#epic iii

[future-crab]

There’s plenty of beautiful poetic language and clever wordplay in Hadestown, but I adore the way it celebrates simplicity. There’s so much contained in very, very simple lines. The anguish of “Orpheus, I’m hungry.” The devotion and exhaustion of, “No, I walked. A long way.” And, of course, “Wait for me. I’m coming.” Maybe not surprising that this is a show where the song that has the potential to heal the world has the lyrics, “la la la la la la la.” And they don’t just work - they’re transcendent. “There were no words for the way that you felt, so you opened your mouth, and you started to sing.”

[wolfythewitch]

a little reunion animatic

[19th-century-gay-german-teens]

Anyone else wake up at 2pm and immediately think “I should map out the changes to Epic III between Broadway and the West End” ?

No, just me?

Anyway, I listened to both (and in particular read the lyrics to the Broadway version while listening to Dónal Finn singing), and here is the change to the ending.

[brokenmercy]

Where is the man with his hat in his hands, who stands in a garden with Nothing to lose?

[themaskedmuse]

Thinking about Hadestown right now, and I just want to point out how much unique character and the different levels of emotion Hades’ actor can put into the line “Where’d you get that melody?” From Epic III.

It’s an aspect I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone talk about, but the delivery of the line is just so important to me for Hades as a character. It can hold so much in just the different ways it’s delivered, and how Hades connects to his past, and his love for Persephone.

I heard one take from Patrick Page that was full of anger. An anger from a Hades who is being faced by a boy who is singing his own song back to him. How dare this boy use his own melody of love that he made for Persephone all those years ago against him.

I’ve heard it spoken with a quivering tone, from a Hades who, after so much back and forth and arguing with Persephone throughout the show, has just been slapped in the face with a reminder of how it used to be, and where they started

I’ve heard it spoken with confusion and realization, from a Hades who has almost forgotten the melody, and is being reminded of it. Who has spent so long in Hadestown, desperately trying to hold onto what he fears he will lose, that he’s almost forgotten how it started.

Just… so much of how Hades connects with Persephone, and also to Orpheus, can come from that line, and I love the different choices in delivery that the actors who play Hades can put into that line to make the character their own.

[naumaxia-art]

"'Cause here's the thing,

to know how it ends,

and still begin to sing it anyway,

as if it might turn out different this time."

[pininghost]

I'm reaching but I've been thinking about this all morning

[salubriousbean]

I JUST GOT KING OF NEW YORK RIGHT AFTER EPIC III 😭😭😭

WHIPLASH: KRIFFING INSANE HELP HEL PJELP

IT DIESNT MAKE SENSE WHA

mY HEART DOESNT KNOW WHAT TO DO

[jarondont]

listening to epic iii ("they danced ...") and thinking about how hades and persephone get to reconcile ... get to hold each other in their arms... and how orpheus sings for them, seeing him and his lover in them as they dance ... even though they won't get to do the same

[littlemissfandomdefender]

RANDOM HADESTOWN THEORIES PART ONE:

I think the idea of the God's living vicariously through mortals is interesting. Because initially Hades lives through Eurydice (by bringing her to Hadestown in lieu of his wife) and Persephone is super supportive of Orpheus, and this reflects what they're supposedly like: Hades=mean and pessimistic, Persesephone=lovely flower Goddess who likes parties, but we obviously know more than that. Hades sees himself in Orpheus in Epic III because of their love for Persephone/Eurydice and Persephone sees herself in Eurydice because of their faith in a man they aren't sure they can trust. The parallels repeatedly switch in the show. Hades brings Eurydice to Hadestown because he's trying to prove to Persephone it isn't so bad, someone else can live there. He brings her there because she reminds him of Persephone! And Persephone supports Orpheus because he is like Hades, a young boy in love with little to offer.

Okay so Persephone makes a big deal over names, I think we know that already… Between stubbornly calling him Hades over and over in How Long?, to literally demanding her name be sung in Our Lady Of The Underground, she's very pushy about them… probably overthinking but maybe the reason why is because epithets were extremely important to the Greek Gods? In particular Persephone had 3 super important names: Kore, Persephone and Dread Persephone. Kore, meaning 'naïve' or 'little girl' for when she was young. Persephone being the most commonly used, but Dread Persephone was specifically for showing respect/fear/deference in the same way the Greeks showed it to Hades. Anyway maybe that's why she has such a huge deal made about names? Just a thought.

Hades refers to his workers as 'my children' in Why We Build The Wall and we already know he snatches Eurydice after Persephone argues with him and says she doesn't know him anymore. What if Hades (bearing in mind not defending some actions obv so don't come at me) legitimately just felt extremely alone? I mean this is more a headcannon than a theory but… he is always presented as extremely isolated.

[ipoke-idraw]

So about that new Epic III verse, eh?

[rainoverthewindow]

I saw Hadestown last night.

I may have really liked it.

[chameleon3]

LAAA LA LA LAA LA LA LAAAAAAAA

[awesomenikie]

Great song I say with tears in my eyes.

[its-time-to-rise-above]

First Hadestown comic!!! I’m afraid Hades is broken😔

[jaruto77]

“Orpheus, the undersigned // Shall not turn to look behind”

His Kiss, the Riot (from Hadestown)

I think the most obvious thing to see in Hadestown is the parallels between Orpheus and Eurydice with Hades and Persephone. All I’ve Ever Known and Epic III are such perfect parallels.

Orpheus states in Epic III “And I know how it was because // He was like me // A man in love with a woman” and then proceeds to show all the similarities between the two.

1. Having known the woman without ever knowing her

2. Hugging the world when hugging her

3. Singing cause no words could describe how you felt

When Hades and Persephone are reminded of their love, they do the only thing they know how to do and dance. However, Orpheus asks Hades if he can bring Eurydice home, and Hades can’t let people view him as weak. Hades gives Orpheus the most difficult challenge; don’t turn back.

I see a lot of posts about how Orpheus was weak for looking back, but an Orpheus that doesn’t look back is an Orpheus that never goes down to hades. Hades fails the same challenge every year; he missed Persephone so much that he caused the winters to be longer and hold her in hades.

- Jaruto (Dec 15)