Calypso & The Coin Flip

I was unlucky to be born in Pontus, although I didn't realize it as I was growing up. My father was a successful merchant and had a prosperous business brokering the products of our abundant kingdom — cherries, olives, nuts, and fruit wines. When I was young he taught me his trade and I learned well how to conduct the business, source the products, find buyers and make them happy. 

My family lived very well until our king, Mithridates, picked a fight with Rome. King Mithridates stoked the passions of the young men of our kingdom, so my friends and I went off to war. We lost.

My father's business was ruined and our formerly abundant land was impoverished. Most unlucky of all, when I was 22 years old, I was sold into slavery in Rome. 

I was bought by a freedman named Maximus, a tall, vigorous Gaul already close to 60 years old. He was also a merchant and he bought me because I was only 22 years old, strong and intelligent, and I had experience running an import export business just like his. So I labored long hours learning the business of Maximus and doing most of the work. 

Maximus treated me well. Besides being a slave, I lived a decent life. For a few years I was under his servitude until Saturnalia one year when Maximus got very drunk. We were gambling and I was winning a lot. Our game came down to one last roll of the dice. Maximus beat me. I lost all that I'd won that day. Maximus, however, had a tendency to be magnanimous when he was drunk. He gave me one last chance to win. 

“Let's flip my lucky coin, Androcles. Heads…I give you your freedom. Tails…you continue to be my slave for ten more years.” said Maximus.

I was willing to take the risk, of course, so we proceeded. This coin was a special coin because it was the first money that Maximus earned as a merchant after gaining his own freedom from slavery. He regarded it as his good luck charm because it was ancient and his first tetradrachm as a free Roman. On the front of the coin was the head of Tyche, on the other side was a detailed wreath and the motto of Smyrna. 

We flipped; I won. Maximus manumitted me in the next census after Saturnalia. He gifted me the coin of Tyche that won me my freedom and told me to guard it with my life. I made it into a necklace, and this talisman got me out of harm’s way many times. Maximus said it was no accident that the Greek goddess Tyche appeared on the first silver coin he’d earned, and had delivered me my freedom, because she is the equivalent of Fortuna, of whom he was a devotee.

I went on to work for Maximus for several more years as a freedman. He treated me like a son and initiated me into the worship of Fortuna. To many Romans, Fortuna was a fickle goddess who dealt out good and bad fortune without regard for the merits of people, cities or nations. To slaves and freedmen, though, she was our benefactor and we always gave her tribute.

Maximus was an influential magistrate in the community and we regularly participated in temple services at her sanctuary in the Forum Boarium. I adopted Fortuna’s worship as Maximus adopted me. I was a faithful adherent and lady luck always came through for me.

I made a lot of money and became a successful merchant in my own right. Eventually, I went off on my own after Maximus died, inheriting his business and duties at the shrine of Fortuna. I was happy, even though I didn't yet have a family of my own. I was just working, sailing the Mediterranean, going back and forth between Rome and the Ionian city states, and enjoying my adventures at sea.

During that time, the pirates of Cilicia molested Roman merchant ships and made our lives a lot harder than they needed to be. By then, I had built up my own successful fleet. I had a huge merchant ship, a Corbita type, the Isis-Fortuna, which could carry 1200 tons, that I filled with products in Italy and sailed them to the Hellenic city states. I’d fill it back up with products along the Ionian coast and bring them back to sell in Italy. It was a great business and an exciting life, except for the pirates. 

One morning off the coast of Sicily, I was on the catascopus, our scout vessel, with ten of my crew. It was a marvelous day! I remember the cloudless azure sky soon after sunrise, cool breeze, and the taste of the salty air stinging my skin. Most of all I remember the feeling of invincibility and great possibility. Spirits were high because the weather was perfect and we were set to land in Sicily that evening, where we’d make a huge profit and enjoy the fruits of another successful journey.

This feeling was usually hubris, though, so I said a quiet prayer to Fortuna.

We spotted two pirate ships. Our small, quick scout vessel warned away our large, less maneuverable merchant ship. One pirate ship chased the corbita, and the other came after us. We chased off the pirates long enough for the corbita to raise all the sails and get away. 

From the catascopus, we fought them hard. The deck was slippery with blood and seawater. We were fending them off on all sides. Two were coming at me when the pirate in the lead slipped in a pool of blood. I cut his throat, then crashed shields with the one behind him. I managed to slice his leg open and bring him to his knees. I thrust my short sword into his throat. Before I could pull it out I heard the crack of a whip and felt it wrap around my neck, strangle me, and pull me onto my back.

I passed out and came to in the hold of their ship. The necklace with my lucky coin was gone. Had Fortuna forsaken me?

The pirates had killed five of my men and easily captured our smaller scouting vessel, taking the rest of us captive. They took our ship in tow and put us in captivity. They were cruel to us, tore off our shirts and whipped us. 

They said they would ransom us for a lot of money, but my crew members didn't have anyone rich to ransom them. All I had was my merchant ship, which had hopefully gotten away, containing almost my entire net worth. If it was already safe, there wasn’t much I could do now to go get it for them. 

They made us gamble for our lives. They said that we could play dice, and if we won, they'd sell us into slavery. If we lost, they'd make us walk the plank. We spent that afternoon throwing dice, which were probably loaded, for our lives. 

All of my crew members lost. I felt powerless to help these men who had helped me grow rich, with whom I'd shared great adventures. There was nothing I could do to save them. 

The pirates had fun toying with their lives. They would stab them in the hamstring and then make them walk the plank so they couldn't swim and they’d just drown in the middle of the Mediterranean. Or, they’d make them humiliate themselves before slicing them up and throwing them over the side of the ship. 

Finally it came down to me and I had to play dice against the pirate captain. Again, I was winning, just like that fateful December 19th Saturnalia that changed the course of my life. I won nine times. The pirates were getting frustrated because apparently their loaded dice didn’t work anymore. 

“We'll play one more game. If you win, we'll drop you off within sight of the next landmass and you can swim for it. If you lose we’re going to make you die a slow death,” the captain said.  

They had already taken away my lucky charm, the silver tetradrachm with the head of Tyche, which I had won from my master to gain my freedom. So, I figured my luck had run out and I was getting mentally prepared for a slow death. 

The captain decided to change the game. He took a coin from his pocket and showed it to me. On one side was the head of Tyche, on the back was the goddess Nike standing with a palm branch. This coin was a recent one from Syria. 

I knew when I saw it I was going to win. 

“If you get the head of Tyche, you swim for it. If Nike shows up, we’ll have fun killing you,” said the captain. They flipped the coin and I won. Of course they didn’t like the result. He flipped it two more times and I still won.

Fortuna had not abandoned me after all. Shortly thereafter, we saw land in the distance. The captain said, “I hope you can swim!”

He slapped the coin into the palm of my hand, punched me in the stomach, and they threw me overboard. I had never swum so far in my life. The sea was mostly calm, but there were times when I nearly drowned. I almost didn't make it, but I could see the beach in the distance and I just found the will to keep going. As the sun was going down, I flopped onto the beach and passed out. 

I dreamed I was in a cave in the middle of the night and a woman was giving me cool water. I fell back asleep and dreamed of the most beautiful song I've ever heard in my life. As I was coming out of my dream state in the morning, I awoke, looked up, and saw the beach where I had landed from the mouth of a cave I was now inside. 

It wasn't a dream. I turned around and there was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, singing and smiling at me. She gave me water, fruit, and fish to help me regain my strength.

When I was back to full strength she kept me there with her, but didn’t speak much. We made love every day, played on the beach, explored the coast, and took walks along the beautiful hillside cliffs. 

My savior seemed to have an endless supply of fresh, cold spring water, wine, fish and fruit. She sang songs that filled my heart with joy and love. At last, she told me her name was Calypso. I couldn't believe it, but I knew the story of Odysseus. This was the nymph who had captured Odysseus after saving him from a shipwreck, then forced him to live with her for seven years as his love slave. 

Had Fortuna come through for me yet again, or not?

I was satisfied, but I started to long for the sea again. I wondered what happened to my ship. I wanted to go back and rescue my business, continue trading, and rebuild my life in Italy. I desired to be a rich and successful merchant like Maximus. I longed to have new adventures, as well as to contribute and make something of myself and my freedom. 

I didn't have it bad as a slave with Maximus, but as a freedman, I valued my liberty more than anything. And with Calypso, I had again lost my freedom, even though it was the sweetest slavery imaginable.

I confided in Calypso and told her how I was feeling. She expected it. She had gotten the same treatment from Odysseus. She told me this is one of the reasons why she likes mortal men — we want to be out, be active, have adventures, meet different people and live our lives to the fullest. 

She took me for a walk into the interior of her island. We arrived at a subterranean temple. The facade had a formal entrance marked by enormous carved stones and a capstone bearing a crudely carved face that guarded the doorway leading to a central corridor. There were stone altars containing strange idols: one had a pig's head, the second a well-carved human head on a phallus-shaped pedestal, and the third a head supported by two legs.

I noticed that the walls were ochre. I saw the skeletons of thousands of people. In the center, there was a large statue of a rotund woman lying on her side on an elaborate woven bed. Calypso left me there to draw my own conclusions. I wasn't sure what all this meant. Was she trying to tell me that no matter how much I accomplish, this is ultimately all I have to look forward to?

We left the subterranean temple and she took me to a monolithic structure. Young women were dancing around it. Then, one would sit on it, say some prayers, jump off, and another one would follow. Calypso told me that these were local women from the village and that they wanted to get pregnant. 

She gave me an offer. I could either stay with her forever, become immortal, and be the king of her lovely island along with her as my queen. Or, she would set me free to go live in the village. I could take one of these young women as my wife and live a normal mortal life. 

Maybe I'd stay there forever, happy with a limited lifestyle on the island. I’d have a beautiful young wife and a happy family, enjoying my freedom in this beautiful place. I could probably get back to Italy somehow, save my business, continue adventuring, and become the successful merchant I dreamed of being. 

Later that night, Calypso and I were sitting at the mouth of her cave, admiring the beauty of her island and watching the sun go down. “Let's play a game,” she said. 

Calypso produced a coin with the head of Tyche on one side and Nike on the opposite side. “I found this on you at the beach. When you arrived on my island, it was in your mouth. Since you weren't dead, it wasn't for Kharon. Tyche is my sister, so I recognized her face and took it for safekeeping.” 

“I'll flip the coin. If the side of Nike comes up, you get to go free and do what you will. If the head of Tyche comes up, you'll stay here forever. You'll be immortal, Androcles, and I'll make you infinitely happy,” said Calypso. 

She flipped the coin. I’ll always remember the ping of the silver coming off her thumbnail and reverberating off the cave walls. She caught it with her right hand, slapped it onto the back of her left hand. It landed on…