The Tragedy of Callisto

By: Laij Posted on: June 28, 2004

Sing, muses, of the children of Maya

Sprung from the Unnameable Horror

Of Her twins Callisto and fair Sinope

Ancestors of the human race

Sing, oh muses, of Anake's passion

And his dark lust for Sinope

Weave a tale of murder and revenge

This, the tragedy of Callisto

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On darkened eve a shadow falls o'er beautiful Sinope

Ourania's light reveals her Anake

A soft caress on shoulder bare, a careful breath of hope

The son hides not his ever amorous play

With soothing words the mother bids him cease this vain endeavor

Callisto is her true beloved mate

A father's blindness to the truth cannot remain forever

And woe to he who tempts the realm of fate

But shadows grip Anake's heart, Sinope is yet pursued

No argument can change his present course

He begs her join him in his bed, their passion to conclude

Yet naught shall bring her there save brutal force

Foreboding thoughts distract Sinope, at last she takes her leave

Withdrawing to find solace in her dreams

Anake watches as she goes, forsaken and aggrieved

His wrathful heart devising wretched scheme

As midnight creeps upon Ceylon, the city lies in silence

Her mortals safe within a restful slumber

Anake waits alone with evil thoughts attuned to violence

With hate, his heart grown icy and encumbered

Swift is he and deadly, to his mother's bedside sneaking

With blade in hand his strike is quick and sure

A final breath escapes her lips, she wakes not from her sleeping

Her blood pooled dark and wet upon the floor

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Time has passed, as time will do

Fifty years have come and gone

Since the death of Sinope

Since the banishment of Anake

In the wilderness, with grief

Callisto wanders in despair

At no man will he cast his eyes

To not one soul will he speak

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In sorrow poor Callisto lives, a shadow barely breathing

A fitful sleep each night his constant bane

In silken tones the voice of Thoth surrounds Callisto's dreaming

While Shaitan conjures visions filled with pain

Just out of reach Sinope reclines, illusion real but fleeting

Her memory is clear upon his brow

Callisto begs to join her, weak, with courage e'er depleting

But fate shall wait to claim his life for now

His torturers withdraw and leave Callisto mad with grief

The Gods had cruel intentions from the start

While vowing vengeance on his son, he harbors a belief

That peace may soon abide within his heart

O'er land and sky and sea Callisto tracks his murderous son

Wild hatred raging through his every vein

With nothing on his mind but the destruction of the one

Whose actions caused his soul the greatest pain

At long last he espies a shelter in the northern wilds

Within his wayward son lies sleeping sound

Unlike the mother, Anake was brutally destroyed

His bloodstained father fell upon the ground

With madness of a beast Callisto howls to the Logos

Cries for wretched death to to make amends

Four hands, a noose, his neck is snapped, a story now in mythos

Anake's children bring a bitter end