Life is a Myth

Eros is dying together
to save Psyche from
Hell's empty cold
and striving forward
as Sisyphus
or Orpheus trusting bold.
Don’t look back,
carry your Herculean
burden without complaint
and not stolen
by Celaeno
or Charon’s decaying taint.

Mythology Primer:
I switched back and forth between the Latin and Greek names depending on how it suited me.

Eros – commonly known as Cupid represents love.

Psyche – the most beautiful woman in the world, so beautiful that Aphrodite/Venus grew jealous and sent Eros to make her fall in love with the ugliest thing he could devise. Instead, he took one look at her and fell in love himself. One of the tasks she undertakes involves going to the Underworld, ie – Hell. Starting to see how it all comes together. ;)

Sisyphus – a mortal cursed by Zeus to an eternity in Tartarus (a hellish part of the underworld) of rolling up a boulder to the top of a hill that continually rolls back down.

Orpheus – his wife, Eurydice, dies from a snake bite. He mourns her through his songs which are so bittersweet that he is advised to go to the underworld to convince Hades and Persephone. They agree on the condition that he goes back without looking back at her.

Hercules / Heracles– the premier mythological hero who was set multiple tasks by the Gods to prove himself, the twelve labors (it started as 10, but Eurystheus was a jealous asshole) (from wiki – I’m continually amazed how much accurate information that place has, wow, it had all of them in a nice little column):
1. The Nemean Lion.
2. The Lernaean Hydra.
3. The Ceryneian Hind.
4. The Erymanthian Boar.
5. The Augean Stables.
6. The Stymphalian Birds.
7. The Cretan Bull.
8. The Mares of Diomedes.
9. The Girdle of Hippolyte.
10. The Cattle of Geryon.
11. The Apples of Hesperides.
12. The Capture of Cerberus.

Celaeno – “the dark(ness)” – one of the three harpies that plagued Phineas. Thought to be the physical manifestation of the destructive nature of the wind—swooping down to constantly hound.

Charon – the ferryman in Hades who ferried souls across the river, Acheron-the river of woe, for the payment of a a coin (an obol or obulus). The Greeks and Romans would bury the dead with a coin under their tongue for this payment.

Another poem based on mythology I did some time ago. Similar themes are presented. Maybe this is a March ritual? A different kind of circadian rhythm? Acheron

I began this poem many months ago. On that note, I’m going to digress to close out this post. All art has a self-referential core that is the thread of integrity enabling a coherent product. However, I would ask not to presume to know this underlying piece. I have 40-50 pieces that I’m working on at any particular moment covering a wide spectrum of emotion, thought, and spirit. On my half, I promise to provide attendant notice of anything too disturbing that it is outside of me. I don’t want to provoke any unnecessary anxiety, only the necessary kind. ;)