Simon Hundsbichler
Hades' Favour
“O you gods who live underneath the earth, where all we created mortal beings finally descend, if you’ll permit me
to set aside the uncertain stories
of a deceptive tongue and speak the truth,
then, with your permission, I will tell you
I am not here to see dark Tartarus
or tie up Medusa’s monstrous offspring
with its triple throat and snaky hair. No.
The reason I came down here is my wife.
She stepped on a snake, which spread its poison
through her and robbed her of her youthful life.
I wanted to be able to bear her loss,
and I can tell you I did try to do that.
But Love prevailed. In the upper regions
he is a well-known god. I’m not aware
if in this place the same is also true,
but I imagine he is known here, too.
If the story of that rape in times gone by
took place, then you were joined by Love, as well.
I beg you by these terrifying spaces,
by this vast Chaos, and by the silence
of this huge realm, weave once again the thread
which determined Eurydice’s swift fate.
All things, including us, belong to you,
and after we delay a little while,
sooner or later we all hurry down
to this one place. All men come to this spot.
It is our final home, and you possess
the longest rule over the human race.
My wife will also come under your sway,
when, as a mature woman, she has lived
her full span of years. I am asking this
as a favour to me, and if the Fates
deny my wife this gift, my mind is set -
I have no wish to journey back. You gods
can then rejoice that both of us are dead.”
The sound of Orpheus' pure voice moves Hades, God of the Underworld. Hades offers him to take Eurydice back to earth with him - under one condition: he must not look back while Eurydice is following him.
___________________________
Part Three of my collaboration with Ralf, Max and Marcel for the 2019 Summer Joust featuring the Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
Hades' Favour
“O you gods who live underneath the earth, where all we created mortal beings finally descend, if you’ll permit me
to set aside the uncertain stories
of a deceptive tongue and speak the truth,
then, with your permission, I will tell you
I am not here to see dark Tartarus
or tie up Medusa’s monstrous offspring
with its triple throat and snaky hair. No.
The reason I came down here is my wife.
She stepped on a snake, which spread its poison
through her and robbed her of her youthful life.
I wanted to be able to bear her loss,
and I can tell you I did try to do that.
But Love prevailed. In the upper regions
he is a well-known god. I’m not aware
if in this place the same is also true,
but I imagine he is known here, too.
If the story of that rape in times gone by
took place, then you were joined by Love, as well.
I beg you by these terrifying spaces,
by this vast Chaos, and by the silence
of this huge realm, weave once again the thread
which determined Eurydice’s swift fate.
All things, including us, belong to you,
and after we delay a little while,
sooner or later we all hurry down
to this one place. All men come to this spot.
It is our final home, and you possess
the longest rule over the human race.
My wife will also come under your sway,
when, as a mature woman, she has lived
her full span of years. I am asking this
as a favour to me, and if the Fates
deny my wife this gift, my mind is set -
I have no wish to journey back. You gods
can then rejoice that both of us are dead.”
The sound of Orpheus' pure voice moves Hades, God of the Underworld. Hades offers him to take Eurydice back to earth with him - under one condition: he must not look back while Eurydice is following him.
___________________________
Part Three of my collaboration with Ralf, Max and Marcel for the 2019 Summer Joust featuring the Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.