Wole Soyinka' s Death and the King's Horseman

King is dead and Elesin must join his master in the world of his ancestors . Nevertheless his final act of ending his own life somehow stimulates his sensual enjoyments of its own beauty

His great appetite for life , a major reason for his failure as a messianic hero , is depicted by a scene in the market . His own words are full of feasting images , since his own life has been a feast : `That Esu-harassed day slipped into the stewpot while we feasted ' and that `we ate it up with the rest of

the meat

Elesin is also a failure as a messianic hero mostly because of choosing worldly pleasures such as sexual gratification , fame and honor . In fact even after being confident that his own death will definitely be a gift to the many appetites of the living , he never takes the step soon enough as expected . Yet he says to the Praise Singer `My fame , my honor are legacies to the living stay behind and let the world sip its honey from your lips ' who replies that `your name will be like the sweet berry a child places under his tongue to sweeten the passage of food . The world will never spit it out . This sweet pleasure seems to be highly placed in his mind as he seeks to gratify his sexual desires , yet the warning is clear , through the words of the Praise Singer that women `love to spoil you but beware . The hands of women also weaken the unwary . Unperturbed by this , Elesin uses his honor and royal status to reach his personal appetite by asking the leader of the market women (Iyaloja ) to arrange a marriage with a young woman his mind cannot let go . He says `then honor me . I deserve a bed of honor...