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The Vampire Origin Story

The Vampire Love Story That Started It All

Ambrogio was a young adventurer. Born and raised in Italy, he had always longed

to travel to Greece to have his fortune told by the Oracle of Delphi. When he was anadult, he got on a boat and sailed to the western edge of Greece, near Astakos. Hetraveled east until he eventually reached the city of Delphi.

Delphi was home to a great temple of Apollo, the sun god. It was also the home of thePythia, better known as the Oracles. The Pythia would sit in a chamber within the templeand speak of prophecies, inspired by Apollo, to those who came to seek the Oracle'swisdom.

When Ambrogio finally arrived at the temple, he went to speak to the Pythia. The Pythia,whose words were often cryptic, said only a few words: "The curse. The moon. The

blood will run."

He couldn't sleep that night. He stayed awake outside of the temple, pondering themeaning of the Pythia's words. As the sun rose in the morning he realized that he hadnot slept. As he walked back toward the town he saw a beautiful woman dressed in whiterobes walking to the temple. He ran over to her and introduced himself. Her name wasSelene, and she was a maiden of the temple. Her sister was the Oracle, and so Selenetended to the temple and took care of her sister while in her entranced state.

For the next few days every morning Ambrogio met Selene at dawn before she enteredthe temple. They soon fell in love.

On his last day in Greece, Ambrogio asked Selene to marry him and return with him toItaly. She agreed. He said he would make the preparations then meet her at dawn thenext morning at their meeting spot outside the temple.

Apollo, the sun god, had been watching. He, himself, had taken a liking to the beautifulSelene and was enraged that Ambrogio would come to his temple and take one of hismaidens away. At sunset that night, Apollo appeared to Ambrogio and cursed him sothat from that day forth a mere touch of Apollo's sunlight would burn Ambrogio's skin.

Ambrogio was distraught. He was set to leave with Selene in the morning, but he would

not be able to meet her at sunrise as he promised because of the curse. Having nowhereelse to turn, he ran to a cave that led to Hades for protection. Hades, god of theunderworld, listened to his tale and made him a deal - if he could steal the sliver bow ofArtemis and bring it back, Hades would grant him and Selene protection in theunderworld. The deal specified that Hades would give Ambrogio a magical wooden bowand 11 arrows to hunt with. He was to offer his hunting trophies to Artemis in order togain her favor and steal her silver bow. As collateral, Ambrogio had to leave his soul inHades until he returned with the bow. Should he return without the silver bow, he would

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have to live in Hades forever, never to return to Selene. Having no other choice,Ambrogio agreed.

He had no way to contact Selene. He had parchments, but no writing implement, so hetook his bow and arrow and killed a swan. Using its feather as a pen, and its blood as the

ink, he wrote her a note explaining that he could not meet with her but would find a wayfor them to be together. He left the note in their meeting place and ran off to find a placeto hide from the sunlight.

Naturally, Selene was devastated when she found the note, but she kept working at thetemple as she did not want to anger Apollo any further. The next morning, Selene wentback to the meeting place, but once again Ambrogio was not there. She saw anotherpiece of parchment with writing in blood on it. It was a love poem from Ambrogio.

Before morning for 44 days Ambrogio slew a swan and used its blood to write Selene alove poem. After draining the blood and taking a single feather he offered the body of the

swan as a tribute to Artemis, the goddess of hunting and the moon, and also sister toApollo. He hoped that even if he could not steal her bow, she would be honored by thetribute and would be able to convince her brother Apollo to remove the curse. On the45th night, Ambrogio had only one arrow left. He shot it at a swan and missed, the arrowsailing into the distance. He had neither the blood to write Selene's poem nor the swanto sacrifice to Artemis. He fell to the ground and wept.

Seeing how good of a hunter and how dedicated of a follower Ambrogio had been,Artemis came down to him. He begged Artemis to let him borrow her bow and an arrowso he could kill one last bird and leave one final note to Selene.

Artemis took pity on him and agreed to let him borrow her silver bow and an arrow. Hetook the bow, and in desperation, ran to the cave that led to Hades. Artemis realizedwhat was happening and cast her own curse on him. The curse caused all silver burn hisskin. Ambrogio dropped the silver bow and fell to the ground in pain.

Artemis was furious at his deceit, but he begged her for forgiveness. He explained thedeal he was forced to make with Hades, his curse by Apollo, and his love for Selene. Heapologized profusely and swore that he had no other choice.

Artemis took pity on him again and decided to give him one last chance. She offered tomake him a great hunter, almost as great as she was, with the speed and strength of a

god and fangs with which to drain the blood of the beasts to write his poems. Inexchange for this immortality, he would have to agree to a deal. He and Selene wouldhave to escape Apollo's temple and worship only Artemis forever. The catch was thatArtemis was a virgin goddess, and all of her followers had to remain chaste andunmarried, so Ambrogio was never allowed to touch Selene again. They could neverkiss, never touch, never have children.

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Ambrogio agreed. At least this way he and Selene could be together. He killed anotherswan and left Selene a note telling her to meet him on a ship at the docks. Before dawnthe next morning, she saw the note and ran away before Apollo could notice.

When Selene arrived at the dock she found Ambrogio's ship and met him down in the

hull. There was a wooden coffin with a note on it, telling her to order the ship's captain toset sail, and to open the coffin only after the sun had set. She did as the note said, andafter sunset she opened the coffin to find Ambrogio alive and well.

The couple sailed to Ephesus, where they lived in a cave during the day and worshipedArtemis at her grand temple every night. They lived happily together for many years,never touching, never kissing, never having children.

After a number of years, Ambrogio's immortality allowed him to stay young, but Selenecontinued to age as a mortal. She finally fell ill and was on her deathbed. Ambrogio wasdistraught, knowing that he would not join Selene in the afterlife because his soul still

resided in Hades. At night, he went into the woods and found a white swan swimmingalone in a small lake. He killed the swan and offered it to Artemis, begging for her tomake Selene immortal so they could stay together forever.

Artemis appeared to him. Thankful for his years of dedication and worship, she madehim one last deal. Artemis told Ambrogio that he could touch Selene just once - to drinkher blood. Doing so would kill her mortal body, but from then on, her blood mixed withhis could create eternal life for any who drink of it. If he did this, Artemis would see to itthat they stayed together forever. Ambrogio wanted to refuse, but after telling Selenewhat happened, Selene begged him to do it. After much convincing, he bit her neck andtook her blood into his body. As he set her limp body down, Selene began to radiate with

light, and raise up to the sky. Ambrogio watched as Selene's glowing spirit lifted to meetArtemis at the moon. When she arrived, the moon lit up with a brilliant light.

Selene became the goddess of moonlight, and every night she would reach down withher rays of light to the earth and finally touch her beloved Ambrogio as well as all of theirchildren - the newly created vampires who carried the blood of Ambrogio and Selene,together.

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