The Blind Seer

The weather was cold and windy. Summer was over, and autumn had begun to make itself keenly felt. The blind seer fell asleep in front of the fire she had lit to keep warm. No sooner had she passed through the gate of the dream world than she plunged into the midst of a bloody attack. In her dream, the blind seer saw hard-faced warriors coming from foreign lands. She woke with the cries of the strangers echoing in her ears—strangers besieging the hill where the once-magnificent Luwian city of Apasa had stood, and where the blind seer still lived with what remained of her people. When she opened her sightless eyes, she was filled with dread, for she knew that what she had seen was a prophetic dream. She sat up at once, woke those around her, and told them what she had seen. But the Luwians, the blind seer’s people, had long been suffering from such burning troubles that they paid the dream no heed.

Uhhaziti, one of the strongest warriors of the Luwians, cast a glance at the old woman everyone knew as the blind seer and said, “It’s only a dream. You are very tired and old now. That is why you read evil into everything. Come on, lie down and sleep, and let us sleep too. Tomorrow we’re going to work in the fields, and in the evening we’ll go hunting. Our real worry is filling our bellies. We no longer have a strong city and a king as we used to.” Everyone agreed with Uhhaziti. Although the blind seer insisted that they must prepare for the war that was coming, she could convince no one; cursing her gift of seeing the future, she sank into deep thought beside the dying fire.

Having set out from Athens and crossed the sea, the Ionian people were advancing through the lands of Western Anatolia under the leadership of Androklos, son of King Kodros of Athens. The Athenian seer came up to Androklos and said, “We can found our new city near here, my lord. I have received a divine sign. A wild boar will show us exactly where we should build our city.” Androklos nodded his approval to the seer and ordered his men to halt for a meal. The Ionians from Athens lit a fire and began to cook the fish they had just caught, but one of the fish leapt off the fire as if it were still alive and sprang into a thicket nearby. Then a wild boar burst out of the thicket and began to run toward the hill ahead. When the Athenian seer saw the divine message come true, he cried out to Androklos and his companions to follow the wild boar…

With Androklos’s approval, the warrior Ionians, who had come from across the sea to find a new homeland, set off after the boar. The boar ran, and they followed—until they reached the hill where the blind seer and her people lived, where Apasa, the beautiful city of the Luwians, had once stood… The hill above the fertile plain was well suited for founding a fine new city, but first the native people had to be done away with. As the Ionians ran the people of the hill through with their spears, Androklos’s seer and the blind seer of the Luwians met each other’s eyes. The blind seer of Anatolia saw and recognized the other, if not with her eyes, then with her heart. Then she slowly rose to her feet and, with heavy steps, began to walk among her people lying bloodied on the ground and the strangers plundering all around them. For some reason, the raiders led by Androklos did not notice the blind seer. Passing the lifeless body of the Luwian warrior Uhhaziti, who had just been killed by Androklos, the blind seer saw with her heart’s eye Uhhaziti, who had not listened to her prophecy.

As the blind seer of the Luwians leapt from the hilltop to her death, a few tears fell from the eyes of the Athenian seer and mingled with the earth.

NOTE: According to legend, the city of Ephesus was founded by Androklos, who was guided by a wild boar. It is said that Androklos, the son of King Kodros of Athens, and the Ionians with him drove the native people from the region and formed the nucleus of Ephesus.

Written for the Ephesus Foundation by author and archaeologist Özlem Ertan.