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Discovering Impossible
Introduction:
“Archimedes come here my boy,” Archimedes father choked from his bed. Archimedes, 5, and already a thinker, knew his father wouldn't live much longer. He approached the bed, his hands fiddling with his thumbs, his mind was constantly active he couldn't stand still.
“Yes father?” Archimede's managed to muster made nervous by his father's health.
“Look into the sky my son, what is it you see?”
“Just the stars father,” Archimede's told him.
“Ahhh the stars,” his father was an astronomer and had many theories and a passion for stars, “Someday my boy, you will be among them.” his health slipped from the last place he was holding it and he tremulously coughed out his last breath.
“I will not dissapoint you father,” Archimede's cried, “I promise.”
20 years later
Vigioursly Archimede's brushed through the dust. Number after number, equation after equation. It had been 3 days since he had last eaten, his work captivating him in a mental trap. Finally the problem was done and Archimede's sat fast. His whole small house was covered in dust and soot from what would seem to an ordinary person an endless problem. The solutions however, seemed to flow from Archimede's fingers. Answer after answer endlessly twisted off his fingertip into the dust.
He took a big breath before standing again and walking out into the town of Syracuse. He walked past the shrieking sales people selling “magnificent” sculptures. He planned to go to a place where he could get a nice bite to eat and a glass of wine. However, upon passing a crowd of drunken men boasting of how their fathers were the gods and the beast they had slain, Archimedes was stopped by the biggest of the men.
“You walk in my light you mortal. I am son of Zues those who dare walk in my light shall be slain like the 18 ft. beast I have slain. The man was madly drunk, his steps sloppy.”
“I see, and i'm Archimedes,” he replied smartly and laughing.
“You who doesnt fear thee's strength will get themselves in great amounts of trouble,” the drunken man managed to say.
“Well since you're so strong we shall have a battle of the strengths, the man who can lift a loaded ship out of the water shall win,” Archimedes stated with a sly half smile planted on his face. An ordinary man would have called archimede's a fool stating no man could pull the ship fom the water, but the drunken man was awfully... well drunk.
“I accept your challenge mortal!” the man howled with laughter. He approached a newly pulled onto shore ship and waded out into the cool blue water. He tackled it from the front, ramming up and under the ships bow, but the ship did not lift not a foot, inch, nor centimeter, had it moved. He waded further into the water rippling through the small waves and repeated his earlier action to the side of the ship. When again it didn't budge, he instead tried grabbing the ship and lifting with his legs. The ship however would not budge and the man head down, waded back out of the water.
Meanwhile Archimedes had fashioned a sort of belt for the ship out of rope he had bought at a nearby shop. The ends looped in a hanging way, and midway down the rope was a weird metal contraption. Archimede's waded into the water and hooked up the ship wading back out. Archimedes didn't need to be strong to be smart, he had created a pulley which he threw over a tree and pulled. The ship along with its luggage was pulled from the water with ease.
Now it wasn't only the group of men that stood watching but much of the town and the king himself.
King Heiro the second approached me, his guard by his side. “Whats your name?” he questioned in the voice of a true elocutionist.
“Archimedes my majesty,” he replied giving a deep bow.
“Well, Archimedes, your trick was magnificent and if a great thinker such as yourself could find the time for a dinner I'd be delighted.”
Archimedes smiled, “when your free, I will be too my majesty.”
“How about now then? My other meetings can be pushed to a later date, I'd like to speak with the great Archimedes.”
Archimededes followed him back to his palace where he was escorted into a large dining room. Five servants stood by to serve us ,and two gaurds stood beside the the kings side. Although the king was good to his citizens, he treated his servants without respect, but this is expected from a king. One servant in particular caught Archimedes eyes she was young for a dining servant and fidgeted in her place unable to stand still, Archimedes recognized her as a thinker as well as he could recognize himself as one. Beacuse she was a servant, it was a mind wasted, but Archimedes couldn't stand this.
As the dinner carried out Archimedes found himself constantley glancing at the servant, she was a pretty girl with long hair that was black as night. He realized she wasn't as younf as he first guessed, her chin was sharp and angular her cheek bones easily vivible. She had a petite figure most likely from not being fed enough. She was tall with strong legs and her eyes shone a beautiful blue from beneath her sleep deprived eye lids. Her eyes were cast down to ashamed to look into the eyes of someone the king attended dinner with, or maybe that it was the fact that if she did she could get beaten. Archimedes suddenly stopped the king mid sentence. “I will teach you majesty, I will invent new things for you and solve what needs solved. All I ask in return is ownership of the servant with dark hair,” he pleaded for the servant.
It was outrageous to ask the king for something, but Archimedes could no longer sit their looking at the beautiful women fidgetting with thought.
“Ahh... you have your eyes on my Hypatia I see, I accept this arrangement, I'll see you tomorrow Archimedes,” the king stood suddenly thrusting Hypatia forward towards Archimedes. “This man owns you now,” he handed archimedes a leash to loop around her in case she tried running away. Archimedes took it and walked outside but as soon as he was outside he removed it at once. Althouugh the leash was now gone, the women stood where she was, and made no attempt to run.
“Don't you see? I have bought your freedom my lady,” Archimedes told her astonished at her behavior. Hypatia fell to the ground crying.
“and for that sir im forever in your debt but I have no where else to go...” she mumbled.
“What of your family?” Archimedes questioned.
“They died when I was young,” she answered her eyes cast down.
“I heard your discussion and I would like to follow you in your great discoveries Sir Archimedes.
“Then you may follow me my Lady Hypatia,” he informed her smiling. He helped Hypatia up and she followed him to his house where he did the best to fashion a room for her with a curtain in the main room. Hypatia was to stay home when Archimedes went to work as the King would not know he had freed his servant. The first day the king was demanding and ordered Archimedes to due many math problems and was his new tool when he went shopping as to make sure he wasnt cheated. The king demanded he show him how Archimedes had removed the ship from the water so Arcchimedes showed him the contratption and explained how it worked. Even though it was Archimedes who had invented the contraption, the king was the one who named it, so it was on that first day of work the contraption was named the pulley.
On the second day and many on Hypatia stayed up late with Archimedes working through different problems I order to satisfy the king the next day. After many days of working for the king, the king had decided on buying a new crown as he believed his was old and weathered. Until this moment, Archimedes had never been stumped on a problem the king had given him, but this problem was particularly complex. The king, thinking he had been cheated, demanded Archimedes to make sure his crown was made of nothing but silver. Archimedes thought and though but nothing came to his mind that he could do to solve this problem. The king sent him home early to think of a way to solve it. Hypatia stood by his side her own mind also sincererly dumbfounded. Archimedes could invent a screw, pulley, and catapult but it wasnt until now that a problem such as density had becme so difficult to solve. Maybe Sir Isaac Newton, or einstein himself wouldnt have done much of what they had done, if it weren't for a simple bath.
Archimedes submerged his body into the tub, still complexed by the problem. Upon putting his body in the tub, water emerged from around its corners, Archimedes was hit by a sudden thought bubble and he hopped from the tub with excitement. “Eureka!” he shouted running into the street butt-naked, to show the king his discovery. The silversmith had in fact cheated the king, luckily though Archimedes had been able to save his life from the kings wrath. However, the king wrath would forever scar Archimedes's mind, and had changed his opinoin of the king very much.
Hypatia had proved to be a great roomate and she often cleaned Archimedes's house and cooked him food. He no longer went days without eating because of her constant caring hand. Hypatia was beautiful then when Archimedes had first saw her, but she got more beautiful everyday her health inclining from every meal and her face becoming more bright with every nights sleep. Archimedes loved how her eyes brithtened with whatever math problem he brought home and found that he loved much more than that about her. When she walked through the towns men stared at her goddess like gorgeouseness. She was quick to shoo away their complimetns however, knowing that it was Archimedes that she loved. Every day she waited for his return, thinking to herself if my love for him becomes any stronger I must leave as to not afeect his work.
Yet, everyday Hypatia loved what she now considered her own Archimedes more. Archimedes felt the same, and one day when their love for eachother became particularly unbearing to keep inside, Archimedes came home to a crying Hypatia. He ran to her quickly grabbing her arms. “Whats wrong?” he questioned searching around for any signs that something had gone wrong.
“It's time I leave Archimedes,” she cried out.
Archimedes looked at her quizzical and hugged her tightly. “Why?” he asked now beginning to tear up himself.
“I have loved your far too much and far too long, I must leave now as to not get my feelings the better of me. You have done great Archimedes and I don't want to be the one to get in the way of that.”
“My dear Hypatia, what you have failed to understand is my love for you also. An undying love that will constantly chase you if you ever leave my side. When you leave I will be forced to follow or let thee's self die from ones own broken heart. Hypatia I have loved you since the day I first bought your freedom, that love has escalted everyday and now I also find it unbearable to keep it in any longer. Today I came home hoping you would say yes to being my wife. Yet today, my heart breaks with news of your leaving.”
Hypatia first smiled before hugging Archimedes back. “Then i'll stay,” she whispered you could just hear her smile roll out of her mouth in her words, “ I will stay Archimedes and become your wife.”
And it was so. Hypatia, became Archimedes the greats wife, and also earned herself her own shining place in history as a great women mathmatican. However in this time a women doing math was looked down upon by everyone. Soon after word of Hypatia's great thinking abilities reached the farrest corners of Greece, assasins tore into her house and stole her out of Archimedes arms themselves. She was viciously tortured for her thinking abilites. Archimedes ran after their carriages, his legs feeling stronger than ever before. It however, didn't matter, his legs could never carry him as fast as the horses carried the carriage away. It was too late for Hypatia. She was dead long before it was obvious but it wasn't until than that Archimedes would accept it. He hit his knees and spent three days in the middle of town crying as if someone cared. The priests that ordered the attack felt no guilt. Archimedes no longer cared about the rest of the world, his heart broke, he felt so numb.
He brushed through her dead bodies hair, her body now conformed into weird shapes from the endless torture, burn marks from the fire. Her death drove him crazy and when he finally returned home he pretended she was still there doing problems with him. He no longer ate and no longer went to help the king. He would have died of starvation if it weren't for the Spartan soldiers who came to overtake Syrcause. The king wanted Archimedes to be his own mathmatican. This did not happen, instead Archimedes being killed by a Spartan soldier when he refused to get up before completing a math problem
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