Poetic Riddle 03

by | Feb 12, 2016 | Poetry | 0 comments

I was tricked to kill my dear;
And since my hand was fooled,
Twelve journeys had to carry me
Way towards the impossible.

No lions nor birds stopped me,
And many heads I have conquered.
My prize at last I do not here earn,
But when beside my father I return.

Hercules

Hercules

I was tricked to kill my dear;

(Hercules was tricked by the goddess Hera to kill his family.)

And since my hand was fooled,

Twelve journeys had to carry me

(His killing his family forced him to do twelve labors as an act of repentance.)

Way towards the impossible.

(All the twelve labors were impossible tasks.)

No lions nor birds stopped me,

And many heads I have conquered.

(Referring to three of his labors: Killing the Nemean Lion, the Stymphalian Birds, and the Hydra.)

My prize at last I do not here earn,

But when beside my father I return.

(The real prize he earned in the end was not on earth, but on heaven when his father Zeus granted him a place in Olympus among the immortals.)

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