The Deep

The Greeks called him Earth-Shaker, and it was not a compliment. It was a warning.

He drove the trident into the ground and the ground moved. Not a metaphor — that is what the Greeks believed an earthquake was, and they had plenty of them. Whole cities went down in a morning. Helike sank into the gulf overnight in 373 BC and the Greeks knew exactly who had done it, because that city had turned away his suppliants.

At sea he was worse. He struck the water and raised it. He struck it again and it lay flat. Homer describes him crossing the Aegean in three strides, the sea parting under him, the fish coming up out of the deep because they knew who was passing.

Zeus had the sky and Hades had the dead, and the middle brother took the water and the ground — everything a man actually stands on, and everything he has to cross.

You do not appease that. You respect it.

Poured solid in a single piece, the shaft left rough. The outer tines curve back into barbs, the way a working spear does, and the center prong runs longer than the rest.

Three strides, and the sea got out of the way.

Specifications

• Solid .999 fine silver, hand poured
• 49mm tall × 16mm wide
• Hand-oxidized recesses, polished high points
• 4mm black braided leather cord, 22", gunmetal magnetic barrel clasp
• Signed Certificate of Authenticity
• Poured and finished in Northfield, Vermont

Worn for a lifetime. Passed to the next.