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‘Not at all,’ said Antinoē. ‘You could not have known the difficulties which we might encounter.’ She held out her hands, and Phœbē took them. ‘It is good to meet a fellow-spirit. The instruments are yours. I give them to you.’ Phœbē was speechless. But her face and her posture showed her joy and gratitude. ‘Now we must leave,’ said Antinoē. ‘May you prosper till we meet again!’
We walked on into the city. In this quarter, there was an eery silence. We passed our lodgings, which seemed closed. Even the café of the knife-throwing and the murder was closed. The yard of our Theban transporter too. I was wondering how we could find a way to leave this place. But we walked on towards the city centre, by unspoken accord.
Soon we would come to a wide avenue which led to the centre of Thebes. This turned out not to be silent. When we turned the corner into the avenue, we saw that it was strewn with the bodies of young men, dead, dying or wounded, and attended by anxious relatives, many of them wailing. The civil strife had left its mark.
We looked at each other, shocked. I do not recall whether we spoke at that instant, but we all knew that we must try to be of help. I said to Philodemus: ‘Go to my quarters in our lodgings. Get in any way you can. In the corner to your left as you go in you’ll see my medicine chests. Bring the one marked ‘wounds’ as soon as you can.’
He nodded and ran off.
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