Comparative Myth: Pare and Hutu

Here is our first comparative myth. It comes from New Zealand.

Find the ways that it is similar to Orpheus and Eurydice.

In former days there lived a woman named Pare. She was a ‘puhi’: a girl of noble birth who unlike other girls, was kept carefully guarded and was not permitted to have love affairs. She lived on her own in her house, a beautiful carved building with three fences around it. The reason for her being kept apart was that since she was of such high rank, among her people there was no one of equal standing to take her as his wife.

When food was brought to her it was given to one of her slaves, who gave it to a second slave, who gave it to a third, and this third slave gave the food to Pare. The interior of her house was wonderfully decorated with the most beautiful cloaks: fine white cloaks edged with taniko work (kaitaka), fringed and tasseled cloaks (korowai), and cloaks of black dogskin (topuni). The house was sweetly scented with leaves of the kawakawa, and with all of the other perfumes known to the Maori.

Now there were certain days of the year which were set aside by the people for games and amusements, such as whipping the top, throwing darts, and all the other games of the Maori.

On one of these occasions there came to Pare's village a nobleman named Hutu, who joined her people in their games. He was very skilful both at throwing darts and whipping the top.

The people threw their darts, then Hutu threw his one, and it was Hutu's dart which flew the furthest. All of them marveled at the flight of Hutu's dart, and they shouted their praise of his skill. Hearing the noise, pare came to the door of her house to watch her people and Hutu throwing their darts.

Again the people threw their darts, and again Hutu threw his one. Hutu's dart flew right across, and landed by the doorway where Pare was standing. Then Pare picked up Hutu's dart and took it into her house. Hutu went to fetch it, but Pare would not give it to him. When he asked her to return it, she said, ‘You must come into my house, Hutu, so that I can talk to you, for I like you very much.’

Then Hutu said, ‘I do not want to come into your house. I am alone, and your people are many. I am a stranger in your country. It wouldn't be right for a person of low birth to go into the house of one of such noble birth as yourself. Furthermore, I have a wife and children at home.’

Then Pare said, ‘These arguments mean nothing to me, for I love you. You are the most skilful at the games; your top sounds the loudest, and your dart flies the furthest, and because of this, I love you.’
They argued in this way for some time, Hutu saying that he did not want to go into Pare's house, and Pare saying, ‘It makes no difference; I love you very much.’

When she saw that Hutu still would not agree to go in, Pare took hold of him, pulled him inside the house and shut the door. Hutu insisted on leaving, and he went outside, with Pare following him. Then Hutu turned to Pare and said, ‘You stay here, and in a little while I'll come back again.’

Then he ran off quickly. When Pare saw that Hutu was running away from her, she called after him, ‘Farewell, Hutu! Go to your home!’

Then she went back into the house and told her attendants to set in order her house and all her possessions. When the attendants had done this and Pare was left alone, she hanged herself.

When the people heard of Pare's death they were overwhelmed with grief and said, ‘Hutu must die for this.’ After they had met together to decide on the best way of capturing Hutu, a war party was sent out to find him, then took him to Pare's house, to the place where the body was lying, and told him, ‘We made you prisoner so that your death might pay for the death of Pare.’

‘Very well,’ said Hutu, ‘but do not bury the body. Let me go now, and do not bury the body until I come back. I will be gone for three or four days, then I will return. It is right that I should die in payment for the death of your princess.’

The people agreed to this, and so he left them. When he was a good distance away, he began to chant all of the spells and incantations which the priests recite when they are concerned with matters involving death and the spirit world. After this he went towards the spirit world, and saw Hine-nui-te-po, the Great Lady of the Night. He asked her, ‘Where is the path that leads below?’

Hine pointed to the path by which dogs go to the spirit world, but after Hutu had given her his greenstone mere (a club carved out of stone) she showed him the right path, the one that men use. Hine habitually acted in this deceitful manner, telling the truth only when bribed to do so, and in this way she collected a great deal of property.

Then Hine prepared some food for Hutu. After pounding some fernroot she put it in a basket, saying to him, ‘When you are below, eat sparingly of this food, so that it lasts for a long time; for if you eat the food down there, you can never return to this world.’

Hutu said that he would do as she instructed him, and Hine added, ‘If you bend your head downwards you will find it easy to fly down to the dark world; for when you are nearly there, a wind from below will blow your head upwards again, so that you will be able to land squarely on your feet.’

Hutu flew down to the land below, and when he arrived he began to look for Pare, asking the people, ‘Where is Pare?’ They told him, ‘In the village.’

Having heard that Hutu had come to the spirit world and was asking for her, Pare refused to go outside her house.

Hutu tried to think of some way of seeing Pare. He taught the people in the village to play at darts and whipping the top, the games known in this world. So the people played with Hutu, but Pare did not come out of her house to watch them.

Hutu was very sad at this, and said to the people again, ‘Fetch a tall tree, and let us cut off its branches.’
They brought the tree, trimmed off its branches and cut off the top. Then Hutu said, ‘Let us plait some ropes.’
The people pulled on them until the top of the tree bent down to the ground. Hutu sat right on top of the tree, and told one of the people to get on to his back. When they were ready, Hutu called to the men holding the ropes, ‘Let the top of the tree go up!’

The tree sprang upright again, with Hutu and the man on his back holding on tight. The people shouted with joy when they saw how good the swing was, for they were very pleased with this new game. After they had been playing the game for some time, all the people in the district heard of it. Pare was also told of the new game, and she came to watch it. Hutu was overjoyed to see her.

When Pare saw the game she was delighted, and went up to Hutu and said, ‘Let me also sit on your shoulders and fly up on the swing.’

Hutu was very glad at this, and said, ‘Hold on tight to my neck, Pare.’
Then he told the people to pull the tree right down to the ground, as far as it would go. Then he called out, ‘Let it go!’

When they let the tree spring back, it went up with such force that the ropes attached to it were thrown so high that they were caught in the land above. Then Hutu climbed up the ropes with Pare on his back. He grasped hold of the grass growing at the entrance to the underworld, pulled himself up, and arrived at the upper world, this world of ours.’

Pare and Hutu pulling themselves up from the Underworld by grasping onto roots.

They travelled on to the village where Pare's body was lying, and her spirit went to the side of her body, entered it, and took up its abode there; and Pare was alive again, a living person in this world of ours’.

Pare's people were overjoyed at seeing their princess again, and said that it was the power of Hutu's chants and prayers which had brought her back to life. Pare must marry Hutu, they said. When Hutu asked, ‘What about my children and my other wife?’ they answered, ‘Pare shall be your second wife.’ Hutu agreed to this, and from this time onwards, Pare was known as Pare-Hutu.

This Ngaitahu version of the story of Pare and Hutu is taken from John White's ‘Ancient History of the Maori’, volume II. In this as in many other stories, it is the woman who takes the initiative in courtship. This was often the Maori custom. In this case, Pare's high rank enables her to be especially forthright in her approach. In another version of the story I read, I especially liked that Hutu brought Pare back to life by pushing her soul back into her body through the souls of her feet. This version can be viewed at The National Library of New Zealand at http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/issue/Mao50TeA/c11.html

Orpheus: The Rest of the Story

Orpheus: The Rest of the Story

Young Thracian Woman Carrying the Head of Orpheus

By Gustave Moreau

Did you know that Orpheus’ journey into the Underworld to save Eurydice is only half the story? After his failed attempt, he continued to honor Apollo and sing sad songs until one day a group of frenzied Maenads (female followers of Dionysus) tore him limb from limb. He died. But his severed head floated down the river and became an oracle.

Orpheus’ death and story started the highest religion order known in the ancient world: Orphism. Orpheus was more than gifted musician and ardent lover; he was revered as a prophet and religious martyr. His death is the real climax and brings the story its meaning: His voice and song transcends his death.[i]

Ancient Orphics were concerned with the art of living. They were strict vegetarians, highly ascetic, and pure. They sought rewards in the next life. In fact, they believed that you became you true self after death. They had strict directions for the afterlife and just in case you die and find yourself crossing the River Styx, here’s what you do:

·         Don’t drink from the well by the cypress tree on the left of Hades’ house. This is Lethe and it will make you forget.

·         Go instead to the right, to the Lake of Memory and say to the guardians, “I am a child of Earth and of Starry Heaven; But my race is of Heaven alone… And lo, I am parched with thirst and I perish. Give me quickly the Cold Water flowing forth from the Lake of Memory.” This is Mnemosyne, the water of life.

·         That’s it. If you have paid for your misdeeds, then you get to join the immortals.

These instructions were found engraved on gold tablets inside of ancient tombs.[ii] Lethe, the water of forgetfulness, plays a big part in Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice and although the Orphics definitely believed Lethe was bad, a lot of other Greeks were more ambivalent about it, as reflected in Ruhl’s play.

[i] Kosinki, Dorothy M. Orpheus in 19^th Century Symbolism. Ann Arbor:UMI Research Press, 1989. Print.

[ii] Edinger, Edward R. The Eternal Drama: The Inner Meaning of Greek Mythology. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1994. Print.

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New Song: Blindsighted by Bon Iver

Sent in by Christopher Clark who plays the Father in Eurydice:

New Story: Spider Woman Brings Weaving to the People

A Navajo Tales and a good example of a spinning Goddess,

akin to the Norns or the Moirae.

A long time ago, times were bad for the Navajo. Food was scarce and the people were often cold.

One winter day a Navajo girl was walking through the barren land, shivering through her thin dress. Near her she saw a thin wisp of smoke rising from a small hole in the ground. She knelt down and peered into the hole and there she saw an ancient, old woman. It was spider woman; she who helped create the world and the people in it. Spider Woman looked up and told the girl, “Come down and see what I am doing.”  The girl chanted to the four winds and the hole opened up so that she could crawl through.

For three days, the girl watched Spider Woman pass a wooden stick in and out of threads tied to a loom to make a blanket. She taught the girl how to work the loom and how to make the traditional patterns. Then she told the girl to go home and share this sacred skill with her people. But she also gave the girl a warning: Always leave a hole in the blanket or your weaving thoughts will get caught into the blanket and you will go mad.

The girl did as she was told. Soon everyone in her village was making blankets and soon this new skill traveled to all the other villages. Life was soon better for the Navajo people and they never forget the warning of the Spider Woman. That is why to this day, you can always find a spider’s hole in a Navajo blanket.

Prelude to a Stone: The Grandmother Character

An earlier draft of Eurydice[i] had two additional characters, both played by the same actress: Eurydice’s Grandmother (The Father’s Mother) and Old Woman (The Voracious Mother of the Child.) The Grandmother wanders around the Underworld and no one really notices. She seems to represent the blissfulness of complete forgetfulness.

Here’s what Ruhl said about the Grandmother character[ii]:
 

The idea of memory as something that can be washed away and painfully retrieved is a compelling idea in Eurydice. Would you address the final moments of the play when we see Eurydice’s grandmother, another occupant of the underworld who has experienced erasure of memory?

I was looking for metaphysical layering, so that we would see someone who has completely lost her memory. The grandmother takes walks across the stage that are like little silent plays unto themselves and can be really specific. Some actors would balk at not having her encoded in language, not having a certain amount of lines. But having the grandmother make that last cross gives the play emotional balance. It’s not as tidy or as Greek as the tragedy would be if we just saw Orpheus coming down and the triangle between Orpheus, Eurydice, and the father. It’s larger, it’s continual—life does go on. The grandmother becomes an emblem of memory loss as sort of a happy thing. I’ve seen some people lose their memory who have been quite happy in the void they’re moving into, but for other people who are aware of it, it’s so horrible and tragic and painful. For Eurydice and her father the pain comes out of their consciousness of memories, but the grandmother is less conscious of what’s slipping away. She’s more peaceful, which for me makes her less ambivalently hopeful.

The Grandmother character is now gone, but she seems to be the forerunner to the old crone stone as conceived by director Lisa Hall-Hagan. She is someone who has been around the underworld the longest and who most represents the idea of peace and forgetting.

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[i] Ruhl, Sarah. “Eurydice.” Theatre. Volume 34, Number 2, Summer 2004, pp. 36-67. Duke University Press

[ii] Ruhl, Sarah and Wendy Weckwerth. “More Invisible Terrains.” Theatre. 34. 2 (2004): 28-35. Print.

New Song: Superstition by Stevie Wonder

Here's the song sent in from Eric for his "Artistaeus" character The Nasty/Interesting Man:

Superstition by Stevie Wonder



Who is Aristaeus and What Does He Have to do With Eurydice?

This is Aristaeus. He is someone you should know and not just because he is obviously a manly sort of man who is not afraid of bees and attacking birds. He was a minor God, the son of Apollo and the sea naiad, Cyrene. When he was young, Apollo had Hermes feed him ambrosia so he would be immortal. While growing up, the Myrtle-nymphs taught him many useful and mysterious things. He was known far and wide for bringing these useful and mysterious things to the knowledge of humans and thereby improving their lives.

Artistaeus taught people how to make cheese and other dairy arts. He taught them the skill of beekeeping. He taught them about cultivating fruit trees and husbandry. He also saved the coast of Ceos from a disease-inducing heat. He made the proper sacrifices and to this day, Ceos is known for its cooling wind.

He sounds like a great guy. Well, not according to Virgil. In Virgil's version of Orpheus and Eurydice, Artisaeus is lustfully chasing Eurydice through the forest when Eurydice is bitten by the snake that kills her. It's even possible that the snake could be symbolic for the rape and murder of Eurydice by Artistaeus.

Don't worry; Artistaeus was punished for his vile deed: all his bees died. That had to hurt.

And hence was born Ruhl's Interesting/Nasty Man... Just thought you ought to know.

The Dear Eurydice Project - Send in Your Letters of Loss

If you could write one last letter to someone you’ve lost, what would you say?

In fall 2011, UVU Theatre Department will be producing Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl. It portrays the ancient Greek story of Orpheus’ famous trek into the Underworld to bring Eurydice back from the dead. Letters passed between the world of the living and the dead play a prominent role in the story.

Call for Letters

As part of the production, an art instillation in the lobby of the Noorda Theatre will be created from letters written to lost loves and we want a letter from you!

Letters to… anyone or anything you’ve loved and lost.

Letters from… you, of course. Anonymity is encouraged and please include where you’re from.

Letters on… stationary, postcards, emails, scraps of paper… anything up to one page in length.

Letters containing… words, poems, photos, doodles… anything that expresses your feelings.

Letters delivered to… Dear Eurydice Department of Theatrical Arts, UVU MS 234, 800 W. University Parkway, Orem, UT 84058-5999, deareurydice@gmail.com or twitter.com/DearEurydice.

A Stone Song: You Woke Me Up!

Lisa asked the cast to find a song that represented their character. Here's the first one, sent in by Jessamyn, our old crone Stone: You Woke Me Up! by Andrew Bird. It fits the production and her character perfectly. Somehow the insect pictures work too.