Herakles Β - Herakles and the Vultures
Herakles is said to have thought vultures the kindliest of all animal. This seems a bizarre affinity for our Theban friend to have but his logic behind it is sterling. Many different phrasings and fragments have trickled down but they basically boil down to- vultures are the kindliest animals because they hurt no living thing to eat while rendering a service to all other creatures (carrying them into death.) There are a great many versions of the latter part of that (i.e what’s the service?) but I personally subscribe to the service being to carry them into death, into the afterlife. Herakles β tells his story through the vehicle of that final meaning
Herakles and the Vultures
Time has come to pay my debts
Nessus laughs in corrupt contempt
The venom burns ever through and yet
I gaze skywards, to the vultures
I remember days of youth and yore
Where Hera fed mother every fruit of scorn
Her cries shook Olympus to its core
And even then they circled, the vultures
Megaera and our babes went that way
And somewhere past forever and a day
There was nothing Deinaira nor I could say
We too are to be embraced, by the vultures
The vulture is the kindliest of all creatures
Because it hurts not all that draws breath
And it ferries all (and it ferries all)
Unto the grasp of death
Herakles Α - The Suffering of Herakles
One of the things I find most absent in many modern retellings of Herakles*' story is the tragic nature of his path to apotheosis. From his infancy, Hera saw him as nothing more than a fruit of Zeus’ infidelity. Being unable to punish Zeus ( or arguably unwilling,) she took it out on our Theban friend. From the snakes in his cradle to the fugue state making him mistake Megara and his children for monsters and far beyond, the queen of the gods had it out for him for most of his life. This suffering served as a catalyst for Herakles and while he ascended to greatness in spite of it, it ought never be forgotten.
Α - The Suffering of Heracles
Tears roll down my face in fury
Spasms of painful divinity
I died many deaths so far
But there are many more in store for me
Always watched, always plagued
a hero's greatness is defined by his quarry
Take me, take mine, take from me
That which ails me will not be cured by glory
Oh father behold
What, in your absence, your wife has wrought
My love and my children, lifeless ashes
Is this befitting a god?
But mine is not to ask nor complain
Mine is not to think nor ascertain
Mine is not to point fingers and blame
No, mine is to bear, and stay silent in pain
Mine is not the hand but the sword
Mine is not the man but the implement of war
What they will remember- of my glory they'll sing,
But they will try to forget my suffering
*I personally always preferred the spelling of Herakles with the K. This spelling is both closest to the Greek "Ἡρακλῆς" (Iraklis) and is typically how you see it on translations of "Herakles Mainomenos" by Euripedes. Fun fact, the name of Herakles was, according to myth, changed from Alkaios (which means "the powerful one") to Herakles (literally "Hera's Glory/Fame") in order to placate the angry goddess. It didn't work
Still Wandering
Still Wandering
(Still Wandering," the two words that inspired this poem were used in several sources to describe Orestes as he was being driven mad by the Erinyes)
The quiet moments never come
No not for I, Agamemnon's son
Accursed mother and accursed young
I am still wandering on when the day is done
The sisters hound me day and night*
I gave them all that which I had by right
Where is justice for a mariticide? **
Oh how the gods forget the joy in Troy's burning light
Alecto whips and Megaera wails ***
I can't get a moment of sleep
Tisiphone howls of endless suffering
And I am still wandering
Tell me o Zeus on high, what's a son to do?
If not kill his father's adulterer and his murderer too?
Unjust are they who would condemn me
And so are you
Yet I will not die for your injustice
I will not kneel for you to countenance
Orestes lives in defiance and rebelling
Still wandering!****
*"Sisters" in this line refers to the Erinyes
** mariticide is the murder of one's husband, referring to the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra. Today mariticide refers to most spousal homicide, doing away with the lesser known uxoricide
*** These three names, Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone are typically used to refer to the three most famous Erinyes. The inconsistency of ancient texts leaves us grasping at how many Erinyes there were or what was their genealogy. Contemporaneously, the perception of the "trinity" of sisters is said to originate with Vergil.
**** not being an excellent artist myself nor wanting to leave no imagery, I used an ancient Greek pythos alongside this piece. It's in the creative commons and hey, I imagine a nearly 3,000 year old artist wouldn't be a huge problem in court.
Wettlauf Um Afrika
Wettlauf Um Afrika
Africa is known for its wildlife
But is it attracted or given birth?
When lots are drawn by foreigners
Who is it that decides our worth?
Your map of Africa is very nice
You're not interested in seeing mine
Take a victory lap and claim ownership
Frenchman, Arab, Englishman and kind
It is not that we were born without silver spoons
It is what was attracted by their glow
Brothers became masters and other slaves
Sometimes the Nile floods with bodies, don't you know?
The rubber man took my hands so I can't salute,
The civilizers left me barren and destitute
Across the gulf my sister was sold as a prostitute
They fight over who's evil was less absolute
What does your guilt even constitute?
Surely men who cherish their good repute
Do you even see me in your charities and institutes?
(Do you even see me in your charities and institutes?)
The desert winds move the sands
They cover what misery was built by hands
You might scramble for Africa
But is it you Africa wants?
Post script - not being neither African nor of any of the colonizing powers, the poem is really more about trying to embody something to understand it. The title, “Wettlauf Um Afrika,” is German for “The Scramble for Africa.” The reason why I decided to use the German title is as a reference to the Berlin conference. Initially this piece was going for my drawer but after being told it’s a strong one, I decided to post it here. Draw your own conclusions and by all means, ask.