Chapter 141: Manto, the Priestess of Apollo

Thebes, which plays an important role in Greek mythology, was once one of the three major city-states alongside Athens and Sparta militarily, and was once the richest city-state alongside Athens and Corinth economically.

And it is also the location of the Panhellenic holy place - the Temple of Delphi.

Themis, the goddess of justice, and Mnemosyne, the goddess of time, as the patron saints of Thebes enshrined in the Temple of Delphi, are superior to the patron saints of the city-state and are worshiped as the primitive gods closest to the creator god.

Apollo and Dionysus, who came from the east, were originally just local gods, but because of their entry into the Delphi Temple, they suddenly became pan-Hellenic gods.

The city-states in the Argos region formed two coalition expeditions to the rich and powerful Kingdom of Thebes. Although the nominal reason was to regain the throne for Polynices and Thersanteros, in fact it was not related to the expedition to Troy. The reason is the same.

Not only to fight for hegemony and suppress the Kingdom of Thebes, but also to plunder wealth from the wealthy Kingdom of Thebes.

After Luo Yin left the city of Thebes, he went all the way west to the Temple of Delphi on Mount Parnassus, and soon encountered the coalition forces led by Diomedes.

Riding his horse to block the front of the coalition, Luo Yin pointed the blade of his divine spear at Diomedes who had stopped marching and questioned him.

"Diomedes! When you return from the land to the Argos region, you have to go east. When you return across the Gulf of Corinth, you have to go south. Now that you are west of the city of Thebes, can you explain to me the reason? ?"

After listening to Luo Yin's question, Diomedes said with a blank expression.

"We originally wanted to go east of Thebes and return to the Argos region from the land. But on the way we met Manto, the daughter of the blind prophet Tiresias, who asked us to send her to Delphi Temple.”

"Are you a good Samaritan escorting a strange woman with eight thousand soldiers?"

Looking at Diomedes, who was as dull as a doll and didn't know how to answer him, Luo Yin immediately understood the situation and looked at the woman sitting on the carriage behind Diomedes with cold eyes.

The woman looked to be about thirty years old. She was wearing a priest's white robe and a laurel wreath on her head.

"Are you Manto?"

Luo Yin looked at the priestess and said.

"The blind prophet Tiresias is already a centenarian. If Tiresias really has a daughter, his daughter should be at least eighty years old."

"I'm Manto."

The priestess who called herself Manto said expressionlessly.

"Teiresias is my father."

"The highest level of lying is to believe your own lies."

Luo Yin teased Mantu with a joking sneer.

"Manto! I know that you first appeared when Amphion ruled Thebes, your second appearance was during the Second Thebes War, and your third appearance was more than three hundred years later. Dark Ages. Even the demigods in the mythical age cannot live for four hundred years. As an ordinary human being, it is certainly impossible for you to live for four hundred years, so your existence itself and your story will be hundreds of years later. A human fabrication - just like the Ethiopian king Memnon during the Trojan period. When you first appeared in the city of Thebes, you wanted to introduce Apollo and his mother goddess Leto here, so that Apollo could become a human being. The patron saint of Thebes. This is a hint that two hundred years after the end of the Trojan War, Apollo's followers tried to make Apollo the patron saint of Thebes. Apollo captured Thebes because of the stubborn resistance of the Thebes. The action was not successful. You appeared in the city of Thebes for the second time. The coalition forces in the second expedition to Thebes successfully captured the city of Thebes and sent you to the Temple of Delphi. This was due to the city of Thebes. Falling into weakness, Apollo's followers finally succeeded in seizing the Temple of Delphi, killing the original priestess Pythia [Python], and making Manto, the priestess of Apollo, the master of the Temple of Delphi. You appear for the third time in Three. More than a hundred years later, this is the mythmaker suggesting that because humans cannot live for four hundred years, Manto’s existence itself and your story are false.”

Having said this, Luo Yin aimed the blade of the divine spear at Mantuo.

"Because the stories made up by humans hundreds of years later distorted the real myths, that's why you appear here. That's why Diomedes, who has nothing to do with Apollo, inexplicably led his soldiers to Help you and Apollo capture the Temple of Delphi. Now I want to eliminate your false existence from the real myth."

After saying that, Luo Yin threw the divine spear at Mantu.

Whoosh!

The divine spear penetrated Manto's body like a bolt of lightning.

After Manto's body turned into a black smoke and drifted away in the wind, Diomedes immediately woke up from a dream and muttered to himself full of doubts.

"What happened to me just now? Even if I wanted to seize the Temple of Delphi, I should have sent the priestess of the goddess Athena to the Temple of Delphi! Even if it wasn't the goddess Athena, my second choice would have been to send the priestess of the God King Zeus The priests were sent to the Temple of Delphi. The Apollo worshiped by the people of Asia Minor has nothing to do with me, so why should I bring soldiers to help him capture the Temple of Delphi?"

No one answered this question.

Because no one can reasonably explain why the coalition forces from the Argos region did not help Athena or Zeus, but helped Apollo, worshiped by the people of Asia Minor, to capture the Temple of Delphi.

Seeing Diomedes wake up, Luo Yin immediately turned his horse's head and continued to the Temple of Delphi.

Mount Parnassus – This sacred mountain is where the temple of Delphi was located.

When Luo Yin arrived at the foot of the mountain, he saw Yinsmene, who was supposed to be in Thebes, standing at the starting point of the mountain road.

When he arrived in front of Yinsmene, Luo Yin jumped off his horse and said.

"I'm really curious, are you the incarnation of the goddess or the goddess disguised as a human?"

After Yinsmene looked at Luo Yin expressionlessly, she turned around and climbed the mountain road.

Luo Yin immediately followed Yinsmene and said.

"I not only saved the city of Thebes, but also helped you eliminate Apollo's priestess and broke Apollo's ambition to replace you as the patron saint of Thebes. Don't you have anything to say to me?"

Insmene's silence still responded to Luo Yin.

The Temple of Delphi is located at a flat foothill of Mount Parnassus.

When Luo Yin and Yinsmene arrived at the end of the mountain road, they saw a circular altar surrounded by twelve stone pillars.

Behind the circular altar is the temple dedicated to the goddess of justice Themis and the goddess of time Mnemosyne.

Led by Insmene, the two walked through the circular altar to the temple. When the three priestesses standing at the door of the temple saw Insmene, they immediately knelt on the ground and worshiped devoutly.

It was unknown whether the priestesses regarded Insmene as the princess of Thebes or the goddess they had always served.

Luo Yin and Insmene walked through the gate into the temple and saw two life-size statues of goddesses enshrined in the depths of the temple.

One of the two statues was a sword-wielding war goddess, obviously Themis, the goddess of justice who protected Thebes as the goddess of war.

The other statue was a goddess wearing a laurel crown and holding a scepter, obviously Mnemosyne, the goddess of time who used the oracle of predicting the future to make the Delphi Temple a pan-Greek holy place.