Death awaits the Greek who dares
Leap first ashore at Troy!
So the goddess Thetis prophesied,
And so, his ship’s prow striking sand,
Achilles paused. Protesilaus
Was the first to plunge into
The warm Aegean, to heat it further
With the blood of Troy.
Thetis’ instrument was Hector.
He struck down Protesilaus,
Son of Iphicus (whom Melampus
Cured of impotence). He lies buried
Under elm trees near Elaus.
A nephew’s loathsome wound
Stalled the war that he began,
Until a deadly bow would end it.
Tall elms which look across the gulf
Toward Troy, burst early into leaf,
But soon grow bare. Elm trees inland
Keep their green in winter time,
Grow high till from their tops
The walls of Troy can be discerned,
And then they wither - though from roots
New saplings start to grow.
Protesilaus’ consort, Polydora,
Cherished daughter of Acastus,
Likewise sought renewal. She
Mourned her lord and moulded
A waxen statue in her bed,
Then, seeking comfort of the gods,
Beseeched his spirit visit her
If only for three hours.
Zeus listened to her tearful prayer,
Sent Hermes and her husband’s ghost
To animate the figure. Wait not long
Before rejoining me in Tartarus,
The wax mouth breathed.
Nightly she embraced the image
Till a servant squinting through a crack
Informed upon her.
Acastus caused the wax to burn
To spare his daughter further torture,
But Polydora saw the wax
Grow hot; her lord’s voice called.
She cast herself into the fire -
Just as her husband lord
Defied the prophecy of Thetis
And leaped into the sea at Troy.
©Terry Hodgson2020
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