Trojan War - Blog Posts

Quick piece of Briseis praying to Apollo during the Trojan War

The Silence of the Girls By Pat Barker

in middle school during my Intense Greek Mythology Phase, Artemis was, as you can likely guess, my best girl. Iphigenia was my OTHER best girl. Yes at the same time.

The story of Iphigenia always gets to me when it's not presented as a story of Artemis being capricious and having arbitrary rules about where you can and can't hunt, but instead, making a point about war.

Artemis was, among other things--patron of hunting, wild places, the moon, singlehood--the protector of young girls. That's a really important aspect she was worshipped as: she protected girls and young women. But she was the one who demanded Agamemnon sacrifice his daughter in order for his fleet to be able to sail on for Troy.

There's no contradiction, though, when it's framed as, Artemis making Agamemnon face what he’s doing to the women and children of Troy. His children are not in danger. His son will not be thrown off the ramparts, his daughters will not be taken captive as sex slaves and dragged off to foreign lands, his wife will not have to watch her husband and brothers and children killed. Yet this is what he’s sailing off to Troy to inevitably do. That’s what happens in war. He’s going to go kill other people’s daughters; can he stand to do that to his own? As long as the answer is no—he can kill other people’s children, but not his own—he can’t sail off to war.

Which casts Artemis is a fascinating light, compared to the other gods of the Trojan War. The Trojan War is really a squabble of pride and insults within the Olympian family; Eris decided to cause problems on purpose, leaving Aphrodite smug and Hera and Athena snubbed, and all of this was kinda Zeus’s fault in the first place for not being able to keep it in his pants. And out of this fight mortal men were their game pieces and mortal cities their prizes in restoring their pride. And if hundreds of people die and hundred more lives are ruined, well, that’s what happens when gods fight. Mortals pay the price for gods’ whims and the gods move on in time and the mortals don’t and that’s how it is.

And women especially—Zeus wanted Leda, so he took her. Paris wanted Helen, so he took her. There’s a reason “the Trojan women” even since ancient times were the emblems of victims of a war they never wanted, never asked for, and never had a say in choosing, but was brought down on their heads anyway.

Artemis, in the way of gods, is still acting through human proxies. But it seems notable to me to cast her as the one god to look at the destruction the war is about to wreak on people, and challenge Agamemnon: are you ready to kill innocents? Kill children? Destroy families, leave grieving wives and mothers? Are you? Prove it.

It reminds me of that idea about nuclear codes, the concept of implanting the key in the heart of one of the Oval Office staffers who holds the briefcase, so the president would have to stab a man with a knife to get the key to launch the nukes. “That’s horrible!,” it’s said the response was. “If he had to do that, he might never press the button!” And it’s interesting to see Artemis offering Agamemnon the same choice. You want to burn Troy? Kill your own daughter first. Show me you understand what it means that you’re about to do.

reading the Iliad. kind of sad how Odysseus keeps identifying himself as "Telemachus's father." Like it's always on his mind. his loved ones, his home. he never got to see his son grow up but he's already desperately proud of him.

So I was trying to explain the events of the Iliad to my dad and I was at the part where Achilles ragequits and goes to sulk in his tent with Patroclus and my dad literally went,

“Wow they seem like such good friends!”

Like what are you dad, a historian?

Troilus design! (ft best dad Apollo) He's around 12 years old here.

Researching Troilus' story is not an easy task because unfortunately most of the ancient texts focused on him didn't survive and others only survived in fragments.

This story is brutal even for greek mythology standards so please keep that in mind if you want to continue reading this or do more research on your own.

Something that all of the versions seems to agree on is that he was a Trojan prince, son of queen Hecuba and was killed by Achilles. His father was either Apollo or Priam (Apollo fits more with the context of the story though).

Most of the versions also focus on Troilus' young age and he's often shown to be visibly shorter than Achilles on the vase paintings depicting his death.

The most popular version of the myth (which is also supported by ancient vase paintings) states that Troilus and his sister Polyxena (she's not preset in every version though) went outside of Troy on their horses and while they were at a fountain Achilles ambushed them.

Achilles then chased Troilus who tried to hide inside of Apollo's temple (possibly seeking his father's protection) but Achilles caught up to him and murdered Troilus either inside or in front of the temple and then brutally mutilated his body.

There 2 alternative reasons given for the murder:

1. There was a prophecy which said that if Troilus reached 21 years of age Troy would never fall.

2. Achilles fell in love with Troilus, tried to force himself on him and was enraged when the boy refused his advances. (This version seems to have more surviving evidence)

It could also be that the only reason that Achilles killed Troilus was the fact that he was a Trojan prince and therefore an enemy but this does not seem to fit with the brutality of the act.

Here are some vase paintings that show Troilus' death at the hands of Achilles

It is right to seek peace for the dead. You and I both know there is no peace for those who live after.

-TSOA, Madeline Miller

A Eurylochus pov: playlist

Just a Eurylochus playlist bc I love him

01_ Way Down We Go - Kaleo 02_ Game Of Survival - Ruelle 03_ Glitter & Gold - Barns Courtney 04_ Like a tattoo - Sade 05_ Non-Stop - Hamilton 06_ My Body is a Cage - Arcade Fire 07_ Who are you, really? - Mikky Ekko 08_ Backstabber - Kesha 09_ Blood in the Water - Grandson 10_ Unfair - The Neighborhood 11_ Eventually - Tame Impala 12_ Black Out Days - Phantogram 13_ YKWIM - Yot Club 14_ Fourth of July - Sufjan Stevens 15_ To build a home - The cinematic orchestra 16_ Brother - kodaline 17_ See You Again -Wiz Khalifa ft.Charlie Puth

Cassandra, the Oracle of Troy

This is a very old drawing but I still love it so much.

Proud Dad Odysseus (Fic Request)

can i get a fic that's just odysseus telling everyone at the trojan war (kings, soldiers, slaves, ANYONE who will listen) about his precious baby boy and how much he loves him and misses him and wants to gets back to him?

or a fic with telemachus visiting/talking with people from then and them all just reminiscing about ody's gushing about his beautiful genius wife and his adorable darling son and telemachus having all the feels about how much his father loved them? (can be before or after odysseus's return)

“Showing Athena around the Greek Camp”

Recorded by Odysseus Laertides (1700 b.C.)