House of the Muses

The Latter Days of Sappho of Lesbos

created, written and illustrated by

Pam Harrison

ISBN Logbook for Comic Shops and Booksellers

4/19/2009

About the Series:

Scholars have for centuries set aside one perplexing poem inexplicably written in Spartan dialect from the Ennead, the nine books authored by Sappho. Why Sappho kept this poem in her collection has never been explained. Sappho had among her students a girl named Mnasidika, a Spartan name that means, 'In Remembrance of Justice'. Another translated restoration of a little-known poem of Sappho’s, shredded by the early Church and left in fragments because of its ‘offensive’ subject matter revealed a haunting tale of ‘immortal lovers’. The details of this novel are derived primarily from the works of Alkaios, not Sappho, in his recounting of their early youth during the Civil War in Mytilene, the War with Athens, and the activities of the House of Penthilos. Many are unaware--or their understanding uncertain--about the part the Poetess of Mytilene played in the court intrigues, political upheavals and assassination plots of the time.

ISBN Log Book

ISBN-13 ISBN-10 Title Pub Date

ISBN 13: 978-0-9816500-0-5 ISBN 10:

0-9816500-0-7 House of the Muses #1: The Phokaian
Publication date: November, 2007

SERIAL ONE, THE PHOKAIAN: Mnasidika of Sparta, adopted into the house of Athenaios, witnesses the goings on at a Symposium welcoming Peisandros, Athenaios' banished nephew, back into the family as a business partner.

The welcome turns sour when Peisandros hints that his uncle is instead the responsible party for the murder that got him banished from Athens, and only welcomes him home now to ease his guilt. Athenaios and Isthia's plans for Dika's marriage are threatened when she meets the lovely Timas of Phokaia, an unexpected guest at the Symposium.

House of the Muses TM and © Pam Harrison. All rights reserved.

ISBN 13: 978-0-9816500-1-2 ISBN 10:

0-9816500-1-5 House of the Muses #2: The Quality of Hatred
Publication date: May, 2008

In this issue: Dika knows Eurykles' vicious attack is a warning to keep Athenaios held hostage. Despite the threats against her life and those she cares for, Dika is drawn headlong into a deadly conspiracy that threatens everything she holds dear.

ISBN 13: 978-0-9816500-2-9 ISBN 10: 0-9816500-2-3 House of the Muses #3: Legacy of the 42nd Olympiad
Publication date: January, 2009

In this issue: The god Poseidon takes a hand in Dika’s fate and delivers the grievously-injured girl to the island of Lesbos, where a group of women carries her to safety upon a shield.

As the Pythia of Delphi predicted, Dika’s abilities as an oracle manifest. While she lies unconscious, she is beset by a series of visions from the distant past. On her recovery, Dika seems lost, moody and haunted. When asked about what ordeals she endured in those days after she disappeared from Athens, she swears that she cannot remember.

Then Timas introduces her to Mika.

ISBN 13: 978-0-9816500-3-6 ISBN 10: 0-9816500-3-1 House of the Muses #4: Immortal Lovers
Publication date: May/June 2009

In this issue: Dika’s transition into Sappho’s school runs smoothly at first, but the bookish Spartan girl doesn’t manage very well at Gymnasium. She is teamed up with the athletic Hero of Gyaros. It soon becomes known that Hero has much more than a passing interest in Dika.

When Dika’s nightmares worsen, Sappho and Isthia plan a day trip to Ephesus where they beg a consultation with the Priestesses of Kybele.

A gifted priestess at the temple takes Dika to herself for the day and helps the Spartan girl come to terms with her abilities and who she really is.

Author’s note: Many, many thanks to Laura Seabrook, whose intensive research on the Priestesses of Kybele greatly enriched this issue of House of the Muses.

ISBN 13: 978-0-9816500-4-3 0-ISBN 10: 9816500-4-X House of the Muses #5: House of Many Kings
Publication date: January, 2010

In This Issue: An unexpected guest makes a visit to the House of the Muses. Gorgo of the House of Penthilos tells Sappho that she has opened a school for girls of her own in the city of Mytilene, with Andromeda, the daughter of Pittakos, as headmistress. Sappho tries not to appear upset by the news and it seems to anger Gorgo.

The woman tells Sappho to remember that her reputation is fragile, and how interesting would it be if the people of Mytilene were reminded of her part in the assassination of the tyrant Myrsilos so many years ago.

Sappho orders Gorgo to leave, but the damage has already been done.

ISBN 13: 978-0-9816500-5-0 ISBN 10: 0-9816500-5-8 House of the Muses #6: Last Child of Herakles
Publication date: June, 2010

In this issue: Strange signs and clues begin to appear and Euneika tells Dika that she thinks she is going mad--she has seen someone who looks strikingly like Lykomedes in the marketplace in Mytilene.

Dika finds out that it is, indeed, their father and plots with Isthia and the others to create a ruse that will rid them of him once and for all. His response is unexpected. On bended knee, he offers Dika her brother‘s sword and departs once more.

Late that night Dika is still looking at the wrapped sword. She knows that it holds the key to the prophecy that has plagued her all her life. She wants to pull it from its sheath and let it tell her its secrets, but she is afraid.

She remembers full well what happened the last time she laid her hands upon her brother’s sword....

ISBN 13: 978-0-9816500-6-7 ISBN 10: 0-9816500-6-6 House of the Muses #7: Andromeda's Pretty Bargain
Publication date: January, 2011

In this issue: Sappho has her hands full with her daughter Kleis, who tells her mother she is in love with a young man from the city. Sappho is fine with it until she learns the young man is not exactly of noble birth, and the whole episode of her years-ago fight with her brother Charaxos returns to the surface for a final resolution.
Dika tries her hand at being a playwright for a local competition in the city, recruiting several of the students at Sappho’s school to act out her play. Isthia tries to “help”, with highly comedic results. Dika is disappointed when she only wins third place, but everyone agrees it was well worth the experience.

Over the passing months, a shift in the attitudes of some of Sappho’s students has been noticed. As Gorgo’s school grows in popularity more rumors begin to circulate about Sappho’s colorful past. Sappho sees disaster coming and seeks solace in prayer with her patron goddess, Aphrodite, begging her to stand close by in these troubled times.

Finally Sappho’s school erupts in dissension and a number of her students, led by Mika, announce that they are leaving and going to Gorgo’s school. Atthis breaks ties with Sappho, saying that Andromeda has offered her a teaching position at the school as well.

Sappho looks around at an empty classroom and in despair gives her famous exclamation: “Well! Andromeda has driven a pretty bargain!”

ISBN 13: 978-0-9816500-7-4 ISBN 10: 0-9816500-7-4 House of the Muses #8: A Viper in the House of Muses
Publication date: June 2011

In this issue: Sappho fights back against Gorgo and Andromeda’s scheming and slander, and Mytilene is turned upside-down by the renewal of the feud between Sappho, Alkaios and the House of Penthilos.

Anaktoria’s family arrives, insisting that she break ties with Sappho’s school and return to Sardis where she can start over in a new life free from this scandal.

Anaktoria is heartbroken and tries everything in her power to make her family relent, to no avail. She tearfully begs Sappho to remember all the good times they had, and to never forget her. Sappho lets go, but her losses have plunged her into a deep and miserable depression.

Euripates makes a visit to inquire about everyone’s well-being. Timas and Dika release the child they have raised together into his hands for safe-keeping, and not without tears of their own.

Although things seemed to have quieted for awhile, the machinations of the House of Penthilos have not slowed. In the wee hours of dawn, events come together in a most deadly fashion that changes Dika’s life forever.

ISBN 13: 978-0-9816500-8-1 ISBN 10: 0-9816500-8-2 House of the Muses #9: Pleistodika: Ultimate Justice
Projected publication date: January, 2012

In this issue: “...The madness that had once so wholly possessed my father had come at last to lay its claim upon me.”

Still reeling from the mind-shattering events of Book 8, Mnasidika tries to pull her life together, but her friends can clearly see that she cannot.

Sappho writes down word-for-word Mnasidika's poem and places it into her nine volume collection of poetry, The Ennead, for safe-keeping.

The morning Sappho's body washes ashore on the beach in Mytilene, Dika snaps. That very night she goes out with full intent to find those she believes responsible for Sappho's death and metes out her own brand of justice. Dika is arrested and brought before the Tribunal, who all agree that she did what she thought was right under the circumstances, and brand her with a new name: Pleistodika, "Ultimate Justice". Nevertheless, Dika is exiled from Mytilene for what she has done.

Read the incredible conclusion in House of the Muses #9, projected to go on sale January 2012.