#everyone knew helen everyone knew priam

[demeterdefence]

my energy has been low lately so i've stuck to just liveblogging chapter releases, but i was thinking earlier about why lore olympus really nettles me and it's truly indicative of a wider issue.

it's disappointing that a major ancient religion that is still practiced by some people today has been reduced to a caricature of itself, and i say this knowing that there are thousands of reinterpretations of the greek myths, there will always be a new opinion or retelling of them. retelling the myth of hades and persephone isn't necessarily the issue, so much as the constant and dripping disdain to the cultural roots. we don't need to be greek to appreciate the story, but why remove everything greek from it? why westernize every aspect and remove ties to the cultural roots? why whitewash everything from a myth thousands of years old?

part of the reason these myths continue to resonate with us is because the themes are still relevant today. the loss of a child, the struggle against impossible forces, the (often patriarchal) powers against you, a mothers love. these stories hold power, they gave hope and inspiration, they created meaning and connection, and they were vital to the people who lived in that time, in that place. they will resonate with us for many years still, but stripping the roots and core of it out only makes it a hollow, shallow imitation. it's reality tv with neon colours, no love or heritage present; it's cold and shiny and plastic, and it insults what it claims to portray.

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #i have more thoughts actually but putting them down coherently? difficult #also im procrastinating doing the dishes lmao #anyways i can remember in undergrad studying the greek myths and early playwrights #and the prof was talking abt the trojan war #and the way he explained was that the power of this myth was that it vastly exceeded greece #it reached further beyond the borders it stretched so far that the entire world knew of achilles and paris and hector #everyone knew helen everyone knew priam #when priam kisses achilles hands and says #for I have steeled myself as no man yet has ever steeled himself before me #and have raised to my lips the hand of him who slew my son #??? like? the raw grief and power of that??? #and it is that grief of a father to the killer of his son that resonates with us still in modern times #but their home was still the ancient world in the dust and sea of greece and troy #they wore clothing and ate food and drank wine that was theirs #and when we strip it away we remove the core of the story #a father in troy whose son stole a greek bride and must watch as his family and people are destroyed #anyways idk what these tags are i am so sorry mobile users

[classicschronicles]

Hi lovelies,

I recently came across a very interesting book entitled ‘Cassandra’ so I thought I should probably do some background reading before reading Christa Wolf’s alleged masterpiece. And so today I thought it would be a nice idea to talk about the story surrounding the infamous Trojan princess, Cassandra. Just a quick trigger warning- this entry contains mentions of r4p3 after the sack of Troy.

Cassandra was the mortal daughter of King Priam (side note- why do this man and his 100 children constantly crop up in every area of classics, it’s starting to stress me out) and Hecuba. Now as you may expect from a man with 100 children, some of them were very notable. Cassandra’s brothers included Hector, Paris and her twin brother Helenus. But Cassandra is also due her fair share of fame as a seer (i.e. having the gift of foresight, although in her case it was more of a curse).

Cassandra grew up to become the most beautiful of all Priam’s daughters and so naturally had plenty of suitors- both mortal and immortal, including the god Apollo. In the most popular version of Cassandra’s story, it is Apollo who gifts her with the power of prophecy. In this version of the story, Apollo is enamoured with Cassandra’s beauty and tries to seduce her. He tells her that in return for something he will turn her into a seer. Cassandra accepts this offer, but after Apollo gives her foresight he reveals that what he wants in return is for Cassandra to sleep with him.

Now, as is the nature of the gods in Greek mythology, Apollo thought that the concept of consent was below him and so when Cassandra (as is fully her right) refused to sleep with him he felt as though he had been cheated. A repudiated Apollo could have simply taken her powers away, but in an act of blind rage, he cursed Cassandra instead. And so from that point on, whatever Cassandra professed would indeed come to pass but no one would ever believe her. Because of this, Cassandra then thought her twin brother Helenus how to see into the future and so good was she as a tutor, that Helenus’ predictions always came to pass (but with the added advantage of people believing him).

Cassandra gains much of her fame in mythology, as many do, because of the events of Troy. The first commonly known prediction of Cassandra is when Paris returns to Troy. Cassandra tells everyone that he will be the reason for the destruction of Troy and talks about how, because of him, she sees Troy in flames. But because of her curse, she was ignored. Paris would then go on to abduct Helen and so began the Trojan war, leading to the inevitable destruction of Troy as Cassandra had foretold.

Another very famous prophecy of Cassandra can be found within the Aeneid when Aeneas tells the story of the Trojan Horse. The Achaean army came up with a plan to sack the city of Troy by gifting them with a seemingly empty wooden horse- you all know this story. Cassandra knew that if the Trojans were to accept the horse Troy would fall overnight, but no matter what she said no one would believe her. Thus the Trojans let the horse into the walls of Troy and that very night the city fell to the Achaeans.

After the Greeks took possession of Troy, Cassandra sought refuge within the temple of Athena. However, the temple provided no refuge as Cassandra was found by Ajax the Lesser, who dragged Cassandra from Athena’s altar and r4p3d her. It was because of this act that Athena caused the storm that scattered all the Greek heroes and took them so long to get home.

With the fall of Troy, Cassandra became a spoil of war, with Agamemnon forcing her to become his concubine. Cassandra would bear two sons for Agamemnon. Despite being his slave, Cassandra tried to warn Agamemnon to not return to Mycenae, for Cassandra knew that his wife (Clytemnestra) was having an affair with Aegisthus- who would murder Agamemnon. Sure enough, when Agamemnon returned to Mycenae he and the children Cassandra bore for him, were murdered by Aegisthus.

Little to nothing is known about what happened to Cassandra after the events of Mycenae but given her previous luck, we can probably assume that it wasn’t pleasant. That being said, I hope you all enjoyed reading about Cassandra and that you have a lovely weekend!

~Z

#classical studies #classics #dark acamedia #greek mythology #ancient rome #homer's iliad #roman mythology #the iliad #the aeneid #princess cassandra #troy #christa wolf #apollo deity #athena

[godsofhumanity]

rank the men from the iliad (+ explanations)

1. Hector 

WHAT do i even need to say????? Hector is literally brilliant!!! He’s kind, he’s smart, he’s brave, he’s honourable, he’s loyal, he’s a fighter. Even Zeus thought he was so good that he deserved to be saved and only didn’t save him from Achilles because Athena begged him not to. I also really love Hector because even though he’s so awesome, he’s not arrogant or pretentious like Achilles, he’s just so grounded and nice.

2. Odysseus

Remember when Odysseus tried to avoid participating in the war by pretending to be insane? AGHHHHH ODYSSEUS, KING!! That really indicates what kind of a man Odysseus was- kind, and strong, and preferring peace to violence. This guy also stopped Achilles from being stupid and forcing his soldiers to keep fighting even though they were exhausted. Also.. Trojan horse epic prank.. great work, Odysseus.

3. Priam

Oh, Priam! The scene where Priam goes to Achilles himself and begs him to give Hector’s body back is what does it for me. Priam, a king, has to cross enemy lines and bow down before his enemy, the man who murdered his son, and beg him to have the smallest bit of sympathy and give back the body so that they can give Hector the proper burial rites so that he can pass on to the land of the dead. Can you imagine how humiliating that must have been? What strength of mind this old man must have had to go to Achilles, a spoiled brat, and ask for mercy! Priam is just... words can’t describe. I have so much respect for him. He really put family first, always.

4. Polydamas

Hector’s good friend and a Trojan commander. He gives Hector some really good battle advice but my man Hector never listens 😭😭😭 Props to Polydamas for trying though xx

5. Diomedes

Honourable, valiant and not pretenious despite being the ONLY mortal warrior to actually wound the immortal gods (Ares)!!! I LOVE this dude!! He’s smart, he’s brave, he’s cunning, he’s resourceful. Fantastic work, Diomedes!

6. Nestor

i like him because he’s a little bit funny, but also extremely wise and sensible. everyone appreciates him and listens to his advice when he gives it.

7. Aeneas

Aphrodite, Apollo AND Poseidon loved this dude and saved his life on separate occasions, so you know he’s a good one!!

8. Ajax the Greater

remember when Hector and Ajax had a big fight, and then they just stopped and gave each other gifts???? KINGS! Ajax is just very honourable, and he’s an excellent fighter. i like him! sad ending though :///

9. Patroclus

Did you know that Patroclus was actually older than Achilles, despite most modern adaptions portraying him as younger? Anyways, i don’t hate Patroclus. He had the spirit- he was brave and courageous, albeit a little brash. 

10. Deiphobus

i feel like we always forget that Deiphobus married Helen after Paris died. the fact that Athena chooses to impersonate Deiphobus during Achilles’ fight with Hector, indicates that Deiphobus was trusted and beloved by Hector, which further suggests that they had like-minded personalities. still, he’s further down this list because of the myth where he carries Helen off and marries her- Deiphobus, my dude, did you not just watch an entire war unfold because Paris did the exact same thing? Idiots! The lot of them!

11. Menelaus

Menelaus isn’t exactly a strong fighter, but i actually kinda like him! As a king, i think that if Menelaus had simply just sat back down and been like “okay, my wife got kidnapped, let me just leave it be because a war is too much”, that would have made him look really weak. He 100% was in the right for waging war, because Paris was WRONG and never should have done what he did. I genuinely do think that Menelaus did love Helen, though I’m undecided about whether Helen reciprocated. Either way, Menelaus is okay in my books- he just did what he had to.

12. Achilles

ugh. i used to really like Achilles, but the more of the Iliad i read, the more i disliked him. He’s so arrogant and pretentious and hot-headed. He thinks he’s a god. obviously, i hate what he does to Hector, and i don’t think he was all that honourable. He was just a spoiled brat.

13. Paris

Troy’s resident dumbass. for real, Paris is just so dumb.. i don’t like him! he makes so many bad decisions, and everyone else has to pay for them. He knew that Helen was off limits- being married, and already being a mother with a child who needed her, so what did brave Paris do? Kidnap Helen! AGHHH YOU IDIOT! YOU FOOL! 

14. Agamemnon

i hate this guy. i feel bad for him because he had to sacrifice his own daughter for the sake of the war.. but other than that,, he’s just so angry and scary and brutal,, and i don’t like him. also, his own wife killed him, so what does that say about the man?

**these are just my opinions,, feel free to disagree!!

#this was fun!!! send me more asks like this! #i like the way people draw Achilles.. like in Supergiant's Hades and stuff.. but him as a person.. idk.. #greekschist #asks

[kashuan]

why are so many trojan war adaptations removing the Gods.... writers meanwhile never remove God from biblical stories to make them more Historical

I’ve discussed this a lot with friends because it really is such a bizarre choice. The Iliad, the Oresteia, those stories are BUILT on the gods’ role in them. If you take them out it completely destroys a lot of central character motivations as well as the tragedy behind them. A Helen that wasn’t on some level manipulated by Aphrodite to go to Troy only works as A) a selfish, brainless and/ or sociopathic woman B) a woman who must be trying to escape her abusive husband for ~twu wuv~ (still, in part, sociopathic if willing to sacrifice that many lives in the process). An Agamemnon who sacrifices his daughter without Artemis to command it is cartoon levels of villianish. An Orestes who murders his mother without Apollo to command it is a character so far departed from canon I think the only thing they’d share is a name. I can think of a couple reasons why someone would look at those above options and think it was the right way to take their adaption– not that I think any of the following are legitimately reasonable.1) They want to put an “original” spin on their story to stand out (ie: that story u THOUGHT u knew the truth about? Well actually that was all ~childish~ fantasy, here’s the REAL one) I think it’s in the same vein of taking a well known story and making it ~grim dark~. What If Everyone Was An Asshole Just ‘Cause? That’s How The REAL World Is. 2) They don’t want to take the time to research the gods, who are a whole separate set of characters with deep backstories, with anything but black and white motivations. TFOAC’s …attempt at including the gods seemed to confirm this to me. Writing a whole cast of true neutral characters while keeping them interesting at the same time isn’t easy. They run the risk (as it is in TFOAC) of just seeming very flat and difficult for the reader/viewer to connect at all with. The actual gods are at times humorous, at times terrifying, at times quite relatable in their roles as a sibling or a parent… It’s a hard balance to strike and given that most modern adaptions fail to even make the mortal cast 3 dimensional, is it really surprising they couldn’t achieve that with gods?3) This one is a stretch but in terms of movie/tv: maybe budget? Although the gods don’t necessarily need a lot of special effects– Athena has been featured in several Odyssey adaptions because she doesn’t really do anything especially superhuman– I think it’d be harder to avoid it in the Iliad. Consider things like Apollo’s plague, the Diomedes vs Ares fight… 4) Relatedly, still pertaining to movie/tv, maybe the scope just becomes too big? Many adaptions even cut out a large portion of the mortal cast. Patroclus occasionally gets cut, Diomedes almost always; Hector, Paris and Cassandra are almost always the only children of Priam we see… But books really have no excuse in this respect, since a book can be as long as the author wants.I’m still waiting on a good adaption that involves the gods, especially in movie/tv; to me it’s such an untapped gold mine. They’re all such wonderful, varied characters. But I also feel like I might never see it in my lifetime at this rate, especially given the fact that writing quality in these adaptions seems to be declining, rather than improving as the years go on :/ 

#the iliad #Anonymous

[intelligentdumbass]

The Walls Have Fallen

(Not sure what this is, I guess Pollo’s talking to himself? Pretty experimental)

If I sing, would anyone listen? Would anyone bother with a song of this god in a foolish war?

’You knew how everything would end.’

I always do.

‘Yet you still kept up the game of pretend’

What else would’ve I done? Would you have rather let them rot?!

‘But isn’t that exactly what you did? When your silver arrows pierced the heart of the Grecian camp?’

He refused Chrysies’ ransom!

‘That is not all, what of the things before it even began? Do you still remember your twin sister, upon seeing the army do her wrong, suggest on giving them an impossible task?’

I thought he wouldn’t dare! We thought he’d never agree to such an awful ask!

‘But he did; all for a change in the wind, but this is not all of what you immortals did. Don’t act like it never happened. You always remember, even if you wished to forget. It could’ve ended quicker, but it didn’t.’                            

But I did wish for that, for it to stop!

‘But you didn’t let it; you couldn’t’

That wasn’t my fault!

‘But not exempt from blame either; you lot never are. Even now you still smell the blood; hear their cries, and see the desperate look in their eyes, and by the reach of the tenth year, you were desperate too.

“Trojans!” you yelled “Rush on the foe; do not let yourselves be thus beaten by the Argives!” all the while as Pallas urged the Achaeans forward whenever she found them slacking.’

I know; it was foolish for me to hope.

‘Well, I suppose there was a brief point in the war, where both sides were glad, for they thought they could finally rest, when Paris declared,

“…Hector, your scorn is as sharp as an axe that a shipwright wields at work, and the rebuke is just. Still, do not taunt me with what the goddess of love has given me. If you would have me do battle with Menelaus, bid the Trojans and Achaeans take their seats; let the victor, who proves to be the better man, take the woman and all that she has, and the rest to swear to a solemn covenant of peace.”’

I remember that, that and so much more. You’re right; I haven’t forgotten anything at all. Oh, if only the peace Paris spoke of was meant to be!

The gods were sitting on their thrones and gazing down upon the earth.

“Well?” Zeus’ voice thundered across the halls. “We must consider what we shall do about all this; shall we set them fighting anew or make peace between them?”

Hera couldn’t contain herself. “Dreaded son of Cronus, is all my effort then, to result to nothing?”

He frowned. “My dear, what harm have Priam and his sons done that you are so hotly bent on sacking their city? Of all the inhabitants under the stars of heaven, there was none that I so much respected as Ilium with Priam and his whole people.”

“Some of my own favorite cities are Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae. Sack them whenever you are displeased with them. Even if I tried to stop you; I would gain nothing from it, for you are much stronger than I am, but I will not have my own work wasted.” Her voice was stern as they locked eyes. “I am a goddess of the same race as yourself, and am honorable not on this ground only, but also because I am your wife, and you are the king over the gods.”

She continued. “Let it be a case of give-and-take between us; the rest of the gods will follow our lead. Tell Athena to go and take part in the fight at once, and let the Trojans be the first to break their oaths.”

And Athena eagerly went, and Pandarus fired his bow in my name.

‘Why were you so silent?’

I was in Pergamus and there was nothing that I could’ve said to sway them.

Hera wouldn’t be the only one upset, some of the Greeks themselves would complain for their work to have been all for naught. They didn’t come here to toil for some woman they never met; they were here for the glory and the prizes that they would get. For those men, Helen was merely an excuse, to give reason for what they have done. It would also be easier then, for Agamemnon to quell everyone’s frustrations of having to fight for him, when they all get their large share of wealth.

‘Are you mad?’

…Not at my fellow immortals, no. They were only doing their job; they are their patrons after all.

‘But aren’t you as well?’

What of it?

‘Hah, I suppose you must’ve just loved the royal family that much.’

Oh fuck you.

‘Am I wrong? Want me to name them one by one?’

You know that’s not all it was, at least not just that type of love-

Apollo briefly snaps out of his internal monologue when Athena enters the room, but before she could say a word, the god was already gone. He now sits down on the ground, back leaning against one of the many oaks in the garden.

‘…Are you sure you’re not mad?’

I just need time for myself.

‘That’s what you’ve been saying for the past 4 months’

Okay fine, maybe a little bit, but I still try not to be. Even then, in the midst of the war, I tried not to fight them.

‘Like when Poseidon and Artemis insulted you and Hera hit your twin with her own bow?’

I meant when Athena and I were on good terms; proud of our men, and watching them duel while we were vultures perched on father’s high oak-

‘“Idiot, you have no sense, and forget how we two alone of all immortals fared hardly round about Ilium for Laomedon.”

“So you would fly Far-Darter, and hand victory over to Poseidon with a cheap vaunt to boot. Coward, why keep your bow thus idle?-”’

I’d have no respect for myself if I were to quarrel with them because of a pack of miserable mortals-

‘But you already have, and what good did it do you?-’

Ares fought to oppose Athena; Aphrodite intervened for Paris and Aeneas.

I cared for the whole of Troy.

I went before their horses to smooth the way, carrying the Aegis, the Achaeans were afraid. I gifted great strength to Hector, the shepherd of my people, as he gladly sped forward, killing all that stood in his way. I destroyed the Argives’ wall as easily as a child that kicks down a sandcastle on the beach.

Nothing escaped my gaze, for as long as they fought on the plains, Ilium’s walls stood tall, the Greeks frustrated and in a daze. Not even Patroclus could get in, as I beat the helmet off his head, and undid the fastenings of his corset, his shield falling down to the ground.

I was not helpless; I am not useless, and I do not regret a single act.

‘If you believe this to be so, then why do you feel the need to say all of this? Whom are you trying to convince?’

…who else?

I think the answer is obvious.

#Apollo #Iliad #Trojan war #greek gods #greek mythology #Not sure what i just did #soliloquy??? #Well it is what it is #MyWritingShit #idk #experimental

[a-singleboat]

The Fall of a City

A/N: this is for @theimaginesyouneveraskedfor and their historic marvel challenge :)

WORD COUNT: 2560

“I swear to Zeus above if you don’t stop messing with the wagon I will throw you to the crows,” Eliza threw her hands up in despair, angrily moving towards Anthony who sat by the wagon wheels. The sky above them rumbled as if Zeus had actually heard her threat. Eliza ignored the sound and continued on her warpath towards the inventive man. “If I needed a better, faster wagon, I would sooner get a new ox!”

She swatted his hands away and then proceeded to pull him up by the ear. “Hey, hey, hey!” Anthony protested against the harsh way she was dealing with him. “I just saw the wheel was crooked and went to fix it!”

She glared at him steadily as if asking, ‘Oh really?’ She shook her head and let him go, pushing him away from the wagon. She surveyed the damage and noticed that he had managed to take the entirety of the wheel off the axel. “I want you to fix this, no upgrades.”

He dropped his head and silently agreed, begrudgingly moving to put the wheel back on. Eliza took this moment to survey the city of Troy. It was solidly three in the afternoon and no one else was home but their new Norse neighbors. Two brothers going by the name Thor and Loki lived together in the house next door. Thor, the taller of the two, could be seen through the shoddily placed window. He was without clothes, as he seemed to constantly be, but Eliza wasn’t complaining.

As Eliza leaned against the bracing of her front door, she squinted at a fast-approaching figure. The figure grew more clear as they got closer, Peter from the palace was approaching them at a sprint. The boy, as young as he was, was screaming at the top of his lungs. “The Greeks! The Greeks have broken through our walls!”

The neighboring people screamed just as soon as Peter had run through the streets. Eliza’s eyes widened, frantically calling Anthony back into the house. She closed the doors, bolting them shut before racing up the stairs with Anthony in tow. “What’s going on?”

Eliza ignored the man as she dug through her box of items that she had long since sealed away ever since leaving the Amazons. The fact that she had kept them was a mystery. When she found what she was looking for, she turned around to face the man. “A long time ago, I stumbled on a group that called themselves the Amazons. They offered me a place in their ranks and when I declined, they sent me off with good wishings and this sword.”

She opened her hands to reveal a ring to him. Anthony looked upon it skeptically. “Eliza, you’ve gone mad. This is a ring.”

She rolled her eyes and slipped it on her finger. She pressed down onto the gem and the ring transformed into a sword right in front of her eyes. “Your father, the god Hephaestus, blessed this ring after it was made in his very forges. Only I can wield it. If anyone else were to try without my blessing,” Eliza trailed off.

“What would happen?”

“Nothing very good, that’s for certain.” She shook her head and pressed the gem in the center of the sword. It shrank down to the ring once again and she pressed it into Anthony’s hands. “I’m blessing you, Anthony.”

He slipped it onto his finger and it grew in size to fit. “What does this mean?”

“It means the ring has passed ownership.” Eliza gently rested her hands on either side of his face. “When you return, I will not be here. It was written long ago that I should perish in a battle, I just hoped that this wasn’t the one.”

She let go of him and pushed him towards the door. “Go to see good King Priam and show him the ring. He shall know what it means and he will keep you safe.”

“But what about you?”

“I’ll be right behind you until it’s my turn to go.”

Anthony nodded, a hardened look on his face. He turned on his heel and walked out of the house with different confidence than he once had had.

Eliza turned back to her box and pulled her armor from it. She looked into her own reflection, she was a much different person now than she was when she first put the armor on. She slipped the breastplate over her head and slowly adorned her armor again. She marched over to her closet and flung the doors open. She reached deep into the clothes that still hung there and pulled out her own sword. On the blade, itself were the words inscribed ΑΘΗΝΑΙΩΝ, Of the Athenians.

She set her sword in front of her and knelt down in prayer. Let Anthony survive this war and see another day.  

Eliza stood up tall and proud, turning on her own heel to march down the stairs. She would be ready to fight if there ever was a cause.

A knock at the door caught her attention. She opened it to find her neighbors standing with a coalition behind them. “We fight for Troy,” the blond one, Thor, stated.

Eliza opened the door wider and ushered them inside. Once inside, they took their helmets off one by one. These were people she knew, she realized. Besides from Loki, Thor’s brother, she had gone to school with all six of them. The Norsemen made quick friends, it seemed. “Alright, our goal is to get as many Trojans out of the city. Troy is a people, not a place, and we should do well to honor that.”

Eliza slid on her helmet and the others followed suit. They all marched out of the house and were immediately met with a crowd of Greek soldiers. They fought wave after wave, tirelessly, until they eventually arrived at the palace steps. Spreading out, they fought the Greeks that tried to enter the palace.

“We have to go up!” shouted Steven from the opposite side of Eliza.

“Then let’s go!”

They all moved up the stairs together in tandem, not turning their backs to the enemy. After making it up to the steps, they all converged on the door, keeping their stance.

“We won’t be able to hold this for long, we need to get inside!” Natasha shouted over the screams of the opposition.

“You go! I will stay and hold as many off as I can,” Bruce spoke up, throwing his sword into the fray.

“You’ll die!” Eliza protested, parrying a sword that comes too close to her face.

“Just trust me.” They locked eyes for a moment before Eliza nodded.

“I’m staying out here until I know what you’re doing.”

“Fine,” Bruce stepped forward, breaking their chain. Eliza ushered everyone else inside, holding her own against the now growing mob. She watched as Bruce transformed into a literal hulk of a man in front of her eyes.

At the last second, someone pulled Eliza into the palace doors and they slammed shut.

“What the heck just happened?” Eliza blinked a few times, shaking herself out of her shock. She turned to face the crew. “Did any of you know he could do that?”

Natasha took off her helmet, shaking her hair out. Eliza’s knees buckled ever so slightly. “Yeah, I helped him come to terms with it a while ago.”

Carol took her helmet off as well, causing Eliza’s heart to flutter ever so slightly. “Well, as long as he keeps the Greeks at bay I won’t be the one to stop him.”

“Eliza!” A voice called from down the hall, attracting the attention of the group.

Eliza smiled wide, dashing to meet the man that rushed towards them. “Anthony!” She held him close. “Thank the gods you are alright. How did you fair after leaving?”

“I ran into a few soldiers but the sword helped me along. I found Peter along the way and we fought together to get here,” Anthony held up his hand to show the ring that glistened proudly on his hand.

“Listen,” Eliza turned to the group. “There’s a tunnel under the city that leads directly to Mount Ida. Anthony, you know where it is. I took you once a few years ago.”

“I don’t remember how to get there,” Anthony protested her direction.

“You will. I need you to take as many of these people as you can to Mount Ida. Troy will rise again,” Eliza kissed Anthony’s forehead. “Go, all of you.”

The group looked down somberly. Everything would be lost no matter what was chosen. Eliza pushed them all forward. “Go, I shall send the royal family after you.”

Eliza took off in the opposite direction in search of the King Priam and Andromache. She passed several windows, catching sight of the city on fire. It was a terrible and beautiful sight all at once. She hated it. She pushed herself to move faster, finding herself in the palace temple.

“King Priam, Andromache!” She called for the two of them, hurrying down the steps. “You need to leave, now.”

Priam shook his head, “My dear, Eliza. I cannot leave Troy.”

“Yes, you can. Troy is a people and the people are leaving for Mount Ida. A place where safety is guaranteed,” Eliza pleaded with the King. He took her hands and kissed them both.

“I cannot leave my city,” Priam took up his own sword. “I shall be fine.”

Eliza moved to Andromache instead, coming to terms with the King staying behind. “Andromache, I know Hector had shown you the passageway to the safe place. You need to gather as many people as you can, take Paris and Helen with you. Do not let them from your sight.”

Andromache held Eliza close, sobbing into her shoulder. “You have served well, but you are more than just a servant to the people.”

“I know, but it’s time for you to go.”

Andromache squeezed her hands before pulling her baby closer to her and ran from the temple. Eliza turned to King Priam, pulling her sword from her back. “I will stay here and fight with you and for you.”

“No, my dear. I need you to leave the city. This will not be the battle you die in,” Priam still stood tall.

“Thank you, your highness, but it is my time.” Eliza smiled a tight-lipped smile. “I’ve been living for too long.”

As the thundering sounds of soldiers approached them, Eliza stood tall. She donned her helmet once again and held her sword bravely on her side. The soldiers that burst through the doors ignored the two people in the center of the temple, moving directly to the statues of Apollo. They tear them down and Priam cries out in pain as they crash to the ground.

“Have you no shame?” He screams, moving forward and away from Eliza.

Agamemnon steps forward, sword drawn and ready.

“No,” Eliza shouts, diving for the King. She parried Agamemnon’s sword away, angering him. They fought, Eliza’s main priority on keeping Priam safe. “Your Highness, please! Leave the temple.”

In her moment of weakness, Agamemnon knocks her aside and into the hands of an awaiting Greek. She thrashed, unable to break the grip of the soldier. They held her back as she watched Agamemnon skewer Priam through the chest.

Her elbow caught under a soldier’s chin, sending them backward and then diving for her sword. As she stands, she sees Agamemnon retreating further into the temple. “Coward!” she called after him.

She knelt down to be on Priam’s level, pulling his body behind a toppled statue. “You’re a fool! I told you to leave while you could.”

Priam grabbed her hand, holding it tight. He slipped a ring off his finger and into her hand. “As long as the people live, Troy will live. Make it out of here, Eliza.”

She watched as the light left his eyes, his head falling slack against the marble. “Damn it,” she muttered to herself, pushing the dead man off her lap and standing up. She fixed her grip on her sword and started to attack the nearest Greeks. On the other side of the temple, she saw the friends she told to leave.

Fighting her way over, she stopped next to Steven and fought alongside him. “I thought I told you all to leave!”

“We were on our way, believe me, but Paris decided to come back for his cousin and we decided he couldn’t do it alone.” Steven’s reason was plausible, but Eliza was still upset.

“Where is Anthony?”

“We sent him forward with Bruce after he came back to us,” Carol spoke to her from her left.

Eliza took down a few more soldiers and started to herd the group to where she says Agamemnon disappeared to. “Agamemnon has killed Priam before dashing away further into the temple.”

Natasha and Clint stepped forward. “We’ll go with you if you choose to fight against him.”

Eliza nodded and the three broke off, leaving the group to defend against the diminishing Greeks. Soon, Eliza was confident that there would be none left in the temple.

Eliza led the two towards the center, holding her arm out when she saw Paris with his bow drawn. Next to him stood Anthony, sword out by his side.

“Anthony! I thought I told you to get out of here!” Eliza marched forward, pulling his shoulder back. “This is no time to be rebellious.”

“I’m not a child anymore. You cannot tell me what to do, Eliza.” Anthony refuted just as Paris let an arrow fly. Eliza pulled Anthony back as they watched the arrow pierce the man’s heel.

They watch as Paris sends several arrows into the man’s breastplate before he finally falls.

“Paris, go get your cousin and then let’s leave!” Eliza pushed Anthony towards Natasha and Clint. “Get him out of here, I’ll cover Paris.”

They left, swords up and helmets down. Eliza breathed, thinking they would be alright. “I’m going to get you both out of here. Paris, give me your bow and arrow and get her on your back and run.”

Paris nodded and handed Eliza his weapon. He hoisted his cousin up and took off running in front of Eliza. If there was any time like the present, she would tell you that maintaining a good shot while running is one of the hardest things she would have ever needed to do.

They met up with the rest of the group and they took off running together. They ran in the opposite direction of the Greeks, heading for the tunnel. Paris tripped, nearly dropping his cousin.

Eliza heard a clear, “They went this way!” Footsteps followed and Eliza panicked. She shoved them into the tunnel, closing it once they were all in there.

“Eliza! No!” She was met with resistance from Anthony, who pushed against the door to keep it open.

“Someone needs to close it on this side, Anthony,” Eliza looked into Thor’s eyes. “Keep him safe.”

Thor nodded and pulled Anthony away from the door.

“I’ve lived long enough, Anthony,” Eliza smiled sadly at the boy. “Don’t forget me.”

She closed the door, sealing her fate and surrendering herself to the Greeks.

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[elissastillstands]

Bitter Myths

Fandom: Star Trek: Discovery Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Word count: 2,783 Relationships: Michael Burnham/Philippa Georgiou Summary: Patroclus fell on the field of battle, and Achilles mourned. 

As a strong tree which stood proud and graceful—having weathered many ills and many lightning-laced storms in the grip of winter, and was just now glowing in full bloom—is snapped by a sudden gust, and falls mightily, its glory of flowers now covered in dust, so too did Patroclus fall.

No matter what Achilles does, Patroclus falls.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15896385

-----

Patroclus fell on the field of battle, and Achilles mourned.

-----

"Wait, Michael, you use the holosuite?" Tilly asks, her eyes widening in delight when she sees the sliver of the program chip in Michael's hand. "Oh my gosh, what program do you use? We should do the Old Earth adventure ones together; they have one about spies in the 20th century—"

"I'm not interested in those programs."

"Which programs do you like, then?"

Michael's fingers curl around the chip protectively, possessively. "It's a copy of a program we had on the Shenzhou," she says at last. "Lieutenant Commander Stamets helped me salvage it from the ship's black box."

"Oh, that's amazing. What is it?"

"It was one of Captain Georgiou's favorites." She has practiced to keep her voice from snagging on the syllables of Philippa's title, and she only needs a breath's pause when she continues, "It is a simulation of the Iliad, an epic poem from Earth's ancient Greece."

"That sounds so cool! I've heard of the Iliad—isn't it about a war, or something?"

Michael forces her lips to smile faint in Tilly's direction. "Or something."

-----

As a strong tree which stood proud and graceful—having weathered many ills and many lightning-laced storms in the grip of winter, and was just now glowing in full bloom—is snapped by a sudden gust, and falls mightily, its glory of flowers now covered in dust, so too did Patroclus fall.

No matter what Achilles does, Patroclus falls.

Achilles knows. Achilles has gone through the motions of the story time and time again. She forbids Patroclus from going in her place. She rushes out onto the field of battle in her wake. They fight back-to-back-on the battlefield. She is always too late—by hours or by minutes or by a split second drawn out into an eternity, Patroclus still falls. It will always be Achilles' fault that Patroclus falls. She spins out strategies like the finest wool, shrieks at the gods for their malice until her voice is hoarse, soaks her hands in phantom blood and dust and weeps until bile rises in her throat and chokes her, and Patroclus still falls. 

And then she starts the program again.

She hacks the program after the twelfth try. Patroclus does not fall, and the shock of it makes her scream at the computer to end the simulation. She slides down to the floor and lies there, curled and trembling in the cold, leaf-like. Patroclus is a story, and Philippa—

Philippa fell.

Michael wipes her cheeks dry and rises to her feet, reaching to restart the program once more.

-----

"Can I play it with you?" Tilly asks.

Michael's first instinct is to snarl like a lion protecting her young, but Tilly's smile is bright and earnest, and curious besides. "If you want," she manages to say. She does not blame her voice for its reluctance, for wanting to cradle what little she has left of Philippa close, as if the stories were gold, or silver tripods miraculously crafted.

"You'll have to explain the story to me, because I don't know anything about old Greeks."

Poets were the guests of kings because stories were—are—power. Stories die if they are untold, but when given voice, they turn clumsy words to birds and bid them fly to rest heavy and piquant on human tongues. The most powerful beings in the Iliad were poets. Helen of Sparta, who told Priam the names of the Achaeans ranged before them like grains of barley settling into fresh furrows and wove the stories of heroes into undying wool, was a poet. Michael has never considered herself a storyteller, but she tries, for Tilly's sake.

"Tell me what's going on in here," Tilly mutters into her ear, fiddling with her greaves after they enter the program.

"I picked Antilochus and Thrasymedes for us. We're high-ranking Achaeans, Greek soldiers, serving under Achilles, who is one of the main heroes for the Greek side. The man armoring himself right now is Patroclus, Achilles' mentor and most trusted friend—" she breaks off then, her words failing her as her limbs do every time.

"Wait, what happens to him?" Tilly gasps. "Oh, no, Michael, does he die?"

"You'll see," Michael says hoarsely.

-----

Saru buzzes at her quarters. She lets him in, and he steps through the threshold and stands in silence, his stance uncertain, searching. Her eyes fall to the briefcase in his hand, and her lungs feel as though they have been burst and pulled from the carapace of her chest.

"Saru, no, I've told you—"

"She would want you to have this, Michael," he says, and his voice is gentle.

"You—you deserve it more than I do—"

"No." The word is clipped. "No, I don't. Michael—" he sighs in soft clicks and holds out the telescope. "This is yours—once both of yours, now yours. It was a travesty for me to take it."

Michael swallows hard. She takes the case, and the metal seems to buzz beneath her hands with the memory of old constellations and falling stars. 

"Thank you, Saru."

"Until tomorrow, Michael.”

He leaves.

-----

"They—they were in love," Antilochus whispers to Thrasymedes as they watch Achilles mourning, covering himself in dust. 

She does not know why she said that, other than the heavy knowledge that stories die when they are not told. Did anyone ever know to say that, to whisper the truth among themselves like the hiss of embers dying, like breath long escaped over the teeth of lovers lying in the sand?

Her voice breaks, more than it had when she announced Patroclus' death to the leader of the Myrmidons, and the crying and shouting is too much for her to bear right then. She calls for the computer to end the program, half-fearing that she could not be heard over the grief around her, and then she is kneeling on the floor of the simulation room, her hands shaking just so. Tilly sits down in front of her and grips her hands with warm, dry palms.

"He loved him," Michael says without looking up. “He loved him, and now he’s dead.” She is no poet—the grammar of Standard is a sloppy, broken thing in her mouth, pronouns and antecedents too imprecise for any clarity of communication, and a cloying anger wells up her throat at the dull blade of language. 

Tilly's eyes are wide, her lips working silently. "Michael, were you and Captain Georgiou—"

"No!" Michael barks, flinching at the words—too ugly, too flat, too imprecise. "I—we—"

She shakes her head silently, because words can go no further.

-----

Patroclus fell on the field of battle, and Achilles mourns.

-----

"We were together," Michael says into the dark of their room, after Tilly tells the computer to turn off the lights. "For years."

Tilly is silent for a moment. "How did you keep it a secret?"

"We didn't. Our whole ship knew, both of our families knew, Starfleet knew, everyone knew. But after she died, and I was sentenced. And they tried to make our story more—palatable." Michael's lips twist. "The heroic captain and the mutineer. Much easier than two women who cared for each other."

"That's—kind of awful."

"It is their story."

As a strong tree which stood proud and graceful—having weathered many ills and many lightning-laced storms in the grip of winter, and was just now glowing in full bloom—is snapped by a sudden gust, and falls mightily, so too did Philippa fall, and now what they had is covered in dust.

"Why do you go into the holosuite?" Tilly asks suddenly. "Michael, that program is hard to watch, much less—participate in. Is it to remember her, or something?"

Michael almost laughs at that—as if there were ever a time when she did not remember Philippa, the sweet lines on her face and the honey of her skin, the rumble of her laughter through the bones of her ribs, the falling. 

"Or something," she says.

She tells Tilly about the captain then—about how they had grated against each other when Michael first came onboard the Shenzhou, but quickly became close; how funny the captain was, how brilliant and sharp. It is no different than the information in her official biography, but the words still are slow to come to her, smoke-dull and inelegant.

Stories are heavy work. 

-----

Stamets and Dr. Culber sometimes are waiting outside to use the holosuite when she exits from the program. When Culber first came back, she had helped Stamets encode a simulation that could ease him back into the setting of linear time, little by little.

The lieutenant commander still comes into their shifts with red eyes and shaking hands. I still dream about him dead. I still wake up, and he's right next to me, and I still think he's dead, he had snapped at her when she first asked. That's not something that just gets better, Burnham. That's not something you can just forget.

"Where are you two going now?" Michael asks, pocketing her chip.

"A little cafe on Alpha Centauri," Culber tells her with a wink. "It was where we first fell in love."

"It was where we first met," Stamets says. "I thought you were obnoxious; there was no love to be found there." His words are not so much a correction as a fond second telling.

"Enjoy your date," she tells them warmly.

Culber's gaze is soft, and Stamets smiles, a departure from his usual single nod, and his eyes are only touched with pink today. His fingers wrap even more tightly around his husband's hand. There is recognition strung between them now. Tilly must have told them. Isn't that why stories are told, so that they can be sung time and time again until the bowl of the sky rings?

The word for glory in the Iliad is kleos. It means that which is heard. 

-----

The next time Tilly enters the program with her, Michael jumps to the funeral of Patroclus. She and Tilly sit on the rust ground and listen to the lamentations of the living, and Michael closes her eyes as Achilles sings in a shattered voice.

"It was his fault," Michael says into the wind, "that Patroclus died."

"No," Tilly says. "No, it wasn't."

"I loved her."

Tilly nods. "You love her."

She sets her hand on Michael's shoulder, and Michael slumps, stricken by the present tense. Patroclus fell on the field of battle, and Achilles lives.

From the corner of her eye, she sees Achilles lead the sacrifices out, sees the blade glint in his hand. Michael had never played the program to here before, and though she knows the story, knows the weight of words like "retribution," she is abruptly furious. She wrenches herself up and dashes to the control panel. Her fingers fly across the interface like eagles hunting for their young, eating up every line of code in their path and spitting them back out, tearing up flesh to feed the future, and the sound of her heart is lead in her ears because all she can think of is how much she hates these bitter myths, these grief lessons, because the necessity of tragedy is not the truth, only yet another story, and people should never be slaughtered for a grieving man's pride, because Philippa is dead and was—is—will always be more than her death, more than grief and anger and a love in the past tense—

Achilles releases the captives, and bids them to return as princes to Troy. 

The Achaeans mill about in confusion before Achilles orders for the funeral games to go on, and they disband, heading for the chariot races. "She never let me play Patroclus," Michael says when they are alone at last in the center of the Achaean camp. She lies back, letting her eyes flutter shut. "She would never play the story, either—we'd always end up fighting for the Trojan side, and strategizing how to win. Or sneaking Cassandra out for a picnic, or weaving with Andromache, or—or challenging Agamemnon for command of the Greeks. Challenging Odysseus to a game of chess! He—maybe it’s because it hasn’t been invented for over a thousand years, but he's so bad at chess—"

The laughter breaks out of her, unstoppable, and she turns to grin at Tilly and lets her cheeks grow wet with tears, light like the fingers of dawn.

-----

As a strong tree which stands proud and graceful, Achilles starts—

Mourning and singing and telling have ever been closely entwined, she reminds herself.

—as a tree which stands proud and graceful, having weathered many ills and many lightning-laced storms in the grip of winter, Patroclus glowed in full bloom, and the sudden gust which felled her does not diminish her glory, and when spring comes again, the flowers will grow around her. 

-----

"Burnham, wait a moment," Stamets calls after her.

He takes out a holochip from his pocket and sets it on the conference table. "I thought you might be—" he stumbles for a moment before hurrying on, "—interested in this. I had a bit of code lying around in dev to tweak into a holo program. Hugh said that I should try my hand at things other than astromycelial engineering, and I had to remind him that I actually am highly proficient in all the science disciplines. Actually, you know what? Consider it a favor to me, if you beta it."

The lieutenant leaves without further comment.

Michael picks up the clip, weighs it in her hand like a coin of bronze. She goes to the holosuite to run the program, and the gray of the walls is turned to the gold of dust in sunlight. The blue and silver of her uniform is jarring against the warmth of a Greek agora—Stamets must not have finished coding the personal costumes.

There is a poet in the center of the agora, and listeners milled around her like ants as she sang of heroes before the war, and how they were each the breath of the other. On the hills around the city, the olive trees are in bloom, their petals sweet snow.

Michael sits, and listens, and breathes.

-----

"I don't know Homer, but this—was not in Iliad," Tilly says slowly.

"How do you know that it wasn't in the Iliad?" Michael asks, brushing her curls out of her eyes. They are sitting in a Trojan courtyard, and children run all about them in clothing worn but carefully patched. They play with toy swords and laugh as they canter on wooden horses, and women with hair knotted like wasps' waists sit on the windowsills and talk about the sky and the things hidden in the mountains. "Maybe it was."

Two little girls come up to them, with spears of twigs and ivy leaves, and Michael and Tilly laugh and pretend to shield themselves.

"Would you take a story as ransom for our lives, my ladies?" Michael asks, holding up her hands in surrender.

The victorious warrior plants her spear in the ground. "What kind of story?"

"An adventure story," Tilly says. "One with heroes and monsters.

"What kind of adventure?"

Tilly pauses, and Michael jumps in. "I'll tell you." 

She lowers her voice to a conspiratorial murmur, and the girls lean in eagerly. "Once upon a time, there were two lovers who went into the desert, to save the spirits of the cliffs by breaking a cursed drought of 89 years—"

"How did they do it?" one of the girls asks.

"Tell us!" the other one says.

"Tell us!" the first girl echoes. 

Michael smiles. Her chest aches as she whispers, "With lightning."

-----

They are Antilochus and Thrasymedes and Alcimedon and Eudorus and many others besides. They end the war. They flee from a razed Troy, carrying on their backs the girls with their ivy spears. They sign a treaty, and the Hellespont is filled with ships that do not carry soldiers.

They build a city on the banks of the river Po and call it Rema Magna, and populate it with shepherds and poets and weavers and potters and singers and artists who carve joyful effigies of life on tomb stelae and priests who draw honey from bee-towns, with the Latini and Rutuli and Etrusci, and there is never a war with which to found Rome.

They sing of heroes beyond the beginnings and ends of war, of pale flowers on a strong tree, and through their tellings these things are both sweet and bitter.

Achilles lives, and tells what the poets do not.

#star trek: discovery #milippa #michael burnham #philippa georgiou #fanfic #L's stuff #I had to finish this before I started classes hence why it's 20 vaguely interconnected snippets #grammar? i don't know her. sensibility? i don't know her. i don't know anything. #also elissa acknowedges that disco lasted beyond 1.75 episodes? how ooc #mmmhhh yes this is the only reason why i took an iliad class #[slams this down on my professor's desk as my thesis proposal] #alexander and hephaestion who???? #count the number of metaphors translated/lovingly mangled from Homer! #count the number of other useless allusions to random classical texts! #anne carson i'm coming for your throne. it's pistols at dawn.

[catyo90]

Hello Everyone. Tonight I want to talk about Greek Mythology.

Specifically on the story about The legend of Troy. 

Now for this, I will go over the Iphigenia first, The Illiad second and the Odyssey third. However, you guys are gonna need some background info and naturally, it starts off with Zeus trying to bone someone. (Fun)

Zeus sought the Nereid ( a sea Goddess who could change shape at will) Thetis. However, it was predicted that if she bore a son that child would be greater than their father. Zeus had fallen in love for her but he decided not to risk having such a son. So he sent word to Peleus and he was just like “Ok”

Peleus found Thetis on the seashore and seized her. See the Proteus gave him this advice as he knew it was the only to have her. Thetis not being too thrilled about being grabbed on transformed into multiple forms like literal fire, water, a lion, a serpent, and a cuttlefish, but Peleus being a badass managed to hold on to her. (Btw how the hell do you hold fire?)

Thetis who was quite impressed agreed to marry him. At their wedding is where the avalanche of the Trojan war starts.

See at their wedding all the gods were invited. ( That had to be way too much chaos.) Except for Eris, The Goddess of Discord. Eris basically burst at the feast of the celebration all Maleficent like and had with her a golden apple and inscribed it “For the Fairest.” Three goddesses in an instant went to claim for it however Eris handed the apple to Zeus to decide. Zeus (doing like maybe the only smart thing) did not want to choose between them since the fury of the other two would be unimaginable. So he decided to have a mortal choose. (This is the dumb part of the idea.) The young prince Paris.

* Paris is the son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy but at his birth,, it was foretold that he would cause the downfall of Troy. (Foreshadowing.) So he was left on a hill to die. He was saved by a she-bear who fed him her milk until he was found by a herdsman. (Only badass thing to happen to him.)*

     One day while he was watching his sheep, Hermes greeted him with the three other goddesses and told him he had to choose the loveliest of them. Each of them tried to bride Paris for the apple. Hera offered him power and wealth; Athena offered him great victories and wisdom. Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world. (Ughhhh) Paris being the young idiot he chooses Aphrodite gaining him the hatred of both Athena and Hera. Aphrodite then informs Paris that the most beautiful woman was Helen of Sparta. 

*Now in some versions, Paris kidnaps her with Aphrodite’s help (Basically being the matchmaker.) but this one isn’t seen as the correct version.

See Paris basically traveled to Troy for some games being thrown, he seemed to have beaten everyone and in fear of the trojans harming Paris. King Priam reveals who he really is and the Trojans welcome him. (Somehow they forgot about the prophecy which they seriously should have just kicked him out the moment they saw him.) 

After this event, his King Priam asks Paris to travel to Greece to bring back his sister Hesione of Troy. He told him that if the Greeks did not return her he was to kidnap a Greek princess. Paris kidnapped Helen as punishment for the Greeks not returning Hesione to them.  Menelaus being pretty pissed off by this went to his brother Agamemnon to ask for his help in bringing her back.

Agamemnon sees this as a way to conquer Troy, agreed to this. This brings us to Iphigenia, Agamemnon's daughter.

     See the Goddess Artemis wasn’t too happy about the idea of Troy being attacked. In her rage, while the men were preparing the ships. Sent opposing winds to stop them from sailing and demanded the sacrifice of Agamemnon daughter. Seeing as this was the only way for them to set sail he agrees. (Father of the Year everyone.) He sends word to wife, Clymenestra that their daughter that he has promised her hand in marriage to Achilles. After he sends the letter he feels troubled for having to murder her, he then sends a letter telling her to stay away however Menelaus intercepts the letter telling him that he has to sacrifice her. However, Iphigenia, Clymenestra, and Orestes soon arrive. Agamemnon seeing that he has to sacrifice her prepares for the ritual. Clymenestra speaks to Achilles and speaks of how wonderful it is that he is marrying Iphigenia. Achilles becomes confused seeing as he wasn’t going to marry her.  Soon they realize the true plot both of them getting fairly pissed about the idea. Iphigenia asks her father why she has to die to which he explains that he cannot travel to Troy until then. the men soon realize that if she dies they can be set off to Troy. Achilles tries to protect her. (Seeing as he is almost indestructible.) Iphigenia then agrees to be sacrificed seeing as it would help her father and the army continue on their journey. (Give this woman a metal.) Immediately after she is sacrificed the winds start off in the right direction and Clymenestra and Orestes are sent home while the army travels to Troy.

*Some renditions say that Artemis snatched Iphigenia and replaced her with a deer as she was taken to safety and became a priestess of Artemis.

After this I will cover the Illiad which will probably be in two parts. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this short story.

#greek #greek mythology #part 1

[madeleineengland]

at what point do you think they started ruining Hectors character? episode 6 was a spit in the face for him, although i confess i liked him in the first 4 eps

It’s difficult to say. He was never perfect in this fiction. Sometimes he seemed okay but other times he seemed OOC, since the very beginning. BBC did a confusing work with him, not very clear. Mostly he played just “the brother”. At the beginning he seemed almost… rude??? He almost killed Paris, during games, like that??? I liked his shocked faces about Helen/Paris situation and when Priam decided to take Helen there. But Hector is the hereditary prince, he can’t just watching… Hector wasn’t okay with these decisions, not because he hated Helen but because he thought mostly for the good of his people. They didn’t represent very well his battles and his struggles as hereditary prince who cares very much for his people. He quarrels with Paris not because he’s rude but because he’s worried, he's arguing by justice and even Paris knows that! He knew his brother is right. They didn’t represent very well their bond either. Hector loves Paris as a brother but recognizes his limits and faults, he knows that it’s all his fault and he “hates” him for causing so many troubles in his country and for a stupid whim because Paris didn’t really love Helen, she was just a sexual toy for him. This perhaps irritates Hector more of anything. Because Paris didn’t act for love either, and Hector maybe would understand in that case. But Paris is just a spoiled child and Hector knows that and he would like him to be different, better. But if they represent Paris as the poor martyr, they destroy the basic of their relationship, and it seems that Hector is the insensitive brother. Before his death in Iliad, Hector encourages Paris to find the true courage in his heart because he knows there is in it, and he wanted his brother to prove that he wasn’t just a coward to others, for his own good, because he (Paris) can become the man he wanted to be. But he (Hector) said it at the right moment, when he believes that Paris is ready to hear such words. Before Hector quarreled with him but always by justice and because Paris deserved it, LOL.

In the BBC show they made confusion, and Hector seems just bipolar and the bad brother. And let's not forget he is the loving favourite son in that large family. Here it seems Paris being the favourite. This is a disgrace because we ALL know how BAD Priam reacts to Hector's death! And his mother, the people... it was heartbreaking for everyone.

His scenes with Andromache are too much short, they deserved better. Their love story is the best of the Iliad! Anyway they’re always cute and loyal to each other… But BBC can doing better. Their goodbye was… meh… it seemed mite compared to the painful goodbye in the Iliad. And he didn’t name his son Astianax to commemorate a young dead soldier! The real name was Scamandrius after the river Scamander, because that poor man loved too much his country.

The worst trait was his role as leader of the City… BBC wanted to make Paris shine but in that way Hector’s role as defender has been diminished. 0 battles, 0 pathos and when they fight Hector results mediocre. The plan in the 5th episode was so dumb, Trojans lost their horses in that stupid way. Hector lost his role as brave and careful leader, as wise discerner. Why people forget that Hector HATED the war? He fought only because he must to. To protect his family. But he wouldn’t want to. Most time he calls that war as "the inauspicious and the hated war"! And he tried to not give up, to give strength to his companions, to have hope; he respected his enemies, even though inside him he was afraid and only wanted stay with his wife, fine and safe.

Okay there are little moments which Hector seems okay… during the travel to his father in law and he did a lecture to Paris. When he comforts his wife for the death of her father. When he says to her that he fights for her and their son. When he prays the gods so that children can grow up with their parents, with their brothers, the husbands with their wives. The flashback during his death about dying for his own country and in fact he died for Troy.

But… BBC really could represent him better: his struggle and his courage and his altruism and his nobility as leader, son, father (the birth of Astianax and Hector’s death in the same episode detract much from the tragedy of this loving and established family), husband, friend (Hector was the only fucking friend with Helen), man, hero…

So… Hector really deserved a better representation. My favorite Hector remains Eric Bana

[ladyfenring]

Austenland 7/9

New Chapter is up!

 Jeyne’s miserable mood cast a gloomy shadow over the goings-on at Highgarden. Everyone had known how attached she was to Theon, and they also knew what a sudden disappearance in an Austen story meant. As such, they were exceptionally solicitous to Jeyne; even Lady Olenna was kinder than usual. But Jeyne could not be cheered.

 Miss Tyrell must have felt the need for action, because over breakfast the next day she made an announcement. “Grandmother has written a wonderful theatrical about the fall of Troy!” she exclaimed. “There are four men and four women--and here we are, four men and four women! I say we put it on before the ball on Monday!”

 “But we only have a few days left,” Sansa reminded her. “How will we have time?”

 “It’s only a little thing,” said Olenna, waving a careless hand. “Not a Shakespeare play.”

 “Besides, no one in the audience will much mind if we aren’t word-perfect,” Miss Tyrell said. “Come on, everyone, it will be fun!”

 With only a few days before the theatrical in question would take place, Sansa did not much see how they could do it. But the others seemed game, and it might help distract Jeyne from her misery, so she agreed.

 “The parts run thus,” Olenna said. “Priam, King of Troy, and his wife Hecuba; their son, Hector and his wife, Andromache; their younger son, Paris, and his lover, Helen; and their daughter, Cassandra, the prophetess beloved of Apollo.”

 “Who’s going to play who?” Gilly asked.

 “Let us draw from a hat,” Miss Tyrell suggested.

 As they all drew names, Sansa had the distinct feeling that it was like the button bag on      Project Runway    , where it was supposed to be at random but really it was staged to make the episode as dramatic as possible. Colonel Baratheon and Miss Tyrell drew the parts of Paris and Helen, Gilly and Sam drew Hecuba and Priam, Jeyne drew Andromache, and Jon drew Hector...which meant that only Cassandra was left for Sansa, who would be paired with...Mr. Tyrell.

 Great.

Read the rest here.

#austenland #fic by me

[streets-in-paradise]

Women of Troy appreciation post

I realized i kinda started a small series of posts about this film because of my excitement about it and the big lack of content there is about it. I’m trying to make my small contributions to fill this gap. Since i already did one fangirling about the men i want to make other a bit more serious to talk about the female characters.

 I have only three ladies to talk about here, the female characters were very few and in their story arcs they condensed the roles other women had in the original story. I understand a bit that, since they already had a three hours long film, they needed to cut some stuff. Even when i understand that, i would had liked to see at least a few more women. To be fair i think the character cut is not gendered, for example, the rest of the very extense list of brothers of Hector and Paris were cutted out in the same way of their sisters. We also don’t see a lot of important greek captains that are not mentioned, in the same way we don’t see other greek queens besides from Helen. I think it was an issue of lack of time for development of more characters. 

For this post i will talk from the movie’s perspective and i will add some of my personal headcanons for this version. Since Troy is pretty much Wolfgang Petersen’s Iliad fanfiction i will ramble from that perspective. In the dvd extras he said he read the iliad in greek , what makes me think he basically created his own fanfict in this movie and,as flawled as it is, i’m here for it. The characters, the costumes, the locations, everything gives you an amazing scense of inmersion. In that spirit, i want to talk a bit about the trojan princesses. 

I don’t own the images i will use. 

Sorry for my terrible english

Helen 

I had to start with her since she is the first woman we are introduced to in the film and she is the most famous female character of this story. I like the approach her story has, she is never blamed for the war.The film picks sides and a moral compass, the narrative is with the trojans and it assumes Priam’s morals. In the context of this adaptation is pretty much impossible to blame Helen. How could somebody blame her for wanting to scape from that husband? Even in the case of her not being sure of her love for Paris she saw a chance to scape and took it. She was a prisoner of a husband who didn’t cared for her, as she clearly states in the talk with Paris “ Before you came to Sparta, I was a ghost”. She was forced to marry a man who didn’t cared for her, she felt invisible and unimportant. Despite being the queen of the damn city, she felt worthless.

Having this in consideration i also believe that, in this approach, the reasons of why Helen could had fallen so fast for Paris are more understandable. He is not only a man that shows interest in her, Paris is such a non threating guy. I can imagine him as this womanizer who is used to win over all the ladies wherever he goes but, when he meet Helen, he fell so hard that he ended up as a dorky mess at least at first. I think he was very different from the sort of guy she used to see in Sparta. Being used to all the rough warriors there Paris is a literal dork in comparison and i think that’s exactly what she liked of him. The tenderness and softness of this non threating reckless dork absolutely head over hills for her. 

Most of her story arc is setted by this romance, i would had liked to see more of her in the city once the war starts. Did the trojans blamed her for the war? Did they support their king’s choice of letting her stay? How was she like as a princess? Did she ever felt like a princess of Troy? She supported the people in any form? How did the rest of the trojan elite recieved her? 

The only hints of interactions we see of her without Paris are with Priam and Hector. The closesness in which they always are makes me think she got close to Andromache as well. I would had loved to see how Briseis reacted to her. Was she upset with Paris for it?  Did they got along? I can imagine her yelling at Paris when she found out, not upset with Helen but with him. 

I love the friendship she has with Hector. We saw only a few interactions of them but i think they developed a frienship and it’s nice how he makes her feel part of the family once the fate of war is decided and there is no chance to avoid it. Priam seems to make efforts as well and i think that she eventually felt part of the family at least with them. 

I would had loved to see at least one scene of actual interaction between Helen and Andromache. I picture them bonding over all the shit arround them and comforting each other but i would had liked to see if they actually got close as i imagine by the hints in the movie, how was their relationship like. 

I would had wanted to see more of Helen’s relationship with the trojans and her story arc expanded besides from her love for Paris and the role it had in the war. Besides from that i love and enjoy her character, i empathize with her and i would protect her against anyone who could dare to blame her for the war. 

Briseis 

Storywise speaking she is a mix of story arcs from different women of the original. She assumes the roles of the original Briseis, Chryseis,Cassandra,Polyena and (at the end) Clytemnestra. Despite this fact I have to say I love this girl. From when I watched the movie for the first time as a child I remember how much I used to love the scene where she is taken to Agamemnon and, while Achilles tries to defend her, she calls everyone out on their bullshit even when her own safety is at risk. Briseis is so unapologetically herself, even in the worst possible context, and I love that. 

We already see something similar in her meeting with Achilles. Let’s think about it for a second, she is there as a captive, her freedom was taken away and all she knows is that she is going to be a slave owned by the most fierce greek warrior in the entire army. Instead of being terrified she confronts him,she raises her voice at him like it’s nothing. Briseis is so used to speak her mind that she does it without hesitation. 

Right after, she stops Achilles from fighting Agamemnon’s men because she doesn’t want to see another bloodbath. To me it’s such a powerful moment because, if we remember that to every man in that room she is nothing but a slave, that action is so fucking brave and awesome. The first time i saw it i was shocked, Briseis calling them out was super badass to me. Also, whatching her killing Agamemnon at the end is so satisfying. 

Since her backstory is not detailed much  i have a few headcanons.i can mention. Her parents are not there, i can imagine her growing up raised by her uncle and being very close with her cousins. I would had liked to see more of her relationship with her family but, since her part of the story gets a startpoint with her capture, we didn’t had much time to see her in Troy. 

Some interaction between her, Helen and Andromache before or after her time as captive would had been great to see, specially because this three women are awesome and it sucks to never have time to see them interacting. I can see Helen and Briseis having at least a small bonding moment after she comes back. I can imagine her being the bridge between Briseis and Andromache after Hector’s death. Briseis must had feel so terrible and guilty. The man she fell in love with killed her cousin.Andromache’s husband. I think she would have a hard time in procesing her own grief but at the same time she would find hard to approach Andromache because of how guilty she feels for what happened. In that context, Helen would help her to get close to her again. At the same time, nothing is mentioned on how people reacted to her return. What if her reputation got questioned? Rumours about her and Achilles affected her life there? I can imagine that, in the case of her getting questioned or judged  by some people, Helen would had encouraged her. 

Other character i would had wished to see her interacting more with is Patroclus. I think the would get along very well considering that both are morally calling out Achilles all the time. He is such a sweet boy, his presence could had been comforting to her. That would make everything more tragic. if she cares for Hector but also for Patroclus then the war upon them would had made her witness how her cousin killed her friend, then the man she loves killed her cousin and got killed by her youngest cousin afterwards. I can see Patroclus and Briseis being friendly to each other and maybe being friends. It hurts like fuck to think about it but it is something that could had been. 

Andromache 

My favourite female character in this film. Andromache is the best, I love her so much. She is such an empowering character despite being the most traditional woman on this list. Actually that is something I love, she is a traditional mother and wife character and a strong female character as well, a proof that one doesn’t exclude the other. Just by seeing how her husband asks for her advice all the time you can think that, if Hector would have been crowned king after Priam, this lady would have been the actual ruler of Troy. She is so clever, an amazing strategist Hector himself is impressed by. When he says to her that she would be a good general you can see it’s totally true. She’s amazing, more clever than lots of trojan noblemen in Priam’s council. 

All the family moments between Hector, Andromache and their son warm my heart. They are such a cute family. Hector and Andromache are perfect for each other. In this version I headcanon them being friends or knowing each other long before marrying, Andromache as the woman Hector always knew he wanted to marry and when he finally does he feels like the happiest man alive. That’s the vibe they give me, a couple that has been in love for a very long time and they know each other better than anyone else. Hector is the best husband ever, so loyal and loving to his wife. They are a lovely couple. 

I had already described a few of the interactions I would have liked to see between her and other characters. As I said, I can see her getting close to Helen, bonding and becoming friends and I would have loved to see that explored. Since Clytemnestra is not in this version we don’t know if Helen had any siblings and I imagine Andromache adopting a sort of older sister role to Helen, even without realizing it directly and more towards acts than words. As we see in hints of the few city scenes they must have spent a lot of time together and, since Andromache has the same caring nature of her husband, I can imagine her ending up caring for her more than what she may had expected at first. Regarding her relationship with Briseis and what i said before i think she didn’t blame her for what happened, Briseis felt guilty about it and may have tried to avoid her because of that guilt for a while until Helen helped them to get close again. 

My biggest complaint to the movie in terms of this character is that I would have appreciated to see more of her interacting with the other women. Also, more of her clever badass self involved in the war like from a tactics perspective or something. Honestly, Andromache should had been in the council of Priam. She and Hector would had been awesome calling out that old priest giving always the wrong advice. Also, i can totally see her leading the group of trojan survivors we see at the end in the director’s cut.

This is all for now, i hope you enjoyed this very long post and my headcanons for this awesome women in the universe of this movie. If you want to add more i’m always open to discussion. 

Thanks for reading this long ramble 

@hrisity12​  I tag you since you already told me you are interested in this post.

#my weird rambles #troy 2004 #women of troy #helen of troy #briseis #andromache #diane kruger #rose byrne #saffron burrows #women of troy appreciation post #female characters appreciation post