#periboea

[maximumqueer]

@thhouseofblack thank you for single-handedly fighting off my art block lol

Anyways, Periboea playing with Telemachus in the river while Anticlea panics on the shore

[thhouseofblack]

Periboea (Naiad - Penelope's mother) showing up as one of the nymphs that accompanied Thetis for Achilles' funeral to Troy would be so funny. She just pulls up there, sees her only daughter's husband and starts yelling at him for wasting his time here while her daughter and grandchild are so sad in his absence.

The rest of the achean army watching their silver tongued, champion of Athena, Commander Odysseus being scolded by his divine mother-in-law

[aziscribs]

oomf.... periboea and hesione yuri just crossed my mind and I need to know if u see my vision

I DO I DO I DO!!! YES! I DO!!!!!I DOKOOOOOO!!@!@!!!1!1!1!3(2)2)(_3(+_!

I don't know if they ever admit it to each other BUT. I think those two women kissed. FOSHO as a reporter in the field I've seen them hold each other and look longingly into each others eyes.

I think the two of them have many moments alone with each other and I think most of them are comfortable silences. If they're not alone then they're with the kids and then they can roleplay lesbian suburban moms 💪 I honestly don't know if it's yuri or if it's bestiehood, but if they are besties they're for real for lifers like patchilles type besties (whenever they are depicted as besties) like the line is thin

1 billion likes and I'll draw them together

[cescalovestowrite]

Penelope's Childhood Headcanons

(some of these are a bit dark, but they are my personal ideas, no need to agree with them)

If we put all the sources together we see that Penelope has seven brothers and one sister. We know for sure that her father is Icarius, but not all authors agree on who her mother is.

I imagine that Icarius had a first wife, the naiad Periboea (from whom were born Penelope, Perileus, Thoas, Damasippus, Imeusmius and Aletes), but that then she left the palace to return to her river and that Icarius remarried, this time with Polycaste (mother of Iftime, Aliseus and Leucadius).

But how did Icarius and Periboea meet? Icarius is wounded during a hunting trip, and runs to the river to drink. There he sees some naiads and begs them to help him, because naiads are famous for healing wounds. Periboea comes forward: she has enormous eyes, diaphanous skin and does not speak the human language. She touches Icarius' wound and he heals. Icarius falls in love with her and decides to take her with him to the palace of Sparta: he has decided that she will be the mother of his children.

But nymphs cannot stay away from their element, their source of life, for long. Periboea is stunned by dry land, walking is not natural for her, dressing is not natural, all those smells and noises are not natural. Over time she becomes more and more restless and subject to violent fits of anger. She gives birth to one child after another but when she takes them in her hands she smells only the human odor and does not understand what to do with them. Her skin begins to gray, to dry out.

One night, when Penelope is about eight years old, she is awakened by the sounds of a commotion and terrible hissing. That night Periboea runs away. The next morning Icarius seems tired, but also partly relieved. The naiad was becoming more and more difficult to handle and he was afraid that she might even hurt their children. An excuse is invented on why their mother will have to stay away for a while and the children do not ask questions. Penelope knows that she will never see her again.

She didn't have a real relationship with her mother, but she still struggles to get used to her stepmother's presence. Where Periboea was cold and silent, Policasta is sunny and talkative. She hopes she can learn to love her.

At her first menstrual cycle, Icarius decides to send her to live with his brother Tindareus. Tindareus has many daughters of her age (Timandra, Filonoe, Phoebe, Helen and Clytemnestra) and two sons (Castor and Pollux), and Penelope will be able to learn a lot from them. However, the two families had already seen each other assiduously and the cousins ​​had always been very close. The girls go swimming together, learn the tasks of princesses and above all tell each other many secrets. Little by little they wait for the day when they will be ready for marriage.

[floravaenus]

There could be many ways to explore female friendships/relationships (apart from family) in Greek mythology, but these myth retellers dont look hard enough or arent imaginative enough like for example:

Physcoa and Hippodamia: Physcoa, a Maenad, and Hippodamia are connected to the Heraia. Hippodamia was the founder and organizer of the sixteen women and their rituals, while Physcoa was one of those sixteen women and helped run the Heraia. Hippodamia probably had never met someone as wild as Physcoa (she learned a lot about the world because of her, given that her father kept her inside like a bird in a cage), yet she trusted her deeply as one of her closest companions. I also wonder what happened to their friendship when the whole Chrysippus situation occurred.

Galanthis and Alcmene: It is said that Galanthis was Alcmenes playmate, which likely means they were childhood friends. She also continued to stay with Alcmene even after her transformation. I headcanon that Galanthis sometimes accompanies Hecate and sometimes stays with Alcmene, she is also a talking weasel. We also have Historis, the daughter of Tiresias, who helps Alcmene give birth in other versions, coincidentally, both Galanthis and Historis are of Theban origin, so I like to imagine that the three of them were childhood friends and were always there for Alcmene.

Amphithea and Pelopia are also very likely friends, given the vase painting where they interact and comfort each other. It makes me happy to think that Pelopia had a friend who cared deeply about her despite her tragic life, so I hope she experienced happy moments even if they were short-lived. They were also both married to their uncles, so maybe they bonded over that.

Then theres Arsinoe and Clytemnestra. Arsinoe was the nurse of Orestes and saved him from his mother, Clytemnestra, by carrying him to Strophius. I imagine that Arsinoe and Clytemnestra were once close friends, and that Clytemnestra trusted her deeply before everything involving Iphigenia happened. Arsinoe initially tries to stay with her, giving her moral support and trying to calm her down, but Clytemnestra is too far gone, she lost her precious daughter, after all, so they are a "we used to be friends" case.

With Periboea and Hesione we dont have much in canon but i like to think Hesione was initially scared of Periboea, thinking that she is a jealous wife and is going to hurt her, only to be confused by Periboea kindness. Periboea, in turn, shares that she was also abused by Telamon and with her privilege as queen, tries to ensure that Hesione has a comfortable life and that she and Teucer are not harmed. This contrasts with the usual depiction of women in Greek mythology being jealous of their husbands illegitimate children. So both Periboea and Hesione have a sense of female solidarity and try to survive their circumstances together while bonding over their fates.

[galusandmalus]

so like are we gonna talk about the misconceptions about Periboea and hesione

i actually prefer hesione as a character shes more important but i feel like if you actually look at the most detailed sources 😭

hesione goes willingly and periboea is enslaved and raped like its kinda the opposite of what people think

kill telemon

[lesbodysseus]

Okayyy here again "Oh, I meant it more like if you have any headcanons about Periboea or Pelopia individually, not necessarily whether they knew each other. Sorry for being vague"

OH OFC I DO I love them both a lot!! They're both some of my fav characters!!

Periboea:

— when Telamon had first brought Hesione to Salamis, Periboea acted far more hospitable and kind to Hesione than expected, Telamon thought she'd get mad at him for being unfaithful and the whole way back to Salamis he was rehearsing an argument in his head with Periboea since he expected her to react the same his mother reacted to his father being unfaithful, only for her to seem almost happy to see Hesione and made sure Hesione felt comfortable as she could be even while being so far away from home because she had hope that her and Hesione could be friends and that for once she'd have someone to keep her company because even though she'll always feel trapped in Salamis like a bird in a cage at least she'd have someone to share her cage.

— Periboea sees Teucer as like a son to her even if he's not her son and often goes out of her way to encourage Ajax to spend more time with Teucer(Hesione encourages Teucer to spend time with Ajax as well) which helped in the brothers growing close

— Periboea used to have a really good relationship with her father Alcathous before everything that happened

— despite how many years had passed by Periboea still finds herself thinking about Theseus from time to time since he was the first person to ever protect and defend her

— Periboea wishes that the guard her father had sent to kill her had followed her father's orders and drowned her since being sold as a slave to Telamon was definitely NOT more merciful than death, she has considered trying to take her own life herself multiple times but she never followed through with it because she doesn't want Ajax to have to deal with losing his mother and she doesn't want him to be left alone with Telamon

— Periboea constantly hoped that Ajax would grow up into a good man, that he'd be nothing like Telamon, but when the ship Tecmessa and Eurysaces were on finally made it to Salamis after Teucer's exile, she saw herself and Hesione in Tecmessa, and it was the first time she had ever felt immense disappointment in Ajax, she was disappointed that in the end her son still turned out like his father.

— whenever Telamon would yell or hit Hesione, Periboea would always try to come to her defense and protect her since she never had anyone to protect her from Telamon, and she encouraged Ajax to always protect Teucer the same way.

— as much as Periboea loves Ajax she finds it hard to look at him because of how much he resembles Telamon in appearance.

Pelopia:

— I feel like Pelopia would have cared a lot about Aegisthus as he was her son but at the same time she deeply resented him because he represented when her life fell apart.

— Pelopia used to have a good relationship with Thyestes before she went to live with Thesprotus, I really like the idea of Pelopia wishing her father was there to comfort her when she got raped being completely unaware her rapist IS Thyestes.

— I like to imagine out of Aerope's kids Pelopia cared for Anaxibia the most, she considered her a daughter and constantly worried that something like what happened to her could happen to Anaxibia as well and tried her best to try to protect her in whichever way she could because she saw herself when she was young in Anaxibia.

— Pelopia loves cats she's THE cat person

I wanted to add more for Pelopia but I didn't get the chance....

[sarafangirlart]

Honestly shoutout to Periboea and Polybus (Oedipus’s adoptive parents) in a time when ppl hated and rejected the disabled, they loved this child so much and raised him as their own, even tho he wasn’t their flesh and blood.