#aeneid book 1

[pussyandpetrichor]

Perhaps (maybe, if I'm lucky) one day (there's a future?) it shall be helpful (to someone somewhere) to remember (to look back on, to be able to remember, to recount, to later tell the story of) even these things (which I barely even wanted to survive in the first place)

[aeneiddaily]

what if the saddest, wettest man in all of Troy had to give a motivational speech. would you cheer for him. would you clap and cheer

[chaoticvintagelesbian]

The Aenead so far is a lot less of a shit show that the iliad. Tho only read book 1. Some notable things tho:

- Venus sprinkled her son is sexy dust

- Juno went to the winds like, yo I'll give u brood mare wife if u start a storm to kill those Trojans over there, winds went, bet.

- iulus seems to be between a year old and 13, we do not know, he says his first word after he has done archery and ridden a horse.

- oh and love is an infection.

[lastwave]

i dont think we as people get insane enough about the imagery in book 1 of Mars- the gruesome, bloody version- chained up under the capitoline hill. city Literally founded on war and bloodshed. vergil when i catch you.

[maliro-t]

continuing my trend of playing obsidian games way too fast, but a day into Act II and I can’t say enough good things about Pentiment

[hiemihymni]

:}

[mask131]

The truth about Medusa and her rape... Mythology breakdown time!

With the recent release of the Percy Jackson television series, Tumblr is bursting with mythological posts, and the apparition of Medusa the Gorgon has been the object of numerous talks throughout this website… Including more and more spreading of misinformation, and more debates about what is the “true” version of Medusa’s backstory.

Already let us make that clear: the idea that Medusa was actually “blessed” or “gifted” by Athena her petrifying gaze/snake-hair curse is to my knowledge not at all part of the Antique world. I still do not know exactly where this comes from, but I am aware of no Greek or Roman texts that talked about this – so it seems definitively a modern invention. After all, the figure of Medusa and her entire myth has been taken part, reinterpreted and modified by numerous modern women, feminist activist, feminist movements or artists engaged in the topic of women’s life and social conditions – most notably Medusa becoming the “symbol of raped women’ wrath and fury”. It is an interesting reading and a fascinating update of the ancient texts, and it is a worthy take on its own time and context – but today we are not talking about the posterity, reinvention and continuity of Medusa as a myth and a symbol. I want to clarify some points about the ACTUAL myth or legend of Medusa – the original tale, as told by the Greeks and then by the Romans.

Most specifically the question: Was Medusa raped?

Step 1: Yes, but no.

The backstory of Medusa you will find very often today, ranging from mythology manuals (vulgarization manuals of course) to Youtube videos, goes as such: Medusa was a priestess of Athena who got raped by Poseidon while in Athena’s temple, and as a result of this, Athena punished Medusa by turning her into the monstrous Gorgon.

Some will go even further claiming Athena’s “curse” wasn’t a punishment but a “gift” or blessing – and again, I don’t know where this comes from and nobody seems to be able to give me any reliable source for that, so… Let’s put this out of there.

Now this backstory – famous and popular enough to get into Riodan’s book series for example – is partially true. There are some elements here very wrong – and by wrong I do mean wrong.

The story of Medusa being raped and turned into a monster due to being raped does indeed exist, and it is the most famous and widespread of all the Medusa stories, the one people remembered for the longest time and wrote and illustrated the most about. Hence why Medusa became in the 20th century this very important cultural symbol tied to rape and the abuse of women and victim-blaming. HOWEVER – the origin of this story is Ovid’s Metamorphoses, from the first century CE or so. Ovid? A Roman poet writing for Roman people. “Metamorphoses”? One of the two fundamental works of Roman literature and one of the two main texts of Roman mythology, alongside Virgil’s Aeneid. This is a purely Roman story belonging to the Roman culture – and not the Greek one. The story of Medusa’s rape does not have Greek precedents to my knowledge, Ovid introduced the element of rape – which is no surprise given Ovid turned half of the romances of Greek mythology into rapes. Note that, on top of all this, Ovid wasn’t even writing for religious purposes, nor was his text an actual mythological effort – he wrote it with pure literary intentions at heart. It is just a piece of poetry and literature taking inspiration from the legends of the Greek world, not some sort of sacred text.

Second big point: The legend I summarized above? It isn’t even the story Ovid wrote, since there are a lot of elements that do not come from Ovid’s retelling of the story (book fourth of the Metamorphoses). For example Ovid never said Medusa was a priestess of Athena – all he said was that she was raped in the temple of Athena. I shouldn’t even be writing Athena since again, this is a Roman text: we are speaking of Minerva here, and of Neptune, not of Athena or Poseidon. Similarly, Minerva’s curse did not involve the petrifying gaze – rather all Ovid wrote about was that Minerva turned Medusa’s hair into snakes, to “punish” her because her hair were very beautiful, and it was what made her have many suitors (none of which she wanted to marry apparently), and it is also implied it is what made Neptune fall in love (or rather fall in lust) with her. I guess it is from this detail that the reading of “Athena’s curse was a gift” comes from – even though this story also clearly does victim-blaming of rape here.

But what is very fascinating is that… we are not definitively sure Neptune raped Medusa in Ovid’s retelling. For sure, the terms used by Ovid in his fourth book of Metamorphoses are clear: this was an action of violating, sexually assaulting, of soiling and corrupting, we are talking about rape. But Ovid refers several other times to Medusa in his other books, sometimes adding details the fourth-book stories does not have (the sixth book for examples evokes how Neptune turned into a bird to seduce Medusa, which is completely absent from the fourth book’s retelling of Medusa’ curse). And in all those other mentions, the terms to designate the relationship between Medusa and Neptune are more ambiguous, evoking seduction and romance rather than physical or sexual assault. (It does not help that Ovid has an habit of constantly confusing consensual and non-consensual sex in his poems, meaning that a rape in one book can turn into a romance in another, or reversal)

But the latter fact makes more sense when you recall that the rape element was invented and added by Ovid. Before, yes Poseidon and Medusa loved each other, but it was a pure romance, or at least a consensual one-night. Heck, if we go back to the oldest records of the love between Poseidon and Medusa, back in Hesiod’s Theogony, we have descriptions of the two of them laying together in a beautiful, flowery meadow – a stereotypical scene of pastoral romances – with no mention of any brutality or violence of any sort. As a result, it makes sense the original “romantic” story would still “leak” or cast a shadow over Ovid’s reinvented and slightly-confused tale.

Step 2: So… no rape?

Well, if we go by Greek texts, no, apparently Medusa was not raped in Greek mythology, and only became a rape victim through Ovid.

The Ancient Greek texts all record Poseidon and Medusa sleeping with each other and having children, but no mention of rape. And the whole “curse of Athena” thing is not present in the oldest records – no temple of Athena soiling, no angry Athena cursing a poor girl… “No curse?” you say “But then how did Medusa got turned into a Gorgon”? Answer: she did not. She was born like that.

As I said before, the oldest record of Medusa’s romance but also of her family comes from Hesiod’s Theogony (Hesiod being one of the two “founding authors” of Greek mythology, alongside Homer – Homer did wrote several times about Medusa, but only as a disembodied head and as a monster already dead, so we don’t have any information about her life). And what do we learn? That Medusa is part of a set of three sisters known as the Gorgons – because oh yes, Ovid did not mention Medusa’s sister now did he? How did Medusa’s sisters ALSO got snake-hair or petrifying-gaze if only Medusa was cursed for sleeping with Neptune? Ovid does not give us any answer because again, it is an “adaptational plot hole”, and the people that try to adapt Ovid’s story have to deal with the slight problem of Stheno and Euryale needing to share their sister’s curse despite seemingly not being involved in the whole Neptune business. Anyway, back to the Greek text.

So, you have those three Gorgon sisters, and Medusa is said to be mortal while her sisters are not. Why is it such a big deal? Because Medusa wasn’t originally some random human or priestess. Oh no! Who were the Gorgons’ parents? Phorcys and Keto/Ceto, aka two sea-gods. Not just two sea-gods – two sea-gods of the ancient, primordial generation of sea-gods, the one that predated Poseidon, and that were cousins to the Titans, the sea-gods born of Gaia mating with Pontos.

So the Gorgons were “divine” of nature – and this is why Medusa being a mortal was considered to be a MASSIVE problem and handicap for her, an abnormal thing for the daughter of two deities. But let’s dig a bit further… Who were Phorcys and Ceto? Long story short: in Greek mythology, they were considered to be sea-equivalents of Typhon and Gaia. They were the parents of many monsters and many sea-horrors: Keto/Ceto herself had her name attributed and equated with any very large creature (like whales) or any terrifying monster (like dragons) from the sea. The Gorgons themselves was a trio of monsters, but their sisters, that directly act as their double in the myth of Perseus? The Graiai – the monstrous trio of old women sharing one eye and one tooth. Hesiod also drops the fact that Ladon (the dragon that guarded the golden apples of the Hesperids), and Echidna (the snake-woman that mated with Typhon and became known as the “mother of monsters”) were also children of Phorcys and Ceto, while other authors will add other monster-related characters such as Scylla (of Charybdis and Scylla fame), the sirens, or Thoosa (the mother of Polyphemus the cyclop). Medusa herself is technically a “mother of monsters” since she birthed both Pegasus the flying horse and Chrysaor, a giant. So here is something very important to get: Medusa, and the Gorgons, were part of a family of monsters. Couple that with the absence of any mention of curses in these ancient texts, and everything is clear.

Originally Medusa was not a woman cursed to become a monster: she was born a monster, part of a group of monster siblings, birthed by monster-creating deities, and she belonged to the world of the “primordial abominations from the sea”, and the pre-Olympian threats, the remnants of the primordial chaos. It is no surprise that the Gorgons were said to live at the edge of the very known world, in the last patch of land before the end of the universe – in the most inhuman, primitive and liminal area possible. They were full-on monsters!

Now you might ask why Poseidon would sleep with a horrible monster, especially when you recall that the Greeks loved to depict the Gorgons as truly bizarre and grotesque. It wasn’t just snake-hair and petrifying gaze: they had boar tusks, and metallic claws, and bloated eyes, and a long tongue that constantly hanged down their bearded chin, and very large heads – some very old depictions even show her with a female centaur body! In fact, the ancient texts imply that it wasn’t so much the Gorgon’s gaze or eyes that had the power to turn people into stone – but that rather the Gorgon was just so hideous and so terrifying to look at people froze in terror – and then literally turned into stone out of fear and disgust. We are talking Lovecraftian level of eldritch horror here. So why would Poseidon, an Olympian god, sleep with one of these horrors? Well… If you know your Poseidon it wouldn’t surprise you too much because Poseidon had a thing for monsters. As a sort of “dark double” of Zeus, whereas Zeus fell in love with beautiful princesses and noble queens and birthed great gods and brave heroes, Poseidon was more about getting freaky with all sorts of unusual and bizarre goddesses, and giving birth to bandits and monsters. A good chunk of the villains of Greek mythology were born out of Poseidon’s loins: Polyphemus, Antaios, Orion, Charybdis, the Aloads… And even his most benevolent offspring has freaky stuff about it – Proteus the shapeshifter or Triton half-man half-fish… So yes, Poseidon sleeping with an abominable Gorgon is not so much out of character.

Step 3: The missing link

Now that we established what Medusa started out as, and what she ended up as… We need to evoke the evolution from point Hesiod to point Ovid, because while people summarized the Medusa debate as “Sea-born monster VS raped and punished woman”, there is a third element needed to understand this whole situation…

Yes Ovid did invent the rape. But he did not invent the idea that Medusa had been cursed by Athena.

The “gorgoneion” – the visual and artistic motif of the Gorgon’s head – was, as I said, a grotesque and monstrous face used to invoke fright into the enemies or to repel any vile influence or wicked spirit by the principle of “What’s the best way to repel bad stuff? Badder stuff”. Your Gorgon was your gargoyle, with all the hideous traits I described before – represented in front (unlike all the other side-portraits of gods and heroes), with the face being very large and flat, a big tongue out of a tusked-mouth, snake-hair, bulging crazy eyes, sometimes a beard or scales… Pure monster. But then… from the fifth century BCE to the second century BCE we see a slow evolution of the “gorgoneion” in art. Slowly the grotesque elements disappear, and the Gorgon’s face becomes… a regular, human face. Even more: it even becomes a pretty woman’s face! But with snakes instead of hair. As such, the idea that Medusa was a gorgeous woman who just had snakes and cursed-eyes DOES come from Ancient Greece – and existed well before Ovid wrote his rape story.

But what was the reason behind this change?

Well, we have to look at the Roman era again. Ovid’s tale of Medusa being cursed for her rape at the hands of Neptune had to rival with another record collected by a Greek author Apollodorus, or Pseudo-Apollodorus, in his Bibliotheca. In this collection of Greek myths, Apollodorus writes that indeed, Medusa was cursed by Athena to have her beautiful hair that seduced everybody be turned into snakes… But it wasn’t because of any rape or forbidden romance, no. It was just because Medusa was a very vain woman who liked to brag about her beauty and hair – and had the foolish idea of saying her hair looked better than Athena’s. (If you recall tales such as Arachne’s or the Judgement of Paris, you will know that despite Athena being wise and clever, one of her main flaws is her vanity).

“Wait a minute,” you are going to tell me, “The Bibliotheca was created in the second century CE! Well after Greece became part of the Roman Empire, and after Ovid’s Metamorphoses became a huge success! It isn’t a true Greek myth, it is just Ovid’s tale being projected here…” And people did agree for a time… Until it was discovered, in the scholias placed around the texts of Apollonios of Rhodes, that an author of the fifth century BCE named Pherecyde HAD recorded in his time a version of Medusa’s legend where she had been cursed into becoming an ugly monster as punishment for her vanity. We apparently do not have the original text of Pherecyde, but the many scholias referring to this lost piece are very clear about this. This means that the story that Apollodorus recorded isn’t a “novelty”, but rather the latest record of an older tradition going back to the fifth century BCE… THE SAME CENTURY THAT THE GORGONEION STARTED LOSING THEIR GROTESQUE, and that the face of Medusa started becoming more human in art.

[EDIT: I also forgot to add that this evolution of Medusa is also proved by strange literary elements, such as Pindar's mention in a poem of his (around 490 BCE) of "fair-cheeked Medusa". A description which seems strange given how Medusa used to be depicted as the epitome of ugliness... But that makes sense if the "cursed beauty" version of the myth had been going around at the time!]

And thus it is all connected and explained. Ovid did invent the rape yes – but he did not invent the idea of Athena cursing Medusa. It pre-existed as the most “recent” and dominating legend in Ancient Greece, having overshadowed by Ovid’s time the oldest Hesiodic records of Medusa being born a monster. So what Ovid did wasn’t completely create a new story out of nowhere, but twist the Greek traditions of Athena cursing Medusa and Medusa having a relationship with Poseidon, so that the two legends would form one and same story. And this explains in retrospect why Ovid focuses so much on describing Medusa’s beautiful hair, and why Ovid’s Minerva would think turning her hair into snake would be a “punishment fit for the crime”: these are leftovers of the Greek tale where Medusa was punished for her boasting and her vanity.

CONCLUSION

Here is the simplified chronology of how Medusa’s evolution went.

A) Primitive Greek myths, Hesiodic tradition: Born a monster out of a family of sea-monsters and monstrous immortals. Is a grotesque, gargoylesque, eldritch abomination. Athena has only an indirect conflict with her, due to being Perseus’ “fairy godmother”. Has a lovely romance with Poseidon.

B) Slow evolution throughout Classical Greece and further: Medusa becomes a beautiful, human-looking girl that was cursed to have snake for hair and petrifying eyes, instead of being a Lovecraftian horror people could not gaze upon. Her conflict with Athena becomes direct, as it is Athena that cursed her due to being offended by her vain boasting. Her punishment is for her vanity and arrogant comparison to the goddess.

C) Ovid comes in: Medusa’s romance with Poseidon becomes a rape, and she is now punished for having been raped inside Athena’s temple.

[As a final note, I want to insist upon the fact that the story of Medusa being raped is not less "worthy" than any other version of the myth. Due to its enormous popularity, how it shaped the figure of Medusa throughout the centuries, and how it still survives today and echoes current-day problems, to try to deny the valid place of this story in the world of myths and legends would be foolish. HOWEVER it is important to place back things in their context, to recognize that it is not the ONLY tale of Medusa, that it was NOT part of Greek mythology, but rather of Roman legends - and let us all always remember this time Poseidon slept with a Lovecraftian horror because my guy is kinky.]

EDIT:

For illustration, I will place here visuals showing how the Ancient art evolved alongside Medusa's story.

Before the 5th century BCE: Medusa is a full-on monster

From the 5th century to the 2nd century BCE: A slow evolution as Medusa goes from a full-on monster to a human turned into a monster. As a result the two depictions of the grotesque and beautiful gorgoneion coexist.

Post 2nd century BCE: Medusa is now a human with snake hair, and just that

[tylermileslockett]

"Atalanta and the Argonauts" (#5)

When the call went out to Greece’s greatest heroes, for fame and glory, to join Jason and his quest for the Golden fleece, only the bravest answered the call. Heroes like Hercules, Orpheus, Telamon, Peleus, and yes, Atalanta mustered her courage and journeyed to join them.

Appollonius of Rhodes wrote the epic poem “Argonautica” about Jason’s quest for the golden fleece around the 3rd century B.C. based on a much older tale, (referenced in Homer and Pindar). Apparently Appollonius elevated the romantic relationship between Jason and Medea, which in turn inspired latin poetry and Virgil’s Aeneid. In Appollonius tale, Atalanta shows up to join the Argonauts, but Jason turns her away, fearing having such a beautiful woman on board would cause conflict between his men. However, In Appollodorus “Library” (1-2nd century A.D.)  he lists Atalanta as being one of the heroes who accompany Jason for the Golden fleece. Unfortunately, there are no surviving versions where we see the entirety of the journey with Atalanta involved, which begs the question; what would the adventure be like if Atalanta joined?

On the topic of sea quests, lets take a quick look at ancient Greek seafaring. The Argo ship is portrayed as a sort of Trireme (ancient warship with three rows of oars and curved prow). Developments in astronomy helped ancient sea sailors navigate through constellations like Ursa Minor (little dipper) , as well as moon cycles and eclipses. They also used “sounding weights” to measure sea depths, which helped to inform distances to land. There is evidence from around 100 B.C. of an ancient “Orrery” (solar model) tool for celestial navigation called the Antikythera Mechanism. This ingenious, hand-powered device contained gears and could predict and track astronomical positions and eclipses.

Like this art? It will be in my illustrated book with over 130 other full page illustrations coming in Aug/Sept to kickstarter.  to get unseen free hi-hes art subscribe to my email newsletter

Follow my backerkit kickstarter notification page.

Thank you for supporting independent artists! 🤘❤️🏛😁

[finelythreadedsky]

currently obsessed with the idea that the dido we see in aeneid 1 and 4 isn't the real dido-- and not just because she's acting under the influence of venus and cupid. she's literally not the real dido, she's an eidolon, an imago.

because as vergil and his readers know, carthage was founded in 814 bce, and the trojan war ended in 1184 bce, 370 years too early for aeneas to actually run into dido. now there are a couple of ways you can deal with this: you can say that vergil moved the foundation of carthage 370 years earlier for the purposes of his story. or you can say that aeneas and his men travel to the 9th century when they go to carthage and then back to the 12th century when they leave for italy.

or you can say that actually nobody and nothing moves in time. aeneas goes to carthage in the 12th century, 370 years before it was founded by dido. he sees a mirage of a city ruled by a phantom queen. so when he goes to the underworld in book 6 and sees the shade of dido, she doesn't know him and turns aside because that's the real dido who lived and founded carthage in the 9th century and killed herself to avoid being forced to marry iarbas and never met aeneas. that's how the underworld works, it's populated by people who haven't been born yet by aeneas' time but are still there already dead. dido isn't like a ghost like anchises, she's a ghost like marcellus.

[vamptember]

IT'S TIME TO GET READY FOR THE VAMPIRE PARTY AGAIN! 🦇

Welcome back to Vamptember, everyone! Miss us? We missed you! 🖤

For the month of September please join us in MAKING VAMPIRE STUFF! Fic, art, headcanons, playlists, fic recs, meta, anything you can think of! Base it on the books, the movie, the show, the musical, or even that other movie! Canon or AU!

RULES 1. There are no rules. Please have fun! 2. Each day has THREE PROMPTS in case one doesn’t speak to you! Pick one or combine them or rearrange them, it's up to you! 3. Tag your posts #vamptember so that we can reblog! If your post isn’t showing in the tag please don’t hesitate to DM it to us!

Tell your friends and share to spread the word! Daily prompts (3/day) under the cut! 

5+1 / Pantheist / Leather

Dissection / Rome / Bathed

FREE DAY

"And why were such things made in the world?" / Folk Horror / Second Breakfast

Fix-It / Midnight Sun / Stain

Rio de Janeiro / “You should leave.” / Aeneid

Reverse AU / Fragrant / Calendar

Metamorphosis / St. Patrick’s Cathedral / “What’s out there?”

Fatal Domain / First Time / Doctor

FREE DAY

Royalty AU / Flowers / Les Innocents

“Love never dies a natural death.” / Creamy / Les Diaboliques

POV Switch / Bittersweet / Ocean

Vision / "You knew?" / Creature

The Paragon of Animals / Dress Up / Jungle

Coffee Shop AU / Email/Text Message / Kemet

FREE DAY

Fairy Tale / Baby / Aliens

Genderswap / Priest / Favorite Song

Cowboy/Cowgirl AU / Pearls / San Francisco

Sense of Humor / 1990s / Heaven or Hell

Strip / Mad Scientist / Carnival

Enemies to Lovers / Good Luck Charm / Egypt

FREE DAY

Snowed In / Urban Legend / Heartbeat

Secret Lover / Amnesia / Outsider POV

Fake Dating / Glasses / Uruk

News / Jealousy / Present Day

Unreliable Narrator / Sunlight / Fight & Make Up

Sonoma Compound / “Take me home.” / Bed Sharing

[aeneiddaily]

this is i, aeneas the trojan.

[empire-of-the-words]

The Vengeance Saga (where Aeolus ties up Posiedon's storm in a bag again, off screen) coming out at the same time as I read Book 1 of the Aeneid (where Posiedon gets pissy Aeolus's men are causing a storm, cause that's his job) has got me convinced these two have beef

[best-nun-tournament]

Round 1, Match 12

Sister Illuminata of Perugia (Pentiment) vs Iris (Fire Force)

Sister Illuminata is a Benedictine nun. She is the librarian of Kiersau Abbey.

Iris is a sister of the Holy Sol Temple.

Poll Runner's note: I was going to make some comment about St. Lawrence here, but he's specifically patron to professions where fire is an occupational hazard (like librarians) while St. Florian is patron saint of firefighters. Ah well.

Sister Illuminata of Perugia

No propaganda submitted

Poll Runner's note: Sister Illuminata takes her responsibility as librarian very seriously. She is also, as you would expect, quite familiar with literature and poetry. Early in the game Andreas has a long conversation with her about the books the monks borrowed and she has some strong opinions about them, especially on how Dido is treated in the Aeneid.

Iris

No propaganda submitted

[catindabag]

Ok. Hear me out. We all know that the Capitol peeps fashioned themselves like Ancient Rome with a dash of Hellenistic influence, but in a futuristic manner, right? They even have the habit of naming their kids after famous Roman/Greek deities, generals, rulers, and heroes. Apollo and Diana Ring are the most obvious ones. Heck, the 24 OG mentors from TBOSAS are the greatest examples. From Juno, Androcles, Gaius, Persephone, Festus to Coriolanus, Florus, Felix, and Lysistrata. More or less, their parents are a proud bunch of Aeneid-Iliad-Shakespearean theater fanatics.

So if you’re a Capitol citizen, you better have an extra copy of The Iliad and The Aeneid on standby when you finally get the opportunity to name your baby.😀

But seriously, I think The Academy educates their students about these kinds of classical books in literature and rhetorics class. So it’s safe to say that Coryo and his classmates have read and enjoyed Homer’s The Odyssey.

However, this post is not about that.

This post is about me imagining the 24 OG Mentors in my crack!AU adapting and releasing their own theatrical version of Epic: The Musical (by Jorge Rivera-Herrans) in front of Panem as punishment for postponing the Hunger Games (forever).🤣

So here’s the cast:

Coryo Snow as ✨Athena✨😌💅

Festus Creed as ✨King Odysseus✨

Persephone Price as ✨Queen Penelope✨

Pliny “Pup” Harrington as ✨Eurylochus✨

Sejanus Plinth as ✨Polites✨

Felix Ravinstill as ✨Poseidon✨

Hilarius Heavensbee as ✨Zeus✨

Juno Phipps as ✨Hera✨

Gaius Breen as ✨Hermes✨

Arachne Crane as ✨Scylla✨🥲🔪

Livia Cardew as ✨Aphrodite✨

Florus Friend as ✨Telemachus✨

Androcles Anderson as ✨Polyphemus✨😂

Domitia Whimsiwick as ✨Calypso✨

Clemensia Dovecote as ✨Circe✨

Apollo Ring as ✨Apollo✨

Urban Canville as ✨Ares✨ & ✨Tiresias✨

Iphigenia Moss as ✨Aeolus✨

Dennis Fling as ✨Antinous✨ & ✨Hephaestus✨

Vipsania Sickle as ✨Winion #1✨

Io Jasper as ✨Winion #2✨

Diana Ring as ✨Lotus Eater #1✨

Palmyra Monty as ✨Lotus Eater #2✨

And Lysistrata Vickers is their stage play director.

PS: This is also an excuse to imagine Coryo and Festus having an epic sing-off dance battle when they perform Warrior of The Mind & My Goodbye.

[mistresskayla-blog1]

The Spoils of War

**TRIGGER WARNING** Sensitive smut material present

NSFW - NSFM 18+++

Characters: Raymond de Merville as Mars - God of War x OC Rhea Silvia

Lyn's Writing Event 2024 - Day 13 - Week 2

May 13th: Week 2: Mars (god of war) 18+++  NMDI NSFW

****TRIGGER WARNING****  (this will be in two parts)

Characters: (AU) Raymond de Merville (as Mars – God of War) x OC Rhea Silvia depiction   

Fandom: Richard Armitage – Pilgrimage – Raymond de Merville

The character of Raymond de Merville was created by Jamie Hannigan (for film)

The character of Rhea Silvia is a depiction from myths and legends written by Virgil and referred from the Aeneid (Book 1) and other Greek mythology.

This is my interpretation of a Greek myth. Enjoy.

Location: Ancient Rome – The Punic Wars  

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: graphic violence, rape, Greek undertones, shewolf, shame, abuse, dominant male, religious factions, character death, virginity, forced impregnation (implied), rope play, forced fellatio,

            Mars rode into the city, he was battered and bruised but triumphant in his latest battle. He saw a woman sitting on the steps of the temple and dismounted, somewhat compelled. As he approached her, a statesmen came up to him,

“Mars, how is the battles?” Amulius asked. Mars looked at Amulius and then to the woman, “It is well. Now what business do you have with me?” he gritted his teeth.

Amulius blocked his advance, “If you are looking to pursue her, I had a deal to strike with you”. Mars stopped moving, and looked down at Amulius, “I’m listening” mars said, cooly.

Amulius put a hand on his shoulder and stepped away from the steps further from steps, “That is my sister, Rhea Silvia, and I have made her a vestal virgin. She comes highly regarded but I cannot have her heirs, so, well” he looked at Mars and then down at the ground.

Mars nodded, “I see, so I can have her, but if she bears fruit I am to what? Kill my progeny?”

Amulius, “Yes, in a manner, but be not worried, she knows not of a man, she is pure. And –“

Mars cut him off, “That’s enough, I care not about such things. Send her to me tonight”. Mars walked off and away from Amulius and the distant Rhea Silvia, who looked towards him as he tread past. His armor glistened in the afternoon light and it clattered as he proceeded away.

Amulius stomped towards her, and pulled Rhea up from the steps, “You are to be a bride now, and that is final.” Rhea pulled her arm away, but Amulius was forceful, “Take your hand off me. I am a protected priestess”. Rhea tried to stand her ground.

Amulius glared at her, “I made you a vestal to keep you quiet, but now I have another use for you, but if you betray me and create heirs I will destroy you”. Rhea shuddered, “How am I to do that my.. (gulped) King?” Amulius amusedly looked at her, staring at her bosom that was covered in the gauzy fabric of the age, “I am sure you will please him, but you dare not enjoy it”.

Rhea eyes wide looked in a manner confused and terrified. Amulius led her away from the Vesta temple and down to some quarters where he ordered servants to strip her and bathe her. Rhea stood in the tub, tears running down her cheeks. Servants rubbed her down with cloths until her pale skin was reddened. Then they dressed her again in a bridal shift. 

Rhea was a beautiful woman, not like the goddesses they worshipped in what would become the city of Rome, but still quite taking, and her eyes were bright with promise, until today. Rhea trembled in her new gown, and waited until she was retrieved. A robe of dark blues was placed over her shoulders and clasped in the front. It was night now, and the chill of the area was setting in.

---

Torches were lit on the hall walls, and Amulius entered the room.

“It is time, the arrangements have been made, you are his wife now”. Amulius spoke. Rhea looked puzzled, “without a ceremony?” Amulius sneered, “This isn’t a public display, it is just affairs of state”. Rhea looked down and walked slowly towards him, “Please brother be merciful, he is a brut, surely you know that”. Amulius looked at Rhea in the eyes then, and unmistakably sighed greedily, “Oh, I’m counting on it”. Rhea’s eyes widened again, as Amulius let out a deep throaty sinister chuckle. Rhea gathered her robe tighter about her and followed him down the corridor.

A while later they were in the center of the palace, in a section she was unfamiliar with, even though she had spent many years exploring the palace as a child. She could smell the stench of unclean men and hear the ruckus of their chants. A revelry was going on in a room, and she looked up long enough to see them taking part in a drinking game of sorts. Pounding the table and shouting wildly, most men in various layers of battle garb, some nearly nude, she blushed discernibly.

Amulius knocked on a door in the corridor, and a gruff deep voice boomed on the other side. Rhea shivered, even though there was no breeze tonight. Amulius covered her face with the hood of the robe and waited for the door to open. Heavy foot falls came to the door, and when it lurched open a tall dark-haired man stood, somewhat undressed, from battle, an apple in his hand. Mars looked at Amulius amused, “Oh, right. Is this her then?” Mars looked to Rhea, whose eyes were careening past the shadow of her hood, he saw her soft lips, and he groaned into the apple as he took a bite, “Leave her with me” he said to Amulius. Amulius, smirked, “the papers are all in order, Mars”. Mars snatched a scroll from Amulius’ hand. Then looked him up and down again, scoffing, “For a King you do an awful lot of your own dirty work.”

Amulius, “This one I wanted to take care of personally. She is my niece after all”, he replied, bringing his arm around Rhea’s back and pushing her into Mars as he stood barring the doorway with his frame. Rhea’s eyes were fixed on his hulking chest, it breathed in and out as he chewed his apple, the crunching noise above her ears. She dare not look him in the eyes, she was far too nervous. Amulius retreated and went back to his own chambers for a night of blissful sleep.

            When Rhea knew he was out of earshot she fell to her knees in front of Mars, “Please, my, Archon, please take pity on me, and let me go back to my work a vestal, I promise I will bring no shame upon you.” Mars chuckled, still chewing his apple. He grabbed Rhea by the shoulder and drug her inside the room, closing the door and locking it. He dropped is hands from her shoulder and she dropped her hood. Her brown eyes stared up at him from the floor, and he tossed the apple core across the room and yanked her up to her feet. His eyes searched hers for something, innocence? Meaning? Love? Hate? Rhea did not know. Rhea saw him visibly smell her, take her in, his hands squeezing her upper arms so intensely she let out a little whimper. Mars shook her a little at that, and Rhea turned her head away from him. Mars set her on her feet then, and placed his hand across her chin, “You think I care about your family’s honor. I am a god amongst men” he spat, his face was so close to her, she could smell the apple on his breath, amongst other things and feel the heat of his breath. Mars pivoted and tossed her towards the bed then made two hasty strides to meet her there.

Rhea cowered at the end of the bed; eyes bright. Rhea slumped to the floor again, but removed her robe, leaving her shift that was so thin, he could see the nipples bead against the fabric. He picked her up again, and set her on the end of the bed, and grabbed her breast in his meaty hand, and massaged it, his thumb brushing the nipples through the fabric. Rhea felt a new sensation tingle through her, but she was still scared. Her other nipple followed suit and pursed against the fabric. Mars watched her face as she let him touch her. All things happened in microseconds of time.

Mars tore at her gown, exposing all of her to him. He roared excitedly and shucked off his pants hastily. Rhea shivered again, and closed her eyes, as his hands were all over her. Gripping her buttocks, her hips, and brushing by her throat. His one hand on the back of her neck, he stared at her, then grabbed his cock in his other hand, and started to stroke it. Rhea looked down shamefully and was amazed at what she saw. It was large and veiny and it pulsed in his hand, extending from his body. Rhea had never seen anything like that before. He panted a bit, as he said, “Suck it” to her, and then he pushed her mouth towards his cock. She didn’t know what to do, so she closed her eyes, and he grabbed her hair and pulled, “Look at it!” he barked. She still had use of her hands, so she tried to touch him, but he simply shoved his cock into her open mouth and started to rock into her, his hand on her hair was tight and he fucked her throat with righteous abandon. Rhea gagged and spat and tried to breathe.

Mars just kept fucking her, and moaning, happily, “oh, in all my years” he crowed. Rhea pushed at him and gasped as he pulled out, his hold of her hair loosened. Mars let go of her and she choked and spat on to the floor. Her back was turned so she did not see the rope he gathered from the bedclothes. He tied her hands behind her, “So you won’t get away, or think to mark me up. I have a reputation to hold in the bordellos, you know” he smirked and chuckled, his voice deeper now. Mars picked Rhea up again, by her arms and laid her on her back on the bed, her arms tied and pinned beneath her. He stroked his cock again, filling the slick of her spit on it in revelry. He pushed his thighs against hers, parting them. Rhea tensed, not knowing what to expect next, but only hearing stories from the older ladies of the village.

Mars rubbed his cock against her mound, and felt a warmth and slickness, “You told me you haven’t been with a man, then why are you wet?” he cajoled. Rhea’s face flushed with heat, “I don’t know my archon, I.. I”. Mars leaned over her, and spoke against her lips, “It doesn’t matter now, you are mine, now, I can mark you however I wish, and I don’t care about Amulius’ little treaty.  I’ll fill you with my pups until you can’t stand it anymore”, he said grinned wildly. As he stood back up, pulling her ass to the edge of the bed. Mars entered her with conviction and Rhea screamed from the mixing of flesh on flesh and the tearing of her insides it seemed. Mars roared louder feeling her tightness against his throbbing cock. Her walls were untouched and it felt amazing, he pounded into her, holding her hips, his hands gripping her tight. Rhea’s legs were draped past either hip, limp, but not willing. Mars looked at her, and saw her ashen face, he slowed down a moment. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, towards her ears.

“Been a while since I had a virgin” he cackled, “And your so fucking sweet, you may turn me into a softer man.” Mars stayed deep inside her, Rhea’s pussy trembled around him, pulsing. Rhea could feel a warmth in her core now, it rose and fell with his thrusts, but in his stillness, there was a yearning for more. Mars felt the twitch of her cunt, and he smiled again, leaning down to bite her neck, and sucked her flesh between his teeth, “Mine” he growled. And Rhea let out a sensational moan, she hadn’t ever heard herself make that sound before, “My archon, what was..” Rhea murmured. Mars stopped sucking her neck, and came to look upon her, “That my wife was a moan”. Rhea nearly giggled, but still was mightily uncomfortable.

Mars started his pace again, thrusting deep and fast into her, and panting as he went. His eyes bore into hers, and still tears filled hers in fright and confusion. Mars pulled out of her and readjusted her. He picked her up by the waist, turned her around and pushed her face first into the bed, her ass presented for him. Mars grinned broadly, “oh the gods did smile upon me this day.” And Mars grabbed Rhea’s ass, massaging it greedily, parting her cheeks, and pressing his cock into her pussy again. Rhea moaned, but into the bed. Mars’ cock strained and grew thicker as he pushed deeper and pumped faster. He could feel his climax building inside him, and he wanted to fill her core with as much of his seed as he could. He needed to, to rebel against that spoiled King, Amulius.

Mars kept pushing deeper, right to her Rhea’s cervix, and he banged into it with great relish, bruising it, and causing more spasms inside her. Rhea did not know how to orgasm, he knew that, and her body reacted to him just as nature intended. Rhea’s face was smooshed into the bed clothes, her ass in the air, her core spasming. She felt totally out of control, and she made little sounds with her mouth, but she didn’t know if they were a call for relief or more. Mars went faster and faster and harder and harder. Rhea spasmed around his cock, and as he cum, shooting his hot load against her cervix, washing it with his seed, Mars growled again, and pulled Rhea’s torso up to meet his chest.

His hand drifted lazily against her folds, and he rubbed her clit a little. Kissing her neck, softer now, as she gasped from his fingers on her. His cock was still inside her, pulsing, and when he touched her clit, Rhea’s eyes rolled back in her head in joyful sadness, “Please, my archon, I don’t understand”.  He shushed against her cheek, “Its alright, you’ll understand one day, I’ll teach you”. Rhea’s eyes closed then, tears rolling down her cheeks. Mars cock was still hard, and he pumped into her a few more times, her pussy still clamping onto him, Mars breath hitched against her neck, “You are amazing, just think what can happen, when you know what your doing.”

Rhea blushed at those words, the warmth in her belly transferring to her cheeks. Mars’ arm held her to him, across her chest and against his own. Rhea’s arms still bound behind her. Mars set her down gently then and untied her. He rubbed her wrists, and checked for marks, tossing the rope aside. Rhea turned to him, gathering herself into a sitting position, her knees up at her chest. Mars looked at her then and realized how youthful her face, in the torchlight. “My god, you really are beautiful aren’t you?” Rhea looked down, and wept into her knees. Mars’ seed was oozing out of her pussy, and he noticed it gathering on the bed. He coaxed her with whispered to her to ‘lay down’, and he propped her legs up, against his side.

Mars gathered a bit of covers over her then. And Rhea gratefully accepted them. Mar’s propped his hand on his head and looked at her. Rhea looked at him still puzzled, “What are we doing now?” Mars lazily retorted, “trying to make heirs so your uncle will lose all he has”. Rhea smiled then for the first time all night, “Oh, well, if that’s what it takes, I will try my best.” Mars grinned, letting his finger make circles on her belly against the blanket, “And if it doesn’t, we can just keep trying.” Rhea looked at him then still a little shaken, “But not like that, every time, right?”

Mars looked down a second, a light in his eyes shining warmly towards her, “No, not every time,” he paused, sitting up a bit, “Unless I’m fresh from battle, I tend to be an ogre”, his boyish grin is almost endearing. Rhea tries to feel something besides the tenderness between her legs and the utter sadness of losing her position as priestess, “So what does a wife of a guard captain do?” Mars looked at her with as much seriousness as he could muster in that moment, “Take care of me, I guess. I honestly don’t know”. Rhea actually felt a bit lighter as at his relaxed confession, “Well maybe we can make it as we go along?” she asked. Mars looked at her a bit steely, his blue eyes sharpening in the lamplight “Perhaps.” Rhea nodded in understanding.

(Part 2?)

Taglist:

@ scariusaquarius @legolasbadass @sweetestgbye @middleearthpixie @evenstaredits @lathalea @riepu10

Lyn’s writing event 2024 

[barnbridges]

for no reasons, here is the tsh etymological bible of tumblr user barnbridges:

John - John the Evangelist, Richard Papen - Richard Plantagenet, Papen - homophone of paper

Henry - Henry IV (Prince Hal), Henry Jekyll

Edmund/Bunny - Edmund of Glouster, Corcoran - stolen off classics expert Charles Norris Cochrane

Francis - St Francis of Assisi

Charles - Charlemagne, Charles Blackwood

Camilla - warrior in Virgil's Aeneid, superficially Constance Blackwood

Cloke - Invisibility Cloak, fairy tale object and symbolical in-betweener of Richard and Henry

Judy - Book of Judith

Marion - Mary Magdalene, Book of Mary Magdalene, Barnbridge - 1 Timothy 2:5 or a general reference to the nativity story

Julian - Julian the Apostate, Morrow - allure to the timeline fuckery of the novel, homophone of marrow

Mona - homage to Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep (Mona "Silverwig" Mars)

Madconald - the fast food chain but also Macbeth