The Deviant Path to Olympus

Chapter 10

The tunnel was steep. Granit took out a torch from his satchel and lit it so that they could see their surroundings within the darkness. It was several minutes of silent walking while Mimoza stroked her hands against the paintings on the walls. Mimoza finally said, "these tunnels aren't natural."

"No kidding," Granit said sarcastically.

"What I mean is, this tunnel shouldn't be here. In ancient Babylon, tunnels used to exist to connect regions in secret. Traders, prisoners, and refugees would use those tunnels to live hidden from the eyes of tyrants. To escape unjust sentences and move without fear. What I don't understand is, why would such a thing exist in Athens? In Athens, people are free to live within the laws of the democracy. How could tunnels like this exist, if there's no reason for people to create them?"

Granit's mouth flattened, "you don't know about Peisistratos, do you?"

Mimoza shook her head. Granit said, "about seventy years ago, Peisistratos was Tyrant of Athens. He took control of the city after he got the farmers to overthrow the old aristocracy. Since he was a military general and not a politician, he delegated official roles to elected officials. As tyrant he wiped out the debt of farmers and banned slavery for Greeks in Athens. Most importantly, he taught Greek citizens how to rule themselves, instead of being ruled by lazy men who were born lucky."

Granit pointed to a picture on the wall. It spelled out the words, 'the Tyrant is the state.'

He said, "but his son wasn't the same. At first he was a lot like his father, doing his best to follow in Peisistrato's footsteps. But after his brother was assassinated, Hippias went mad. Paranoid and obsessed with power, he went out of his way to solidify his stronghold over the city. He backtracked all the laws his father had made, took away many freedoms of Athenians, and even killed everyone who dared to speak freely against him. He went so far as to kill his own advisors and bodyguards, refusing to even bury them so that they couldn't pass over to the afterlife peacefully."

Mimoza looked at the drawings on the wall. It described exactly what Granit was telling her, a man on a throne, pointing at his soldiers to kill other citizens. Depictions of women, men and children, getting slaughtered in the dozens by the hand of a man screaming ahead of them. It was the perfect depiction of tyranny, and a simple explanation of what Athens stood against.

"Athens under Tyranny," Mimoza said quietly, "hard to imagine, with the way the city is now."

Granit nodded, "it wasn't until the Oracle of Delphi told the king of Sparta, Cleomenes, that Hippias needed to be stopped. After the Spartans overthrew Hippias, the freedom of the people was returned. And democracy was fully established in Athens."

"A city without leaders, created in response to a mad tyrant." Mimoza looked at him and asked, "Granit, how do you know this? I've been here for a year and I've never even been told of how democracy started in Athens."

Granit grumbled a bit, "the thing about bad history, is that people tend to hide it when it hurts them bad enough. My um... Father, was killed by Hippias. I'd rather not forget what he did to him, but most people affected by Hippias would rather forget his existence than remember the losses of the past."

Mimoza stared at him for a moment. "That's why you never left the city, you want to protect the city that overthrew him."

He chuckled, "since I can't kill him, the best I can do is help the city that hates him the most."

Mimoza smiled, "then these tunnels are a remnant to Hippia's reign. They were clearly meant to smuggle people from the surface, to escape from a cruel and tyrannical leader. The question is, what are they being used for now?"