Lesley Walker — Τhe Lady of Kalymnos

There I was, dressed in the finest linen chiton, the best patterned and fringed himation or mantle to be found in Rodos, falling loosely down over my shoulders to below my arms, the long tassels on the edges exquisitely worked. On my feet were sandals of the softest leather and my dark hair was caught up in the latest Roman fashion. I was ready for my journey across the sea. To be honest, I was keen to leave. My time with the bronze makers was ending and they were not exactly my ideal companions, however skilled they were. I was designed for higher company than artisans.

 What was my name? Some called me Demeter, grieving mother of Persephone, but that was later. Arsinoe, sister of Cleopatra, has also been mentioned. I wasn’t bothered. There would be a time for names at my journey’s end. Rome beckoned, and I was ready.

 With great care I was conveyed to the harbour where my ship was waiting for its precious cargo. My berth was soft and salty-smelling, with the seagrass packed around me, cushioning my body. Ropes tied me down and held me safe.

 I must admit I fell asleep as soon as the ship was underway. The rocking of the ship, the gentle flap of the sail, the rhythm of the oars rising and falling, all lulled me into a deep rest.

 I woke suddenly to the sea change, as the boat began to pitch and toss and the wind picked up. There was a lot of activity as orders were given, the sail was lowered and stowed and the men lashed everything down, including me. A looming creeping darkness filled the sky above me as a squall brought heavy drops of rain pinging on my face. A wave loomed out of the black and broke over the ship, soaking me and my bed. Another one brought down the mast. There was a great cracking of timbers and shouts and screams of men rent the air as the ship gave a lurch and then filled with sea, sinking down below the surface taking me with it. Down, down, down I went, as men’s arms flailed desperately in the water above me. Sea filled my mouth and eyes and a great heaviness of water pulled me down as the bubbling breaking ship slowly swung down to bump gently onto the seabed and then all was still.

Time passed but I had no sense of time. Gradually the bonds holding me loosened and then fell apart, my bed was replaced by silt, sand and mud. I was comfortable enough but I felt my smooth face and the folds of my apparel being slowly crusted by the accretions of sea creatures. Bits of me were inhabited by creeping, swimming things and apparently I lost my eyes somehow. Crabs tickled me and an occasional octopus, graceful and inquisitive, came to search me out. Time passed but I had no sense of time. But there were changes in the sounds that travelled through the water, a sort of rhythmic rumbling like an earthquake which came and went.

 I was dozing when that sound came again far above me and I was aware of something moving the waters around me. I heard unfamiliar noises and then rising clouds of silt nearly. A shadow, a shape loomed out of the dim, a creature the like of which I had never seen before. It had a large bulbous round head with what looked like four round eyes all pointing in different directions, a thick neck and chest plate like a Roman soldier’s armour,      two arms and legs covered in a dirty brown loose leathery skin. There was a long rope or tail attached to its body and white tube coming from its head. I couldn’t see where they came from or ended and at times it expelled bubbles of air. An axe-shaped stone like a ship’s anchor, was tied around the creature’s neck and it carried a net bag containing what looked like black sea sponges that used to grow around me. The creature’s foot bumped against me and it paused, looking down at me through what seemed like the delicate glass of our perfume bottles. I heard what sounded like heavy breathing as it leant over me, and I saw movement behind the eyes. I was not afraid, it would not hurt me, but it was an ugly clumsy thing. Then the long tail jerked as if by an unseen hand, silt whirling where it stepped, the net bag brushing my arm as it passed by. It was looking for something, not for me. Then the tail jerked again and the creature seemed to leap up and up above me, still that rhythmic rumbling sound as its legs disappeared up through the dimness. All was still once more.

Time passed but I had no sense of time. Waters moved around me, fish and sea creatures further encrusted my face and lived among my clothing. Bits of me seemed loose and rickety. Again the rhythmic rumbling far above me. Then I felt something brush against me, catch on the once beautiful tassels of my himation. I felt a tugging and more of the net pulled me up out of the silt, which whirled and clouded around me. I was hauled to my still sandalled feet and dragged, turning slowly, up, up, up like the creature I had encountered in time past. I could see light then the blue of the sky and as I broke the surface I felt the heat of the sun for the first time after so long in the deep.

I heard men’s voices, angry, excited, urgent as I was dragged in the nets up onto a ship, not like any ship I had ever seen, and I recognised the strange rumbling rhythm again. I was tangled in a huge net and men were speaking in a way I did not understand. They worked to loose my bonds, strange smoking sticks in their mouths, all talking at once as they set me free. They gazed at me and I gazed back through what was left of my enamel eyes. They looked like men but no men I have ever known.

 Then the indignities started. Once more ropes were tied around me and then the rumbling increased and the ship moved purposefully off. Where were they taking me? Would I finally get to Rome, city of the great empire? Little did I know that this was the start of a new journey, a new life, full of indignities and argument, as men battled over me. First to Kalymnos where the fishermen belonged, then to Athens to more beauty routines inflicted on me than even in Rodos. My sea-encrusted skin and my fine clothes were bathed, cleaned, scraped, “treated” they said. My loose bits were mended and I was soaked in terrible-smelling ungents and oils and liquids, “chemicals” they called them, to “stabilise” me, whatever that meant. My skin had turned an interesting, even attractive, blue-green and copper colour, “verdigris” I heard someone mention. And then I waited for what would come next.

 People pored over me, talked about me, called me Demeter and Arsinoe and noble. Apparently I was a thing of wonder. Well, I had always known that! I heard the year 1994 mentioned as the year I was found. Hard to fathom that I had been under the sea for over 2200 years. I found it hard to cope with the noises all around me after so long in silence. I was taken to a place and displayed with other figures like me although I believe I was the finest. People came just to see me. Then I heard there were arguments over my future. And finally in 2008 I returned to Kalymnos to a new house, to a room with a high ceiling and bright lights. I stand on a plinth and people come to see me and wonder, as well they might. I have had an interesting, adventurous life and unlike many of my kind, I survived in one piece. I am now the Lady of Kalymnos, Η Κιρια τις Καλυμνου, and I am content with that name.