Historiefaget og litteraturen: f(r)iksjon? - Fortid

68 Fortid 2/11’Glorious Apollo,’ I said presently, ’are yousure? Wouldn’t you like your face to be more infashion? You could have anything; a solid goldwreath, jewelled earrings; it’s nothing to thebackers here. And they’ll be at the dress rehersal.’A night breeze blew in from the heights of Korax;the lamp-flame quivered; Apollo looked at mewith dark lidless eyes. ’At Phigeleia,’ he said, ’youpromised to give me something. Have I asked foranything before?’ 15Her lurer det overnaturlige like under overflaten: Gudeneer til stede, men deres inngripen er subtil. Det overnaturligegjør seg mer tydelig til stede senere i boken, da Nikeratosblir offer for et skipbrudd under overfarten fra Siciliatil Hellas, hvor han har denne drømmen etter å ha blittreddet i Tarentum:Once I woke from a dream to see my own bodypropped in the bed, myself looking down upon it.A priest stood praying that I might be reborn asa philosopher. Then I dreamed I was beside sometomb or grave, holding a skull in my hand. It wasclean, and I knew this was a play. Some flashesstill come back to me; I was the son of a murderedking whose shade had cried me to avenge him;yet I was not Orestes. It would be nonsense, Isuppose, like most dreams, if I could recall thewhole. 16Her må det legges til at menneskene som reddet Nikeratoser pythagoréere, en filosof-mystisistisk gruppe (grunnlagtav matematikeren og filosofen Pythagoras) som trodde påreinkarnasjon. 17 Leseren skjønner med en gang at Nikeratosser seg selv i rollen som Hamlet, men siden det er1900 år til Shakespeare vil bli født, er dette et glimt av etav hans fremtidige liv, hvor han åpenbart fortsatt vil væreskuespiller. Her vever ikke bare Renault inn et glimt avdet overnaturlige, men demonstrerer også sine grundigekunnskaper om antikken.hoopoe’s, and little round shields painted withbeasts and birds. But I knew them for my people;and few enough they looked, facing that horde,as we were when the Scythians came. […] Oncemore I was the King.It was a foot-fighting; I don’t know where thechariots were. Just then some chief started thepaean, and they gave the war-yell, charging ata run. I thought, ’They know I am with them!Marathon always brought me luck, and I am theluck of Marathon.’ […] I reached the line of thebarbarians, in my hands was the sacred axe ofCrete, that I used to kill the Minotaur. […] thenthe men of Athens knew me, and started to crymy name. The enemy were on the run for theirships, clambing and falling and drowning; it wasvictory, clear and sure. We gave a great yell oftriumph; and my own noise woke me. 18Scenen som her blir beskrevet er slaget ved Marathon i490 f.Kr., hvor athenerne drev hele den persiske hæren påflukt. Senere ville seierherrene beskrive hvordan skyggenav Theseus hadde dukket opp på slagmarken for å lededem, slik englene i Mons skal ha gjort. 19 Med denne visshetenkaster Theseus seg i havet, i viten om at han vil blihusket for alltid.Mary Renault døde i Sør-Afrika 1983. Hun nyter fortsattstor popularitet i dag; bøkene hennes er fortsatt i trykk –noe de har vært uten avbrudd siden deres utgivelse – enuvanlig bragd for enhver forfatter. Renaults evne til å gileseren et glimt av fortiden er å takke for hennes vedvarendesuksess, men hvordan hun egentlig gjorde det vilforbli et lite mysterium, for i skrivende stund har ingenklart å etterligne henne. Kanskje det beste er å konkluderesom Theseus: «Better then not to question the Immortals,[…].A bound is set to our knowing, and wisdom isnot to search beyond it. Men are only men.» 20 ■Drømmer om fremtidige hendelser dukker også opp i sluttenav The Bull from the Sea, da en gammel og svekketTheseus har dette synet av det fremtidige Hellas:It seemed I was wakened by a great din of battle.I […] was in old Hekaline’s cottage, young again,with my arms beside me. I snatched them andran outside. The sun shone brightly; beachedalong the strand was a great fleet of warships, fullof outlandish warriors scrambling ashore. Theywere too many for pirates; it was war, and a greatone; for all the men of Athens were there, drawnup to defend their fields. As one finds in dreams,there was something quaint about them; theyhad helms of bronze, with curving crests like the