In a dimly-lit palace, an entourage of some 50 figures surrounds the biblical Samson, his hands shackled behind his back but his vision still intact. An African clad in Oriental garb and holding a dagger in his right hand points with his left to his eyes, in a gruesome foreshadowing of the hero’s blinding. The hair clippings at Samson’s feet testify to the dwindling of his Herculean strength; dwarves pull at the ropes tied to his feet.