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doob-or-something · 1 month

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Something I find makes the life and death of Achilles far more tragic is the fact that all he is is the Trojan War. His parents’ wedding begins the conflict, and he dies before the end of the war. His entire life was spent in something he had no control over. Did he know Helen? Paris? Hektor? The Trojans became his enemies only when he reached the beaches of Troy.

Hell, if we go by the Achilleid, Achilles didn’t even know what the war was about until he was sailing to Troy. A young boy whose birth produced an unjust prophecy that dictated the rest of his life: Live long and die in obscurity, or die in war and live in the minds of the people forever. No greek man of his time could bear to die in obscurity, but it was especially impossible for Achilles to do so. His father Peleus, a legendary Argonaut whose adventures would be remembered for millenia, his mother Thetis, a towering goddess raised by the queen of the gods herself.

Their child had to be known.

At Aulis the greeks call for Achilles, a legend before he even steps into the battlefield, and he is forced to go to war. And he fights, he kills, he ravages the city of Troy. A boy who has never even seen a battle in his life, living in peaceful Pthia and later protected by mighty Chiron in Thessally, becomes a machine specifically created for one purpose: To destroy Troy.

This is the reason why Achilles refuses to fight after the taking of Briseis. Unlike Agamemnon, who lived before the Trojan War, who had a wife and family before the Trojan War, who will leave Troy. Or Odysseus who will tell his tales to his son and wife after 20 years away. Or Menelaus who after years regains his family and rules Sparta in peace. Achilles has no life, no future, he IS Troy, more than even Hektor, Paris, and Priam are. Thus, when his honor is threatened, everything he has ever lived for has been taken away from him. Realize that before the taking of Briseis, Agamemnon mentioned takingthe “bride prizes” from the other greek kings and despite this not going anywhere none of them attempted to argue. Would Odysseus attempt to kill Agamemnon if his bride prize were taken? Would Diomedes or Greater Ajax?

And yet, after Achilles lives his entire life for war. After he struggles and suffers so much at the face of adversity. At the loss of his everything, Patroklos. At the slight to his honor. He spends the rest of eternity regretting everything he had ever done. Perhaps it is a mercy to Achilles that shades forget their life on earth

#the iliad #iliad #doob #greek mythology #homeric epics #achilles #achilleid #diomedes #greater ajax #ajax #agamemnon #tagamemnon #odysseus #ramblings #patroklos #patroclus #patrochilles

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firnen-the-teragram-teabag · 13 days

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katerinaaqu · 1 month

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Isn't it freaking adorable how both Odysseus and Penelope could remember down to exact detail what clothing she had packed for Odysseus before he left for war even 20 years later?!

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

And she packed them herself. She didn't use the help of any servant or slave to do it. She wanted to prepare her husband herself. What is even more is that all the clothes were of vibrant colors which had me thinking;

What if Penelope deliberately prepared vibrant colored clothes for Odysseus solely so that she could see him from afar for as long as possible?! And man I can so imagine her doing the same! Like standing on the top of the hill where the palace is, wearing a vibrant dress that floats in the wind, holding baby Telemachus in her arms and watch Odysseus's bright tunic on the ship and Odysseus turning his head to look up at that aetherial figure on the hill almost leaning over the ship to see her JUST FOR A LITTLE LONGER until he cannot see her anymore and this is where he keeps looking at his island becoming smaller and smaller to the horizon, shedding tears of goodbye

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Man ninjas are cutting onions around me again!!!

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eyeinthemirror · 2 months

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Homeric Odysseus and EPIC Odysseus are ultimately two very different breeds of chaotic human.

And as someone who is currently studying The Odyssey as part of their Classics course…I love both Odys in equal measure.

#the odyssey #odyssey #odysseus #homer #homeric epics #epic the musical #jorge rivera herrans #greek mythology #classical mythology #classics #classical studies #basically what I’m saying is #please go and read the source material #if you haven’t already #you’ll love it

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argetcross · 3 months

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The Homeric Question feat. Prince Zagreus

For further reading, please check out Martin West's "The Homeric Question Today".

Additional caveats and comic text after the cut:

Additional Caveats:

Writing in Greece existed during the Bronze Age in the form of Linear B (and other systems such as Linear A on Minoan Crete), but after the subsequent collapse of Bronze Age civilization, the system disappeared from Greece.

The first mention of Homer as the author of both poems comes from comes from 520 BCE, a century or more after the poems were created. Prior to this, there was much debate even in ancient times as to the poems' origins, some citing different authors, others saying the creators were anonymous.

Comic Text:

Title: Greek History 101 with Prince Zagreus

Subtitle: The Homeric Question

Written and drawn by Argetcross. Colors by Spleen.

[Panel 1]

NARRATION: Although he might not look it, the Prince is quite the avid reader.

NARRATION: Stuck in the Underworld, it's the only way he learns about the heroes of old. He particularly likes the Iliad and the Odyssey.

TEXT AROUND ACHILLES: The mistakes of my youth.... Embarrassing (<- A Hero of Old)

[Panel 2]

ZAGREUS: To create such a work, Homer must be a poet to rival Orpheus!

[Panel 3]

HERMES: Actually did you know Homer might have never existed?

ZAGREUS: Huh?

[Panel 4]

NARRATION (HERMES): Before the Phoenician alphabet came to Greece (~8th century BC), all the tales were sung by oral poets! They were the ones passing the story down.

NARRATION (HERMES): When the Iliad and Odyssey were written down, those writers certainly used the work of the poets before them. Scholars even believe the two epics were written at different times by different people!

HERMES: So you see, it really was the work of generations that made these poems. (Also there is no record of a man named Homer.)

[Panel 5]

ZAGREUS: You're a sly guy, putting your name on so many people's work...

(IN-GAME) NARRATOR: Stop looking at me like that!

#hades game #homeric epics #zagreus #hermes #ancient greece #greek mythology #the homeric question #the iliad #the odyssey #my art #fan comic #ancient history #ancient greek literature #hello this came to me in a dream #i now inflict it upon you #please read the paper it's so funny and good

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orchestrated-haunting · 5 months

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girlbosses your penelope

as one of my friends said “slay girlboss queen”

#tagamemnon #odysseus #odysseus fanart #penelope #penelope fanart #the odyssey #homer’s odyssey #orchestrated art #classical studies #homeric epics

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flowersforfrancis · 11 months

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Various depictions of Achilles and Patroclus.

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stuffforme2 · 6 months

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I LOVE THE ILIAD BECAUSE .IT TELLS YOU WHOSE BLOOD WAS SPILT IT MAKES EVERY SOLDIER IN THIS WAR IMPORTANT .DOR THEY FOVE THEIR LIVES .FOR THIS CAUSE THIS VICTORY THAT RHEY MA NOT EVEN WIN THEY IN THEIR OWN RIGHT ARE HWROES AND THEYRE BLOODLINE DESERVES TO BNE TOLD EVERY ONE OF THEM HAS A STORY AND WE GET SMALL GLIMPSES OF THOSE STORIES. INSTEAD OF THE ILIAD .BEINF FOXUSED ON ONE GIY ONE SOLDIER MAKINF EVERYONE ELSE NON IMOORTSNMT IT FOCUSES ON EVERYONE BENCAUSE EVERY SOLDIER IS IMOORTSNT EVERYONE OF THEM HAD A LIFE AND THE ILIAD SHOWS THAT RHE SOLDIERS ARE PEOPLE.

#the iliad #the illiad #homer #homeric epics #homer's iliad #greek posts #greek gods #greek mythology #achilles #tagammemnon #agamenmon #ajax #diomedes #homer's odyssey #odysseus #helen #helen of troy #hector #troy story

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gemsofgreece · 8 months

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Fun fact:

This is a real line from the Iliad.

Ancient Greek:

«Οὐκ ἔστι λέουσι καὶ ἀνδράσιν ὅρκια πιστά»

Modern Greek:

“Δεν είναι λεόντων και ανδρών οι όρκοι πιστοί»

English:

“There are no true oaths between lions and men”

#Iliad #Homeric epics #Achilles #Achilles vs Hector #Homer #Troy #Brad Pitt #greek facts #greek culture

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victusinveritas · 11 days

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#tumblr screenshot #the iliad #achilles #homeric epics #homer

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doob-or-something · 16 days

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Couldn’t see the eclipse so here’s a quick Apollo instead!

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estherwordnerd · 3 months

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I was waiting impatiently to find out what Emily Wilson's Iliad would have to say about Achilles and Patroclus and this is just the introduction but suffice it to say I feel safe going into this knowing she understood the assignment on a deep and profound level.

Like OK go off queen I knew we could trust you!

#“from at least the fifth century BCE onward” has blown my mind #remind me of that next time someone talks about gay media like it's a new fad #the iliad #homer #homeric epics #epic poetry #emily wilson #achilles #patroclus #achilles x patroclus #patrochilles #translated literature

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katerinaaqu · 1 month

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Remembering "The Odyssey" (1997) and when I get to the part of the murder of the suitors there is one thing I loved about that movie:

In the moment when the suitors are trying to bend the bow made by Odysseus and try to pull the string in it. They used their hands and failed but then the movie does something incredible. Odysseus uses his leg to bend it and put the string on it which made me realize;

Maybe that is the reason why no one could bend the bow in the first place. Because it was never about strength at all!

Odysseus was known for his strong arms and his capability with Spear and sword but he was never the strongest man out there. However he was known to be the most cunning. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the principle with which he made his bow as well. Maybe the bow could be bended only if someone put a certain resistance to a specific place of it.

So that's why no one ever bended the dang thing. Odysseus built a freaking puzzle-box-bow!

😂😂😂

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eyeinthemirror · 2 months

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'Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus',

J. M. W. Turner, 1829

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beardedmrbean · 1 year

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#the odyssey #homeric epics

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orchestrated-haunting · 3 months

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Random dnd headcannons I had for some characters of the epic cycle because I just had neurons activate. This is gonna be long so they’re mostly under the cut.

Odysseus would be the DM, making riddles and puzzles for the party that he thinks is pretty easy to solve, but the party still spends the entire session trying to solve it.

He likes to fuck around with everyone. Has a doppelgänger infiltrated the party? Yeah probably. Has someone been following the party? Most likely. The party has to be on their toes at all times.

Odysseus plans far in advance for his sessions and somehow (like every dnd party does) the party goes in the completely opposite direction, so Odysseus is improving the majority of the sessions, but thanks to his storytelling abilities literally no one can tell unless Odysseus expresses how much he’s flying by the seat of his pants.

Achilles would prefer to play martial classes like fighter or barbarian. It’s not that he doesn’t like the spell casting classes, he just prefers to be on the front line. Give him a lvl 20 fighter and that man will go HAM.

He falls head over heels for every NPC he meets. He wants to smooch every single one. The rest of the party just sigh at his antics.

He and doors hate each other (he spent like 5 turns trying to open a locked door before he eventually got pissed off and just broke it down).

Patroclus prefers tanky classes that can also support the others so cleric and paladin are the classes he tends to play.

That being said he still loves to do damage. His main build is almost always a battle cleric so he can still heal but leave the majority of it to someone who is exclusively a healer.

Hector, man, he’d likely multiclass between something that’s support but also a martial class. I could see him playing a Paladin build the most often.

I think he tried to play a full caster class once and decided there was just to many things to keep on top of for himself, but he still enjoyed how useful spells are so he doesn’t mind a half caster class.

And while the majority of the party are probably chaotic neutral, he plays almost exclusively lawful characters. His characters almost always have a strict set of morals and a code that they follow.

I could see Paris playing caster classes. Give him any charisma caster, warlock, bard, etc. and he is having the time of his life.

Like Achilles I think he would try and romance so many NPCs, and boy does he use that charisma stat to its full potential. If he’s a bard you better assume he’s also using bardic inspiration on himself.

Penthesilea and Achilles are always trying to one up each other. She almost exclusively plays barbarians and if Achilles is playing one as well they WILL keep a kill count to see who ends up having killed the most by the end of the campaign.

She’s the starter of the tavern brawls, to which Achilles and Patroclus gladly join in. She’s also the one who is always the test dummy if the party is afraid of traps or failing a puzzle.

“What if it’s trapped??”

“I open the door.”

“Take 2d6 fire damage.”

At first you’d think Circe would play spellcasting classes but she does enough of that as is she’d want to do something completely opposite like a rouge. She’d love that.

I can see her giggling after pick pocketing one of the other party members while she just waits for them to figure it out. She’s a menace in a different way than either Achilles of Paris.

She’s not trying to romance any NPCs if she wanted to romance someone she’d just choose a real person. But boy her characters have sticky fingers.

#the epic cycle #homer’s illiad #homer’s odyssey #homeric epics #odysseus #achilles #hector of troy #paris of troy #penthesilea #circe #orchestrated writing

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