#Capaneus

[argeiarenga]

what if Hipponous, father of Periboea, mother of Tydeus, and Hipponous, father of Capaneus is actually the same person?

[alephskoteinos]

There are times where I think Eugene Thacker not only frames the demonic almost solely in terms of the Inferno as presented by Dante, but also seems concerted to map its very context onto the notion of blasphemy as contradiction embodied in living death. Thacker, when describing Capaneus in Dante's Inferno, in which you may remember he is condemned to the seventh circle of hell where the blasphemers (the "violent against God") go, strives to interpret Capaneus statement "what I was, alive, I still am, dead" not as the affirmation of his blasphemous character it is but instead as a statement of himself as just "a living contradiction". That is, in the sense that he is both alive and dead in Hell.

The problem is that from his argument you could say the same about any soul in the Inferno. Thacker's problem is that he assumes Capaneus can't be talking about blasphemy because of the futility of his position. But that means nothing. Capaneus either does not realise the futility of blasphemy in Dante's Inferno, or, in a somewhat heroic mindset, already knows of this futility keeps going anyway. And if Capaneus will not be redeemed, if he is condemned for eternity, it would be more pointless for him to repent. In fact, Capaneus is rather explicit in his aim that, in continuing to curse God/Jove while in Hell, God/Jove will not have a "happy vengeance" from condemning Capaneus.

So from this standpoint, Thacker's argument about Capaneus just doesn't stand, and the Capaneus depicted in Inferno must be understood as exactly the defiant blasphemer he seems to be, not retroactively as a representation of blasphemous life as an ontological statement of living death. Whether that undermines Thacker's argument at large or not, just remember that, since the Inferno figures so large in In The Dust Of This Planet, there's something that must be kept in mind at all times when discussing the Inferno at all, and it's literally this meme:

[lnhwebcomic]

#36 Strugglism!

Special Guest Hand: Capaneus!

[cygniavenue]

uhhhhhh. wip time bc idk when i’m gonna be able to finish this it’s gonna take forever but i like how it looks so far

it’s bb sthe and evadne <3

[regkatouargou]

Paus.2.24

Paus.8.46

[ilions-end]

god this passage where the argive army is visiting the court of lycurgus on their way to thebes, and tydeus (OF COURSE it's tydeus!) loses his temper and sets off a riot

WHO SAID DOWN WITH ROYALTY. like, as a concept?? do you know what your war is all about????

oh gee i wonder which line is said by capaneus the blasphemer. no way to tell i guess

[lionofchaeronea]

On a Statue of Capaneus

Anthologia Planudea 106 (author and date unknown)

Note: in Greek mythology, Capaneus was one of the seven chieftains who attacked Thebes in support of Polynices’ claim to the throne. As he was about to storm the citadel by means of a ladder, he shouted that Zeus himself would not stop him from taking the city. This earned him a swift death by lightning bolt. Dante, in the Inferno, places Capaneus in the seventh circle of Hell as a blasphemer. If such a Capaneus had raged against the towers of Thebes, Having contrived an ascent into the air with a ladder, He would have seized the citadel by force, Fate notwithstanding – For even Zeus’ bolt would have scrupled to cut down such a fighter. εἰ τοῖος Θήβης Καπανεὺς ἐπεμήνατο πύργοις, ἄμβασιν ἠερίην κλίμακι μησάμενος, εἷλεν ἂν ἄστυ βίῃ καὶ ὑπὲρ μόρον. αἴδετο γάρ ῥα καὶ σκηπτὸς Κρονίδου τοῖον ἑλεῖν πρόμαχον.

A scene from Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes: Capaneus ascends the walls of Thebes. Campanian red-figure neck-amphora, attributed to the Caivano Painter; ca. 340 BCE. Now in the Getty Villa, Malibu. Photo credit: Wolfgang Sauber.

[unwelcome-ozian]

I was searching your blog for information on Dante's Inferno (The Divine Comedy) but couldn't find anything. I remember reading about it on here a while ago, so I was wondering if you could direct me to those posts (if they still exist)? Thank you!

There would be nine levels modelled after each circle of hell, a tenth level as the centre of hell the top level would be The dark woods.

The dark woods: The nine circles would be: First Circle (Limbo) Second Circle (Lust) Third Circle (Gluttony) Fourth Circle (Avarice) Fifth Circle (Anger) Sixth Circle (Heresy) Seventh Circle (Violence) Eighth Circle (Fraud) Ninth Circle (Treachery)

Numbers in the system:

Three: relates to sin. The three main types of sin are incontinence, violence, and fraud. Nine: A multiple of three; the number of circles in Hell. Ten: The perfect number is the nine circles of Hell plus the vestibule. Thirty-Three: A multiple of three; the number of cantos in each part. Ninety-Nine: The total number of cantos plus Canto I, The Introduction. One Hundred: A multiple of ten; considered by Dante to be the perfect number.

There are seven major monsters:

Minos, Cerberus, Plutus, Minotaur, Centaurs, Harpies and Geryon.

The three infernal rivers:

River Acheron Styx Phlegethon

The three rivers form Lake Cocytus.

Other:

Demon guards-gate keepers Angels-Open the gates

Three beasts:

A leopard, a lion, and a wolf. The three beasts are metaphors for three different sins: the leopard represents lust, the lion pride, and the wolf represents avarice. They should be placed on the corresponding levels as

The sun represents Heaven, as well as God’s energy and happiness. There should be no sun on level 5.

Some parts in the system from the script would be: Dante, Virgil, Ulysses, Muhammad, Lucifer, Guido da Montefeltro, Charon, and Beatrice.

Example level 7:

Three rings:

Sins of violence take three forms: other people (one's neighbour), oneself, or God (Inf. 11.28-33). Those who perpetrate violence against other people or their property--murderers and bandits--are punished in the first ring of the seventh circle, a river of blood

Those who do violence against themselves or their own property--suicides and squanderers inhabit the second ring, a horrid forest.

A barren plain of sand ignited by flakes of fire that torment three separate groups of violent offenders against God: those who offend God directly (blasphemers: Inferno 14); those who violate nature, God's offspring (sodomites: Inferno 15-16); and those who harm industry and the economy, offspring of nature and therefore grandchild of God (usurers: Inferno 17).

Areas:

Nether hell Phlegethon Wood of suicides Abominable Sand The great barrier/Waterfall Located In Cantos: XII-Murder; XIII-Suicide; XIV-Blasphemy; XV-XVI-Sodomy; XVII-Usary

Parts/Alters

Centaur Alexander the Great Atilla the Hun Harpies Pier Capaneus Brunetto Latini Geryon Old Man of Crete Programmer added parts/alters Suicide Self harm Punisher Some internal programs specific to seven

Centaurs Programming- If parts attempt to leave the area they are shot with arrows.

Boiling Blood Programming-Parts that attempt to leave or break programming feel as if their skin is boiling.

Phlegethon Programming-Punishment programming. Parts are punished by being placed in the river. The depth they are placed into the river correlates with what rule they have violated.

Self-hatred Programming-Form of silence programming/depression programming.

Suicide Programming-(Script specific)

Spiritual Programming-Belief/group specific.

*Typically the script for the Divine Comedy is used in Germany.

Oz

[classicschronicles]

Hi lovelies,

I hope you’re all having a lovely week. The other day I couldn’t sleep (the joys of having crippling insomnia) and so I started deep diving into the chronology of Greek Heroes, and then I found out there are actual like, timelines (?) and generations to them, which I thought was so cool. One generation of said heroes were the “Seven Against Thebes” (which I remembered for no other reason other than the name was cool). And so todays post is about The Seven Against Thebes.

In Greek mythology the Seven Against Thebes were seven champions who were killed fighting against Thebes after the all of Oedipus, the king of the city. Two twins, Eteocles and Polyneices, who has been cursed by their father (Oedipus) failed to agree which one of them was to succeed to the Theban throne and decided to rule it on alternate years- which tbh sounds like a recipe for disaster. As Eteocles turn came first, Polyneices went to Argos, where he married the daughter of king Adrestus. Another daughter married Tydeus, son of the exiled king of Oeneus of Calydon. At the end of the year, Polyneices’ turn to be king of Thebes arrives.

Upon his return, Eteocles refused to give up the throne and Adrestus led an army against him. In his army the chieftains were Tydeus, Capaneus, Eteoclus, Hippomedon, Pathenopaeus, Amphiaraus, and Polyneices. Other shrouded count Adrestus as one of the Seven and omit Hippomedon or Polyneices.

During their assault of the city’s seven gates, Capaneus was struck by Zeus’ lightning bolt. Amphiarus was swallowed up by the earth. Polyneices and Eteocles killed each other (which fulfilled the curse Oedipus had placed upon them). The rest of the Seven were killed by guards at Thebes.

When the sons of the Seven, the Epigoni (or second gear nation), had grown to adulthood, Adrestus once again attacked the city and occupied it after the Thebans had evacuated over nought. He died at Megaera on the journey home after the siege.

The story of the Seven was a great favourite in antiquity. It was the subject for many great pieces of literature included the lost epic ‘Thebias’, Aeschylus’ tragedy ‘The Seven Against Thebes’, and also Euripides’ play ‘Phoenician Women’.

That was a pretty short one, but there isn’t really a whole lot of information of the heroic generations prior to the Trojan generation. However, I did find this topic really interesting and so I might do a timeline/ breakdown of each of the heroic generations. I hope you all enjoyed learning about the Seven Against Thebes, and that you have lovely rest of your week. <3

~Z

[rgraves1]

The Seven Chiefs Against Thebes by Angelique Mongez

The Seven Against Thebes

Now, the emblem of Thebes is a lion, and the emblem of Calydon, a boar; and the two fugitive suitors displayed these devices on their shields. That night in Adrastus’ palace, they began to dispute about the riches and glories of their respective cities, and murder might have been done, had not Adrastus parted and reconciled them. Then mindful to the prophecy, he married Aegeia to Polyneices and Deipyla to Tydeus, with a promise to restore both princes to their kingdoms; but said they would march first against Thebes, which lay nearer. (The Seven Against Thebes, The Greek Myths by Robert Graves, pp 377-383).

Adrastus was King of Argos, with two beautiful daughters, Aegeia and Deipyla, and was beset by suitors wishing to marry them. Chief among these were Polyneices, son of Oedipus, and banished from Thebes by his brother, and Tydeus, banished from Calydon after accidentally killing his brother while out hunting. Following a prophecy that suggested to Adrastus that he should yoke the lion and the boar together to solve his suitor problem, the King offered Polyneices and Tydeus his daughters in marriage. Adrastus recruited a further four champions to lead his army against Thebes: Capaneus; Hippomedon; Amphiaraus and Parthenopaeus, which, including Adrastus himself, comprised the Seven.

The attack on Thebes did not go well for the Seven. Capaneus was struck down by a thunderbolt hurled by Zeus as he attempted to scale the walls; a Theban sally then succeeded in killing Polyneices and Tydeus, despite Athena’s attempt to save the champion with a magic elixir. Amphiaraus was swallowed by the earth, chariot and all, while fleeing from the battle. Thebes stood, despite their king, Eteocles being killed by his brother Polyneices in combat and a prince of the royal house, Menoeceus, killing himself as a sacrifice to save the city. As for Adrastus, he also fled, eventually appearing at the court of Theseus in Athens, who agreed to march on Thebes and secure the return of the Argive dead for decent burial.

The Classical Greeks were of the view that the Theban wars were the Gods’ means of thinning out the Hellenic heroes, repeated for the next generation by the war at Troy. The myth of the Seven also provides numerous examples of the sacred king’s replacement by his brother/tanist.

[argeiarenga]

Bby sthe & euadne & capaneus

[atozphantomsquadron]

Chapter Nineteen: Violence

Day 8

     The night passes without further incident in this part of Circle 7.  No harpy attacks, no further weirdness.  It’s good on a physical level.

     Mentally, however … I think I’m going insane the longer I stay down here.  Every day, new horrors rise to meet me.  I’ve been very strong up until now, but I feel that strength faltering.  My hands shake now.  My eyes have trouble focusing when I awaken.  I don’t feel like I can take a deep breath.  My heart constantly races.

     It might be related, but I haven’t consumed any more holy water since Circle 6’s camp.  Gabe did warn me about this.

     I reach behind me for one of the two remaining bottles, and my heart skips a beat for a moment as my hands find nothing.  Eventually, though, they come to rest on one of the bottles.  It’s strangely heavy, though, and I’m having trouble bringing it to my mouth to drink.

     What if it’s been stolen … replaced with Hell water?

     Disturbing thoughts aside, I bring up my hand, and can barely get the cap off.

     Maybe I’m just way weak.  I did draw the Sword three times without taking a sip.

     I can only bow my head down to the bottle’s neck, reaching my tongue out to the water and lapping it like a cat.  The instant it touches my parched mouth, my strength starts to return … my physical strength, at least. 

     I’m still not quite up to speed in my mind.

     I’m finally lifting the bottle to take a more satisfying sip when the first drop of rain lands on my hand and burns it.  The sizzling sound and the pain alert me to something being amiss.  I quickly cap the bottle and run for cover, which Abaster has already found.

     “What’s happening?”  The rain starts to pour harder, and as it does I can watch it turning the ground to glass.

     “Burning rain … we’re approaching this Circle’s last ring, and we must be cautious.”

     I flip open the Inferno and find where we currently are.  I read the passages carefully.  “Fire rain?”

     Abaster nods.  “More like acid rain, but Dante didn’t have the words for it.  It burns everything and everyone it touches.  We must be cautious, not only directly for your well-being but also for your supplies.”

     I understand instantly what he means.  The bottles have to be shielded.  Abaster removes what’s left of his jacket and wraps the bottles up in it. 

     “Will that be enough?”

     He nods.  “Hopefully.  I have no need for an Armani suit anymore, anyway.”  He looks up in the sky as the rain starts to diminish.  “We might be all right to move, it’s lightening up.  Come, we must hurry, this rain falls throughout this ring.”

     We step out from under cover.  A couple more drops hit me and they burn, but I quickly brush them off of my arms and shoulders, keeping up with Abaster.  “Who do we find in this ring?”

     “All those within this ring committed violence against God, living lives of weakness or defiance.  Of course, there are multiple means of doing this, as you’ll see.”

     As Abaster leads me along, I can only ponder that he must have spent time here … after all, summoning a demon, being an Invader, and killing a Guardsman is pretty violent against God.  So it comes as no surprise to him or me when a giant appears on the horizon, reaching his hands to the sky and screaming various obscenities.

     Then the giant looks our way, and I want to hide.  He smiles over at us.  His voice booms.  “Alastair Abaster!  Come, join me, fight the power!”

     Abaster smirks.  “Much as I would love to, Capaneus, I must be moving forward.  My companion needs to continue on her way.”

     Capaneus narrows his eyes as he looks at me.  “Well well, another defiant soul!  Join me here, girl.  We will never let this break us!  Fight on!”

     My expression hardens as I regard the giant man, standing naked on the sand, covered in burn marks from where the acid has torn at his flesh.  “For what reason do you rage?  What reason have you to defy your punishment?”

     That’s surprisingly Biblical of me to say!

     Capaneus only laughs.  “Young girl, you have no idea.  Defiance is its own reward!  I defied armies in life, defied any power greater than my own, and now I defy the authority of this damned place to punish me!”

     Now I’m angry.  I quickly flap my wings and take to the air, alighting next to Capaneus’ face, and kick him in the eye.  “Then you’re a damned fool, sinner, and you deserve whatever punishment you defy here!  Defiance with no purpose is useless … only if your cause is right can defiance ever be right!”  I call down to Abaster.  “Let’s leave this idiot to his raging!”

     Capaneus looks hurt, but I don’t care right now.  I’ve got a father to save, and I have no time for ridiculous resistance with no reasoning.  When I alight and land next to Abaster, he places his one hand on my shoulder.

     “Well played, Alanna.  Come, let us continue.”

     All too willing to leave the giant behind, I follow close to Abaster, noticing all of the souls who lie on the ground, partially buried in the sand.  Many of them appear to be missing body parts, apparently eaten away from the rain.  None of them are nearly as defiant as Capaneus.

    “Who are these?” I ask.

     Abaster nods.  “The souls in this ring were blasphemers, directly violent against God.  Many were false prophets, others simply defied their faith’s teachings.  They lie here and are burned from all sides … from the sand below and the rain above.”

     Just as Abaster finishes this, another brief squall starts falling, and more acid droplets pound against us.  This time, however, there’s no cover.  The burning is annoying, but doesn’t seem dangerous … it itches more than hurts at this point.  I do, however, feel myself dragging, and once the rain passes I take another swallow from my holy water stock.

     Will I need more as I go deeper?

     As the system passes, I see Abaster moving at a quicker pace, as the landscape starts to change.  Now the territory looks more trampled, but still scarred from the acid rains.  Abaster suddenly pushes me backward as a soul trudges toward us … I’m glad that he does, as a small cloud continuously pours acid down on … it? Him?  Her?  I can’t tell, the soul is so damaged.

     “What is going on?”  I hate asking all the time, but I need to know.  Thankfully, Abaster doesn’t seem to mind answering all the time.

     “This ring is for those who were violent against nature.  Those who tried to twist nature to serve their purposes, or damaged nature carelessly, are cast here to always feel the bite of the burning rains, no matter where they may tread.”

     Six more souls pass us by, all burned beyond recognition.  All six are trailed by their own personal clouds, though some of them are different in appearance.  Some look like regular storm clouds, but others look like exhaust, smoke, poison gas …

     Pollution.

     What’s worse, it smells like pollution.  I’d kind of hoped the really bad smells were behind us, but I guess since this is Hell, no such luck there.  I run across the path back to Abaster’s side before another group passes through.  We walk a different path, away from these sinners, until we reach a ravine filled with red, bloody water.

     “There’s another guardian we must pass by in order to get to the next Circle.  I will summon him here.  You should continue into the rest of the ring, because your father may have come through.”

     It’s a good idea.  I can ask around.  I move away from Abaster and make my way toward a similar desert landscape, not quite as burned by the rains.  There are more souls trudging through this landscape, more of them being tormented, although their punishment seems to mainly be lying face down, weighed down by large crests.

     I gasp when I see one I recognize … one of these souls is a Sharpe.  I remember clearly when Dad shared with me his family history book, especially when we got to the pages with the family’s crest.

    “Daddy, what’s that?”

     “It’s our family’s symbol, Alanna.  You know what a coat of arms is?”

     “We just talked about it in school.  Is this ours?”

     “It is.  See here?  That’s the Sword.  And the stripes represent our bloodline’s history throughout the ages … the red for the Crusades, the blue for Rome.”

     “What’s this on the scroll?”

     “Our family’s motto.  Ut Dei miles resurrectionis fortis contra infernum.”

     “What does that mean, Daddy?”

     “It means, ‘As God’s soldier I rise, strong in the face of Hell.’”

     The motto is what I need to be now … strong in the face of Hell.  What strikes me about this hellbound Sharpe, however, is that the crest has no Sword in it … in fact, it appears the crest was vandalized to remove it.  The motto has been changed, too, scrawled with a new one in its place: Licet mihi succubuerit Satanae tabernus aeternaliter.

     I crouch down to see the soul’s face.  “What did you do in life, soul?”

     The soul barely acknowledges my presence.  He turns his head, eyes glazed over.  Clearly he has been trapped in this position for far too long.  Only one word creaks out of his mouth.

     “Swoooooooooooooorrrrrrrd …”

     At least this soul doesn’t seem nearly as dangerous as Ursus did.  I simply back away from him.  “Whatever you did in life, you had your time to be the Guardsman, and it’s obvious you squandered it.  Live your punishment, ancestor.”

     The soul looks like he’s about to cry.  I don’t care … he’s being punished, he deserves to be here.  Only two Sharpes in Hell don’t deserve to be here, and I’m looking for the other one.  I turn on my heel back toward where Abaster stands.

     “Alanna, we’re just about ready.”  Abaster waves toward me. 

     I quickly return to his side.  “Do you know Latin, by any chance?  I found another Sharpe among those souls over there, and he had the family motto altered around his neck …”

     “Not surprising,” Abaster interrupts.  “Those souls are the usurers, those who in life were violent against art.  In our time, we call them ‘censors.’”

     So this Sharpe tried to censor art?  Why?  Just because he didn’t agree with it?  I shake off my doubts and continue.  “He had our family crest, but the motto was changed to ‘Licet mihi succubuerit Satanae tabernus aeternaliter.’  What does that mean?”

     Abaster puts his chin in his remaining hand, until his eyes spring open.  “Certainly not a family motto to be proud of, that’s for sure.  Roughly, it means ‘May I lie forever under Satan’s boot.’”  I don’t have time to react to the perversion of my family’s symbols before a massive creature rises out of the ravine we passed by earlier, a mismatched monster with a man’s face, serpent’s body, and furry paws.

     “What the hell?!”

     Abaster puts his hand on my shoulder.  “Take it easy, Alanna, this is the next guardian.  He has agreed to allow us passage into Circle 8.  Alanna, this is Geryon.”

     Geryon smiles a snaggletoothed grin at me. 

“Truly an honor to meet Guardsman.  Not much time, though.  Must continue on.”

     Can’t argue with that much.  I collect Abaster into my arms and flap my way up to Geryon’s face.  “How do we reach Circle 8?”

     Geryon grins wider. 

“Take you.  Fast flight.” 

He reaches out with one of his paws and grabs us.  I shriek as he squeezes the breath out of me, then feel my stomach lurch as he takes off nearly straight up at top speed.  No sooner has my stomach dropped into my butt, it flies up into my throat as the beast begins a descent just as violent as the beginning of the flight.

     When he lands, Geryon opens up his paw and drops us roughly on rocky terrain.  I feel like I punctured a lung in the trip, but I can’t disagree with the beast, it certainly was a fast flight. 

     Abaster waves toward the monster.  “Thank you, friend!”

     Geryon waves child-like at us. 

“Happy you see me!” 

He takes off again, I would assume headed back to his own Circle.

     Abaster turns his attention back to me.  “Are you all right, Alanna?”

     I cough and a little bit of blood jumps into my mouth.  Suitable, I have to suffer violence to leave the Circle of the violent.  I wipe the blood away with my hand, trying to hide it from my escort.  “I’m all right, considering.”

     “Good.  We must keep moving.  Circle 8 awaits us.”

[vocataestusinumbram]

“Vocat aestus in umbram”                                                            Nemesianus Ec. IV.

E. P. ODE POUR L’ÉLECTION DE SON SÉPULCHRE

For three years, out of key with his time,

He strove to resuscitate the dead art

Of poetry; to maintain “the sublime”

In the old sense. Wrong from the start—

No, hardly, but, seeing he had been born

In a half savage country, out of date;

Bent resolutely on wringing lilies from the acorn;

Capaneus; trout for factitious bait:

“Idmen gar toi panth, os eni Troie

Caught in the unstopped ear;

Giving the rocks small lee-way

The chopped seas held him, therefore, that year.

His true Penelope was Flaubert,

He fished by obstinate isles;

Observed the elegance of Circe’s hair

Rather than the mottoes on sun-dials.

Unaffected by “the march of events,”

He passed from men’s memory in l’an trentiesme

De son eage; the case presents

No adjunct to the Muses’ diadem.

II

The age demanded an image

Of its accelerated grimace,

Something for the modern stage,

Not, at any rate, an Attic grace;

Not, not certainly, the obscure reveries

Of the inward gaze;

Better mendacities

Than the classics in paraphrase!

The “age demanded” chiefly a mould in plaster,

Made with no loss of time,

A prose kinema, not, not assuredly, alabaster

Or the “sculpture” of rhyme.

III

The tea-rose, tea-gown, etc.

Supplants the mousseline of Cos,

The pianola “replaces”

Sappho’s barbitos.

Christ follows Dionysus,

Phallic and ambrosial

Made way for macerations;

Caliban casts out Ariel.

All things are a flowing,

Sage Heracleitus says;

But a tawdry cheapness

Shall reign throughout our days.

Even the Christian beauty

Defects—after Samothrace;

We see to kalon

Decreed in the market place.

Faun’s flesh is not to us,

Nor the saint’s vision.

We have the press for wafer;

Franchise for circumcision.

All men, in law, are equals.

Free of Peisistratus,

We choose a knave or an eunuch

To rule over us.

A bright Apollo,

tin andra, tin eroa, tina theon,

What god, man, or hero

Shall I place a tin wreath upon?

IV

These fought, in any case,

and some believing, pro domo, in any case ...

Some quick to arm,

some for adventure,

some from fear of weakness,

some from fear of censure,

some for love of slaughter, in imagination,

learning later ...

some in fear, learning love of slaughter;

Died some pro patria, non dulce non et decor” ... 

walked eye-deep in hell

believing in old men’s lies, then unbelieving

came home, home to a lie,

home to many deceits,

home to old lies and new infamy;

usury age-old and age-thick

and liars in public places.

Daring as never before, wastage as never before.

Young blood and high blood,

Fair cheeks, and fine bodies;

fortitude as never before

frankness as never before,

disillusions as never told in the old days,

hysterias, trench confessions,

laughter out of dead bellies.

V

There died a myriad,

And of the best, among them,

For an old bitch gone in the teeth,

For a botched civilization.

Charm, smiling at the good mouth,

Quick eyes gone under earth’s lid,

For two gross of broken statues,

For a few thousand battered books.

[cygniavenue]

been stewing on this one for a while but i said i was gonna post more of my headcanons so here's a little bittersweet tidbit;

childhood was a really rough time for Diomedes and Sthenelus (and the other younger Epigoni as well) full of a lot of grief and sorrow and confusion, and the weight of your father's legacy crushing shoulders too young to uphold it or begin to understand it. Diomedes, for the most part, doesn't even remember Tydeus. All he really knows is the idealized version of him Athena and others hold him to. Sthenelus has fleeting memories of Capaneus but refuses to remember - he only resents. Their childhood was spent being trained up to be weapons.

But even so, I do think there were moments where they got to just be kids. They built their own little fort of escape somewhere they knew would remain hidden. It took weeks of stacking rocks with what little free time they had until it was perfect, and it was theirs, and it was somewhere where they didn't have to be wise beyond their years.

They eventually forgot about it as they got older. They sacked Thebes, Diomedes restored Oeneus to the throne, and then the Trojan War happened, and all the things in between being on the battlefield - getting married, becoming kings, Sthenelus even had children of his own. The fort lay forgotten and untouched, a reservoir of good memories they'd both buried a long time ago.

And then, when they're fleeing Argos, they find it again, reclaimed by the vines and the leaves. All their old stuff is in there still, little wooden swords and shields, animal and soldier figurines, drawings they etched into the rocks. It's the only place they ever had that wasn't overrun by sorrow, where they weren't forced to fill the shoes of men they don't (or refuse to) remember.

But there's just no time left. They have to leave it knowing they'll never see it again. All they can do is hope they can hold onto a fragment of the tranquility their younger selves buried there.

[candycang]

[effulgentpoet]

mythology aesthetics

CAPANEUS

In Greek mythology, Capaneus had immense strength and body size and was an outstanding warrior. He was also notorious for his arrogance. He stood at the wall during the siege of Thebes and shouted that Zeus himself could not stop him from invading it. While he was mounting the ladder, Zeus struck and killed Capaneus with a thunderbolt.