#iliad fanfic

[katerinaaqu]

I Take that Back

Set after Rhapsody 11 of Iliad. Odysseus is rushed to his tent to be healed after his rescue by Menelaus. He receives some wholehearted conversations with two close friends.

As he was being half-carried to his tent, Odysseus was groaning in pain holding his still bleeding side. Menelaus had rushed to cover the wound with a piece of cloth but the bleeding was pretty severe especially given his fast heartbeat after the heat of the adrenaline in battle. He had to rely on the strength of his comrade Polites to make sure he wouldn’t damage his body even further. He was already feeling lightheaded from blood loss and now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he had started to feel the burning sensation of the stab wound to his torso. Perimedes was holding his other arm over his nape as they were rushing to his tent to the Achaean camp.

“Quickly! We must get him hot water and stitch the wound!” Polites ordered

He too was painted in blood from battle and his wounded king and the dirt of the camp wouldn’t help a potential infection. Eurylochus met them half-way, looking as pale as Odysseus in worry at that moment.

“What the hell just happened?!”  he asked running to the spot

“Stab wound! We need to treat him!” Polites replied

“How…? Like how the hell…?”

“That…bastard Socus…son of Hippastus…” Odysseus moaned through clenched teeth, “Don’t worry, I had the last laugh…”

“Don’t speak, you idiot!” Eurylochus scolded him taking over the spot Polites had

The latter rushed to the tent to open the way so that the other two would bring the groaning, not to mention bleeding and soaked in sweat king to his bed.

“Quickly! I will need some wine and moldy bread as soon as possible!” Polites ordered, “And, for gods’ sakes; someone bring me clean cloths and boil water!”

“O-On it!” Perimedes rushed out

Odysseus huffed and puffed as the cloth soaked in his blood was drawn away so that a new would be applied and be pressed on. Eurylochus held onto it almost for dear life.

“Dammit!” the king of Ithaca complained trying to stabilize the pain with his breathing

“Come on! Drink this!” Polites advised offering him the skin

Odysseus didn’t need to be told twice before grabbing it and gulp down a few good sips of wine before Polites opened the cloth and poured some of it over the bleeding gash. His king clenched his teeth, hitting his fist to the side of his bed.

“Shit!” he cursed, “I knew this year was not good enough!”

“Got the water!” Perimedes interrupted before Polites had the time to scold his king for inappropriate timing for humor

“Good! Help me cleanse the needle”

Odysseus drew a few more sips from the skin watching his friends frantically work; Perimedes cleansing the stitch with water, Polites passing the needle through the flame and murmuring a prayer to Asclepius while Eurylochus was trying to hold the gaze to his wound. He groaned as Polites began stitching his wound.

“Dammit!”

“Sorry…” Polites whispered, “You have to endure”

“Don’t worry Polites…” Odysseus smirked in his sweat and pain, “I took the spear, I can take the stitch! Argh! Hey! You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t ya?!”

Polites had to master all his willpower not to chuckle and lose his concentration. At least he had his sense of humor. That was a good sign. He thanked all gods he knew that the spear indeed had not harmed any internal organs so all he needed was to patch him up and pray that the wound wouldn’t be infected. He was already applying the moldy bread over the stitch so that he could tie it up when Menelaus rushed into the tent.

“How is he!?” he asked anxiously

He was in terrible shape as he seemed; sweaty and dirty from battle but thank goodness unharmed himself for most part. Polites bowed his head.

“We’re just finishing, my lord…thank goodness nothing seems to be harmed inside”

The king of Ithaca drew another gulp of wine and calmed his breath a bit.

“Don’t worry, Menelaus” he said, “It’s just a scratch. It will heal in time, I am sure. Athena protected me! Socus didn’t stab me deep enough”

“Thank gods!” Menelaus sighed

“How’s Diomedes?” the elder king asked again, assisting Polites at raising himself so that he would bind his wound

“Good. He is being taken care of as we speak.”

“Good” Odysseus voiced sighing a bit, “Otherwise all this effort would have been for nothing! Ouch!”

Menelaus couldn’t help but smirk at that last remark. He did know how much the two of them cooperated. Quite frankly he almost saw Odysseus treating the young king like the son he never had the chance to raise. For one moment his own mind ran back to his daughter; she was a young girl at the age of 9 when they left her. Maybe 10. Right now she would be a woman ready for marriage while he was there, rotting away at war for the sakes of the wife that abandoned them. He snapped out of his melancholy pretty quickly.

“What the hell happened out there?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing!” Odysseus groaned, “What in all gods’ names happened? The Trojans are cutting through like we are cheese and all our efforts seem to be in vain! What the hell happened and none of our prayers gets through?! Why is Zeus so angry at us? First Apollo sent that blasted plague and now this! What the hell happened, Menelaus?”

“How am I supposed to know?!” also Menelaus retaliated, “I am in the dark just like you are!”

“Did your brother say something agai-…ARGH!” his accusation was cut in half as his raising voice put strain to his wound.

He lay back as Menelaus ran at his side as if by instinct.

“No worries…” Odysseus sighed, “I am accustomed to pain… That was on me!”

He sucked some more wine and seemed to calm down a bit. He leaned back to his pillow but eyed Menelaus with those onyx-black eyes of his that made Menelaus feel like he could really scan his very soul!

“Are you sure we didn’t offend anybody else so far? Last time even Diomedes went rampage.”

“Positive. Not to my knowledge at least. I can ask for a council to be gathered.”

“No. Not yet” Odysseus advised, “We suffered a great loss today. We don’t want people to be discouraged even further by thinking we are somehow heading straight for the rocks!”

“You’re right. But what else can we do?”

Odysseus’s intense stare locked with his own eyes again.

“You know what it must be done, Menelaus! We need Achilles! This cannot go on for much longer! Not only he is the strongest warrior among us but he is also the son of a god; he is rumored to be invulnerable in battle! The longer he stays away the worse for us!”

“Achilles is…” Menelaus hesitated, “We tried already. He will not release his anger against my brother”

“Then bloody do something about it!” Odysseus urged, “Today we lost quite a few men! I will not be able to enter the battle for a while and Diomedes will probably earn himself a limp from that foot! Our greatest warriors have suffered a loss, soon the Trojans will be at our bloody doors and Achilles is still chilling by his ships because your brother will not do something about the situation!”

“He already did, Odysseus!”

“Well, tell him to try bloody harder!”

He drew a breath and realized he had spoken out of the line.

“Sorry” he mumbled, “I take that back. I understand Agamemnon made an effort or that Achilles is not the easiest person to deal with. I shouldn’t have said that”

“Don’t apologize” Menelaus sighed as well, “You do have a point. And you just got a spear today isolated from our army and fighting multiple opponents at the same time. You have the right to be furious”

“I am not furious…” Odysseus mumbled absentmindedly, “I am scared”

Menelaus looked at him questionably. That was a rare occasion for Odysseus to speak of fear so openly. He always was the one to say things others didn’t say but not so blatantly honestly especially when he talked about himself.

“I found myself at hades’s doors today… My only thought out there for one moment was that I needed to survive this…that these Trojans wouldn’t make a widow of my wife or an orphan of my son! And the experience made me realize I am afraid…afraid that our efforts; all the years we spent out here in this hell would be for nothing. That they can be severed at any moment and I cannot help but think that all this was caused by one man! That man who has the power to communicate directly with the gods and his anger can be lethal because the anger will be transferred to the gods themselves!”

He wiped some sweat off his wide brow before collecting his thoughts again.

“I saw Diomedes blaze from Athena’s grace, I saw Sarpedon from the other side of the battle…I saw so many heroes out there connected to the gods; even myself, if I am allowed to say so! I have talked to Athena face to face, was privileged enough to call Hermes my bloodline and yet…yet none of these warriors have caused as much damage as Achilles with his rage!”

He banged his fist to the side before covering his mouth with it in thought.

“It is as if our whole existence depends on the mood changes of that man! And the thought terrifies me!”

He eyed Menelaus once more and he realized that Menelaus understood his train of thought. The idea was encouraging that his confession didn’t make the other man uncomfortable or scorning.

“I don’t plan on dying here, Menelaus!” he declared, “Neither do I want to see our efforts go up to smoke because of an internal dispute! I don’t know what you and your brother shall do, but whatever it is, I suggest you to do it faster!”

Menelaus nodded. He couldn’t say much here. Odysseus was right. He himself felt like life would be escaping him at any moment when he saw Odysseus from afar nearly taken over by all those Trojan warriors. For one second he feared that they would be doomed the moment Odysseus’s corpse hit the holy ground of Troy! He felt as terrified as if he were he himself fighting with a spear wound bleeding out of him. They had lost Achilles in one way, since he refused to fight, the thought of losing Odysseus too, and for good that is, was the gloomiest possible outcome he could think of! Occasionally he felt like Odysseus was the only one who kept them together with his sleek tongue and his clever ways (by gods he had nearly persuaded the Trojans to give Helen back without a war!) not to mention that his strategic mind was something they needed. He knew he wasn’t liked by many but he was respected by almost everyone and Menelaus was realizing every day why. The thought of losing him (daresay his closest friend among this bunch of kings) terrified him. He couldn’t even imagine what was going on through Odysseus’s head at the moment he was either bleeding out or ready to be speared to death. He knew how prudent Odysseus was in battle; he preferred to play safe than heroically. He usually entered the battle at the right for him moment; he was a man meant to survive! He couldn’t even imagine how this man, the embodiment of survival to the extreme, might have felt upon the face of death. And how much it affected him to blatantly say that! Odysseus was a proud man. He never admitted weakness like that! Never!

“Hey���” Menelaus smiled playfully to lighten the atmosphere, “I never expected to hear you speak like that! You usually wouldn’t admit weakness before anyone! You nearly bit my brother’s head off when he scolded you for cowardice!”

Odysseus scoffed and shook the sack of wine suggestively.

“Give me some more of this stuff and I might even start flirting with you!”

Menelaus laughed. He couldn’t find a better comeback than that!

“Let’s pretend this dialog never happened, shall we?” Odysseus added, “One embarrassing experience per day is enough for me!”

That earned him another chuckle from the Spartan king.

“Rest well, my friend” he patted the elder king’s shoulder, “You earned it. Heal for now and I shall talk to my brother. I promise…”

Odysseus nodded in a thanking way. Yeah, to be fair there was nothing else that could be done. Both Achilles and Agamemnon were two really hard-headed fellows but he had to admit that Agamemnon had already made his approach. It was Achilles’s utter refusal to accept it that got things stuck again but Agamemnon didn’t try again either. He felt that they might need a miracle to make these two patch things up again! He silently prayed to Athena that this miracle would come soon otherwise their war was doomed to fail. The prophecy stated they needed their strongest warrior if they wished to have some possibility of success and right now Achilles and all his precious Myrmidons were as good as not there. He didn’t like this thought.

“Hey…” Odysseus said stopping Menelaus at his tracks and making him look over his shoulder, “By the way, thanks… You saved my sorry skin out there! Without you I would be gone. Thank you…”

Menelaus nodded softly.

“No need to thank me. You would have done the same”

“Would I?”

Both kings chuckled in union.

“Jokes aside, Odysseus” Menelaus added, “I got scared too out there, today”

Odysseus raised a brow.

“I saw you overwhelmed and I thought you were a goner. My only thought was that if we lost you too the war would be done for… But now I know that it wasn’t just that. I don’t know if I would ever forgive myself if we lost you…because of me… I believe I never felt so scared to lose a friend like I was today…”

Odysseus was at loss of words for the very first time in his long eloquent life; it wasn’t just a soft block in his brain that needed him to regroup; it was a full on delete on any word or response he could possibly give back. His mouth was left agape and his eyes as wide as they could be. That confession also came out of nowhere. The day was becoming curious and curiouser as one would say. He sighed.

“Just get the hell out of here before we both get emotional!” he said defeated, “And send that oaf of a man Ajax my thanks as well! Just don’t make it sound like I am getting soft!”

“I will!” Menelaus chuckled, “Rest assured”

Odysseus collapsed back to his bed when the reddish-blonde king left his tent. Well that was definitely something he never expected. Not only had he nearly died out there but now he seemed to have received the most unexpected deep conversation he had in years with his fellow kings. He and Menelaus always got along better than many out there and both of them knew what it meant to take responsibility for this. They had been through a lot together but never before had Menelaus spoken to him so directly to the heart as now. It was both unexpected and welcome as it couldn’t be more…

“Damn…” he mumbled in thought

*

The frantic sound of limping came to his ears, stirring him from the half-lethargy he was about to fall into, as someone was obviously trying to run through the camp, crushing the little stones of the lane beneath their sandals but obviously the fellow was relying on one foot to do so. Apparently he was right for a few seconds later a sweaty and very much frantic Diomedes rushed into his tent. He had his foot tied up in bandages and he was assisting his running with a wooden stick. He was pale and flushed from running but Odysseus realized it wasn’t because of blood loss but rather of worry.

“Odysseus!” he called out

“Diomedes?”

The king of Ithaca half-raised his body from his bed where he was covered with a fleece to protect him from the cold of the night. He was still dizzy from blood loss but after a good meal and some rest he was already better. Polites was by his side to change the bandage and check on the process of the wound (so far he had very little fever so the wound probably had escaped the worst infection). However the look at Diomedes’s face made him worried.

“What on earth are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be by your ships resting?”

“Never mind about me!” Diomedes called out arriving by his side

Odysseus nodded to one of his slaves to bring Diomedes a stool for the anxious young man was capable of standing there forever!

“They just told me you got hurt after I left!”

“Yeah…that should teach me not to play the hero ever again!” Odysseus joked

“Odysseus!” Diomedes yelled, “That’s not funny! How bad is it?”

“I’m fine, Diomedes” Odysseus sighed, “It is not as serious as it looks. Athena protected me from the worst and Menelaus assured my retreat”

“So I heard! But you got a spear in your bloody stomach!”

“I’m tougher than I look, Diomedes. These Trojan bastards will not rid of me that easily!”

“Dammit, Odysseus!” Diomedes exclaimed

Odysseus blinked. He never had seen Diomedes; the silent but hot-headed Diomedes be so scared or worried before. This kid seemed to be grown beyond his years now he seemed scared as if he had just lost a parent again. Odysseus knew he was touched beyond words. For one moment he wondered indeed how it would feel if he and his son were together.

“You gave up your chariot… You could have run with me and leave your man behind and instead you just gave me your chariot and covered my retreat! You reckless bastard you…you…”

He sighed in defeat.

“What’s gotten into you? You usually were so prudent and careful and now…for my sake you…you…”

“It was a moment of madness, Diomedes, it won’t happen again I am sure!” Odysseus smirked dismissively

“You absolute asshole!” Diomedes exclaimed again, “You could have died out there!”

“Thanks for the incredible faith you have in my fighting abilities you oh-I-am-Athena’s-favorite-Diomedes! It is noted!”

“Why are you so…ugh! You are unbelievable!”

The two kings remained silent for a little. Odysseus didn’t like that silence; he was more used at being the talkative one while Diomedes stood and listened (he never was the talkative type) but now he found himself, once more, at a loss of words. He knew that Diomedes cared but to THAT extent? Well that was refreshing.

“Well…what do you know…” he thought, “Two people really worried about me at the same day… This war really is full of surprises! Most of people keep the respect mask with me if they want to be seen as nice…”

He was about to say something but then Diomedes surprised him once more as his spoke in his low, deep voice.

“And you were right, you know…sometimes it is good to flee…”

“It is better to live and fight another day than to stay there in the open and die like a hero you know… Sometimes retreat is the wisest solution.”

“Noted…” Diomedes replied apprehensively, “When you brought the salvation for me, I nearly didn’t think about it…I just…left”

“As you should” Odysseus said seriously, “You are young and vigorous, Diomedes. Do not throw away your life just like that…besides…” he smirked a bit, “We need you. We need your crazy ass head for this war. We can’t afford to lose you!”

“Oh shut up, will you?” Diomedes sighed dead serious, “You act as if you are dispensable!”

Odysseus smiled a bit. That was Diomedes he knew. His care language was always harsh like that. A child born and raised in war… That was his way to say that he cared.

“Hell, no!” Odysseus replied lightheartedly, “I value my life more than anything in this field! I do not plan on jumping in front of another spear for you if you promise me to be more careful next time! You sometimes are way too self-destructive for my tastes! It is hard enough that I hang out with you at my age!”

Diomedes scoffed.

“Noted…”

“By the way” Odysseus fixed himself on the bed, “How is your foot?”

“Better already. It will heal”

“Not if you keep doing stupid things like this, lad, like coming running at me the moment you hear I got a minor cut!”

“Hey!” Diomedes almost seemed offended, “Well excuse me for wanting to check on you, old man! That surely will not happen again if you so want to!”

Odysseus chuckled a bit and held his side in pain.

“Look at us, lad!” he said, “We are a mess! You became an arrow target and I a spear holder! We sure have future in this war!”

He smiled tiredly watching Diomedes chuckle a bit. When he allowed himself to smile and relax, he almost looked like his age; not like aged a hundred years early. He was happy to get that side out of him once in a while even in the fire of war. They were interrupted by Polites bringing in a cup of warm tea.

“I am sorry to interrupt, my lords…” he excused himself, “Come on, drink this…”

Odysseus took the cup having the most suspicious look at his face as he took a sip he took a disgusted expression as he forced himself to swallow.

“Gods!” he complained draining his cup, “You know I hate sage!”

“Well don’t be such a baby! You need to get your fever down!”

“On second thought, I’d rather die young!”

“Come on now, Odysseus! Aren’t you too old to be a picky eater?” Diomedes chuckled

“Care for a cuppa, Diomedes?” Odysseus challenged, laughing

Polites surely brought another cup for him as well anyways. Diomedes sipped from it absentmindedly. He didn’t mind the scent of sage and the taste was not particularly bad for him, as it seemed. The warmth was welcoming to say the very least, for it was already a cold night.

“My father used to burn this devil…” Odysseus smiled softly

“Yeah…” Diomedes whispered looking at his cup, “They say it repells evil spirits away”

“Yeah…” Odysseus sighed fixing himself under his covers, “I know. That explains why I had the insatiable need to run out of the house every time he did!”

The present men at the tent chuckled softly in union. It was nice to be alive after such a long day. The smell of burning flesh from the outside did not seem to bother them anymore. Quite frankly they had trouble now separating the meal preparations from the funeral pyres.

“Speaking of which…” Diomedes hesitated, “That time…when I called you a coward…”

Odysseus looked at him.

“I take that back….” Diomedes whispered, “I should never have said that to you…”

Odysseus smiled dismissively.

“I have already forgotten about that, Diomedes… Don’t worry. I’ve been called worse…”

“Not by me”

Looking at Diomedes’s eyes made him warm inside. He seemed genuinely serious about it. He would be a liar to himself if he said that he wasn’t relieved that Diomedes decided to apologize. His accusation had hurt him plenty that time, he had to admit. But he wouldn’t tell Diomedes the truth about that. He knew Diomedes was under a great emotional pressure and tension at that time, and he HAD abandoned him as well because he saw his actions were against the will of the gods…

“Forgive me…”

“All good, lad…” Odysseus smiled, “Sometimes is better to be called a coward on the face than being praised as brave in the underworld…”

“Right…” Diomedes chuckled, “But I still…thank you. You saved my life…”

“Don’t thank me, Diomedes…you would have done the same for me. Let’s say that I owed you one…”

Diomedes smiled. Touché, he thought. He reached his belt and extended a small pouch at him.

“Here…brought you some medicine from my own tent. It will help the pain”

“Keep it, son. Your youth needs it more…”

“Please…” Diomedes insisted

Once more he was too touched to refuse. He accepted the pouch and handed it over to a slave that put it away to fix it.

“It is a mix of willow and clove” Diomedes explained, “Your physician will know how to brew it…”

“Thanks, Diomedes…” Odysseus whispered tiredly

His eyelids were getting heavier again. It wasn’t just the fatigue and the blood loss but also this whole emotional turmoil was probably getting a toll out of him. The warmth of the fire in combination with his light fever made things even worse. He wanted to say something to Diomedes, offer him some sort of meal of hospitality but his mouth wouldn’t move.

“Honestly…thank you…” Diomedes whispered, “I would’ve been a goner if you-… Odysseus?”

He looked at the bed to notice the elder king was fast asleep.

“What did you give him?” Diomedes asked Polites worriedly

“No worries, my lord” Polites assured him, “Just some chamomile mixed with the sage and some herbs. It will relax his muscles a bit so he can rest; otherwise he is capable of staying up forever!”

“Will he be alright?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you, my lord! I swear to gods this man is immortal! He seems impossible to die sometimes! See this?”

He half-raised the cover to reveal Odysseus’s strong leg. Diomedes perceived the huge scar on his leg; the biggest and most distinct out of all his other micro-scars and wounds.

“Do you know what this is?”

“A hunting accident” Diomedes confirmed, “He told me something about it some years ago”

“Wild boar” Polites confirmed fixing the covers, “We were hunting at Parnassus. He must have been around 14 maybe 16 at that time? I don’t remember. He stabbed the beast in the shoulder while it was literally plowing his skin!”

“I…” Diomedes thought about it, “He did mention it but I thought he was exaggerating! Like telling a story for the lads to be cheered up”

“Oh, no, I assure you my lord, that part was accurate. I was there where it happened. I partially carried him down the mountain myself. No offense to the high kings but he can be such an idiot sometimes! He makes it sound like no big deal!”

Diomedes smiled absentmindedly. He really liked hanging out with the Cephallinians. Unlike people of Argos who often treated him with scared respect (something like the rest of the kings treated Odysseus, ironically), the Cephallinians seemed to be perceiving Odysseus like a friend; like a father figure.

“So I wouldn’t worry about him too much” Polites smiled softly caressing his reddish beard, “He will be fine”

“I hope so…” Diomedes whispered, “He will be missed otherwise”

“Don’t despair, my lord!” Polites chuckled, “Like I said this bastard of a king and good friend of mine is impossible to die! I have a feeling he will bury us all in the end and outlive us some more!”

Diomedes chuckled and stood back to his feet using his walking stick as assistance.

“I’ll leave you to it, then…” he whispered, “Thanks for the tea”

“Thank you for dropping by, my lord…”

Diomedes moved his hand dismissively before limping away from the tent. Yes, he would need some rest too. He just hoped his foot would allow him to fight for another day and perhaps repay his debt to a good friend…

***

Finally it is over! Hahaha! This random one-shot was inspired by a conversation I had with @still-mourning-polites in regards to Diomedes and Odysseus exchanging words in battle (ironically the conversation started over the age of the hero! Hahaha!)

This is also dedicated to good Diomedes fans like @ellilyre and artists such as @smokey07 and Menelaus supporters and fans such as @dorothea-greek

Odysseus's fear is mentioned in the Iliad how he talks to himself how it would be terrible to die here but he cannot run because of cowardice so he stays. In the Iliad Diomedes also runs away because he got worried of his life but he never knew in what position Odysseus would be driven into, thus my idea here.

I imagined it would be interesting if Odysseus was revealing some of his genune fears to people he trusts like Menelaus (artists including @wolfythewitch also desire more content between Odysseus and Menelaus and I agree!)

Herbs like sage are still used today in Greece for healing fever and infections (the fact that Odysseus doesn't like the taste comes from me! Dunno cannot stand sage! XD maybe I am evil spirit!) Moldy bread has been used to fight back infections for millennias. Some of the earliest examples come from ancient Egypt (basically penicillin before penicilin) hahaha! Also willow tree contains the main component of Aspirin! Hahaha!

Yeah I know that the wine joke with the year has been used hundreds of times including Hunchback of Notre Dame by Disney but I don't care! Hahaha!

Diomedes having a future limp was a headcanon of mine

Maybe also a light wink to my other short thing Philoctetes Inspirations 2 (With the Boar story and all Hahaha)

For their voices I was heavily inspired by @greeknerdsstuff who made a video with the voices of Diomedes and Odysseus! XD

Please do also consider my work with @artsofmetamoor! Recently she posted some amazing pieces of art for our Mythology AU as well!

Goddess Dilla and Hero Caleb

[o3o-lapd-o3o]

i just read an iliad fanfic and my hate for agamemnon is coming back with a vengeance

[baejax-the-great]

WIP Wednesday

I cannot remember if I've shared this on tumblr before but here is some Oaths:

Patroclus unsheathes his knife from his belt, holds it up to the old man’s throat, then slaps him.

Phoenix wakes up with a gasp, his eyes bulging like a fish when he sees Patroclus looming over him. He’s still groggy from the drink, his mouth hanging open, and Patroclus presses the blade ever so slightly into his skin.

“Don’t scream,” Patroclus says. “It wouldn’t help you anyway.”

Phoenix swallows three or four times, his eyes sweeping wildly from side to side. “You would murder an old man in his bed?” he croaks.

“I’ve been branded a murderer almost my whole life,” Patroclus snarls. “And something tells me the leader of this camp would forgive me if I told him why I did it.”

He doesn’t even pretend to not know what Patroclus is talking about. “Have you told him?” he asks.

“Not yet.”

Patroclus is breathing hard with the effort of keeping his hand perfectly still. All he can think about is how easy it would be to slide his knife into this man’s throat. He can’t get the last ten years of his life back, but he can take Phoenix’s last ten from him, and it would be deserved.

“Tell me why,” Patroclus demands.

“As if you deserve to know the decisions of your betters. Of kings. Peleus wanted it. That should be enough for you.”

“Why?”

Phoenix huffs out his nose. “You already know the answer. The two of you were too close.”

“That was my job.”

“And was it your job to bat your eyes at him and convince him to give up on glory and shame his father?”

“I never—”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t know that he was infatuated with you. Everyone could see it. He would have done anything you asked. The whole kingdom would be thrall to the whims of some fatherless bastard.”

[greeknerdsstuff]

ILIAD CHARACTERS FAN CAST

1.Paris

2.Hector

3.Priam

4.Briseis

5.Agamemnon

6.Menelaus

7.Odysseus

8.Diomedes

9.Achilles

10.Patroclus

[katerinaaqu]

The Lament of a Life (Achilles and Antilochus short songfic)

If someone asks me how the lament of Achilles looks like my answer would be the amazing aria with music composed by Vivaldi:

The lyrics go on a repeat like this:

So today is a bit chilly and so I was inspired by this amazing song and made this! (Sorry itis a random inspiration I had this morning from this piece thus the title "song-fic")

***

His eyelids were heavy. He didn’t feel like getting up anymore. His bed seemed cold and inhospitable and yet he didn’t feel like moving out of it. His eyes opened slowly and looked to the side. It was empty. He looked outside his tent. Also empty. There was nothing left; he didn’t have the subject of his revenge anymore; he had given it back. Hector’s body was buried and celebrated. His revenge had come to an end. And yet, he felt empty. Nothing mattered. Achilles, the Best and Noblest of all the Greeks was no longer feeling anything mattered. What would it matter now that the subject of his vengeance was gone, if the subject of all the affections he could offer to a human being was also gone? His soul was in turmoil throughout the process. He thought on Briseis, the woman that he felt so strongly for; merely a slave and yet so important for him, had started this domino of reactions which led him to the strike; his refusal to fight. Then his refusal led to this terrible result; the death of his other half. The flame that flickered inside him was gone, the moment Patroclus’s eyes turned glassy from death and he wasn’t even there. During Patroclus’s last moments…he wasn’t there! He remembered his wife; a woman he barely knew and yet she gave him a son, a son he adored despite his young years, a son that he never knew and a son that never knew him back. He could be lamenting for them; they wouldn’t see him again possibly. Given the prophecy, he was to die in war. Possibly neither his wife nor his son, were included in the prophecy. He should be crying for them. He should be crying for the people that were around him and yet…he was feeling weak; unwilling to even get out of his bed and eat because of… He slowly forced himself to sit up and he looked at the magnificent urn with two handles that was always within eye gaze from him. The intricate patterns were cold; just like his bed that could not give him warmth.

“Come back…” he whispered in a voice chocked deep in his throat

Tears oozed out of his sea-blue eyes; his throat burning anew.

“I did what you asked…I offered you a burial…come back…! Please…come back to me!”

His hand was shaking as it was reaching for the cold, golden urn; his other fixing the covers upon his naked chest, in a vain attempt to generate some warmth within.

“Please…” he whispered again, “Come back…!”

“Achilles…”

The young and soft voice didn’t surprise him neither made him react. Antilochus was standing right behind him, undoubtedly had entered his tent a little while prior, enough to hear his foolish and childish lament.

“He won’t come back…” the young man said as a matter of fact, “You offered him a burial. He is in the land of Hades now… He will not come back”

More tears arose from Achilles’s eyes as he clasped desperately the covers against his chest; his face buried to the pocket created by them as if his own eyes wanted to confirm what hurt so much was indeed the organ that was pumping his blood, giving him life inside. Yes, he knew. His cut hair was also a proof of that but hearing it again was somehow destroying that foolish illusion that if he begged hard enough, goddess Persephone would have mercy and send back Patroclus to him; his soul to talk to or at least restore his body to hold one more time…

“Soul of my soul…” he mumbled in lament, “My dear as my own heart…”

“Shh…” Antilochus whispered in tears, hugging his shoulders affectionately, “I know… I know… Please don’t do this to yourself… I know it hurts but…he’s gone… No matter what you do…how much you melt…he won’t come back…”

“Heart of my heart…” Achilles lamented again, “I want him back…! I want him to come back…”

“I know…” Antilochus said again, caressing his golden locks with his hands

Achilles seemed almost aged at that point in his sorrow. Antilochus almost felt tempted to look for white hairs in his golden head.

“And I am sorry that I cannot offer you any consolation… Forgive me. I am not him; I cannot take your sorrow away…”

Antilochus softly raised Achilles’s head, cupping his cheeks and making him look deep in the eyes. He moped the tears from his cheekbones with his thumbs.

“I know I am young and foolish…but, please, take one bit of advice from me; stop looking at it! Stop looking at that urn! It will only hurt you more… You need to come back to us too…we need you…”

He looked away.

“I need you…” he whispered shyly, “You are my hero, my idol… I need you back, strong and healthy…maybe some of your previous happiness back… Please…please my dear…we all need you. Above all I do…”

Achilles looked at him and for one moment he looked like a hurt animal facing the peasant that had released him from the hunter’s trap. However then he laughed; it was a dry, humorless, lamenting laugh.

“Don’t be foolish!” he said self-pettily, “No one shall need me! I shall die! I know I will!”

“Don’t talk like that!”

“You can’t deny it, Antilochus! I know it to be true! It was predicted for me! I will die! I will die in this war! My mother told me someday I would die in this war if I decided to fight! I shall never go home! I shall never see my wife and son! I will die now! I know I will and I don’t care! Nothing matters anymore!”

“Don’t say that!” Antilochus retorted again

“I know the truth” Achilles insisted, “I decided it for myself. I know what my fate is! That urn Im staring is waiting for me! I am to die!”

Antilochus looked away. He seemed hesitant; his arm rubbing his upper arm as if he was about to make that confession no one has heard before.

“I’ll tell you a secret…” he whispered, “So am I…”

Achilles seemed surprised and shocked for the first time in that conversation. Suddenly the lament gone; now there was fear in his eyes. Fear for yet another loss.

“My father was hiding it…but I overheard him. An oracle once told him to beware of an Ethiopian. At first I didn’t know…but my father tried to hide it from me. I know now that I am to die somehow by someone from a foreign land… Maybe today maybe tomorrow maybe here maybe at home… I know though that I will die like this…and…”

He swallowed and looked back at Achilles. The elder man gasped seeing tears to Antilochus’s eyes.

“…And I am scared! I am scared, Achilles! I don’t want to tell my father that for he would be ashamed of me and my cowardice but…I am scared! How can you take it, Achilles? How can you live knowing that you will die…?”

“Antilochus…”

Antilochus quickly mopped his own tears, sniffing his nose, trying to find his composure.

“I’m sorry…” he mumbled, “I don’t know what came into me! I just…”

He sighed.

“We need you back” he finally repeated, “You are our strength and our courage. When you are out there we are afraid of nothing!”

“Antilochus!”

And Achilles did something the younger prince never expected; he embraced him.

“Antilochus, dear to my heart…don’t say such things please. Don’t you say that you will die! I will not let you! I…I will protect you!”

“You…you will…?”

“I will!”

Achilles kissed the top of his head and held him close. Maybe for the first time in weeks he didn’t think of death and burials. Right now he was lamenting a life; this young man who was there apparently sharing his pain and fate. No, he wouldn’t see yet another young person close to him die before him in battle!

“I will protect you! I will not let anything happen to you I promise!”

The two men remained there for quite some time, neither wanted to count the time. It was a shared lament for their short lives; a lament that was different than the one for the dead souls. Who would die first? If both of them were destined to die in the war against Troy, who would die first and who would watch the other die? Neither wanted to be the last. Neither wanted to see the other die. What weird and sad fate! Achilles was almost rocking the youth in his arms so worried of his upcoming death while he was almost welcoming his at that point; oftentimes kissing tenderly his temple. Antilochus was trying to evoke some of his warmth to Achilles for he was afraid for his upcoming death; his welcoming of it. He didn’t want to hear fate yet alone his willingness to accept it. It was a weird way to connect that autumn morning. And yet he felt that at least Achilles might have found a reason to postpone his will to die. Antilochus broke the embrace first, standing up.

“Look at us!” he chuckled softly, “Looking like children playing at the gymnasium like this! We have a war to fight! I am sorry…I took your personal time, my lord Achilles…”

“Wait!” Achilles’s voice made him stop, “Stay…please…”

It was a request; a pleading.

“Please stay with me longer…” he almost seemed worried, afraid

“Are you afraid of the dark and shadows?”

“Yes…” Achilles admitted, “More like those inside my heart… Please stay a bit longer…”

Antilochus smiled softly.

“Of course, my lord…” he whispered, “I would be delighted”

*

Outside the tents, the Greeks were already preparing for the events of the day. The kings were to negotiate their next step again given how the mourning period for Hector was over, how the killings would start anew. It was a sad prospect and they knew their own forces wouldn’t last long. The spies were also informing them on movement on Troy’s part to call upon more allies to arrive to the battlefield. Odysseus was thinking all this as he pranced about the camp. He blew some warm air to his freezing fingers. Autumn was in for good. Soon winter would arrive again.

“Yet another year to the foot of Troy…” he thought miserably, “Yet another year away from our homes…for the sakes of this war…”

He was also worried on Achilles. That last lament period shocked everyone. Achilles had just collapsed and then turned into blind rage. People were afraid on his sanity; that his mind would break. An out of control Achilles was much more dangerous than they would have thought. And their army needed their support. Before the Trojans had Hector to even the odds. Now their strongest warrior was gone. It would be their chance to have higher spirits and yet they didn’t. Achilles was a mess. Once more they seemed to square one… He could only hope he would snap out of his grief enough to fight. His gloomy thoughts were interrupted when he saw old Nestor. Nestor was suffering more than the rest of them from the cold; he had a bear skin over his shoulders to keep his old bones warmer and yet he refused to stand back. Odysseus smiled.

“Good morning, my friend” he said

“Good morning” Nestor replied, “It turned chilly!”

“Yeah…” Odysseus agreed, “Sometimes I envy the young!”

“Speaking of which…my son left the tent earlier this morning. He said he wanted to check on Achilles and I didn’t hear from him since. Have you seen him?”

“No” Odysseus replied thoughtfully, “But I was heading there myself to check on things. Maybe he is still there”

As if on a queue they heard light laughter coming from the direction where the Myrdmidons had camped.  The distinct, clear laughter from Achilles made a small smile creep to Odysseus’s lips.

“It’s the first time I hear him laugh in weeks…” he sounded almost hopeful, “Your son is a miracle-worker!”

Nestor smiled back.

“He is…” he whispered thoughtfully, “He is…”

Odysseus’s smile dropped when he saw a shadow in Nestor’s eyes. He didn’t need to ask to know there was something ominous hanging over the two youths.

Yet another time he looked at the cloudy, gray sky and wondered to Athena how all that was even justified…if the youth were to perish and all the others would live…

***

So yeah...Achilles being depressed and Antilochus giving some consolation! TT_TT Achilles hoped to see Patroclus's ghost again (which is what inspired me from that amazing Aria as well!)

Also I wondered if Antilochus knew the warning Nestor got to "beware of an Ethiopian" if he would know or sense the warning was for himself instead of his father...what if he feared it all along...maybe that would be the connection with Achilles!

Set after the mourning period of Hector! As you can see I kept it a bit "homeric" in the essence that I love tenderness in his writing and then leave it unravel!

a small thanking thing in a way too for @smokey07 for honoring me with a mention! Anoher thankng for @h0bg0blin-meat for his sketch to one of my silly headcanons about Achilles and Patroclus! Still makes me giggle my friend!

Also I want you guys check out my brilliant friend's art and mentions on our characters trust me you won't regret it! Many parallels of the epic cycle were added unconsciously to our story! Hahahaha! @artsofmetamoor

My analysis on Achilles and Patroclus can be found here

Antilochus needed some love too there! Hehehe others write scary stories for October but I was like "nope I shall mention ghosts in angst!"

[baejax-the-great]

Broken Oaths

Achilles x Patroclus | M | AO3

Automedon is waiting, leaning back on the wooden structure, arms folded over his chest. “You’ve upset a lot of people today,” he says, but he is smiling.

“I’ve only just woken up.”

Automedon pushes off the wall. “Yes, well, I don’t know what time you sneaked back into camp last night, but there were bets going about how long before you ran off, and after you left so early yesterday, people had paid up. Now the winners have to give it all back. There’s been a lot of grumbling.”

Patroclus’s mood darkens. He looks over his shoulder to find furtive glances being sent his way, one man nudging another on the shoulder and nodding at him, another shaking his head and clearly cursing. Why do they all care? “I didn’t know anyone was watching me that closely.”

“Achilles’ old therapon? Dragged back from wherever the hell he was and penned up and now released?”

“Should I juggle for you all next?” he snaps.

“Can you?” Automedon asks, though his cheerful smile dims against Patroclus’s sharpness. “I think most people are just curious.” He shrugs. “Most of us remember how the first time… well, it was like you vanished.”

“Vanished,” Patroclus repeats softly. That is what it felt like to him. In one day, his entire life just vanished. He stepped aboard that boat and lost it all, watched it fade into the horizon as the wind took him away. “May you never learn what that’s like,” he mutters.

Read the rest here | Start from the beginning

[beauteousthings]

So many wonderful stories! And I’m super glad someone so capable and creative has taken on the rôle of Tumblr’s Chief Iliad Fic Wrangler :)

Fanfiction Masterlist

 Complete masterlist for all my fics.and request state indications per fandom 

Supernatural 

Pending Requests: Haven’t recieved none yet

Drabble

Regardless of the Dangers  - Sam Winchester x Reader 

Chucky (2021) 

Pending Requests - 0

Requests for this fandom are currently open

Oneshots

Can’t Help Falling in Love with You - Andy Barclay x Reader (female)

A Personal Cheerleader - Andy Barclay x Reader (female) 

Best Friends Till the End - Andy Barclay x Childhood Friend!Reader (female)

Part 1 - Part 2  Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 

Unwilling Resemblances - Andy Barclay x (Fem) Reader 

Untill Death Tear Us Apart - Andy Barclay x (Fem) Reader, Chucky x (Fem) Reader 

Part 1 - Part 2 

Relaxing Amazement - Andy Barclay x (Fem)Reader (Requested)

Birthday Wishes - Barclay Wheeler Family AU (Requested)

The Touch of an Angel - Feral!Andy Barclay x Reader (Requested)

Child Soldiers in a Secret War . Teen!Andy Barclay x (Fem) Teen!Winchester Reader 

Ready for the Good Times - (post Child’s Play 3) Andy Barclay x (gender neutral) Reader ( Requested)

Even If I Can’t See You - Andy Barclay x Nica Pierce 

Testing the Waters - Teen!Andy Barclay x (Fem) Teen Winchester!Reader 

Dulce de Leche? - Andy Barclay x (Fem) Reader 

Certified Paranoid - Barclay Wheeler Family Au ( Andy adopts the Wheelers AU) + BarclayPierce 

Drabbles 

Just the Two of Us - Andy Barclay x Nica Pierce

Headcanons 

Andy Barclay x (Fem) Friend!Reader Smut 

Andy Barclay x Witch Reader Dating Headcanons

Showing Andy that you believe him ( Gender Neutral Reader) 

Being Nica’s girlfriend and trying to help her save her family - Nica Pierce x Fem Reader 

Horror Crossover ( Chucky, American Horror Story: Hotel and Supernatural)

Part 1 - No Warnings.

Part 2 - The Good Guy. 

Note: This fic is on pause and I’m not sure if I’m going to continue it. I didn’t delete it just in case someone still wants to see it, but is most likely i’m not going to carry on. 

Halloween 

Ends

Oneshots 

Mutual Promise, Cursed Prophecy - Platonical Corey Cunningham x Sister!Reader /Platonical menthor Laurie Strode x protegee Cunningham!Reader

Headcanons

Christmas Headcanons - Corey Cunningham x Sister Reader 

Horror Characters Preferences

- How they celebrate Christmas with you ( Includes: Chucky, The Walking Dead and Stranger Things) 

Marvel 

Headcanons

(Netflix’s Daredevil) - Matt, Foggy and Karen with an argentinian friend.

X Men

Oneshots 

Feel Like a Star - Peter Maximoff x Mutant Reader ( Requested)

MCU 

Where Are All the Gods? - Thor x Quill!Reader / Loki x Quill!Reader 

Stranger Things

Headcanons

Being Dustin’s older sister, a nerdy metalhead, and becoming closer with Eddie and Steve Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Drabbles

Like a Witch and her Familiar - Eddie Munson x Henderson!Reader 

Our Shithead  - Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader 

Oneshots 

I’ll Wait - Eddie Munson x Henderson!Reader. 

Ice Cream Man -  Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader / Eddie Munson x Henderson!Reader. 

Prince of Persia

Requests for this movie are permanently open

Headcanons 

Becoming Dastan’s first wife

Oneshots 

New Moves - Dastan x (Fem)Plus Size! Reader

Troy (2004) 

Pending Requests -  2 ( updated 01/18/2023)

Requests for this movie are permanently open

- Eudorus x Shy! Reader who tends to hide their face in their hands when embarrassed/flustered (Oneshot)

- Paris x Helen Merman AU where he is kidnapped by Menelaus as a very misguided attempt to get Troy under control.

Oneshots 

Battle Scars  - (Platonical) Hector x Sister Reader 

Our Strenght Lies in Family -  (Platonical) Paris x Sister Reader x Hector 

Imaginary Feats - Patroclus x Trojan Princess Reader 

Silent Pray  -   Part 1 - Part 2 - Chryseis and Odysseus centered movieverse retelling of the Illiad’s startpoint / oneshot spreaded in two parts. 

The Daughter of the Priest -  Part 1 -  Continuation for “ Silent Pray.” 

Fool - ( Pre War) Paris x Healer Reader 

Songs of Sailors -  Platonical (Family) relationships of the trojan royals and allusions to different romantic pairings. 

Pairings Mentioned: Helen x Paris (most mentioned), (Implied) Patroclus x Trojan Princess Reader, (Implied) Achilles x Briseis, Hector x Andromache. 

Faith or Facts - Hector x Greek Seer!Reader (Female) 

The Insolence of Beauty - Post quarrel, Agamemnon centered. 

For Honor and Love - Helen x Paris (requested) 

Into a New Life - Paris x Spartan Servant!Reader (requested) 

For a Love Like This - Paris x (fem) Warrior!Reader (requested)

Undying Legends - Achilles x Princess!Reader (requested)

Accomplices - Patroclus x GN Reader (requested)

The Last Challenger - Ajax x Fem Reader (requested) 

Borrowed Bride - Achilles x (fem) Trojan!Reader 

A Thousand Times - Paris x Fem Reader (requested)

Preferences

- Reactions to your singing

Multichapter Precuel -  ( Achilles x Female Reader fic ) 

Part 1 - The Bride’s Misery 

Part 2 - Fame and Tales

Part 3 - The Veil Trick

Part 4 - To Make a Difference

Part 5 - Family Matters. 

Part 6 - A Curse, a Plot and a Rushed Farewell 

Part 7 - Invisible Influence

Part 8 - The Rejected Side

Part 9 - Consecration. 

Part 10 - Royal Treatment

Part 11 - Aligned Improvements. 

Part 12 - The Weight of Words. 

Part 13 - Occulted Relic

Part 14 - Goodbye Encounters 

Part 15 - Separations, welcomes and the story of an avoidable disaster 

Part 16 - Service to Good Judgement. 

Part 17 - Galatea and a Maenad fighting in the second front

Part 18 - The Enygm of the Horse Emblem

Part 19 - No Space for Loneliness. 

Part 20 - The Games.

Part 21 - The Man of Aphrodite 

Part 22 - Diverted Course

Drabbles 

Calm After the Storm - Odysseus x Reader 

Divine Beauty - Paris x Reader 

A Breath of Life - Patroclus x Gender Neutral Reader (Requested)

American Gods 

Zeus x Vanir Demigoddess OC 

Note: This is a is a two parts story that has Sean Bean’s Zeus from the Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief movie as part of the universe of the American Gods series. 

Part 1 - Roadside Bet

Part 2 - The Greek of New York 

[leynaeithnea]

Diomedes

Ok so this wikipedia article was a LOT more elaborate than I expected, I just spend over two hours going through it and making notes Nobody asked for it but here are my notes on Diomedes, theyre not consistent, i changed style and detail a few times, but alas here we go:

Diomedes:

strong defender of justice, deserves better

lost a lot of people

warrior very young

athenas favorite warrior

his fathers glory (and shame)

breast plate from haephestus

shield from his father blessed by athena

fathers sword

spear

boars, lion

most expiereneced warrior of achaeans

doesnt like achilles

brought 80 ships

Sthenelus, chariot driver, best friend, epigoni

youngest of the kings

(post homeric: offered immortality, divinified)

helped Odysseus kill Agemenons daughter

helped Odysseus kill Palamedes (bitch deserved)

brave, NOT haunted by hubris

wounds both ares and aphrodite (same day) and attacts apollo, but withdrew in time

granted divine sight to see immortals (on that day)

grew up way too soon

big battle when 14

more level headed than Ody (can take an insult)

doesnt hesitate to call out bs

“let him go or stay, the gods will make sure that he will fight” (hc: he tried, very humbled by the gods)

athena joined his fight once, driving his chariot and guiding his spear

“friends” with glaucus (trojan) (“i wont fight more immortals” “bro, our grandparents were bros”, “ok give me your gold armour, ill give you my bronze one”)

saves Nestor (ody runs away when he asks for help :(

wants to kill hector so he doesnt get taunted (Nestor says no, Zeus says no 3x /+1 lighting) he eventually turns back and gets taunted, he kills another guy

he attacks the trojans at night and wins, after hector boasted, in the end diomedes is the one worshipped as immortal

agamnenon wants to leave, Dio says hes a bad leader (yes), and that he’ll stay to fight the city that is doomed to fall, even with zeus fighting for the trojans, nestor says he has no better idea, proposed to appeall to achilles with gifts (ody and agamenon agree), they fail, Dio tells them “told you so” (but it doesnt matter anyway, theyll win)

he sleeps outside his tent in armour (they wake him n others at night for council about spies, Dio volunteers, he gets to pick a second, he goes for Ody, ody didnt rly want to go, Dio choose him anyway despite deserting him)

Dio and ody face the spy of the trojans Dolon, (hiding between corpses) he almost runs away but Athena “is fighting to be known” doesnt want someone else to strike first, so she makes Diomedes throw the spear and orders him to stop, Dolon tells them good gossip, including white horses, Dio kills him

they do some more bs, like killing people in their sleep (dio) and stealing horses (ody) dio considers unaliving more until athena suggests he may stop so other gods dont get jealous

both kings are good at being stealthy AND open combat

Rhesus horses are badass (first sign for the fall of troy), Dio gets them (bedding gift?), people without the horses and king leave W for the achaeans

Lord of War Cry

dio throws a spear at hector, apollos helmet saves him, but he mingles with the crowd, first time that Dio speaks back and calls him a dog (even the best men loose their temper at times)

Paris shoots his foot, (fucking moron blasts about it, Dio gives him a verbal lashing) he withdraws under cover of Odysseus, ody gets an ouchy

agamennon wants to flee (again), Dio tells them they should just let themselves get wounded again

Dio wins all funeral games of patroclus (though wounded) – Athena makes sure of it – draws first blood in the fight with Ajax, they stop him worried he’d kill him

Athena appears to him undiguised, Athenas favorite

kills some amazons, Achilles kills his cousin (who was a bitch), dio mourns him though and wants to have achilles punished

Dio and Ody bring Achilles son to Troy after Achilles death (bc they could not win the war without him there)

Ody and Dio sent to negoiate for peace after Paris’ death (by poised bow that the two of them stole?)

dio and ody gotta steal a statue of athena, ody disguises himself as beggar at night, dio follows later and brings the statue out

Ody tries to stab him in the back?? (to get the glory himself???) Dio catches it and ties him, and shoves him infront of himself, but refrains from punishing him because they need him (“for the greater good”)

dio is one of the warriors inside the trojan horse

dio leaves immediatly after the fall of troy (after the achaeans angered athena through the rape of cassandra by ajax the lesser) and arrives home safely (favored by the gods) Post Trojan war possibilities:

when he gets there his wife has commited adultery and keeps him out of town (palamedes brother having told he brought a different woman) aphrodite being pissed about the scratch helps her get many lovers, he has to leave again

gets kidnapped by some guy to get sacrificied to ares, gets saved by a girl

comes to the court of some other king who offers him his daughter as wife and lands, if he fights for them, so he does, and has two sons with her

he refuses to fight more trojans later on, he just wants to live in peace

birds haunt him and his men (his men cried so much over his death they got turned into birds)

[that-greek-mythology-girl]

I'm very sensitive to minor characters in stories, I'm always mad when the author and readers treat them like random people who died or just another casualty, when no, those people had lives and dreams and hopes and I want to know them.

Like, in Epic, there's 600 Ithacans. We only know five. (Polites, Eurylochus, Elpenor, Perimedes and Odysseus himself.), in the Odyssey, we know of 3 others (Antiphus, Eurylus & Amphidamas.), they were 600, I WANT TO KNOW ALL OF THEM. I want to know if they were married, if they longed for their wives as much as Odysseus did, if they also had children they never met but wanted to, or sisters they wanted to see again, or mothers they longed to feel the embrace of. We only ever briefly know Eurylochus was married to Ctimene, but what else? And the trojan women? We know of the important ones, (Briseis, Andromache, Creusa, Hecuba, Laodice, Cassandra, Polyxena, etc..) but there must have been tons of women suffering there, who were they before the war? Did they have fathers, brothers, sons who died? Or were they enslaved with their mothers, sisters and daughters? Do they ever get to feel happy again? I hate in when a book goes: "The poets won't sing of this person" or "The Poets don't care about this person" LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER, I'M THE POET, I'LL SING, I CARE. LET ME EAT UP EVERY SINGLE STORY EVER. All to say I'm considering writting fanfics about either Odysseus' crewmen or the trojen women.

Would y'all read that?

[smokey07]

“Story time”

Doodle of one of the scene in my Iliad AU fic, where Helen telling the story of Menelaus to their son using her own shadow.

Inspired by my own country’s folklore, where a wife calmed her baby son by describing her shadow casted on the wall at night as the child’s father, who had then left for war.

Now I remember why I can’t handle long screen time exposure.

[katerinaaqu]

This probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen post Iliad!!! 😭😭😭😭😭 you have just stabbed me in the feels!

Gosh I love it how it opens with Helen who was just dragged out of Troy reacting to Odysseus's call! Man I can almost HEAR his voice hoarse from all he has been through and from how harshly he talked to her. Enough to draw her attention. I love the dynamics between them because indeed he could have been her husband in a way if things were different and that makes their platonic mutual off screen interactions even more precious which I see now fully here. And the way the ashes still hurt her eyes is so amazing detail!

Oh man his description here just killed me! That flamboyant cheerful young man from that small island is gone after 10 years of cruel war and a night of massacre to give his place to a hardened man who witnessed and caused death! The transformation of war is surely something everyone can understand is drastic! Reminds me of the two photographs of poor Eugene before and after WWII but coming back with a vengeance with Odysseus! 😥😰 He has literally just come up with a plan that took the entire city making him technically partially responsible for the massacre! I bet that would have the impact to anyone! And yet his gaze means so much more than just the hardness of years at war! And the way Helen feels so unsettled before him is just amazing detail!

"You are cruel" Man that did it!! 😢 and I can tell Odysseus doesn't refer to either the fact that she ran away with Paris causing this domino of reactions unconsciously neither to the fact that she changed sides and didn't betray them, not wanting to warn Troy and prevent its destruction. He refers probably solely and exclusively on the fact that he played that game at them when she called to them with their wives' voices to make them betray their position! Their wives whom they haven't seen for 10 years and nearly broke them emotionally! But the way he admits that now the same thing she did and was so cruel could become merciful to him is just heartbreaking 💔! Odysseus heard his wife's voice for the first time in a decade and it was a fake one!

Oh gosh the way you describe his hair and face the way he wants to clean the blood that bothers him and somehow making it worse is indeed disturbing and the way he doesn't directly ask her to pretend being his wife again but asks her to "speak like she did outside the horse" is amazing! It is so difficult to him to say it! And his hands crumbling pieces of the wall shows that too! Such an amazing detail!

His voice breking...his voice begging and hesitating! Man! 😭😭😭😭😭 and man the way Helen finally understands and does what he asks and suddenly the conqueror of Troy, the king and master mariner crumbles completely gotta be the peak of all emotions in one! And Helen knows what Odysseus needs! Man that moment was just beyond words!

Dude what have you done!!! 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 consider me a fan and very impressed!

That scene was probably the funniest and most disturbing scene at the same time! Funny because you can imagine a bunch of grown men be shut down by Odysseus holding their mouths but man man these men who hadn't seen their wives in 10 years and Odysseus in particular hearing them from outside man that must have killed some of their determination for a brief second! And the fact that Odysseus knew it was false and yet even if it was false it was giving him SOME level of consolation is just decrypting me!

I am sorry for the long repost but man thank you for this gem 💎! There was no hyperbole here! Loved it all!

,,Think of your wives,, in ,,The Horse and the Infant,, hits for me a lot header when you remember that, (according to the Odyssey) just hours befor Helene went around the wooden horse imitating the of there wives voices. Just hours ago Odysseus heard Penelope's voice agine for the first time in 10 years, and it wasn't even the real one.

[lyculuscaelus]

We’re in one of the oldest fandoms where the canon itself is long lost and the source materials for us to draw inspiration from are those of the earliest fanfics themselves—two of which being commonly accepted as beta canon due to their top quality. Sometimes these fanfics contradict each other due to all sorts of OOCs and inconsistencies which is forcing us to choose our own sources to rely on to draw fanart and write fanfics. Each generation of fanfic writers are introducing more headcanons in their works and sometimes their fanfics of fanfics become so popular that they are prompting new sub-fandoms to emerge, inspiring more people to draw fanart and write fanfics for these fanfics of fanfics. It’s almost as if there is a family tree of fanfics and we’re now reaching the third generation and beyond

[orphicachilles]

Dose anyone have any patrochilles fanfics recommendations im spiraling into patrochilles madness

[ithacantrickster]

The sea wind struck his face, he thought he saunters downwards, for he could not draw its scent. Ambrosia's sweet promise scorched his lungs to ash—leaving him bereft of breath, never again to savor a fragrance finer. Never again to savor a fragrance more familiar. And never is a long time, he realizes.

Or Diomedes battles gay thoughts and immortality

(Rating: Explicit)

Have been thinking about odydio dynamic a lot. Happy to share where the thoughts led me. Also God!Diomedes, oh haven't you just been incredibly doomed by the narrative.

[katerinaaqu]

That is a very good headanon! I actually did imagine him smile or laugh but I wanted also to hint that plenty of them were kinda forced upon him or not really from deeply from his heart and most of them happen with people that he feels closer to like Odysseus with whom he feels the connection with their torments and responsibilities (somehow connecting it to how warmly he speaks on Odysseus when they are talking about him in Sparta or how Menelaus was so depressed to the point of not being able to see the family resemblance between Telemachus and Odysseus even if he knew Odysseus from his youth from the Oath of Tyndareus till the 10 years at war)

I also had the random headcanon, based on how Helen drugs the wine they would drink to protect them from getting too sad or too excited, that Menelaus had a developed heart problem as a combination of both his years and agonies and possibly because he could have been striken by the disease sent by Apollo and all, random stuff again:

I love the way the years seem to have left a mark on Menelaus! How his bright red hair turned fainter with time and his face more tormented and sad but still his lips smiling a bit (in the Odyssey he was still depressed as hell because now he was worrying about the fate of Odysseus which makes him even more of a tragic character given how he too has shipwrecked and suffered ordeals) and I love the white hairs popping up! I had also made Helen notice some of them when she was first released from Troy in my one-shot:

I really like the upper sketch too! How years left a mark in their faces but thank goodness the two of them reconciled in the end and they have each other! I particularly love Menelaus's design! I love his braids and ringlets there! So reminds me of some kouroi statues and all! I love it when people explore more possible hairstyles for ancient Greece apart from the typical ones!

A peaceful life long overdue🌊

[mydnyteraven]

First Sight

Argos sent fifty ships when Agamemnon sent out the call for aid for his brother’s war. Helen had been stolen from her house, and all the kings of Achea were to band together to bring her home.

Diomedes had not sworn the oath, he’d only been a boy, fresh from the siege against thebes, and barely able to reach his wine cup at the feast table, but Sthenelus, Diomedes’ brother-in-arms had sworn it, and war was what Diomedes did best.

“You will fight for Achea, and win glory for me,” Athena had said, and Diomedes had agreed. There was really nothing else to do *but* agree.

So it was, 50 ships flying the colors of Argos sailed to Aulis where Agamemnon’s army gathered, each carrying a full compliment of strong, able men.

Odysseus didn’t look like a king, Diomedes thought when the Ithacan fleet finally joined the ships anchored in the bay. Though the man’s clothing was finely made and his cloak was richly dyed, his hair was unkempt, his skin was grey and his face was drawn. His eyes were sunken into his skull like a death’s-head. He looked nearly as old as Nestor, walking with stooped shoulders as he and his closest commanders entered the main tent where Agamemnon held his council. But his eyes shone with cunning, and with some hidden emotion Diomedes could not read.

Rumors filled the camp when the king arrived.

“Odysseus, son of Laertes,” the men around him said. “Laertes was an Argonaut.”

“Half the kings’ fathers were Argonauts, that’s not special. Besides, I heard that Laertes wasn’t his father, but Sysiphus, the man who cheated death.”

“That would suit him, sly fox that he is, tried to dodge the draft.”

“I heard he’d gone mad.”

“No, that was a ruse, to trick Agamemnon. Palamedes called his bluff though. Odysseus is brilliant…”

Diomedes had heard enough. He’d looked on the map to see where this Cephalonian fleet was coming from, and found the clump of islands so far west they were practically in uncharted territory, and at the heart of it was a tiny island, so small Diomedes could hardly make out the label as “Ithaca.” He could hardly believe a man of such reknown hailed from such a backwater. *This* was the man who had orchestrated the oath? The man whose plans had brought them all here?

“I have mentored him as I have mentored you,” Athena explained.

Diomedes got a better look at king Odysseus as he left Agamemnon’s tent, flanked by his men, and realized that he had overestimated his age.

Odysseus was not as old as Nestor, perhaps he was only a decade older than Diomedes, at most, but he bore the signs of a man who had not slept in days, which had given him the grey pallor, and the circles beneath his eyes had overtaken them. Now that they were out of sight of the main tent, and the rest of the army had gone about their business, Diomedes saw the king lean heavily on his man’s shoulder, going from looking like an old man to practically a child, the picture of innocence.

When the broad-shouldered man supporting the king shot Diomedes a glare, Dio simply saluted and strode away. This was Diomedes' domain, the domain of the soldier. What did he care about the opinion of a draft dodger?