#aasa persia

[athensandspartaadventures]

Athens and Sparta Adventures: Chapter 9: Libation Bearers pg. 2

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Quick Ref:

The Libation Bearers: The second play in Aeschylus' Oresteia, which describes the fallout in the house of Atreus after Clytemnestra's murder of Agamemnon. Siblings Electra and Orestes reunite and plot vengeance against their mother, fearing that she will doom them to slavery or death.

The Eumenides: The third and final play in the Oresteia, which follows Orestes being chased by the Furies after murdering his mother Clytemnestra. Orestes eventually flees to Athens, where he stands trial. The quotes on this page are from the last lines of the play, when the Furies are welcomed into Athens to be worshipped as the Eumenides, or the "Kindly Ones".

Comments:

Don't worry, it was all a dream! Say, now that I think of it, I keep torturing characters with scary dreams of Athens. Is it foreshadowing? I guess yes and no...

There's also a reference here to a conversation Corinth had with Persia in Chapter 7 as well.

[acetechne]

so i drew these @athensandspartaadventures kitty cats well over 3 months ago now but i finally bothered to SEND THEM to @en-theos to enjoy and they arrived safely so I can post them :) now go look at her ancient kitty cat art which occupies my thoughts always.

i used to draw cats and Only cats as a kid so it is always a weird time revisiting how to draw them now, and even moreso how to make them look like existing ocs. And I also rarely use markers lately (partly some dried up partly some lent out and not refilled and partly I forgor How and its not Fast like watercolour) but it was a fun challenge :)

sparta kitty is the only one who is modelled on a real cat (my dearly departed boy Ptolemy the Jerk Cat) although I now realize I forgot to draw the nick in his ear.

[attichoney4u]

After @athensandspartaadventures, I remembered that this silly comic exists, so I made these memes on character headcanon generator.

Am I accurate, or am I accurate?

[allbeendonebefore]

Persian War Wednesdays: 1.15-1.22

Or, How the Lydians and Milesians Became BFFs

Time to dredge up some OCs I rarely draw lol

So once upon a time the Lydians who you may remember from such fun and exciting hits as “good at horse warfare” and “invented coinage” decided to siege Miletus, and this siege took a few generations of their kings.

The plan was to leave buildings and homes untouched and torch all the crops and trees so that every year just before harvest the Milesians would be demoralized enough to consider surrendering. Lydia was playing the long game.

This went on for 11 years and Miletus didn’t receive help from any of the other Ionian Greeks (save for one bit they’d helped out earlier in a different war).

In the twelfth year, the Lydians accidentally burnt down a temple to Athena of Assesos when the wind caused fire to spread from the crops they were trying to burn. Mysteriously, the King of Lydia (Alyattes) came down with an illness.

So off goes Lydia to the Oracle at Delphi which is where most people go to solve Mysteriously Coincidental Monarchical Maladies and the Oracle cleverly suggests Maybe You Should Rebuild That Temple You Burnt By Accident.

The Lydians get set to go ask the Milesians nicely if they are ok with not being sieged this year while they make reparations, they only wanted to starve them a little after all and they’re sure once this temple is fixed that they can go back to destroying their crops again!

The Milesians, hearing that the Lydians are on their way, quickly gather up every scrap of food they have and pile it up in the middle of town right where the Lydians are going to be marching through...

The Milesians threw a huge party with tons of food and drink and dancing, just like they totally, honestly, really seriously do all the time even when the Lydians have been setting fire to all their food.

And thus the Lydians and the Milesians set aside their differences and became friends and allies (until Persia noticed how shiny Lydia was anyway).

Bonus:

[outspokeningintrovert]

Tahanan

Sa Ika-21 ng Marso, iba't ibang kaganapan na ang naitala sa kasaysayan ng ating mundo. Kagaya ng pagpatay sa tatlong libong mga hudyo sa tahanan nila, ang unang pagkatuklas sa Africa, Ang sunog na pumatay sa isang libo at limang daang katao noon sa Japan, at ang pagpapangalan sa Persia bilang Iran; Mga kwento ng terorismo, patayan, at tagumpay sa iba't ibang parte ng mundo.

Ika-21 rin yun ng Marso nang magsimulang gumuho ang pader ng damdamin na kay tagal kong binuo. Pero hindi man ito naitala sa mga libro o sa mga artikulo. Hindi man naisulat sa bibliya ang ating pagtatagpo. Ni-hindi man nakita ng kahit sinong propeta ang kahahantungan nito ay nanalig at naniwala pa rin ako dito;  sayo; sa tayo. Kinabisado ko ang mapa ng daigdig na hindi pangmatagalan. Itinuring kitang tahanan dahil dito natagpuan ang 'tahan na' ngunit ito'y sa panandalian lamang pala. Ilang alaala na nga ba ang ating pinagsaluhan at ilan dito ang mga panahong umuwi ng luhaan?

Ilang beses na ang mga matang lumuluha, umiiyak, at humihiling sa alapaap, “kaunting minuto pa.” Na sa bawat kong paghaplos ay may pagsusumamo. at sa bawat kong pagkapit ay may sumisigaw ng mga salitang hindi pwedeng bigkasin ng aking bibig, "manatili ka muna sa aking tabi. Pahiram ng iilan pang mga sandali"

Ngunit ang bawat hakbang mo papalayo ay walang kasing bigat sa aking dibdib. Ang bawat halik mo ng pamamaalam ay yumayanig na nagdudulot ng pagguho sa abandonadong gusali ng pag-ibig.

Kailan ito hihinto? ilang beses ka nang umalis at bumalik pero tinanggap kita ng buo? Ilang beses ka pang aalis at babalik at tatanggapin pa rin kita ng buo? ILANG BESES KA PANG AALIS AT BABALIK PERO TATANGGAPIN PA RIN KITA NG BUO?!!

Ngunit ang pag-ibig ay ang uri ng pagbibigay na hindi ka mag-aantay ng sukli.

Sa pag-ibig, wala sa usapan kung kaya ka nya rin bang mahalin pabalik.

Pero maniniwala ka pa rin dito.

at aasa na sa susunod na pagtagpuin muli kayo ng tadhana ay masimulan muli sa umpisa, at sa pagkakataong yun sana ang katapusan ay hindi n’yo na makita pa.

[athensandspartaadventures]

i've never properly gone and made a reference for all Persia's cats and to be honest I can't remember if I had defined any details about them anywhere.

All of Persia's cats originally were named after previous kings (Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius and Xerxes) but Croesus is one named after a conquered king, so it occurred to me that he might have a kitty in each port of call across the empire. The first four live in the four capital cities, while Croesus, naturally, lives in Sardis.

Croesus is probably the cat with the fewest braincells, he's always getting into silly scrapes and crying for help when he's not enjoying being spoiled. He appears in chapters 8 and 9 of AaSA.

[athensandspartaadventures]

We are done! Here is the redraw of this art from 2011 (which, of course, has many more characters but I wanted to just focus on the major/recurring characters for this rendition).

It's important to look back and think about my journey this far, I have grown a lot as an artist, a writer, and an academic and it's good to recognize and celebrate :)

Athens and Sparta Adventures will reach its 15th anniversary (scream!!) in September of 2025 when it started as doodles in the margins of my notes in Classics 110 in my first year of university.

[athensandspartaadventures]

Athens and Sparta Adventures: Chapter 9: Libation Bearers pg. 8

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Quick Ref:

Amazons: Mythical warrior women associated with Asia Minor. While there are many ideas about the origin of the word "amazon", the Greek folk etymology was "a" or "without" and "mazos" (mastos) "breast", linked with the idea that Amazons would remove their right breast in order to facilitate archery.

Perserschutt: The German archaeological term for the Persian dump, or the debris from the Achaemenid sacking of the Athenian acropolis in 480 BCE. This debris was cleared from the acropolis before the Parthenon and other structures were built or rebuilt.

Athena Promachos: "Athena who fights on the front line", an aspect of Athena portrayed in a gigantic bronze sculpture on the acropolis. According to Pausanias, the top of her helmet and spear could be seen by sailors approaching the city from Attica or Sounion. You'd think that if it could be seen that far away, that surely Aegina might see a glimpse of it too, hahaha.

Comments:

Don't you love when your favourite uncle visits and has a completely normal conversation that doesn't get weird?? What do you mean that doesn't happen??

Athens is referring to the 480 BC Persian sacking of the acropolis, which happened back in Chapter 4 and was left in ruins until Chapter 6 when Pericles puts the plans for reconstruction in Athens' hands. In archaeology, 480 is a great terminus post/ante quem in the record since we can see that layer of destruction and a pretty dramatic shift in artistic styles on the acropolis before and after. The poor archaic kouros sculpture that Athens is tossing off a cliff made way for a more classical style that used a more natural and relaxed contrapposto posing. You can read more about Greek sculpture in a hetalia comic i did a zillion years ago.

[athensandspartaadventures]

OCtober day 28: Persia outfits

disclaimer that I clearly don't really know as much about Achaemenid clothing as I do about Greek clothing as there are fewer clear references, or at least there were when I was starting to draw this guy and I haven't looked into it as much recently.

It's a difficult balance to strike between looking like he's dressed for court or dressed for war, especially since he spends a lot of early chapters attending the king rather than fighting. Persia's fighting style was usually meant for horseback or for chariots on wide open plains, and he wasn't really able to show off much since the Greek landscape and fighting style was a bit of a challenge for him.

[athensandspartaadventures]

OCtober Day 5: Persia physical notes

Playing catch up since I missed a few days of this challenge while my parents were in town. Persia, like Ancient Greece, is one of the characters who did get a canonical design in Hetalia, but not until years after I'd drawn him. I don't really have any interest in giving him up or making them more similar, so you get him as I initially designed him!

[athensandspartaadventures]

another quick vibe check but this time with colours

the chapter is mostly focused around corinth, but we have equal parts athens and sparta as supporting storylines so I wanted to kind of. shift the colours a little as we move around the ancient world to follow each story. Corinth has the main turquoise/cyan colour, Athens leans towards green, and Sparta leans towards indigo.

[athensandspartaadventures]

[ Chapter 1 ] [ table of contents ] [ recap ] [ Chapter 9 ] [uquiz!]

Welcome to Athens and Sparta Adventures!

Reference map for Chapter 9 of Athens and Sparta Adventures. Characters may be added as they appear or are mentioned in the chapter. Updates on Saturdays, stay tuned!

This chapter has three concurrent storylines: one takes place in Corinth, one in Miletus, and one in Sardis.

New Readers: please note that this comic is not as mobile friendly as some other comics out there. Some directory links such as the table of contents only work on desktop, though mobile users should still be able to navigate using the bolded links above. I started writing this comic back in 2011 and reuploaded it to tumblr around 2018, which is why there’s significant gaps in both my consistency as a creator and in the changes in usability on this hellsite.

See below for brief Character Bios

Characters of Note

MAJOR CHARACTERS

Athens  - The arrogant, egotistical and hubristic almost-capital of Greece. Athens’ more legitimate claims to hegemony are primarily his large navy and alliance of islands and city-states throughout the Aegean that purports to defend Greece from future Persian incursions. Although he is entering what we know as the “Golden Age” while the Parthenon and other such major renovations are nearing completion, Athens seems somewhat preoccupied with his vacation in Miletus...

Sparta - Known as Greece’s greatest warrior despite rarely finding reason to leave home on time, Sparta is uneasily resting after emerging somewhat victorious from the First Peloponnesian War. Although accepting a thirty year period of peace with rival Athens, Sparta finds the upstart city-state’s obsession with ‘democracy’ and the growing excuses to coerce new alliances increasingly worrisome.��Curiously, he seems to have turned up in Sardis...

Corinth - The rich merchant city-state of Corinth has a vested interest in decreasing Athens’ power. Despite recently recovering her daughter-city of Megara, Corinth still finds others’ loyalties to her being tested. Frustrated by Sparta’s unwillingness to act on her warnings, Corinth suspects that a thirty years peace will do even less to stave off war in Greece. Recently however, she has been receiving disturbing omens...

Megara - Corinth's daughter city, formerly allied with Athens in the previous war to strategically block the path from the Peloponnese. After being herded back in league with the Peloponnesians, Megara is contemplating her divided allegiances and trying to adjust to living with her mother city again. Perhaps she can reach out to someone who might shed some insight on these troubles...

Miletus (Ionia) - Athens’ niece, recently recovered from Persia’s possession after nearly a century after the Peace of Callias. Having spent some time living with her uncle again, Miletus is concerned that Athens’ execution of power are more and more resembling the systems employed by Persia. With her uncle visiting, Miletus looks for distraction in correspondence with an old friend...

Persia - Currently the greatest power in Asia with territory stretching from Egypt to India, Persia has tentatively given up a direct assault on mainland Greece after wasting a lot of time and resources that seems to have accidentally united the disparate city-states against him. Instead, Persia has taken a back seat in his political interference, now preferring words and funds as weapons of choice. The great empire does not make "alliances", but is open and willing to entertain a favourable relationship...

Greece - Known to the others as Hellas, this strange girl shows up to witness foreign invasion and internal strife alike. What has become of her in peacetime?

MINOR CHARACTERS

Argos - An ancient centre of myth and legend, Argos was very quiet throughout the Persian invasions. Argos' sole interest in his current alliance with Athens is a chance to gain vengeance on Sparta for usurping his hegemony of Greece. He's been feeling rather put out by Athens' hasty agreement to peace...

Sardis (Lydia) - A wealthy city-state in Asia Minor, formerly the capital of the kingdom of Lydia which was conquered by Persia’s first king Cyrus over a century prior. Now, Sardis is the administrative centre for that region of the empire and the terminus of the Persian Royal Road from Susa. Despite this, Sardis demonstrates some concern for his rival-turned-friend Miletus in the decade after her exit from the empire.

Corcyra - Another of Corinth's daughter cities. Currently in a dispute with her mother about the upbringing of her own child, Epidamnus.

Syracuse - Another child of Corinth, Syracuse rules over Sicily (and the rest of Magna Graecia) with an ostentatiously decorated fist.

[athensandspartaadventures]

OCtober day 18: Imperial Subjects

here's a couple of characters we haven't seen in a loooong time in the storyline, but don't worry :) you'll see them briefly again soon

[athensandspartaadventures]

Some concept art for page 2 since I'm looking back at some sketches

[athensandspartaadventures]

Athens and Sparta Adventures: Chapter 9: Libation Bearers pg. 12

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Quick Ref:

Black Soup: The famous Spartan soup made of boiled pork, blood, vinegar, and salt. It typically comes up in comedies or criticisms of "unsophisticated" Spartan dining and cuisine.

Tyrtaeus: A Spartan elegiac poet from around the 7th century BC who was renowned for his martial songs. This is J.M. Edmods' translation of a fragment (CURFRAG.tlg-0266.7)

Comments:

ok ok so I'm terrible at taking hiatuses when I say I'm going to, but this quarter of the chapter is going to get us through the last full week of December and then for real I will start my hiatus proper and fix up the last quarter! :) promise

I've had this scene in my head for eons, basically since I wrote chapter 7 if not before that. I struggled a lot with thinking about how to draw Persia holding court or a banquet or breakfast or anything, and just decided to go for it.

And for the first time in ages we get a little glimpse of Assyria and Babylonia, who we haven't seen since Assyria's cameo in chapter 2! While she was mentioned by name on that page, I don't even think Babylonia has appeared once in AaSA before this point, even though she's had a design for as long as AaSA has been a comic. They're just here to hang out judgementally, haha.

(On a related note, is it a bit weird for Sardis to be serving breakfast in his own house...? lol)

[athensandspartaadventures]

dealing with peasants moodboard

i was thinking it would be fun to do a side comic of Persia's origin story (or at least, what the Greeks assume is his origin story, he's notoriously difficult to pin down for an interview himself) but i have too many projects on the go, sigh sigh! just don't know when I can really work it into the main storyline at all so.