But when, from flesh born mortal,

Man’s blood on earth lies fallen,

A dark, unfading stain,

Who then by incantations

Can bid blood live again?

Zeus in his pure wisdom ended

That sage’s skill who summoned

Dead flesh to rise from darkness

And live a second time;

Lest murder cheaply mended

Invite men’s hands to crime…

—Aeschylus, Agamemnon

“Ah, Dr. Austin…What do you think of them? I see there’s War in Hell.”

—J. G. Ballard, The Atrocity Exhibition