Hades - 'Ulysses' - James Joyce

Time:
10-11 am
Scene:
'The Graveyard'
Persons:
Dodder, Grand and Royal
Canals, Liffey -The 4 Rivers of Hades
Cunningham-Sisyphus
Coffey-Cerberus
Caretaker-Hades
O'Connell-Hercules
Dignam - Elpenor
Parnell-Agamemnon
Mentor-Ajax

Symbol::
-- Heart
Art/Science: RELIGION(??)


This episode covers Paddy Dignam's burial, and we
meet Stephen's real father. Bloom and Dignam's other
friends are in a horse drawn carriage driving to the
graveyard. Bloom spots Stephen, who reminds him of his
own son Rudie who died when he was only 11 days
old.
The parallels to the the original work are rather easy
to find: 4 rivers, Cerberus - Father Coffey, Ulysses
meeting his dead mother - Bloom thinking about his deceased parents.
Bloom feels ill when the friends bury Dignam and when the
priest is speaking of the rebirth of the soul: dead is dead.
There is also (as most readers suggest) a cameo by James Joyce himself.

Αδης

The god of the dead. Hades was the son of Cronus and Rhea, and brother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, and Demeter (Table 38). Like Zeus and Poseidon, he was one of the three 'overlords' who shared the empire of the Universe between them after the defeat of the Titans. While Zeus gained Heaven, and Poseidon the Sea, Hades' portion was the world of the Nether Regions - Tartarus, or Hell.

Like his brothers, Hades had been swallowed at birth by Cronus, and later disgorged. He took part in the fight against the Titans and the Cyclops armed him with a helmet which conferred invisibility on the wearer. This helmet of Hades, like that of Siegfried in German mythology, was subsequently worn by other deities, such as Athena, and even by mortal heroes, such as Perseus.

Down in the Nether Regions, Hades reigned over the Dead. He was a pitiless master, who allowed none of his subjects to return to the Living. He was assisted by many demons and genii who worked under his orders (for example Charon the ferryman). Persephone, who was no less cruel, reigned at his side. Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, was his niece (Table 38). Hades fell in love with her, but her father Zeus would not agree to his marrying her, since Demeter was outraged by the thought of her young daughter being imprisoned for all eternity in the land of shadows. Hades therefore decided to abduct her, and carried her off from the plains of Sicily while she was playing with her companions and picking flowers. He was perhaps even helped in this abduction by Zeus, who became his clandestine accomplice. Be that as is may, Zeus later ordered Hades to return Persephone to her mother; but Hades had taken precautions - he had given Persephone a pomegranate seed to eat. Now, whoever visited the kingdom of the Dead, and ate anything there, could no longer return and dwell among the Living. Persephone was thus obliged to spend a third of each year with Hades. Her marriage with him was apparently childless.

Hades appears infrequently in the legends. Apart from the story of the abduction, which belonged in Demeter's cycle, his name hardly features except in one other myth, in which he is linked with Heracles's legend. In the Iliad, it was related that when the hero went down into the Nether Regions, Hades wished to deny him access to his kingdom; he met Heracles at the Gates of Hell, but the hero wounded him with an arrow in the shoulder. Hades had to be rushed up onto Mount Olympus, where the healing god Paean applied a magic ointment which healed his wound immediately. Other versions have Heracles stunning the god with a huge boulder. In any event, Zeus' son Heracles was the victor.

Hades, whose name means 'the Invisible', was usually not named out loud, for fear that his anger might be aroused by hearing himself called by name. Euphemisms were used to describe him instead; he was most commonly called by his surname, Pluto, 'the Rich' - an allusion to the inexhaustible richness of the earth, both the cultivated earth and the mines that lay hidden beneath it. Pluto was often depicted holding a horn of plenty, as a symbol of this richness.

{E2 DICTIONARY OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY}

My employer for the last year has been the Incorporated Lands of Hades or Hades for short. I will now endeavor to explain the mechanics of Hades to you (the layman).

BACKGROUND

I was taken to Hades after ripping out all my internal organs in order to successfully prove (which I did) that medical science is a collection of lies and fabrications based on nothing as all the sciences are (a reason to outlaw science moving forward - but I digress). There I was first consigned to the pits of Hades to swim in volcanic acid surrounded by jabbering human heads with no skin on them but tongues that were eight feet long and penetrated all of your orafices at once constantly. I did not mind this and thus was considered for a battlefield promotion.

In order to qualify for a battlefield promotion in Hades you must prove yourself immune to torture. Because I was tortured throughout my youth by my adoptive father who murdered my birth parents and took me to Berlin in the 1930s to meet his masters, I was unbothered by the processes I was taken through in order to make me feel poorly. For this I was brought up before the Council of Twelve, consisting of the ranking battlegroup leaders that Hades keeps on hand for invasions of other realms and total conquest of them. When we took and destroyed Heaven a thousand years ago I am told it was a magical moment in Hades history.

Battlegroup leaders rank higher than workgroup leaders but workgroup leaders are no less important. They do the nuts and bolts work that sets up invasions and then processes the native population of those realms into slaves who work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, without break, being tortured the entire time. This goes on for a beautiful eternity. If you have ever seen a bleeding man on the ground with a crushed skull trying to get away from you before you swing your sledgehammer again, you know what a truly beautiful thing it is to experience. This is one the benefits of being in the employ of Hades. You can do these things and it makes you feel good because you are removed from the pussification of liberalism which makes you weak and makes you stop enjoying doing what you were born to do to other people: torture, torment, and eventually slowly and methodically kill. Hades brings this joy back.

There is a guy no one ever sees who runs Hades, but he has agents who act on his behalf. After the Council of Twelve reviewed my life history and my experiences in Hades, I was contacted by one of the big guy's top lieutenants. I was offered a blowjob from a 19th century Victorian Age London hooker and after that was assigned to the workgroup headed by Joan Crawford (an actress). My duties would involve coming back to Earth in my existing timeline in order to sow chaos throughout the political world. Moves must be made so that a full scale invasion by Hades armies can begin in earnest within the next twenty years. We need this planet destabilized and already you are feeling the impact of our incursion. Your planet is heating up as Hades draws closer. Oh, we are going to have SO MUCH FUN with you people. I am ecstatic.

I have an official capacity as Black Agent Scout, which means I move secretly, without ever telling anyone I am here or explaining what I am to anyone. I do this in order to use stealth to create and sow chaos everywhere, whether through a trail of bloody and broken human bodies (especially very young children) and misinformation and propaganda which I convince the unsuspecting is true through use of our intermediary, FOX News and other outlets. That one is the most effective thus far.

As a functional and highly talented and skilled operator who embraces secrecy and despises leakers, I am able to effectively pave the way for the entry of more agents of Hades which are increasingly being assigned to appointed government posts worldwide on behalf of all the world's government. This will help make ready for when the big guy's chosen one, the "antichrist" will make an appearance and reverse everything done by Jesus completely and bring back the tenth century B.C. in all its relative glory.

 

TOURS OF HADES

Tours can be arranged of Hades if you pray nightly to the big boss, who runs Hades. Ask him in all his masculine, extremely well-hung glory to spirit you away. Let him know you are ready to die and want to be consigned to suffer eternally in the fire and piss pits of Hades. Say, "That is what I want, more than anything, other than having my genitals torn off on a subway which would be preferable." He will make your dreams come true.

The Outer Wall of Hades and the Iron Gate of Hades are accessible from the north only and the wall cannot be crossed at any other point. It is impossible due to the design. Basically, it was designed that way and walls work. It is the most reliable trend in human and Hadian history. To gain access through the gate you have to commit your soul to eternal suffering and live out having your genitals savagely cut and burned off by a mob in a subway over and over for twenty years equivalent time before you can petition to enter the lava pits or to watch your erstwhile former lover tell your first grade teacher how terrible you were in bed and then watch them really yuck it up. Good stuff.

There are concrete bridges that are notoriously unreliable which stretch across various parts of the lava pits. You can use these to announce yourself, to dare the agents of Hades to do their worst, and if you can bear what comes down you may get an opportunity to audition for a workgroup or battlegroup. You have to earn your battlefield promotions the old fashioned way. Liberalism was banned from Hades a million years ago.

 

PREPARING YOURSELF FOR A FUTURE IN HADES

You are bound there, if I can be frank, so you best prepare. How would I recommend you make ready?

Regular self-abuse. Throw yourself into traffic, use drugs at the library and attack people, put yourself in a cement mixer that is just starting up. There are many options. The more you get used to pain and suffering here, the more likely you will be to get a battlefield promotion. At a time when Corey Lewandowski is looking to staff a congressional office, many opportunities will become available.

You must also learn to use and abuse others for pleasure and profit without feeling bad about this. Liberalism and the disease it represents weakens people and makes them feel bad about hurting each other, but we were put here for one reason, one and all. To hurt each other as much as we can and in whatever ways we can, and to ALWAYS take it up a notch at the end of the day. Make yourself hard. The time will come.

I wish you the best of luck going forward and maybe one day we'll work together. As businessmen.

Hades

2020 video game by Supergiant Games for PC and Nintendo Switch

Supergiant Games has been known for their aesthetically striking games ever since their very first title, Bastion, back in 2011. Their 2020 release, Hades, forms the pinnacle of their design style and is one of the best games I've played in the last several years. It is an engaging action game, an achievement in dynamic storytelling, and uses randomness judiciously to provide a remarkable level of replayability.

The Setup

In Hades, you play as Zagreus, the son of the eponymous god of the underworld, who has lived his life in the very depths of the land of the dead. Zagreus is not content with his lot and seeks to escape to Mount Olympus. His plight has not gone unnoticed on Olympus, and several of the Olympian gods and goddesses send their boons to aid his escape. With the power of the gods and the Infernal Arms supplied to him by the shade of Achilles, can Zagreus escape the underworld for good and ascend to Olympus with his helpful relations? Or is there truly no escape?

The Gameplay

Zagreus repeatedly attempts to escape the underworld, battling his way through hordes of foes sent by Lord Hades to keep him from leaving. On each attempt, he selects one of the six Infernal Arms and leaves the House of Hades, progressing through a sequence of chambers higher and higher in the underworld. Each chamber has a reward associated with it that Zagreus receives after defeating all of the foes in the chamber. This can be something useful in the current escape attempt, such as boons from a particular Olympian or money to spend at shops run by Charon, or something that allows Zagreus to increase in power between runs. The chambers are collected into underworld regions, each of which ends with a boss fight and a larger-than-usual reward.

In combat, there are four major actions associated with the four face buttons of the standard controller. Attack and Special are weapon-specific, with Attack generally being a faster, weaker strike and Special being a slower, stronger one. As an example, the sword which is the game's starting weapon has a basic forward slash on Attack and its Special is a slow slam that damages foes on all sides. There is also a Cast ability that uses limited, regenerating "bloodstone" points and an evasive Dash. These four actions have default forms, but can be empowered with boons from the various Olympians. Poseidon, for example, adds a watery knock-back effect and bonus damage, while Zeus adds lightning strike and chain lightning effects.

Typically, the player has a choice of chambers with the kind of reward visible for each one. An important part of the game is selecting chamber rewards and Olympian boons in order to produce a sufficiently powerful character build. The boons are the most important component of a build, and so choosing the particular Olympians to associate with and the particular boons on each encounter is crucial. Each time a boon is offered, there is a selection of three boons presented to the player. The selection, combination, and occasional discarding of boons lends the character-building process something a deck-building feel, which I find very compelling.

The Storytelling

In between escape attempts, Zagreus returns to the House of Hades, where he can purchase upgrades for his next attempt. While there, he encounters a variety of characters to interact with, from the three-headed hound Cerberus to his mentor Achilles and a variety of underworld deities. Each of these characters has their own story, involving their relationship to the House, to Zagreus, and to the other inhabitants of the underworld. The various stories in the House of Hades each proceed on their own schedules, meaning no two players will have exactly the same experience.

Throughout the game, Zagreus can befriend the various characters through giving gifts of Nectar, a resource found in the underworld chambers that is primarily useful for this purpose. Befriending characters unlocks "keepsakes"; Zagreus can equip one keepsake at a time for their wide-ranging effects, and change them out after each boss. Just as importantly, though, gifting characters Nectar helps move through their stories and deepens our understanding of their particular circumstances. Zagreus even encounters several romance options with his fellow underworld dwellers through these interactions.

A larger plot awaits for those players who make it far enough through the underworld, but much of the narrative experience is through visiting characters and learning their stories. Well-known mythological figures like Sisyphus, Orpheus, and Eurydice make appearances, and the overall plot respects the source material while also having fun with the latitude mythological ambiguity allows the writers.

The Aesthetic

All Supergiant's games have had a lush, striking visual style and Hades is certainly no exception. The underworld they depict isn't bland or boring, but has a range of environments including grey dungeons, fiery hellscapes, and twisty labyrinths. Character art is lush and sexy without feeling objectifying, which is a hard line to walk. Foes in the dungeon are varied and have fluid, expressive animation. The overall impression is pleasing, even in the less-than-pleasant environments of most of the underworld.

In a first for Supergiant Games, Hades has full, excellent voice acting on the entire script. Each character is well-cast, with the actors bringing to life the personality written in the script. Athena is measured and controlled, Ares is intense, Dionysus is laid back, and Hades himself is gruff. The acting is anchored by studio composer Darren Korb's performance as Zagreus, bringing the right combination of grit and levity to the defined protagonist.

Korb's score for the game is less defining than his vocal performance but is still full and involving. With the lengthy playtime and repetitive setup of Hades's gameplay, there is no room for music that you get tired of hearing. I find that the music, with its Mediterranean and progressive rock influences, fits appropriately into the background of the experience most of the time. The few voiced songs make an exception; they underscore and enhance important and emotional moments.

My Opinion

Hades is not only the best game I've played in the last year but the best I've played in the last several. It is involving, deep, and sets a new standard for the integration of roguelike elements into a more conventional progression framework. It spent nearly two years in Early Access before its September 2020 release, and Supergiant clearly used the feedback from those players to optimize the gameplay for a dizzying array of strategies. Even after 120 escape attempts, I still find new challenges and new ways to do things from the combination of all the random and non-random elements. I've only scratched the surface of the variety found in the game in this review to preserve the surprises Supergiant has left players.

Outside the core gameplay loop, the game's writing keeps me coming back for more interactions with the well-drawn and generally endearing characters. Visiting the inhabitants of the House of Hades is a wonderful consolation prize for dying and the overall plot is motivating beyond the incentives of the gameplay.

Overall, I would recommend Hades to anyone interested in a deep, single-player action game. Each escape attempt takes 20-45 minutes, making it easier than most games of this scope to fit into a busy schedule, but you'll want to do several if you have the time!

Ha"des (?), n. [Gr. + to see. Cf. Un-, Wit.]

The nether world (according to classical mythology, the abode of the shades, ruled over by Hades or Pluto); the invisible world; the grave.

And death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them. Rev. xx. 13 (Rev. Ver. ).

Neither was he left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. Acts ii. 31 (Rev. Ver.).

And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments. Luke xvi.23 (Rev. Ver.).

 

© Webster 1913.

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