Dread Poets Sobriety

First of all, before we begin here, I just have to say… your brain looks incredibly sexy today in that outfit!

Good morning friends! I have a somewhat unusual selection for you, should be fun. As a youth I was entranced with the, shall we say, colorful world of Greek mythology. Adventure, violence, casual bestiality, I mean what more can you ask for? In particular, one of my favorites involved the 12(ish) trials of Herecles. As I understand it was switched to Hercules when translated from Latin. I prefer Heracles. Even more pretentious, Herakles. I’m going with that.:)

I won’t go much more into that as I’m actually working on a composition specifically about those adventures, and they ARE bad-ass, but today we’re focused on a microcosm of the ordeal. His 11th trial was to fetch the Apples of Hesperides, or probably like 2 or 3 of them. Presumably he was not expected to lug multiple bushels back across Greece. No matter. Beyond the wicked cool dragon and some “nymphy” things protecting the garden it was also home/ prison of the Titan Atlas. Interesting misconception, usually in art or Ayn Rand covers; Atlas is seen lifting the World. In fact, his assigned punishment for the uprising was to instead hold up the sky. Still better off than Prometheus… There is also a confusing demi-myth that it was actually Perseus who visited him but they’re all made up stories anyway so whatever. All these myths even to the modern day are so incestuously overlapping that it doesn’t really matter anyway. Damn things are more inbred than… (Dalmaians, The South, Royal Families, other.) Your choice!

Atlas Mugged, May 25, 2018

Atlas heaved the sky aloft

Shoulders padded, something soft

Brothers banished deep below

Imprisoned by Zeus’ glow

Never to sit nor to sleep

What you sow is what you’ll reap

Perseus and Herakles

One stopped by though just to tease

Filched a golden apple quick

Fooled the Titan with small trick

Now he stands his burden high

No small thing holding the sky.

In the Perseus version he takes pity upon the Titan, showing him the decapitated head of the Gorgon, Medusa, thus turning him to stone.

Thank you again so much from the bottom of my cholesterol saturated vascular organ!

Perhaps I’ll go for a run.

-Alex Blaikie