Thelktos

The scene is set on the Island of Cyprus. It is at a small town. Near by is an alter to Aphrodite and Eros. Thelktos has returned to the town with his followers.

Scene I

Eros: Oh this man, this Thelktos. What trials he faces.
What decisions he must make. And all to honor
Me, Eros, Aphrodite's striking force of love. I
Who bring brightness to men's dark souls.
Mother! Aphrodite! He honors you as well.
Now he needs our help, we cannot desert him,
Mother. Even as I call to you, Artemis is plotting
To ruin him. She is still angry with you for what
You did to her Hippolytus. She hungers for
Vengeance! But I hear Artemis coming. I take
My leave mother, do not disappoint me, help your
Follower, Thelktos.
[Exit Eros]

Artemis: How dare Aphrodite spite me! Me, Artemis,
The pure daughter of Zeus. I who watch over
Child birth, the effect from what Aphrodite
Causes. I have Never wished ill towards her,
But now, since she has destroyed my beloved
Hippolytus, I will take one of her followers,
The one Eros likes so much, Thelktos. That
Son of Arsenikos. Most disgusting to me of
All mortal men. He chases after all women
And performs Aphrodite's acts nightly.
Always looking for a woman to share Eros'
Gift with. But now he chases after Agnotita.
But I have taught her to scorn love and
Withhold her chastity. And Thelkos, who has
Never had his love rejected, will be driven
Mad by that which he worships. His desire
Will cause his death. Here comes Thelktos
Now. He's parading his love to all. He has no
Idea that his love will destroy him!
[Exit Artemis]

Thelktos: Come everyone, sing! Sing, sing! Let your
Hearts be filled with hymns of love. Sing to
Eros and his beautiful mother, Aphrodite.

Thelktos & Followers: Eros, master of love, always at
The right side of Aphrodite,
Together you bring love to us
Mortal men. We bathe in the
Beauty of Aphrodite and are
Humbled in the presence of
Eros. Both of you bring us
Passion and desire, which
Control our mortal lives.

Thelktos: I kiss your feet dear mistress, Aphrodite.
And yours as well, sweet son of Aphrodite. I
Have always honored you Aphrodite. I work
Your acts nightly. And finally, you, Eros,
Have graced me with a blow of love. To
Your Glory, I fall more and more in love.
The woman I love is Agnotita and I shall
Profess my love to her tonight. I have sent
For her servant to come and give her the
Message of my arrival. Here the servant
Comes now.
[Enter Servant]

Servant: Thelktos, noble sir. Did I hear you honoring
Aphrodite and Eros?

Thelktos: You did. What of it?

Servant: No harm meant. However, why did you not
Honor the goddess there next to her, Artemis?

Thelktos: Artemis? Why would I honor her? She turns
Her nose up to everything I believe in. I
Have one goddess that I worship, why do I
Need another. Each man worships his own
Deity; and that is his choice. Who are you to
Tell me otherwise?

Servant: Apologies sir. I was being too bold with my
Speech. I merely wanted to warn you against
Offending the gods. Their wrath is tenfold
That of men. I am off topic, though. Why is
It that you sent for me?

Thelktos: Right, I sent for you because I wish to have a
Meeting with your lady. Will you tell her
That I wish to see her tonight. I will come to
Her then.

Servant: I will give her the message noble lord, but I
Must inform you that my lady, Agnotita,
Now worships the goddess of wildlife, noble
Artemis. I do not know your intentions, but I
Sense that this might cause you misfortune.

Thelktos: Is this why you spoke to me of Artemis
Earlier? Well no matter, after tonight,
Agnotita will love me as I love her. No
Woman has or will ever reject me, with
Blessed Aphrodite on my side. I must have
Your word now that you will not tell your
Lady of my love for her.

Servant: The words shall not leave my lips sir. Now I
Will take my leave. And I pray that you think
Clearly and tread lightly when speaking ill of
My lady's goddess and beliefs.
[Exit Servant]

Thelktos: Friends, let us go and drink now, for tonight
I have to bring Eros' arrow to strike the heart
Of my beloved Agnotita. After we drink I
Shall rest. I will need my energy for tonight.
With Aphrodite as my witness, Agnotita shall
Be mine.
[Exit Thelktos & followers]


Scene II

Agnotita: Artemis, goddess who is most precious to
Me, I come to give you gifts. Mistress, you
Showed me the right way to live. Before you
Were in my life, I was obsessed with trying
To please Aphrodite, and longed for Eros to
Come to me. But now I know that it was
Wrong of me to worship such impure things.
I am above that now. Since the death of
Hippolytus, you have chosen to speak to me,
Artemis and I am forever grateful. I worship
You, goddess, and all that you are. I long
Only to be outdoors and hunting with you. I
Will never need a man in my life. I only
Want to live for you Artemis. But here
Comes my servant. I wonder what news he
Brings?

Servant: Lady Agnotita, I come from a meeting at the
House of Thelktos, that loyal follower of
Aphrodite and Eros. He wishes to see you
Tonight. I am to tell you that he will come
To you tonight.

Agnotita: And what does he wish to see me about, this
Worshiper of most indecent of the gods? He
Can only be thinking one of two things,
Either he has been struck with the urge to
Work Aphrodite's acts or Eros has pierced his
Heart with an arrow of love for me. Tell me,
Which is it? You must know. Not that it
Matters, he will get neither from me.

Servant: I cannot tell you mistress, I am sorry but I
Gave my word that I would not let a word
Pass my lips as to what Thelktos wishes to tell
You tonight.

Agnotita: You do not have to say anything. Knowing
That he worships Aphrodite and her son
Tells me all I need to know.

Servant: If I am not out of place asking then, what will
You do?

Agnotita: I will simply refuse him when he comes to
Me. Not at first, of course, I will act like
I'm interested in him then I will bluntly turn
Him down.

Servant: That is risky business, toying with a man like
That. There is no telling what he will do in
Anger, or what he might ask his gods to do.

Agnotita: I do not need your warnings, I will do what I
Want. And as for his petty gods, they
Cannot compare to the one I worship, so I
Have nothing to fear. Now I must go to get
Ready for tonight.
[Exit Agnotita]

Servant: I pray that the gods have mercy on those who
Do not have the wisdom of age, and in
Their youth make rash decisions.


Scene III

Chorus of Men: A friend was at the monument built to
The beautiful Aphrodite and her loving
Son, Eros, earlier today. This is how I
Learned about that noble gentleman,
Thelktos, and the love that he now has.

Chorus of Women: Thelktos has found a love, who
Could it be? Tell us, do you know
Who the woman is?

Chorus of Men: Yes, the woman is Agnotita, the new
Follower of Artemis, it is she that
Thelktos loves. That is what our friend
Heard.

Chorus of Women: Agnotita!? But that cannot be right,
As you said she is the follower of
Artemis. She use to be open to
Love and in fact prayed for it.
Now, however, she scorns love.
She wishes to have nothing to do
With it. Now she claims chastity
And will barely talk to any men
Besides her servants. How could
Thelktos, such A devoted follower
Of Aphrodite and Eros, be in love
With a woman who despises
Everything he stands for?

Chorus of Men: It is right. Thelktos is in love with
Agnotita. He said that Eros finally
Graced him by allowing him to fall in
Love, and he said Agnotita was the
Woman that he fell in love with. And
As for her despise of his beliefs, he
Said that did not matter and that he
Will make her love him. He said that
He has never been refused by a
Woman, and with Aphrodite's help, he
Never will be.

Chorus of Women: Oh poor Thelktos. He has no
Chance of winning Agnotita's love.
We heard her talking today of
Toying with a man, tonight, before
She rejects him. We did not know
Who she was talking about at the
Time. But now it seems obvious
That that man she was speaking of
Was Thelktos. We should warn
Him, before the poor boy goes off
And gets his love rejected. It will
Devastate him. He really has never
Been rejected. The outcome may
Not be pleasant.

Chorus of Men: It will be that he has to deal with an
Unpleasant outcome. It is clear that
He will not be swayed from his goal.
But it may not hurt to see if we can get
More information from him and
Perhaps persuade him to give up this
Pointless cause.

Chorus of Women: We will have to all go together. He
Is more likely to listen to all of
Than he is our separate groups.

Chorus of Men: No. we will go alone. He is not likely
To want to talk to a group of women or
Any group that has women in it about
Such things. We will find him and beg
With him to listen to reason and to not
Try and confess his love to Agnotita.
[Exit Choruses of Men]

Scene IV

Thelktos: Oh, I can hardly wait! Nightfall is almost here
And as soon as the sun sets, I will make my
Way to Agnotita's house. And then she will
Be mine! This is an amazing feeling to
Finally, be in love! It feels as if my hearts on
Fire, and it is burning for her, the blaze
Keeps growing as if it is being dowsed in oil!
She has to say yes! If she does not, well I do
Not even want to consider that a possibility.
I do not know what I would do. I do not think
I could go on living. But I see someone
Coming, so I will set this matter aside.
[Enter Messenger]

Messenger: Are you Thelktos?

Thelktos: Yes, that is me. What news do you bring me
Messenger?

Messenger: I bring word from Mistress Agnotita. She
Wishes me to inform that she is pleased to
Accept you tonight and will be awaiting
Your arrival. She warns you however that
Your intentions must be pure because, her
Brother, Laconis, is charged with her
Protection and the right to give her away.
She says that if your intentions are pure
Then to meet her under the large oak tree
On her father's land. She says that it is the
Most romantic place on her father's land.

Thelktos: She wants me to meet her somewhere
Romantic? But how could she know my
Intentions. I swore her servant to silence, he
Would not have spoken of my feelings for
Her.

Messenger: With all due respect, it was not difficult for
Her to figure it out. You are a follower of
Aphrodite and Eros, and you wished to
Meet her at night. She needed no help in
Figuring out your intentions.

Thelktos: What you say is true. It was not very well the
Way I tried to hide my feelings. But when a
Person has feelings as strong as mine it is no
Easy feat to conceal them from the world!
She knew my intentions and still she wants to
Meet with me, this is a very good sign. As for
Laconis, he will be begging me to accept his
Sister in marriage Once this night is over.
Go back and tell Agnotita that I will see her
Under the great oak tree tonight.
Messenger: Very well, then I take my leave.
[Exit Messenger]

Thelktos: Now this truly will be a great night. Now
That I know she is not put off by the
Intentions that I have nothing can stop me
From making her love me.

Chorus of Men: Thelktos, Oh most passionate of all the
Followers of Aphrodite and Eros, we
Need to warn you.

Thelktos: Warn me? Of What? Nothing you can say
Can dishearten me now. I truly know how it
Feels to worry about nothing. All my cares
Are gone. Set free by love.

Chorus of Men: That is what we must warn you about.
The woman you love, Agnotita, does
Not return the feelings. She has
Malice in her heart. She thinks herself
To pure and chaste for you. She
Wishes only to string you along and
Then reject your love. She wants only
Pain for you.

Thelktos: You are wrong! Why, if she wished only ill
Towards me, would she accept my proposal
Of meeting tonight?

Chorus of Men: That is what we are telling you! she
Accepted your proposal, only to get
Your hopes up because she wishes to
Hurt you all the more when she rejects
Your love. Are you really this naive?
You know she is a worshiper of
Artemis. Does it not then concern you
That a follower of Artemis, who wants
Vengeance on your prized goddess,
Would want to meet with you. She
Believes in purity and chastity, while
You believe in love and desire. Even
You must think it odd that she would
Actually love you.

Thelktos: Silence! you are all very fortunate that I do
Not kill you where you stand. Do not let me
Hear you speaking such words again or I will
Not be so gracious. Agnotita does have
Feelings for me, maybe she does not love me
Yet. But she will, she will! Now I leave
You, I have to prepare for tonight.
[Exit Thelktos]

Chorus of Men: How sad it is when a man is blind to
Reason and is only lead by his heart.
What troubles await a man who acts
On whims controlled by love. Reason
Is a better friend to man, yet in the end
Man always sides with love and every
Time he is hurt deeply. Love can be
Man's salvation if the love is returned,
But when the love is not returned, it
Will drive him mad and to
Unreasonable acts.


Scene V


Agnotita: This will a most memorable night for
Thelktos. He comes thinking that his love for
Me will be returned, for he has never been
Rejected. Yet this is the one time that he shall
Be rejected. The first and last, by my
Reasoning. I do not think he will ever get
Over This Rejection and his life will be over.
He is likely to kill himself here right in front
Of me when he finds that I do not share his
Love. Here he comes now! Finally my
Goddess will have her vengeance on
Aphrodite for the death of Hippolytus.
Thelktos' life is now voided to pay that debt.
[Enter Thelktos]

Thelktos: My Darling Agnotita, you are a sight to
Behold. Your beauty compares to that of my
Mistress, Aphrodite.

Agnotita: Hello most charming Thelktos, Please, will
You come over her and sit next to me under
This oak tree.

Thelktos: Yes, I think I will. By now Agnotita, you
Must have figured out why I asked to meet
You this night. From the way that you asked
Me to meet you in this romantic location,
I have hopes that you know my feelings and
That you feel much the same way.

Agnotita: I do know your feelings, Thelktos, you love
Me, am I not right? Surely however you
Must have been told already that I worship
The goddess Artemis. And that as one of
The Virgin Goddess' followers that I must to
Remain pure. You worship Eros and
Aphrodite, the two Olympians who are the
Farthest from my goddess. You follow
Aphrodite's practices, I cannot. Do you
suppose that this is not a problem?

Thelktos: I see no problem that cannot be overcome.
With the help of Eros, all things can happen.
I love you Agnotita! From the way you
Asked me to this spot, I assume that you are
Not truly devoted to your goddess and that
After spending a night with me you will stop
The senseless worship of a useless goddess
And join me in the worship of Aphrodite.
You have not given me an answer though as
To if you share my feelings of love.

Agnotita: You expect me to give up my faith in my
Goddess so easily? Tell me Thelktos, do you
Know the history that our goddesses have
Together. If not, let me tell you. Your
Goddess, Aphrodite was jealous of the
Attention that a mortal man, Hippolytus, was
Giving to My goddess, Artemis. Hippolytus
Was Artemis' favorite among the mortals,
But Aphrodite caused his death.

Thelktos: Why do you babble on woman? Everyone
Knows the story of Hippolytus? but why
Does that matter? What does it have to do
With my love for you? Now I ask you for a
Third time, and I expect an answer from you
This time. Do you share my feelings of love?

Agnotita: An answer? Is that all you want? Well then,
An answer I will give you. This is now the
Time for Artemis to have her Vengeance on
Your whore of a goddess! Do I love you?
Ha! I do not love you, I could not love you, I
Will never love you. I despise you! You
Disgust me, the way you worship Aphrodite
And perform her acts nightly; you are the
Worst of all the scum on earth. Your love is
Meaningless to me. I would rather reside in
Hades than love you!

Thelktos: Crazy woman! You cannot reject my love!
No woman has ever rejected my love! I
Refuse to accept this as your answer. I will
Act as if I did not hear those words. I give
You one last chance to give me an answer
That I want to hear.

Agnotita: There are no words that will pass my lips that
Shall please you. No matter how many times
You ask me, my answer shall remain the
Same, I will NEVER love you!

Thelktos: You will love me, you will! You have to! You
Cannot reject me!

Agnotita: For the last time, I will never love you. You
And your goddess disgust me! I despise you!
My feelings for you are the farthest thing
From love. Thelktos, I reject your love!

Thelktos: AIAI! What grief I feel! I cannot live with
This pain. Without love, this life does not
Feel bearable. Here I will place the hilt of
My sword in the knot of this tree, with the
Blade facing towards me.

Agnotita: That is what I expected from such a
Worthless servant of a worthless goddess.
You cannot even handle the "gifts" that your
Goddess gives you. Instead, you take your
Own life.

Thelktos: I do not just take my own life, You will die
With me! You said that you would rather
Live in Hades than love me. I grant you that
Wish. I throw us both upon the blade.

Agnotita: OIMOI! the blade has pierced us both. Even
Though I die next to you, with my last breath
I say that I will never love you!
[Enter Aphrodite]

Aphrodite: Thelktos, my most loyal follower. I,
Aphrodite, will weep for your death, even
Though the immortal gods are not suppose
To weep for mortals. Your death will not
Go unpunished. Artemis will pay! As for
You, you will not be forgotten. From the
Drops of blood that flow from your wound
Shall grow the wild rose. For ages to come
Your roses will be a symbol of love. And
Just as you were drawn to love and then
Hurt, people will be drawn to the roses
Beauty and then pricked by the painful
Thorns. Always to be reminded of you and
Your love and the pain that you faced for
Love.