The Sacred Drama of Eleusis Act III: The Heights of Olympus

Scene 1

ZEUS stands leaning on his scepter, deep in thought:
The cycle of time is complete. Demeter must
return. Her impetuous circling through the world is drawing to a close.
Her foster son, Triptolem, has entered Tartarus
to fetch Persephone from there.
Now he himself is held captive.
What he had set himself as a sacred goal has become impossible for him.
Now Demeter wanders the earth,
He had set himself as a sacred goal.
Now Demeter wanders the earth,
The mother, she who was the sublime source
Of uncreated light,
Transformed into a fury, searching in vain
By torchlight for her lost daughter.
People shrink back from her,
Terrified by her eyes filled with horror.
Her soul is filled with anger,
And yet... she can never create
Persephone's liberator.
I too am subject
To the fate of the world, my own creation!
My lightning can strike down men,
But all are free to make their own
Choice to live or to die.
But once their thoughts are transformed
Into action,
Even I can no longer erase what follows
Through them in the certain course of events.
And when I turn my gaze to the gods,
It shows me clearly how powerless I am there.
Each one is called to rule
In his own field, by virtue of the power
That I myself have bestowed upon them.
For they are eternal, as I myself am. —
And once Persephone has drunk
Pluto's potion, even my lightning
Would be unable to reclaim her ...
And my soul bears a tremendous
Longing for the daughter whom nothing
Can replace. Condemned to loneliness,
I must feel desolate without her.
But I can do nothing for her unless
Her mother joins me in my task ...
But—what is that unfamiliar noise
I hear? I feel the ether tremble,
And from the depths of space a storm
Approaches the slopes of the mountain of the gods.

One hears the roar of a storm surge.

DEMETER (holding two torches in her hands):
O Zeus, how cruel and harsh you are!
When will you stop robbing me?
You are unchanging in glory
And power, yet you remain without feeling,
When the creatures you created suffer pain,
And when I myself,
Half of your being, suffer agonizingly.
You let Persephone fall into the abyss,
And against her will you have
You delivered her to your brother Pluto.

ZEUS:
That is not so. Against my will,
Pluto took her; I could not
Snatch from him the prey he had rightfully
Won during Persephone's cheerful games
On the shores of Okeanos.
Her own curiosity unleashed
The forces that drew her into the depths.
So she herself lured the robber up.

DEMETER:
You want to hide, cunning one, cleverly
Through your trickery, how cruelly you have acted.
When you told her to descend,
You already intended to destroy her.

ZEUS:
Persephone sprang forth as a free daughter
Of the desire that lived in your heart.
She is immortal, as you yourself are.

DEMETER:
Death is truly far better
Than such immortality!
And you did nothing to rescue her
From the chains of slavery to which she was bound.
You left it to me, through Triptolemus,
To fight for the freedom of the exiled.
The farmer of Eleusis awakened Persephone from her slumber;
And now Pluto holds them both in chains!

ZEUS:
No human being can break them.

DEMETER:
Will you not free the unfortunate one?

ZEUS grim:
Has not my son Dionysus descended into Tartarus
to redeem her?

DEMETER ironically:
Yes, Dionysus, son of your longing,
He descended, but the Titans
Tore him apart, and like his father,
The son was powerless to redeem her.
However, if you prove yourself completely powerless
To devise a plan that can give her freedom,
Then I will descend and destroy
Your world with my torch!

ZEUS:
So listen calmly to my words, sister,
Only a new god can bring liberation.

DEMETER:
If you can, then name him!

ZEUS:
The power that springs from my fire,
When it unites with that other power,
Which shines from your light, can create
The god who can bring about liberation.

DEMETER:
And what name befits this god?

ZEUS:
The new Dionysus, who in spirit
Already lives in my longing dreams.

DEMETER:
Shall the wild Titans tear apart a second one,
As they did the first?

ZEUS:
They shall be powerless against him!
He shall not be invulnerable, but stronger.
He will sacrifice himself
To the universe, the gods, and mankind.
With cries of triumph, he will shed
His blood and tears for the deed.
No one who finds protection
Will defeat him, even if they strike him to pieces
The enemy's weapon shatters his warrior's garb.

DEMETER:
More tears, more blood to be shed?
I do not want that. But I will vow
by the virgin light of my being,
which always flows in new waves,
I will break your creation,
rather than allow a new one to come into being!
For it would be better if it returned
The slumber of that night, in which blissfully
All beings were previously caught ...

A cry of pain is heard echoing in the abyss. Demeter drops the two torches, which go out on the ground.

ZEUS:
Hear the voice from the depths!
Her cry is addressed to Demeter.

A VOICE from the abyss:
O Dionysus, Dionysus!

DEMETER startled with joy:
The voice of Persephone!

ZEUS:
You hear her? See for yourself now,
That it is not you she desires.
It is the god I long for,
Whom she desires, and whom we must create.

DEMETER raising her hands to her temples and remaining in ecstasy:
What a tremendous dream fills me with joy!
What a peaceful slumber surrounds me!
I feel all my ardent longing fade away...
The harmony of the worlds resounds in my soul
Once again, and blissful light streams
From all sides of the universe upon me...
I see white horses... proud heroes...
And women, radiant in the fire of innocence...
And distant in the depths, your splendor!
How mild and how consuming shines
The young god! O my Dionysus!
O dream, you revealer of eternal night.
She closes her eyes and slowly sinks down onto the rock

ZEUS without moving from his spot:
The highest magic overwhelms her.
Sleep, flowing from my scepter, takes effect,
And what I think flows into her heart.

Clouds rise from the ground—a light becomes visible behind Demeter's head. Zeus moves his scepter as if forming figures out of the clouds.)

CHORUS OF THE INVISIBLE BLESSED:
When spirits float away in dreams
The goddess of all earthly fertility,
Then creative powers flow through the universe,
The fervor of the gods inspires the world,
And humans tremble to the depths of their souls.
Creation struggles out of the twilight of the senses,
New divine beings come into existence.
Humankind shall bow in reverence,
When the sacred power of spirits is revealed.
Countless forms flow into life,
When the eye of the gods sends a glance
Into the immeasurable realm of space.
Worlds germinate from nothingness into being,
They sink from being into nothingness
And thus create the seasons of the gods,
Like light and darkness for humans.
But you, seeds of the abyss, you souls,
Who see yourselves scattered in the realm of the dead,
The control that you have lacked until now
Shall be given into your own hands.
The hearth of fire from which you once arose
Was hidden from your soul until now ...
It will now reveal itself to you.
It will be the dream power of the Mother of the Gods
That enlivens what the Father of the Gods forms.
And from enlivened form shall arise
The new God, the strong bearer of light.
And you shall receive him into your souls,
So that through his power may be transformed,
What was mortal in you, into immortal being.

Act 2

Triptolemus, Persephone, then Dionysus. - Finally, Zeus and Demeter. Hecate's chariot appears, Triptolemus holds the reins. At his side is Persephone.

PERSEPHONE:
O Triptolemus, born in Eleusis,
You proud farmer, as you have before
Tamed on your native soil
The fire of your wild horses, so tame
You now these dragons, whose giant power
Can shatter the rocks and the ether
Rush through in immeasurable haste.
Through spaces without end you led me,
And safely we arrived at this destination
It was on the day when a ray of light
Penetrated the dark depths of Tartarus,
When I was able to snatch myself away
From poor Pluto, who otherwise watched carefully.
At that moment, however,
A heavy sleep overcame the lord of the realm of the dead,
And I was able to climb onto your chariot.
The gates of hell opened
Of their own accord as we rushed through them.
Our journey took us through the Empyrean —
How many hundreds of years we traveled thus,
It was impossible for me to tell.
The light of Helios disappeared completely,
Only the glow of the stars illuminated our path.
But where are we? What is this heavenly scent?
I see the home of Olympus again,
A dazzling light rises from the heights ...
The clouds swirl into shapes,
Like roses born of fire.
My eyes are spellbound by this wonder.

TRIPTOLEMUS:
Behold
O gracious goddess, turn your eye
It will be the one so ardently desired.

Dionysus appears within the figures formed by Zeus.

PERSEPHONE:
O brother from the realm of the gods,
How sad and beautiful you appear to me!
My heart trembles as it greets you,
And fear fills me when I am near you!

DIONYSUS:
Persephone, O beloved sister,
Finally risen from the realm of the damned!
Like a living dream image, you stood
Before me throughout the long, difficult years,
A shining image of beauty that cannot fade,
Radiant in youth that must not die,
As you now reveal yourself so magnificently
In your wedding veil and daffodil wreath.

PERSEPHONE:
Oh woe, I had to pick the daffodil!
The flower of desire has given power
To black Pluto over my senses.
I forgot myself in the dark abyss,
And I wept many bitter tears,
Feeling damned and burdened with misfortune. Dionysus:
And I, seized by a burning longing for my sister,
Restlessly pursued your trail!
I fell victim to the Titans' fury,
They tore my body to pieces
And threw it to the tigers for their meal,
But my head was swallowed by the depths of the abyss.
But they could not forget my heart
And the scattered pieces of my body,
And they cried endlessly: “Persephone, sister!”

PERSEPHONE:
And I did not hear their anxious cries,
Stained by a night of terrifying dreams,
Bound by the chains of dark Pluto,
Banished to the realm of the dead and dead myself.

DIONYSUS:
Oh, how my soul burns with thirst
For fresh life and rebirth
Nothing could extinguish the urge to seek
You among all beings that were created.
I transform myself into Bacchus' lustful form,
To find you, my sorely missed sister.
Life should be boundless enjoyment for him,
But he brings only suffering to others and himself.
Struck by the gaze that flowed from him,
Death seized the spirits of light pleasure,
And such murder was only a dream to me.
I lived and broke into a thousand pieces,
And even though I was always born anew,
That part broke into millions of pieces.

PERSEPHONE:
Oh, how my soul burns with thirst
For love and the blessed sacrifice of death!
In Pluto's arms I writhed in pain,
My loud cry begged for deliverance.
I could see only ghosts and shadows.
To die was impossible for me... so I cried out!

DIONYSUS:
I awoke from this cry and came.

PERSEPHONE:
In the form of heroes whom the kiss
Of lightning chose to lead mankind,
Who are of your kind and your blood.
In the manner of Hercules, Prometheus, Jason.

DIONYSUS:
My essence flowed in their blood,
My life fought in their heroic bodies,
My voice resounded in their speech.
You should recognize me everywhere.
You cried out to me in joy and in pain.
The chains that Pluto forged for you,
Your strength could not break them.
So now I myself will be your liberator!

PERSEPHONE:
You sent me a ray of your light,
It pulled me up from the depths of the abyss.
Now I stand before you, brother and husband
You have become mine through my longing.

DIONYSUS:
My pain has given you to me as my wife.

PERSEPHONE:
Ivy blooms in your dark hair
And I see red fruits on you?

DIONYSUS:
They are drops of my own blood.
I shed them, mourning you.
And drops glisten in your eyes too?

PERSEPHONE:
They are the witnesses of Persephone's pain.

DIONYSUS:
O bright child of heaven, how beautiful you are!

PERSEPHONE:
O son of the power of fire, how beautiful you are!

DIONYSUS:
Since the beginning of the world, I have belonged to you!

PERSEPHONE:
Until the end of the world, we are one!

Demeter and Zeus appear.

ZEUS:
My Triptolemus! You have succeeded in seeing
What no human has seen before.
Return to your homeland, to Eleusis,
And live there with the gods.
For you shall reveal the light of truth
Not to the profane, the uninitiated.
The son of the great Demeter
Shall be revered among men!
But in the mouths of gods and heroes:
Persephone's liberator, son of man!

Triptolemus' chariot descends; the gods disappear.

CHORUS OF INVISIBLE HEROES:
You witnesses of deeply hidden knowledge!
What rests in the deepest depths of the world,
Is unveiled before your seer's gaze.
The spirit shall retain what it has seen,
Preserve it in memory in the earthly realm ...
It shall be a comfort to you as long as you live!
Take it as your guide to the spirit world
In the depths of your hearts as a secret treasure!
This sanctuary must remain closed,
Like a gemstone resting in a rock,
To carry the pure ray of wisdom into the world
Is the seer's high duty,
But to betray where its origin lies,
Only he who wishes to lose it may do so. [Epilogue

HERMES to those present:
You seekers of life's secrets,
It is now up to you to attain consciousness,
As you tear yourselves away from darkness.
Recognize the forces at work in existence,
The transformative powers of the heart and spirit
In the mirror of life that stood before your eyes.
Remember the words of the seer of old:

Origin in the course of time
Isi's death for eternity.
From the heights of the gods, man fell
Into earthly error and earthly delusion;
But the memory of his origin
Can give him the essence of all truth,
Form him into the son of God
In his earthly body, in the existence of time.