"One must lose everything,
to gain the all..."
This is the prophecy
of Apollo's Oracle
"Am I meant to forever wander?"
Orestes asks in forsaken wonder
"When society's props are removed
I am left alone with myself to view
My dear, innocent mother is dead
Her life ended my mine, I dread
I am banned to eternal torment
By Furies relentless and frequent
The sweet breasts upon which I suckled
Are now dry and to the earth shackled
Those precious lips that sang me lullaby's
Will now never answer my questions why
And my beloved sister forever condemned
To the mercy of strangers she was sent
In a House that sows only greed and self-interest
They take from her and trespass without consent!
One day, I will avenge you Electra my dear
When my sanity returns somewhere near
I will meet you in the place we were raised
Our souls will forever be united that day
For the King that betrayed us I will behead
Upon his flesh we both will be fed
Oh, reign of a treacherous evil-doer
Count your days, for they will soon be over!
When I return, I will complete the job
For the souls of youth that he did rob
His head from his body will be severed
A false Kingdom that will never be revered!"
Thus spoke the Oracle of Apollo
"One must lose everything
In order to gain all!
Author notes
This poem can be interpreted on multiple levels. It's obvious interpretation, if you are familiar with the Greek Tragedy, is the sad tale of the brother and sister, Orestes and Electra. It is a tale of betrayal, treachery, murder, guilt, punishment and ultimately, vengeance, justice and redemption.
Some of the Greek stories, like this one, are brutal and bloodthirsty, but portray an underlying message of salvation after much suffering and carnage.
Beyond interpreting this story literally, try to look at the images and feelings that the words describe as allegorical and meaning something symbolic; such as how dreams are interpreted. For example;
"For the King that betrayed us I will behead
Upon his flesh we both will be fed
Oh, reign of a treacherous evil-doer
Count your days, for they will soon be over!"
Besides the concrete meaning of the young Prince returning one day to avenge the death of his father, the honor of his mother and to save his sister, by beheading the King and consuming the flesh of the body, he is, like it further explains, ending his evil reign for good and both digesting and expelling, once and for all, the consequences of this treacherous step-father King's hold over him and those he loves.
This is an example of one interpretation that can be extracted from this poem. This tragedy very closely relates to my own life, (and that is another long story). However, I did not literally do any of the above things, such as Electra and Orestes did. It is all meant to be taken symbolically and as a spliting of the soul that is eventually reunited when Orestes returns from being insane and wandering to rescue his sister Electra from living in the evil stepfather King's household.
A contest entry
- Story Poems by Zixaphir.
700 points, ended March 4, 2008, 25 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
How does this poem relate to your own life and problems?
Comments
1 - 13 of 13
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The sweet breasts upon which I suckled
Are now dry and to the earth shackled
Those precious lips that sang me lullaby's
Will now never answer my questions why
And my beloved sister forever condemned
To the mercy of strangers she was sent
In a House that sows only greed and self-interest
They take from her and trespass without consent!
One day, I will avenge you Electra my dear
When my sanity returns somewhere near
I will meet you in the place we were raised
Our souls will forever be united that day
For the King that betrayed us I will behead
Upon his flesh we both will be fed
Oh, reign of a treacherous evil-doer
Count your days, for they will soon be over!
great writing, if you want and match cryteria please join in my contest -
This was and excellent read and love what you wrote here. It is a sad tale.
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Very Good
I love the rhyming and I love the story of this poem and I feel that I was with it all the way. It reflects on me that I lost a friendship but I gain my own sanity for myself instead of crying over lost relationships to me. For me it may me to realize that I should take charge of myself.
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I'm glad that you like it; and that you found something about it that you can relate to your own lives. That't the beauty of myths - they are so universal. You're right, in the end this poem was all about taking charge of oneself. Very insightful of you!
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Huh, interesting. Not being familiar with too much mythology in general, I must say that I am fortuned by my lack of knowledge, in this case. To me, it comes off as a great epic, full of metaphoric, symbolic meaning, full of moral.
So, nice write. -
WOW
I think this has a deep spiritual meaning to it and that it intertwines in the realistic life of nearly every person on the face of the Earth...The story itself is amazing and you have done a great justice to it.I enjoyed it alot...
Blessings
~Cheryl~
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Thank you. Yes, there certainly is a universal theme about this story. It's comforting that I am not alone. I appreciate your comment!
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Excellent write here
You have penned this piece very well and the notes at the bottom brought it all together with a great understanding og the whole picture .
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You certainly chose a stupendous myth to represent! One thing I love about Greek Myth is how well it portrays the psyche. And it's the tragedies that teach more about the human condition. Good job with the loose rhyme scheme, it adds a certain structure to the poem with becoming a rigid frame. I's jus thinkin' that you may want to change one of these lines into a question. This adds variation, and when Orestes was suffering he prolly had plenty of questions! Lines "I am left" or "Will now never" seem to be good choices for this. Stanza 7 is awesome! All in all this is a fine write!
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I appreciate your input. I have always deeply identified with the story of Electra and Orestes. I am glad that you like it. I do have Orestes ask a big question in the beginning of the poem, in the second stanza;
"Am I meant to forever wander?"
Do you think I should extend this question into the next few lines?;
"When society's props are removed
I am left alone with myself to view"
to
"am left alone with only myself to view?"
Something like that?
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Oh, stupid knight, I didn't see that right away. Of course that works, and thus fulfills my comment about having a question. No, I think it sounds better as is.
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Thanks again. I am glad that you particularly like the 7th stanza. I was always a little afraid that it would be interpreted too literally, (cannibalism?!). It is a symbolic reference.
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very very different never read anything like this but it was a breezy cool right lady good luck in the show down
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