Markos' Vineyard

Markos' Vineyard was a vineyard located on the southern face of Mount Ainos on Kephallonia. It belonged to the merchant Markos, a friend of the misthios Kassandra.

History[edit | edit source]

In 431 BCE, Markos bought the yard using money he borrowed from the Cyclops of Kephallonia. Seeing the business venture as a get-rich-quick scheme that would easily recuperate the initial investment, Markos intended to repay the loan after a few wine sales.^[1]

However, his poor business acumen and lack of knowledge on both winemaking^[1] and Kephallonia's soil geography^[2] proved detrimental. Defaulting on his loan installments early on, he soon earned the wrath of the Cyclops and his enforcers, who threatened seizure of property if he did not pay in a timely manner. After learning about the vineyard from Phoibe, Kassandra travelled to the farm to talk to Markos. There, Kassandra was tasked to help him collect his own debt from Duris, another merchant in the island's town of Sami.^[1] Some time later, Kassandra found an Ainigmata Ostraka in the yard.^[3]

Legacy[edit | edit source]

In the late 9th century, millennia after Markos' death, Kassandra briefly reminisced about his vineyard when attending a wedding in Kiltaraglen on the Isle of Skye with the Viking Eivor Varinsdottir. When the Raven Clan shieldmaiden suggested a celebratory drinking game with mead, Kassandra agreed and mused that the Norse drink could not be any worse than Markos' infamously poor-quality wine from his vineyard.^[4]