Oenomao, rey de Pisa, no quería que su hija Hipodamía se casara con nadie. Retaba a cada pretendiente a una carrera de carros con trampa incluida: sus caballos eran regalo de Ares, imposibles de vencer. El príncipe Pélope quiso ganar por las buenas y, cuando no pudo, ganó por las malas: sobornó a Mirtilo, el charioteer del rey, para que cambiara los pasadores de bronce de la rueda por otros de cera. A media carrera, la rueda se desprendió y el rey murió en el choque.
Pélope se quedó con el trono y con Hipodamía, pero no pensaba compartir el crédito. Lanzó a Mirtilo por un acantilado hacia el mar, con todo y la cabrita que el pobre cargaba como mascota. Hermes, dios mensajero y padre de Mirtilo, no iba a dejar que su hijo cayera al olvido: lo levantó hasta el cielo, cabrita incluida, y ahí quedaron los dos para siempre como la constelación de Auriga, el Cochero.
Letra
(Yeah, watch him fall…)
(Broken wheels…)
King Oenomaus ruled the land with an iron hand,
Challenging suitors who had come for his daughter’s land.
Four divine stallions from Ares to lead the race,
Leaving the contenders broken on the sandy place! (beheaded in the dust!)
Then came Prince Pelops with a smile and a silver tongue,
Bribing the charioteer whose honor was quickly undone:
«Pull out the bronze linchpins, boy, and you’ll share her bed!»
Myrtilus took the poisoned gold, and righteousness was dead! (cheap treason!)
He slipped out the bronze and he shoved in the pins of wax,
A murderous trap laid down upon the sandy tracks!
The sun beat hard on the thunder of Grecian wood,
The wheels tore off where the screaming king once stood! (axle crushed!)
And roll, roll the chariot across the sky!
Broken reins burning bright in the reaper’s eye! (burning bright!)
Golden Capella, the goat upon his chest,
A fallen charioteer who will never find his rest!
Auriga, don’t run no more!
Treason shines forever on the northern floor! (shine on!)
The king lay crushed in the wreckage, the crown was won,
Myrtilus claimed his reward in the setting sun.
Holding his little pet goat up against his chest,
An innocent creature clinging to his coat and vest. (soft little eyes…)
Pelops just laughed with a heart as cold as stone,
And shoved the charioteer over the edge alone! (down to the sea!)
Hermes looked down at the dark and foaming blue,
And lifted his broken boy where the cold winds blew! (raised to the sky!)
And roll, roll the chariot across the sky!
Broken reins burning bright in the reaper’s eye! (burning bright!)
Golden Capella, the goat upon his chest,
A fallen charioteer who will never find his rest!
Auriga, don’t run no more!
Treason shines forever on the northern floor! (shine on!)
Now pinned in the dark, a pentagon carved in space,
Holding the gentle goat in a stone embrace! (Capella stays!)
Four burning suns in a knot of golden light,
While the little Kids shiver through the winter night! (The Haedi cry!)
Deep in his belly, three open swarms ignite:
Thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight burning bright! (Messier clusters!)
The guilty charioteer and the innocent breath,
Tied in Auriga by a single drop of death!
(Hold the reins!)
(Hold the goat!)
And roll, roll the chariot across the sky!
Broken reins burning bright in the reaper’s eye! (burning bright!)
Golden Capella, the goat upon his chest,
A fallen charioteer who will never find his rest!
Auriga, don’t run no more!
Treason shines forever on the northern floor! (shine on!)
Myrtilus… the charioteer.
Flung from the cliffs of pride…
Forever clutching the little goat in the sky.
(Capella shines)
(Pins of wax…)
Auriga circles the dark.
Como en cada canción de Astronomika Beats, aquí hay más de un guiño astronómico escondido. Si ya los cazaste, cuéntanos en los comentarios qué encontraste. Si no, dale otra escuchada con atención.