The trio is divided into three sections: The Way We Descend--Reflection of Narcissus--Below Nature.
Taking a break from Greek myth-nerd terms, this movement introduces chthonic-flavored phrases that elaborate on our descent into the underworld, specifically through dreams. The realm of the underworld can be such a shock to our dayworld, limited, egoicconsciousness that it can seem like a "violation" as Hillman points out, referencing the Greeks: “This style of the underworld experience is overwhelming, it comes as violation, dragging one out of life and into the Kingdom that the Orphic Hymn to Pluto describes as ‘void of day.’ So it often says on Greek epitaphs that entering Hades is ‘leaving the sweet sunlight.’” (p.49) He elaborates on the differences between dayworld and underworld perspectives: “The dream is not compensation but initiation. It does not complete ego-consciousness, but voids it. So it matters very much the way we descend.” (p.112) He goes on to describe the various modes in which mythical figures have descended: Ulysses and Aenas to learn; Hercules to take and to test, for example. To act like Hercules, like the hero, in the underworld is to miss the point and cause more problems, “the villain in the underworld is the heroic ego, not Hades.” (p.113) -the publisher