Askalaphos

Andrea Carrucciu as Askalaphos

### Seen In

Hesperides' Florist, The Tenement Area, The Square, The Elysium Hotel, Troy, Mycenae

### Seen With

Hades, Cassandra, Apollo, Zagreus, Polymestor, Kampe, Iphigenia, Patroclus, Aegisthus, Persephone

## Cast

### Played By

Andrea Carrucciu, Emily Terndrup, Fania Grigoriou, Folu Odimayo, Fred Gehrig, Isaac Ouro Gnao, James Finnemore, Jordan Ajadi, Jude Monk McGowan, Luigi Nardone, Ryan O'Neill, Timothy John Bartlett

Askalaphos is the owner of Hesperides' Florist, in Troy, and confidant to Hades.

Part of his story arc revolves around assisting Persephone in her pursuit to regain her memories.

When he is not doing this, he also works under Polymestor to create Lotus Flower, the drug of Troy, which brings both pleasure and despair to several inhabitants around Troy. In daily worship to Apollo, Askalaphos dreams of metamorphosing into a bird and flying away from the darkness of the city.

## Loop

*Based on Loop 2*

Askalaphos begins sat either at his desk, or armchair, in Hesperides' Florist, typically reading from a book of plants, or studying the bouquets in his display, before

noticing the mess of flowers, left behind from Aegisthus' dance, and cleaning them away. *\**

He briefly tends to the Apollo shrine behind his desk, before being summoned out into The Tenement Area by strange music; here he finds Cassandra being cursed by Apollo, and attempts to comfort her.

Returning to his shop, disheartened by what he has just seen, he packs away the trinkets from his shrine, and proceeds to dose himself with kykeon, from a pipette. Hallucinating, he produces a large owl feather from a box in his desk and begins to play with it, before Apollo appears behind him and plays with his mind. As Apollo leaves, soothed, Askalaphos replaces the trinkets on his shrine.

He then *\*\*,\*\*\**

He is visited by Hades, and gifts him a carnation, which he places in his lapel.

*\* In Loop 1, there is no mess to clean up. \*\* In Loop 1, during the scene with Kampe in the Greenhouse Room,*

## 1:1s

Askalaphos has two '1:1' scenes, including a walk-out.

Typically after delivering Lotus Flower to Aegisthus, he will take a WM into a private scene, in the small room off of Hesperides' Florist. Once inside what appears to be a paint studio, he will sit the WM at a desk, where he begins to mix some blue powder paint and water, before plucking a white orchid flower from a plant on the desk. He will then hand a paintbrush to the WM and indicate for them to paint the petals of the flower. After doing do, he will take the brush and begin itching his shoulder; as his itching reaches a climax, he pulls an owl feather from out of a sore, beneath his vest. He then stands the WM up, placing the feather in their hand, and pushed their hand to their chest. There is a brief blackout, as he embraces the WM, instructing them to "Keep it safe.", before ushering them back out into the Troy backstreets. *\**

Upon the conclusion of the Mycenae Finale, Askalaphos will arise from the floor and reach out a hand to a WM, walking them through to Troy, remove their mask, thank them for coming, and redirect them towards PEEP.

*\* Some performers also tell the WM, "I only wanted to be like them.".*

## Trivia

Askalaphos is one of the first characters cut due to cast shortages. During theses shows, in replace of their interaction, Kampe will rummage around the Greenhouse Room, and help themselves to the drug-infused flowers.

## Mythology

Askalaphos was the custodian of the orchard of Hades. *He was the son of the river god Acheron*  (the river of woe, one of the five rivers of the Underworld) *and the nymph Orphne. He was a servant of Hades, the god of the underworld, and was often tasked with tending to the orchards in the underworld where the pomegranate trees grew.*

*According to myth, while Persephone, the daughter of the goddess Demeter, was picking flowers in a meadow, Hades saw her and abducted her to be his queen in the underworld. Demeter was distraught at the loss of her daughter and went on a search for her, enlisting the help of several gods and goddesses.*

*Askalaphos was one of the few who had seen Persephone in the underworld and knew what had happened to her. When Demeter asked him for information, he told her that he had seen Persephone eating a pomegranate, which meant that she had consumed food of the underworld and could not leave. Demeter was furious at this news and turned Askalaphos into a screech owl as punishment. Some versions of the myth say that she also sent him to Tartarus, the deepest part of the underworld, where he suffered eternal torment.*

Other versions of the myth state that Persephone, not Demeter, punished Askalaphos by transforming him into a short-eared owl by sprinkling him with water from the river Phlegethon. The river Phlegethon (the river of fire) was said to be one of the five rivers of the underworld. Its waters were believed to be boiling hot and filled with fire. In this version of the myth, the water from the Phlegethon river has the power to transform Askalaphos into an owl. The short-eared owl, was considered to be a bird of ill-omen and associated with death and the underworld. By transforming Askalaphos into an owl, Persephone not only punished him for betraying her secret but also gave him a new form that symbolized his connection to the underworld. Ovid mentions: "So he became the vilest bird; a messenger of grief; the lazy owl; sad omen to mankind." As an owl, he became the familiar bird of Hades.

1. ↑ Acheron had been the son of Helios and either Gia or Demeter. He was turned into the Underworld river by Zeus as a punishment for refreshing the Titans with drunk during their contest with Zeus.