okay the whole vase is great but something about Helen sitting on Aphrodite's lap as she wraps one arm around her shoulder and brushes her leg with her hand, staring into her eyes like that... as she is persuading Helen to go with Paris (while Peitho aka persuasion stands behind them) is so incredibly iconic.
and gay. toxic yuri, if you will.
i see where people are coming from with 'menelaus and helen are soulmates. preordained to be together' because it fits with the whole fall of troy. gods getting what they want narrative that stems from their marriage and, ultimately, their separation.
but when i read texts like the odyssey and helen by euripides and what they go through and the effort they put in to rebuilding themselves as individuals and as a couple even though troy is gone. i feel they have more fuck soulmates. i love you on purpose. energy
A Hector of Troy
the cool thing about the iliad is that almost everyone in it is a horrible person and/or literal war criminal, so you get to judge characters EXCLUSIVELY by vibes. anyway i don’t blame paris for the trojan war but he IS a little shitheel and i want him out of my city
stop reblogging this post i love paris. i’ve changed
Both fellow-countrymen then,
how often we’d have mingled side-by-side!
Nothing could have parted us,
bound by love for each other, mutual delight …
till death’s dark cloud came shrouding round us both.
I bet this part was actually a banger when sung in ancient Greek.
Or a drinking game. Or both.
When I read this in school, my teacher informed me that this would have actually been the most exciting part for people hearing it back then because they were all from the places that those heroes were from. So, when you heard your homeland’s name you would have cheered. My teacher compared it to a celebrity at a concert saying something along the lines of, “I grew up in texas… anyone here from texas?” and the Texans cheering. Anyway, I’ve always just thought that that was interesting
My teacher said the same thing, as I recall. Now I’m thinking about it, I remember that he assigned us each a place to pretend to be from and gave us a list of the attached ship and had us simulate the situation with the most enthusiasm seventh period honors sophomore English students can summon.
Temple of Vesta at Tivoli by Massimiliano Bertozzi
