Oreithyia

Boreas did the polite thing
by asking her father first;
refused, he simply took her,
regretting he had ever asked.
She was raped and married
by one who imagined himself
a great natural force —
his violence magnificent,
never to be questioned.
After this, we know nothing
of her, except that she bore
four children: the two sons
left home early. Her life
seems to have been lost in his.
No doubt the words
which were her only power
began to chafe him
quite early in the piece,
each one a pinprick,
a niggle, disturbing
his concentration
on his own loud self.
So slapping her down
would have felt a healthy
clearing of tension …
Then the way she just
stood there, or moved about
would have been annoying —
taking up space with
so little to show for it.
Then more blows because
she didn't know what
was good for her, or
how lucky she was, or
because her silence
obstructed him —
he couldn't hear himself
think when she was
like that, even her
arguing back was better …
He is hard hands and bulging eyes
and ruthless loins, for all his energy
as unchangeable as set cement.
That body imposes itself on her story —
Oreithyia,
prototype of the battered wife,
for whom words are dangerous,
for whom the dream of escape
is the promise of death …
Oreithyia,
mother of Cleopatra and Chione,
daughter of Praxithea,
sister of Procris.
Her name means
She who rages on the mountains.