In the Wild and Do One Wild Thing: A Couple Through Time, #6

By Michael A. Susko

Zoe and Tod, who have been married for many years, seek to reignite their relationship with a trip abroad. Zoe wants to go to Europe, and Tod agrees on the condition that they do one wild thing in each country. This leads to complications from accidentally ingesting mushrooms in Dionysian Greece, having their clothes eaten by goats after having a vision of a medieval saint in a waterfall, and a crash amid windmills in Don Quixote's Spain. In the end their adventures and misadventures touch upon an essence of each country and leads them to discover something deeper about their relationship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AllrOneofUs Publishing
• Release date: Nov 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393260981

Michael A. Susko

The author, an independent scholar, has degrees in Philosophy and Counseling Psychology. For many years, he taught a college course on Indigenous symbolism with an emphasis on imagery found on stone and in the landscape. Having experienced gifts from the Indigenous related to sites that Native Americans inhabited, and having studied their narratives, he offers this work.

Book preview

CHAPTER I

One Wild Thing

The trip had started when Zoe worried that Tod was taking an interest in a new co-worker. She had surprised Tod by saying, I know I’m not that pretty anymore.

Are you kidding? Zoe, you’re beautiful.

You know it’s not the same, Tod. Men have an eye for young, attractive women and then there’s this father thing.

Tod threw up his hands. What do you want me to do, be in bed by nine?

Maybe you can make sure John is always with you when you go out with your co-workers on Wednesdays. He needs to meet a pleasant woman like Tracy.

Zoe, do you really think I need a male chaperone?

"Look Tod, we need to do something together. I’ve been thinking about a trip to Europe. I know you probably think it will be boring because I like to visit churches and ruins. But to make it more interesting, we could do something unusual in each country we visit, something that gets us into the spirit of the country. We could each choose to do one wild thing together––and veto the other’s proposal if it’s too far out of bounds. What do you think?"

Tod saw this as a test. I’m game, with one exception. As long as we agree to not go down into any caves. Since their experience in a deep cave in Guatemala, Tod had lost any desire for spelunking.

Isn’t it great! exclaimed Zoe. We’re at the Parthenon, built during the classical era of Ancient Greece. And what a splendid view of Athens from the Acropolis.

It’s grand, Tod agreed. And they did it without slaves, unlike Egypt. But I wonder where they got the money to build it.

Now that you ask, ancient temples were often built from the spoils of war. The Parthenon was built by the Athenian empire and was probably more treasury than temple. The key temple on the acropolis was actually Athena’s.

I thought classical society was male dominated, Tod remarked.

It was, but Athena was the major goddess on the acropolis. There is an earlier and smaller, half hidden temple dedicated to a male hero.

I see.... I guess women colluded in the empire that Athens built.

"Tod, why are you always looking at the shadow side of things? Besides, women tried to break the classical mold. There’s the Bacchae play, shown at the theatre of Dionysius here."

"The Bacchae? Tell me more."

It was Euripides’ last play, performed after he died. The women of Thebes became filled with Dionysian madness and left their homes to frolic in the countryside. King Pentheus, who failed to honor the God of Intoxication, was torn apart by the women.

Yes, empire comes to a bad end and it was done by women. Speaking of the God of Intoxication, I could use a drink.

Tod, we haven’t finished here! This is history before our eyes, where democracy was born, and theater first happened. Isn’t it glorious?

These ruins have seen their day. What about the present?

And over there is the Temple of Artemis, where they performed the ritual of the Brauonian bears.

Tod’s eyebrows raised. Rituals with bears––are you sure about that?

You’re in luck to have me as your tour guide. Adolescent girls wore yellow saffron robes and became bears for a year instead of being sacrificed.

Better to be a bear than be sacrificed. But I don’t think Greece has any bears.

There were bears in ancient Greece. Archeologists have found pictures of bears and bear-masked women on vases, and adolescents running naked.

You mean they streaked back then? Hey, Zoe, don’t tell me you 're thinking about that  for your wild idea?

Tod, I’m talking about an ancient religious ritual!

Still, it could be a source of inspiration.... Remember, we’re not here just to see ruins. By the way, what did men do back in ancient Greece?

In the symposium men drank in honor of Dionysus and had long philosophic discussions.

Sounds good to me. It’s time to find a tavern and keep up the tradition.

But we haven’t yet seen the sides of the Acropolis. They have some unusual shrines.

All right,  one more shrine. Maybe it will give us an idea.

Grottos riddled the slopes of the Acropolis, and Zoe chose one dedicated to Asclepius. It was a cave, but Tod comprised as the grotto was shallow and  well-traveled.

"Soter Epekoos," Zoe read.

What does that mean?

"Savior, he who gives ear. People brought offerings here to the healing hero of ancient Greece. You can see clay models of body parts that needed healing—heads, arms, and legs."

I don’t see any private parts, Tod observed.

I’m sure they used them to aid in fertility. They’re probably edited out of the exhibit. Look, there’s pit where they housed sacred snakes.

No snakes, please. I thought Asclepius had sleeping cures.

You’re right. Wouldn’t it be wild to sleep here and dream! There’s a corner over there tucked away.

"Zoe, there are probably