Lord Hades is extremely annoyed. He has woken up from a very long sleep because his dog is barking its three heads off. He tells Cerebus to knock it off, and he looks around to see what has caused the commotion. To his surprise he sees his three judges silently standing at a respectful distance. It has been a long time since the trio has shown up.

When the world still believed in the ancient gods, the judges would come to him when they needed him to be final arbiter of who gets rewarded in the afterlife, who gets ignored, and who gets punished. But they have had little to do during the past 2,000 years. No one shows up now asking for Charon to ferry them across the river Styx so they can meet their fate in the afterlife. This has suited Hades just fine since he no longer has to listen to the three judges argue about what the appropriate fate for an individual should be. It is in their nature to do so at great length.

Minos is all about wisdom and fairness. He has assumed the role of determining the character of someone wanting admission. Rhadamanthus, or Rad as Hades calls him, is determined to find out who has lived unjustly. And Aecus determines how virtuous someone was in their lifetime. He is particularly interested in those who had a positive effect on their communities. If the good outweighs the bad, the dead go to Elysium. If the dead are found to have lived a bad life, they go to Tartarus.

Hades lets out a large sigh. All this judgement is really not his thing. When the ancient gods were still in power, he only supervised the trials of the dead. He did not actually judge them. Whether they went to Tartarus because they were being punished for their wickedness in life or rewarded in Elysium for their virtue and good deeds really did not concern him. He couldn’t care less if the dead were virtuous and brave or wicked and cowardly. His role was only to observe. The Furies did the punishing and Elysium was its own reward. If there was no clear distinction between living a good life or a bad one, the dead wander for eternity in the Asphodel Fields which was neither a good nor a bad place.

“Why are you here?” Hades asks his judges.

“We have a problem.” Responds Minos.

“By we, do you mean you three, or all of us?” asks Hades.

The trio remains silent until Aecus speaks.

“Well. This is a complicated matter. An individual has shown up and is asking for admission. Normally that would be easy, but the standards for good and evil we applied to the others who have stood before us may not apply.”

“You will need to explain that to me. Are you saying that the above world could no longer believe in good and evil?” asks Hades.

“We don’t really know. What we see as good could be seen as evil and vice versa” Says Rad. “

Hades would like to go back to sleep, but it looks like that is not going to happen anytime soon. Though he knows it is unlikely, Hades wants whatever needs to be done is done quickly. “Alright, let’s get on with it. Let me know when you have finished your deliberations and have decided on this individual’s fate,” he says.

Mino is the first to respond. “We would like to do that Lord Hades, but it is not going to be easy and we will need your help. For this to work, we will need to open ourselves up to the history, values, and actions of this man’s society.

“And just how will we go about doing that?” asks Hades

“It’s relatively easy,” responds Minos. “As you no doubt know, the three of us have been visiting the above world over the centuries.

“That I did not know,” says Hades. “Why did you hide that from me?

“We didn’t really hide it, we just didn’t tell you,” says Rad. He does not point out that Hades has been sleeping for a very long time.

Hades is annoyed. He resists asking them if they know that a sin of omission and a sin of commission are both sins. “And what have you learned from your visits?” ask Hades.

There is a moment’s hesitation before anyone speaks. Finally, Rad answers Hades’ question. “A lot has changed Lord Hades. Nobody believes in us anymore. There are lots of different gods and beliefs. Early on our names were changed. Some faiths stole our traditions and use them for their own ends. We cannot use our standards to deliver judgement.”

 “Why are we involved in this?” he asks. “We haven’t seen anyone here in quite a long time. If there are other religions now, why can’t one of them judge the person who has shown up?”

“We thought of that,” says Aecus. “But because the individual showed up with a coin in his mouth for payment, Charron had to ferry him across the Styx and he called out to us to come and do what we have always done. We have no idea why there was a coin in his mouth, but because he had one, he is now our responsibility.”

“So, let me see if I understand what you are telling me,” says Hades. “We are stuck with this individual, but we cannot judge them without knowing all about them and how they conducted themself in relation to the values and beliefs of their time.”

“That’s a fair analysis,” says Aecus.

Hades is now actively engaged in the challenge the judgers have presented. “So, just exactly how are we going to learn all about the above world and this persons’ place in it. I have no desire to wait eons until we can pass judgement.”

Aecus is tempted to ask why Hades is concerned about time, since it really doesn’t exist for any of them. Instead, he says “I thought about how you have always said you want to be presented with solutions not problems. So, I contacted Hermes, the great communicator, and asked if he still had the power to fly around the world gathering and imparting knowledge. He was insulted that I even had to ask.”

“As I recall, he’s like that,” says Hades.

“He said he could gather all the information about the individual who is waiting on judgment

 And he would then be able to transfer that information to a rhapsode who could then relate his entire history to us,” says Aecus. “Hermes will give us the background to the society in which this person lived so we can judge his actions accordingly.

This information does not have the positive reaction Aecus was expecting.

“Oh no. Not a rhapsode. All that gesticulating, singing, and acting out their stories is a bit much. Listening to one of them go on and on is more than I can bear. The complete story of this person’s life will take forever,” says Hades.

Again, Aecus wonders why Hades is so interested in time. There is no time for them. Listening to the rhapsode articulate this person’s life would take the blink of an eye.

“We can negotiate that with the rhapsode,” say Aecus. “I have one in mind. Lucas is his name.”

“Ah, the bringer of light. I know him,” says Hades. “Unless I am remembering wrongly, he is a major singer and dancer when he tells stories. He continually asks his audiences to participate in the story. We are going to have to limit him to exactly what we want him to do if we are not going to be required to listen for hours and hours.”

Again, the time thing, thinks Aecus. “We can do that. If we change his idea of what amounts to participation in his stories, then we shouldn’t have a problem,” he says.

“Let’s get on with it,” says Hades. “Summon him now.”

In an instant, Lucas arrives. He bows to Hades and the judges before he starts to speak. “Lord Hades, Aecus has explained the situation to me. I will not be telling one of my stories. My job will be to tell Daniel Lehman’s story.

“So, we have a man. We have his name. And we have his life story, Is that correct?” asks Hades.

“Yes, Lord Hades,” responds Lucas. “I have taken all the information about Daniel Lehman that Hermes provided me and have organized his life into chapters. I have concentrated on events that appear to be significant enough to shape his life and determine his actions. It is upon those he will be judged.”

Minos decides it is time for him to get back in on the action.

“Lord Hades,” he says. “Based on the information Hermes has provided. I think I have come up with something that will ensure our judgement is fair.

The above world uses a measurement tool that can be useful to us. It is called a Likert scale. A question is posed and then the response is on a scale of one to five.” Hades is confused by this information, so, Lucas immediately explains.

“Let’s say that after looking at an event in Daniel Lehman’s life, we ask ourselves if what he has done shows empathy. One side of the scale is a negative strongly disagree, and the other side.is a positive strongly agree. Between them are three other choices: disagree, neutral, and agree. Each of the responses is given the numerical value of one. “

Lucas projects an image. “This is what the scale looks like,” he says. “Each of the judges will fill in the scale with an answer to each of the questions about the life of Daniel Lehman as posed by you Lord Hades.”

Strongly Agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree

“What kind of questions are appropriate?” says Hades. “There are myriad questions that could be asked about the events of Daniel Lehman’s life.”

“That is true, Lord Hades,” says Lucas. “That is why I have picked events that are important and are likely to produce an emotional response. That response will form your question.”

“Alright, I ask a lot of questions, and then what?” asks Hades.

At the end of my story, we will look at all the answers and add up the scores. If in the final total, negative scores are higher than the positives, Lehman is destined for Tartarus. If the positives are greater, Elysium awaits. If the neutrals are stronger, he will wander forever in Asphodel Field. How does that sound?”

Hades thinks it sounds like a lot of work, but the judges appear to be really into it. He knows if he doesn’t go along, he will never hear the end of it. “Alright,” says Hades. “Let’s get on with it.”