"The statue of Hera is seated on a throne; it is huge, made of gold and ivory, and is a work of Polycleitus. She is wearing a crown with Graces and Seasons worked upon it, and in one hand she carries a pomegranate and in the other a scepter. About the pomegranate I must say nothing, for its story is somewhat of a holy mystery. The presence of a cuckoo seated on the scepter they explain by the story that when Zeus was in love with Hera in her maidenhood he changed himself into this bird, and she caught it to be her pet." Pausanias 2.17.4
alcibiades cannot sing or play a single correct note when he's drunk. Socrates is trying to save a room full of people from further torture like the national hero he is.
ANOTHER DEMETER AND CANNIBALISM CONNECTION HAS HIT THE JUDITH BRAIN
so apparently Demeter Melaina, worshipped at Phigalia in Arcadia was not just Erinyis in creating a famine, that famine was explicitly threatened as a return to pre-agricultural conditions, aka cannibalism, aka eating your own children. in pausanias 8.42.6, the Pythia gives an oracle that explains what the Phigalians must do about the famine:
Azanian Arkadians, acorn-eaters, who live
in Phigalia, the cave in which hid Deio horse-bearer,
you have come to learn a cure for painful famine,
who alone have twice been nomads, who alone have been eaters of wild fruits once more.
Deio made you cease from pasturing, Deio made you pasture
again, after being binders of corn and eaters of cake,
because she was deprived of the prize given by former men, and ancient honours.
And she will quickly make you eaters of each other, and eaters of children,
if you do not assuage her anger with public libations,
and adorn the recess of her cave with divine honours.
This reinforces the idea that gods' negative and positive sides mirror each other, and that their positive effect on the earth and mortals is directly related to a possibility of deprivation. Demeter has given agriculture and can give fertility, but can also take away fertility, resulting in famine. she provides the means for sustenance, but can make you literally eat yourself (and yours) in anger. apollo provides light and healing but also plague. ares is both a cause of war and a protection against it. etc etc
In my opinion we don't focus enough on this passage told by Pausanias. This is HUGE!Odysseus allows Penelope to choose who she prefers to follow, with the distinct possibility that Penelope will choose her father. In fact, in the "son-in-law's marriage" (i.e. the one in which the spouses move to the bride's father's house) the woman's position is much stronger than in the "daughter-in-law's marriage". By following Odysseus, Penelope chooses to abandon her family and will be asked to get used to a series of new habits, customs, even a different dialect.
So basically Odysseus makes a choice we wouldn't expect, Penelope does the same. Maybe it's just my impression, but it seems to me that one of the many things they have in common is doing things that were a little strange for the time. I won't go into this further, but there are many aspects of Odysseus to discuss in these terms, perhaps I will make a dedicated post later.
The veil is, we could say, the symbol that separates Penelope's life as a maiden from her life as wife of Odysseus.
I had also read an interesting comment about Penelope's use of the veil by an Italian scholar, which reads as follows: "Like her husband Odysseus once used to keep his eyes lowered, because he was thinking, and then his gaze would escape everyone; so Penelope, when she went down into the great room, lifted her peplos on the cheeks, so that the minimum of her expression could be seen".
Yeah....couldn't resist posting something out of this as well so I wasn't planning to do it till later but yeah here I am not sleeping and posting hahahaha
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Work gifted to @thepagansun but also to @ninastasia0 for showing interest in the source!
Inspired by Aeschylus's Oresteia as well as other sources in regards to the Atreides brothers as well as the relationships of the two main characters with their peers
Cassandra's children are mention in Pausanias
The love Agamemnon felt for Cassandra is being mentioned in various sources although her emotions are much more complicated and daresay bittersweet and tough to explain. Her suffering though is apparent throughout the entirety of sources.
Various references to ancient plays such as Euripides Iphigenia in Aulis and Iphigenia in Tauris
Yeah inspired by an old poll about the preferred dying scene for Agamemnon hehehe
My last post inspired me to redesign sketches of Menelaus and his family.
Some of the character designs are adjusted based on what I originally intended from my last sketch.
💬 0 🔁 1 ❤️ 10 · The House of Menelaus Sketches · Sketch ideas of character designs I have of them for now. Their appearances are inspired
Notes for each family member:
Each one is designed to appear before Megapenthes was born. This is how they look before the events of the, "Iliad," take place. Or after the conflict started, depending on whether you believe Megapenthes was born during the Trojan War or during the preparations. But note that in the, "Odyssey," he's old enough to get married.
Menelaus:
I had thought about making him look depressed, but I wanted to see him in a calmer state at this stage before the worst will come
I imagine he's as close to 30 or younger when Helen left
Similar to other interpretations of him, he has red curly hair, and sweet brown eyes that remind you of fresh baked bread
His hair length at this point is between his shoulders to his chest, so long enough for him to have his hair strands tucked behind his ears
Helen:
Similar to Clytemnestra, I wanted Helen to appear regal and noble as the Queen of Sparta
Her hair may look wavy in this image, but it's actually meant to be curly
As many described her to be the most beautiful, I imagine she would have golden blonde hair, bright and alarming as Zeus' thunderbolts
Originally her eyes are going to be light blue; the color of a clear blue lake under a summer sky
I decided to change her eye color after I found out the rarest beauty in ancient Greek standards is one who has light hair and dark eyes
In my headcanon, Helen's eyes were light when she was young, but grew as dark as the bottomless ocean; denim blue or royal blue eyes
Hermione:
She has her father's curly hair, and his sweet brown eye color
She gets her mother's eyes, especially under the early morning light when her eyes appear dark blue
I considered having her eye color to be central heterochromia blue eyes, with a brown hue around her pupils
Since she's young at this point, I made her eyes round and innocent
If I ever design her as an adult, she's going to have more of her father's fiery glare
Her hair glows as bright as the sparks of a hearth; strawberry blonde or copper hair
Pieris:
This was how I originally wanted her to look like
I'm going to use this as my original design for Pieris so there won't be any more confusion whenever I draw another design of her
She has black wavy chopped, uneven hair styled in a bob cut to show her slave status, and calm dark brown to near black eyes
She also gives off 2nd fl energy if you know what I mean
Her stature and physique is average at most, and she doesn't stand out
She has a calm and collected personality, yet is also gloomy looking
Something like a wall flower type or an outcast if there's a trope to describe her
Since her son's name means, "great sorrow," I wanted her to be connected to him by making her a depressed character
It's possible for my headcanon, Menelaus is attracted to her loneliness as much as she is to him, or before his downfall
If I have to pick her spirit animal, I'm going with the mouse
I've thought about the rabbit as another idea, but the mouse makes more sense to me to match her behavior, and was inspired by Aesop's fables
If I do more wholesome content of Menelieris, I like to see Menelaus tease Pieris like a cat and mouse
She may have reciprocated feelings for Menelaus when they first met
I might do alternative stories on how they knew each other when she was assigned to the household of Tyndareus, given to him as one of his wedding gifts, or during the war
With her age, I imagine she's either the same age as Helen or younger, but by 5 years at most
Despite there are some who find her "unapproachable," she's caring, considerate, and nurturing if you get close to her
I think Megapenthes would be soft and protective of his mother
Mistress Pieris: I wanted her to look more motherly and down to earth
Even as a mistress she prefers a simplistic style over anything over the top
With Megapenthes, I think she would've been more comfortable and tolerable with her life as a mistress if he was there for her
Megapenthes:
Baby Megapenthes: mini
I want to do my own original design of him
I still like the previous design I did for him, but similar to Pieris I want to separate those designs so I can do my own version of the characters
I came up with his original design after I established what my version of Pieris looks like
He takes after his mother's wavy hair and her calm eyes
With his hair color, I think it's somewhere close to a shade of brown, but not quite as dark as Pieris' hair
His hair changes to black after he and Nicostratus exiled Helen
I don't have a specific shade for his brown eyes, but it lights up as the ambers of a fire when he's livid or at a breaking point like his father
There's no better animal I can find than a lion cub as his spirit animal, but I can also see a mountain lion or puma as other options
I think like his mother, I imagine he has her reserved personality, but takes after his father's wrath and strong spirits
Again similar to his mother, he's shown to be openly compassionate and caring especially to those he loves such as Nicostratus
I guess he's similar to Telemachus in a sense where they both feel out of place, hold strong grudges, and have to give in to their unfair situation
The difference is I don't think he would be as emotional on making certain decisions unless he regrets not being more quick about it
Nicostratus:
I always wanted to do a character design of Nicostratus, and I couldn't have found a better opportunity than now
His character design is not fully set, but I have a few ideas
I heard there are some readers who interpret Nicostratus to be the son of Menelaus and Helen, but that's most likely not the case since he's addressed to be the son of a slave
And many sources seem to agree and confirm Hermione is the only true heir of the family
His hair color ranges between dirty blonde to light brown
It's not as light as Helen's golden blonde hair, but it's close enough to be called blonde
I chose that hair color, because I want this to be a nod to him being mistakenly called, "Helen's son"
An alternative design for Menelaus if I gave him blonde hair
He has his father's curly hair, and his eyes
If he was born first instead of Megapenthes I would like to play around with the idea his hair color darkens over time after he and Megapenthes exile Helen
Just like how a lion's mane darkens from blonde to black after he claims, and becomes the territory's new leader
Although to be fair I can still work with this idea regardless, but we'll see how that'll turn out in the future
The Mother of Nicostratus:
These are just rough drafts and headcanons
She is a contrast to Pieris
If Pieris is someone who is melancholic, then Nicostratus' mother is someone who is blissful
Hopeful, forgiving, "clumsy" as in she's not as graceful as Helen, a cheerful singing voice, humble, thoughtful, and honest
She resembles Helen with her blonde hair, and a similar physique
She met Menelaus during the war as a war prize in the first few years
With her age, she is younger than Helen and even Pieris during the war
Menelaus is attracted to her, because she reminds him of Helen during their youth, and perceives her as hope
Her spirit animal is the anise butterfly or the canary bird
One of the names I have in mind for her is Anysia or Euthalia
