When dead was the
Molossian
hound of the Macedonian--
son of Lagos, Ptolemy true,
Pharaoh of Nile both White and Blue--
called stout-hearted Briareus,
as hundred-handed furious
son of Gaia and Ouranos
helped Zeus overthrow Kronos,
the canine ally--mummified--
went down to Hades to be tried.
But not Osiris nor Ploutonus
nor subterranean Adonis
was the judge in that dark kennel
lit by Promethean-sparked fennel;
Echidna's whelp, the king of hounds
on a bed of silk no chain surrounds
sat panting, triple-headed, keen
with loyal Maira as his queen.
Cerberus, stately, legs extended,
his ears toward Ptolemy's hound bended:
"Oh loyal hound, with heart all hairy,
unto these shores did Charon carry--
but what place is there that would yield
on Styx's banks or Elysian field
what heroic dogs like you deserve?
Where, under Selene's silver curve,
could bravery so shining stay
without outshining bright mid-day?
Therefore, it is not Hades' shade
which is reward to your soul paid."
"Then where? By all the gods above!"
"To where the master that you love
will go, where brilliant Alexander
beyond the heavenly Nile's meander
makes his abode with gods eternal,
virtuous heroes, souls supernal;
an afterlife that few enjoy,
eluding those in deep employ
to even deities salvific...
a place sublime and beatific!"
And so upon a celestial barque
that through the most infernal dark
could its way Briareus bold
left Cerberus' silken couch of gold.
He surpassed Sirius, saw collapsae
star hounds more far-famed than Lailaps,
'til Hermanubis held the gate
through which Briareus would wait
until, barking and wagging wild
he would soon welcome Lagos' child.
