Sunshine Challenge #1: Hades

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Prompt 1: Hades
Hades is the god of the dead and the king of the Underworld with which his name became synonymous. Despite modern connotations of death as evil, Hades was actually more altruistically inclined in mythology; his role was often maintaining relative balance between the realms. He was often depicted as cold and stern in his judgement, and he held all of his subjects equally accountable to his laws. Above all else, Hades ensured the finality of death and that none of his subjects ever left the Underworld. Bonus Prompt: Cerberus, the Hound of Hades


Please feel free to respond in whichever way comes naturally to you, be it thoughts that you share or a work that you create. If you’d like a more specific idea to kick things off: share a poem or drabble that reminds you of the Hades theme.


Title: Waltzing with Cerberus
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (ACD)
Poetic form: Rhyme pattern of an English sonnet but lines are alexandrine
Length: 122
Characters: Sherlock Holmes & Roy (the dog from "The Creeping Man")
Notes: see below poem
Rating: Gen



he waltzes like a lord, lord of the underworld,
detective-sleuth by trade, his noble carriage glides,
with lissome step, he guides, a nether grace unfurled,
a turn in triple time, across the floor, he slides.

he dances, he instructs, his hum, a lilting praise,
not jerking on the lead, he’s Hades of lithe whim,
his partner has three heads; these three heads he does raise,
an Irish Cerberus, he’s he, himself and him.

the follower is apt, a wolf breed in wiry coat,
his senses are acute, they harken as they traipse,
he knows he jigs with Death; with certainty, they float,
with vigilance, they skate, and not a note escapes.

their silhouette confounds alert pedestrian;
a handsome hellish pair, pure terpsichorean.


Whenever I need a more hefty prompt, I go to my Edward Gorey story cards, The Helpless Doorknob. The centre of the moodboard is one of those which reads 'Agatha taught Adolphus to dance the one-step.'

1.Persephone and Hades: tondo of an Attic red-figured kylix, ca. 440–430 BC
2. Score by Victorian Waltz by Cyril Scott
3. Detail of Pluto-Serapis of Heraklion Archaeological Museum
4. Irish wolfhound stock photo
5. Edward Gorey card
6. Paget's Sherlock
7. The Waltz, by Camille Claudel
8. Gramophone stock photo
7. Waltz stock photo

Comments

[pauraque]

That's a great poem! I love the musicality of the words you chose.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you very much!!