“I wanted a guy like Orpheus. Orpheus has gone through Tartarus to rescue his wife—that was love. Hades probably didn't even know the meaning of the word love.”

“[Hades] returned his attention to the playlist while I eased the car back on the road. His fingers flipped deftly over the screen. 'Orpheus...Dusk...Orpheus...Dusk...do you have anything on here that doesn't make people want to jump off a cliff?' ... 'I'm driving. When you learn to drive something more modern than a horse and buggy, we can listen to your music.''I can drive!''Did they even have cars the last time you can to the surface?' I teased.'Yes.''Not counting the minute and a half you spent rescuing me last year?'Hades fell silent, and I laughed. 'I didn't think so.”

“Husband, we talked about this," Persephone chided. "You can't go around incinerating every hero. Besides, he's brave. I like that."Hades rolled his eyes. "You liked that Orpheus fellow too. Look how well that turned out.”

“. . . Orpheus struck dumb with hindsight.”

“The Sonnets to Orpheus, Part Two, XII Want the change. Be inspired by the flamewhere everything shines as it disappears.The artist, when sketching, loves nothing so muchas the curve of the body as it turns away.”

“And I think that it is certainly possible that the objective universe can be affected by the poet. I mean, you recall Orpheus made the trees and the stones dance and so forth, and this is something which is in almost all primitive cultures. I think it has some definite basis to it. I'm not sure what. It's like telekinesis, which I know very well on a pinball machine is perfectly possible.”