she will NOT stop yelling at me

More than two millennia pass after Imhotep's description until we once more hear of cancer. And again, it is an illness cloaked in silence, a private shame. In his sprawling Histories, written around 440 BC, the Greek historian Herodotus records the story of Atossa, the queen of Persia, who was suddenly struck by an unusual illness. Atossa was the daughter of Cyrus, and the wife of Darius, successive Achaemenid emperors of legendary brutality who ruled over a vast stretch of land from Lydia on the Mediterranean sea to Babylonia on the Persian Gulf. In the middle of her reign, Atossa noticed a bleeding lump in her breast that may have arisen from a particularly malevolent form of breast cancer labeled inflammatory (in inflammatory breast cancer, malignant cells invade the lymph glands of the breast, causing a red, swollen mass).

If Atossa had desired it, an entire retinue of physicians from Babylonia to Greece would have flocked to her bedside to treat her. Instead, she descended into a fierce and impenetrable loneliness. She wrapped herself in sheets, in a self-imposed quarantine. Darius' doctors may have tried to treat her, but to no avail. Ultimately, a Greek slave named Democedes persuaded her to allow him to excise the tumor.

Soon after that operation, Atossa mysteriously vanishes from Herodotus' text. For him, she is merely a minor plot twist. We don't know whether the tumor recurred, or how and when she died, the procedure was at least a temporary success. Atossa lived, and she had Democedes to thank for it. And that reprieve from pain and illness whipped her into a frenzy of gratitude and territorial ambition. Darius had been planning a campaign against Scythia, on the eastern border of his empire. Goaded by Democedes, who wanted to return to his native Greece, Atossa pleaded with her husband to turn his campaign westward – to invade Greece. That turn of the Persian empire from east to west, and the series of Greco-Persian wars that followed, would mark one of the definitive moments in the early history of the West. It was Atossa's tumor, then, that quietly launched a thousand ships. Cancer, even as a clandestine illness, left its fingerprints on the ancient world.

  —  The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (Siddhartha Mukherjee)

closed  starter          —            atossa  qajar. ( @heavyisthehead )   location  :  a  tea  parlor.                  time  :  mid-afternoon.

 it  seems  that  the  only  solace  osiris  has  been  able  to  find  among  the  chaos  &  madness  of  versailles  is  in  one  particular  tea  parlor.  there  are  at  least  a  dozen  of  these  rooms  throughout  the  palace  —  big,  sprawling  foyers  with  floor-to-ceiling  windows,  comfy  furniture  &  small  tables  meant  to  be  lounged  in.  this  one,  however,  is  a  bit  smaller,  &  only  has  one  door,  which  soothes  osiris's  paranoid  mind  —  one  entrance,  one  exit.  additionally,  because  of  its  small  size,  it's  less  popular  than  the  other  options  in  the  palace  —  but  osiris  considers  it  an  advantage.  he's  perched  on  a  large,  overstuffed  chair  in  the  corner,  one  that  faces  inwards  so  he  can  survey  the  room  while  also  maintaining  a  pleasant  view  of  the  gardens  outside.  as  he  sips  from  a  cup  of  tea  (  one  he  had  meticulously  made  himself,  with  tea  &  sugar  he'd  brought  from  home  for  fear  of  any  errant  poison  left  in  the  french  supply  ),  he  spots  a  familiar  face  over  the  edge  of  his  teacup,  &  a  surprisingly  kind  smile  graces  his  features.    "  my  child. "   he  tilts  his  head,  setting  his  cup  down  atop  a  saucer  on  the  nearest  side  table  &  moving  to  stand,  using  his  cane  to  support  himself.  he  moves  to  pull  atossa  into  a  gentle  hug.  "  have  you  come  to  join  me  for  tea?  "

Random Real Thoroughbred: LITTLE ATOSSA

LITTLE ATOSSA is a mare born in The United States in 1921. By BLACK PINE out of NECK TIE. Link to their pedigreequery page: https://www.pedigreequery.com/little+atossa

Listening and Being Heard in the Here and Now

a sampling from posts leading up to the launch of the podcast to leave you with a better understanding, a desire to participate, and listen to the next episoode, where you are sure to find more conversation with, by, and about writers and others in...

The Listen & Be Heard Podcast is now available wherever you like to listen to podcasts, including right here on our own website. Episode Eight is a window into the mind of Martha and just what is she doing venturing in to podcasting while operating Martha’s Kitchen Garden… with a little poetry thrown into the mix. It is a sampling from posts published here at Listen & Be Heard in the last couple…

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The earnings of the ultra-rich are literally unearned. This isn’t a value judgment: it’s the US tax agency’s term for money made through “investment-type income such as taxable interest, ordinary dividends and capital gain distributions”. While Astor and Rockefeller surely followed the wealth-maximising maxim of buy low, sell high, and put money in trusts, charities and other vehicles to minimise taxation, we’ve seen this logic taken to the next level, without policy changes to correct for it. Most of us pay tax on our incomes at double-digit rates; if we’re fortunate enough to own assets, we pay tax on the profits when we sell them. Billionaires, on the other hand, “can borrow against their growing investments year after year without owing a dime in taxes, allowing them to pay lower tax rates on their income than ordinary Americans pay on theirs”. That statement doesn’t come from Bernie Sanders, by the way, but from the achingly centrist White House, which in 2022 proposed a 20% minimum tax on households worth more than $100m. It went nowhere, in part because its subjects so strongly opposed it. The impending arrival of the trillionaire signals another step backwards in the fight for a more balanced economy and healthier democracy. The billionaire class, after all, skews the balance of power in the marketplace, in politics and in society. Its members own newspapers that shape public opinion. They donate to politicians who pass the laws that they want. According to one study, 11% of the world’s billionaires have held or sought political office, with the rate of “billionaire participation” in autocracies hitting an astounding 29%. Another study shows they tend to lean to the right: positions that typically help them keep their own wealth, and that of their peers, intact.

Queen Atossa was a force to reckon with in the Achaemenid Empire! Her extraordinary life as a powerful queen, strategic thinker, and mother of a future emperor defied norms and etched her name into the annals of history.

My name is Amir, prince of the East, no doubt you’ve heard of me

I’m the son of Queen Atossa

Heir to the golden throne

Defender of the burnished realm

Hero of the unstained blade

Protector of the sacred flame

Champion of the eternal truth

Art by me @ ferxotl

[Breaking News]

12:45pm Just in Time for Purim

Once again, you know a Jewish holiday is approaching when the IAA announces a relevant archaeological find.

A hiker in Tel Lachish found a potsherd with the name of the Persian king Darius the Great on it. (He found in Dec 2022, but it took time to authenticate, and by then it probably just made more sense to wait until Purim before annnouncing it).

The Aramaic inscription reads “Year 24 of Darius,” dating it to 498 BCE.

The short text thus records the name of the Persian king Darius the Great (Darius I), the father of Achashverosh.

Inscription Bearing Name of King Achashverosh’s Father Discovered in Tel Lachish

A 2,500-year-old potsherd that was found by visitors at Tel Lachish in Israel’s southeastern flatlands bears a brief inscription with the name of the Persian king Darius the Great, the father of King Achashverosh from the story of the Megillah.

Most researchers identify the biblical king of Persia Achashverosh who executes his wife, marries the orphan maiden Esther and is manipulated by both sides in the plot, as Xerxes I who reigned from 550 to 530 BCE, who burned down the city of Athens after his father had been defeated by 300 Spartans in Marathon. Xerxes was the son of Darius and Empress Atossa, daughter of King Cyrus.

In December 2022, Eylon Levy and Yakov Ashkenazi visited Tel Lachish National Park and chanced on a small potsherd with some inscribed letters, which they duly reported to the Israel Antiquities Authority. The piece of pottery was examined at the analytical lab by the IAA’s Saar Ganor and Dr. Haggai Misgav of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who realized it served as rare evidence for the Persian royal administration at Lachish at the turn of the fifth century BCE.

More: Here

The Muqata

Herodotus and Sappho

"An additional possibility to consider in assessing the intent or effect of Herodotus’ introductory priamel involves intertextuality of a different sort. Could Herodotus’ prose version also respond, consciously or otherwise, to a specific poetic example of the structure, or more broadly to the use of the priamel in a specific genre or genres of poetry? Race has pointed out fundamental similarities between Histories 1.1-5 and Sappho fr. 16, which he considers ‘[u]ndoubtedly the most famous priamel in Greek literature’.74 There is in fact internal evidence for Herodotus’ familiarity with Sapphic poetry: in Book 2 Herodotus mentions that ‘in a lyric poem’ (ἐν µέλει, 2.135.6) Sappho heaped abuse upon her brother Charaxes for buying the freedom of the Egyptian courtesan Rhodopis. Both Sappho 16 and the Herodotean preface embody a particular type of priamel, attested earlier still in the first Homeric Hymn to Dionysus (lines 1-6), in which the views of others are described but then superceded by the author’s own opinion.75 Sappho’s poem presents various perspectives on what is most beautiful (κάλλιστον), which some (οἰ µέν) consider to be cavalry, others (οἰ δέ) infantry, and others still (οἰ δέ) ships; for her part, by pointed contrast, Sappho considers most beautiful ‘whatever one loves’, ἔγω δὲ κῆν’ ὄτ- / τω τις ἔραται (3-4). In addition to the first-person pronominal cap and the capping particle δέ paralleled in Herodotus, note too the generic, anonymous identification of Sappho’s ultimate object of interest/desire as ‘whatever one loves’, before the name of Anactoria is finally revealed in line 15 (cf. the deferred identification of Croesus in the Histories). In the meantime, Sappho has supported her case for the power of love with a mythical exemplum that also finds a place in Herodotus’ prologue, Helen’s fateful departure for Troy. Finally, Pelliccia notes as well the ‘pleasing coincidence’76 in Sappho’s statement of preference for Anactoria over chariots specifically identified as Lydian (19). As noted above, when Herodotus first and at last introduces Croesus by name, he identifies him by nationality as well (.): Κροῖσος ἦν Λυδὸς µὲν γένος … (Croesus was Lydian by birth …).

Pelliccia adduces the detail of Sappho’s spurned Lydian chariots as part of his broader argument that Herodotus consciously evokes this poem in his prologue for the sake of disagreeing with it—for the sake of reversing Sappho’s ‘rejection of martial themes in favor of the personal and erotic’.77 Herodotus thus demonstrates his originality by ‘locating political causality in the axes of power rather than in the whims of lust’,78 exemplified by both Sappho’s predilection and the mythical abductions rehearsed in 1.1-5. Herodotus’ opening story of dynastic change brought about by Candaules’ disastrous ἔρως for his own wife (1.8-12) may seem to pose an immediate obstacle to this reading. However, as Pelliccia points out, Herodotus follows a procedure typical of priamels in merely ‘demoting’ the foil rather than banishing it outright—a tendency also reflected in Race’s characterisation of the relationship between foil and climax as one of contrast and analogy.79 At the very least, Herodotus seems to suggest that in the realm of historical causality the distinction between war and love, between public and private spheres, cannot be drawn so stringently as Sappho has done. This exemplifies a well-known feature of Herodotus’ treatment of causation, whereby important historical events are represented as originating in the personal motives of his characters80—e.g., Darius’ interest in subjugating Greece, a target suggested by queen Atossa in the confines of the royal boudoir as a source of superior serving girls (and as a favour to the Greek physician Democedes, who is eager to leave the king’s court and return to his native Croton (3.133-6)).

Thus the numerous points of contact between Sappho 16 and the prologue of the Histories suggest that, in addition to underscoring points of significant contrast with Homeric epic, Herodotus’ rhetorical strategy may also have evoked an especially well known poetic priamel, imitating its form while contesting its argument..."

From the article of Charles C. Chiasson "Herodotus' Prologue and the Greek Poetic Tradition", Histos 6 (2012), 114-143

At the end of S1:

Queen Lavinia: processing, but trying to be supportive

Queen Atossa: i have waited my whole entire life to become The Best Ally and now my moment has come

hello! ( introduction )

.

information about me:

my name is ashe, but you can call me elliot, lucifer, eve, or neo too

i am a transmasc non-binary ( they // he ), who's a homoromantic

afro-latino ( african american + mexican )

neurodivergent ( auDHD, mood disorder, anxiety, depression )

experimenting with art styles and learning to animate ( slowly )

warnings:

will draw blood // gore

occasional suggestive work

critiques // personal takes

.

i got into TTP approximately two weeks before this account was made and have been obsessed ever since. it's very charming and i love rupert and amir's relationship!

to name a few of my favorite rumir moments:

amir asking rupert to stay

the waterfall scene

"i can't want to be your husband" // "husband-to-be"

"we're destiny" ( *cries and vomits everywhere* )

jealous amir

JEALOUS AMI-

"my dear amir" // "...and my rue" ( *SOBS* )

and some of my favorite moments overall:

atossa talking sense into lavinia

every scene with joan

rupert naming porridge

malkia's introduction scene

barabbas scenes ( he's so. stupid. )

this account will be of art // animatics // animations ( if possible ), writing or snippets, headcanons, AUs, etc. this media got my funk of art block a little bit cleared, so i'm really excited to make future content for it and for this blog.

.

i will eventually make a personalized pfp and banner, i swear-

And barbarians were inventors not only of philosophy, but almost of every art. The Egyptians were the first to introduce astrology among men. Similarly also the Chaldeans. The Egyptians first showed how to burn lamps, and divided the year into twelve months, prohibited intercourse with women in the temples, and enacted that no one should enter the temples from a woman without bathing. Again, they were the inventors of geometry. There are some who say that the Carians invented prognostication by the stars. The Phrygians were the first who attended to the flight of birds. And the Tuscans, neighbours of Italy, were adepts at the art of the Haruspex. The Isaurians and the Arabians invented augury, as the Telmesians divination by dreams. The Etruscans invented the trumpet, and the Phrygians the flute. For Olympus and Marsyas were Phrygians. And Cadmus, the inventor of letters among the Greeks, as Euphorus says, was a Phoenician; whence also Herodotus writes that they were called Phoenician letters. And they say that the Phoenicians and the Syrians first invented letters; and that Apis, an aboriginal inhabitant of Egypt, invented the healing art before Io came into Egypt. But afterwards they say that Asclepius improved the art. Atlas the Libyan was the first who built a ship and navigated the sea. Kelmis and Damnaneus, Idaean Dactyli, first discovered iron in Cyprus. Another Idaean discovered the tempering of brass; according to Hesiod, a Scythian. The Thracians first invented what is called a scimitar (arph), -- it is a curved sword, -- and were the first to use shields on horseback. Similarly also the Illyrians invented the shield (pelth). Besides, they say that the Tuscans invented the art of moulding clay; and that Itanus (he was a Samnite) first fashioned the oblong shield (qureos). Cadmus the Phoenician invented stonecutting, and discovered the gold mines on the Pangaean mountain. Further, another nation, the Cappadocians, first invented the instrument called the nabla, and the Assyrians in the same way the dichord. The Carthaginians were the first that constructed a triterme; and it was built by Bosporus, an aboriginal. Medea, the daughter of Æetas, a Colchian, first invented the dyeing of hair. Besides, the Noropes (they are a Paeonian race, and are now called the Norici) worked copper, and were the first that purified iron. Amycus the king of the Bebryci was the first inventor of boxing-gloves. In music, Olympus the Mysian practised the Lydian harmony; and the people called Troglodytes invented the sambuca, a musical instrument. It is said that the crooked pipe was invented by Satyrus the Phrygian; likewise also diatonic harmony by Hyagnis, a Phrygian too; and notes by Olympus, a Phrygian; as also the Phrygian harmony, and the half-Phrygian and the half-Lydian, by Marsyas, who belonged to the same region as those mentioned above. And the Doric was invented by Thamyris the Thracian. We have heard that the Persians were the first who fashioned the chariot, and bed, and footstool; and the Sidonians the first to construct a trireme. The Sicilians, close to Italy, were the first inventors of the phorminx, which is not much inferior to the lyre. And they invented castanets. In the time of Semiramis queen of the Assyrians, they relate that linen garments were invented. And Hellanicus says that Atossa queen of the Persians was the first who composed a letter. These things are reported by Seame of Mitylene, Theophrastus of Ephesus, Cydippus of Mantinea also Antiphanes, Aristodemus, and Aristotle and besides these, Philostephanus, and also Strato the Peripatetic, in his books Concerning Inventions. I have added a few details from them, in order to confirm the inventive and practically useful genius of the barbarians, by whom the Greeks profited in their studies. And if any one objects to the barbarous language, Anacharsis says, "All the Greeks speak Scythian to me."

Clement of Alexandria

Martin Luther King, Water and Indigenous Wisdom

While the official folks pass around carbon credits, the People should restore stewardship of the land to the people who know best how to get on the path to restoring cool, clean water to the landscape, the ones who never forgot.

I’ve been watching many lectures, lately, on YouTube, given by scientists all over the world about how dire our situation is and how simple the solution, if we can grasp the small window of opportunity that we have, right now, to dream about the lives of our children and grandchildren. Having recently been reminded of an American icon of a previous generation this week, I have an imaginary…

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State of the Author: January 2024

Normally, I wouldn't do a thing like this. However, because I have not actually updated y'all on my WIPs in a while, I thought I might as well!

We'll start with the thing most of you followed me for: long-form fiction. And I call it that since all of these will be over 15k words (hopefully). There are three novels I'm currently focusing on.

LONG-FORM FICTION

Lodestar is currently stuck in a worldbuilding spiral, since it's a near-future humanity in space. While I do love sci-fi, science and math are not especially my forte. I hope to start drafting by the end of the summer, around September.

Vespertine has started on the first draft, though I'm also outlining still - something of a combined process. I am excited to share more of it with you, though it may be tough since most of it still lives in my head. Such is the woe of the artist.

Unto Summer Kings is in the first draft and currently hovering around 15k words! So far it's the longest I've gotten on a novel, and if I stay on track I could start my second draft by May, and begin beta reading by August.

LONG-FORM FANFICTION

I hesitate a little to touch on this one, just because. However, for the pure self indulgence I will. I have three major fanfics currently posted on my AO3, all of them multichaptered.

The Hanged Man is a Naruto SI!OC as Hatake Sakumo, immediately before his death. I currently have 8 chapters out and the main beats of the fic are fully outlined as of this month, which marks a major turning point in the fic's planning.

The Ever-Growing Gloaming is another self insert, this time into the events of Baldur's Gate 3. Vespere, the main character, whose name is subject to change, has been plucked from August 2023 and has not played the game since early access March 2023. Therefore they know less than you might expect.

Finally I have my Supernatural series, For Want of a Broken Nail (Broken Nail Verse). And I know what you're going to say, it's super meta to have a self insert in that fandom, you're writing SPN fanfic in 2024 what is wrong with you, etc etc. But the concept seized me full on by the balls and I already have the first 5 seasons outlined. Sorry, not sorry? No one is obligated to read it anyhow.

I also have a billion ideas on the backburner, ranging from fandoms like Game of Thrones and the MCU (for some reason) to Avatar: the Last Airbender and Star Wars. I'll post 'em when I post 'em!

ART PROJECTS

Wolf in Shepherd's Clothing is a comic of humanity's first lycanthrope, taking place in ancient Mesopotamia, in what is modern day Iran. The main character, Lahar, is gender neutral/ambiguous. So far, I'm stuck in outlining and drafting but hopefully soonTM.

Witchboy (title wip) is a story I'm working on with my partner @fallenorpheus based on various YA novels we read growing up. So far we aren't super set on the story, but it's definitely about a boy who is (accidentally) a witch, his best friend, his adoring father, and his estranged mother.

Dame-Errant (title wip) is a story that, instead of in comic form, is a story that is illustration snapshots, accompanied by short story prose. It is about a butch knight, Dame Johana Talon, who is tasked by Queen Atossa to find her missing son, Prince Khosrow. Typical 'prince(ss) in the tower shenanigans' but then, politics. And boy does Jo hate politics.

I have other webcomic ideas (mtf vs bbeg accidentally breaking a prophecy, team of bipoc/minority characters getting thrown into a fantasy world for an adventure, etc) so feel free to ask.

PERSONAL

I hesitate to touch on this, really, since it's not something that just anyone needs to know, but I've been struggling to find a good name for myself. Hesperos is a good name, but doesn't necessarily feel like 'me' these days. I do enjoy the h/e sounds... I've considered Ezra, but that's just the name of an OC and I'd rather not get quite that meta.

Ah well, sure it'll sort itself out eventually.

THE END

Anyway, thanks for reading! I know that's quite a lot for this one post to cover, but you stuck til the very end. Not sure when I'll start posting again in earnest but I hope sooner rather than later!