#His fellow Achaeans

[dootznbootz]

Odysseus, throughout his 20 years gone: I would not need to learn to manage my anger if more people learned to manage their stupidity.

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

Statistics of Apollo's Lovers

I was wondering just how unfortunate of a love-life our boy Apollo had, so - as one does - I did the research, math, and writing of said love-life.

such is the life of an adhd teen :)

In total, there are 59 people on this list. I have them separated into eight groups; Immortal, Immortal & Rejected, Lived, Died, Rejected & Died, Rejected & Cursed, Rejected & Lived, and who were Rejected by Apollo

Disclaimer: I am not a historian nor an expert in Greek Mythology, I am just a very invested nerd in Mythology, and in Apollo's mythology in general, and got curious about what his rap sheet actually looks like.

Sidenote: There will be some "lovers" not on this list. Reasons being;

No actual literary sources behind them

Said literary sources are dubious at best

Not enough information is given about the nature of their relationship to make an accurate take

So if somebody isn't on this list, it's because of one of those three reasons. Although there is still a chance I missed somebody! :)

Also, no RRverse lovers include in this list. Sorry my fellow ToA fans.

(Edited 04/29/24 - Currently adding in sources/references/expanding on the myths themselves. bare with me lol)

Let's begin! :D

Immortal Lovers

Calliope: muse of epic poetry. Mother of Hymenaios and Ialemus by Apollo.

Clio: muse of history

Erato: muse of love poetry

Euterpe: muse of music

Polyhymnia: muse of hymns/sacred poetry

Melpomene: muse of tragedy

Thalia: muse of comedy. Mother of the Corybantes by Apollo.

Terpsichore: muse of dance

Urania: muse of astronomy

Boreas: the North Wind. yes Apollo dated the North Wind. Who knew? It's mentioned in the Argonautica by the Boreads - they call Apollo "beloved of our sire" so...hmm. wonder what happened there because that's all we get.

10 lovers total here.

9 Female, 1 Male

Immortal & Rejected

Hestia: goddess of the Hearth

1 Interest. Female.

Lovers Who Lived:

Branchus: mortal shepherd, gifted prophecy

Rhoeo: mortal princess, eventually married an apprentice of Apollo

Ourea: demigod daughter of Poseidon, dated Apollo during his punishment with Laomedon; had a son named after the city of Troy

Evadne: nymph daughter of Poseidon, Apollo sent Eileithyia & (in some texts) the Fates to aid in their son's birth

Thero: great-granddaughter of Heracles, described as "beautiful as moonbeams"

Cyrene: mortal princess-turned-nymph queen, kick-ass lion wrangler, and mother of two of Apollo's sons - Aristaeus (a god) and Idmon (powerful seer)

Admetus: mortal king, took great care of Apollo during his second punishment, Apollo wingmanned him for Alcestis's hand - basically Apollo doted on him <3

Hecuba: queen of Troy, together they had Troilus.

It was foretold that if Troilus lived to adulthood, Troy wouldn't fall - unfortunately, Achilles murdered Troilus in Apollo's temple. When the Achaeans burned Troy down, Apollo rescued Hecuba and brought her to safety in Lycia.

Hyrie/Thyrie: mortal. mothered a son by Apollo. Their son, Cycnus, attempted to kill himself after some shenanigans and his mother attempted the same. Apollo turned them into swans to save their lives.

Dryope: mortal. had a son named Amphissus with Apollo, who was a snake at the time. Later turned into a lotus flower, but it had nothing to do with Apollo so she's still on this list. (noncon; written by Ovid in Metamorphoses)

Creusa: mortal queen. had a son named Ion with Apollo. Please check out @my-name-is-apollo's post for more details because they make some good points about what's considered "rape" in Ancient Greece.

Melia: Oceanid nymph. Had a son w/h Apollo named Tenerus. will expand on her in a bit

Iapis: a favorite lover. Apollo wanted to teach him prophecy, the lyre, ect. but Iapis just wanted to heal :) so Apollo taught him healing :)

Aethusa: daughter of Poseidon & the Pleiad Alcyone. Mother of Linus and Eleuther. She is the great-great grandmother of Orpheus.

Acacallis: daughter of King Minos. there's a lot of variation on whether or not she had kids with Hermes or Apollo. Some say she had a kid with each.

Chrysothemis: nymph queen who won the oldest contest of the Pythian Games - the singing of a hymn to Apollo. She had three daughters, and one of them is said to be Apollo's.

Corycia: naiad. had a son with Apollo. the Corycian Cave north of Delphi is named after her

Leuconoe (also Choine or Philonis): daughter of Eosphorus, god of the planet Venus, and mother of the bard Philammon.

Melaena (also Thyia or Kelaino): mother of Delphos, member of prophetic Thriae of Delphi. Priestess of Dionysus.

Othreis: mothered Phager by Apollo, and later Meliteus by Zeus.

Stilbe: mother of Lapithus and Aineus by Apollo.

Syllis (possible same as Hyllis, granddaughter of Heracles): mothered Zeuxippus by Apollo. 

Amphissa: Apollo seduced her in the form of a shepherd. They had a son named Agreus.

Aria (or Deione): had a son named Miletus. Hid him in some smilax. Her father found him and named him.

Arsinoe: she and Apollo had a daughter named Eriopis.

Queen of Orkhomenos (no name is given): Mother of Trophonius (my fellow ToA fans will recognize that name haha).

Hypermnestra: Either Apollo or her husband fathered her son Amphiaraus. (sidenote: @literallyjusttoa suggested that Apollo was dating both Hypermnestra and Oikles, and I, personally, accept that headcannon)

Manto: Daughter of Tiresias. Apollo made her a priestess of Delphi. They had a son named Mopsus. When Apollo sent her to found an oracle elsewhere, he told her to marry the first man she saw outside of Delphi. That man turned out to be Rhacius, who brought her to Claros, where she founded the oracle of Apollo Clarios. Later, another man named Lampus attempted to assult her, but was killed by Apollo. She is also said to be a priestess who warned Niobe not to insult Leto, and to ask for forgiveness. Niobe did not.

Parthenope: granddaughter of a river god. Mothered Lycomedes by Apollo

Phthia: prophetess. called "beloved of Apollo". Mother three kings by him; Dorus, Laodocus, & Polypoetes

Procleia: Mother of Tenes, son of Apollo, who was killed by Achilles before the Trojan War. Daughter of King Laomedon, king of Troy.

Helenus: prince of Troy. Received from Apollo an ivory bow which he used to wound Achilles in the hand.

Hippolytus of Sicyon: called "beloved of Apollo" in Plutarch Life of Numa. I don't think this guy is the same as the Hippolytus, son of Zeuxippus (son of Apollo), king of Sicyon Pausanias talks about in his Description of Greece. That would be a little weird taking the whole family tree into account - though it's never stopped Zeus before, I guess.

Psamathe: nereid, said to be the personification of the sand of the sea-shore. There are two versions of her myths, both very different, but I'll only explain the one that explicitly states her and Apollo's relationship, which is by Conon's Narrationes. She and Apollo were lovers, but never had any kids. When another man assaulted her, she had a son and abandoned him. (He was found by some shepherds dw - wait, he was then torn apart by dogs. Nevermind.). Back to her, her father ordered for her to be executed and Apollo avenged her death by sending a plague onto Argos and refused to stop it until Psamathe and Linus (her son) were properly given honors.

(I really like how even though Linus isn't Apollo's kid, and that Psamathe wanted nothing to do with the kid, Apollo still considered him worth avenging too <3 )

(also would like to say that I found her on another's wiki page and that page said she was raped by Apollo - this just proves that you shouldn't take the wiki at face value because as shown above, that is not what happened.)

Alright. 34 lovers here.

5 Male. 29 Female.

33 are 100% consensual. Creusa is questionable, depending on who's translating.

The last one is Melia, who I will expand upon here.

Melia was said to be kidnapped, and her brother found her with Apollo. He set fire to Apollo's temple in an effort to get her back, but was killed. Melia and Apollo had two kids - but here's the interesting part. Melia was highly worshiped in Thebes, where her brother found her. She was an incredibly important figure in Thebes, especially when connected with Apollo. She and Apollo were essentially the parents of Thebes.

As I read over their story, it sounded like (to me, at least. it's okay if you think otherwise!) that Melia just absconded/eloped with Apollo.

Was kidnapping an equivalent to assault back then? Perhaps. But it's still debated on whenever or not that's true. However, one thing I've noticed reading up on these myths is that when Apollo does do something unsavory, the text says so.

It never says anything about Apollo doing anything to Melia. Her father and brother believe she was kidnapped, but, like mentioned previously, it seems far much more likely that she just ran off with her boyfriend or something.

But that's just my interpretation.

Moving on! :)

Lovers Who Died:

Hyacinthus*: mortal prince. we all know this one, right? Right? one and only true love turned into flower

Cyparissus: mortal. his DEER DIED and he asked Apollo to let him MOURN FOREVER so he was turned into a cypress tree

Coronis: mortal princess. cheated on Apollo w/h another guy. mother of Asclepius. killed by Artemis.

Adonis: yes, THAT Adonis. he's in this category because. well. he died. rip

Phorbas: at first I was going to keep him off, till I went "hOLD UP!". Listen, this guy's story is contradictory in Hyginus's De Astronomica - he's a rival of Apollo, then all of a sudden his (dead) lover. My first reaction was the above, then it was "OH MY GODS CANON ENEMIES TO LOVERS??? WITH DEATH???"

There's also a second account of Phorbas - he ended a plague on an island and became Apollo's lover that way, and when he died, Zeus turned him into a constellation - Ophiuchus.

(*In some texts, Hyacinthus was resurrected.)

6 lovers.

5 Male. 1 Female. All consensual.

Sidenote: QUIT BURYING THE GAYS GREECE!!!!

Love-Interests Who Rejected & Died:

Daphne: do i nEED to say anything? Nymph. turned into tree to escape.

Castalia*: Nymph. turned into spring to escape.

2 Interests. 1 debatable.

2 Female.

(*Castalia's myth was written in 400 AD, VERY late in the myth cycle, and was strictly ROMAN. In every other case, the Castalian spring was already at Delphi before Apollo was born.)

Love-Interests Who Rejected & Cursed

Cassandra: mortal princess. Promised to date Apollo if she was given gift of prophecy. when he did, she rejected him and he cursed her to never be believed for her visions.

1 Interests.

1 Female.

Lover-Interests Who Rejected & Lived

Sinope: mortal. got Apollo to promise her anything; requested to remain a virgin. he obliged.

Marpessa: mortal princess, granddaughter of Ares. Idas, son of Poseidon, kidnapped her and Apollo caught up to them. Zeus had Marpessa chose between them, and she chose Idas, reasoning that she would eventually grow old and Apollo would tire of her.

Bolina: mortal. Apollo approached her and she flung herself off a cliff. He turned her into a nymph to save her life. Nothing happened between them, although some texts may say that she eventually dated him.

Ocroe/Okyrrhoe: nymph and daughter of a river god. asked a boatman to take her home after Apollo approached her. Apollo ended up turning the boat to stone and the seafarer into a fish.

Sibyl of Cumean: mortal seer. promised to date Apollo if she was given longevity as long as the amount of sand in her hand. he did, but she refused him.

5 Interests. All female.

Okyrrhoe's story is the only one with any iffy stuff, although, like stated in previous sections, when something iffy does occur, the text usually says so outright.

Rejected by Apollo:

Clytie*: Oceanid nymph. turned into a heliotrope to gaze at the sun forever after the rejection.

1 Advance. Female.

(*Clytie's story was originally about her affection for Helios. When Apollo got conflated with him, her story also changed.)

In Conclusion...

59 people total (includes Castalia & Clytie)

48 Women (81%). 11 Men (19%).

19% were Immortal (Including Lovers & Rejected)

66% Lived (Including Lovers & Rejected)

14% Died (Including Lovers & Rejected)

1% were Cursed

2% were Rejected by him

57 people total (Not including Castalia & Clytie)

46 Women (82%). 11 Men (18%).

18% were Immortal

68% Lived (Lovers & Rejected)

12% Died (Lovers & Rejected)

in that 12%, one was apotheosized - Hyacinthus.

Meaning 10% died permanently, while 2% were resurrected.

2% were Cursed

0% were Rejected by him

Additionally, I left off three male lovers and two female lovers - Atymnius, Leucates, Cinyras, Hecate, & Acantha.

Atymnius has no references to being Apollo's lover, only to Zeus's son Sarpedon.

Leucates is another male "lover" left off the rack - apparently he jumped off a cliff to avoid Apollo, but I couldn't find any mythological text to account for it. There is a cliff named similarly to him where Aphrodite went (by Apollo's advice) to rid herself of her longing for Adonis after his death. Also Zeus uses it to rid himself of his love for Hera before he cheats on her again.

Cinyras was a priest of Aphrodite on the island of Cyprus. He was also the island's king. Pindar calls him "beloved of Apollo" in his Pythian Ode. However, looking further into Cinyras's life throws a bit of a wrench into it. He's also cited to be a challenger to Apollo's skill, and either Apollo or Mars (Ares) kills him for his hubris.

(honestly, I kinda like the idea that Mars went into Big Brother Mode)

I did consider leaving him on the list, since technically you could argue it was a romance-gone-bad, but among every other source Cinyras is mentioned in, Pindar's the only one who puts a romantic label on him and Apollo.

Hecate, the goddess of magic and crossroads, is said to be the mother of Scylla (like, the sea-monster) by Apollo, but Scylla's parentage is one of those "no specific parents" ones, so I left her off the list.

Acantha has absolutely no classical references. There's a plant like her name, but she's made-up, so she doesn't count.

(Of course, I could be wrong about any of these. Again, I'm not an expert.)

With all this in mind, this means Apollo's love life actually isn't as tragic as media portrays it, and he isn't as bad as Zeus or Poseidon in the nonconsensual area.

Does he still have those kinds of myths? Yes, with Dryope & Creusa, though Creusa we could discount because;

1) Depends on who's translating it; and

2) Euripides (the guy who wrote the play Ion) contradicts himself on Ion's parentage in another play, and honestly Apollo's characterization in Ion just doesn't quite match up with the rest of his appearances in the wider myths (in my opinion, at least - feel free to ask why)

So that leaves us with just Dryope, who comes from Ovid. Now I'm not saying we should throw her out because of Ovid's whole "wrote the gods even more terribly to criticize Augustus" thing, but it is something to keep in mind.

So overall, I'd say Apollo has a rather clean relationship past. It is far better than Zeus or Poseidon's for one, and he is miles ahead of Hermes and Dionysus.

He's doing pretty damn good.

[pokemonacademy]

New headcanon for Odysseus- He knows what he's doing. He purposely addressed himself as "Father of Telemachus, Odysseus" rather than "Son of Laertes, Odysseus" when speaking to his fellow Achaeans. I now HC that he never shuts up about Telemachus so everyone in camp knows Telemachus- At first, everyone's just- "Telemachus who?" By year 9 of the war: "Ah yes, that's Odysseus, son of Laertes, father of dear Telemachus." ...Now knowing this, imagine what actually went on in Menelaus' and Nestor's heads when Telemachus visited them. "Ah yes, so we finally meet the renowned Telemachus." (YES YOUR FATHER WON'T SHUT UP ABOUT YOU, NOW YOU'RE LOOKING FOR HIM? HAHAHAHA.)

[babyrdie]

I gave my Patroclus curly hair and, as a fellow member of the "naturally curly hair" club, I wondered what it would be like to come back from the fight with some parts covered in blood. Really, in Patroclus' place, I would look forward to a bath at the same time as I would regret in advance the amount of time I would spend just on my hair (and in his case, a beard too). That's why he looks so sulky here lol

Armor

I remembered that Achilles' second armor (the one made by Hephaestus) was highly described, but I didn't remember the first one. So I went back to the scene where Patroclus wears it (Book XVI) to get a clue and there is a description, although short: the breastplate was made of bronze and had stars, the ankle cnemides were adorned with silver, the helmet had a horse's plume and the shield was huge. It's mentioned that Patroclus also took a bronze sword with silver ornaments, but I cannot say whether it belonged to Achilles as well. The Iliad clearly says that although Achilles is primarily a spear user, Patroclus did not take his ash spear with him because of the Achaeans only Achilles could lift it (it was a gift from Chiron to Peleus). As you may have noticed, this still leaves a lot of detail out, so the rest I made up from imagination.

I'll make it clear now that none of the armors in my drawing really matches Mycenaean times, they're more like "resembling" Mycenaean times. But in my defense: I've never seen anyone use the Mycenaean armor design when drawing the Trojan War characters either! In theory, it would look like this (although obviously we consider that this piece is old and has already been greatly altered by external conditions until it was found):

Dendra armor. See here.

So I tried to improvise to still get something close to the things I found, but that's it: I still doubt that my drawing is accurate, so let's use artistic freedom.

I was a little inspired by this vase, taking the Mycenaean tunic from it and the clothes decorated with fringes. Another site has attempts at reconstructing Mycenaean armor, which is convenient. Even more convenient is that the site indicates by name who is wearing whose armor (it also has Agamemnon, Odysseus, Diomedes, Hector and others from armies instead of specific characters). There are two versions for Achilles, but both are Hephaestus' armor, so neither is what I was looking for. I used a little of each for inspiration.

However, I still simplified the design instead of copying the reconstruction because I'm not much for drawing very detailed things. I'll probably change it more often, since here I only managed to draw the chest part due to the framing and the pose. And because it's after a battle, not even the helmet is present. So, I didn't do the entire armor design all at once, but rather "chopped it up". Result: I can't guarantee that I will keep what I already have because I don't know if it will be harmonious with the rest when I design it.

As for Achilles' hairstyle…well, truth be told! I've seen male characters being represented with a bun, as is the case with Apollo, but there is a catch: these representations of Apollo do not follow the Mycenaean period! From the Mycenaean period, you can tell that men had long hair, but I imagine by that they mean something more like at most chest length (average, at least). But my Achilles has hair so long it almost goes down to his butt. As a bonus, it's voluminous! It's a very impractical amount of hair, it can't be left loose. I could make a ponytail like Patroclus' (there's even a representation of Achilles with a ponytail), but I think with that size it wouldn't be enough because it's still easy to get in the way, so a bun and an accessory that helps move the bangs away. Of course, this would conflict with the helmet, but that's precisely why it's a low bun. From the images I saw, this part of the head was uncovered.

As for Patroclus, we have no description of an armor he wears other than Achilles' as far as I can remember. In other words, his armor had to be entirely invented, but I still used the same sources to get an idea of how to do it. I admit that I considered doing something generic for him, with the internal justification that he's neither a prince nor a king, so it wouldn't be so unrealistic and I would save time on this drawing too! But then I thought to myself if it would make sense with Achilles' character to not find a way to put Patroclus in a good armor and I came to the conclusion that it wouldn't make sense, so here we are. It took some work, but I'll tell myself that my man Patroclus deserves his non-generic armor too. And since he also has long bangs, I also had to add something to keep it out of his sight.

[luminouslumity]

Parts One and Two!

THE UNDERWORLD: JAY, YOU BASTARD!

Anyway, after Odysseus and his crew arrive in the Underworld, that not only does he see his fallen men—including one named ELPENOR (Ἐλπήνωρ), who'd actually died while at Kirke's after he'd fallen off the roof in a drunken state—as well as his mother, but many other famous mythological figures besides Teiresias as well; perhaps most notable among them is Agamemnon, who'd been killed by his own wife KLYTEMNESTRA (Κλυταιμνήστρα), Helen's sister and Penelope's cousin, as vengeance for the sacrifice of their daughter IPHIGENIA (Ἰφιγένεια) in exchange for a fair bit of wind (in some versions, she lives), which only happened either because Agamemnon had displeased the goddess ARTEMIS (Αρτεμις) in some way—be it by boasting he was more of a hunter than she after killing a stag or because that stag had been killed in her sacred grove—or because his own father ATREUS (Ατρέω) had failed to sacrifice a golden lamb to her after promising he would, so she cursed his son as punishment. In any case, Odysseus is horrified and says that both Helen and Klytemnestra have brought nothing but disaster, and Agamemnon then tells him not to treat Penelope too well, though he does praise her sensibilities.

As for Antikleia, I've mentioned before how she is a granddaughter of Hermes, and specifically, she is a granddaughter of Hermes through her father AUTOLYCOS (Αὐτόλυκος), who'd been a trickster in his own right, having had the power to change or make invisible whatever he stole. According to later sources, such as Suida's Sisyphus, the consequences of Autolycos' thievery eventually caught up with him when the titular king demanded his fellow trickster give him his daughter to bed as compensation for Autolycos having stolen his cattle. Odysseus was born not long after. Callimachus also tells us, Antiklieia had once been a companion of Artemis herself.

And because I'm feeling particularly evil today:

‘My child! How did you come here through the darkness while you were still alive? This place is hard for living men to see. There are great rivers and dreadful gulfs, including the great Ocean which none can cross on foot; one needs a ship. Have you come wandering here, so far from Troy, with ship and crew? Have you not yet arrived in Ithaca, nor seen your wife at home?’

I answered, ‘Mother, I was forced to come to Hades to consult the prophet spirit, Theban Tiresias. I have not yet come near to Greece, nor reached my own home country. I have been lost and wretchedly unhappy since I first followed mighty Agamemnon to Troy, the land of horses, to make war upon the people there. But tell me, how was sad death brought upon you? By long illness? Or did the archer Artemis destroy you with gentle arrows? Tell me too about my father and the son I left behind. Are they still honored as the kings? Or has another taken over, saying I will not return? And tell me what my wife is thinking, and her plans. Does she stay with our son and focus on his care, or has the best of the Achaeans married her?’

My mother answered, ‘She stays firm. Her heart is strong. She is still in your house. And all her nights are passed in misery, and days in tears. But no one has usurped your throne. Telemachus still tends the whole estate unharmed and feasts in style, as lords should do, and he is always asked to council meetings. Your father stays out in the countryside. He will not come to town. He does not sleep on a real bed with blankets and fresh sheets. In winter he sleeps inside, by the fire, just lying in the ashes with the slaves; his clothes are rags. In summer and at harvest, the piles of fallen leaves are beds for him. He lies there grieving, full of sorrow, longing for your return. His old age is not easy. And that is why I met my fate and died. The goddess did not shoot me in my home, aiming with gentle arrows. Nor did sickness suck all the strength out from my limbs, with long and cruel wasting. No, it was missing you, Odysseus, my sunshine; your sharp mind, and your kind heart. That took sweet life from me.’

Then in my heart I wanted to embrace the spirit of my mother. She was dead, and I did not know how. Three times I tried, longing to touch her. But three times her ghost flew from my arms, like shadows or like dreams. Sharp pain pierced deeper in me as I cried, ‘No, Mother! Why do you not stay for me, and let me hold you, even here in Hades? Let us wrap loving arms around each other and find a frigid comfort in shared tears! But is this really you? Or has the Queen sent me a phantom, to increase my grief?’

She answered, ‘Oh, my child! You are the most unlucky man alive. Persephone is not deceiving you. This is the rule for mortals when we die. Our muscles cease to hold the flesh and skeleton together; as soon as life departs from our white bones, the force of blazing fire destroys the corpse. The spirit flies away and soon is gone, just like a dream. Now hurry to the light; remember all these things, so you may tell your wife in times to come.’

NO LONGER YOU: According to one myth, Teiresias of Thebes came across two snakes in the middle of mating one day and hit them both with a rod. As a result, he was changed into a woman, until she saw the same pair of snakes again years later and was then changed back into a man. Zeus and Hera then asked him which gender enjoyed intercourse more, with Zeus favoring women and Hera men; when Teiresias said that women enjoyed it more, Hera blinded him and Zeus then gave him the power of prophecy afterwards.

Teiresias would go on to become a rather notable figure in myth, but to Odysseus specifically, the prophecy is described thusly:

‘Odysseus, you think of going home as honey-sweet, but gods will make it bitter. I think Poseidon will not cease to feel incensed because you blinded his dear son. You have to suffer, but you can get home, if you control your urges and your men. Turn from the purple depths and sail your ship towards the island of Thrinacia; there you will find grazing cows and fine fat sheep, belonging to the god who sees and hears all things—the Sun God. If you leave them be, keeping your mind fixed on your journey home, you may still get to Ithaca, despite great losses. But if you hurt those cows, I see disaster for your ship and for your men. If you yourself escape, you will come home late and exhausted, in a stranger’s boat, having destroyed your men. And you will find invaders eating your supplies at home, courting your wife with gifts. Then you will match the suitors’ violence and kill them all, inside your halls, through tricks or in the open, with sharp bronze weapons. When those men are dead, you have to go away and take an oar to people with no knowledge of the sea, who do not salt their food. They never saw a ship’s red prow, nor oars, the wings of boats. I prophesy the signs of things to come. When you meet somebody, a traveler, who calls the thing you carry on your back a winnowing fan, then fix that oar in earth and make fine sacrifices to Poseidon—a bull and stud-boar. Then you will go home and offer holy hecatombs to all the deathless gods who live in heaven, each in order. Gentle death will come to you, far from the sea, of comfortable old age, your people flourishing. So it will be.’

MONSTER: I really wanted to focus on this part here:

Does a soldier use a wooden horse to kill sleeping Trojans cause he is vile? Or does he throw away his remorse and save more lives with guile?

I went over the Trojan War pretty briefly in the first post of this series, but as for the horse specifically, though Odysseus is credited as the architect, the idea—according to Dictys Cretensis—came to him from the captured Prince HELENOS (Ἕλενος) of Troy, who'd been a seer like his twin sister KASSANDRA (Κασσάνδρα). From what we currently have available of The Sack of Troy:

The Greeks then sailed in from Tenedos, and those in the wooden horse came out and fell upon their enemies, killing many and storming the city. Neoptolemus kills Priam who had fled to the altar of Zeus Herceius; Menelaus finds Helen and takes her to the ships, after killing Deiphobus; and Aias [Ajax the Younger] the son of Ileus, while trying to drag Cassandra away by force, tears away with her the image of Athena. At this the Greeks are so enraged that they determine to stone Aias, who only escapes from the danger threatening him by taking refuge at the altar of Athena. The Greeks, after burning the city, sacrifice Polyxena at the tomb of Achilles: Odysseus murders Astyanax; Neoptolemus takes Andromache as his prize, and the remaining spoils are divided. Demophon and Acamas find Aethra and take her with them. Lastly the Greeks sail away and Athena plans to destroy them on the high seas.

Afterwards, it's said that only Nestor and Diomedes returned home straightaway, but Menelaos and Helen get stranded in Egypt for years after a storm blows them off course and destroys most of their ships, Ajax the Lesser gets thrown against rocks after also being caught in a storm while accompanying Agamemnon, who gets killed immediately after returning home even despite being warned by Akhilleus, some Greeks make it to the city of Colophon, and Neoptolemus is instructed by his grandmother THETIS (Θετις) to return home, during which he even ends up reuniting with Odysseus for a brief time.

[f0xgl0v3]

Talking about Characters from the Iliad/Odyssey that I liked a lot :3

(Alternative: I just talk about people who were on the page for like. A minute and then nothing because I really just wanted to talk about characters who weren’t like. As well known as others?)

Every day I fight the urge to talk about how much I dislike Song Of Achilles-

Okay anyways I wanna talk about characters from the like Iliad-Odyssey (sadly not Aeneid because I haven’t read that yet) that I really like because they always balance out the anger I feel when thinking about the artificial divide that had to happen between Pat and Achilles over Breisis is TSOA because-

Okay, okay aaa that’s not what this is about. If anyone wants to hear my thoughts feel free to tell me because I’d gladly give my take as someone who just kinda knows the myths and vibes with them (there’s a reason the Iliad is my favorite book)

Anyways characters/probably historical figures(??) from the Iliad/trojan war era and the odyssey that I really liked beyond like. The main crew. While I ramble note that I am just someone that likes these guys. I’m not giving amazing riveting new information. I just don’t really want to write out the SoN re-imagining nor do I want to try and revisit the Machaon and Podalirius concept work I was doing (or potentially mess around with some Ulysses dies at dawn concepts because aaa-) okay- okay,

I (obviously) like Machaon and Podalirius. Like I said I have some concept sketches of them buried in my Ibis paint somewhere. I really liked seeing them mentioned in the Iliad when they were, and the two of them just feel like an interesting concept to explore if I ever do more like. Actual mythology not just Pjo stuff here on the blog. Also this is devoid of anything but they have good character to bounce off each other and they live in my brain.

Palamedes! He’s not actually in the Iliad but was a prince who was in the Trojan war. He was the dude that had to fetch Odysseus and he’s also really interesting and I like thinking of him as the ‘straight-man’ to all of Agamemnon’s stuff before Odysseus took over the roll. I also really like his story :3

Is Sarpedon one of the more well known characters? Idk. I talk about Hector on here too so really I break my own rules but I like Sarpedon as a concept (you can tell I like a lot of these characters for the ideas they give the brain.) He’s an interesting fellow. Maybe one day I’ll actually have something insightful to say about him.

Okay Hector. I really like Hector, I like seeing him in conflict with his brother. I like the ideas and how Hector acts and how he like does stuff narratively. I like him for the same reason I like Demetrius in Midsummer nights dream. They’re both kinda just guys who have to put up with everyone around them and it’s silly. He also has the whole really big stone thing during the siege(?) of the Achaeans camps that was fun.

Now are the Odyssey guys and it’s literally just two people who caught my attention in the Odyssey.

Antinous. He was really like ahfiakfbsjjs in my mind. Between getting off the high that was reading the Iliad and being like gently laid down in the Odyssey I really liked him? He sucked don’t get me wrong, but I liked that he sucked. He was a little trash guy and I liked that, hand him over.

Peisistratus. For anyone who forgot him or doesn’t know who he is this is Telemachus’s friend and traveling buddy from Pylos. He just kinda appears at some point and I really like him. He feels scruffy in my head and I think he’s a really interesting character! Also I like the friendship between Telemachus and Peisistratus.

Also shoutout to Antilochus who I didn’t put down but he was also really fun.

Okay wow! I said literally nothing this entire post. But uh. Maybe I’ll actually post things more often about stuff like the Iliad and Odyssey? I’m obviously no like classics expert but hey. I like random people that are in my stories. Also Antinous. I genuinely didn’t think I liked him that much but now that I’m thinking about him he’s really silly- haha funny scruffy man. If anyone asks he is synonymous with the like-

This cat right there. Make it have an ego and boom. Antinous deserves like everything that’s coming to him in the Odyssey and it’s really fun to just watch him rampage

Okay I’m really tired goodnight

[wherethecrazyoftengo]

Check out the latest chapter of my fanfic series here on ao3. The main pairing is Diomedes/Odysseus. Below is a snippet 🐍

Was this what Athena had warned him about? The weakness that came from loving someone? That you'd kill for them and cover it up? That the idea of their inevitable death would surely drive you insane?

Would Diomedes have chosen differently if he knew this was the path he was walking? What a cruel question. Because even when Athena had warned him, nearly a month ago, he'd already been at the doorstep of this moment. He just hadn't been brave enough to look up and see where he was. Hopelessly in love with a fellow fool.

Now he had to watch that fool attempt to defy the fates. Diomedes' stomach twisted painfully and he almost screamed as he was forced to watch. 

Another damned prophecy. The first Achaean leader to step on Trojan soil would die first upon it. What was Odysseus thinking? Did he think Athena's grace would protect him against such a thing? Surely not. Yet, he'd lept from the prow of his ship like a man possessed with the courage of Ares, spurring the rest of them to do the same. 

[greatest-greek-games]

Phineus: One of the original blind seers, Phineus was granted the gift of prophecy by Apollo and lost it for…well, any number of reasons, really. He pissed off Helios numerous times, and was tormented by the harpies for his grievous insult of enjoying being alive and blind better than being seeing and dead. The Argonauts do eventually help get the harpies off his back, at least.

Menelaus: Helen's husband and Agamemnon's brother. Menelaus is a pleasant enough fellow -- not quite as domineering as his brother, not as cruel as his family line. Not the strongest member of the Achaean forces, nor its leader, Menelaus nonetheless wants fiercely and misses his wife dearly -- even after ten years. Second to last to return home from Troy but he spent it in Egypt instead of ping-ponging around the Mediterranean.

[littlesparklight]

There's something really funny to me about some people's insistence that Achilles was absolutely going to leave the day after the embassy because listen to what he said during it!

Setting aside whether or not Achilles 100% believes what he's saying, which he could even do, he's not about to do what he's saying he is. Here's why not:

-My man here has at this point had two weeks to leave.

-As far as the narration tells us, the Myrmidons aren't packing the camp up. And, for those who said "they didn't have time to leave!" Patroklos didn't die at eight o'clock in the morning. There was PLENTY of time to at least be packing... which they also could have done for two weeks straight at this point, and also be leaving.

-Achilles is, in fact, spending his time watching for the progress of that day's fight when he sends Patroklos off, because he thinks someone the Achaeans really value has been injured and maybe now they'll listen to him!

Cycling back; Achilles has had two weeks to leave.

Achilles could have left - like he said he would! - the day after Agamemnon took Briseis.

But if he did that, he wouldn't get what he wants. If he did that, what would be the point of having waited around ~eleven days so his mother could go pester Zeus for a favour to make life extra super hard for his fellow Achaeans, so as many Achaeans as possible die (AT ACHILLES' REQUEST!) so Agamemnon will extra super understand how much he needs Achilles and shouldn't have insulted him.

This is still in effect the night of the embassy and the day after.

Even if Achilles DOES mean what he says, and thinks he SHOULD/DOES value these other things more... he's gone through additional effort no one else knows about to get what he ALSO thinks he deserves. (Phoinix's little story about Meleager is useless at this point, even if he doesn't know it. Achilles has already done far worse than Melegear has, and his refusing to go back fighting isn't, again, even the worst.) And if what Achilles says to the Myrmidons before he sends them off with Patroklos, of what they said to him, that they should go back home instead of sitting around doing nothing if Achilles is so angry... Achilles has made sure not to get ready to go home. (Because that's counter to the whole point.)

Achilles is saying what he's saying to the embassy to put pressure on them, on the Achaean commanders as a whole, and most especially on Agamemnon.

And by the point he actually doesn't care about any of that any more, it's too late.

[maverick-werewolf]

UPDATES - Current Projects!

Hi, all! It’s been a hot minute since I really said much here. Let me elaborate on why.

Here are only some of the big things I have in the works! A long post follows...

1. Wulfgard: The Curse of Ankhu - novella series

First up, something I posted a preview for a while back: a trilogy of novellas (that I would later publish as a collection in the form of a single novel) set in Wulfgard and starring a character heretofore unseen in my writing: Djedar Rath. And set in the realm of Kemhet (heavily inspired by ancient Egypt), so much unlike my other publications in that way, too.

A synopsis:

Deep in the mysterious desert of the Red Land, Deshret, lies an ancient tomb, the resting place of one of the greatest evils the world has ever known: Pharaoh Ankhu the Endless. Long did he reign and oppress the people of the Black Land, Kemhet. So great and terrible was his power that the gods themselves descended, defeating and cursing him, burying him in foreign land in a labyrinth never to be found by mortals.

Now Ankhu rises again with each darkening of the moon, a walking mummy, searching for that which he may never find… his own still-beating heart, denying him passage into the afterlife. Over untold ages, Ankhu’s tomb remained undiscovered, a secret protected always by the loyal Medjay, an order serving the many pharaohs of Kemhet who came after.

But now a new threat has arisen— Lord Tefnahkt the Red, cultist and warlock, drives his many slaves to uncover Ankhu’s resting place, unlock his evil power, and once more unleash him upon the world. While a small group of Medjay work to stop Tefnahkt’s plans, one slave may become the key to stopping Tefnahkt – and putting an end to his and Ankhu’s evil once and for all.

In a race against time, five Medjay and the rebellious slave Djedar Rath must stop Tefnahkt from opening the tomb before the coming of the new moon, when Pharaoh Ankhu the Endless will awaken once more… for if he escapes, the world will never survive his wrath.

Expect to see the first novella released very soon!

2. Wulfgard: Knightfall - novel revision

In 2015, I published my first book: The Prophecy of the Six: Knightfall, the main series set in mine and my brother’s world of Wulfgard. Well, now I’m revisiting it, expanding it, revising it, and turning it into something truly epic as I prepare to continue writing the Prophecy series: the main thing I want to do with my life (short of filmmaking). Although it is also many other things, this is what you could call my “werewolf series.” Here is the synopsis:

Sir Thomakos “Tom” Drake is a knight of the Achaean frontier city of Illikon. Together with his close friends and fellow soldiers, he wants only to protect his city and its people from any who would threaten them. But the Achaean Empire to which they swear loyalty is always seeking out new conflicts that put his city in danger.

When Sir Scaevius, Left Hand of the Emperor, arrives in Illikon to recruit Sir Drake to help fight the massing barbarian alliance to the North, Drake has no choice but to obey. But he does not obey without protest, and soon he finds himself fighting not only the barbarians, but his own superiors as well. Meanwhile, strange things begin happening to him. He suffers blackouts, and at night he is plagued by terrifying nightmares. Even worse, he finds himself being stalked by horrific monsters... werewolves. Hated by his superiors, hunted by beasts and assassins, Tom Drake must fight for his home, his life, and even his mind. The events that are about to unfold will change his life, and the world, forever.

More info on this later! I truly hope you’ll give Knightfall a chance when the revision is completed. This series comprises the stories absolutely nearest and dearest to my heart. They, above all else, are the tales I want most to tell - and the thing I absolutely must create and share with the world - before I leave this earth.

3. Werewolf Facts: A Guidebook to Folklore vs Pop Culture - folklore book

So there’s a project I announced a while back, which is a published book edition of my Werewolf Facts I’ve written and posted on the blog here. I am very much still planning to do that, and I’ve been working on it! This will be a compilation of my werewolf facts, but each one will also be expanded and come with full citations, as well as a bibliography, expanded comments, and much more. Stay tuned for news on this book, too!

4. Revamping my personal website + general promotion of my existing work

So my personal website is pretty hideous; that’s a fact. One of my other projects right now is to revamp my personal site completely - again - and make it prettier, more accessible, easier to navigate, and do a better job of presenting my books and werewolf facts, along with my other work.

I also want to promote my work in general, and that’s something I’ve been working on and researching. My personal scoop: promoting completely original work is exhausting, disheartening, and grueling - you put your soul out there and, by and large, no one cares; at the most you’ll get a pat on the head and a ‘nice job’ because it’s cute that you’re trying, I guess. I’ve been working at this literally since my childhood, so I’m intimately familiar with how bad putting your work out there can make you feel.

So I suck at promotion! That’s just an issue with me. It’s something I want to work on. I’m currently investigating avenues of doing so, such as posting my writing on more places across the internet, different publishers, and different sites and communities for me to hang out on and spread the word about my creations. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know! I’d appreciate it. I really do want to promote my stuff better, but I’m just not that good at it. I’d rather just be working on the thing itself, instead, but at some point you have to stop and promote.

5. Werewolf Facts on Twitter

Werewolf Facts’ original home was on Tumblr, and they also live on my personal website, but I’d like to expand their reach, too. So I’m hoping to start posting a werewolf fact as a twitter thread every week for a while, starting next week. These will be semi-condensed editions of the werewolf facts you know here on my tumblr.

6. Making custom LEGO figures & experimenting with other things

I’m always making custom LEGO ‘figs, even if I’m super slow at it. I hope to have more Wulfgard ones around soon, as well as maybe some Nova Refuge, and maybe even some builds/models.

You probably saw me post my Shazam! Fury of the Gods fig recently:

I absolutely loved that movie beyond words, by the way. It reached deep into my soul and awoke something in me again that I honestly kind of feared I had lost or was coming dangerously close to losing. Watch it in theaters if you can still find it - if not, watch it at home. Trust me. It’s worth it.

Getting back on track: I’m only just starting to finally find the courage to start chasing my true and ultimate dream, too. It’s something I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember, but I’ve never known how. I had pretty much given up hope, too, short of a miracle, because I am broke and simply don’t have the means to put myself in any kind of position to enter that world. Well, I’ve found new inspiration recently. I’m not ready to talk about it yet, but let’s just say I am feeling good about the future and starting to dip my toes into the extremely amateur edition of what I want to do. I should’ve done it years ago, but I can’t change that, so I’m gonna do it now. More on that later.

7. Resuming work on Nova Refuge (sci-fi) novels & novellas

A few years ago, I started working in earnest on a sci-fi series called Song of the Stars. That is still very much a thing, and I hope to start publishing the series as novellas soon, as I have enough content written - and some of it even edited, too - to compose several books. Song was always intended to be me trying out a sort of traditional TV show formula, with each novella being a stand-alone “episode” that can also be experienced as a chronological series. I still love Song and I’m very proud of all the work I did on it, and I look forward to sharing it with you in the coming year or two.

I’m also working on a brand new book that is set in Nova Refuge but is extremely cyberpunk in nature, as cyberpunk has always been one of my favorite genres for a million reasons. I’m very excited about this story, and I’ve been working hard on it every weekend for a few weeks now. I’m making fantastic progress, so expect to hear more about it very soon!

8. Running my Patreon

So hey, you know that Patreon thing I run? That’s the best place to get the latest updates from me. I keep that thing updated as best I can. And I am always trying to provide content to my patrons and keep everybody happy and rewarded for showing me so much generous support. I run polls there about what everyone would like to see from me, discuss my writing, my research, and much more. I also post previews of my upcoming work.

I also have been posting a very silly and just-for-fun story there periodically, once a week, for all my Lunatic patrons. My lunatic tiers are my weirder/crazier writing and stuff that will never see the light of day in terms of publishing it as/in any kind of book. The story in question will never leave my Patreon, in fact. I write these always rough draft “lunatic writings” as warm-up sessions to other writing sessions on my major projects or as something just for fun for me to cool down on my day off every week. Feel free to ask me about details regarding Lunatic tiers!

9. Publishing a hardcover edition of The Werewolf: Past and Future

So you know that book I published a while back, the book edition of my master’s thesis? The Werewolf: Past and Future - Lycanthropy’s Lost History and Modern Devolution. It has done some pretty wild sales ever since I published it despite only having 14 ratings!

I’d like to have a hardcover edition available on Amazon, too. It’s on my backburner, so it might not happen anytime terribly soon, but it is on my list and I’d like to get around to that sometime, because I know a lot of people really like hardcover books, and I’d love to see what the hardcover publication is like on Amazon. It’d be my first time checking it out, and it’s something I’d like to investigate for my future books, too.

Also - if you’ve purchased and enjoyed the book, please consider leaving me a review on Amazon (or at least a rating)! Reviews on my books there help me immensely and encourage Amazon to show my book to other people, too. I appreciate every review!

10. Resuming Vampire Facts!?

I might! It might happen! I still see several in my drafts that I am no longer so exhausted and discouraged about. We’ll see if/when that happens and how it’ll work later on sometime, but you might just see folklore posts resume on this blog sometime later this year or next year - or at some random time earlier, we’ll see.

---

Whew! And I think that’s quite enough of just a few of the things I’ve been doing since I stopped posting my regular folklore/werewolf/vampire facts. As you can see, I have a very full plate! And I’m actually a really slow eater. No, really, I am. It’s pretty ironic, I know, for those of you familiar with some of the weirder things I like. Anyway--

I’m working as hard as I can go on everything and I’ve actually been writing up a storm. I have an entire novella series ready to be published once they’re done with my editor and artist. I actually have a backlog of books to pester those who work with me because I’ve been writing so fast, and I don’t want to pressure anyone to try to keep up with my insanity.

I’m inspired, I’m motivated, and I’m determined. I’m gonna make these dreams happen, my friends. So expect a lot more news from me soon, including plenty of books! In the meantime, give me a follow here on Tumblr and my other social media:

Patreon — Ko-fi — Twitter  — My Discord Server

And be sure to check out my Patreon if you’re interested in a lot more updates, behind the scenes stuff, previews, and a whole lot more. You can also join my little Discord and come hang out! Everyone is welcome. I’ve been trying to talk there a little more, because though I do be shy (online, anyway) and a bit of a hermit, I can also be a lonely soul. At any rate, you can also toss me a little donation on ko-fi if you’re in the mood; I’m way too ambitious for how low income I am and I am not afraid to admit that, so every single donation of literally anything is appreciated from the bottom of my heart.

I hope everyone’s still with me here on my blog. I love all you fellas, you’ve been really great to me. Sorry I’ve been so quiet lately.

I’ve been working on the side on compiling my werewolf facts into a proper book, as I mentioned, and I also want to get back to doing some werewolf blog posts, as well as posts about other folklore and mythology. I actually recently considered one on the mythology of Ladon, the dragon from Greek myth, because of Shazam! Fury of the Gods (the movie that breathed new life into me and revitalized my soul; a lightning bolt of inspiration in every sense of the phrase, I love it with all my heart, and it reminded me that there is good in this world and it’s worth fighting for)... we’ll see what happens with that.

Until next time!

[caemthe]

@himedachi said.º

“Care for a drink? I could use for some companion over here.” He gestures to Lancer, offering an empty seat next to him. “—though, before I pour you a drink, I do have a question for you if you don’t mind me asking.” something that he has been questioning himself in his mind lately. “Who’s Spirit and Bojack?” // killian -> patpat because they need to bond uwu

"It would be my pleasure," the Achaean soldier replied, easygoing as always. He hadn't had the chance to get to know Killian yet, but he had witnessed the apple-eating competition like everyone else. He had to admit that it was pretty amusing how they obliterated the Ulsterman. Truth be told, the entire thing had been very entertaining, but...

Ah.

He couldn't say that he was expecting that question...

Hmm... how was he supposed to answer that? Actually, why was he the one explaining things? 'Cú Chulainn, come here and explain yourself!' But his fellow Lancer was nowhere to be seen. "That's... Killian, have you watched any movies or shows from modern times? Chaldea's master has a Netflix account that plenty of servants use during their free time." It's actually surprising that the account hasn't been suspended yet. "What I'm trying to say is that the names you mentioned are from the horse protagonists of those pieces of media, and... Well, I think it would be for the best if you watch them and make your own conclusions. The movie in particular is pretty good, you'll like it."

[dootznbootz]

One thing I find funny/interesting is that Odysseus constantly refers to himself as "Telemachus' loving father" (or at least some variant of that depending on the translation) during the Iliad, which is something only he is shown to do compared to his fellow Achaeans. (Maybe the others would have done this themselves but since most of the other kings/commanders either didn't have kids yet or they had more than one child so they just didn't want to show favoritism, as Odysseus only has one.)

I think we all can agree that it's just him being his weird self and loving his baby boy so much. He doesn't even know if he made it past infancy but he knows he's proud of Telemachus and that he loves him.

In the ODYSSEY, however, he never refers to himself as that. It's always "Son of Laertes". I don't think he stops because he's "not proud of his son anymore." I think it's because he's no longer among friends/fellow kings. He's now dealing with monsters and immortals.

I love this quirk he has as it's so endearing but I'm also SO thankful that he didn't tell Polyphemus about Telemachus. I know it probably doesn't mean much as he still is saying who he is but in a way he's protecting his son from possible enemies.

I guess it means Odysseus doesn't mind if Laertes has to deal with a cyclops but whatever

[athenaoftheowl]

Diomedes

With Achilles no longer a player on the battlefield, the Achaeans are struggling on the battlefield. I needed to choose a hero to assist to shift the tides of the battle, even though father said we can no longer intervene. This has not stopped any of the other Olympians, so I chose to ignore his order. Diomedes is a strong and wise combatant, thus I chose him to assist on the battlefield. I granted him great strength, and allowed him to see through my eyes, allowing him to see where my fellow gods were in the battlefield, in order to avoid them. I underestimated his bravery, however, as he attacked the nuisance that is Aphrodite. I guided his spear to land a blow on her, in which she dropped her precious child she was trying to save, and ran crying home to mommy. Good riddance. With my assistance, Diomedes made great progress for the Achaeans.

[cobwebs-and-clutter]

If you're looking to have a cutthroat ambitious career, I would recommend dating an unreserved Achilles stan: you know they won't mind completely sacrificing themselves for one person's selfish pride and goals.

[smallraindrops-blog]

HELLO I AM SORRY IF THIS HAS BEEN ASKED ALREADY but I really like the achilles son au w hypnos... if you haven't started writing the next bit, do you think you could make part 6 and have it where Thanatos notices how close y/n and Hypnos are getting, and confronts y/n about it? I feel like it could make for good story stuff and angst cuz Hypnos would have to admit to them liking each other mutually/being in a relationship and basically back up y/n

Wake Me From This Dreaming.

Word Count: 6.1K

Warning: Fighting, war, traum, medical stuff, nightmares, death, war, kisses, romantic/sexual tension, family drama, no beta.

A/N: HELLO ANON! funny enough, you and I had the same idea for this part. I think it lines up enough with what you asked for so i hope you still like it. Sorry for disappearing for a bit, Ive been working/zoom classes/napping.

To those had sent me asks for the Modern!AU of this, I’ve seen them and is currently on working on those along other wips. And I am still taking requests for this son!au in case anyone wondering.

I hope y’all like this because I do have some doubts about this part. Also I actually like Thanatos but I always feel i like make him into a bad guy. ANYWAY. Enjoy!

Masterpost with all the parts

The Trojan war was in full swing and you felt every moment of it.

You walked behind Your Father, both of you filthy with blood and dirt smeared over you. Your knuckles were bleeding and you could feel every twitch of pain in your hands.

The last of the daylight made his armor glow, and he reminded one of those statues, unreal and untouchable.

Achilles was unusually quiet, normally your father was loud and boisterous to show off to his men. But you and both walked ahead of the group, Achilles in a rage and you followed to stop him.

The last battle had gone badly thanks to Agamemnon and his unwillingness to send more help to the Greeks in battle. Several dozen good men, both Greeks and Achaeans were lost for no reason other than pettiness between their leaders.

“Father?” You spoke up when the camp was in sight, you didn't want to have this talk in front of Patroclus, not when Patroclus was already dealing with the sick and dying. Not when you knew Patroclus feared the day it might be you or Achilles or both.

You almost died today and if it hadn't been for Achilles’ speed, you would have been one of the bodies carried back.

Achilles didn’t turn around, just grunted as he kept walking.

He couldn’t even face you. You sighed, “Don’t let this get to you. Don’t give Agamemnon this power over you.”

Achilles stopped and you copied him, waiting for him to say something. A wind drifted past, carrying the salty smell of the sea. Finally Achilles turned to look at you, his face dark and cold.

If you weren’t his son, you would have taken a step back.

“You could have died today because of him, do you understand?” Achilles said, slow and calm like you were a child, not a fellow warrior. The drying blood on his face and helmet only made his blue eyes look brighter, crueler.

Your chest tightened at the man who looked like a mockery of your Father. Curse this damn war, for this quest of glory and what it had cost. All for some damn woman.

“It could happen any day, because of any reason.” You breathed through your nose, not willing to show any fear to Achilles. “His brother will talk sense into him, this battle has hurt them just as much.”

You stared Achilles down, “Do. Not. Let them have this over you, over us.”

Achilles glared at you, “Losing you would break Patroclus, it would kill him-”

“Don’t.” You snapped, “We both know you were the one you put me on the battlefield in the first place.”

Before you even saw his hands move, Achilles grabbed you by your shoulders, his fingers curled in the fabric and dragged you to him.

“I am your father, lad and I will not tolerate this disrespect from anyone but especially not from my son, do you understand me?” Achilles hissed.

You didn’t fight his hold, You just said “Don’t go to Agamemnon. If you won’t do it for me, do it for Pa! It's the least you could do for him after everything he has done for you.”

Achilles said nothing, his face was a stranger to you. His hands let go of you as he turned away from you.

“Don’t show up for dinner tonight, I don’t want to see you until the next call for battle.” Achilles snarled as he walked ahead to the camp.

You slumped, shaky with a rush of adrenaline.

You started walking a few minutes afterwards in the dusty twilight, alone in the dark. The war had already dragged on for almost six years now and it had taken so much. You looked up at the sky, the stars just starting to reveal themselves.

Surely this war couldn’t go on for much longer.

~

Once, when you were a new guard, Prince Zagrues asked You about the war.

You had tensed up, you were still getting used to your new role as house guard- still getting used to the house, the gods, the countless rules and the odd little creature named Hypnos who had for some reason, taken up talking to you.

You knew you couldn't tell him off like you could others. So in the polite tone your parents had drilled into you for kings and politicians, you asked him what he wanted to know.

"What was Achilles like, in battle I mean?" Prince Zagreus asked, his curiosity oblivious.

You relaxed, it was easy to talk about your father and his skills. "He wasn't called the greatest of Greeks for nothing. I still never seen anything that moved like he did."

You shifted on your feet, leaning against your spear a little. "The first couple of months in the war, I was in charge of his spears, and I can tell you he never missed, not once."

Prince Zagreus grinned, "That's amazing. In the years I knew him, he never really talked about it. The war I mean."

You almost said, well of course, he wouldn't talk about the foolish quest for glory that cost him everything. And even in death, it took so much time for everyone to heal.

But you bit the words back and shrugged, "That's just how Father is sometimes." And with that you sent the prince on his way.

Once Prince Zagreus was out of sight, you sighed and called out, "Hypnos, I know you are hiding in the rafters again. Shouldn't you be working right now?"

You looked up and saw Hypnos gave you a surprise stare. He blinked once slowly at you, owl-like with his golden eyes. "How did you know I was here?"

You matched his stare, "I know everything."

Hypnos scoffed at you, unimpressed and floated down. "You know, you could have told him. He can be dense about some things but he is never cruel. He would have understood if he touched a raw nerve."

You scowled, "What are you talking about?"

Hypnos placed his cheek on his hand, a knowing look in his eyes. "You almost said something else didn't you?"

"No." You said, annoyed that this little strange god somehow saw what Prince Zagreus didn't.

He raised a brow, an amused smile curled his lips and you forced yourself to look past him.  Of course, the most annoying creature you ever met was also the most beautiful thing you ever laid eyes on.

Hypnos drifted back, "Alrighty, tough guy. I will leave you alone."

"Will you though?" You asked but a smirk form on your face and Hypnos...

Hypnos just laughed, warm and loud.

~

"Pa, I'm fine." You groaned. Patroclus held your face between his hands, turning your face one way then the other way to look at you.

"Let me see the rest." Patroclus ordered. "Are you sure you clean it up right?"

"What? No, Pa, it's fine. Why does everyone forget we're dead and it doesn't matter?" You pulled your face away with a shake of your head.

"Don't argue with your Pa." Achilles said, a scowl on his face.

You rolled your eyes, of course Achilles was a pushover when it came to Patroclus.

With his arms crossed, Achilles sighed. "Why didn't you tell us that you were added to the pact of punishment?"

"I knew it would upset you guys." You replied. You huffed when Patroclus picked up your arm and unwrapped the bandages.

"It's not a big deal. I-" You started but hissed when Pa touched the wound. It mostly healed but it was still tender. Patroclus looked up at you, frowning. "You promise me that you cleaned out everything?"

"I- Yes. I promise." You muttered, embarrassed being fussed over. And you thought Hypnos was bad. Patroclus rewrapped your arm wordlessly, his movements quick.

"Did Zagreus know? About Ares?" Patroclus looked at you, his dark eyes hard.

"Beloved, the lad wouldn't knowingly hurt Y/N like that." Achilles said.

"Father's right." You shrugged, "I don't think he knew how bad Ares has it out for me even now. I didn’t, that's for sure."

Patroclus gave you and Achilles a doubtful look, "Alright." He said finally. You reached over and gave Patroclus an one arm hug.

“Come on, I came here to escape the doom and gloom of the house. Tell me what I miss.” You said.

Achilles perked up, a cheeky grin on his lips. “Speaking of houses, when will you bring your ‘friend’ along? I think we are due for a meeting.” Patroclus laughed quietly at your grimace. His face lightened for the first time since you returned to your parents, still wrapped up in bandages.

You groaned and shoved Achilles who didn't even stumble at your push. “Not this again.”

Later, when you almost made it out of Elysium, you heard a familiar voice.

“Y/N! Wait, stop where you are.” Zagreus called out and you sighed, closing your eyes. Of course, with your luck Zagreus and you would cross paths right now.

But your parents didn’t raise a coward so you turned around to see Zagreus hurried over to you.  A faint pink haze followed him, Aphrodite but you saw no sign of Ares, thankfully.

“Your Highness, what can I do for you?” You eyed the pink mist. Zagreus flinched as if he knew this wasn’t the ideal way for you and him to meet again.

“I need to apologize for what happened last time.” Zagreus sighed, his hands spread out. “I-i just wasn’t thinking and I just trying to get out quickly-“

“Your highness- Zagreus.” Your tone made the prince stop, his mismatched eyes staring at you.

“You don’t need to apologize.” You sighed, “Honestly, I didn’t think Ares would still care since I've been dead for a long time. It was nothing you did. You need all the help you can get.”

Zagreus bit his lip, “Alright, I won’t argue.”  You nod, grateful he let it go.

“If there is nothing else…” you trailed off, shifting on your feet.

Zagreus gave a nervous grin, “Actually there is. I want to know if we can resume my training?”

You tilted your head in surprise. ”Why?”

“I don’t want it to happen again. We both know the reason you got hurt badly was because you pulled me away from his attacks.” Zagrues shifted on his feet, leaving burnt grass behind. “I want to get as good as you, as Achilles.”

“You already fought Hades, a god. Zagreus, I lost my fight with Ares when I was alive, and my father…” You stopped at the disappointment on Zagrues’ face.

You sighed, this job had made you gone soft. Damn it.

“Alright. We can pick up your training again.” You pointed a finger at him. “But no tomfoolery or no missing training.”

Zagreus beamed, “Thank you, sir! I won’t let you down.”

You just nodded.  ‘I know.”

His grin became a smirk, “Tell Hypnos to come train with me sometimes, I didn't know his spells could hit that hard.”

You chuckled, “I’ll tell him.”

Zagreus nodded and waved a farewell. You returned the wave. You waited until he was out of sight before you slumped, feeling the aches in your body.

You don’t get paid enough for this.

~

Hypnos had taken up sleeping in your bed, using his cloak as a blanket.

Your room was dark except for a single candle. You closed the door, careful not to make a sound.

You should be more upset about how the little god had claimed your bed while you were gone. You weren't though, if Hypnos wanted your bed, it was his for the taking.

You dropped off your goods and new armor by the door and walked over the bed.

You stared down at him, soaking in the sight. It still didn't feel real, Hypnos didn't feel real to you. His messy curls were somehow more messy and his mouth slightly parted. You reach out to touch him, to hear his grumpy muttering as he is awakened. But you stopped, Hypnos hadn’t gotten much sleep since you got hurt in the battle so you pulled away.

With a sigh, you sat down on the floor, the bed to your back. One more day until you return back to the daily grind of guard duty. You hoped you wouldn't have to go out for a while, just so you could have more time with Hypnos.

You heard a rustle next to you and you turned to see heavy lidded eyes blinked at you.

Hypnos smiled, "You've returned." And you loved him so much it hurts just to look at him.

You reached over and brushed his curls from his eyes. "And you’ve taken over my bed.”

Hypnos just grinned and tugged at your hand to join him, and of course because it's Hypnos, you did. You and him pressed together tightly on the small bed, Hypnos tucked his head under your chin as you held him.

You hummed, it felt good to finally have Hypnos in your arms.

Hypnos brushed his fingers against your collarbone, his breathing slowly deepened as he fell back to sleep. You blinked slowly at the wall, feeling warm and fuzzy-head.

You don’t remember falling asleep.

~

Smoke coated your mouth and throat and you could feel ashes all over your face.  You tried to breathe but barely any air came to you.

Ares dragged you though the town, his soldiers and dogs hunting for the townsfolk. You thought you felt hands tugged at you, pulling you in hundreds of directions.

As you were dragged on the ground, you saw Achilles holding on to Patroclus' broken body. His face buried in Patroclus' chest as he screamed and weeped.

Patroclus’ heads rolled and you knew the light had left his dark eyes.

'Father, you're bleeding. Your foot.' You tried to tell him but Achilles didn't hear you and you blinked and he slumped over Patroclus' body, just as broken he was.

Nononono-

Ares' fingers dug into your head, and squeezed and squeezed and squeezed as he screamed, “Where are they? Where? Where?!" And slammed the back of your head into the ground at each question.

You stared up at the god, vision blurred and head throbbing and spat in his face. "Fuck off." You slurred or tried to, you weren't sure if you were able to.

You could hear his dogs barking and howling as they circled you.

Ares went quiet, his panting harsh and slowly his fingers went up to where you spat in his face. His fingers pulled away and he stared at the bloody saliva.

And screamed -

"Y/N." Soft and sweet, almost a sing-song voice broke past the screaming. Gentle touches on your cheek, you jerked awake and saw the wall of your room. Off from the side, you saw faint light of a candle flicker and dance.

“You were having a nightmare.” Hypnos whispered. You blinked again, and realized Hypnos was next to you, pressed close to your side on your too small bed.

You groaned and sat up. “I fell asleep?”

It was rare for you to fall asleep at all but with Hypnos tucked against you, it had gotten easier.

Hypnos followed, “You needed it.” He said simply, his tone warning you not to argue with him. He gave you a gentle poke on your chest, You chuckled, trying to forget the dream you just had.

He leaned against you, sleep-warm and soft. You sighed as you rested your cheek on his head.

You never shared a bed like this before. But you could get used to it.

“I-i saw it. Not by choice.” Hypnos said, quick and hush.

You tensed unwillingly, “How much?” It wasn’t that you were upset at him, you knew he could see dreams, he told you before but it's just that you don’t want him to see the worst of your memories. Didn’t want his cheerful face twisted into that worried frown you seemed so good at causing.

“Just parts of it. I’m sorry, I know you don’t like to talk about it.” Hypnos’ hand rose to touch you then stopped; unsure of himself.

And you couldn’t have that.

You grabbed his fingers and pressed a kiss against his knuckles, “No need to be sorry.” You muttered against his skin before you looked up at his embarrassed but pleased face.

“I’m sorry you had to see it-“

Hypnos didn’t let you finish, interrupted your words with a kiss. He pulled away after a moment, his golden eyes bright. “Hush. You don’t have to apologize for a nightmare. Not to me.”

You swallowed, lost for words.

So you just kissed him again. Slowly and lovingly. Hypnos presses closer, warm and inviting.

Home, you thought to yourself, I’m home.

~

You nodded toward Skully, who returned the nod when he saw you and Zagreus with Hypnos floating in from behind you. “Boys, you’re back for more.”

He spied Hypnos who gave him a cheeky grin and a wave. Skully pointed to his eyes with two fingers then to Hypnos, “Imma keep an eye on you, don’t you forget.”

Hypnos put a hand on his chest with a mock gasp, “Skully, I thought you knew you can trust me by now.” Skully just laughed, loud and harsh but Hypnos joined in.

You smiled, you didn’t take part in the strange game Hypnos played with Skully but you liked watching it unfold. Honestly, the skeleton seems to enjoy chasing Hypnos off just as Hypnos enjoyed playing jokes on the old bag of bones.

You turned to Zagrues to order him to warm up when Thanatos appeared in the room. Zagreus perked up immediately, “Than, you made it!”

You glanced back at Hypnos, who gave you a surprise and slightly hurt look in return.

Thanatos nodded toward the prince, his golden eyes drifted over to you then to Hypnos.

You crossed your arms, “You invited him, I take it?” And Zagreus gave you a guilty smile.

“Y/N. Hypnos.” Thanatos greeted with a disapproving look toward Hypnos but he kept his mouth shut this time.

“If it is alright, I want Thanatos to be here to watch.” Zagreus’ eyes darted between you and Thanatos. You raised an eyebrow, he was up to something but you didn’t know what.

“Makes no difference to me. Just remember, this is training. Not a sporting event.” You pointed to the center of the room, “Warm up now.”

After Zagrues started with Skully handling the counting, you turned to the brothers. Hypnos grinned, “Come on Thanatos. I will show you my home from home. It is the best corner of the room.”

As Hypnos moved past you, his hand brushed across your back. Just a quiet touch between you and him.  You didn’t see Thanatos noticing the touching or how his eyes went to Hypnos who acted like normal.

~

“And he told you that?” You asked, amused at the outrage on Hypnos’ face. You grabbed the drinks and followed Hypnos back to the table tucked away in a corner. The lounge was slow right now, only a few shades lingered. Some talked of work but you saw a few pairs together, close and quiet.

It had been weeks since the new training and the returned to guard duty. You were glad for the break.

“I’m not kidding. So after this doctor and his thing, what do you mortals call it? Blood-something?” He looked up at you, slipping his too sweet drink.

“Blood-letting.” You told him, grinning at his wrinkled nose. He shuddered,“Urg. Yes. That. So the leeches he was testing out caused an allergic reaction and he ended up dying.”

Hypnos waved a hand, “That wasn’t the wrose of it though. Before he was done dying, the other doctor that was helping him didn’t try to save him, just took notes as he died.”

You laughed, “That is horrible.” You slipped your drink, “Was that angry guy in the great hall earlier?”

Hypnos shook his head, “Oh no, that was a different guy, he heard that the guy that his wife left him for died and was waiting for him.”

You rolled your eyes, “Really? Dead and he still cared?”

Hypnos leaned forward, his elbows on the table and hands holding on to his drink. “Patroclus was a doctor right? Did he ever do that stuff?”

You tapped your drink in thought, “A few times. He mainly handled battle or training injuries. He didn’t care for leeches, if you could imagine.”

Hypnos chuckled,”That’s fair. I heard they get quite attached.”

You groaned with a laugh, “Really, Hypnos? That was a bad one.”

“You’re just mad you didn’t think of it yourself.” Hypnos replied. The little god scooted closer, his golden eyes on you. You got closer too, just to share the same space as him.

After a few more drinks and a meal, Hypnos hooked his arm into yours as he led you out the lounge. Normally you didn’t like to be so openly affectionate but Hypnos did so you tried to be too. Even if it meant fighting down a blush the whole time.

“And then Zagreus tried to play it off. Acting like he left something in his room, and wasn’t killed by one of those numbskulls.” Hypnos chatted happily as he told you of the prince’s first escape attempts.

You chuckled, relieved to notice that most of the house had retired. You relaxed a little as Hypnos and you made it your way to the hallways of where the workers lived.

But Hypnos stopped moving forward, biting his bottom lip. You waited, noting at how the candlelight danced across his face. “You look really good.” You whispered, feeling like a fool but you wanted him to know.

Hypnos blinked up at you, a pleased smile formed slowly. “Oh?”

You nodded, moving your arm to hold him by his waist and leaned down to steal a kiss from him. For a few moments, you and him kissed, chaste but with a promise for more later.

Until you heard something moved. You pulled away, staring over your shoulder to the opening into the east wing. Hypnos copied you, “Is everything okay?”

“Did you hear that?” You waited until Hypnos shook his head. You placed your hands on his shoulders, “Stay here.” You ordered and you made your way over. Your eyes darted, searching for any movement . But everything was in its place, and nothing moved in the shadows. You went over to check the administration door, only to see everything locked up properly.

You even checked the great hall, listening for anything.  You waited for a few heartbeats. You wondered if you imagined something but your gut told you otherwise.

Someone was there even if they weren’t anymore.

You returned to Hypnos who gave you a curious head tilt. You shook your head, “Sorry, I must have been imagining things.” You heard the wariness in your own voice and knew Hypnos did too.

The little god tugged you closer, holding both of your hands. “You got nothing to worry about.” You nodded, even if you didn’t believe him.

Hypnos gave you a nervous glance. “I- I wanted to ask you something.”

You focused on him, “Anything.”

“You know how we would go to your room?” Hypnos whispered quickly, to force his words out. “I was thinking - only if you wanted to, of course- if you would like to see my bedchambers?”

It took a few moments for the words to sink in. You squeezed his hands, smaller than yours, gently as you could. “Are you sure?” Hypnos, for all his affection and joking around, was oddly private about his own stuff.

The little god nodded, and you leaned down to press a kiss on his lips.

“Yes, I would very much like to do so.”

The wobbly but very happy smile Hypnos gave nearly broke your heart.

~

You made it back to the camp and to your tent. You waved away the girl you had taken in a few years ago, still young and slight. She and her mother had put up as a pair since she would have been too young to be on her own and Patroclus had told you to take them in.

“I could bring you some more food, master.” She whispered, still nervous as a mouse. She placed a loaf of bread on the weapon table next to the candles she lit.

You shook your head, trying to keep your voice even. You would not snap at a child, especially when you knew you looked terrifying with the blood on you. “No, but thank you. You should return to your mother. She should be helping the others with getting dinner ready.”

She bowed and hurried out the tent and you fell on the cot that was your bed. You tossed off the helmet, uncaring of where it landed.

You only got to close your eyes for a few minutes before you heard someone else at your tent opening.

"Y/N?" Patroclus stepped in, frowning when his foot tapped the helmet. He picked up and carefully placed it on the single table that served as the weapon and eating area.

You sat up with a groan. "Hey Pa." Patroclus made his way over to you, his dark eyes scanned you. He cupped your face and held it closer to the light.

"I guess you heard what happened?" You tried to sound light-hearted. Patroclus said nothing, his eyes on the cut on your forehead.

"Your father was upset when he came in, wouldn't even speak to me at first." Patroclus let go of your face, brushing a hand on your matted hair.

You looked away to stare at the ground, not able to meet Patroclus' eyes. "I just…" you trailed off, not able to find the words you wanted to say.

You looked back at Patroclus when you heard him laugh. The smile on his face was a sad one even with the fond look in his eyes. "You're a good son. But you don't need to protect me or your father. It is our job to protect you."

You looked at him, at the lines around his mouth and eyes, at how tried he looked. And thought to yourself, 'No, it is my job.'

You saw how Achilles would just look at Patroclus sometimes, quiet and desperately worried. Achilles still looked like a man in his early thirties but Patroclus was very much a mortal and looked older.

You wanted to tell him that he was the only thing that kept Achilles grounded, kept your Father just and strong like the heroes of old. And that he was a mortal and it would be too easy to lose him.

But you don't.

You shrugged, unable to say anything.

Patroclus sat down next to you, his hand on your arm. "He wouldn't tell me, not at first. He told me what happened afterward when he was done with his fit."

"I understand why, Pa. I could have died just because I was being careless." You said.

"I know. But he could have handled it better." Patroclus repiled. He patted your arm. "You did good by talking your father out whatever bullheaded idea he had but you shouldn't have to, do you understand?"

"Yes Pa." You muttered, nineteen and a warrior but Patroclus still made you feel like a child. But it was different with him, it came from love, not anger.

You glanced at Patroclus, "Did he seem more like himself?" You bit your lip, feeling foolish for asking.

Patroclus just nodded, his lips pursed. You flinched, thankful you didn't have to be in the room with them for that talk.

"I already talked to your father. So I will be joining you for dinner instead." Patroclus stood up.

You frowned, "But Father will miss-"

Patroclus raised an eyebrow, stopping you in your tracks. "Your father will be fine for one night."

You nodded, feeling pity for Achilles. It would do no good arguing with Patroclus when he was upset.

"And Y/N. Next time listen to your Father on the battlefield. No ifs or buts understood?" Patroclus said.

“Yes, Pa.” you said.

Patroclus nodded, placing a gentle hand on your head."Good, now come along. I heard they have a fine stew going."

~

Thanatos was more quiet than Hypnos who cheered whenever you or Zagrues got a good hit in.

But that didn’t seem to stop Zagrues from getting distracted. It just for a moment but it allowed you to get a good enough kick in to push Zagreus several feet and onto his back. Thanatos jerked forward as if to step in but Hypnos’ hand on his shoulder stopped him.

You met his eyes with a shrug, which made his glare harsher. You walked toward Zagreus and offered a hand. When you pulled him up, you tugged him over and whispered in his ear, “Your highness, I understand you wanted him here but if you can’t keep your head in the game, I will have to remove him. Understood?”

Zagrues nodded, and You patted his shoulder.

“Back to the center, now.” You ordered. You could feel the holes Thanatos was glaring into back and sighed inwardly. You definitely don’t get paid enough to deal with this.

After the training, Hypnos went over to you while Thanatos stayed back. You could Thanatos’ eyes on you, watching your every move.

Hypnos bumped your shoulder with a smirk, “Good show as always but next time I might bring peanuts to throw when it's getting boring.”

“Do it and I will have Zagreus use you as target practice.” You said, grinning at Hypnos’ laugh.

“Are you sure you have to leave right now?” You overheard Zagreus asked Thanatos. “Meg and I were going to meet up at the lounge later.”

“Yes, I do.” Thanatos looked at you and Hypnos, a frown on his face. “Hypnos, come along. You have been away from your work long enough.”

Hypnos rolled his eyes, “Work work work work.” He floated to Thanatos.  “I think that's all you can do.”

“At least I’m not wasting my time playing with-“ Thanatos replied sharply.

“Hey! Don’t you dare continue.” Hypnos snapped. Thanatos just rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet.

You blinked, you didn't know Hypnos could make that tone with his cheerful voice. You and Zagreus’ eyes met, both with questions. Zagreus pointed toward the brothers and you shrugged, just as lost.

“Y/N, I have to go back.” Hypnos sighed, and gave Zagreus a finger wave, “Try not to die again, your Highness!”

And with that, the brothers vanished.

You and Zagrues stared at each other, both equally lost on what to say now.

You sighed, and went over to help Skully with the clean up. Zagreus followed, "I know this isn't my business, but what is going on between you and Thanatos?"

You stopped and turned to the prince, "What?"

Zagreus waved a hand to where the brothers were earlier, "Thanatos doesn't like you but he won't really talk to me about it other than that he thinks you're trouble. I was hoping you would tell me."

"He hasn't liked me from day one. I don't know if it is me or just because I'm a mortal. Honestly I don't care." You told him. "You will have to ask him or Hypnos."

Zagreus frowned, "Normally he isn't like this. I thought since you and Hypnos were-"

"Is between me and Hypnos." You warned. "Come on now, let's not leave Skully with all the work."

Zagreus frowned, clearly not wanting to let it go. After you and him placed the weapons back and helped Skully lock up the keepsakes, Zagreus glanced at you.

“If you ever need my help, just let me know Y/N.” Zagreus smiled at you, “You and him have been good for each other.”

You just nodded, “Thank you, your highness.”

~

Only a day later Thanatos came and found you.

You paused when you saw Thanatos by your usual post, his face carefully neutral. You waited for a glare to appear when you got closed but his mouth only tightened.

“Thanatos.” You greeted him mildly.

“Y/N.” Thanatos returned the greeting not quite as mild.

"This is about Hypnos, isn't it?" You said, not bothering to play games.

Thanatos sighed, "Yes. Do you mind if we find a more private area to speak?"

You gestured for him to lead the way and wordlessly followed him.

Once away from prying eyes, Thanatos spoke.

“I have noticed you and Hypnos. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.” Thanatos said. his golden eyes narrowed, watching for your face.

“Noticed what exactly?” You asked. You didn’t know where Hypnos stood with his family. You knew he wanted to be closer with them, that when he spoke of them it was always with a little bit of sadness. Even with Charon, who was busy with his work as the boatman and the shopkeeper.

And privately, you feared that if his family disapproved of the relationship, Hypnos would end it for their sake.  You feared that possibility more than you feared the god of death before you. It was one of the reasons you didn’t court Hypnos sooner.

Thanatos scowled, “I have warned you. I understand if Hypnos been pushy and I can tell him stop-“

“I was the one who pursued Hypnos.” You interrupted. It wasn’t exactly the truth, it was mutual on both sides. You tried to think of a way to tell him that Hypnos may have been the one to start it but you pushed both ahead, only grateful that something like Hypnos existed in the first place, let alone even looked at you.

Thanatos might be able to tell Hypnos to stop this, but he couldn’t tell you that. And for as long as Hypnos would have you, you will fight Thanatos tooth and nail.

“Why are you so against me?” You asked the god, “I won’t mistreat him, you don’t have to worry about him with me. I- I owe him everything.”

Thanatos shook his head, unwilling to hear you out.

“Things can change.” Thanatos said, pointing a finger at you.  “Hypnos is my little brother. Why do you, one of the mortals who are so arrogant to even try to fight gods, think that he would-“

“Thanatos.” Hypnos said. You and Thanatos both jerked, neither of you had heard Hypnos’ arrival.

Hypnos’ face darken when you and him both turned to look at him. His golden eyes were brighter, his own presence carried a weight to it you didn’t feel before even if he was still smaller.

You felt your chest tighten.

He was beautiful.

Hypnos moved between you and Thanatos. “Thanatos, you’re my brother but I don’t appreciate you talking to Y/N like this.”

Thanatos scowled, “You are being a child, Hypnos. The Olympians may use mortals for lovers but we are above that.”

“That is a matter between me and Y/N.” Hypnos said. You couldn’t see his face but you saw how his shoulders tense up. You almost reached out, wanting to comfort him but you held back. It wouldn’t be welcome, not right now.

“Have you taken this mortal as a lover?” Thanatos repeated, his eyes narrowed. Not letting up.

Hypnos sighed, “I-i. Fine, yes.”

Thanatos rubbed his eyes in frustration, “Hypnos. Why? Because of Meg?”

Your eyebrows went up in surprise. What did Meg have to do with this?

Hypnos shook his head, “You already got your answer, I’m not telling you.”

“That because you are shortsighted, this won’t end well. Do you understand Hypnos? Mortals, even dead ones and gods don’t mix. I had hoped Y/N would be wise enough to see that but I have no choice but let you make your mistake. Don’t come crying to me when you realize that.”

With that Thanatos vanished.  Hypnos didn’t move a few moments, still enough to make you nervous. Carefully you moved closer, touching his shoulders. He blinked up at you, and graced you with a nervous smile.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

You nodded, “I feel like I should ask you that.”

“I’m okay. I- Just give him time, please. He didn't have any good experience with mortals, even the alive ones and I-i think he is just worried.”  Hypnos begged as he turned to face you. He grabbed your hands as if he was the mortal begging for forgiveness.

You pulled his hand up and pressed a kiss to his knuckles, heart breaking at the sight of relief on Hypnos’ face. “Thanatos doesn’t scare me. I will put up with much worse than him for you. Alright?”

Hypnos just hugged your waist, and squeezed. You wrapped your arms around him, rubbing his back.

You will hold off on your questions about Meg. And Thanatos’ hate for mortals. For now.

Hypnos was the only thing that mattered right now.

[godsofhumanity]

BOOK I | HOMER’S ILIAD | LITERATURE REVIEW

SUMMARY: Agamemnon demands Achilles' war prize Briseis in return for returning his own war prize Chryseis back to her father after Apollo sends a plague to pester the Greeks. Achilles, in anger, removes himself from the war and asks his mother Thetis to persuade Zeus into granting victory for the Trojans to spite Agamemnon. Hera is infuriated when Zeus agrees to help Thetis without telling her (or anyone else).

all books / next book

Book I opens up right in the middle of the Trojan War... the scene begins with Homer providing a little background into why Agamemnon (called "king of men") and Achilles are at odds with one another.

i see often that when Agamemnon is mentioned, the author often describes him as "king of men" or write something about his association with Zeus- i think it's an interesting choice to do this because, IMO at least, it makes it seem like Agamemnon is the most powerful, and even noble, of all the heroes.. certainly, at the very least, Agamemnon himself seems to think so.

i learned while i was reading that the early kings of Mycenae were considered to be descendants of Zeus (something to trace back from Tantalus, Agamemnon' ancestor), and Agamemnon himself was the most powerful king in Greece.

later interactions with his fellow allies and the gods themselves seem to indicate to me that the title of "king of men" is only a superficial title- i mean, it doesn't reflect the worth of his heart, only his earthly gains. i know that Agamemnon isn't meant to be a villain in the intended audiences' eyes but i do find his characterisation interesting... he doesn't seem likable to me at all.

anyhow, moving on... when Apollo comes down from Olympus to wreak havoc on the Greeks, i noticed that Apollo's bow is described as "silver":

"... his silver bow rang death..."

intuitively, i'd have assumed that Apollo should have golden bow (i know this is a trivial thing to nitpick about, but i thought it was interesting!!).. however, when i searched it up (apparently other people were thinking like me ^-^) i discovered that in many poems, Apollo's bow is referred to as both silver and gold.

Homeric poems often described the bow as silver, while Classical Attic poems described it as gold... this is odd to me because i think that even in Ancient times, gold had more worth than silver, and Apollo is a revered god so shouldn't his weapons reflect his rank and status?

of course, i know that colours in Greek epics are often more symbolic than they are literal.. so i came to the conclusion that the silver bow is more suited to Apollo in this scene as a symbol of purity- the pure intentions of Chryses in rescuing his daughter against the unclean pestilience which plagues the Greeks and seems to mirror their "unclean" intentions in defiling the daughter of Apollo's priest (and thereby insulting Apollo too).

a few sentences later, Homer then describes Apollo as firing his plague for 9 days:

"For nine whole days he shot his arrows among the people..."

curiously, in Homer's Hymn to Delian Apollo, he writes that Leto laboured for 9 days and 9 nights to give birth to Apollo... it makes me wonder whether this association of the number 9 with Apollo was intentional... the 9 seems to indicate wholeness- the time needed to complete a journey/task.

that same sentence is ended by Hera encouraging Achilles to take action against this plague and find out why Apollo is so angry with them:

"... but upon the tenth day Achilles called them in assembly- moved thereto by Hera, who saw the Achaeans in their death throes and had compassion upon them."

there are two things about this sentence that i noted.

the first is the phrase "moved thereto by Hera". i read that, in the original Greek, this concept is described as "phrén" (plural: phrénes) which describes a state that is "physiological, intellectual, and emotional" all at once... another translation of the text but in verse says:

"On the tenth, Achilleus called the people into assembly, A thing put into his [phrénes] by the goddess of the white arms, Hera: Who had pity on the Danaans when she saw them dying." (trans. by Richard Lattimore)

i suppose it's similar to Hera entering into Achilles' subconscious directly... i think this scene is important because to me, it demonstrates that once again, things are happening because of the will of the gods... the mortals really aren't in control. the gods are watching everything unfold and are having a conscious role in it.

physically, they're involved in the fighting- we just saw Apollo coming to shoot arrows at the Achaeans, and we know later on, Athena and many other gods manifest on the battlefield and fight.. but they're there mentally/spiritually as well.

here, Hera is directly putting thoughts into Achilles' mind to make the battle go a certain way. it establishes the power and might of the gods, and their control over the universe.

the second thing that the sentence points out to me is the way that Homer does characterisation. something i keep noticing as i read through is that many of the characters start of as one thing, but then do a 180° and their personalities drastically change to the way they were when first portrayed.

this happens with a lot of different characters, but i think it's interesting that it happens to some of the gods too.

this is Hera's debut in the Iliad, and from the description of her as having "compassion" for Achilles and his teammates, to her gently interceding in the war and saving them from Apollo's wrath with the phrén, Hera has somewhat of a maternal role. i also feel that her utilisation of the phrén compared to Apollo's direct hands-on approach with the pestilence arrows further enforces her station as Queen of Olympus... she doesn't need to come amongst the action to have her way.. it's subtle and benign.

and yet!!!!!! at the end of the book, we see a change in Hera's characterisation- she argues with Zeus and her words are cruelly cunning... Zeus himself gets angry with Hera for her "nosiness" and berates her, even threatening to hurt her.. and suddenly, Hera loses her elegance and becomes fragile and timid:

"'... hold your tongue as I bid you, for if I once begin to lay my hands about you, though all heaven were on your side it would profit you nothing.' On this Hera was frightened, so she curbed her stubborn will and sat down in silence."

obviously, i wouldn't expect that Hera talks back to Zeus, or that Zeus would say anything less than what he says above.. but i do find it interesting how the dynamics change. a sense of hierarchy is established so well with just a few lines of dialogue, and more than this, the personalities of all the characters are fluid and changing... i think this makes the characters more "reachable" and more relatable. none of the characters seem to be infallible, no matter how mighty they are... i think it's very human.

still, Hera's initial characterisation is not lost... at the end of the Iliad, Hera's final appearance involves her and Thetis, and the presence of the phrén appears once again:

"Hera put into her hand a beautiful golden goblet and spoke to her to comfort her [phrén], and Thetis accepting drank from it." (trans. by Richard Lattimore)

the peacefulness and gentleness of Hera's character returns to her.

later on, Athena is sent by Hera to prevent Achilles from doing anything irrational (i.e. lopping Agamemnon's head off LOL)..

something that stood out for me in this scene was the repetition of Hera's love for Achilles and Agamemnon both:

"... Athene came down from heaven (for Hera had sent her in the love she bore to them both), and seized the son of Peleus... And Athene said: 'I come from heaven... Hera has sent me, who cares for both of you alike...'"

i love the repetition of this statement.. i think it reinforces Hera's maternal side, and i love the revelation of Hera and Athena shown to be productively working together. we know already that Hera doesn't get along with a fair few of her step-children, but here Hera is shown to work well with Athena- she commands Athena, and Athena obeys.

i think it's also interesting to note that, although Hera wasn't really a patron of heroes, she still seems to do a lot for many heroes- we know she deeply cared for Jason, and now we see Hera intervening on behalf of both Agamemnon and Achilles. and it doesn't seem to me that she's doing this purely because she doesn't want them to fight amongst themselves and lose the battle- it's not selfish..

the wording of Hera "having compassion", and "love she bore to them both" is emotionally strong language. it feels like there's more to the war than a trivial beauty competition... the gods are more engaged in this battle than meets the eye.

another interesting thing to note in this scene is the presence of Athena:

"Athene came down from heaven... and seized the son of Peleus by his yellow hair, visible to him alone, for of the others no man could see her... and by the fire that flashed from her eyes at once [Achilles] knew that she was Athene."

this is a powerful scene to me because Achilles is immediately set apart from his comrades. no one can see Athena standing before them, not even Agamemnon "King of Men" who fancies himself the most powerful of all the Greeks...

not only does Achilles see Athena, but he recognises her as Athena.. i think this is important to. it foreshadows Achilles integral role in the Iliad.. and once again, reminds the audience of the important role the divine plays in the war.

the lack of mention of Thetis, a goddess, feels intentional to me... it makes it seem like Achilles recognises Athena not by virtue of his divine lineage (for Agamemnon bears the blood of the divine too but does not see Athena), but by his own merit- Achilles is worthy of seeing Athena.

i suppose you could simply interpret the scene as Athena selectively making sure that only Achilles sees her (and that probably IS the right answer aha!) but i like this interpretation because it's a testament to Achilles' character. i feel that it makes the fight with Hector all the more tragic and bitter because there is a noble side to Achilles lost momentarily when he loses Patroclus.

at the end of Athena's speech to Achilles, she assures him that he will:

"... receive gifts three times as splendid by reason of this present insult. Hold, therefore, and obey."

it's pretty standard in literature that the number 3 is very powerful.. i'm not sure for how long the number 3 has been utilised as such a potent literary tool, but i think it's interesting that the Ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras identified the number 3 with "communication". he said that the number 3 encourages creativity and sociability...

is Achilles ever rewarded for obeying the gods as Athena promised? off the top of my head,, i can't recall whether he is... but it's definitely an interesting part of the story to remember as the story unfolds further.......

moving on... the first mention of Hector occurs in Book I.. it seems that Achilles has always disliked Hector.. though Hector is definitely a hero, and is considered brave and noble, the mightiest of the Trojans, i love the way the first mention of Hector has Achilles describing him as "murderous"...

we are also introduced to Nestor who attempts to pacify Agamemnon and Achilles. in his debut description, Homer intentionally provides us with the following line:

"Two generations of men born and bred in Pylos had passed away under [Nestor's] rule, and he was now reigning over the third."

this line not only establishes Nestor as the one with wisdom acquired after many of years of living, but his longevity also establishes him as the "spectator".

Nestor himself says that he has lived to be among great heroes like Pirithous, Dryas, Polyphemus, and Theseus... i'm not entirely sure whether the implication is that these heroes have already died, but it definitely does make Nestor appear to be some sort of mystical observer, watching over the fate of the heroes.

this is reinforced in the fact that Nestor survives the war, and eventually reappears in the Odyssey, again providing wisdom to a younger generation of heroes, in particular- Telemachus, the son of Odysseus.

further on, Agamemnon, quarrelling with Nestor, says this:

"Granted that the gods have made [Achilles] a great warrior, have they also given him the right to speak with railing [to me]?"

there are lots of ironic scenes in the Iliad, but this one makes me laugh because Agamemnon here presumes to know the thoughts of the gods- and he thinks that they wouldn't like Achilles talking so badly about Agamemnon with so little respect... BUT! the irony is that the gods have seen and heard it all, and they kinda just... don't care.

in the previous scene with Athena and Achilles, and Athena literally gives Achilles permission to get angry at Agamemnon, as long as he doesn't physically hurt him:

"Cease, then, this brawling, and do not draw your sword. Rail at him if you will, and your railing will not be in vain..."

once again, Homer shows us that the gods are present in the battle, and from the background they are controlling what happens.. as gods do.

in the next scene, Achilles pleads with his mother Thetis to allow the Trojans to win, and he says:

"Go, then, to [Zeus], remind him of [what you have done in the past for him], clasp his knees, and bid him give succor to the Trojans."

i didn't realise until i did more research, but the "clasping" of knees is an important, recurring motif in Greek literature..

supplication is an ongoing theme in many Greek epics- the clasping of the knees seems to indicate sinceere humility and a sense of desperation... when Thetis later goes to Zeus in the same book, she not only clasps his knees, but touches Zeus' chin, further establishing a sense of sincerity, and intimacy.. which of course, Zeus cannot refuse.

when Thetis assures Achilles that she'll try to talk with Zeus, i found it very fascinating that Zeus was described as being gone for 12 days:

"For Zeus went yesterday to Oceanus to a feast among the Ethiopians, and the other gods went with him. He will return to Olympus twelve days hence."

the reason why i love this number so much is because... and i don't know if Homer at the time knew this already, or whether some astronomer had heard this passage and decided it would work out.. BUT! the planet Jupiter (named for the Roman equivalent of Zeus, Jupiter) takes TWELVE (12) years for a full cycle!!! and how long was Zeus gone from Olympus for? TWELVE (12) days!!!!!!! i just think it's perfectly brilliant the way it works out.

12 seems to represent unity and completeness.. Zeus is gone for 12 days, there are 12 Olympians, and there were 12 Titans before them. it's a good number.

finally at the end of Book I, we are brought to Olympus where Zeus and Hera bicker, Zeus gets pissed, and then we are introduced to everyone's favourite blacksmith god, Hephaestus.

i really really love Homer's characterisation of Hephaestus. although he's an outcast in Olympus, and the other gods laugh at Hephaestus, Hephaestus himself doesn't see himself as less than the other gods.. i mean, he doesn't have low self-esteem, and even though he "bumbles" around, he's not pathetic.

Hephaestus plays a key role in pacifying both Hera and Zeus.. the Hephaestus in Homer's version loves his mother Hera deeply and was cast from Olympus after defending her from Zeus.. Hera returns this affection for her son, calming down after he speaks words to her and deciding to not push the matter further with Zeus.

but Hephaestus doesn't only prevent a fight, he picks up everyone's mood after it as well- all the Olympians are gathered together for a banquet and are feeling awkward after Hera and Zeus' show down, but Hephaestus manages to pick the mood back up-

"Hera smiled at [Hephaestus], and as she smiled she took the cup from her son's hands. Then Hephaestus drew sweet nectar from the mixing bowl, and served it round among the gods, going from left to right; and the blessed gods laughed out a loud applause as they saw him bustling about the heavenly mansion."

i'm not sure whether, traditionally, it would have been Hebe or Ganymede's role to serve the nectar, but the way that Hephaestus takes initiative and performs this role is a testament to his own character.

there's no doubt in my mind that the use of the word "bustling" is intentional and is meant to portray Hephaestus as clumsy and a bit oaf-like... but it doesn't seem like it's an accident on Hephaestus' part.. in my opinion, the way he moves "from left to right" makes me feel like Hephaestus does it on purpose.. he purposefully takes up the role of the fool in order to make everyone laugh and restore unity among the Olympians.

FURTHER READING:

Hera in the Iliad

supplication in Ancient Greek literature