‘The Sandman’ surprised viewers by releasing a two-part bonus episode, ‘A Dream of a Thousand Cats/ Calliope’. The first half acts as a stand-alone animation, and the second half introduces the muse who was married to Dream and birthed his son, Orpheus.
The first part of the episode is an animation and tells the story of a cat, voiced by Sandra Oh, who met Dream and learned that there was once a time when their species dominated humans. He promised her that if enough cats dreamed of a world where cats ruled, they would one day wake up to it as a reality.
In the second part of the episode, the story follows a struggling author, Richard Madoc, who is gifted the muse, Calliope, by another author, Erasmus Fry. After decades of imprisonment under Fry, Calliope begs Madoc to free her, but he does not. He keeps her locked in a spare bedroom, using force to make her bring him success. Desperate to escape, Calliope calls on Dream, who we learn is her former husband.
The character of Calliope comes from the goddess of eloquence and epic poetry. She is one of nine siblings, all muses of song, dance, or music. Her name translates to ‘beautiful voice,’ and the show touches on how she is known for this when the Three/ The Kindly Ones visit her. The show reveals that she and Dream were married and had a son, Orpheus, who died but does not go into any more detail on what happened.
In Greek mythology, Calliope’s son was a musician. He is best known for the story of him failing to lead his wife, Eurydice, out of the Underworld after she was killed. Orpheus’ own death is violent and tragic – after refusing to honor Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy, he is ripped to shreds by the women of Thrace.
While we do not know for certain which direction the show will go when it comes to Orpheus, we know there are likely to be some differences. Orpheus is originally the son of Calliope and Apollo rather than Calliope and Dream. We do not know how Orpheus dies in ‘The Sandman,’ but we do know that both Calliope and Dream have not had the opportunity to mourn the loss of their son. In the final scenes of the episode, Calliope turns to Dream to ask if she can visit the Dreaming again so they can speak about their son and mourn together properly. Dream’s reply is ‘One day, perhaps, suggesting that while the story of Orpheus may not be the first thing we see in season 2, it will definitely be something we hear about.
