In most tellings, the Labors come later. Heroic, impossible tasks imposed to atone for the uncleansable act of killing his own children. Violence precedes expiation. Crime is answered by ordeal. Euripides reverses the order. The Labors come first, to prove that achievement is no protection. The monsters are dead. The roads are passable again. TheContinue reading “Heracles”
Category Archives: Reference Materials
Katabasis
Neil Gaiman’s Sandman recasts Orpheus as the son of the Dream King, but otherwise leaves the ancient tragedy intact. In the television adaptation, Orpheus survives as an immortal, severed head, speaking calmly, prophetically, and with the explicit wish for death. He is neither alive nor dead, suspended between worlds. Gaiman uses this image to exploreContinue reading “Katabasis”
The Dioscuri
The myth begins with Zeus in disguise. He comes to Leda, queen of Sparta, in the form of a swan. Later poets make it salacious. The earlier versions make it necessity. Their union yields eggs. From them Castor and Polydeuces emerge, and in many traditions Helen and Clytemnestra as well. Only the brothers are calledContinue reading “The Dioscuri”
Protective Arts 