Paying it forward
Continuing on from my new goal to write and to reflect on how ancient stories carry modern day meaning, I delved into the second episode of Kaos and slept on it.
Much of psychiatry work involves exploring and making sense of familial relationships. Many of our habitual patterns of behaviour, or Achilles heels and our distress can be traced back to the relationships we had as young children and how they transpired, succeeded or failed over our life times.
There was so much going on in Episode 2 of Kaos, and more very intriguing characters were introduced. There was more of an explanation of the two worlds, one in colour (the living world of Olympus) and one represented in black and white and governed by Hades and Persephone. I was transfixed with the passage of those who died to the underworld, and how this passage could be obstructed by others affected by the deaths in some way. Simply not sending people with coins, or obols when they embarked on their journey to the Underworld after death could render them obstructed for up to 200 years.
In Eurdyice’s (Riddy’s) case, her coin was moved from her mouth by Orpheus, because he simply could not bear the fact that she was gone. Not just gone but no longer with him.
It made me think a lot about grief and the understandable selfishness we can experience when those we love leave us this way. We don’t want others to be gone from our lives, and focus on that rather than their ongoing journey. This is a universal and usually transitory experience that fades with time, only to heighten in accordance with anniversaries and reminders of their life and existence. People who have left us are cherished and missed, wept over and longed for, but with time we accept they have moved on.
In Orpheus’ case, he showed utter selfishness and an all-consuming desire to maintain possession of Riddy, who removed herself from him because she didn’t love him anymore. For her punishment, she was sent to an existence for 200 years and was ultimately unable to move back to Earth. This smacked of more than unrequited love to me and carried tones that are often seen in family violence, the “if I can’t have you then nobody will…”
The most compelling theme for me was the torment of Zeus, who recognised his children, apart from Dionysus had distanced themselves from their “Papa”. The scene depicting him calling his children on a landline and leaving messages begging them to call him back was deeply dark and humorous, but also a depiction of children who estrange themselves from parents who display patterns of behaviour they do not wish to be part of. Brave children who cut family ties, unlike Dionysus who continued to use his lineage as a form of self-serving power and advantage despite his also dislike of mama and papa.
The scene whereby Zeus attempts to salve his pain of losing his role as a father by impregnating humans for children was especially powerful. His wife, also his half-sister was onto him though, recognising this was no solution and indeed punishing the poor partner by killing the child and turning them into bees for Hera to keep. The scene was graphic and brutal but understandably so; it brought up to me the act of bringing children into the world to serve selfish needs rather than viewing the child as an individual and setting them up for life. Zeus was unaware of this; his need to replace the abandonment of his children was far greater than the needs of others.
Finally, the themes of passages and gates and moving on resonated with me as a mother of a child on the cusp of adulthood. A vexing and challenging time for a parent as they realize they have lost their ability to try and navigate the world for their children and apply safety maneuvers to help them weather their storms. Our children’s obols are our years and countless moments intended to instill in them values, experiences and knowledge that they can apply when similar situations arise. How many times have I wished my son didn’t have coins and would need me forever, as he turns eighteen and has the big wide world in his sights? How easy it would be in the short term, how much it would dispel the pain of separation if he just stayed little. How selfish of me to have that though, and how much would it not pay respect and pride to how I have set him up, to get through any gates, and to make his way in the world? I do know though that this journey is the best way for him to make his way back to me when he needs to.
Dr Helen Schultz is based in Melbourne, Australia. She is a consultant psychiatrist and professional writer, has been deeply afflicted by the travel bug, with a recent relapse, keen to recover from writer’s block and find her happiness again.
