Classics - Tumblr Posts
“““You’re not a monster,” I said. But I lied. What I really wanted to say was that a monster is not such a terrible thing to be. From the Latin root monstrum, a divine messenger of catastrophe, then adapted by the Old French to mean an animal of myriad origins: centaur, griffin, satyr. To be a monster is to be a hybrid signal, a lighthouse: both shelter and warning at once.””
—
— Ocean Vuong, from “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”
I just had the most devastating thought:
What if Piano Man is the Continuation of Vienna. And all those people in the bar believed the guy who told them to to hurry, that Vienna would wait, that they‘d have time for their dreams.
But he lied. And they all lost their dreams and ended up drifting in that bar, mourning the lives they lost because they believed the man who told them to slow down and that they don‘t have to chase their dreams right now.
Hii dear,
Hope you are doing well,
I needed some book recommendations, something fictional.
If you have some recommendations, please let me know.
Sending lots of love ♡
not sure if you're a fan of classics but I personally really enjoyed jekyll and Hyde! aside from that, I liked normal people, the Rachel incident, a lot of holly Bourne books are great. to be honest some of the best books I've read have been non-fictional, I personally need to get reading properly again! :)
where did your love of neoptolemus come from please tell me all about your special boy
Of course of course, there aren't enough words.
I really came about getting into Neoptolemus from getting properly into Classics, part of having hyperfixiations/special interests is really learning everything you can on that subject. That was the case with Neoptolemus, I started learning more and more about Achilles and his deal and it led me to learn about him as well.
A lot the current 'fandom' of Greek mythology/classics comes from Madeline Miller so while trying to learn more and more about Neoptolemus and the other characters I saw the information presented by texts and then the way the fandom behaved. These conflicting sides of things only further got me into learning more, and it is where a lot of my love for Neo comes from. I found myself really taken by the characterization of Neo in works like 'Philoctetes' by Sophocles and 'Fall of Troy' by Quintus. I interpreted his character as far more sympathetic. I will not lie he does very terrible things, but so do all the Greeks and arguably Trojans as well. However he is a fictional character at the end of the day, and when judging him from the stance of his sources you need the context of when and who is writing it. For those antique texts it matters a lot if Romans or Greeks were the ones writing them.
None the less I really found myself drawn to him and his story, a lot of my own 'canon' is heavily changed/interpreted from the original but I will never lie and say that is it the correct, because it isn't. Most of the art I depict him in is my own canon and not correct, even some of my pieces of him are different canons. As I have gotten to know his character more and more I have changed the way I chose to write his story and the surrounding 'au's I have.
Now the timeline of the epic cycle isn't real lol
the epic cycle isn't meant to be read as super linear, none of the antique writers were counting out the years, they just called someone an 'old man' or 'young man' and called it a day (it is a bit more complex than that but this is a simplification) but when you think about that in versions of Achilles leaving the island of Skyros either Neo wasn't born yet or was still very small this means that by the time of the 10th year of the war Neo could very well be from 10-15, I generally put it at 13-ish.
He is a child soldier drafted into a war, and that aspect of his character and how that must shape a person is very interesting to me. Some childhood trauma I think is something a fair bit of us can relate to. I don't see him through the lenses of Madeline Miller or Virgil, I see him just as a traumatized kid reacting to the world around him in the best way he can. Trying to survive and being influenced by the many adults around him, the adults around him are the ones that have agenda and plans, the ones who more so care about fame and glory. He is a child responding to all that. He has only loose idea of those concepts. Furthermore Neo's story doesn't end in the abrupt way that Madeline Miller writes it in SoA.
There is a lot more going on and there are a fair amount of details that go on between the time that Neo leaves the shores of Troy and is buried in Delphi.
That is another thing that draws me to Neo but also to most everyone in the epic cycle. what you see with basic google searches and in many books surrounding these myths is only the most basic things, there are so many more myths and small details that you find out from sitting down and reading texts, combing through these stories and Neo was exactly the same. There are plenty of little details that he has that can influence the way you see him when you just look a bit deeper and for me those make all the difference. I think some of the beauty can be found in the drama, in the sadness of these characters. In the details and pieces that others will miss because they never looked deeper.
I could truly could just go on and on about my thoughts on Neo and what motivates me to love him.
In my mind it is a true shame that people will learn about Neoptolemus from Madeline Miller's, Song of Achilles and will never look deeper and just accept everything she says in her book.
She is straight wrong and in some cases the way she portrays things are harmful.
It pains me when I see people take her work for fact, it only pushes me to create to try and get people to see Neoptolemus for what I see, for all the possibilities I see in him. I create more and more for myself and for my friends who like my work and inspire me, but I also create in the hopes of getting others to see what I see.
To inspire them to look deeper into these amazing characters in the same way as I have been inspired.
Here we have Hermione and small yet protective husband
Winter Pyrrhus and Hermione
- - - - -
Hermione is from Sparta the far south and Pyrrhus is an island baby and together neither of them are made for the winter. They've taken numerous layers and cuddled up.
Adding to my series of Hermione and Pyrrhus being a cute couple, small husband who loves his wife
Wow what a great idea Neoptolemus Mestor!!!!
Taken from a story from the Trojan War Chronicle by Dictys Cretensis. Within this story Peleus has been thrown from his land. In order to kill the usurpers, Neoptolemus dresses as one of his trojan slaves (Mestor the son of Priam) and proposes the idea that they should wipe out the whole bloodline and kill the sleeping Neoptolemus where he lies in a cave. After leading the traitors to the cave he surprises and kills them, allowing his grandfather to rule his lands once more.
Hades Game idea - Neoptolemus Keepsake
Keepsake
Scyrian ribbon => A hair ribbon that once belonged to Achilles during his time on the island of Skyros.
Description
Gain the feature of enemies either slowing down their attacks or having smaller fields of noticing Zagreus, except for bosses. Effects increase as keepsake levels rise.
Idea behind it
The ribbon slows enemies' attacks or makes them not notice Zagreus because of having a smaller detection field. The idea behind this is that it is disguising Zagreus similar to how Achilles was hidden on the island of Skyros away from the perception of the Greeks. This was originally something that Deidamia had and was given to Neoptolemus who will give it to Zagreus.
Dialogue
Similar to other keepsakes if you have it around certain figures they will comment on it. Off the idea that Pyrrhus is in the game he will comment on Zagreus having it on him, Achilles and Patroclus will I imagine question how Zagreus got his hands on a Scyrian hair ribbon. In my mind it could be the trigger to a plot line for Neoptolemus, so if you come across Patroclus and Achilles with the ribbon they will make a general comment on it but when you get back to the house Achilles will question Zagreus about it because he recognizes it. (Possibly Patroclus simply doesn’t recognize it or because he has taken tiny slips from the Lethe he doesn’t recall such a detail)
My boy, My Sonion, Neoptolemus as a proper Hades game fake screenshot
My boy, My Sonion, Neoptolemus as a proper Hades game fake screenshot
Antinous as Dionysus (pen and India ink)
I just saw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
It's awesome ✨
But now I'm seeking others movies
Can someone recommend me classics?
Like movies you absolutely have to watch in your lifetime
Royal Palace, Amsterdam, 17th century.
I wish I knew more people who read the same books I read 😞🎀
i just finished reading Jane Eyre !!
i really really loved it; it’s such a charming little tale with words that describe emotions, love and scenery so well. What makes it even better is that my copy was thrifted; it’s an older edition and it’s annotated-something I find really charming in thrifted books. I love love loveddd reading it :3 !!