In The Path Of The Beast
by CG BladePublish: Sep 08, 2018Action & Adventure Historical Romance Historical Fiction Fantasy HistoryBook Overview
The following ancient Greek saga Handed down and transcribed over the centuries, has been in our family for countless generations. A tale of love, courage, and bravery in the midst of ancient Greece, we present to you 'In The Path Of The Beast' originally published by Evangelos Pappazsis (Angelo Pappas), my Great-grandfather who died in 1974, and translated into English by my Great-aunt, Stavroula Will (Rose Will) in 1952.CG Blade
A historical corner of the world not well known to the rest of the universe is to be featured in the following story. This spot is the Epirutical coast of the famous Strait of Otranton, in the Ionian Sea, near the Greek and Albanian border. Across the strait is situated the Island of Corfus. The Island of Corfus on one side and the Coast of Epirus on the other border the famous straits, both of which figured so importantly in World War I and II. This area was separated from the Turkish Empire since 1912.
This spot of land historically and by virtue of language spoken and customs belong to Greece, but through the treachery of the Fascist Italian Empire, who did not wish the Strait of Otranton to remain in Greek hands, the land is now part of Alania. But Italy was forced to pay dearly for her treachery to Greece. The whole Greek Empire despised her. Thus in 1940, the strong feeling against the fascists untied the Greek kingdom as one man, and they defeated the fascists.
The following book, however, is not written to solve these problems, leaving them in the hands of those who will rule there in the future. Since I was born in the area, I am going to relate certain events, written and oral, tales handed down by my ancestors, about the places and the people who inhabited them. Today this area consists of the county of Delvino, whose capital city is Santa Quaranta or as Mussolini chose to name it Porto Edda. Northeast of Santa Quaranta are the vast fields and plains of Vurkos. In the middle of this vast plain flows the river Bistrisa. This river plays a major role in our tale. Because it was in its cooling waters that one of the largest prehistoric beasts sought to quench it final thirst. It is this beast whose mammoth bones were used as posts in a church in the village of Mesopatamo. Those bones may still be there today.
In the year 1206 A.D., Constantinople fell into the hands of the Gauls. In those days, the French Gauls in order to weaken the military powers of Constantinople sent a great military force to Epirus. They wished to cut off a route and thus prevent Constantinople from receiving help from any distant provinces. The military force of the French went from Santa Quaranta and proceeded toward the city of Phoenice. The Phoenicians fought bravely against the invaders but since they were greatly outnumbered, the city fell to the Gauls. The city was destroyed, and later a village was reconstructed and named Phoenice, and it is this village that is there today.
The outstanding happenings in connection with this attack by the Gauls were their religious fanaticism. When they conquered a city or village, they immediately destroyed Orthodox priests and anyone who was educated to the extent of being able to read and write.
After the subjugation of the land, a young ancestor, related to my mother’s family, was sent to Constantinople and after a four-year training period, he returned to the village to become its first priest in some time. After that, all male members born to my mother’s ancestors became priests. They would preach in all the surrounding villages. This custom was continued for six hundred years, from the year 1200 A.D. to the year 1800 A.D.
A great deal of the story I have written had been written by hand on skins and parchments by these priests. My father who was also a priest, entrusted a great many of these parchments to my mother. My mother kept my father’s will and these precious papers in a trunk after my revered father died at the age of twenty-seven.
