Wrath of the Gods Page #15

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paramount honor among the heroic dead. Odysseus hailed

him as first among mortals while living and now virtually

on a par with the gods, albeit consigned to Hades.

“Enough, smooth-talking Odysseus!” Achilles interrupted.

“I’d rather be a lowly farmhand—and a living man—than

king of these hollow dead.”

Then cheered somewhat by tidings of the prowess of his son,

Elysian Fields 1

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he went striding off across the fields of asphodel (ASS-fuh-del),

a gray and ghostly flower. Such was the version of Hades

sung of by the minstrel Homer. And though others sang of

the fields of Elysium (i-LIH-zhum), where the likes of Achilles

lived on in splendid company, in pleasant surroundings,

in heroic pursuits of the hunt and banquet, Achilles’ words

haunt the memory. Though the humblest toil await, far

sweeter is the dawn’s pink light under an open sky than the

strange paradise at the edge of the western world.

You come upon a semi-transparent Heracles (HUR-a-kleez) in

a zone that looks a lot more attractive than the rest of Hades,

because these are the Fields of Elysium. When the great hero

speaks, he refers to himself by his more familiar Roman name:

HERACLES:

Surprised to find Hercules in Hades? These are

the Elysian Fields, where the cool guys go when

they croak.

If indeed you are surprised to find Heracles down here, the

explanation is that the mortal status of Greek mythological

heroes was subject to varying interpretations. Most heroes

were sons of gods, and as such at least semi-divine. But

this by no means meant that they automatically got to go

to heavenly Mount Olympus when they died. Perseus

(PUR-see-us) achieved immortality of a sort by being made

into a starry constellation. The Dioscuri (dye-us-KOO-ree), or

Hero Twins, were originally accorded a mixed blessing:

Polydeuces (pol-i-DYOO-seez)—better known by his Roman

name Pollux (POL-uks)—was deemed godly enough to be

admitted to Olympus, while his brother Castor (CASS-ter)

was dispatched to Hades as a mere mortal. But Polydeuces

interceded on his twin’s behalf, on the plea that he could not

bear eternal separation. The gods relented to the extent that

the two were allowed to remain together forever, spending

half the year deep in the earth beneath their shrine in Sparta

and the other half on the airy heights of Olympus.

Heracles was the only hero to become a full-fledged god

upon his demise, but even in his case there was his mortal

aspect to be dealt with. He received special consideration

because he had aided the Olympians in their epic battle

against the Giants. These Titanic sons of Mother Earth had

piled up mountains upon mountains in order to storm the

godly citadel, and the deities of Olympus would never

have prevailed without Heracles and his bow. By virtue of

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his spectacular achievements, even by heroic standards,

Heracles was given a home on Mount Olympus and a

goddess for a wife. But part of him had come not from

his father Zeus but from his mortal mother Alcmene (alk-

MEE-nee), and that part was sent to the Underworld. As a

phantasm it eternally roams the Elysian (i-LIH-zhun) Fields in

the company of other heroes—thereby proving that in the

case of the truly exceptional, you can indeed be in two places

at once.

If you return to this scene because you couldn’t find your

way through Infernal Darkness (page 78) and you talk to

Heracles, he gives you a solemn hint:

HERACLES:

If, in the pride and vaunting of your conquering

heart, you aspire to be a hero…

(pause)

Ya gotta eat your vegetables.

When you return after talking to Theseus (page 81):

HERACLES:

Need a hand? Always happy to oblige a

youngster comin’ up through the ranks.

Elysian Fields 2

ANOTHER SURREALLY BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE. After

you’ve been to Jousting (page 77), Perseus follows you back

into this scene and calls to you.

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PERSEUS:

Hey kid!

You have to click the talk icon on him for him to continue:

PERSEUS:

(hesitant, uncomfortable)

Um…there’s something that you really ought to

know about, well, about your…

(anguished pause)

I… That is… Well, I…

(blurting it out)

Well, I’m really not supposed to tell you about

this. Let’s just say that you’re shaping up to be a

real chip off the old block.

Jousting

YET ANOTHER SURREALLY BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE.

When they died, heroes went to the Elysian (i-LIH-zhun)

Fields to pass an eternity in the pursuits of a heroic leisure—

hunting, feasting, and bragging. It is not unreasonable to

suppose that these activities included sparring of one sort or

another. Having spent their mortal careers hacking, hewing,

and stabbing at monsters and opponents, no doubt the

heroes would have wanted to stay in shape. And thus it is

no surprise to come upon the great Perseus (PUR-see-us) and

Jason engaged in jousting with staves.

PERSEUS:

Jason and the Argonauts, ha!

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He loudly bangs the other’s staff to emphasize the “ha!”

PERSEUS:

(continues)

You couldn’t kill a gnat with that thing.

JASON:

Yeah? Your mother wears Spartan army boots.

If you talk to Jason, he turns to camera and clears his throat

in preparation to recite:

JASON:

They sing my praises all through Greece

For I brought back the Golden Fleece.

If you would duplicate my feat

The fearsome dragon you must beat.

If you talk to Perseus:

PERSEUS:

You can say you got this tip from the hero

Perseus himself, so listen carefully:

(pause)

From rosy-fingered dawn ‘til dusk

I fought the Gorgon drear,

But never would have won renown

Without some godly gear.

They freeze. You can take Jason’s staff and hold it in your

hands, after which it pings into your inventory. Perseus’s

staff is partly obscured by his body. If you take it, it simply

pings straight into inventory. You can’t take both.

Infernal Darkness

PITCH-BLACK HADES CATACOMB. Back before there

were imposing temples like the Parthenon (PAR-theh-non) on

the Acropolis (a-KROP-uh-lis) in Athens, people worshipped

in caves and other natural spots where the power of the

supernatural seemed strongest. In the dark recesses of

a cave, of course, worship would have been impossible

without the keenest of vision or some sort of light. And in

the presence of stalagmites and stalactites and other strange

subterranean excretions, the eyesight could easily be tricked

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by shadows cast by the flickering light. Even today the

guides at the birth cave of Zeus (ZOOS) on Mount Dicte (DIKtee)

in Crete (KREET) will train their flashlights in such a way as

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