This chapter's epigraph is from a poem by the same author as the epigraph for this chapter. The poem is entitled "The Temple of Hades," and it is about a temple in the underworld. It is a symbol of the underworld, a place of torment and suffering. The narrator tells the audience that hades is also the god of hell. He tells them that the city of barseka has been destroyed by a terrible plague. The young and healthy flee the city, and the old people stay behind, believing that the plague was caused by the academy's failure to respect the gods. Eventually, though, the plague can't cure the people, and they either go mad or die. This chapter ends with a soliloquy by the narrator in which he laments that he cannot leave his people in such a lurch. The only reason he wanted the throne was to protect them from harm.