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The Aestheticon

Libretto I, PANDORA and Libretto II, AMARON

You might recall Eve’s elder sister, Pandora, created by Zeus to punish men: Pandora (“all gifts”, first female) who captured Hope (that most deadly of spirits) in a jar then skipped along to marry Epimetheus (hindsight).  Our story concerns the creation of Pandora and her silly, ill-fated romance with the shortsighted titan, Epimetheus.

The second story of this collection (third in The Aestheticon tetralogy) imagines a new goddess, “Amaron”, named for an extinct Greek flower and a picture by the remarkable, enigmatic William Girard.  This new, irrepressible goddess manifests an innocence that challenges all the world.

The Aestheticon, Scheduled Release: 1 February 2026

The Aestheticon
Amron by the 18-year-old William Girard

Available on backorder

Description

THE AESTHETICON is a tetralogy of libretti, verse plays that explore aesthetic generation as personified by a goddess.  Pandora, the fanciful origin of Man.  Galatea, the sensual propagation of Art.  Amaron, the imaginary genesis of the Artist.  Nyx, the sterile breeding of Style.  Greek-like, the Aristotelian form is observed.  Each libretto features a protagonist (a mythical goddess), each compasses time, and each is composed in a meter sympathetic to the pace of the heart and the space of a breath.

Pandora: iambic tetrameter; one day; mythical past; comedy
Galatea: iambic pentameter; one week; antiquity; comedy
Amaron: variable; one lifetime; recent past; comedy
Nyx: iambic tetrameter; real time; near future; tragicomedy

The Aestheticon, Amaron, Act I:

A silly Muse, diaphanous draped, rosed of cheek, sparkled on her fingertips, skips in charming innocence; her voice is clear and sweet and neat when in tuneful notes she speaks to a tiny twinkling star a-hovering in the universe.

When all is black
And I’m alone
I look into
The sparkling Sky;
I smile at Her,
She winks at me
With all Her trillion
Twinkling eyes,
And then I know
I’m not alone,
And then I know
I’ve found a friend
Who’ll stay with me,
Who’ll play with me.

[A twinkling star approaches.]

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