The calendar contest has commenced and the potters' works are on display throughout the palace. Daedalus commissions a large replica of the Masterpiece of Ja and places in a prominent place where all can see it. It soon gains popularity and is becoming well-known in Knossos. Bets are being placed that it will win the pottery contest. It might even become the centerpiece of the Festival of Dionysis. As the festival-goers begin to enter the city, many of them stand in line to view Dagon-Ja's masterpiece.
Daedalus tells Dagon-Ja that everything is going as planned and the queen has chosen her masterpiece to take the honored place at the Festival of Dionysis. Dagon-Ja is astonished but wonders why Daedalus looks so dismayed. "Because," he tells her, "you cannot go to court as you are. You must become better dressed and more sophisticated in appearance in order to stand before the Queen of Chthonia. It is the way things are." Dagon-Ja is confused by this information. She had not considered this. "Do not worry," Daedalus tells her. "I have arranged for someone to come help with your dress and appearance." Dagon-Ja feels anxious.
"Also," Daedalus tells her, "you are not to name it the Masterpiece of Ja. You must name it Dagon-Ja's Masterpiece." "I cannot," says Dagon-Ja. "You must," says Daedalus, "if all is to go well. It is not so much to ask, because by your own hands you did create it." Dagon-Ja sees the logic in this but it still feels like a betrayal of Ja. "Understand this," Daedalus says. "It is not a presentation you will give but a performance. You will leave yourself behind, the country girl who created the masterpiece, and take up another self, the city girl who performs the masterpiece. Can you do it?" Dagon-Ja thinks a moment and tries to imagine it. "Perhaps," she says. "I will try. For Ja, I will try my best."
Queen Pasiphae tells Dagon-Ja she understands she is only an apprentice potter, but because of the quality of her work and her respectable appearance she will admit her into her presence. Queen Pasiphae begins her review of Dagon-Ja's Masterpiece and asks Dagon-Ja to describe it to her. Dagon-Ja, struggling to assume an air of modernity, explains to the queen that the masterpiece is a pottery art disk with two sides, both similar but not the same. The queen is fascinated and requests Dagon-Ja to appear before her on another occasion outside the palace and explain to her how the calendar works.
Dagon-Ja meets Queen Pasiphae in front of the palace and begins her explanation of her calendar, telling her it describes the Battle of Tho and Ra. She tells the queen the first side shows 12 moonths on the outside spiral, each the length of time for the four faces of Tho to appear. The faces are preparing for battle with Ra, each face losing ground against Ra until one face pushes Ra completely away. On the other side on the outside spiral are the 12 horas when Ra rides his chariot each day, counting forward from the crossover from the moonth side. Then, counting back forward to the moonth side, Ra is chased away by Tho for 12 horas when Tho rules the nighttime. Then, Ra returns once again bringing light for 12 horas.
Copyright Notice - Disk of the World - Text and images copyrighted March 21, 1993-2025, Claire Grace Watson, B.A., M.S.T., U.S. Copyright and under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, All rights reserved. No part of this web page may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
