echo-loves-flowerboy

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i'm sure i've talked about this before but i so love the moment when priam is talking to hermes in disguise and refers to hector as ἐμὸς πάϊς, εἴ ποτ᾽ ἔην γε, "my son, if ever he was." "my son, if he ever really existed." "my son, if any of this was ever real."

there are so many moments in the iliad where people talk about how their deeds will be memorialized as the subject of song for generations, for better or for worse, but priam almost questions the whole thing, questions his own historicity. this thing that's supposed to make it all meaningful, this thing that men trade their lives for and that women grieve so deeply, being remembered in epic-- what if it's all a fiction? (and it is!!!) priam turns to the audience in that same way that achilles and helen and hector do but instead of making tragic noble eye contact and asking us to bear witness he winks.

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cassandra is either like a little goblin always pacing around and muttering and hissing at people or this very tall looming figure and people feel like she always randomly appears behind them. there is no in between.

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if i always reply very fast or immediately to ppl's messages i hope they don't think im weird. it's my way to convey deep affection and interest in what they have to say. a way to remind them i love them no matter what, hoping they never forget it. also i have adhd

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Sometimes I think about how Odysseus spent 10 years sacrificing everything to get home to his Penelope only for him to end up in the eternal postmordial cuck chair when both of his sons decide to marry their step mothers after his death and Circe, Penny, Telemachus and Telegonus start world’s weirdest immortal patch work family on Aiaia, leaving him to just wait in Hades for his family until the end of days.

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Hyapollo painting. I debated making an angry version but idk if my heart can take it

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Artemis and Apollo would make great chiropractors imo because Apollo can name and identify every bone in your body and Artemis is really good at having bones make loud ‘crack’ sounds

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Zeus favoritism with his kids tho, like the difference between how he treats athena and apollo (his favorites) vs ares is p funny but also kinda sad bc poor ares what did he do

Haha XD Zeus does makes it pretty obvious that Apollo and Athena his favorites. I think Zeus loves most of his kids, Ares being the only exception. IIRC Zeus says he hates Ares because of his stubbornness. But I like to think what he said to Ares in the Iliad was due to the stress whatever going on the earth had given him, and that even if he considers Ares a problem child, and probably the least likeable, he still cares for him.

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Two things! 1. Thanks for reporting on Apollo, he is my favorite god by far!! 😭

2. In an old post where you talked about the type of relationship that the main gods had with each other you said that there was a lot to talk about the relationship between Zeus AND Apollo!! Can you take advantage and tell it?

I can definitely talk about Apollo and Zeus!

Basically, Apollo is Zeus' favorite, his pride and joy. I know a lot of people believe Athena is the favorite, but I say Apollo is just as beloved, if not more and I'll tell you why I think so. I'll start by putting together various myths that surround both of them.

1) Zeus' protectiveness

Starting with Apollo's (and Artemis') birth, even though Zeus didn't directly help Leto, in one version, he asked Zephyrus to carry Leto away to Poseidon, so that Poseidon could protect her. He also managed to calm down Hera by the time the twins were born.

And when later Apollo killed Python, according to Pindar, Gaia wanted to send him to tartarus. But obviously that didn't happen and we can assume that it was because Zeus intervened on his son's behalf.

In Euripides' play, there's a particularly cute segment where Apollo, as a little boy, went to Zeus, wrapped his arms around him and supplicated him to deal with Gaia who has been interfering with his oracular business. And of course Zeus agrees and makes Gaia lose her prophetic influence on mortals.

There's also a version of Coronis' tale where Ischys, the guy with whom Coronis had cheated on Apollo with, got killed by Zeus.

In the satires written by Lucian, Zeus got defensive when Momos made fun of Apollo.

Lastly, this is just my interpretation, but in stories where Zeus intervenes in a couple of fights - the Apollo vs Heracles , Apollo vs Idas - makes me feel like Zeus did it because he was overly protective of Apollo (just like did with Athena - Pallas)

2) The way Zeus appreciates Apollo

In Iphigenis in Tauris, when Apollo killed Python and took over the delphic oracle for himself, Zeus is shown to have been proud that Apollo has started serious business at such a young age.

The opening of Homer's hymn to Pythian Apollo shows us Zeus welcoming Apollo and personally pouring a drink to his son. How sweet is that :3

In another scene where Apollo is entertaining the gods, Zeus and Leto together are shown proudly watching their son (Hera is absent oop-).

In the Iliad, whenever he commands Apollo to do something, he calls him "Dear Phoebus" (I've also seen it translated as "friend Phoebus) which is very sweet and shows that Zeus is quite fond of Apollo.

And in Lucian's work, he also appreciated Apollo by telling Momos how much work his son has to do everyday, and how difficult the job is for him.

3) Zeus grants a lot of Apollo's requests

even when he's personally offended. Take the story of king Periphas, whose reputation had personally offended Zeus and he wanted to destroy the king and his entire kingdom, but when Apollo asked Zeus to not do that, he ceased from killing them. In the case of Prometheus too, Zeus agreed to free the Titan when Apollo begged for it.

When Apollo appointed Hermes as the messenger god, Zeus approved that.

He also resurrected Asclepius on Apollo's request, in spite of Apollo killing the cyclops .

And here is what sealed my belief that Apollo is no less of a favorite than Athena: once Athena was using mantic dice to give out prophecies, and Apollo was unhappy with this. He complained to Zeus about it and Zeus made dice divination inferior (and Athena just threw away the dice lol)

Now this is again my opinion, but the whole thing with "Apollo tricking the Fates into postponing Admetus' death" is quite a serious offense, but surprisingly Apollo does not get punished for that. I like to think that that's because Zeus gave him the permission for that (maybe not openly, but more discreetly).

4) Apollo has some favorite child privileges.

He is said to be sitting on the immediate right of Zeus (according to Callimachus), he gets to use Zeus' lightning bolts and the aegis too (like Athena does), and he is the only one allowed to read the will/mind of Zeus.

5) Apollo acts as Zeus' right hand man

Now this could be said of Hermes and Athena also too, but I'm pointing this out because people tend to easily forget it. In the Iliad, Zeus sent Apollo to help the Trojans, since he was secretly rooting for Troy ,in spite of taking a neutral stance, and Athena was fighting against them. He also entrusted his son Sarpedon's body to Apollo and asked him to clean it up and hand it over to Thanatos and Hypnos.

In Orphic theogony, a similar responsibility is given to Apollo - he is asked by Zeus to bury the remains of Zagreus.

In the account given by Plato on soulmates, after Zeus tore apart the humans, he tasked Apollo with stitching them and bringing them back to life.

And of course the whole deal with Apollo's oracles is to pass on the will of Zeus to the mortals. Apollo is basically serving as an extension of Zeus. Arguably, that is one of the most important responsibilities and Apollo was the one Zeus trusted it with. He also actively prevents other gods from taking away this role from Apollo.

6) Apollo's rebellious nature and how Zeus deals with it.

In Alcaeus' hymn, when Apollo is born, Zeus adorns him with a golden headband, gives him a golden chariot driven by swans and asks him to go to Delphi to establish his laws. But Apollo instead just takes the chariot and flies away to Hyperborea and stays there for a whole year (rebellious from the get go XD) Of course, Zeus doesn't punish Apollo for this.

(I'm not bringing up Apollo and Poseidon's servitude under Laomedon because even though it is believed to have been a result of Apollo and Poseidon rebelling against Zeus, we don't really have evidence to say that that was the case. I only vaguely remember there being evidence of it in some scholia but I'm not able to find it at the moment so. Also in the Iliad especially, the coup - whose participants are Hera, Athena and Poseidon- and the servitude under Laomedon are clearly two separate, unrelated events)

But when Apollo killed Cyclopes in retaliation for Zeus killing Asclepius, Zeus intended to throw him into tartarus. This was an instance where he was clearly very upset with his son, and probably felt betrayed too. Even so, he changed his mind thanks to Leto, which makes me feel like he did not fully intend to carry out that punishment, and it was more a decision made in the spur of the moment. And as the alternate punishment, he made Apollo serve a slave and spend time on the Earth. This is in contrast with say, Hera - who was tied and dangled above tartarus. Zeus could have done something similar with Apollo because while one could argue that exiling and making Apollo a slave is pretty humiliating, it's still not as bad as being hung over tartarus. Besides, Zeus made Apollo serve under a very kind hearted king (and by the looks of it, Apollo actually enjoyed his time there, being in love with Admetus and all). So I think even after all that had happened, Zeus still forgave Apollo and went easy on him and even agreed to grant godhood to Asclepius on Apollo's request.

7) Apollo as Zeus' eldest son

Apollo is Zeus' first son in Hesoid's Theogony (born after 19 daughters). Putting it in the context of ancient Greek society, that would make Apollo quite important for Zeus in a way that no other child can be. And while Homer doesn't explicitly say that Apollo is the first son, it is quite evident in his works (Homeric hymn to Apollo, the Iliad) that Apollo's image is that of a first born son, - he is the only one who has access to Zeus' will, all the gods except Zeus trembled when he entered Olympus, Zeus often turned to him for help during the trojan war.

("Apollo" by Fritz Graf)

Of course, Zeus is never going to give away his throne to anyone and Apollo has no serious intent of overthrowing his father, but some scholars share the view that Homer paints Apollo as a potential usurper of Zeus, but also emphasizes how Apollo is very much on Zeus' side, using his powers for Zeus and not against him.

(^Source for this bit: "The Homeric Hymns: Interpretative Essays" by Andrew Faulkner & "Nursemaid to a Monster: Typhon and Pytho in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo" by Kelly E. Shannon)

Moreover, Apollo being Zeus' first son and sort of an unofficial crown prince would neatly explain all the ways in which Zeus favors Apollo over his other children.

Lastly, this is my take on them: They both obviously have a strong bond founded on love and respect for each other. The road wasn't and isn't always smooth for them. I like to think that Apollo held some bitterness towards Zeus for not helping Leto (before eventually letting it go), but he still wants his father's attention and approval. In return, Zeus has complete trust in Apollo, which is why he entrusts a lot of important duties to him. After all, he knows very well of Apollo's struggles and his efforts to rise to power. Zeus might sometimes be more stern on Apollo than he is on the others, but that's because he doesn't want anyone saying anything unpleasant about his son. I also think he doesn't entirely understand or approve of Apollo's extreme attachment to some humans, but he is ready to turn a blind eye as long as nothing drastic is happening (not without his permission at least lol). It's easy for some people to call Zeus a bad father, but we should also remember that despite being knowledgeable and wise, Apollo can be a difficult child to deal with - he is haughty, reckless. Messes with primordial deities and cosmic order, wears his heart on his sleeve, forgets his duties when he falls in love. It's like he is a perpetual teenager not only in appearance, but also at his heart lol and Zeus does try his best to deal with it in the best way possible :') But they do get along well most of the times and no matter how bad their once in a while conflicts can get, I think nothing is irreconcilable :)

(Here's a post where I've linked sources for a lot of the myths I've mentioned. If there's anything you want to know the source for, let me know)

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Ty for the tag <3

1. Star Trek

2. The picture of Dorian Gray

3. Everything I hate about the Sims 4

4. Greek Mythology

5. Aztec human sacrifice

np tags @jes-2014 @noctilionoidea @alaskanskald @mydarlingdearestdead @fangirling-and-stuffs

I saw this meme going around on twitter and I think it'll be perfect for this account.

List 5 topics you can talk on for an hour without preparing any material.

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Thank you fir the tag <3

Currently reading: The Odyssey send help

Last series: Ninjago Dragons Rising

Last song: Crush Culture - Conan Grey

Last film: Das Kanu des Manitu (german shit don’t even ask TT.TT)

Sweet/savory/salty: Sweet dessert and salty snacks

Tea or coffee: Tea, but only red tea

Working on: That godforsaken Hyapollo fic that’s been wracking my brain

Tags: @jes-2014 @noctilionoidea @alaskanskald @mydarlingdearestdead @fangirling-and-stuffs + anyone who wants to :)

Tag nine people you want to get to know more!

Thank you for the tag, @laeliana !

Currently reading: Bordiga, Party and Class + The Democratic Principle

Last song: Seb Lowe, We must defend ourselves

Last film: Probably Les Miserables. I don't watch television.

Last series: BBC Merlin. Again. I don't watch things, but it's good background noise.

Sweet/savoury/salty: salty. The incident.

Tea or coffee: Whatever gives me the most caffeine. I prefer tea.

Working on: oh patria. Fanfiction I'm working on a merthur fluff fic, Politics/job i'm working on a piece of legislation I legally can't state without being fired, and for school I am working on a public oratory speech on the commonization of literature and the downfall of the classics

I know too many people. @knotanowl @rollinolwyn @thechildofshadows @bejeweledweaponz @barjarjinks + open tag

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sorry if you read my fics and you see the same very specific phrases over and over again

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Chapters 2/12

Fandom: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore

Rating: Explicit 

Warnings: Major Character Death 

Relationships: Apollo/Hyacinthus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)

Did it mean anything?

Did you think for a single second before turning my life upside down for your own amusement?!

Is this what godly favor feels like? Like loss?

[Turns out there are emotional consequences to hooking up with a god]

Chapter 2 is done! :D

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✨UwU🐀✨

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Achilles on Skyros nonsense

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hector: i’ll even let you keep my armour! achilles: achilles: THAT’S MY FUCKING ARMOUR