How to Make a Good Story With Honey Part II

     A story by Xenophon. Xenophon, was an Athenian who lived right after the glory years of the "Golden Age of Athens." He was a friend and student of Socrates, noted for his generalship, horse-riding abilities and his works of history. While he was a soldier, he was part of a Greek mercenary band called, The Ten Thousand, who were hired to help a Persian prince named Cyrus the Younger (no relation to Cyrus the Great) over throw his brother's army and become king himself.  There was a great battle in modern day Iraq and Cyrus' forces, led by the Greeks won the day, but Cyrus was killed in the battle. With the mercenary pay master dead, the Greeks began a long march home that took them almost two years. This long and arduous journey is chronicled in Xenophon's book The Anabasis: The March of the Ten Thousand.

     The honey story occurs on this trip home in the modern day country of Turkey.   Here is Xenophon talking about what they found.

"Now for the most part there was nothing here which they really found strange; but the swarms of bees in the neighborhood were numerous, and the soldiers who ate of the honey all went off their heads, and suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, and not one of them could stand up, but those who had eaten a little were like people exceedingly drunk, while those who had eaten a great deal seemed like crazy, or even, in some cases, dying men.  So they lay there in great numbers as though the army had suffered a defeat, and great despondency prevailed. On the next day, however, no one had died, and at approximately the same hour as they had eaten the honey they began to come to their senses; and on the third or fourth day they got up, as if from a drugging".

     Apparently the soldiers had been poisoned by Grayanotoxins, a substance found in rhododendrons, azaleas and similar plants that do not bother the bees, but do bother humans. While they are not common, neither are they rare. The Black Sea area is probably one of the most well known areas where this is a problem and stories from the Greeks, Romans, and even much later are known to historians.  One such example comes from the late Roman Republic. There was a famous general known as Pompey, who led a Roman legion into a war versus a rival. This country was war-like, but far inferior to Rome and their king, Mithridates, knew it.  Mithridates kingdom was near the area where Xenophon's story had taken place and according to the story, Kateuas, one of Mithridates' advisers recalled the story of the Ten Thousand and convinced the king to retreat through this area, being careful not to eat the honey. This they did, but when Pompey and the Romans went through they decided to eat the honey and soon the whole army went into drunken convulsions.  While the Roman's lay paralyzed, Mithridates returned and massacred them.

It could be laced with poisonous honey!

     The last two posts have shown honey as medicine, as a metaphor, and as a poison.  However, honey is merely an example of how a writer can take the mundane and create rich patterns in their stories. It is fascinating to think that something as simple as this can be used in a multitude of ways to facilitate a better and more vibrant story arc....and let's be honest, isn't different and more creative what a writer should be striving after?

-Jason
  
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