Under the Sun - 1. Under the Sun

Under the Sun

Xerxes, Great King of Persia:

I am the Great King; my kingdom has come
My kingdom stretches far under the sun
It stretches north, south, far east and west
But I'm not satisfied; I cannot rest

A counsellor:

You'll need an army, men who go to war
Give them a reason, a cause to fight for
Make the men fight in the name of the Lord
Inspire their hearts and they'll take up the sword

A scholar:

I know Greek lore and their myths inside out
They worship the devil, I have no doubt
God Zeus himself devised the plan
Let me tell you, Great King, how it began

God Prometheus gave a gift to man
The light of the fire that would darkness ban
God Zeus, however, disapproved of the deed
He created a woman. She was tender and sweet

She was beautiful, soft and blessed with skills
Zeus gave her a box that with plagues was filled
He told Pandora to not open the lid
So that what was inside would never slip

Pandora was made Epimetheus' bride
The man pushed Prometheus' warning aside
He took Zeus' gift and made the girl his wife
And soon enough the plagues entered man's life

Pandora, plain curious, opened the lid
Out of the box the evil spirits slipped
All spirits escaped but one, that was Hope
Pandora quickly had the box re-closed

You see, Great King, Zeus is an evil god
The Greeks worship him, pray to him a lot
That must not be; it's against our beliefs
We must not support these traitors and thieves

We must support the just cause and the good
We must fight the evil, I understood
Bring down the Greeks and their ill-minded god
God Zeus is Ahriman, the evil Lord

The counsellor:

You'll need an army, men who go to war
Now you have a cause that's worth fighting for
Make the men fight for the just and good Lord
Inspire their hearts and they'll take up the sword

Xerxes, Great King of Persia:

I am the Great King; my kingdom has come
My kingdom stretches far under the sun
I won't nurture evil nor give it birth
I will eradicate all evil from Earth

The counsellor:

The Persians will follow your call to war
The cause is just and worth fighting for
You are a great king and a righteous man
You will bring the light that will darkness ban

A wise man:

God created Heaven and Earth
He created the light and gave it birth
He divided the darkness from the light
God alone can say what is wrong and right

Man must keep in his place, accept his lot
The judgement is God's. Man was made by God
What goes up, must come down. Great King, behold!
The higher you rise, the deeper you'll fall

Xerxes, Great King of Persia:

Save me your speeches; nothing comes from words
Oh, I know that words can offend and hurt
But only our deeds will count in the end
Words do not matter, however wise and grand

The wise man:

All deeds come from words that were spoken first
Words stem from thoughts had before occurred
Good thoughts give birth to good words and deeds
The teacher says that good thoughts are the seed

Xerxes, Great King of Persia:

Zarathustra to some degree was right
However, I have a different battle to fight
The teacher spoke to the masses once and again
But I am the Great King, not a simple man

A historian, later:

The Great King of Persia, Xerxes, lost the war
Despite the just cause he was fighting for
The Great King was murdered, slain by a man
Whom Xerxes' son Artaxerxes had sent

Artaxerxes, Great King of Persia:

I am the Great King and I have a plan
I plan to fund henchmen in the Greek lands
They will stir a riot, a big uproar
They will support us and our holy war

The wise man:

All is vanity, chasing after wind
See the pattern, Artaxerxes, Great King
Rise and fall of two men, father and son
Behold! There is nothing new under the sun