Epic made people confused with how little agency Odysseus really had throughout his journey, presenting it like every time he had a choice and a chance to act differently and better

I so agree and if I am completely fair it is not just thus musical but the whole concept of people thinking that Odysseus was just an idiot who was lost or someone who had plenty of choices and he just didn't do better

Throughout the Odyssey the dude was losing one piece of himself and all he could do was stare in horror and endure. He endured in horror seeing his men die in the hands of Polyphemus till they managed to build the means to get out, he was pushed by winds to the land of Laestrygonians. He could only stare in horror when his ships were destroyed. He could only go with the flow with Circe he could only stare in horror when Skylla devoured his men, he could only hang for dear life from his raft in the storm or over charybdis! He could only cry in desperation in Calypso's island

The dude had little to no agency throughout the trip and even the revelation of his name to Polyphemus and his hubris to Poseidon was a result of his psychological overbearing from the whole horrific experience! Honestly people often don't know and you are so right the musical SO creates this false impression

That is because people think that all poems or plays etc count as "tragedies" because also the word "tragedy" nowadays means "tragic tale" not the very specific thing in antiquity.

Also the agency of the characters in ancient greek tragedies is still obscure for the essence of fate still exists. In fact many ancient greek tragedies relied on the lack of agency of the characters and the existence of fate to resolve the whole process. Aristotle gives this definition of tragedy

"Tragedy is the mimicry of a great act that is complete, that has proper length and beautiful speech that leads everyone to the catharsis for the characters' adventures"

Helen was being pulled. That was what she knew because what she felt was an absolute mess inside her like a skein of red wool that was given to a cat to play with and that cat had tangled the thing beyond recognition; it could be that several threads were already severed and yet they were tangled again and again and there was no way of whether they were indeed cut off or not. Helen of Troy, former considering herself Helen of Sparta was feeling a similar way. She was being pulled by the steady hand of her husband covered with his crimson chlamys, not being able to see anything around her but the dirt beneath her feet and yet the sounds that came to her ears; cries of pain mixed with wild triumph wouldn’t let her calm. The smell of fire was also apparent and the metallic scent of blood. She had taken a glimpse of that before and yet Menelaus had chosen to cover her from this. When she was driven to his presence Menelaus was silent. His eyes; those flaming eyes she had missed so much to see from up-close were only staring at her as if he aimed to burn holes into her soul. Helen would stare at him for hours. He had prepared herself for the reunion almost the full decade that she spent at Troy, somehow she knew her husband would come for her; she knew it deep down her soul, knowing his pride, his honor… The moment she lay a foot to the holy city of Troy accompanied by her then new husband Paris, she knew that moment that Menelaus would want to see this city burn. Somehow he had succeeded. She had heard also the plan created by her previous suitor Odysseus. Menelaus and Odysseus had showed up in Troy to negotiate, after arriving at their doors with over 1000 ships. Helen knew. She didn’t need the intelligence she had to realize that if her husband had called upon Odysseus that it didn’t matter what the elders would say. Menelaus would burn the city! Odysseus would help him and do what it would be necessary for victory regardless the price! Seeing the two so mismatched men (one of tall and royal structure with blondish-red hair and honey eyes like the sunset and the other shorter yet immensely structured, hairy and curly like a ram, black of hair and eyes like the night) looking towards her she knew. She knew that these two would make the world burn. Ever since she was preparing herself for the inevitable confrontation with her previous, her true husband… But nothing truly helped when she saw those flaming eyes of his, framed by the blood that had splattered his face, staring at her; blood dripping from his bronze sword.

Had to make an Avatar version for these two as well because I have no restraint :3

My oh my!!!! HERE IT IS!!!! Boy look at that behemoth (or leviathan in this case) of a woman over there!!!

Man only this amount of notes is a crime dear! And man look at that buff lady looking large and muscular as a whale! (which makes me wonder how our twins might look like for this one!) I loved the detail of her one eye that I remember you said she would have as a price for living alone in the wilderness and all and I love it how you wondered how to transfer the curly hair of the Metkayina to our characters and then you nail it anyways!

Man the blood looks great and the way she holds her side like that! And the way that obviously doesn't seem like a flesh wound shows the importance of that technology to her survival and the way Liora tries to help her is so sweet and she slowly approaches! I can almost imagine Assara's growls for this one

and man I LOVE the background!

It really has a barrain feeling to it which is great because honestly from the movies they make it sound like it all is a paradise and all but I am sure there are places that are less fertile than others and more difficult than others and I am sure she might as well have her own difficulties to get by at times when she lives in isolation!

Really good job there dear. Is so nice to see some more projects there!

Oh man Leviathan really is the perfect way to describe her 👀 That massive silhouette gliding just beneath the surface at a dangerous speed, glowing in the bioluminescence of the night, so beautiful and terrifying at the same time!

Thank you so much for your kind words girl ❤️ Yes I just couldn’t imagine her any other way haha (I really need to draw the twins as reef Na'vi soon 👀❤️) I’m so happy you like her eyes! I wanted to honor her original tribal galhot design as well but also make it different! The idea we had of the twins being born blind as reef Na'vi is something I love exploring, and with Assara, I indeed imagined she lost most of her sight due to the harshness of her exiled life... Maybe one eye was injured while hunting or defending herself from a wild creature, while the other still sees, tho not perfectly. And yeah even though she values her freedom in solitude, it’s such a harsh and lonely life, especially without a community...

Thank you so much! It was so fun imagining her with curly hair, I can’t wait to try it out with the twins and Kher too! 👀 That injury was one of the most challenging details! I can imagine how she fought against an Akula attack, managing to swim to shore with a deep wound from the bite... And for sure without Liora's help, the blood loss or infection could have been fatal... For someone like Assara, who despises pain, it must have been excruciating! And yeah she still tried to scare Liora away, but the tiny human overcomes her fear to help her❤️

Ahh, thank you ❤️❤️ Honestly, I wasn’t initially aiming for a barren environment, but now that you mention it, it’s such an intriguing concept. Perhaps the island has some lush, fertile areas here and there, but Assara still has to travel through desolate regions to gather proper food and supplies and it's hard. Yeah I really like the idea that even in this world life isn’t that glorified paradise, and for someone living alone like Assara, survival is a constant struggle. That means so much girl! 🥰

It is isn't it? 👀 oh man what an image indeed!

Hehehe that's fair! If is true (you sure do and it pains me that the twins do not appear as often to the reblogs and likes and such) oh yeah I remember because you still wanted her to have some eyesight and yeah we kinda worked a bit with that to the original au story with Yanangule and Chak-ar-Dal being blind due to age so yes I can definitely see that but I see so it is not blind I see. Yeah that definitely works to set perspective

Oh come on as if and yeah I certainly wanna see how that works with them! Oh I can definitely see it and if definitely was a rough battle for survival for her and yeah with Assara who doesn't do well with pain that definitely was challenging 😕 oh yeah I can so see she wouldn't survive and yeah the growl or hiss she sends at first definitely had her go back imagine her have an app or something hahaha trying to figure out language at first and when the translator flicks Assara flicks her ears in wonder (and maybe smirks at the grammar mistake the app makes haha) that is for later of course.

I see but it did give that feeling that's for sure. Yeah I can definitely imagine her swimming a fair distance to get her food regularly oh come on it is just natural.

Menelaus: My girlfriend is so much better looking than me that a cashier just put a plastic divider down in the middle of our groceries.

Oh lord sounds like something Menelaus would say hahaha 😆

Achilles being who he is could be a subject of his upbringing (and how CONTEMPORARY his case seems if one thinks of it!) - an Analysis

Has anyone noticed that Achilles's complicated psychology might as well be a result of his upbringing and how incredibly MODERN his case can be? Think about it;

One can say Achilles is a child ill-fated, already people overly-indulge him because of his natural talents but also his ill fate. He got his life settled for him one way or another. Built skills as spherical as possible (arguably even for his mother's charade he learnt some female roles as well!), he had the best education as a golden child (from the art of war till music and all) and exceeded in all but also he had his family always worried of him. He even had a companion by his side at all occasions to make sure nothing would happen to him. Arguably his withdrawal to Chiron in nature also shielded Achilles to remain pure from the intrigues of palaces, from actual talks of violence and war WHILE being prepared for war just in case he would need to use it!

But also if one thinks of it...

Point and case as I mentioned to my reblog answer yeah Antilochus dies first indeed (which is why I also touch the subject to my one-shot fanfictions too). What is more Achilles was there when it happened most likely at least in art he is, and he challenged the king of Aithiopia Memnon to a duel for killing Antilochus and then he went in another rage rampage that was his last given how eventually he pushed the Trojans back to the walls but got shot by Paris (from most versions) with the help of Apollo and lost his life.

Man he did didn’t he? And his wife and son were away and he probably hardly knew them at that point given how he was away from them longer than what he was with them so yes he technically lost everyone

Awww thank you so much and yeah I think so too. That Achilles was definitely not sane as a person I mean already in the Iliad the way he was clinging onto a dead body for DAYS while mourning. That DEFINITELY is not a sane behavior. But yes as I mentioned to some of my analysis I link to this post he was tripping all the time. That last loss simply destroyed him. That build up has me fascinated to no ends!

So true! People are people no matter place time or beliefs and they experience love and tragedy and even insanity and man 💔 you are so right these classics are classics for a reason! And they nourished countless generations.

Greek Fun Fact!

So you know that out of Odysseus's many epithets the first that appears in mind is Πολύτροπος (Polytropos) which comes from the compartments πολύς (polys) which means "many" or "much" and τρόπος (tropos) which can emanate either to mean "way" or "mean" and "turn" or "swift" Now in modern greek irnically we say something similar. We say "Το μυαλό του στροφάρει" = His brain is turning or "Το μυαλό του παίρνει πολλές στροφές"= His brain takes many turns when we wanna speak on a person that is very clever, very resourceful and really capable.

So yup guys! XD we still use this nowadays! You are familiar with the english term "the cogs are turning". This is the greek similar!

Also another extra. One other epithet of Odysseus is Πολύμητις (Polymetes) aka "wily" or "cunning" or "of many wiles" Do you know who other shares the epithet with him? Hephaestus!

Odysseus literally shares an epithet with the god of crafstmanship!

My Odysseus crappy sketch!

Epic made people confused with how little agency Odysseus really had throughout his journey, presenting it like every time he had a choice and a chance to act differently and better

I so agree and if I am completely fair it is not just thus musical but the whole concept of people thinking that Odysseus was just an idiot who was lost or someone who had plenty of choices and he just didn't do better

Throughout the Odyssey the dude was losing one piece of himself and all he could do was stare in horror and endure. He endured in horror seeing his men die in the hands of Polyphemus till they managed to build the means to get out, he was pushed by winds to the land of Laestrygonians. He could only stare in horror when his ships were destroyed. He could only go with the flow with Circe he could only stare in horror when Skylla devoured his men, he could only hang for dear life from his raft in the storm or over charybdis! He could only cry in desperation in Calypso's island

The dude had little to no agency throughout the trip and even the revelation of his name to Polyphemus and his hubris to Poseidon was a result of his psychological overbearing from the whole horrific experience! Honestly people often don't know and you are so right the musical SO creates this false impression

Epic made people confused with how little agency Odysseus really had throughout his journey, presenting it like every time he had a choice and a chance to act differently and better

I so agree and if I am completely fair it is not just thus musical but the whole concept of people thinking that Odysseus was just an idiot who was lost or someone who had plenty of choices and he just didn't do better

Throughout the Odyssey the dude was losing one piece of himself and all he could do was stare in horror and endure. He endured in horror seeing his men die in the hands of Polyphemus till they managed to build the means to get out, he was pushed by winds to the land of Laestrygonians. He could only stare in horror when his ships were destroyed. He could only go with the flow with Circe he could only stare in horror when Skylla devoured his men, he could only hang for dear life from his raft in the storm or over charybdis! He could only cry in desperation in Calypso's island

The dude had little to no agency throughout the trip and even the revelation of his name to Polyphemus and his hubris to Poseidon was a result of his psychological overbearing from the whole horrific experience! Honestly people often don't know and you are so right the musical SO creates this false impression

One of the interesting scenes of The Iliad I really like and will like to read, is when Zeus cries when one of his sons (who's on the Trojan side) he tries to go and aid, but Hera stops him and Zeus literally cried ichor from his eyes, like say what you want about Zeus but he does actually have a soul, which is why I would love an adaptation of the Iliad (whether live action or animation) to adapt it.

Zeus basically :

Achilles being who he is could be a subject of his upbringing (and how CONTEMPORARY his case seems if one thinks of it!) - an Analysis

Has anyone noticed that Achilles's complicated psychology might as well be a result of his upbringing and how incredibly MODERN his case can be? Think about it;

One can say Achilles is a child ill-fated, already people overly-indulge him because of his natural talents but also his ill fate. He got his life settled for him one way or another. Built skills as spherical as possible (arguably even for his mother's charade he learnt some female roles as well!), he had the best education as a golden child (from the art of war till music and all) and exceeded in all but also he had his family always worried of him. He even had a companion by his side at all occasions to make sure nothing would happen to him. Arguably his withdrawal to Chiron in nature also shielded Achilles to remain pure from the intrigues of palaces, from actual talks of violence and war WHILE being prepared for war just in case he would need to use it!

But also if one thinks of it...

Point and case as I mentioned to my reblog answer yeah Antilochus dies first indeed (which is why I also touch the subject to my one-shot fanfictions too). What is more Achilles was there when it happened most likely at least in art he is, and he challenged the king of Aithiopia Memnon to a duel for killing Antilochus and then he went in another rage rampage that was his last given how eventually he pushed the Trojans back to the walls but got shot by Paris (from most versions) with the help of Apollo and lost his life.

Man he did didn’t he? And his wife and son were away and he probably hardly knew them at that point given how he was away from them longer than what he was with them so yes he technically lost everyone

Awww thank you so much and yeah I think so too. That Achilles was definitely not sane as a person I mean already in the Iliad the way he was clinging onto a dead body for DAYS while mourning. That DEFINITELY is not a sane behavior. But yes as I mentioned to some of my analysis I link to this post he was tripping all the time. That last loss simply destroyed him. That build up has me fascinated to no ends!

So true! People are people no matter place time or beliefs and they experience love and tragedy and even insanity and man 💔 you are so right these classics are classics for a reason! And they nourished countless generations.

NGL you're really onto something !

It's so interesting how complex of a figure Achilles is. If we compare all the wrongs he's done both in ancient and modern standards, the bloodshed in a way that goes beyond what we usually see in war, with his upbringing, his fate and weird connections to death and despair, we get a very interesting character.

Unfortunately, if he was ready to kill and die, he was not expecting Patroclus to die before him, much less because of his own personal grudge against Agamemnon and the ONE time he was inactive in the war during which so much blood tainted his fair hands. And Achilles, finding himself both caring too much and too little about different stuff, ultimately loses any notion of measure.

Another interesting and contemporary theme present in this story is the generational trauma, how Achilles carried his childhood woes and his broken mind to his own son Neoptolemus, who would be very young too at the time of the war and would eventually go on to do horrendous acts on his own.

Edit : even though Achilles seemed to have cared about his son and thought about Neoptolemus' future, tragic circumstances and his own misplaced dreams of glory made him ultimately go away from him.

I hope I worded it correctly :3. Also, thanks for the tag !

Gosh thank you so much! 💓

He absolutely is and love him or hate him he deserves much more credit in my opinion than just talking about his sex life all the time because boy oh boy this guy has so much going on in his head that the more I analyze him the more I delve into this complex psychology of, in the end of the day, young man who died away from home, buried away from home for a war that was not his to fight and for the sakes of honor that is imposed upon him

Sure he did many things. He performed many atrocities sure. But just like a kid that is a bully at school one can look at his life and realize he was from abusive household. Does that cancel the bad action of bulling? Hell no but one can still sympathize with one's situation and I think Achilles is a good example of that. And yes it is interesting if you look at it spherical right? We see a man that drags a corpse from his chariot. Terrible disrespectful and undoubtedly criminal. Do we see it from the option of madness of a person who was taken down by grief when THE ONLY PERSON he relied on completely is gone? Immediately we have a new horizon without canceling the act!

Achilles being who he is could be a subject of his upbringing (and how CONTEMPORARY his case seems if one thinks of it!) - an Analysis

Has anyone noticed that Achilles's complicated psychology might as well be a result of his upbringing and how incredibly MODERN his case can be? Think about it;

One can say Achilles is a child ill-fated, already people overly-indulge him because of his natural talents but also his ill fate. He got his life settled for him one way or another. Built skills as spherical as possible (arguably even for his mother's charade he learnt some female roles as well!), he had the best education as a golden child (from the art of war till music and all) and exceeded in all but also he had his family always worried of him. He even had a companion by his side at all occasions to make sure nothing would happen to him. Arguably his withdrawal to Chiron in nature also shielded Achilles to remain pure from the intrigues of palaces, from actual talks of violence and war WHILE being prepared for war just in case he would need to use it!

But also if one thinks of it...

Point and case as I mentioned to my reblog answer yeah Antilochus dies first indeed (which is why I also touch the subject to my one-shot fanfictions too). What is more Achilles was there when it happened most likely at least in art he is, and he challenged the king of Aithiopia Memnon to a duel for killing Antilochus and then he went in another rage rampage that was his last given how eventually he pushed the Trojans back to the walls but got shot by Paris (from most versions) with the help of Apollo and lost his life.

Man he did didn’t he? And his wife and son were away and he probably hardly knew them at that point given how he was away from them longer than what he was with them so yes he technically lost everyone

Awww thank you so much and yeah I think so too. That Achilles was definitely not sane as a person I mean already in the Iliad the way he was clinging onto a dead body for DAYS while mourning. That DEFINITELY is not a sane behavior. But yes as I mentioned to some of my analysis I link to this post he was tripping all the time. That last loss simply destroyed him. That build up has me fascinated to no ends!

So true! People are people no matter place time or beliefs and they experience love and tragedy and even insanity and man 💔 you are so right these classics are classics for a reason! And they nourished countless generations.

Greek Fun Fact!

So you know that out of Odysseus's many epithets the first that appears in mind is Πολύτροπος (Polytropos) which comes from the compartments πολύς (polys) which means "many" or "much" and τρόπος (tropos) which can emanate either to mean "way" or "mean" and "turn" or "swift" Now in modern greek irnically we say something similar. We say "Το μυαλό του στροφάρει" = His brain is turning or "Το μυαλό του παίρνει πολλές στροφές"= His brain takes many turns when we wanna speak on a person that is very clever, very resourceful and really capable.

So yup guys! XD we still use this nowadays! You are familiar with the english term "the cogs are turning". This is the greek similar!

Also another extra. One other epithet of Odysseus is Πολύμητις (Polymetes) aka "wily" or "cunning" or "of many wiles" Do you know who other shares the epithet with him? Hephaestus!

Odysseus literally shares an epithet with the god of crafstmanship!

My Odysseus crappy sketch!