Polymestor

Cameron Bernard Jones as Polymestor

## Appearence

### Clothing

Black mesh long-sleeve top/black glittery top, black trousers with bull-shaped belt buckle, black fur coat, black Stetson

### Seen In

The Nightclub Office, The Elysium Hotel, The Square, The Tenement Area, The Nightclub, Askalaphos' Florist, PEEP Bar, Troy

### Seen With

Kampe, Hecuba, Polydorus, Polyxena, Macaria, Luba, Zagreus, Kronos, Askalaphos, Hades, Persephone

## Relationship Information

### Family

Son-in-Law to Hecuba, Brother-in-Law to Polydorus, Polyxena & Cassandra, Friend and Potential Lover to Kampe, Servant to Kronos

## Cast

### Played By

Adam Burton, Ali Goldsmith, Cameron Bernard Jones, Folu Odimayo, Harry Price, Jude Monk McGowan, Louis J Rhone, Milton Lopes, Nick Bruder, Sam Booth

Polymestor is known as the Kingpin of Troy, serving initially as a confidant to Queen Hecuba and friend to the Trojans, before betraying them.

His story arc revolves around his fierce pursuit of power, and complete moral corruption, ultimately culminating in his own demise.

He also appears to be in an arrangement with Kronos, involving child sacrifices, seemingly in exchange for a promise of wealth.

## Loop

*Based on Loop 2*

He is greeted at his desk, in The Nightclub Office, by Kampe, where he produces a series of photographs of young children (previous child sacrifices) from his desk drawer, and breezes through them, before making his way downstairs to Polyxena's birthday party in the The Square. He merrily drinks and celebrates with Hecuba, Polyxena, Polydorus and Macaria, as Eurydice pours them drinks; with the celebration ending in Polymestor attempting to drag Polydorus away from the others. \*,

He speaks briefly with Polydorus, Polyxena and Macaria, in the Troy backstreets, about a party happening upstairs, before stopping at the Apollo Shrine in The Tenement Area, initally to confront Kronos (who promptly slams the door to Room IIIIIIII in his face), but is soon greeted by Hecuba, who encourages him to pray with her; he reluctantly obliges, but disposes of the flower offering once she is gone. He then passes The White Cypress to steal two shots off of the side, through the window.

He promptly returns to The Tenement Area, where he begs Kronos for "more time" and promises to "bring him to him".

Heading back up to The Nightclub Office, he is met by Hecuba and Polydorus, and gifted a box of jewels, including Hecuba's golden headdress, in exchange for his promise to protect Polydorus, should the Mycenean army be successful in storming Troy. He proceeds to open a locked cabinet to reveal a large golden Moloch statue and urges Polydorus to pray to it, before placing him in his office chair, opening the curtain to the Klub window and (with Hecuba now gone) encouraging him to watch Kampe dance. He then joins Kampe, in The Nightclub, where the pair drink, and engage in a playful 'bull-fight' like dance, until the lights begin to strobe and there is a brief blackout. Out of the darkness Kronos emerges, to threaten him.

Shaking off his confrontation with Kronos, he returns to The Nightclub Office and pulls back the carpet on the office floor, to reveal a window looking down over the audience in PEEP, and shows this to Polydorus, before encouraging him to go down there and "show them what he can do". With the young prince now distracted, Polymestor writes a note for Agamemnon, stating 'Welcome friends', leaves it on his desk, and makes his way across to the Greenhouse Room, in The Elysium Hotel, where he collects a poisoned Lotus Flower from Askalaphos, who warns him of its potency. \*\*\*, \*\*\*\*

On his way down through the Troy backstreets, he bumps back into Polydorus and begins taunting and play 'bull-fighting' with him. As Polydorus begins to gain the upperhand, Polymestor willingly rewards the young boy with a potent Lotus Flower, but as he begins to hallucinate, places a poisoned one on his tongue, and tackles him as he writhes and chokes, in pain. \*\*\*\*\*, \*\*\*\*\*\*

Depending on the performer/s, he then either:

1. Dumps Polydorus' body in a trunk and wheels him to the The Tenement Area
2. Carries him over his shoulder to the The Tenement Area

Once in The Tenement Area, he unfurls a large plastic tarpaulin, and dumps the young boy's body onto it, wherein he kneels and swears a prayer to Moloch, watching on as Kronos drags the body into Room IIIIIIII.

He swiftly returns to the Greenhouse Room to say a prayer in Polydorus' memory. Leaving here, he ventures through to Hecuba's Bedroom, where Luba begrudgingly adorns him with the golden headdress and jewelry. In a sadomasochistic session, he is whipped and teased with a string of pearls, and admires his reflection in a large mirror. Upon discovering the prescence of a disgusted Hecuba, mortified, he unconvincingly assures her that Polydorus is still safe. *\*\*\*\*\*\*\**

After redressing, he wanders back through Troy and the graffiti corridors, aimlessly and intoxicated, before finding a resurrected Polydorus and Polyxena taunting him from the balcony/shop ceilings. Unnerved but determined, he storms through PEEP to very briefly watch Kampe perform 'You Should See Me in a Crown', before heading back up to The Nightclub, where he dances and celebrates wildly, before being surrounded and pinned down by Kampe, Luba, Macaria, Cassandra and a ressurected Polyxena, and blinded by a vengeful Hecuba. *\*\*\*\*\*\*\**

Crawling blindly, and screaming in pain, back to the The Nightclub Office, he retrieves a wash basin from inside the Moloch cabinet, washes the blood off his face, and returns to his desk; his eyesight restored, ready for the next loop. \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*, \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*

*\* Due to the shorter first loop, in Loop 1, he enters The Square and swiftly makes his way straight to his office, before being met by Hecuba and Polydorus from there. \*\* In Loop 3, Hades is also present for the celebration. \*\*\* During Loop 1, PEEP is not yet open, and so Polymestor will not reveal the window to Polydorus. \*\*\*\* Occassionaly, presumably due to timing issues, Polymestor has collected the Lotus Flower from Askalaphos in Hesperides', instead. \*\*\*\*\* In Loop 2, he notices Hades watching him from the balcony above, and may yell for him to go away. \*\*\*\*\*\* During Loop 1, this is where he is during Hades' record stop; he will temporarily freeze before carrying on as if nothing happened. \*\*\*\*\*\*\* In later versions of this scene, many performers abandoned the prayer, and instead undressed and pathetically prepared for the sadomasochistic session with Luba. \*\*\*\*\*\*\* Once again, as PEEP is not yet open in Loop 1, instead he will head straight up to The Nightclub. \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* In Loop 2, Persephone enters the Office to heal his eyesight, instead. \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* In Loop 3, he is blinded in The Square as part of the Troy Finale.*

## 1:1s

Polymestor has three '1:1' scenes, including a walk-out.

Shortly after stealing the shots from The White Cypress, he will take a WM into a private scene, behind the balcony, above the Palladium doors. After removing their mask, he asks them if they're a friend, before then guiding them towards the balcony window to watch Hecuba, as she sits outside Ciacco's with Polydorus - he explains his desire to help her in her time of distress. Producing the two shots swiped from The White Cypress, he goes on to speak of mortals being mere "playthings" of the Gods, before raising a toast; he offers a glass to the WM, before promptly switching the glasses and offering them the other one. After drinking it he will question the WM on why they drank it, before warning them to "Trust no one.". He will then lead the WM back down the staircase and inform them that "It's good to have friends.", before letting them back out into Troy.

After being threatened by Kronos in The Nightclub, he will take a WM into a private scene, behind a locked door blocked by a trolley (in the laundry room, by his office). The room inside is covered in wall-to-wall shiny golden foil, with two small foil-covered boxes in one corner. After removing their mask, he invites the WM to sit on one of the boxes, before sitting across from them and asking them if they're afraid of monsters. He then goes on to ask if they know what the one rule is that governs all our lives; he confirms the answer to be, "You shall do wrong.". He confesses that no matter who you are, or what you believe in, you will always become corrupted by the beast inside. As the lights in the room begin to flicker and slowly fade out, he confesses that given this corruption is inevitable, there is no use in fighting your natural instincts. Suddenly the WM will be left in complete darkness for a few moments, before he re-emerges in front of their face with a bright light highlighting just his grin, so as to create the effect of a floating disembodied smile within the darkness. An eery, monstrous voiceover rings out claiming the death of the age of mankind, and proclaiming the new order of Moloch is soon to be born, before the single light goes out too, and the WM is plunged back into complete darkness. Slowly the lights will begin to come back up, to reveal that Polymestor has completely vanished - after a few moments he will reappear from behind the WM and silently lead them back out of the room.

Finally, upon the conclusion of the Troy Finale, Polymestor will crawl across The Square, and into Hades' Office, in search of a bowl of water to wash the blood from his face. He will then reach out a hand to a WM, take their hand and walk them through to Mycenae to watch the finale over there. After the second finale is finished, he will then lead them back towards Troy, remove their mask, thank them for coming, and redirect them towards PEEP. *\**

*\* Some performers may lead a WM to the Mycenae Finale, before leaving them there. \*\* This is achieved by the perfomer placing a bright coloured light behind his teeth in the blackout. Some performers have also chosen not to use the light, and simply lip-sync to the voiceover as though they are possessed by the spirit of Moloch.*

## Quotes

* *"Philia; do you know what that means? It means friendship; you and I are friends, aren't we...? Good. It's good to have friends. And I have many friends. In many places. Come, my friend, and we shall see what we shall see. Hecuba. Dearest Lady. I weep for you. And there, you see? The child, The love that is the most. The hope for the house. There. She braces him. Where is safe from the gathering? I wonder...how might one who stands so high help a friend who is so low? Fortune? Fate? Now. The Gods, they make us their playthings. Pawns in their frivilous games. Our bovine worship of them...pitiful. These are futile lamentations. What is coming will come. It's inevitable. You drank it? Trust no one. In name or deed, not a soul. Come then, my friend. It's good to have friends."* **- to WM, in 1st 1:1**

* *"Are you afraid of monsters? Well, let me enlighten you... What's the one rule that governs all our lives? You shall do wrong. No matter what you believe in, or what you choose... sooner or later you will defile your very essence. You'll become the fearsome beast of your darkest nightmare, just like everyone else. This is the law. Wherever you go, it lies in waiting. Lurking in every corner. Every prison. Every palace. It's the way it is. The way it always will be. So, why fight it? Let it in. And let the monster out. (Voiceover: "The age of mankind is dying, and the new order's waiting to be born. Hail Moloch!")"* **- to WM, in 2nd 1:1**

* *"One little drop. Like last time." (Askalaphos: "It's very strong.") "Good."* **- to Askalaphos, when collecting the poisoned Lotus Flower (Ali Goldsmith)**

* "Hail, Moloch!" **- to Kronos, upon delivering Polydorus' body**

## Trivia

During previews several alternate finales were trialed, including one in which Hades and Persephone lured a blinded Polymestor to the office chair in Hades' Office, and sat him in full view of 'The Fall of the Damned' painting behind the desk, alerting him of his incoming fate.

## Mythology

* Polymestor is the husband to Princess Ilione - King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy's eldest daughter. He is the father to Deipylus.
* According to mythology, during the Trojan War, King Priam was frightened for his youngest son Polydorus's safety, since he was too young to fight for himself. Priam sent the child, along with gifts of jewellry and gold, to the court of Polymestor to keep him away from the war. After Troy fell, Polymestor betrayed Priam and threw Polydorus into the ocean in order to keep the treasure for himself. Hecuba found the body and, out of revenge, baited Polymestor by drawing him in with treasure. Then, with the assistance of the other Trojan women, killed his son, and blinded him. Polymestor, humiliated at having been blinded and made childless at the hands of slave women, demands a trial against Hecuba, by Agamemnon. Polymestor claimed to have killed Polydorus in support of the Grecian army - Agamemnon was unconvinced and declared Polymestor's actions to be murder, and had him taken away. Before he could be executed, Polymestor prophecied the deaths of Cassandra and Agamemnon, at the hands of Clytemnestra.
* There also exists an alternate version of the story, wherein conversely Polymestor dies at the hands of Polydorus. In this version of events, in an attempt to protect at least one heir of Priam's from potential consequences of war, Princess Illiona convinced her son, Deipylus, that he was actually the son of Hecuba, and that Polydorus was actually her own son. During the Trojan War, Agamemnon promised Polymestor great wealth should he successfully kill a son of Priam - Polymestor obliged and, not knowing of Illiona's deception, unwittingly killed his own child. A now grown Polydorus visited the Oracle of Delphi, who prophesied the death of his parents, but upon hurriedly rushing home, he was confused to find only King Priam and Queen Hecuba dead. When he discovered the truth, he blinded and killed Polymestor in a fit of rage.