Raphael Von Ambros

made another in honor of season 2. everyone sucks. i love them.

As always your analysis and theories are such great food for thought and great inspiration as well ✨✨ despite the fact that I'm newer to the depth of Odyssey and Iliad than most people here it's somehow adds to the fun to explore it 😆

Jesus Christ just thinking about spending 11 days without sleep blows my mind! I had to spend a little more than 48 hours awake to finish some deadlines and I was already having blurred distorted vision! So to be in a stressful situation, in an environment that can become dangerous, plus trying to guard the thing that will help them get home from his own men, all that combined with his previous struggles and now extreme sleep deprivation?? Sounds like a special kind of hell! And not only that but almost like a sort of vicious cycle, because it could be indeed that the sleep deprivation itself was getting to Odysseus attitude as you theorize, which in turn could definitely influence his man's behavior as well.

Gosh but as said before the tension after his men opened the sack and they all got sent back must have been like a damn cloud over their heads for days! Someone was struggling not to kill 😂

That is a very good point, by guarding the sack in such a way Odysseus could definitely be making his men feel untrusted and even antagonized by their own leader, which would definitely trigger an hostile response in the form distrust right back at him, and the suspiscion of what he could possibly be hiding from them in such a manner. It did not help at all!

On the other hand the effects of sleep deprivation mixed with previous stress and anxiousness to be so close to home are such an interesting and human reaction from him! That's such a scary list, and I can definitely imagine it impacting Odysseus little by little the more he remains awake! And the more he becomes more violent and irritable yelling and such the more his men would feel like he was becoming a whole different person and get progressively more and more worried, irritated and suspicious in turn! Plus I can definitely imagine them indeed questioning his authority especially as his mental state becomes erratic with hallucinations!

His own insistence to do things alone and putting himself in such a situation definitely bit him back! It was very toxic behavior especially with himself and his health, which passed to his man, and despite his intentions it added to the disaster! Being the leader is definitely not easy since everyone is looking at you as an anchor, and if the anchor fails, everyone can drown pretty easily! Overall both sides had their fair points and their mistakes and flaws and ultimately that makes for an awesome compelling narrative! Awesome stuff girl!! ✨

And gosh for real! This is such brilliant inspiration for Caleb and the rebellion as well! Caleb is definitely the one to want to carry the burdens of his men, and many times he is putting himself through unhealthy toxic situations to do so! Can imagine him also not sleeping for days for many reasons! To keep watch, to protect provisions and his resting comrades, to go on into dangerous missions... And the stress and fear hitting him inside too! And it would definitely mess with his attitude and response to others as well 👀 And it also reminds me of Diego, in the times he was made to take charge, or later when he felt his ultimate sin and plan against Caleb about to be discovered!!

Odysseus not sleeping for 9 days increased suspicion to his men unconsciously (a small analysis based on sleep deprivation and Odyssey)

So it seems that the limits that we know so far is around 264 hours or just above 11 days of staying awake consequently. That is surprisingly just above what Odysseus did who stayed awake for 9 days or approximately 216 hours! That seems ironically accurate on Homer's part that it occured.

According to Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus remained awake for 9 consequent days, guarding the sack containing all the winds blowing over the Mediterannean (a gift of the god of winds, Aiolus). Overcome by fatigue, once the island of Ithaca came on sight Odysseus fell asleep but at that moment his men, thinking that the sack contains rich gifts, they opened it up, releasing all the winds out and pushing Odysseus back to the islands of Aiolus. Aiolus witnessing upon that sign of bad luck, he refused to help Odysseus again.

Now of course one might say why on earth wouldn't his men trust him when he told them not to open the sack and why were they so overcome by not just distrust but also greed? Well, apart from the symbolism of the Iliad, ironically their distrust was perfectly logical even if in a way misplaced. And here's why

Odysseus was guarding the sack

No matter what one says, Odysseus was still acting distrustful to THEM. In a way he felt like his warning was not enough and he needed to take some extra precaution. The fact that he was still feeling the need to guard the sack like a guard dog, because of his natural suspicious nature, made his men feel not trusted and therefore evn more suspicious of his behavior. Why all of the sudden their captain had his guard so high up? Why did he feel like he had to take extra precaution? Didn't their captain; the captain they spent almost 15 years together trust them anymore? What did he have to hide? This behavior drove them suspicious back thinking there was more to that story than what Odysseus was saying.

Behavioral changes due to sleep deprivation

Odysseus was sleep deprived, that much everyone could tell. However interestingly the signs of sleep deprivation might unsconsciously increased suspiciousness to the already tensed atmosphere. Some of the early signs of sleep deprivation are:

drowsiness

irritability

impaired decision-making

impaired judgement

altered perception

memory deficits

vision and hearing impairments

decreased hand-eye coordination

increased muscle tension

tremors

increased risk of accidents or near misses

Therefore already from the first two or three days without sleep, Odysseus's character began to swift due to fatigue. He was expected to become more irritable, more drowsy, having difficulty to concentrate and having tension to his muscles. He would become increasingly more and more aggressive in his reactions. The longer he stayed without sleep and one could expect

mtabolism disruptions

hallucinations

delusions

mood swings

risky behavior

decreased attention

inflexible reasoning

The more Odysseus remained without sleep, the more unpredictable he would become and the more suspicious and aggressive his behavior would be. Imagine if at some point some of his men would want to give him some food or drink and Odysseus violently pushing them away, yelling at them that he needs nothing but to be left alone. He would become more and more irritable by basic things even if those things had the kinder intentions.

He would seem more and more like a tiger in a cage, more and more paranoic about the precious sack he guarded; seemingly getting all the more anxious the closer they got to his beloved home. At some point if he actually got hallucinations (talking to things that aren't there or looking around like a madman) would also make his men suspicious on his capability to lead them if an emergency were to occur.

Conslusion:

Therefore in his zeal to protect the sack at all costs, in his fixation upon doing everything himself, in his obsession with getting anxious and not trusting his own shadow, Odysseus made the bad decision to remain awake for so long that affected his mental and behavioral health, thus leading to more suspicion on his men's part to doubt his words and believing he was lying and that he was hiding gold and gems instead of their salvation. In a way Odysseus's obsession, just like all his plans, turned boomerang against him. Sleep deprivation made him aggressive. His aggressiveness was perceived as suspicious and his men didn't believe in him.

Still stupid on their part but one can understand their thoughts a bit. Having a captain that is slowly breaking guarding a seemingly precious sack rose plenty of suspicion. Of course that mistake costed them not only their home but also their life, but one can probably understand them a little.

Oh gosh perfect close for this part girl ❤️❤️✨

The way it starts with Odysseus putting his loved ones in place of the slaughtered and grieving ones 😢 Astyanax, Priam and Adromache as his own son, father and wife, gosh he really is putting himself in their shoes feeling the suffering he has caused them....

And now he curses all the people and chain of events which have brought him into this war, and made him lead this great massacre released upon the people of Troy... Such a tragic figure that now has to bear the weight of the blood that was spilled, as always you express his frustration in the best way possible!

Is Polites worried for Odysseus being alone drunk, or is there some other danger for him to be alone at this moment? Maybe seeing his great grief mixed with it all adds to the concern because Odysseus surely must be quite a messy sight at this point... The way he says he's tired of being wise...

The detail of mixing the wine with water is such a great addition, as it shows how much Odysseus wants to drown in the alcohol to forget all this nightmare for he wants to drink it all pure and strong...

Oh gosh poor guy, you surely described his post shock of the war so well, the way he can't sleep, yet he's so restless and tired... He must be seeing the bloodbath each time he closes his eyes, and the way he just falls apart in puddles of tears pulling his own, probably sweat soaked, hair 😭

Man the way he begs for his family, maybe because of all the post trauma for the war and not wanting it to be reflected on his family, but maybe also all the acts that his comrades have committed that were considered blasphemous and so he is afraid that the Gods will release their wrath upon his family as punishment? Either way gosh the way he begs and the way he keeps repeating that he just wanted to go home is so heartbreaking... The price he took for all that he has done is breaking him apart in the middle of a desperate prayer 😢😢

The way Menelaus and Agamemnon go in and start praising him immediately completely contrasts with Odysseus weak and sarcastic response! He calls himself liar schemer and trickster with sarcastic aversion! And he considers his drunken state just one more shame! The poor guy really can't stand himself at this moment which you so well and sadly pointed out by him not knowing what to tell his wife and son after this...

And I really like how you described the others so perplexed with Odysseus reaction after the plan worked so well, and yet for Odysseus it didn't work well at all, at least not as he wanted with this level of suffering and so much blood that will never leave him...

I also loved how Agamemnon tried to speak yet couldn't face Odysseus eyes right afterwards! The way he makes him remember the wrath of the Gods really put some more thought into him, as well as him being reminded of their own losses of people like Achilles in the war. I really love when the dark sides of battles are portrayed this way!

The way Odysseus asked if this was all worth it, and what the Trojans actually did to deserve such a fate really made him jump and blame all of this talk in his drunken state! But in a way it seems it's because he himself doesn't want to think about it much, that he's avoiding facing the same void that Odysseus is contemplating! And Agamemnon can't face that these people were indeed also just trying to defend themselves and their land.

Menelaus seems to be indeed much more sympathetic and soft with Odysseus which clearly helps a lot, I like it how he doesn't want him to melt away in his demons like that and that he doesn't want him to blame himself for what others have done. The way Odysseus says he will take part in the celebration seems so sarcastic as well... yet a bit soft. And the way Menelaus says he won't mention his state to anyone! Poor guy must really look bad!!

I also like how Odysseus is so dismissive of the spoils, not really denying them but saying he will accept whatever, because he really is suffering with what was done to this place and people, he's ashamed so he doesn't want to relish himself in gains... And also because of past experiences, the poor guy is even weak in his jokes now!

It's very heartwarming how Odysseus badmouths himself claiming his lack of honor yet Menelaus tells him that for him he's the greatest of Greeks, it clearly touched Odysseus too and gave him at least some comfort in the middle of all the chaos and conflicted emotions he's going through... Aww his weak smile and that fact he only needed someone to acknowledge his suffering and he himself as a person is very deep ❤️ the small words sometimes speak the loudest.

Gosh and it ends with poor Odysseus thinking that he's finally going home after so much time and struggles, such a cruel fate for this poor man!!

"Stoping a king seems impossible, God help us with two." That's great hahaha so sweet to see his humour returning a bit! This is a perfect close to the beginning of fic, for he finally is able to rest and sleep thanks to the words of his companion ❤️

The ride was fantastic dear! You always outdo yourself with your writing! Always fantastic and so expressive with the scenes and character! Amazing work ✨✨❤️❤️💖💖

I commented on this before but I love how you have chosen the version where Neoptolemus throws the baby instead and has this tension with Odysseus!! I also don't see Odysseus as a baby killer but like I said before I see Caleb so much in Odysseus that it just became a reference, so that's probably why 😂😂

Oh gosh the girl being sacrificed like that at Achilles tomb is a damn gruesome detail! Can definitely see why it seems it is from the Trojan's perspective of things 😆 her caring for his tomb instead is much softer. Poor Odysseus did try his best to spare who he could...

I did know that mixing wine with water was common practice but didn't know it was unusual to drink wine without being mixed unless it was for dipping bread, that's very interesting!

I really liked the conflict between Odysseus and Neoptolemus, the way you made them be a contrast to each other was great ✨

Oh gosh yes the beaten up arrogant, almost crippled ugly guy that probably shouldn't even go to war in the first place 😂😂 and now being used as a threat hahaha

And of course the way Neoptolemus grabbed Odysseus by the balls with the death of Palamedes!

And Adromache didn't want or needed to hear any more...

Gosh the baby calling him papa was definitely the peak of it all, it was such a good and heartbreaking addition 😭

Oh boy with that comparison to that Tudors scene I can definitely imagine her distress as she screams for her lost baby 💔

Like I said above I really liked how you made Odysseus not want to get involved with the choices of the spoils it really shows his negative feelings towards the results of this war! And the way you portrayed his friendship with Menelaus is very touching indeed with those last words of encouragement ❤️

Once again fantastic work girl, truly great ✨✨✨💖💖💖🥰🥰

Continuing from Part 2

Guilt (P3 + Footnotes)

"Odysseus" Meriones approached him, "Are you alright?"

Odysseus winced in pain. He hadn't realized he had clenched his fist so hard that it hurt him. He unclenched it.

"Yes..." he whispered, "Yes, I'm fine..."

Odysseus moaned. That baby...the look at that infant's face...Astyanax was gone...he had given his place to Telemachus. Priam's slain face was Laërtes...mourning Andromache was his wife... He grasped his head with both hands.

"Damn you Neoptolemus! Damn you Helen for starting it! Damn you Menelaus for dragging me into this... Damn you Palamedes! Damn you all! Why should I have taken this blood upon me?! Why did it have to be me?!"

He sighed.

"Polites...I want to be alone for a little while..."

"Do you think that is wise...?" Polites asked with hidden meaning.

"Wise!" Odysseus voiced like an echo, "No, perhaps not but I got tired of being wise for now..."

Polites sighed.

"At least add some water to your wine...please Odysseus"

Odysseus dismissed him with a move of his hand. He wasn't much in the mood for anything at that moment. He knew war wouldn't be pleasant but these events of just one night were taking the cake. He was exhausted; sleepless for two nights and a full day and right now the Sacker of Cities, the Man of Many Ways was terrified. He collapsed again and his tears overflowed from his eyes, wetting the table below. He grasped his wet hair with his fingers as if he was ready to uproot them.

"Gods! Please Athena, please, I beg of you...if you love me...p-protect my son! Let the miasma fall on me! Not him! I-I...I just wanted to g-go home! I just wanted to see them again...my Penelope...my Telemachus...! I-I never meant for this to happen! P-Please...! I beg of you if you love me...p-protect my son! Don't let the gods' wrath fall upon their heads! P-Please...! F-Forgive me! I...I just...I just wanted to go home!"

He couldn't decide what to pray for first... Words cascaded out of his mouth without any coherent way or syntax. He only prayed desperately, wetting with his tears the table. Sun was already setting and Troy was taken...but at what cost...

*

Menelaus and Agamemnon entered Odysseus's hut one after the other.

"I gotta give it to you, Odysseus!" Agamemnon said, "You WERE telling the truth when you said you could take Troy in one night!"

Odysseus was collapsed upon his chair, looking at them with an unreadable expression to his face. The jug was resting empty somewhere after the feet of his seat.

"Hm..." he hummed, "That's me. I am the trickster, remember? I lie, I scheme and I trick. That is what I do"

Agamemnon raised a brow.

"Are you drunk?!" He asked in disbelief

"One more shame to add to the events of this night..." Odysseus replied bitterly.

"Shame? I do not understand. We finally sacked the city. You can finally go home."

"Home..." Odysseus whispered, "I wonder...what shall I say to Penelope when she asks? Or Telemachus? If he asks 'father what did you do and you were away?', 'I was at war, my son', 'did you fight honorably and sack many cities?'... What shall I say for what we've done...?"

"I do not understand you Odysseus. It was your idea"

"Yeah somehow I do not doubt it..." Odysseus mumbled bitterly, "I was wrong, Agamemnon. This was not what I imagined...what I planned..."

He sighed shifting his position a bit to his chair.

"Priam is dead, you know that..."

"Yeah, like we expected to-..."

"On the altar. On the freaking altar, Agamemnon..."

"Yeah I heard..."

"Imagine that happening to any of us...in our homelands. If one cannot respect the holy laws then what?"

He played a bit with his empty cup.

"Priam murdered on the altar...Cassandra raped mercilessly and now Ajax looks for shelter to the very same altar he dragged her out of, to avoid being stoned to death..." the king of Ithaca rubbed the bridge of his nose, "...death...death and fire everywhere..."

"Odysseus..." spoke Menelaus, "I understand that you are grieving, it was not easy or pleasant but..."

"The boy...he was the same age as my son! Thrown off the wall..."

"Odysseus" Agamemnon spoke again, "I honestly don't understand you. Others would fly from joy with your glory. You had a good plan and it worked. Thanks to you we can all go home."

Odysseus's eyes became bottomless. Even Agamemnon had to lower his gaze against it.

"The blasphemy put us under the anger of gods, Agamemnon. Remember that. Listen..."

Agamemnon seemed like indeed trying to listen something.

"The Trojans are not the only ones mourning. We lost many good men too. We lost Achilles. Or have you forgotten?"

Agamemnon sighed deeply.

"His loss...was tragic indeed" he finally said, "we had our differences but his loss was a great price..."

"Quite so..." Odysseus whispered, "was it really worth it? The price we had to pay to sack Troy?"

He shifted his weight to his chair lethargically. He rubbed his forehead with his free hand for a second. The dizziness bad settled for real in his brain. He leaned his head back again, earning a small cracking sound from his neck.

"And since we are at it, I have a question for you, Agamemnon, son of Atreus, the first among the Greeks... What did the Trojans REALLY do to us to deserve such an end?"

"You're drunk! You don't know what you're talking about!"

Odysseus snorted humorlessly.

"Oh, I am drunk, alright. But I know exactly what I am talking about. And you do too. They took Helen, sure, or at least one of them did. But their real crime against us was that they protected their lands...from us. That's what we would have done as well..."

Agamemnon was ready to speak again but Menelaus stopped him.

"Brother, that's enough"

He then turned ti Odysseus sympathetically.

"Look, Odysseus, I understand that it hurts and I am sorry too that I put you through that indirectly, but please do not melt away. No matter what the actions of others was not your choice."

Odysseus said nothing. He only sighed.

"Will you join us at the games later? You are the hero of the day. Your presence is asked for."

Odysseus scoffed.

"Oh I will be there, alright. I never miss a good party!"

Menelaus smiled sadly.

"Thank you, Odysseus...for everything. I really mean it... I will see you later, when you sober up a little..."

He looked at his friend and added;

"And...we shall mention none...of this" he pointed at him indicating his condition.

Odysseus soullessly nodded as if wanting to attempt some humor.

"Thanks...I appreciate it"

Agamemnon was ready to say something but apparently he decided against it. He only sighed and turned to leave before finally asking;

"Will you come to take a pick from the spoils? You deserve it given it was thanks to you we got in"

The tired king made a dismissive move with his hand.

"No. I'm fine with whatever. Just include me to the next lottery" he replied indifferently

"Are you sure? You deserve a better share"

Odysseus smiled humorlessly.

"Last time I chose and defended my choice, we lost Aias the Telamonian. I think we lost enough for one decade, don't you think?"

It was a failure of attempt for humor and he knew it but Agamemnon only sighed.

"Suit yourself" he said defeated, heading for the exit

Menelaus was about to do the same but apparently something made him stop and turn around.

"Odysseus?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you...truly... You gave me back my honor

Odysseus snorted again.

"With the cost of mine..." he whispered bitterly, "Not that anyone ever thought I had any..."

The king of Sparta, though, shook his head negatively.

"To me you will always be the greatest of all Greeks"

The man who endured all torments looked up and for the first tike a small smile rose to his dry lips. That word of kindness was what he needed for his tormented heart to feel some sort of hope. At least there was finally one who neither blamed him nor glorified him. Menelaus saw his torment and responded. That was enough.

"Thank you..." he whispered

Menelaus nodded his head in return.

"Now rest, my friend. We have a long way before us...we are going home..."

Home...the tormented king of Ithaca thought. Yes, finally they could go home. After 10 endless years they could finally embrace their families. Just few more months of journey and Odysseus could finally go home... All he had to do was to learn to live with what he did... He watched both the kings through his cloudy vision, getting out of his tent and Polites coming back in.

"I am sorry, Odysseus! I couldn't stop them!"

Odysseus dismissed him with a hand gesture once more.

"Don't sweat it, Polites. Stopping a king seems impossible. Gods help us with two!"

Polites smiled softly. At least he would gain some of his humor back, he thought.

"Help me get to my bed, Polites..." sighed Odysseus hoarsely, "I need to rest... I am very tired..."

~~~~

Oh gosh what have I done?! Hehehehe well not sorry...not really! 😆 I hope you enjoyed this ride.

As you see I tried incorporating some of the Epic Cycle to the situation but I did tamper around with the timeliness. The Epic Cycle is a lovely mess anyways and holds many contradictions with the homeric poems but it includes many things.

Now the fragmentary poem Iliou Persis is sven mentioned how Odysseus throws Astyanax off the walls but most sources have Neoptolemus donit and I do agree with those more. Now in Trojan Women by Eurypedes the messenger Talthybius tells Andromache that Odysseus schemed so that her son would be thrown off the walls and that he persuaded the Greeks they couldn't raise the baby. Odysseus doesn't strike much as a baby killer in Odyssey or even the Iliad although he is known for being cruel in his punishments (see the excecution of the 50 conspiring slave girls) but nowhere jn Odyssey does Odysseus refer to that fact even if he does speak of his regrets for other actions of his and if he HAD thrown Astyanax off the walls himself I doubt he wouldn't have made any reference to it so I believe that Iliou Persis should he treated like Telegony when it comes to the homeric poems; a bit contradictory to the homeric epics (unless there is some lost fragment that tells us how Odysseus went on a rampage he could not remember lol 😆 ) so I made a mixture of all the above to show how Odysseus "killed" Astyanax or subconsciously persuaded the Greeks to do it and I added the role of Talthybius here too.

Iliou Persis seems to also be the most violent form when it comes to the Greek side such as that they offer Priam's daughter Polyxene to Achilles's tomb as a sacrifice, thus causing the rage of Athena (I swear the thing was written by a Trojan lol 😆) Eurypedes mentions how Polyxene was offered as slave to Achilles symbolically so she should serve his tomb. I also added the detail of Odysseus trying to persuade Neoptolemus to choose her as his price to speak Andromache but his attempts are a failure.

Drunkenness was severely discouraged in ancient geeece thus the concern in Polites's words when Odysseus uses it as a coping mechanism for the traumatic events of the night. Moreover the Greeks always mixed their wine with water (thus having the modern name for wine in Greek κρασί which comes from the verb in ancient greek which means "to mix") the wine that was not watered was called άκρατον and it was qlmost never consumed unless dipped in bread. The analogy between wine and water depended.

In this story I depict Neoptolemus as somehow a nemesis to Odysseus. Similar to what Agamemnon or Hector were for Achilles. I have no idea why but the idea stuck with me especially since the two are the two candidates for the murder of Astyanax. Somehow I imagined them again as the polar opposites thus the two of them having tension.

Odysseus mentions Thersites who was beaten really badly by him in the Iliad. In other sources it is mentioned that Odysseus has him stoned to death after Theraites attempts treason. In this story Thersites was already dead.

I know that for Palamedes the most famous version of his end comes from Hygenius who writes how Odysseus frames him for treason. However Pausanias mentions from the Epic Cycle that Palamedes drowned at a fishing expedition and that "he believes the murderers were Odysseus and Diomedes". 🤔 somehow I wanted to use a lesser known version plus give a bit room to doubt for instance did Palamedes really fell by accident and Odysseus is guilty for not helping? Or perhaps Odysseus pushed him? Maybe he held him under? Dunno. Leave it to your imagination. I know is not so spicy as the framing story but bare with me hehehe

Talthybius here simply hears "it was Odysseus who planned it" thus sending that information yo Andromache without the rest of the details..

Astyanax uttering a word was totally random. If he were an infant a few months old or almost a year old in Iliad that means he would be around 1 to 1.5 years old when Troy fell so I thought it would be more impactful if the poor baby uttered a word before his end.

The interaction with Andromache was placed there for the dramatics and the impact. When Andromache screams "MY BOY!" I was inspired by the series "The Tudors" when Anne Boleyn laments her final miscarriage (by the way I think Natalie Dormer would make an amazing Andromache!)

The story with Palamedes was also added to make the connection between two mothers and their impact to Odysseus. Plus I thought it would make more sense if Odysseus was furious not only for being embarrassed or that he has to go to war but because Palamedes put his son in danger. (Of course Penelope would be part of that scheme!)

Odysseus refusing to participate at the choice of spoils was just a random detail but as a general rule from Eurypedes it seems that he eats the old Ekavi (Hecuba) as his slave (probably she would be to serve Penelope( so I imagined Odysseus wouldn't want to choose but getting whatever would be lucky for him to further implicate that he wouldn't want anything further to do with the war. He also mentions the incident when Telamonian Aias (aka the great Ajax) went mad when Odysseus won Achilles's armor from him and then he killed himself in shame.

I also wanted to portray the friendship between Menelaus and Odysseus which seems to be really strong since Menelaus always talks with the warmest words for Odysseus.

For further questions and analysis please ask me to the comment section or reblog etc!

I wanna also tag some of my best friends commenters rebloggers etc! Thank you guys! Sorry if I forget anyone!

@loco-bird @aaronofithaca05 @tunguszka20 @doob-or-something @jarondont @prompted-wordsmith @simugeuge @fangirlofallthefanthings

Vesna by Tomas Duchek

I work on the html and text from the Website for the Keyanga Clan!

Soon it will be visible for everyone to read about our clan 💜🥰 Are you excited?

(clan from me @signfromeywa and @yararts)

Hahaha gosh 😂😂😂😂✨✨✨✨

But it's amazing how touching it was that his emotions convinced her! But at the same time it's so funny he's so stressed and in a rage, and that's what makes her go:

So she spoke, and made trial of her husband. But Odysseus, in a burst of anger, spoke to his true-hearted wife, and said: “Woman, truly this is a bitter word that thou hast spoken. Who has set my bed elsewhere? Hard would it be for one, [185] though never so skilled, unless a god himself should come and easily by his will set it in another place. But of men there is no mortal that lives, be he never so young and strong, who could easily pry it from its place, for a great token is wrought in the fashioned bed, and it was I that built it and none other.

Hom.Od.23.181-189

So everyone loves the moment of recognition between Penelope and Odysseus and how Penelope basically "forces the true Odysseus" come out with her own trick. Many believe that the recognition happens because of the detailed account of how he made the bed and how it was the secret only a few knew but in my opinion this is not 100% true.

Penelope did not recognize her husband because he analyzed their secret; she recognized him because of his reaction.

Odysseus replied "in a burst of anger". He is exaspirated, afraid, worried and surprised. That is the husband she wants to see; the husband who wants nothing else but his home, his roots and his wife. Anyone could reveal to any mortal the secret of her bed; from one of the servants till one of the gods but there is one thing no one can fake;

The GENUINE emotion. Odysseus replied so immediately and so abruptly in such a genuine emotion that left Penelope no doubt yet that this was her husband. Odysseus didn't just ask her how it is possible to move the bed; he asked her in ANGER a genuine exaspiration and disbelief. No actor or god could mimic that genuine emotion. Odysseus spent about half his time in Ithaca hiding his emotions so he would survive. At that moment of the mention of moving the imovable bed his emotions just showed.

The sign she recognized was not the information he gave her it was his heart.

Tarzan (1999) dir. Chris Buck and Kevin Lima

I love her golden make up. The colors of her fabrics make such a lovely contrast ❤️ She's a fashionista!

Keyanga na'vi concept, refreshed!

Keyanga are so interesting to me i want to feel involved whahahhahaah. I was thinking of her being a tailor but like, for fancy outfits, you know?And she's all pretty and her trade fits her well!

Eaynì the tailor, eh? i think that sound good whahah

Visual development and background art for The Princess and the Frog (2009) by Lisa Keene

Salammbô by Henri Adrien Tanoux (1921)