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am0re-in-polvere · 4 years

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Circe ranks as one of the greatest witches of mythology. A beautiful enchantress - she likes nothing better than to turn men into pigs. (Some have seen her as a bit of a feminist). It is only when the wily Odysseus lands on her island that she finally meets her match.

He and his men sailed on across the wine dark sea, until once again they caught sight of an island. They slipped their boat into a snug little harbour, and there they slept for two whole days.

The following morning, Odysseus said they should explore the island and discover who lived there. At these words, his men grew afraid. They remembered the terrible Cyclops who had kept them prisoner in his cave, and had devoured some of their companions.

Odysseus divided his men into two groups, so that if one should get into trouble, the other could come and help. He was leader of one group, and Lord Eurylochus (Yuri-Locus) was the leader of the other. They drew straws to see which group should go and explore first, and as Eurylochus drew the short straw, he and his men had to set out and explore the woods.

After walking two or three hours, the men came to a clearing. They saw a little house surrounded by wild beasts – wolves, leopards, and lions. One of the leopards sprang towards Eurylochus. He thought that he was about to die, but instead of eating him, the leopard rubbed up against him like a cat and purred.

The window of the house was open, and inside a woman was singing. Her voice was mysterious but very beautiful, and the men felt themselves being drawn towards the house, for they all longed to see if the woman was as wonderful as her voice. They walked past the fierce looking beasts, who in fact were really quite tame. Inside they were greeted by a tall and elegant woman, her black hair done up in braids – she did indeed look very lovely.

Her name was Circe and she invited the men to sit down at her table and drink some of her soup – they readily agreed.

As they drank the soup, Eurylochus said: “When I drew the short straw I cursed my bad luck, but how wrong I was! Our hostess is not so terrible after all, eh men?”

They did not realise that though she was beautiful, Circe was in fact a witch. She had slipped a magic potion into their soup, and when they had finished drinking it, she rapped the table with a magic wand and said: “Now you swine, be off to the pigsty where you belong.”

The men looked up astonished. “Madam – Did you just call us pigs?” asked Eurylochus. But Circe just laughed in reply, for the nose of Eurylochus was already growing into a pink snout, and his hands were becoming hairy trotters. In fact, all his men were swiftly turning into pigs. They tried to weep and cry out, but all they could do was to snort and squeal.

“Now do as I say,” cried Circe. “Pigs belong in the sty, not in my kitchen. Be off with you!” And off they trotted to their new home.

When the men did not return to the ship, Odysseus grew worried, and he decided to go and search for them. He set out across the island in the direction of the smoke he had seen from the cottage. While he was walking through the woods, he met a young man – more of a boy, whose beard was still soft and downy on his face.

“Stranger, what are you doing here?” asked the young man.

“I’m going in search of my men who are lost,” said Odysseus.

“No doubt they are guests of the lovely Circe. You won’t find them in her house, but outside in the pigsty. Beautiful though she is, she is really a witch and she turns men into beasts. If you step inside her house, she will turn you into a pig too.”

“My men – turned into pigs!” exclaimed Odysseus. “Is this how you treat guests on this island?”

The young man did not reply, but took a small plant out of his knapsack and handed it to Odysseus. Its stem was black and its flower was as white as milk. “Eat this,” he said. “It will make you safe against all magic tricks and potions. The name of this plant is molly. It is dangerous for mere mortals to pluck, for only gods can take it out of the ground safely.”

When he spoke these words, Odysseus realised that this was no ordinary young man, but Hermes the messenger of the gods. He ate the molly plant and went on his way.

Soon he came to the house in the woods that was guarded by wild beasts. Circe’s lovely singing voice drifted out through the window, and Odysseus walked boldly past the beasts and into the house. Inside he was greeted by the beautiful witch, who told him to sit down and try some of her soup. While she was heating it, she slipped some magic potion into the broth, for she intended to turn Odysseus into a pig like the others. She gave the soup to him, he drank it all down, and then she took out her wand and rapped the table with it.

“Now be off with you to the sty, pig-face,” she cried.

Odysseus did not turn into a pig, but instead leapt to his feet, drew his sword and rushed at Circe. She, terrified, let out a shriek and fell to his feet begging for mercy.

“Please great Lord – do not take such offence. It was just my strange sense of humour. It comes from living alone for so long, here in the woods with nothing but wild beasts for company. It is many years since I have seen a strong brave man like you. Come, let me kiss you…”

Odysseus let the beautiful witch kiss him, but all the time he was watching to see that she did not try any more of her tricks. She called her servant girls and commanded them to prepare a bath for their visitor. They brought hot and cold water and mixed the bath until it was just right. When Odysseus had bathed and rested, he found that they had prepared a delicious meal for him.

“Come, why do you look so sad?” asked Circe. “Let us eat together and wash the food down with honeyed wine.”

“How can a leader eat,” asked Odysseus, “when he knows that his companions are living outside in the muddy pigsty?”

When he spoke these words, Circe knew that there was no use pretending any longer that she was anything other than a witch. She went out to the pigsty and rubbed a magic ointment onto the animals. Then she waved her wand and they began to change back into men, only younger and better looking than they were before. They began to weep, for what they had been through was truly terrible.

When they had recovered, Odysseus went back to the ship to fetch the rest of his men. They were all united at Circe’s house and sat down to a wonderful feast of celebration.

The Greeks stayed with the witch Circe for an entire month – and she didn’t try any more of her magic tricks on them. One morning Odysseus spoke to her: “Oh beautiful enchantress – too long have we enjoyed your hospitality. We must continue our journey to our home on the rocky island of Ithaca, but unfortunately we are completely lost. We do not know these seas. Can you direct us by the safest route?”

Circe replied: “Lord Odysseus, if it were up to me, I would keep you here always – but I understand that you must be on your way to your home and your lovely wife, Queen Penelope. There is no safe route for you and your men to return home; for when you leave here, you must pass through a narrow passage between the rocks of Scylla and the whirlpool of Charybdis. Both are perilous – for Scylla is a many armed monster who yelps like a dog. If you sail close to her cliffs, she will reach down and grab some of your men and shove them into her mouth. But if you sail too close to the whirlpool of Charybdis, your entire boat will be sunk down to the bottom of the sea and all of you will drown. It is a terrible choice to make but you are a leader – so plot your course as you see best. Next, if the gods permit you to pass through that dire strait, you will come to the island of the Sun where the great Sun God, Lord Apollo, keeps his herd of sacred cows. Do as I say – steer clear of the island and do not land there. Nothing and nobody escapes the eyes of Apollo as he looks down from the sky. If you value your lives, avoid his island!”

So Odysseus and his men said farewell to the lovely Circe and sailed on their way. After three days, just as she had foretold, they reached the narrow passage that she had described. Up on the cliffs they could hear the monster Scylla, yelping like a dog that has been left tied up for too long. As they drew nearer, they could hear the terrible gurgling sound of the whirlpool, Charybdis.

“This is indeed a terrible choice”, thought Odysseus, “but is it a lesser evil to lose some of my men, than for all of us to drown? I must therefore chart my course closer to the cliffs than the whirlpool.”

He did not tell his men about Scylla, in case they lost heart and put down their oars. All his men’s eyes were on the dreadful whirlpool, gurgling like a cauldron. The men rowed as hard they could, but as they passed beneath Scylla, she reached down to the ship. Odysseus fought her with his spear, desperately trying to stab at her arms, but he could not prevent her from snatching up six of his men. The others rowed on, crying for their companions.

Once they passed through the strait, they saw the island of the Sun, just as Circe had predicted.

“Thank heavens for land!” cried the men. Odysseus tried to tell them it was no good. They must not land, but sail on – for Circe had warned him of terrible danger should they set foot on the island belonging to the great Sun God, Lord Apollo.

“Are you a slave driver?” cried out Lord Eurylochus. “In your rush to reach home, you deny us all rest. We are still grieving for our six lost companions. You cannot order us to sail on. We will surely die of sadness and exhaustion.”

Seeing that the men meant rebellion, Odysseus allowed the ship to land with great misgiving in his heart. They found that the island was covered in green fields, and that fat cattle were grazing. The men waited for Odysseus to fall asleep and then killed two cows and ate roast meat on the beach. When the sun rose in the morning, bright Apollo saw what they had done, and said to Zeus, who is Lord of all the gods:

“Great Lord – I am wronged. Those rascals and ruffians who crew the ship of that tricky Greek, Odysseus, have killed the sacred cattle that bring joy to my heart. If you will not punish them, I shall go down to the land of the dead and light up the gloomy underworld. No more shall I shine in the skies above the world.”

When Zeus heard these words he replied: “It is indeed a crime to take what rightly belongs the gods. When these men set sail tomorrow, I shall hit their boat with a burning thunderbolt.”

The next day, Odysseus told his men to set sail. When they were out at sea, the sun disappeared behind a black cloud. The dark skies filled with lightening and an electric flash shot down from the hand of Lord Zeus and hit their boat, ripping it into two. All the men fell into the raging sea. Odysseus clung for his life to the broken mast of the ship, and somehow survived the storm. The sun shone once again on the now calm waters, and Odysseus saw land. Using his last strength, he swam into the shore and staggered onto the beach, where he fell down, exhausted.

#aesthetic #art #art aesthetic #ancient greek #greece #greek mythology #circe #greek gods #greek myth aesthetic

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p3-lies-here · 7 years

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Charmed Opinions

Okay, so I’ve been rewatching some Charmed recently, and I kind of want to voice my opinions on some things because… well, why not? This is Tumblr, and that’s what Tumblr is for.

I’m gonna try to divide this little essay up into headings like “stories I wish were told” and “my thoughts on (insert topic here)” just to make it easier to follow. Starting with:

My Thoughts on Cole Turner and Chris Halliwell

So, the reason I’m picking on these two characters specifically is because they are my two very favorite characters, aside from the sisters. I’ve got a lot to say about their potential and what could’ve/should’ve been done with them. Let’s start with Chris.

Chris Halliwell

I think it’s safe to say that Chris is a fairly beloved character amongst the fandom, which is no surprise. He was a brilliant addition to the cast. Every bit of Chris Halliwell, from the actor to his interactions with the rest of the cast, made him undoubtedly memorable. There were just a few things involving his character that I would have enjoyed seeing.

While I don’t think Chris should’ve been on the show for longer than a season, it does feel like his time on Charmed was cut short. It could be that a lot of his episodes put him into a Whitelighter role, which wasn’t what the majority of his character was about. Rather than episodes of him being a sort of background piece, it could’ve been nice to have Chris’s role be more restricted to his mission of saving Wyatt. However, seeing him struggle to maintain his cover while also acting as the Whitelighter for the Charmed Ones is something I wouldn’t trade for the world. Still, I wish we’d had more time with him.

Namely, after the entire family had found out Chris’s secret of being Piper and Leo’s son. It would’ve been amazing to see Chris spend more time with Piper or hash out his differences with Leo or even just hang out with his aunts. Although, I do understand that this probably wasn’t written in for lack of time in the season, or maybe it was excluded so we didn’t receive too much information about the future. Nonetheless, I wish we’d seen Chris interact more with his family.

On the topic of the future, it would’ve been nice to see more glimpses of it. We got some nice flashbacks in “Chris-Crossed,” but those memories were isolated to Chris since the episode was focused on him. It would’ve been cool to see a broader scope of what the world became without Paige, Phoebe, and Piper there to save it. On that note, I really wish we’d gotten more of Chris and Wyatt being enemies. Maybe Chris could’ve gone back to the future for an episode to see if it changed, or Wyatt could’ve come back to keep Chris from saving him. Something like that would’ve been amazing. Well, that’s enough on Chris. I think it’s time we move on.

Cole Turner

Cole was probably the best decision this show ever made (give or take bringing Paige into the mix). The chemistry this man had with each and every character was amazing. I feel like most people in the fandom either love or hate Cole, and if they hate him, it usually has something to do with the fact that they don’t like his relationship with Phoebe. If that’s you, you’re not going to enjoy this section, so… maybe skip?

I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s ridiculous how well Cole fit into the show. It’s naturally a combination of great acting and great writing, but seriously. Not only with the sisters, but with Leo and Darryl as well. I’ve said this probably a thousand times by now, but it’s not difficult to picture Cole in a relationship with any of the Charmed Ones. Honestly, just picture it for a second:

If Cole had been with Prue, it would’ve been constant disagreements, all the time. The strong-willed nature of both of them would frequently bring them to a boiling point, often compromising whatever mission they were currently working on. But when they weren’t fighting, they were saving people. Constantly. It was the one thing that kept them together. A power couple for the history books.

If it’d been Piper, it would involve Piper worrying over Cole’s safety and not being afraid to kick a little ass to save his. Her nurturing nature would rival his risk-taking nature in the best way. There’d be a lot of compromises and a lot of discussions about how to make it all work, a Charmed One and a demon. She’d make the potions and he’d tell her what battle they’d be fighting that day. At the end of the day, they’d just be happy to have a quiet moment.

Now, Paige and Cole… well, that’d be nonstop magic. Paige would learn something new and be so excited to tell Cole about it. Cole would take her to the Underworld to kill demons. They’d talk about everything from Paige’s job to the rush Cole gets when he takes down a demon. There would never be a still moment or a dull day. All the time they’d be seeking out some adventure together.

But I didn’t come here to talk about alternate timelines where these things could’ve been possible. I came here to talk about the way Cole’s story ended.

All in all, I understand why the writers opted to end Cole’s story the way it started—with him being evil—but I still have a fire in me when it comes to Phoebe and Cole. I adore Coop. I think Phoebe, the girl who falls in love far too easily, ending up with a Cupid is very poetic. But it didn’t seem much like a whirlwind romance to me. I’m so happy that Phoebe found a life with someone, but I don’t think that would’ve been Coop if Cole had never been taken over by the Source.

I’ve always felt that Cole was done a real injustice toward the end of his time on the show. Phoebe completely stopped sympathizing with him, which is completely unlike her character. Hell, Paige sympathized with him more than Phoebe did in season 5. Not to mention, a lot of the actions Cole carried out during his time as the Source were compelled by the original Source. So, a lot of that time wasn’t entirely Cole’s fault. It’s was completely possible for Cole to be redeemed in season 5 so that he and Phoebe could end up together, or at the very least, so that he could die with dignity. I do get that the writers were trying to bring it full circle, but what they ended up doing to Cole’s character was a real shame.

Paige Matthews’ Story

A big thing I will forever be bitter about is the way Paige’s character was downsized in comparison to the other three sisters. Sure, she didn’t grow up with Piper and Phoebe, but that shouldn’t have been an excuse not to further her character development. Paige never got the spotlight like Prue, Piper, and Phoebe did, and that’s very sad because her character had so much potential. The focal plots she did have where usually limited to an episode, unlike the other three sisters’ series long plots.

Prue was typically a main focus for a number of reasons: she was the strongest, she was the most stubborn (thus the most likely to put herself into dangerous situations), and she was the oldest. That lent itself to storylines involving Patty (as Prue remembered her the best) or storylines involving new characters (as she was the overly protective older sister) or, really, any plot they could’ve written.

Piper always had Leo, from the jump, because Piper’s underlying characteristic is that of a nurturer. So, she always had a place in the story for nurturing her relationship or her children or her family.

Phoebe had her troubles with love, which seemed to push her to the front of every storyline, no matter what it was. Her relationships constantly put her in the spotlight because she either had forbidden loves (like with Cole) or she had complicated loves (like with Jason). Beyond that, due to her lack of active powers, Phoebe was often the character throwing out ideas or plans. She wasn’t ever a background cog in the system.

But, for some reason, Paige never got an overarching plot like this. The closest she ever came was in season 8 when she met Henry, and that wasn’t even an entire season’s worth of story. I’ve seen people mention that she could’ve had an issue with her returning drinking problem. I think it would’ve been cool to actually see her be a Whitelighter rather than just hear about it, maybe even seeing more of her relationship to the supernatural world and how she worked with them (like the leprechauns). Her role at Magic School would’ve also been interesting. Really anything would’ve sufficed.

This isn’t to say that I’m angry about Prue, Piper, and Phoebe having series long storylines, I’m just angry that Paige didn’t get at least one to go along with her sisters’. It just feels like wasted potential of a really strong character.

Goddesses

While we’re on the topic of Paige, let discuss my feelings about the goddess that was chosen for her in “Oh My Goddess.”

I… don’t get it. Like, I want to… and I’ve tried to… but I don’t get it.

I don’t know much about Greek mythology, so I won’t pretend that I do, but the Goddess of War? Phoebe and Piper’s goddesses make sense, and I basically explained why in the above section, but Paige’s? Paige is half-pacifist! And when has she ever gotten into a hand-to-hand fight, aside from the times she absolutely had to? I assume they stuck her with the Goddess of War because of the powers they could elicit from that to supplement the episode. Although, Piper’s powers were the ones shown the most as well as the ones used to take down the Titans, and Phoebe’s powers were hardly used at all, so there’s another reason Goddess of War makes zero sense for Paige.

Might I put forth the Goddess of Retribution or the Goddess of Youth for Paige? The former makes a certain amount of sense because of Paige’s passion for righting the wrongs done by others (which can be seen often during her job as a social worker), and the second makes sense because Paige is a beacon of liveliness and fun. I don’t know how either of these would translate into powers, but I imagine the first one’s powers would be similar to the Goddess of War’s. All in all, I think they wanted to use “popular” goddesses for the sisters. I just think the one Paige got stuck with doesn’t fit. Maybe it does for Prue, though…

Meetings I Wish Would’ve Happened

This is going to be a short list, but there were a few characters I always imagined getting to meet that never got to because their stints on the show didn’t overlap.

Paige and Prue – I mean, of course, right? I personally don’t think Prue would’ve accepted Paige right away. In fact, I think she would’ve been slower to accept her than Piper was (although, if Prue hadn’t died and the show had become about four sisters, Piper probably would’ve accepted her readily). It probably would’ve been similar to Phoebe and Prue’s relationship in season 1. However, Prue would’ve eventually warmed up to her, and probably would’ve taken Paige under her wing. It’s honestly really difficult for me to imagine, but I will forever be sad that they didn’t get to meet (on the show, at least; I don’t read the comics).

Chris and Cole – Don’t ask, I just love thinking about the chemistry they’d have together. I’m, of course, talking about future Chris. Now, baby Chris…

Cole and Piper’s sons – Obviously I wouldn’t want evil-demon-power-grab-bag-crazy-douche-Cole to have any kind of contact with Piper’s babies, but good-guy-Cole would’ve looked so cute holding his little nephews-in-law.

Prue and Chris – Again, this is another one I can’t really explain. I just love to think about Prue teaching her nephew to properly use the power they share. Or even Chris summoning Prue in the future to learn from her.

If you couldn’t tell by this list, I’m mad that Prue wasn’t a part of the series finale. I don’t know what was going on with the people involved at the time, but they should’ve made it happen somehow.

Relationships I Love

This’ll be another short list. There were just a few relationships I wanted to highlight my love for. And I’m gonna keep couples out of it because those are obvious (i.e. no Prue and Andy, no Piper and Leo, no Phoebe and Cole, no Paige and Henry).

Piper and Paige – This is another one of those things I’ve said a million times already. I especially love these two in season 4 when Paige is adjusting to being a witch a Piper is adjusting to Paige. I do wish we’d seen more of Piper assuring Paige that she didn’t expect her to be Prue, but their relationship was always amazing to me.

Paige and Chris – No doubt, this is my favorite Chris + another character combination. I know, I know. You’re probably thinking, “What! What about Chris and Piper or Chris and Phoebe? Chris and Leo!” Look, I’m sorry, but I just adore the way Paige interacts with Chris. There was a mention in “Spin City” that Chris and Paige had a strong relationship in the future, and I wish we’d gotten to see it. I imagine that Phoebe is the go-to aunt for Wyatt and Paige is the go-to aunt for Chris, and maybe Melinda is strictly a mama’s/daddy’s girl? Paige and Chris make a lot of sense, not only because of their blood, but because of their inferiority complexes with their older siblings. I imagine they bond over a lot of things. It’s just super cute, okay!

Cole and Piper – It’s hard to isolate which sister relationship with Cole is my favorite, but I think I’ve got to choose Piper. She’s like the perfect combination of Paige and Prue’s sass toward Cole and Phoebe’s respect of Cole. It makes for some awesome interactions, I’m telling you.

Stories I Wish Had Been Told

Oh man, I could talk about this for the rest of my life. So, I’m just going to talk about one specific story I wish we’d seen play out. Well… we did see it play out… but not the way I wanted it to.

So, here’s my idea: a power swap between, either Piper and Paige, or Piper, Paige, and Phoebe (in which Piper gets Phoebe’s powers, Phoebe gets Paige’s, and Paige gets Piper’s).

The reason I’m drawn to the first option is because Piper and Paige are my two favorite sisters, but we’ve seen Piper with Whitelighter abilities, so it wouldn’t be much different on her end.

That’s why I propose a swap between all three sisters. I think it would be amazing to see Piper having premonitions, Phoebe orbing, and Paige blowing shit up. It happened with Phoebe and Prue as well as Piper and Leo, and I think it was referred to as a “supernatural Freaky Friday.”

Conclusion

Okay, to conclude this massive wall-of-words post, I just want to say I love this show. At the end of the day, it can do no wrong in my book. I invite everyone that took the time to read this to tell me your opinions on my opinions, or even just send me some opinions of your own. I love discussing the things I love, and Charmed is definitely one of those things.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and have a lovely day!

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