Before AD [Babylonian Favorites]

Everyone is crazy, hundreds of pairs of eyes are like big light bulbs that suddenly become bright, eager to stick to those young bodies.

The boys also seem to enjoy this undisguised naked look, twisting their bodies non-stop while holding the wine glass, reveling, throwing wine at the crowd, and still humming in their mouths.It is simply a replica of the midnight club of the modern bar.

I was speechless, and turned my head to look at Hephaestion with a questioning look: "How can there be such a tradition?"

The two dodged and exited the crowd in embarrassment, and Hephaestion said with difficulty: "Actually, I don't really understand. I usually don't come out to hang out on the street on Dionysus Festival, but you know, during Dionysus Festival There are three gods worshiped, Dionysus, Satyros and Apollo. Dionysus is the god of carnival and desire, and Satyros is the forest god who likes lust and pornography the most. Therefore, In fact, this Dionysus Festival has another meaning..."

Damn, this is the legendary sex art festival.

"...As long as it can make people indulge in joy, it doesn't stick to any form. And it is said that Dionysus, the god of wine, was a young man with a feminine taste, so..."

So they're presumably cosplaying - streaking Dionysus.Sure enough, it is a powerful Greek folklore.I said why so many people were winking at Hephaistion along the way. It turned out that it was really not an illusion. Maybe those men and women took a fancy to his handsome appearance and were still waiting to come with him. A night of ecstasy.I took another look at Hephaistion's eye-catching long brown hair and Greek robe, and I couldn't help admiring myself even more. Fortunately, I wiped my face dirty and ugly before I left, otherwise I'm afraid I will suffer.

Seeing that the behavior of the people in front of him became more and more irrational, no matter men, women or children, many people almost flocked to the stage to touch their hands, and some even tried to touch Hephaistion's butt, he avoided embarrassingly and stiffly proposed Said: "Let's go quickly."

"What's the hurry, wait, I haven't seen enough yet." I've never seen Hephaestion look so uncomfortable, I was secretly amused, and on the surface I looked around very seriously.

"You!" Hephaestion frowned, and then avoided the embrace of a strong man, pursed his lips angrily, and said suddenly, "I went to see Alexander last night."

It was as if something hit my heart a little bit.

"If you want to irritate me with this sentence, I'm sorry to remind you that it won't work for Zeus's sake." I raised an eyebrow and replied unceremoniously, "The story between you , Whether it’s folklore or gossip, I’ve heard enough.”

Hephaestion sighed helplessly: "That's not what I mean, I mean, he seems to be in a bad state recently."

I couldn't laugh anymore, and quickly caught up with him: "What's wrong, Your Majesty?"

"You know, war, and human affairs." He whispered succinctly, "Don't look at him as innocent and straightforward, but he is actually quite stable. To be honest, he has never believed in gods, and he doesn't like drinking, but Such a festival will be held this time. Is someone instigating it, or is he in a hurry?"

How could he not be in a hurry?Losing one after another on the battlefield, surrounded by a group of courtiers like wolves and tigers, the loyalty that was originally maintained by trust has been canceled one by one, and the slightest carelessness will be bitten back, not to mention being sent to fight?

I said, "He didn't say anything to you?"

Hephaistion shook his head, bowed his head in silence, and after a while, he suddenly gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "Actually, we had a quarrel before he left."

Hearing my love rival say this to me, I felt all sorts of feelings in my heart, feeling very weird, so I had to smile wryly: "Your Majesty has been very troubled recently, and it's normal to have a bit of a temper, you just make him feel better about it."

"You don't understand." He inserted his hands into his long brown hair as he walked, and said with a heavy heart, "In the past, Alexander didn't have so many worries. If he is unhappy, he will fight with me or have a good chat. Back to the confident blond boy again, but now, he refuses to say anything, just shuts himself in the room by himself, silently."

Speaking of this, he suddenly glanced back at me, with faint blue eyes: "Sometimes I really think, my boy is like a young eagle that only falls in my palm, I will never be able to catch him, and he He would only throw himself into my arms when he was hurt."

My footsteps stopped, and my heart also ached slightly, as if a wound that had just scabbed opened again.I hate this person in front of me, he said some things lightly, but that kind of affection will never be erased no matter what.I've been trying to figure out for a long time what their love was like for Hephaistion.But one thing I am sure of, he loves Alexander, at least not as humble and hopeless as I am.

But what he said just now clearly described my mood.

So all the way speechless.

"Forget it, the two of us have different positions." When he reached the door of the temporary palace, he suddenly said nonchalantly, "Help me take a good look at Alexander, although the explanation you gave me before is ridiculous, but I don't want to Let go of an opportunity to help him. I just want to see him finish this campaign safely and well."

I walked in with him without saying a word.

In addition to the street parade and the weird Axlia, today's festival has three very important parts, praising poetry, theater performances, and finally collective carnival.Because Dionysus is a festival for all the people, the temporary palace is fully open.As soon as I entered, I saw a sea of ​​people, many people were dancing and drinking, but there were no substantive performances in the palace, and there was nothing lively to watch.

I was so crowded that I had no choice but to grab Hephaistion desperately, panting, "What's going on?"

Hephaestion was also dazed by the crowd and didn't bother to answer me.

In the midst of the chaos, I suddenly heard someone shouting with a smile: "Hephaistion! Come here quickly!"

I rushed over with Hephaestion, but before I could stand still, Hephaistion was dragged by Antigonus to the corridor behind the hall, and I quickly followed.There were a few guards standing in the corridor here, and the crowd couldn't get in. Only Greeks in twos and threes gathered together to talk.

"Poor little Hephaistion, look at how crowded you are!" Antigonus laughed and grabbed Hephaistion, striding inside, "You're too slow, they've all passed by."

"For Apollo's sake, where the hell is this damn party?"

Antigonus smiled and said, "Today is an open-air performance, and the venue is at the back. Alexander has already arrived. I heard that you went to see him last night. How is it? Do you have any latest news?"

"No, I just heard that he was stuck on the other side of the snow mountain, and a group of barbarians gathered on the top of the mountain to provoke him, which made him very angry."

"Alexander is still the same, he can't stand the aggressive method." Antigonus laughed harder, and his ferocious one-eyed eyes no longer looked so scary, "Let's not talk about war, let's indulge yourself today, Bagos is locked up Alright, Alexander must have been suffocating recently. Hey, here's your chance..."

The way Antigonus tried to wink at Hephaestion with his only eye was as awkward as he wanted.

"Satiros bless you, you should take care of your lower body!" Hephaistion sarcastically pointedly, but his fair face was a little blushing.

Uncle Antigonus was so thick-skinned that he continued to gossip: "By the way, I still don't know who is on or off between you and Alexander? Tell me, I really want to know."

Hephaestion smiled vigorously, he bumped Antigonus's strong chest with his arm, and said provocatively, "Why don't we both try?"

The two talked all the way out of the columned corridor like no one else was there, probably because there were too many people and too messy on the Dionysian Festival, I followed all the way, but no one paid attention.As soon as he walked out of the corridor, he was attracted by a burst of singing.

"Raise your glass high,

Long live your ecstasy!

You, Bacchus, Paine.

You come, in the colorful valley of Eleusis. "

Looking from a distance, there is a huge circular stage in an open green field, and many people are sitting around the floor, which is very lively.The singing comes from the stage.On the stage stood 50 boys in white shirts, either adults or minors, accompanied by melodious reed flute, singing beautifully and cheerfully.

"Ah, they're already singing Dionysus? We're really late." Antigonus dragged Hephaistion towards the auditorium, "Hurry up, hurry up."

I followed them quietly, and waited for Hephaestion to sit down next to Alexander, then I lowered my head and observed him through a few people.From this angle, one could only see Alexander's golden hair fluttering in the wind. He and Hephaistion exchanged a glance, and then turned back to watch the show intently, tapping the back of the chair with his little finger in rhythm.Some scratches and cuts can be seen faintly on the forearm exposed from the white robe, which seems to be newly added.

When cleaning his wounds in the past, he always boasted that these were minor injuries that he was accustomed to, with the corners of his mouth curled up with a smug expression.Of course I know that he is waiting for me to say with admiration that Your Majesty is really brave. In order to satisfy his naive psychology like a child, I often coax him like this.

When I think of this, I feel so uncomfortable that I don't even have the thought of peeking.

"O Joy, Joy on the top of the mountain,

The exhaustion of dancing makes the soul intoxicated,

Only the sacred buckskin remained,

And all the rest is swept away,

This joy of running red water,

The torn goat was dripping with blood. "

The hymn became more and more enthusiastic, and many people moved their bodies or hummed along with the singing. Alexander turned his head from time to time to talk softly with the people around him, and sometimes stretched his neck to strike up a conversation with Hephaistion.Without saying a word, Hephaistion laughed, and Alexander seemed to be in a good mood.

I looked around absently.Ptolemy huddled in his chair and yawned, Kleist was in a daze thoughtfully, Seleucus was holding a boy's face in his arms and kissing passionately, Lucinmarcus was tilting his head doze off……

At the end of the hymn, a frivolous voice suddenly broke the harmonious atmosphere:

"The Great King of Kings, Your Majesty Alexander, my colleague Sarkas and I just had a quarrel over a problem. I hope you can help us judge it."

I step on my feet and look, damn, this round belly, round head, sly eyes, isn't that Anak who loves to flatter?

What is he going to do?

The author has something to say:

Poems are part of the quotes section, from "The Art of Eroticism at the Greek Dionysian Festival."