#it’s because of odysseus’s love for penelope

[glisten-inthedark]

Epic Fix It and Time Travel

TW/ Mentions of non consensual touching

Epic Fix It where Odysseus finds himself back to moments before he yeets Astyanax out of the tower and this time around he decides that the gods that fucked around will find out because he's done with everyone's shit.

So he goes against Zeus' orders and doesn't kill the baby and takes him with him, and this time around he order Polites to stay inside the ship as they get to Cyclops' island.

This time he's prepared and laces the wine with a lot more lotus and is successful at killing the Polyphemus but something goes wrong and the creature finds out his name before Odysseus kills him.

They are nearing home when Poseidon shows up so this time around Eyrulochus doesn't open the bag because no one is starving and no one is questioning the King.

This time around Poseidon can't say shit about Odysseus not being ruthless but he's still pissed off but this Odysseus has zero fucks to give.

Athena praises him for his quick thinking and blablabla.

He opens the wind bag right in the middle of Poseidon's speech and gets himself and his men out (and he still has the sheep they killed too).

They end on Circe's island and Hermes helps Odysseus but this time no one gets turned into pigs ans they don't have to go to the Underworld.

However, they do have to go through Scylla and Odysseus decides to be honest with his men and warn there's a price and that 6 of them will die. Polites is at this point trapped inside of a place because Odysseus knows he'd want to offer himself as bait.

Now, we could debate whether or not Scylla would be picky because if not they could offer the sirens as bait to evade her but what do you guys think? Either way, either 6 random men die or sirens do.

Odysseus slowly starts to fall apart but Polites presence keeps him grounded, and he constantly gets amused by his friend that smuggled a winion onto the ship and that keeps playing with Astyanax.

In this version, I want Polites to be in love with Odysseus but you know Penelope ( 🎵 banana peels, banana peels 🎵) is the only person he loves so unrequited love it is - it may be a bitch but I do think it'd be interesting if we switched Povs)

And all things considered, they end up washing ashore Calypso's island, and she is her usual pushy self and Polites is like hell no, he absolutely won't allow Calypso anywhere near Odysseus and neither will he for that matter.

He understands the pain of loving someone and not being loved back, but he always respected Odysseus and his heart and he expects everyone else to do the same.

But all of his 593 men are alive and Calypso nevers hurts any of them and Odysseus begs Calypso to let his men go and he will do whatever she wants but Polites and Eurylochus but their foot down.

Also, Calypso hates Polites almost as much as she hates Penelope and Polites doesn't know the only reason he's alive is because Odysseus agreed to sleep next to her (not sexual but honestly that much better because she keeps trying to touch him).

Once Polites finds out he feels extremely bad.

Anyhow, Athena comes and saves the day with Hermes, they get released and are about to get to Ithaca when Poseidon shows up like a sore loser.

And from then on I don't know lmao.

I honestly don't think I'll ever write this so if anyone wants to, be my guest.

[mx-nii]

I was listening to the Vengeance Saga, specifically "Charybdis", and had a bit of a eureka moment about the line"I am almost there, my love, don't be scared". Every single other time I've listened to that line, I always thought Odysseus was either telling Penelope to not worry about him/his safety anymore because he was finally home safe and sound, or saying she didn't have to be afraid of the suitors anymore because he had returned now and would get them the fuck away from her faster than you can say "I am the monster rah rah rah"

HOWEVER as I listened to it for what is probably the hundredth time, a third option came to mind: he was telling Penelope not to be afraid of him when she sees him after twenty long years, and sees what he has become.

P.S: HUNDREDTH IS A STUPIDLY HARD WORD TO SPELL WHAT THE FUCK

[akaittou]

It's his greatest fear, isn't it? The reason he tried to resist becoming the monster so hard and for so long. Because he knows she loves the man who left Ithaca twenty years ago, but if the man who returns is no longer him, why would she love him?

And that's why the question isn't "do you still love me" but "would you fall in love with me again".

And while it may take a while, as learning to know someone (all over again) can be expected to, the core of Penelope's character is that her answer will still be "yes". Because the two of them are homophrosyne, of one mind, (soulmates even, if you want to translate Homer to tumblr speak), and Odysseus isn't the only one who's had to struggle without his other half for twenty years.

Slight Epic spoilers but we all know the song “would you fall in love with me again?”

We know Odysseus can barely even acknowledge who he is, let alone like himself. And we know Penelope’s going to love him anyways, despite the atrocities, but

What if she didn’t?

What if, after 20 years without this man whom she loves, she feels so much relief to see him again. But as it sets in, and relief fades, it’s replaced with…what?

Love?

Does she love him any more? She’s lived a lifetime without him, and now that he’s back, he’s an entirely different man. Riddled with trauma responses and PTSD, guilt and empathy beaten out of him, and ruthlessness burned into his soul. No longer young. No longer tender.

Does she still love him?

[ghostvibesonly]

THERE ARE OTHER WAYS DID NOT GO WHERE I WAS EXPECTING IT TO OH MY GOD /POS

PENELOPE’S THEME AND INSTRUMENT?? ODYSSEUS BEING QUITE LITERALLY BACKED INTO A CORNER AND HAVING SEEMINGLY NO OTHER WAY TO SAVE HIS MEN BUT STILL NOT BEING ABLE TO BRING HIMSELF TO GO THROUGH WITH THE ACT (EVEN THO IT WOULDN’T BE A TRUE ACT OF BETRAYAL BECAUSE THERE’S NO ACTUAL CONSENT ON HIS SIDE AND IT WAS SOMETHING HE WAS ABOUT TO BE COERCED INTO)??? CIRCE BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BEFORE AND BELIEVING THAT “BECOMING THE PUPPETEER” IS THE ONLY WAY TO KEEP HERSELF AND HER NYMPHS SAFE SO SHE OFFERS THIS “ACT OF PASSION” TO STILL HAVE A FORM OF CONTROL, AND THEN SEEING ODYSSEUS IS NOT LIKE THOSE BEFORE BECAUSE HE’S SO IN LOVE WITH PENELOPE (WHO HE HASN’T SEEN IN 12 YEARS) THAT HE REFUSES HER OFFER AND PLEADS BECAUSE IT’S NOT WORTH IT EVEN THO THATS THE ONLY OPTION HE’S BEEN GIVEN??? HIM CALLING HIMSELF A PUPPET MAKING HER REALIZE THAT THIS CYCLE OF ABUSE AND CONTROL ISN’T WORTH IT ONLY TO COME TO A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING BECAUSE SHE KNOWS WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE TRULY IN LOVE AND TO BE HURT, SO SHE OFFERS HIM AN ACT OF KINDNESS INSTEAD???

“Maybe showing one act of kindness leads to kinder souls down the road”

[artiquar]

my dear penelope, we've twenty lost years of love to make up for.

[wolfythewitch]

To add onto to what I mentioned about aroace stuff, I think it's just in general. sometimes I look at ships and I don't get why they like each other? Like I think it's cute but when I think about it a little bit, I don't really understand it fundamentally. That could either be a product of being aroace, raised heavily religious and conservative, or a weird concoction of all three lmao

I think this is part of the reason why my favorite pairings are usually already established/married. Otherwise I just! Don't understand

[australet789]

How many times do i have to say Odysseus is my babygirl, meaning he is a pathetic wet man who fucked around and found out so hard he made himself a name out of it

[haze-of-hyperfixations]

a concept. to consider. what if. what if there was a Remember Them reprise after the Thunder Saga. "We are not to let them die in vain" except he's the only one left so it's "I am not to let them die in vain." and there's no backing chorus of his men. because. they're all dead.

and the line takes on a whole new meaning now that he's the one who chose to let them die.

(not in vain. it can't have been in vain, it can't have been for nothing. i have to see her. i have to see her, because if i don't make it home, those men died for nothing. the ends always justify the means. i can justify anything as long as it ends with Penelope and Telemachus both in my arms again. but if it doesn't-

but it will. it will. it has to.)

and our- ... -and my comrades will not die in vain...

[dootznbootz]

Hi. I'm cyberbullying a long dead poet because of his shitty fanfic. Enjoy. I'd love it if you joined me.

(Before you get mad at me, yes, I know Eugammon of Cyrene is an important figure and all that. I'm sick with some sort of flu. Let me cyberbully an ancient dead fanfic writer in peace.)

[idiotwhotalkstoomuch]

Ngl I'm pretty weirded out by depictions of Circe that make her characterization as motherly when her myths are *reads notes on hand*

Turning Scylla into a monster because she was jealous her lover liked her.

Making Odysseus sleep with her after turning his men to swine and discovering he took moly.

Turned Picus, a married man, into a woodpecker because he said no to her sexual advances.

[zarnzarn]

(check the tags for more and also the tag for other fics in the story!)

athena, scowling as she gets bullied into marrying the people she pined over for the last 1000 years, suddenly realising something: wait a minute

odysseus: what?

athena, frozen: wait a damn minute you know what this gives me rights to do

penelope, also realising: oh fuck yes

odysseus: I don't like the sound of whatever's happening here what are you two fucking talking about?

athena, grabbing the marriage wine and tossing it back, then kissing her new wife and husband and handing penelope a spear as she picks up a mace: we'll be back shortly, you can start celebrations without us.

penelope: do u have anything that can start a fire

athena, pulling out an old contract and scanning it before throwing it over her shoulder: yes. are you scared of heights or can we fly.

penelope: fucking bring it I've waited years for this moment

zeus: where are they going

hermes, picking up the contract: they're going to... Ogygia? Oh fucking shit they're going to fucking kill Calypso- hey, hello, WAIT-

[backpackingspace]

Wait hear me out Athena with a tapestry cape that penelope made her and owl themed wooden jewelry that odysseus made her

[silverorchideon]

Do you think King Odysseus had a balcony overlooking the sea? A sea once so peaceful, of water lapping at the shores. Do you think he once saw beauty in it?

Do you think that Odysseus stared out at the sea during his odyssey, a reminder of home? Do you think he heard the waves and thought of sitting on his balcony with Penelope? Do you think his view is forever painted with grief and suffering after coming home?

Sketches under the cut

I wasn't planning on actually painting these, but...

Do you think that Odysseus would want to remain still? To go somewhere would be to leave, and whose to say he wouldn't be sent on another odyssey? Could he handle being separated from his family for yet another adventure? How much longer until he breaks?

[kindred-spirit-93]

reigning queen of ithaca, the lovely penelope

@bookwormgirl123 hello sweet person. your reblog of my trio post yesterday made my heart smile so enjoy more of my naiad muffin <3

bonus mama and son doodle:

telemachus rarely sees his mother with her hair down both literally and metaphorically. single handedly ruling a kingdom is no easy task yet somehow she manages to do it whilst raising the sweetest boi ever.

here he asked for his favourite story of his father... how he won her heart :')

[o3o-lapd-o3o]

Odysseus: Honey, I’m home! Did anything happen while I was gone?

Penelope, as the servants roll 108 barrels of hydrochloric acid out the back door: No nothing much

hdhdhdh (੭˃ᴗ˂)੭

penelope wasn't going to let having her son punched/hit & being belittled slide... and of course the threat of them trying to take her husband's throne but nobody touches her 'little wolf'!

(like really antinous you thought beating up the prince of ithaca, and then telling him to go cry to his spartan-blooded mother was the best course of action??? man sealed his own barrel fate)

but yes i love when people don't think of penelope as weak or unable to handle herself.

she was born and raised in sparta. she is the daughter of a spartan king and queen. she is half-naiad. she is as cunning and full of tricks as her husband. she is the queen. she is a mother. nothing would be able to defeat her.

[mrs-ronnie-reid]

To the Epic: The Musical fandom, I’d like to tell the story of how I got into said musical.

My bestie came over one day and said, “We’re gonna watch some animatics of this musical I think you’d like.”

I said, “Sure, why not? I’m a big theater nerd, and I’m already into stuff like Starkid🤷🏻‍♀️.”

So anyways, she threw me into the deep end with a “Just A Man” animatic. Then the climax of Odysseus carrying the baby toward the wall was approaching.

MIND YOU I’m a big softie when it comes to kids, so I didn’t like where this was going.

I turned to her, dead serious, and was like, “Girl, are you about to make me watch infant death?”

She only gave me a smile that was like, “heh😅”

Anyways long story short I love this musical with my heart and soul now-