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#he had it all
baejax-the-great · 5 months
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In the version of Ajax's story that would have been around during Homer's time, Ajax didn't lose the contest for Achilles' arms because he is dimwitted or because Odysseus is clever. Neither of these things had anything to do with it (and I would argue the former isn't true).
Ajax wanted to prove himself. We'll never know exactly what he'd accomplished in his life pre-Iliad because two of the sections where these things would have been laid out, the catalog of ships and Helen's introduction of all the Greek generals to Priam, were in all likelihood tampered with and erased (probably by 5th century BCE Athenians). You ever wonder to yourself why Ajax's section in the catalog of the ships is so short and also contradicts other parts of the Iliad regarding where Ajax's camp/ships are? So have historians. And the Megarans (who took Ajax as a hero of their city), who wrote their own satirical version of his section mocking the one that got canonized in the version of the Iliad we have today. The exact why and how of that erasure is an unknown, but it's a fairly accepted theory (and more supported than my original thought on reading it--wow, did Homer hate Ajax or something?).
Regardless, Homer does mention repeatedly that Ajax is the second best of all the Greeks in the Iliad. He is also, notably, the one main hero who doesn't receive direct help from any of the gods. The closest he gets is Poseidon giving him a burst of energy, but that's about it. Compare to Diomedes who has Athena driving a chariot for him, or Paris who is spirited away in combat before Menelaus can kill him, or Achilles who has Athena tricking Hector and retrieving Achilles' spear for him--Poseidon handing Ajax the equivalent of a Red Bull is pretty paltry. But it's enough, because Ajax can get shit done.
By that same token, Ajax doesn't ask the gods for much. Notably he never prays to Athena, and she never interacts with him at all. Because she hates him.
As the older story goes, Ajax believed that the way to prove himself the best of the warriors was to eschew the help of the gods and show that he could accomplish his great feats alone. In a less sympathetic version of this, his invulnerability makes him cocky enough to believe he doesn't need the gods to prove himself (I actually think both these sentences mean the same thing, but the framing is a bit different--is he saying that the gods' help is beneath him? Or is he desperate to prove himself without getting a leg up from powerful beings?). Athena likes her little toy soldiers, and dislikes being ignored by great warriors who by all accounts should be begging for her favor, so this didn't sit well with her.
In eschewing the gods' help, Ajax does prove himself more capable than the other Greeks. His accomplishments are his alone. Nobody is going to compliment Paris for surviving his duel with Menelaus because they all know a goddess helped him. At various points throughout the Iliad, warriors accuse each other of having the gods helping them (such as when Little Ajax eats shit while racing Odysseus and blames Athena for favoring him), thus cheapening their victories.
Nobody can say this about Ajax. Everything he did, he did himself.
And for his pride, Athena hates him. And because of this, she will deny him the one thing he wanted--recognition of his abilities. When the time comes for the Greeks to give their respect to Ajax as their greatest warrior, something they all know he is, she rigs it so that they don't. Ajax is snubbed. His abilities will go unrecognized.
He goes mad--and we already know he's not the kind of guy who can ask for help--and so he is killed by the only warrior strong enough to defeat him--himself.
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seraphdreams · 1 year
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i knew it was over when orochimaru was my first anime crush..
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strawberryserpent · 1 year
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Y'all I saw theeeee cutest guy at a vintage store today but I'm in a different city so 💔
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laaskrin · 2 years
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Working on Mordred rn and i keep torturing this poor little wet sock of a man. Such a tragic backstory, he exudes sad baby girl energy.
Now to make him hot but pathetic to have the perfect little package.
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emerson-hope · 2 years
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i met a supremely drunk & annoying man last night who—i mean this literally—looked like an extra from the outsiders
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poorly-drawn-mdzs · 5 months
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Knowledge Revenge.
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brainrotcharacters · 1 month
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When irl pisses me off, I rewatch the Honda Odyssey scene to relax
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a-drama-addict · 24 days
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not caring too much about a fandom’s favourite guy is the worst. you’ll think “oh i’ll look into the tag see if anything new and cool’s there” and it’s just that fucking guy again
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fullcolorfright · 10 months
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Relax! This Book is Just a Phase You're Going Through: Gay Comics from Christopher Street, by Charles Ortleb and Richard Fiala, 1978.
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mintaikk · 2 months
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Most underrated part of the Deadpool & Wolverine movie is when Deadpool mentions that his girlfriend left him, and Wolverine's first response was to say, "You had a girlfriend???" because he genuinely can not fathom that this man is into women
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seren-dipitous-art · 2 months
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I’ve been obsessed with the Olympics for the past week, and obsessed with Dick Grayson for longer, so here’s the crossover we all deserve.
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Plus, gorgeous sweaty acrobat in gymnastics poses? Only positives.
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christadeguchi · 5 months
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me and senshi: i've only had izutsumi for one day but if anything happened to her...
also.... she has nekojita (cat tongue) ;___;
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bluebeesknees · 4 months
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𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰 ✨
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artkaninchenbau · 8 months
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Crocodile finds a strange stray cat an 11-year old Nico Robin (AU where they met 13 years earlier. Robin's been on the run from the World Government for 3 years. Crocodile's 27 and has not set up base in Alabasta yet)
It seems like I have become possessed. By some sort of demon.
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Bonus:
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canisalbus · 4 months
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✦ Freshly ordained ✦
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poorly-drawn-mdzs · 6 months
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The math just adds up!
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