#odyssey headcanons

[katerinaaqu]

I have a random headcannon (not sure if I will keep it) that Odysseus never ate another fish in his life

In Greece (not sure if it is the same in other places as well) we have this old tradition that if a family loses a sailor relative at the sea they never eat fish again because fish eat dead bodies that sink in the water so in a way they honor the dead by not eating fish because "fish have eaten their loved one"

So imagine if that was a thing in antiquity or simply Odysseus made a pledge with himself and never eats another fish in his life to honor all the fallen comrades that found tragic death in the sea (especially the last ship)

Sorry! Random headcannons again!

[nothing-impt]

I love how the Epic community all unanimously agreed that Athena and Dionysus don't understand how humans are born

(Telemachus just fell down a flight of steps)

[dootznbootz]

POV: You're Anticlea and Laertes of Ithaca and your son came back from Sparta after swearing he was just going for politics

[pianokantzart]

A sliding scale based almost entirely off of vibes

[ahotpeaceofshit]

[ollies-headcanons]

i love the idea of odysseus taking any and all chances to talk about his family. the crew is talking about women? he brings up penelope. the crew is talking about soldiers? he brings up how amazing telemachus would be in battle. the crew is talking about their stories from home? he tells (approximately) 384 stories about his wife.

[massiveladycat]

if you didnt get a coin in your mouth when you died in ancient greece, you weren't able to go to the underworld, and no men at sea got a burial (elpenor was actually very VERY lucky) so technically polites and all the others are just wandering alone and afraid and confused in their death places. polites sits in the cyclops cave, eurylochus and 580?? men are forever at the bottom of the sea, and 6 are still near scylla

[the-storyteller78]

Headcanon:

Telemachus used to have long hair. His mother always told him that long hair—and the ability to keep it without it getting cut off during battle—was the mark of a good warrior. She told him his father, the mighty Odysseus, the man of many devices, had long hair for much of his youth.

(What she doesn't tell him is that Odysseus went to war with shorn hair and red-rimmed eyes, because leaving his family behind was a cause for mourning far worse than a war lost.)

And so Telemachus, young and bright and quite without the father he so adored, grew out his hair. It got to be quite long indeed, and if his father had been there to witness it, he would have sung his dear son's praises, boasting of his honor and dignity and patience to anyone who would listen. But Odysseus was not there, and all Telemachus had of him were stories and desperate imitation. Still, there was comfort in even those, like his father might be watching over him in some odd way he couldn't sense. The thought gave him strength.

The more benign suitors dismissed the change. Let the boy have his hair, they said, chuckling with faint fondness. What is the harm? Even our little prince must become a man at some point.

But the other suitors, the ones who schemed with malice in their eyes as they watched Telemachus pass by them with a new confidence in the set of his shoulders, saw the danger in allowing this to continue.

The maids were on their side. It wasn't difficult for a few of them to find their way into Telemachus' room in the dead of night and cut his hair with quiet, nimble hands.

Telemachus knows it was suitors. The incident is never brought up again, and he never tells anyone the truth of the matter, not even Penelope. But he can no longer sleep as soundly as he once did, and he no longer tries to grow out his hair.

He isn't brave enough to try.

[nonbinary-arsonists]

mechs lineup :)

[yourangle-yuordevil]

So what if The Snake of Ithaca was hired to kill this noble who always speak up in favour of peace instead of the war that the others politicians wants? What if Aziraphale notices this guy in his house at night he's like "Oh, thankfully Apollo listened to my prayers and sent me a misthios! I need help, my friend, I can pay! I know that they hired the Snake of Itacha to kill me, could you protect me?"

And Crowley, knowing full well that he IS the Snake of Ithaca is like: "Mmm-how much would you pay me to protect you? Just to be clear?"

And then the pay is triple what Beelzebub offered so he accepts and he's now stuck with this incredibly gentle eupatridae and has to follow him all day without being able to tell him that there is no threat at all because HE was the threat? What if they also fall in love???

[hecates-corner]

The Greeks were horny as hell describing Odysseus.

Like wdym “short king, but an actual king, 😋😚 broad chest and 🥺 perfect 😳 proportions 😍😍 fast and smart and sexy 😤😩 MASSIVE thighs 😨🤤🤤 and sweaty and sad and sooo tired 😖😏🤩” is this a dating profile??

[katerinaaqu]

Menelaus Headcanon: A small analysis based on a moment in the Odyssey

Random Headcanon: Menelaus having heart problems

So if people remember, in the Odyssey Telemachus is advised by Athena to travel and ask questions about his father. After being advised by Nestor to travel to Sparta and meet Menelaus, Telemachus engages in one of his most emotional conversations about his father, with Menelaus who was always greatly fond of Odysseus. In fact the conversation became so emotional for the men that Helen went to prepare wine for them all and she poured a drug in the wine so their pain would subside.

But why did she do that?

Surely no matter how emotional the conversation was, it wouldn't be THAT necessary to do that right? It seems pretty extreme on the outside that she should drug the wine to help the men relax.

Unless she feared that Menelaus couldn't handle it.

I am immensely inspired by amazing artists that draw Menelaus such as @thehelplessmortals who created pieces of art in regards to Menelaus and the peers connected to him. Menelaus is probably in the same age group as Odysseus or maybe a little younger if we take into account that Odysseus was probably at the age of his older brother Agamemnon if not a bit older so that means that if he wasn't already entering his 50s, he was at least in his final 40s. Many people had their health deterriorating by that time yet alone someone like Menelaus.

His health could have had reached a small curve given how his heart was broken when Helen left with Paris, 10 years of hard war to get her back, the slaughter of Troy and finally the shipwreck before getting back home. However what if Menelaus was suffering from some heart condition? That could make Helen even more aware and even over-protective of her husband. Hence being ready with the drug to calm her husband down from getting too much emotion and sdrain for his heart.

Besides the original homeric text goes:

"But then Helen the daughter of Zeus had another idea; she took the wine and poured in medicine/drug and mixed it in the crater so that it would counter the tears flowing from their cheeks not even if their mother or father died or even before their very eyes a brother or a friend or son were killed by bronze spear. Such were the cunning drugs the daughter of Zeus knew, given to her by Polydamna, wife to Thonos, in Egypt, for the life-giving earth has many medicines, some are mixed with cunning and some for healing, known to the physician who knows more than the other humans, since they belong to the bloodline of Paeon. After she had poured the wine, she said:"

(translation by me)

Interestingly in ancient greek the term "drug" and the term "medicine" are actually signified by the same word (φάρμακον) which is also used for "poison" as well. However not only does the word also significes the healing medicine but also he brings Helen knowing medicine and the physician into the talk.

Homer almost calls Helen a "physician" in here. And whom is she curing?

Menelaus!

If Helen was aware of Menelaus having health issues especially related to his heart, she would always have medicine in handy and she would try her best to treat her husband as well as have drugs ready so that she would calm her husband if he ever got too emotional to protect him from further strain to his heart

But what do you guys think? Agree or disagree please let me know at the comments/reblogs below! ^_^

[multi-bookworm]

After reading the iliad and odyssey these are so much funnier remembering the context

[dootznbootz]

Thinking about how Telemachus has heard "You are just like your father" by so many people for most of his life. How different yet refreshing it is to hear said father tell him warmly "You're so much like your mother".

[hearmyheadcanon]

how the Trojan War really went

Achilles: My boyfriend just died!

Odysseus: oh thats so sad. Diomedes, lead the charge.

[sol-thorne]

More Epic: the animated show fake screenshots because I promised them and my brain would not let go.

Open them up for all that crispy quality and the little Oddyseus faces (istg I love that man).

Part 1 with God Games here!