The Tale of Twelve Handsome Men

There was once an island in the Aegean Sea where there dwelled twelve handsome men. These men were touched by the gods, with strong features, muscular bodies and smiles which could melt a woman's heart. And melt they did -- all two hundred women of that island were in passionate love with at least one of these men and each man had children by several women.

But also dwelling on this island were two hundred ordinary men who worked the land, grew the food and built the houses. They were deeply resentful of the handsome men and would sometimes whisper thoughts of murder. But the women were fiercely protective of their handsome men and the ordinary men realised they would certainly take revenge. The story of what happened on Lemnos, where the women had killed all the menfolk in their beds, still haunted their dreams. They would have to think of something else.

One day, a group of ordinary men began to build a ship. As work continued, the twelve handsome men became curious and one of them went to speak with the workmen.

'Why are you building a ship?' said the handsome man.

'Because we're going to leave,' said the head shipbuilder. 'We're sick of living here, watching you twelve men take all the women and having to grow food to feed all the children you father. We'd rather live in a place where there aren't any women at all.'

The handsome man went back to his fellows and told them what the ordinary men were planning. All twelve were deeply disturbed. Although they worked too, they would never be able to shelter and feed everyone on the island. They would have to come to an agreement.

But the women were outraged. They knew what the ordinary men wanted, and they had no desire to give it to them. The women begged the twelve handsome men to refuse all agreements and demanded a way be found to force the ordinary men to stay and fulfil their purpose. It was even suggested the shipbuilders be killed to make an example of them. But the twelve handsome men shook their heads, knowing they could not win against an uprising of two hundred.

The ship neared completion. Finally, despite the women's protests, the twelve handsome men decided that they had to negotiate with the ordinary men. A great meeting was organised, attended by both men and women, and the twelve handsome men asked the others what they wanted in exchange for staying on the island. The shipbuilder stepped forward: he had been chosen as their spokesman.

'We want there to be a new rule,' he said to the assembly. 'A rule which states that no man can have children by more than one woman. And that any man who breaks this rule be banished from the island.'

The twelve handsome men thought this was fair, but the women were beside themselves with rage. How dare these ordinary men try and control whom they had children with! Besides, it put the twelve handsome men in the position of choosers and that was wrong -- it should be the woman who chooses the man!

'Fine,' said the shipbuilder. 'Then we agree that the women should decide amongst themselves which twelve women should be the exclusive partner of each handsome man.'

When he spoke those words, each woman pictured having a handsome man all to herself. No more nights alone while he's in bed with another woman! No more competing for his attention! No more having to share him with her sisters! The more the women held this picture in their minds, the more they liked it. In the end, they agreed to the shipbuilder's terms.

What followed was the bitterest feud the island had ever seen. The women argued day and night over who should be each handsome man's partner. They even held a lottery, but the losers refused to honour the outcome. After weeks of fighting, sick and despairing, the women finally went to the twelve handsome men and asked them to choose their partners after all. To the surprise of no one, they chose the twelve most beautiful women to be their wives. These lucky women went home with their men and the rest remained behind, seething with resentment. They cursed their traitorous sisters and swore to die alone rather than accept a lesser man. They embraced one another in solidarity and went to their homes with renewed determination.

During the week that followed, a dozen women visited the shipbuilder, each expressing admiration for his leadership at the meeting and inviting him to dinner at their home. When he had chosen a wife, the remaining women pursued the best hunter, then the best farmer, then the best woodsman, going through the men until almost every man had a wife and almost every woman a husband.

In the years that followed, the island lived in uneasy peace. The twelve handsome men and their beautiful wives were happy. The men took pride in the envy of their brothers and the women took similar pride in the envy of their sisters. The ordinary men were content rather than happy. They knew they were not their wives' first choice and they learned to live with that. It was certainly better than the alternative.

But the women were never content. They were angry at the handsome men for choosing beauty and angry at the ordinary men for not being handsome themselves. They were angry at the gods for creating so many ordinary men and angry at themselves for feeling so lonely that they shared a bed with them anyway.

And so it has remained, from that day to this.