#philostratus

[katerinaaqu]

Achilles with green eyes this, Achilles with blue eyes that but can't help thinking the potential of Philostratus's amber-eyed Achilles!

In Philostratus work "Heroica" we have a rather distinctive description of Achilles and even if I do not always agree plot-wise with everything Philostratus says this description sticks to me;

His hair was untamable and thick and they say it was more beautiful than precious gold and always was well-shaped no matter where the wind blew it or he himself moved it. His nose was not exactly aquiline but close to that. His eyebrows were arch-like while his amber eyes even if he were calm, would never hide his readiness, on the contrary it was preparing you for some action that was simply being delayed. When he decided to take action his gaze simply harmonized instantly with the intensity of his soul. Such a gaze would magnetize anyone that perceived it. It was true that all the Achaeans felt for him exactly the same they would feel before strong lions; even though one embraces their calmness, I'd say they admire them even more when they rush with incredible strength against bulls or any other of the fighting beasts. They say that the mood of Achilles can already be perceived by his nape, which was truly straight and high up. He was also the most just among the Greeks both by nature but also due to his living with Cheiron

(Translation by me)

Okay for once whoa! What a description of his gaze!!! Like the way that they make Achilles appear like a lion because of his golden thick hair and all but above all with his gaze! His eyes almost looking like a lion ready to strike and even how everyone was magnetized by him! And I love it how Philostratus says that yes Achilles when calm was a marvel to look at because of his beauty but also when he rushed into battle he was truly a sight to behold! Then it even says that he was just because of his nature but also because he was raised by Cheiron away from the corruption of politics and all, which is a subject of many of the thought posts I made in the past!

Anyway back to the point of this post! Amber eyes!

The epithet that is used to describe his eyes is χαροπός (charopos) which as usual can have many meanings including "fierce". Many translators seem to actually translate it as "grayish-blue" as a substitute for the color γλαύκος which is of course known however Maxwell Stuart disagreed and said that this color is definitely a different color and is indeed a shade of amber. And I agree with him. The word χαροπός reminds me of "carob" (χαρούπι) a word with Accadian origins and as we all know the carob syrup has a very rich, amber hue;

it was already known in antiquity and I believe Theophrastus mentions it in his work. so yes I think that this is indeed a color for a shade of amber instead. In fact Stuart mentions how this color was associated with lion descriptions and as we all know lions have at large amber-hued eyes

so yes I know even I am depicting Achilles with blue eyes or describe him as such in my stories but sometimes I wonder the potential of Achilles have eyes that can literally resemble a predatory feline and the marvel they might cause. Amber eyes is after all one of the rarest eye colors in the world

Anyways food for thought!

[lesbian-iphigenia]

This is fucking hilarious, Patroclus ilysm

[pgwodewose]

Two attempts at Achilles from my sketchbook.

The amber eyes is inspired by this post talking about Philostratus's description of Achilles which I thought was cool, and was what initially got me drawing him.

[dilutedh2so4]

Philostratus' Imagines 1.27.1: The two-horse chariot — for the four-horse chariot was not yet in use by the heroes except by Hector the bold — is bearing Amphiaraus on his way back from Thebes

Philostratus' Heroica 683: Hector, however, who was the bulwark of Troy and of all their allies, who kept four horses under control, which no other hero could do

Hector bringing as many horses as he physically can with him xD

[rozalinafromdreams]

One day, @katerinaaqu tagged me under a post that included a passage from Philostratus describing Achilles' eyes. And yes, ever since then, the image of Achilles with amber eyes has never left my mind. I promised that one day I would draw Achilles with eyes like that. Of course, I know that @midnightproser has already made sketches of Achilles with those kinds of eyes. Even so, I wanted to try portraying them myself. I decided to combine every eye colour that has ever been associated with Achilles, so I tried to depict blue around the edges, fading into green, then into yellow, and finally becoming a bright, deep, rich amber around the pupil. Of course, I didn't manage to capture the gaze of a lion. That's still something I need to work on. But at least I tried to make his hair thick, like a lion's mane. Honestly, he ended up looking more like Helen of Sparta, but oh well. Maybe I'll make another sketch of Achilles in the future.

[palamedestragedy]

Protesilaos also remembers how great the deeds of Palamedes were when he, Diomedes, and Sthenelos killed Haimos and his companions. Palamedes did not consider himself worthy of any rewards of valor; rather he yielded them to Diomedes, since he recognized that Diomedes had done everything for the honor and glory of battle. If the Hellenes, however, had proposed a crown for intellectual skill, Palamedes would not have lost it to any other man, since from the beginning he desired wisdom and trained himself in it. — Heroica, 690

ok so listen. heroica's version of palamedes death only includes odysseus and nobody else. but think of how fascinating it'd be if we patched this info together with diomedes being his murderer as well??? like. palamedes and diomedes were companions, the euboean admiring the argive so much as to give him all of his war spoils?? and yet. diomedes conspired to kill him too, because odysseus mattered more – because he was the closer companion. it's about the layers of betrayal, people!!

[theogonyofbeauty]

Comus, god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances.

[wetratman]

That Achilles loved Antilochus you must have discovered in Homer, seeing Antilochus to be the youngest man in the Greek host and considering the half talent of gold that was given him after the contest. And it is he who brings word to Achilles that Patroclus has fallen, for Menelaus cleverly devised this as a consolation to accompany the announcement, since Achilles’ eyes were thus diverted to his loved one; and Antilochus laments in grief for his friend and restrains his hands lest he takes his own life, while Achilles no doubt rejoices at the touch of the youth’s hand and at the tears he sheds.

Now such is the scene in Homer, but the events depicted by the painter are as follows: Memnon coming from Ethiopia slays Antilochus who had thrown himself in front of this father, and he seems to strike terror among the Achaeans – for before Memnon’s time black men were but a subject for story – and the Achaeans, gaining possession of the body, lament Antilochus, both the sons of Atreus and the Ithacan and the son of Tydeus and the two heroes of the same name. The Ithacan is made known by his austere and vigilant look, Menelaus by his gentleness, Agamemnon by his god-like mien, while the son of Tydeus is marked by his nobility, and you would recognize the Telamonian Ajax by his grimness and the Locrian by his alertness. And the army mourns the youth, standing about him in lamentation; and, their spears fixed in the ground and their legs crossed, they stand, most of them in their grief bowing their sorrowing heads on their spears. You are not to recognize Achilles by his long hair, for that is gone since the death of Patroclus, but let his beauty make him known to you, and his stature, aye, and the very fact that he does not wear long hair. He laments, throwing himself on the breast of Antilochus, and he seems to be promising him a funeral pyre and the offerings to be placed upon it and perchance the arms and head of Memnon; for he proposes that Memnon shall pay all the penalties Hector paid, that in this respect also Antilochus may have no less honour than Patroclus had. Memnon, stands, terrible to look upon, in the army of the Ethiopians, holding a spear and wearing a lion’s skin and sneering at Achilles. Let us next look at Antilochus. He is in the prime of youth, just beyond the period of downy beard, and his bright hair is his pride. His leg is slender and his body proportioned for running with ease, and his blood shines red, like colour on ivory, where the spear-point penetrated his breast. The youth lies there, not sad of aspect nor yet like a corpse, but still joyous and smiling; for it was with a look of joy on his face (because, I fancy, he had saved his father’s life) that Antilochus died from the spear-thrust, and the soul left his countenance, not when he was in pain, but when gladness prevailed.