start fighting. The incident
is referred to the Head Jeweler who gives each a purse full of akcha
and takes the stone for himself. This time the Head Vizir (Prime Minister,
Ed.) Kopruluzade Ahmet Pasha hears about the stone and is about to purchase
the stone for himself when the Sultan hears about it. Mehmet the IV
has the stone brought to the Palace with a special edict. The stone
discovered in a garbage heap in Egrikapi, when processed, turns out
to be a 86-carat rare diamond. The Head Jeweler is promoted and is awarded
a purse full of money as prize.
MIDAS WITH THE GOLDEN TOUCH
Midas, the King of Frigia, was not such a smart person. One day, the
king’s men found old Silenos in the rose gardens close to the
palace. Silenos had lost his way looking for God Dionisos. He was dead
drunk as usual and had passed out among the trees. Midas’s men
adorned him with roses all over, and then took him to the king. Midas
met Silenos with a smile; he entertained him for ten full days and nights.
Silenos ate and ate, drank and drank. He got drunk, sang songs, passed
out, sobered up… At the end of the tenth day the king of Frigia
held his hand and took him to Dionisos. Dionisos was so happy to find
Silenos again, he asked Midas, "wish anything you want from me".
Midas did not hesitate, "Dionidos, let everything I touch turn
to gold, I want nothing else". God fulfilled his wish immediately,
but laughed to himself inside when he thought about what would happen
at dinner in the evening. Poor little Midas… He realized what
a regretful wish that was, when he got hungry and sat down for dinner.
Everything he touched turned into gold that instant. Hold the bread,
here is a golden bread for you… Touch an apple, there is a golden,
solid apple…
Midas ran to Dionisos immediately; he begged him, he cried, "Please
undo this spell". Dionisos replied, "go bathe in the Paktolos
River, and the spell will be undone". The king of Frigia ran immediately
to the Paktolos River and had a nice bath, and then returned to his
palace and ate a full meal.
Now people looking at the river he had bathed in can see golden grains
of sands shimmering in the waters.
GOLDEN APPLE
Peleus and Thetis are getting married in Olympos, the land of the Gods.
Eris (the Queen of Evil) was angry for not having been invited; she
throws an apple in the middle with "the most beautiful" written
on it. A fight erupts amongst the Goddesses who each claim that she
is the most beautiful. Zeus assumes the arbitration of the event, makes
the first elimination, and for some reason allows Paris the Shepherd
from Ida make the final selection. The three most assertive Goddesses
claiming to be the most beautiful, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, visit
Paris the Shepherd from Ida. Paris the Shepherd is the little son of
the King of Troia, Priamos and Hakabe. The Queen has a bad dream before
giving birth to her son: A fierce flame coming out of her own belly
burns all of Troia. Interpreters read this nightmare as a bad omen.
Paris is born, and his father Priamos wishes to have him killed on Ida
Mountain. His caretaker could not bear to kill golden haired Paris;
she leaves him in one of the desolate caves of Ida where a female bear
nurses him a while, and then Shepherd Agealos finds him and takes him
to his hut. Paris is differentiated from the other shepherds of Ida
by his beauty; his friends call him "Alexandros (protector)"because
he takes care of his herd so well. Paris the Shepherd is frozen with
surprise when he is visited by the three beautiful Goddesses together
with the God Hermes. As if he is seeing his own fate, he refuses world
domination offered by the other Goddesses and selects Goddess Aphrodite,
who offers him "the most beautiful of the mortals, Helen of Sparta".
He offers the golden apple to her. This is the first known beauty pageant.
And all the living on Ida, from water fairies to forest genies, bear
witness to this event.
GOLDEN PELT
In the 4th century B.C., a young man named Iason living in old Greece
has a ship built named Argo. He takes 50 fighters with him and sets
sail towards the land of Kolhis, at the end of the then known world.
There is a golden pelt hung on an oak tree, guarded by a snake that
never sleeps. Argonots, after the ship Argo, takes an oath to take the
pelt away from Aietes, the King of Kolhis. The Argo crew led by Iason
reaches Kolhis, in the trail of the golden pelt. They meet the king
Aietes and his daughter Medea and they ask for the pelt. Aietes does
not dare fight with these courageous sailors; he asks Iason to kill
a dragon, cultivate a field guarded by bronze-footed bulls with flames
emitting from their nostrils, and then to saw the teeth of the dragon
in the field; he then asks Iason to fight the monsters that are born
out of the teeth. Iason accepts all this because he wants the pelt and
also because he likes Medea a lot; he asks for help from Aphrodite.
Aphrodite gets her son Eros involved. Medea is shot with Eros’
arrow and falls in love with Iason. She tells Iason, "I will help
you if you take me"; she prepares an ointment that would make his
skin withstand the blows of weapons. Iason manages to overcome all the
obstacles and succeeds in the mission, but the king does not keep his
promise. The lovers go to the forest.
Medea, with her songs, puts the dragon protecting the pelt to sleep.
They then take the pelt and set sail with Medea and her brother, Abystros.
The king sends his people after them. Medea turns into a monster, kills
his brother and throws his body parts into the sea, to distract them.
While the men collect the pieces of Abystros, they lose sight of the
ship Argo. The ship is struck by the wrath of Zeus, on its way to the
Adriatic. Medea realizes that she cannot enter Greece because she has
slain her own brother and has to pay for it, and she goes to the sorcerer
Kirke, her aunt. Kirke absolves Medea of all curses and the ship sets
sail once again. They take a break in the land of Phaik’s and
are married. After many more adventures they finally reach Iolkos, Iason’s
land. Iason finds out that his father has died and his uncle Pelias
is the new ruler. Iason and Medea, who by now know no limit in intrigue,
have their daughter kill Pelias. However, the son of Pelias takes over
the throne and sends them away. Iason and Medea settle in Corinthos.
They live in peace for a while and have two children. The King of Corinthos
wants to have Iason marry his daughter Kreusa. Iason accepts this for
the power and also because he is a little tired of Medea. So Iason divorces
Medea. Medea, of course, does not take this lying down. She sends a
dress to the girl as a wedding present. When Kreusa puts on the dress,
she starts burning, and she and her father who tried to help her, burn
together in flames. Medea does not stop there, she is totally mad now.
She drowns her own children, shows their bodies to their father, and
leaves for new adventures.
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