The Greeks made sacrifice and thanked the gods for their safe passage

From Xenophon's March by John Prevas, page 147.

The works and classics of the ancient world are filled with cameo appearances of individuals who play a role and then disappear from the narrative leaving you to wonder, what happened next, what became of them? And with virtually no prospect of ever knowing.

In their march to the sea, Xenophon and the 10,000 were hampered by being in mapless foreign lands of which they had no knowledge. Progress was dependent on good guessing or accommodating guides.

From these villages the Greeks marched four more days and several more miles to a large a prosperous city called Gymnias. The ruler of the city sent ambassadors who extended friendship to the Greeks and offered provisions and a guide.

The nameless guide appears in the historical record, his role to lead the Greeks to the mountain pass that will take them to the Black Sea. At the crest of the pass, with the Black Sea in sight, the Greeks rejoiced.

The Greeks made sacrifice and thanked the gods for their safe passage. They released the guide to return to his home.

He was given a Persian horse to make his journey swifter, a silver cup, and ten darics as a reward. The Greeks surrounded the guide as he prepared to leave, wished him a safe journey and thanked him for his service. When they inquired what else he might want from them, he asked for one thing more - some rings from their fingers. He received hundreds, and placed them in a sack which he tied to his horse. Before he left, the guide showed the Greek scouts the road to the country of the Macronians and the sea beyond. Then he took his leave from their camp, anxious to begin his journey home. He would have to return alone through the land that the Greeks had just looted and burned. Burdened with his rewards, he set out on his long journey home through the land of his enemies.

Did he make it? We don't know and are likely to never know. Nameless, he played his bit part in one of the greatest military adventures and then disappears forever from the record. I would like to imagine him returning home, perhaps now with a dowry that allows him to marry and establish himself in his community, to prosper in the shadows of history.