I think a lot about Lesterpollo specifically describing Lityerses to be like an abused pitbull in The Dark Prophecy, and then I think about how one of King Midas's defining characteristics is his foolishness, something I argue carries over in Rick's portrayal of him, especially when Jason tricks him into "helping Lityerses up" and even with Lit yelling at him not to, he does so anyway. A trick that was foreshadowed, by the way, by Midas mentioning accidentally turning Lit to gold every now and then.
I think there was a severe reversal of the parent/child dynamic with Midas and Lityerses which contributed to Lityerses becoming the swordsman he is.
The reframing of Lityerses as an abused guard dog who went to Commodus because he had nowhere else to go when Midas died and Gaea was defeated makes me think Midas was incompetent and unable to look out for his own safety, even back in Ancient Greece. I like to think Midas had a tendency to let people into his house too easily (think how unconcerned he was about Jason and co. flooding in, and how the Golden Touch in the first place was a reward for his excellent hospitality).
Maybe some of these guests were dangerous. And sure, Midas could turn them to gold, but that whole thing is kind of dependent on Midas being able to touch them before they're able to hurt him. Try running up and tapping someone with a sword, or spear, or any other weapon that gives them even a little bit of extra reach than you have. It's not going to be easy to get to them before they can impale you.
But hospitality laws are also pretty strict and divinely enforced, especially back in Ancient Greece, and Lityerses can't just violate them even if he wants to.
And so, we get to his challenge; beat him in a cornhusking competition, or die by his blade. It's the perfect little xenia getaround; goad someone into a competition with a death penalty and then kill them for losing, and then argue they signed up for it.
I think that in a lot of ways, Lityerses was the one running the household. Making sure everything gets done, protecting them from invaders, and making sure his absent-minded, lazy father doesn't get them into some situation Lityerses can't drag him out of.
This doubles as a convenient explanation for why Lityerses somehow believed he'd be different after seeing Commodus burn through countless prefects for little things. After spending both of his lives working for his bumbling idiot of a father, I could easily see Lityerses coming to believe that everyone else before him really just had been that dumb. It's like being the smart kid in class and just accepting that the only way to get a good grade on the group project is to do it all yourself before you even know who your partners are. Lityerses is so used to watching Midas actually be that dumb that he totally buys all those other prefects were, too.
In turn, having Commodus turn on him just as quickly finally made Lityerses realize that he never stood a chance. His loyalty was not, in fact, going to be rewarded like it was with Midas. Midas would at least be proud of Lityerses and love, if not Lityerses himself, the things that Lityerses does for him. But Commodus was a whole different thing.
This whole bit at the end of The Dark Prophecy really fits into all of this:
It implies absolutely so much. Did Commodus and Lityerses really have a dynamic like this implies? I think so, because Lityerses doesn't deny Commodus having served as a father figure. They don't ever seem particularly close in the scenes before this, but giving their relationships with their birth fathers, I don't think either Commodus or Lityerses would consider emotional closeness as necessary. They both seem to understand paternity as a matter of hierarchy and power rather than instruction and love (hey, what a prevalent theme for ToA!), but the idea of Commodus personally recruiting Lityerses after Midas's death and the fall of Gaea is interesting. I might write a fic about that conversation later, because I feel like this conversation suggests so much potential that TDP didn't have the time or focus to go into.
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