in his flight, falls to his death (in allusion to Icarus), whereupon the sorrowful Helen disappears in a mist to Hades (in allusion to the legend of Orpheus). The chorus of women, undesirous of joining their mistress in the Underworld, revert to nature, which they extol in songs of praise. As the act ends, Phorkyas is revealed to be Mephistopheles in disguise. Act IV In the fourth act, Faust finds himself taken away from Arcadia to a mountain top in Germany. Watching a cloud, that is separating into two parts, he recognizes in one part Helen and in the other Gretchen. The cloud with the form of Helen moves eastward, while the cloud of Gretchen rises heavenward. Then Mephistopheles, who has left behind his Greek appearance, joins Faust again. Mephistopheles strikes up a geognostic dispute about the genesis of terrestrial surface and especially the mountain region of this scene. Thereafter Faust states as his new higher purpose, that he wants to reclaim new land. Behind his desire stands the idea to control the elements or even to submit nature. Subsequently Faust focuses on controlling the sea, from which he reclaims new ground by dams and drainage ditches. But a war breaks out between the Emperor and a rival Emperor, whereby Faust's plans are interrupted. Mephistopheles introduces the three mighty men (German: ) consisting of Bullyboy, Grab-quick and Hold-tight ("Raufebold", "Habebald", "Haltefest"), that should help to oppress the revolt and implement Faust's ambitious project. With the assistance of the three mighty men Faust achieves the victory for the Emperor. The three mighty men reveal dubious behaviours as looters, that cast a long shadow over their future services. As a reward for his military service Faust gets a district at the beach to administer. Act V An indefinite interval of time has passed since the end of the previous act, and Faust is now an old but powerful man favored by the king. Using dikes and dams to push back the sea, Faust has built a castle on the reclaimed land. Upon seeing the hut of an old peasant couple (Baucis and Philemon) and a nearby chapel, Faust becomes irritated that these two structures do not belong to him, and orders to have them removed. Mephistopheles overinterprets Faust's orders by murdering the old couple. The personification of Care breathes upon Faust's eyes, and he becomes blind. Upon disclosing his plans to better