Dodekathlon

Pay the ultimate price from cradle to grave For the sins committed by my father, the mighty Zeus Poisoned by my stepmother, my nemesis, the hateful Hera Suffering on a scale unknown to men Determined to make my life a living hell Sending madness into my dreams Turned the loved ones into the hated to be killed Committing the most unspeakable horrors of all times... With my blood covered body I woke up from this nightmare Bloodstains mark the guilt on me, the guilt I have to bear My bloodrage subsides into intense remorse An anguish which will plague me forever... My bloodguilt... To be purified from the everlasting grief Slay the golden Lion from the caves of Nemea The ferocious monster, this warrior killer Devours their remains and leaves their bones to rot As told by child: “Within thirty days if you’ll return alive In your father’s honour, a lion sacrifice” Try to slay this beast with skin as steel Not to be harmed by arrow, claws in my skin Stunned this monster with my club and with my strength I strangled it to death As told by man: “If not returned alive As a mourning offering, a ram sacrifice” My bloodguilt... As told by Gods, noticing my plight “To skin this pelt, use its claws as knives” On the thirtieth day, I returned alive With carcass on my back, the King stunned Amazed and terrified of my success This was only the beginning of it all

Submitted by Grave666 — Apr 26, 2025

Send to the East coast of our beloved peninsula To the South of Argos to Poseidon’s gift to the Argive, Lake of Lerna Upon reaching the swamp springs With cloth covered nose and mouth To protect ourselves from its poisonous fumes To crawl into her lair One entrance of Tartarus And we got confronted with this... Serpent, dragon, monster The Cthonican daughter of Typhon, Echidna Theogonian womb of monsters Many-headed monster Called the Hydra Poisonous blood in her veins And venomous breath Shooting my flammable arrows To enlighten her cave This lair of the “Blameless One” With each decapitation One head grows back to two ...an expression of my hopelessness Many-headed serpent This Lernaean Hydra Poisonous blood in her veins And venomous breath This ongoing struggle Twelve heads where there used to be six With burning torch we scorch the open wounds At last I cut off its mortal head With the golden sword of the Gods And buried it six feet down Dipping my light-speeding arrows In its poisonous blood Together with the Lion’s skin I am invincible

Stag-like golden antlers with hooves of bronze Sacred to Artemis, this Ceryneian Doe The anger of Hera and King Eurystheus For killing the Lion and Hydra This third task for me will be full of doom “Thou shall not kill this beast, nor shall thou skin Thou will feel the suffering when it’s dead” Stag-like golden antlers with hooves of bronze Sacred to Artemis, this Ceryneian Doe After my awakening from the travels way up North I spotted this heavenly creature With antlers which gleamed in the sun Afraid of Artemis’ anger I will not slay Bare-footedly I’ll chase it down On the mountain slopes of Ceryneia And for the length of thirteen full moons I bare-footedly chased this Hind We ran from North to South, from East to West Throughout Thrace, Istria and the land beyond the North Wind It was not to be captured during sleep Not to be caught with mesh It could outrun my light-speeding arrows This beautiful, beloved and sacred creature of Artemis Artemis, forgive me from this desecration It’s part of my penance, my forever guilt On the last full moon I passed the gates of Artemis’ Temple The Ceryneian Hind laid down before the shrine Stag-like golden antlers with hooves of bronze The Hind returned to the Goddess as it flees from the King

Submitted by The Void — Apr 26, 2025

In the midst of Peloponnese The heart of the home of Pan The Highlands of Arcadia Heading to the West For the next part of my guilt To the mountain of Erymanthos To capture the fearsome beast Wearing the lion’s skin To keep the chill from my bones In this frozen winterland On my way to the raging boar To gain back all of my strength Went to visit my faithful friend Pholus, my dear old friend Invite me in for shelter Give me your finest meat We share Dionysus’ wine The scent of this gifted wine Attracted the rest of the centaurs living in Pholus’ cave This wine not tempered with water Got the centaurs drunk and fearlessly they attacked I shot my poisonous arrows The centaurs fled to Chiron’s cave I followed the centaurs To gain Chiron’s advice On how to capture this boar (Not like Meleager) Drive it Up the mountains Drive it Into the thickest snow Track its footprints in the snow Between these walls of ice I ambushed this fearsome beast Finally I captured this Erymanthian Boar Bind its legs together Returning to the King Frightened of this fearsome beast Hiding in his pithos trembling with fear

Submitted by Celtic Frost — Apr 26, 2025

Leaving the massive walls Of the mighty fortress of Tiryns Heading for the Western Seas Cleansing the stable of the son of Eleius The King called Augeas Cattle consisting of a thousand oxen Immortal, in divine health The repulsive scent in my lungs Inhuman humiliation Only cleansed three decades ago An enormous pile of excrements Cattle consisting of a thousand oxen Immortal, in divine health The repulsive scent in my lungs Inhuman humiliation Fulfill this labour in a day And be rewarded one-tenth of the cattle I drove the oxen away And commenced the purification To clean this mess in a single day Is too much work, even for a God I need water from the rivers ...The rivers... To combine the nearby rivers The Arcadian Alfeiós And Pineiós from Erymanthos With my club I crushed the spit Right after succeeding this labour An agreement nor honoured Since this task was not ordered by him to be done I claimed my reward in court But was banished with Phyleus In anger I returned and slayed the King The repulsive scent in my lungs Inhuman humiliation

Heading North to cross the Corinthian border To the sweet Lake of Stymphalia Her marshes infested by the pets of the Goddess “Artemis, Agrotera, Potnia Theron” Birds of hate Bronze beaked and feathers of metal arrows Birds of hate With toxic excrements and sacred to Ares Breeding quickly and swarming all over the lands Destroying the harvest of men, shooting arrows through hearts I went down to the marshes, sinking knee-deep down The ground could not support my weight (Sinking knee-deep down) Athena, watching me from the sky Noticing my struggles to get through the marshes Gave the order to Hephaestus, the God of Craftsmen To make me bronze krotalas Light-speeding arrows Kill them all Light-speeding arrows All shall fall The rattling krotalas made them flee With arrows in hand dipped in Hydra’s blood Shooting them one by one out of the sky Some flew far away never to plague this lake again Light-speeding arrows Kill them all Light-speeding arrows All shall fall With this heroic endeavor I safeguarded the lands And returned to the wretched King As proof of my success I brought him the slain beasts The King hid in this pithos dug in the ground Birds of hate Bronze beaked and feathers of metal arrows Birds of hate With toxic excrements and sacred to Ares

Submitted by johnmansley — Apr 26, 2025

Lifting the sails of my trireme Setting course to King Minos’ land Pray to the ancient God of the Seas To cross his domain Mountain-high waves crashing the bow Asking all strength of my slaves Rowing the seas, domain of the Gods Getting us save to the island of Crete Created by Him, the God of the Seas The God of all Earthquakes and Horses Setting foot on this island To capture this snow-white bull A gift from Poseidon To be sacrificed to the Gods Given permission by the mighty King To take this beast away Wreaking havoc and uprooting crops And levelling orchard walls Killing a dozen of King Minos’ guards In trying to capture this beast Leaving this monstrosity For me to take to Tiryns A gift for King Eurystheus Poseidon enraged For the sacrificion of another bull Made the Queen of Crete To fall in love with “The White One” After nine full moons She gave birth to a monster Half man, half bull Known as the Minotaur As revenge for his misbehavior Lifting the sails of my trireme Setting course back to Tiryns Blessed by King Minos For being the savior of Crete Sneaked from behind Barehanded I throttled this beast Brought it back, back alive So not needed to be slaughtered Eurystheus, servant of Hera Wanted to sacrifice in Her name She refused this sacrificion As it would reflect my glory

Submitted by The Void — Apr 26, 2025

“King Diomedes, the tyrannical King of Bistonia Keeper of the flesh-eating mares Kept tethered to a bronze manger Wild of madness being attributed to an unnatural diet of human flesh In revenge for eating my companion Abderus I fed Diomedes to his own horses The evil you create will ultimately destroy you...”

Submitted by Cyberwaste — Apr 26, 2025

As a gift for his daughter Admete A priestess for Hera in Argolis Eurystheus, my mortal nemesis Sent me off to the shores of the Black Sea Admete: “Get me the magical girdle from the waist of the Amazon Queen Once given by the God of War, the father of this fearless tribe” Setting foot on the island of Paros Killing two of the Princes of Crete Defended by the son of Titius And finally arrived in Themiscyra Hippolyta: “Son of Zeus, o faithful friend Welcome to the Thermodon border I will handle you over the girdle As a token of our truce” As is as not Hera Spreading the art of fraud Disguised as an Amazon warrior Sowing seeds of distrust Hera: “He mislead us, hurdle of Ares He spread this rumour amongst He abducted our beloved Hippolyta Follow me in a raging war Kill this stranger and his companions For this act of betrayal and treason My sisters, get on your horses Follow me to the battleground” What kind of treachery I see before me She never meant to hand over her belt My friends, my companions in battle Kill all ‘til there’s no one... left Us confronted with numerous warriors All on horses with arrows and bows Supported by their founding father Screaming: “Death to them all!” Hera: “Death to this so called son of Zeus With this art of profanity” Wearing my invincible armour Shooting arrows and swinging my club I will end this bloody warfare And take the girdle home with us The Amazon Tribe: “In honour of our mighty father Ares, o mighty God of War Fight by our side as companions Let our swords cleave their souls” Killing the most of His descendants In this ephermal battle The Amazons fled to the forests Leaving their Queen for dead I slaughtered her like a beast Leaving her corpse for the eagles Taking the belt from her waist Setting back home to Tiryns

Submitted by The Void — Apr 26, 2025

Westwards I set my sails To the land of Tartessos The land of a fearsome giant A monster with three human faces One body, three heads and three sets of limbs On the island of Erytheia This herder of magnificent cattle Guarded by a snake-tailed two-headed dog Together with Eurytion Mortal son of “The Red One” Son of the Daughters and Nymphs Slave of this monstrosity Mislead by Poseidon, God of the Oceans Setting foot on the southern wastelands No food, no water in this dehydrated land I shot an arrow at the golden sun Helios, God of Sun Lend to me your chariot of gold I will fly it to Geryon To obtain his cattle And bring it to Tiryns To my archfiend Eurystheus Hiding for my arrival Deep down in the ground As soon as I reached Erytheia I was confronted with the two-headed dog Sibling of the guard of Tartarus I put it down with one single blow The herdsman of the cattle of Geryon came to Orthrus’ assistance This Hesperid-mother’s son, killed by my strength Wearing his triple armour suit with shields, spears and helmets Geryon sprang into action, awoken from their screams and deadly cries... Geryon chased me... throughout his domain To the river of Anthemus I ambushed this monstrosity... this three-headed giant And shot an arrow between his eyes Arrow with the blood of the Hydra Forcefully shot, I pierced his mortal skull Traveling back Passing the Aventine Hill Cattle stolen by the fire-breathing son Betrayed by his sister Killed with my club Getting back safe with the cattle In my beloved homeland

Submitted by BloodShrine — Apr 26, 2025

After these 10 completed labours I thought I did all that was necessary to end this bloodguilt of mine But Iolaes helped me to slay the Hydra and the rivers cleansed the stables of King Augeas Therefore I was condemned to fulfill additional labours in the favour of King Eurystheus and my stepmother Hera These would be by far the most endangered labours, far beyond known borders as traveled by mortal men In my travels to the West I caught the father of Thesis This old shape-shifting God The Old Man of the Sea Showing me the direction To Hera’s orchard in the West To steal the apples of the Hesperides Which lead to immortality Ladon: “Twined and twisted ‘round the tree I’m here to guard the fruits which lead to immortality Due to Hera I’ll never sleep With one hundred heads I’ll see it all...” As I entered this blissful garden To honour the Daughters and Nymphs At the foot of the Atlas Mountains At the end of Oceanus’ reach I spotted this hideous monster This one hundred-headed serpent-like beast This brother of the Nemean Lion I remembered his words as the battle commenced: Ladon: “Coiled and twisted ‘round the tree Thou shall not steal the fruits of immortality I, guardian of the gold Your dead corpse is my reward” One hundred heads to slay I strangled all to death Finally I picked the tree which leads to immortality Immortality...

Submitted by Celtic Frost — Apr 26, 2025

“Here I stand before the gates of Tartarus The gates of oblivion, the entrance to Hell To get to Hades and take His servant Cerberus The three-headed guardian hound To break the cycle of life and death And bring Cerberus back to earth Now with this labour, my guilt comes to an end No more pain, anguish or grief Death is my defeat, my surrender I’ll put myself up on this funeral pile With my death I will be redeemed of all I will join my father at Mount Olympus Finally... I am immortal...”

Submitted by Warbringer — Apr 26, 2025