A Pithy Myth

When Heracles was caught red handed,
None knew how he could be punished.
Too strong to be left in jail stranded,
Too famous to be truly banished.

And so the King Eurystheus,
With some help from dear Hera's wit,
Gave Heracles 12 tedious
Tasks as labors to be dealt with.

These labors were of mundane lot:
To slay some pests, clean a stable,
And bring back trinkets princes lost.
Then how'd they turn to great fables?

You see, around Heracles there
Were poets who, when not drinking,
Turned everything he did to bear
Marks of greatness through their singing.

If he just cut a twig in two,
In their poems, they'd make it seem
The twig was a tree and the tree was a root
Of a giant mountain born from a dream.

Yes so, when Heracles went about
These 12 labors, his poet friends
Turned them from quick, mundane blow-outs
To magnanimous displays of strengths.

And though that's not what Kings or Gods
Had wished, the poets willed it so.
Because not even Kings and Gods
Have power before what poets wrote.






Poetry by Sameen The PoetBay support member heart!
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Written on 2026-01-08 at 16:07

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D G Moody The PoetBay support member heart!
This cheered me up, so thanks Sameen; and so true, that from ancient time until our day - poets create the myths by which we live out our days.
2026-01-09