One, more recent, fable, that of Prince Aneliagos, is quite famous in the
area. It is about the two rival cities of the past, Plevrona of the Aetolians
and Oiniades of the Akarnanias, which were only 19 kilometres (in a straight
line) far from each other. The castle of New Plevrona (the old city was destroyed
in 234 B.C.) is also named: the Castle of Lady Rini. And thef able goes:
"In the old times, the lord of Trikardo Castle was Prince Aneliagos, a very
handsome young man. Aneliagos was his name and this meant sunless, the one who
should not be seen by the sun, for if the sun ever set eyes upon him, he would
die. He had thus built an underground palace and in it, he lived his lonesome
life. But he fell in love with Lady Rini and when the night covered the land
like a blanket, he would walk up the river bank, towards the castle, Lady Rini’s
castle this is, and meet her, but he would never spend the whole night with her,
since long before dawn he would get up and leave. So, Lady Rini decided to make
him spend one whole night with her, one way or another, and she ordered her servants
to slaughter all the roosters. Thus the prince did not notice that the time had
passed, and when he left, as soon as he had reached the river bank, the sun rose
and the newborn light took away his life.” (N. Politis,
Traditions, no.
81.)
A poem by the Modern Greek poet George Drosinis, has also been written about
the Prince:
To the prince of Trikardo, that lonesome child
The fates had cast a curse upon
Once the sun would shine this prince forlorn
Instantly, he would have died
And the king father, hoping to save his son
From the sun’s evil and burning eye
Built deep, and had the dark defy
A palace in the earth we walk upon.
Years went by... The old man perished
And cometh the time to reign
For handsome Prince, to remain
As the sole Lord of Trikardo to be cherished
And King Aneliagos spends his days
Deep in his palace and only at night
When dark, no light in sight
Hills he roams and champaigns.
And fair Lady Rini saw him one night
In the castle yard, hunting, the sky was lit
And love sparked in her heart’s pit
And blazed, for the man in the moon’s light…
And now King Aneliagos, like every noble King
His kingdom leaves behind, all night long
Lying in her bed, lulled by her song.
In his happiness though, his fate he does not forget
And before the crack of dawn, before the daystar arose
He leaves in bed alone the fairest rose
And heads to his castle until again, the sun is set.
Lady Rini questions him anew, but to no avail
Why before daybreak he departs! He does not reply
And dark the grasp of jealousy, her heart to ply
And grabs firmly Lady Rini, it does not fail
Such is the hold that makes the cunning Lady to devise
And slay all roosters in the castle, once and for all
So the handsome man in deep sleep will fall
And the sun near the hills and soon to arise.
King Aneliagos is fooled at dawn!
And before he reaches Trikardo, close to old Mani.
Alas, the sun was weeping, tears of golden honey
died the King, as a defenceless pawn.
