Ajax And Cassandra By Solomon Joseph Solomon, 1886.

Norse mythology from A to Z:

[S] - Sif is the golden-haired goddess of earth, wheat and prosperity.

Norse mythology from A to Z:

[N] - Nøkken are shapeshifting water spirits.

The Scandinavian näcken, näkki, nøkk were male, they played enchanted songs on the violin, luring women and children to drown in lakes or streams.

So out of spite I sped-read The Iliad

Because I wanted to see if there was any way that Patroclus and Achilles’ relationship wasn’t as understandable or blatantly obvious as The Song of Achilles made it out to be. Y’all are welcome. 

Here are things Achilles has said to/thought about Patroclus, heavily paraphrased bc I’m not citing verse (my thoughts in italics):

In general, to start, “Patroclus” is almost always followed by some variation of “my companion”, so there’s that-

Book 11

“(Patroclus), joy of my heart”

Book 16

“Every Trojan and Greek can die as long as we two survive! We can take Troy together” —Achilles’ goofy ass bruh, I swear -_-

“Zeus, give him strength, keep Patroclus alive and bring him back to me” —Zeus: ope

Book 18 (y'all I put the wrong book why ain’t y'all stop me! 😭)

“I hope the gods have not done something that will break my heart (like kill Patroclus)”

[Antilochus preventing him from cutting his wrists after hearing he’s dead, covers his face in dust, screams so loud his mom hears it at the bottom of the ocean]

“What pleasure is there for me, when Patroclus, my beloved companion has been destroyed, the man I honored above all…”

“My own heart has no desire to live on….unless Hector is (killed for killing Patroclus)”

“So now I’ll go (kill Hector), killer of the man I loved” —Now I know he claims love for a lot of men, but he wasn’t willing to fight for any of their dead bodies until Patroclus, sooooo

“I’m going to wait to bury you until we’re both dead so that we’re together in death” —Shit’s a lil weird, but Achilles is a drama queen so it’s in line- UPDATE- okay so, if they wait to be buried together they’ll go to the same place! Makes sense!

Book 19

“I can’t even eat I’m so distressed, not even my own father’s death would upset me as much. I would have had you tell my son of me if you were alive because I thought only I would die” —-this one in particular gets me because Deidameia is alive, but he wanted Patroclus to tell his son about him!

Book 20

“(Hector’s) getting closer, the man who scarred my heart more than all other men”

Book 22

“I’m going to leave your [Hector’s] body here to be torn apart by animals while Patroclus is getting the burial he deserves”

“I’ll not forget [Patroclus] as long as I’m alive. Even when I’m dead, I won’t forget my companion”

Book 23

[Patroclus’ ghost asks to be buried together, Achilles agrees and tries to hold him but he vanishes] —-Why would Patroclus ask this of someone he didn’t love? And why would Achilles agree so easily?

[Gives him a golden urn and commands they have a mound]

In fact, literally all of book 23 is a damn festival for Patroclus lmao

Incidents of him with women:

Book 9

“He stole from me (Briseis), a woman I love. Let him sleep with her! I still won’t fight”  —-Don’t sound very loving to me, and also star point because they offered Briseis back amongst hella other shit and he still said no

“Achilles slept with Diomede, Patroclus slept opposite Achilles with Iphis" 

Book 19 (again!)

Briseis cries over Patroclus’ body, saying that when Achilles killed her husband, Patroclus was nice and would make sure Achilles would marry her instead  —–Idk how this would make anyone feel better about their dead spouse, but….go off, I guess? Not to mention he knew Achilles wasn’t gone make it! Liar lmao

Book 24

He sleeps with Briseis after Priam comes to beg for Hector’s body

Final verdict: 

Bisexual, open relationship. I won’t deny evidence of him and the ladies, but he was most definitely in love with Patroclus. 

The movie Troy can suck it, and I’ll die on this hill in aristeia like Patroclus. 

(update! Lmao y'all I had the right quotes, wrong book for some of them- why ain’t y'all say nothing?)

Greek mythology from A to Z:

[A] - Ares (Ἄρης) is the god of war. However, unlike Athena, he represents merely its destructive capacity and is typically the personification of sheer violence and brutality.

Slavic mythology from A to Z:

[A] - Alkonost and Sirin (Алконост и Сирин)

Alkonost in Russian legends is a bird of paradise with the head and hands of a girl. Legends say that Alkonost carries eggs to the depths of the sea in the middle of winter. Alkonost is singing so beautifully that the one who has heard it forgets about everything in the world.

In the medieval Russian legends, Sirin is definitely considered to be a bird of paradise, which sometimes flies to the earth and sings prophetic songs about future bliss, but sometimes these songs can be harmful to humans. Therefore, in some legends, Sirin acquires a negative value, so that it is even beginning to be considered a dark bird, the messenger of the underworld.

Norse mythology from A to Z:

[T] - Týr is a war god, but also the god who, more than any other, presides over matters of law and justice.

A wild Artemis and Apollo appear. 🌿

I wanted to depict them before their debut on Olympus. If I could go back I would redraw them with more animal skins in their clothing to really add that touch of wildness... but ah well, there's always next time.

Medic in training with the centaur of disease control 🩹

Antoine Borel - Thetis immerses son Achilles in water of river Styx, 18th Century.

Greek mythology from A to Z:

[H] - Hephaestus (Ἥφαιστος) is the god of blacksmiths and fire. Called “the celestial artificer,” he was also associated with other craftsmen (sculptors, carpenters, metalworkers).