Interpretation of Genshin Impact Hesperides of Love and Hate

Although Snezhnaya is called a land without love, beneath this frozen earth, stories about "love" are unfolding everywhere. During the climb up the snowy mountain, an unexpected wedding invitation led us to the House of Hesperides to attend a special wedding, thus unveiling the prologue of the Hesperides of Love and Hate storyline.

Hesperides

Hesperides (Greek: Ἑσπερίδες) are nymphs in ancient Greek mythology who guarded the golden apple tree, usually regarded as three sisters. They lived in Hera's garden on an isolated island in the western ocean, and were responsible for tending the golden apple tree that Gaia, the Earth Mother, gave to Hera and Zeus. In Heracles' Twelve Labors, the eleventh labor required obtaining the golden apple.

This title shares a similar cleverness with "Khvarena of Good and Evil." The golden apple is a gift from the gods, but also an object that is fought over and coveted; and in this mansion, Ikhor himself is the "golden apple" that has been repeatedly sacrificed.

Through the Gates of Ivory

After receiving the wedding invitation, we happened to meet the blonde-haired young man Ikhor during our mountain climb. The Eye of Graeae sensed that a part of its own power resided within Ikhor, but this power was incomplete. So we asked Ikhor to lead the way and went together to the House of Hesperides.

The phrase "Through the Gates of Ivory" comes from Homer's Odyssey, later adopted in Book VI of Virgil's Aeneid, namely the famous "Gates of Horn and Ivory." The Gate of Horn means that dreams passing through it are true prophecies; while the Gate of Ivory means that all illusions and dreams passing through it are false, deceptive, and can never come true.

This allusion perfectly sets the tone for the entire mansion. It turns out that this was not a wedding ceremony at all, but a sacrifice disguised as a wedding. Pavlina and Ikhor held the ceremony in order to seize power and sacrifice Ikhor, thereby allowing all Snegovik to gain complete souls.

Procrustes' Iron Bed

If the ritual fails, Pavlina resets the time in the mansion, erases everyone's memories, and starts a new cycle of the wedding. Countless cycles, countless sacrifices, countless failures. The story keeps replaying within this endless cage. Once the ritual begins, it cannot be reversed; one can only become part of it. We can notice many scattered limbs of Ikhor dolls nearby. Those are the traces of him being "killed" again and again in this cycle.

This is precisely the metaphor of Procrustes' Iron Bed. Procrustes was a bandit in ancient Greek mythology. According to the Historical Library compiled by the ancient Greek historian Diodoros (circa 80–29 BC) in the first century BC, Procrustes ran a robber inn and intercepted passersby. He deliberately set up two iron beds, one long and one short, and forced travelers to lie on them. Those who were short slept on the long bed, and he forcibly stretched their bodies to match the bed; those who were tall slept on the short bed, and he used a sharp axe to cut off the legs and feet that extended beyond the bed. Because of this uniquely cruel method, he was called the "Iron Bed Robber." Later, when the famous Greek hero Theseus was on his way to Athens to seek his father, he came across the Iron Bed Robber and defeated this highway robber. Theseus turned the tables on him, forcing the burly Procrustes to lie on the short bed, and with one stroke cut off the lower limbs that stuck out of the bed, ridding the people of this scourge.

By its figurative meaning, the Procrustean bed refers to sayings such as "cutting one's feet to fit one's shoes" and "cutting off one's toes to put on shoes," both meaning forcing uniformity. In the story, Pavlina is exactly laying out an iron bed for everyone. She is obsessed with her own redemptive ending of "giving Snegovik complete souls," forcibly distorting reality, cutting and reshaping all people and things into the form she wants. Love turns into obsession.

The Sun's Gilded Apple

We traveled through the layers of rooms in the mansion, solved ice sculpture puzzles, avoided guards in the back garden, and retrieved scattered fragments of consciousness. After collecting all the fragments, we had a conversation with Ikhor. At this moment, Ikhor's consciousness was very clear, and he could even remember things from before. He knew everything that Pavlina had done. Continuing the ritual was not death for Ikhor, but a return, a rebirth.

Referring back to the quest name, Hesperides of Love and Hate, Hesperides in Greek mythology usually refers to a group of nymphs who guarded the golden apple tree. Hera, the Queen of the Gods, planted a golden apple tree in the orchard of the Hesperides sisters. According to the myth, this orchard was located on an isolated island in the western ocean, and was guarded with the help of a watchful dragon. She entrusted the three sisters to tend this golden apple tree for her, because this divine tree was a wedding gift from Gaia, the Earth Mother, to Hera and Zeus. Among the twelve labors of the great hero Heracles, one of them was to pick the golden apple from the orchard of the Hesperides sisters. Later, Heracles made a deal with Atlas to bear the sky for him, letting Atlas fetch the golden apple for him to complete his eleventh labor. Afterward, the golden apple was sent back by Athena.

The golden apple is a gift from the gods that was repeatedly fought over and ultimately returned to its original place. Likewise, Ikhor's power was also seized and consumed in ritual after ritual, and then restored again in each cycle. Perhaps the will to "fulfill others' wishes" had long ago become the threads controlling him, and the current him is merely a puppet bearing some kind of transcendent power. This glowing Ikhor plush is very cute, and it is highly likely that the officials will release related merchandise.

After telling us all this, Pavlina trapped Aksinya and came to the auditorium, pierced through Ikhor, obtained the remaining power of Ikhor, and went to the clouds high above to continue the ritual. Following the thunder-struck cold branches all the way up, we reached the altar above the clouds. Here, we faced Pavlina directly and brought an end to this endless cycle.

Bell Ringing at Dusk

This is a very classic image, such as the famous opening lines of Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard": The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea. The evening bell tolls for the end of the day, and also for the end of this wedding that has cycled countless times.

When the bell falls silent, the illusory Gate of Ivory finally closes, the souls imprisoned on the iron bed are liberated, and the golden apple finally returns to its place.