Epimetreus seems rather ambigous; Epimetheus was the name of a brother and negative paralell to Prometheus i greek mythology. It was Epimetheus who did open the box of Pandora! Arguably Epimetreus is the shaman who did use the heart of Ahriman against Xaltotun. The persian god Mithra was something of an appeaser and compromiser vis a vis Ahriman, The lord of darknes! This in contrast to his father Ahura(vedic indian Asura!)mazda! Mitra, without an "h", as in the hyborian fashion, is the indian name of this god.In the verse serving as a prologue to "The phoenix on the aword" is spoken of "The power of the upas tree" in fighting Acheron. The latex of this very real tree is highly poisonous. Not only has the local population used it to poison their arrows ansd spears, it was an article of export, quite far of. This tree lives in The east Indies = Vendhya! Before the conquest of Acheron(in appaerently geno-cidical forms)the hyborian/hyperboreans did worship the god Borri. This is the name of an old nordic god. Icelandic 19-th century scholar Finnur Magnusson wanted to see a connection between the name Borri and "Borz", the name of a mountain in Persia - the land of Ahura mazda and Mithra. One must also wonder how the hyborian barbarians were able first to steal the heart and then to use it so efficiently - or even know about it!The sack of Rome, the source of inspiration for the fall of Acheron, was part due to Byzans - with helllenistic Egypt- turning the germanic barbarians westwards. Was perhaps Stygia, from where the Heart came to Acheron, more interested in minimizing the gains of the earthly realm of Asura than in saving Acheron? Note that "Mitra" is also an anagram of "Tarim"!