Do You Think That Odysseus Is A Victim Of SA?

Do you think that Odysseus is a victim of SA?

I personally do, especially at the hands of Calypso.

Poor guy. Just wants to see his wife and son. He's a lil bitch but I love him

Yeah I think he's a victim of rape. Kept unwillingly on Calypso's island and forced to sleep with her? Dude is by no means a perfect guy but the morality of a character doesn't erase the trauma they experience

god i cant stop talking about shizaya it's 1:51 am

shizaya was literally built for outsider pov fics like their impact on ikebukuro is so huge in both izaya's behind-the-scenes manipulations and their blatant fucking destruction

i read a fic where kasuka described them as a tourist attraction which is the funniest shit ever

anyway you could like. walk down the street and see a knife embedded in some street sign and be like welp that's shizaya for you

there's so much you can do with outsider pov. obviously there's shinra who unfortunately is very aware that they're in love with each other but it's not like either of them would ever listen to him

but shinra can see the quieter ways they express their affection (established relationship, mutual pining OR mutual oblivious pining) in throwaway comments or furtive glances and stuff like that

like shizuo gets a phone call from someone while he's getting treated at shinra's and shinra can immediately tell it's izaya just from the way that shizuo's body tenses up with a weird sort of both aggravation and anticipation and he doesn't even realize that he's smiling and waves it off as one of those annoyed grins

or how izaya just doesn't stop talking about shizu-chan and is always planning something new to fuck him over

as opposed to erika who can see like. the clear glee in izaya's phase whenever he gets a rise out of shizuo + the fact that shizuo chases him so persistently and izaya will sometimes stick around instead of just taking off and continue to tease shizuo until he's caught his breath

kadota is more in the shinra category and celty is in the "god im so homophobic (but only for those two)" category and then you can have like the raira trio with their shallower but not unobservant perspectives

shiki is like izaya. bro. you had a job to do for me today so what is this?? and turns on the TV and it's just footage of izaya flirting with shizuo on main and izaya is like uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh not my fault that protozoan won't stop chasing me

and the tv shows shizuo getting hit by a billboard and izaya stopping and leaning over him and poking him in the cheek

and shiki just looks at izaya deadpan and izaya's like. well. id get in trouble if i killed him in the streets dont look at me like that shiki-san

OH AND SIMON simon is so unaffected i love whenever he's like "oh you're friends now? sweet come have some sushi" in fics as if he hasnt watched and prevented their beefing for like 10 years

it's just so good ugh the way their relationship is on clear display but also so hidden and instinctual but intentional

they are made of contradictions and opposites but that's what binds them so tightly together and that's why they try to keep their distance but can't help chasing after each other anyway GFJFDKHKHHSJSKHGKGDKJSD

waht the deer doing

OKAY I WAS NOT EXPECTING PEOPLE TO LIKE MY RESPONSE TO THE REPOST AND I APPRECIATE IT A LOT 😭😭

Now onto what I want to say, it's about what I stated earlier. There is something I would like to address that I noticed a bit after spending some time in the greek mythology whirlpool of wonderful chaos. Although there really aren't that many, I still want to address how there are people out there who seem to get very confused about Odysseus's character and what's what, and then accidentally say things that never actually happened with his character and then it leaves everyone upset and embarrassed which sucks because it's not really anyone's fault, and not many people are actually explaining it all, so that's what I'm going to do here to hopefully save some people from having to go through everything. I hope this doesn't get buried in the Tumblr algorithm as I'm honestly not doing this for likes or praise or any of that, I really just want this to get out there and help others get a better grasp of it all so everyone can enjoy their greek mythology fun in peace and maybe even help others get into the fun as well! ^^

First off I have to state this:

The only canon Odysseus is in Homer's Odyssey and Homer's Iliad, he was the creator of the character and all the characters within both book series. If the one you are reading isn't authored by Homer then it is an iteration therefore it is not canon to the actual story.

Now with that being said, and before I go any further, this doesn't mean you shouldn't read the different iterations or modern takes on the character, I mean why else do you think aus and fanfiction are a thing as well? (And ones created for this story as well because this fanbase is LIVELY) That's basically exactly what this all is except it's about an ancient story. People create different versions, spread different information which is either not what happened in the canon story or completely taken out of context. And these things happen, it's a story all the way back in ancient times, games like telephone are bound to happen and that's okay, no one should be at eachother's throats about it as it's out of people's control and happens with many and I mean many modern shows and stories as well.

But what I do suggest is just applying basic principles to it like we do now, such as:

*If you read an iteration of the story and you mention something from it, make sure you state it's from an iteration so that way people won't get confused with the actual story

*You don't have to read all books of Homer's Odyssey and the Iliad, but when you hear something from it you should do a quick look up about it to make sure you have all the context and that it was from Homer's story and not an iteration.

*Don't assume anything and make a comment about it immediately. I am sure every single person here did the same about something regarding Homer's Odyssey and Iliad at some point, I can almost guarantee it. If not then great for them ^^. But the point is, if you jump to assumptions and misinterpret something then make a claim about it, unfortunately the results don't turn out in your favor. So it's best to do your own research on it first before taking what is said as fact.

Basically just do your own research first before jumping to any conclusions, besides learning more about something can you discover something you may really enjoy that you haven't thought about before! :D

Now, onto the real elephant in the room, which is Odysseus's character. And we are going to be talking about Odysseus's character in Homer's Odyssey and Homer's Iliad and hopefully this helps to clear some things up for those that both aren't looking to get into the whole story and for those who are, so here we go! ^^

"Odysseus cheated on his wife! He committed Adultery!" : This is the biggest one that I have heard, and it is in fact false. Odysseus is unfortunately a major victim of SA both from Circe and Calypso, and while Circe's was more subtle, Calypso's wasn't as she kept him there for seven years. Odysseus was one of the few men in greek mythology who was 100% loyal and faithful to his wife till the very end and beyond. He didn't want any other woman, he wanted Penelope. He fought for Penelope, he loved Penelope and no one else.

"Odysseus committed mass murder and killed a bunch of people!": If you are talking about what happened with the Trojan horse then yes, you are correct, however this is often taken out of context. The truth of the matter is that is just how war is. During the fight they already lost Achilles (basically their version of a superhero) in battle, and Odysseus being the advisor had to weigh out the options between the two which is either continue as is and risk losing more lives or create the horse and not risk as many lives. It was a desperation move, and all of it was thrown onto Odysseus to take charge, but the situation needed to be done or no one would make it back home alive.

"Didn't he literally throw and kill a baby? What's up with that?": Yes but again, taken out of context, Odysseus was given a vision that the baby would grow older and kill a bunch of innocent people, so he had to make the choice whether he should kill the baby or not. Zeus was standing there like "Yeet the baby, Odysseus, yeet the child." And Odysseus, not wanting anyone he cared for to die, killed the child. It was a tough choice that he was faced with, as it would be for anyone in his shoes.

"Wasn't he overconfident and got in trouble a lot? Didn't his pride cause him to reveal his name to the Cyclops? He really must not be a good person." : Yes for the first part but no for the second part, he was overconfident and that would sometimes get him into trouble, like with the Cyclops. He was young, bold, confident, and although said to be one of the wisest men there was (which is true) he too had to grow and mature out of his own hubris. He wasn't perfect, and neither are we, he made mistakes but nothing outlandish that made him bad, it just showed that he was human and had done his own mistakes in life, just like we have.

There are many other things as well, Odysseus killed one of the kings on the Trojan side of war and took his horses but he did that because he knew one of the only ways they could stand a chance in the war is getting those horses. Odysseus's friend Ajax the greater killed himself after Odysseus defeated him for the armor of Achilles, however what happened after that was none of Odysseus's fault, as Athena decided to be the one to drive Ajax the greater mad and it caused him to kill the sheep and then himself afterwards out of shame. Odysseus's even tried pleading for forgiveness from him in the underworld (even though none of it was his fault) but Ajax the greater refused to acknowledge him and walked off. Then you have Palamedes, in Homer's Odyssey he was sent to bring Odysseus to war, so he decided to put Odysseus's infant son in front of his plow which caused Odysseus to swerve out of the way, and Odysseus was then forced to go to war to protect his son which then later caused all of these things to happen throughout both stories. Odysseus didn't take that well and he cleverly placed a forged letter and gold in Palamedes tent and got him framed for treason, and Palamedes was stoned to death (and honestly he had that coming)

Now, does any of this mean I want you to go and do what Odysseus did? No, please for the love of god please don't. What all of this does mean though, is that Odysseus was not a bad person, but instead a good guy put in some of the worse positions and situations possible surrounded by people who spoke with their fists rather than their heart. In fact, despite his "I'm so balling right now" personality causing him to get into trouble, he was one of the kindest, wisest, loyal and empathetic people you could meet back then which was incredibly rare back in those times. He went to literal hell and back for 20 years just to get to his family again, he stuck by his men despite them screwing things up multiple times over, same situation was with Agamemnon and Achilles as well, so he kind up to a fault. He was kind respectful to his people, he didn't care what status you were or where you came from, you were treated with respect and kindness all the same, and that inspired one of his workers to be the same when he invited a certain beggar in his home, and that act of kindness spread through the heart of Ithaca as a whole, but when he left it was all gone. To have that much of an impact on people because of kindness just shows how good of a person he really was. And with happened to Ithaca when he left it, it also showed how much the world did not deserve that kindness, but it certainly needed it.

So in conclusion, yes Odysseus made mistakes, and he was by no means perfect, but he shouldn't be seen as perfect or expected to be perfect. He is a really good guy dealing with getting screwed over by literally everyone around him. He made mistakes, he broke down, he fell at times, but he got back up, never lost his kind heart or his true self, and in the end made it back to his family and got a happy ending. Odysseus was and always will be the embodiment of what it truly means to be a human being going throw the troubles of life, what if feels like to go through it and how it affects certain actions you take, and to stay true to your heart no matter what, and overall to never give up. And I hope those who are out there who hate his character due to misinformation are able to see his character for what he is rather than what others make him out to be.

WOW THAT WAS A LOT OF WORDS, I was not expecting to type that much but I really needed to get this out there. I hope all you greek geeks have a lovely day and night and I'll see you next time! ^^

I gotta take a nap after all of that ^^"

I think what makes diomedes so interesting to me is the seeming contradictions in his character, even if you’re just limiting yourself to what’s in the iliad. he doesn’t get upset when agamemnon basically calls him a coward and a lesser man than his father to his face, but will denounce agamemnon in the middle of a meeting when he disagrees with his plans for the army. he shows disdain for people who flee battles or fight with bows, but always willingly pairs up with odysseus, who is primarily an archer and straight up abandons diomedes in the middle of a dangerous battle one time. he exchanges armor with glaucus and murders a dozen sleeping soldiers. he argues with athena when she gives contradictory orders and attacks three major gods and is never punished for it. what a guy.

hey bestie. Izaya from durarara. I need the hottest takes.

Whoever you are, you are my best friend.

My hot takes are as follows:

- I don’t care how smart or manipulative he was, Izaya was too young to fully understand the gravity of working with the Yakuza when he started as a teenager and all of the adults involved in making that decision groomed him.

- I am a firm believer that Izaya would have gone on to live a relatively normal life if he had never met Shinra. Shinra getting stabbed was when his life took a turn for the worst.

-Shizuo is just as much responsible for the way their first meeting went as Izaya is. In fact, Shizuo fucking started it.

- Shizuo and Shinra are just as bad as Izaya in a lot of ways, but the difference is that the people around them (Celty) find reasons to excuse their shitty behavior. All three of them are terrible people who gravitated towards each other.

- Izaya’s childhood was bad, and the fact that he doesn’t seem to realize that makes it so much worse.

-Other people who were in Izaya’s life (mainly those who were adults) need to take more responsibility for the way Izaya turned out since they had the power to stop it. This includes Celty, who has been an adult the entire time and has assumably known Izaya SINCE HE WAS 12. (Someone ask me about Celty bc she is my least favorite character).

- None of the things above make Izaya a “good person”, but they do make him a more nuanced character than the show and the fans give him credit for.