Thursday, January 10, 2008
http://www.borntoboogie.net/marctv/index.asp
Minotaur
by Micha F. Lindemans
Before he ascended the throne of Crete, Minos struggled with his brothers for the right to rule. Minos prayed to Poseidon to send him a snow-white bull, as a sign of approval by the gods for his reign. He promised to sacrifice the bull as an offering, and as a symbol of subservience. A beautiful white bull rose from the sea, but when Minos saw it, he coveted it for himself. He assumed that Poseidon would not mind, so he kept it and sacrificed the best specimen from his herd instead. When Poseidon learned about the deceit, he made Pasipha, Minos' wife, fall madly in love with the bull. She had Daedalus, the famous architect, make a wooden cow for her. Pasipha climbed into the decoy and fooled the white bull. The offspring of their lovemaking was a monster called the Minotaur.
The creature had the head and tail of a bull on the body of a man. It caused such terror and destruction on Crete that Daedalus was summoned again, but this time by Minos himself. He ordered the architect to build a gigantic, intricate labyrinth from which escape would be impossible. The Minotaur was captured and locked in the labyrinth. Every year for nine years, seven youths and maidens came as tribute from Athens. These young people were also locked in the labyrinth for the Minotaur to feast upon.
When the Greek hero Theseus reached Athens, he learned of the Minotaur and the sacrifices, and wanted to end this. He volunteered to go to Crete as one of the victims. Upon his arrival in Crete, he met Ariadne, Minos's daughter, who fell in love with him. She promised she would provide the means to escape from the maze if he agreed to marry her. When Theseus did, she gave him a simple ball of thread, which he was to fasten close to the entrance of the maze. He made his way through the maze, while unwinding the thread, and he stumbled upon the sleeping Minotaur. He beat it to death and led the others back to the entrance by following the thread.
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Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924.
Part Five: The Single Hound
V
THE RIGHT to perish might be thought
An undisputed right,
Attempt it, and the Universe upon the opposite
Will concentrate its officers—
You cannot even die, 5
But Nature and Mankind must pause
To pay you scrutiny.
gale force winds berate me. dead lovers ride with enormous dead love. the sound quickens sounding the sirens in the jails. human love stands by. ugly love makes lip contact. remember spartacus and his legions of lovers. remember che's motorcycle lovers. the clouds love the sky, but the sky loves the night. will they ever wetly dream. what space and what multitude ! of stars the reason broke, a slave within a star dreamers dreamins sweetly. wahat sweetness? of honey? of wine? of roses! where the plank broke. the diviners did encircle the star. now the shadows eat the street. now the sky betrays the clouds. no one willl sit upon them. will you? the heavens and the angels fell. now full with mystic smog. hava nagila mahalo. grass pours green pigment on white robes. and im washing these robes. and im forgetting better days remembering only the nightmre days. mahalo. wind sweeps fresh like honey? like wine? dust of stars will see her revenge.