stories

Meanwhile In Ithaka…

~ TheNaomiRuth ~ Leave a comment

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While Odysseos was off traveling and fighting (and getting lost, pff, men) Penelope had to stay at home, raise a child, take care of a city, fend of suitors, take care of civic and religious responsibilities, all without offending anyone and maintaining relationships with any allies she could gather. She is known for her loyalty and, most importantly for Greek men, for not jumping into bed with a man who was not Odysseos. Greek men were really terrified of women’s sexuality and did everything they could to control it. *major eye roll* ANYWAY. What I, personally, love about Penelope is how bad-ass she is. She is able to juggle a lot of responsibilities and has to be majorly smart to outwit all of the idiots that surround her. I also love her loyalty, but really, I love how smart she is.

I don’t, alas, have time to do full Iliad posts – yet. BUT, I  miss this and I want to be able to post SOMETHING for you all, so I have a couple of “Meanwhile In…” posts for you. Because the Iliad is super MANLY MEN I thought it would be fun to think about what is happening at home with the lady-folk who got left behind.

Next week we’ll check in with Klytemnestra!

Book 5, Part 1.2: The Death of Trojans

~ TheNaomiRuth ~ 2 Comments

To Start From the Beginning Click HERE.
To Read the Previous Post Click HERE.

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Athena randomly being angry at Ares and pulling him aside seems kind of sudden and odd – – until we remember that Athena just gave the Argives an advantage and wants to be sure Ares doesn’t think to do the same. She wants the Argives to have as much time as possible to kill as many Trojans as possible.

I find Idomeneus to be slightly unhinged and his brother Meriones as being a bit bloodthirsty. I also see both counting the deaths they deal as sacrifices to their gods. I’m not sure why I’m thinking this? I don’t know much about early Crete… But that’s what Idomeneus is doing in the fourth panel, looking up to his god and trying to honour Him with Phaestus’ death. I’m not sure that Phaestus appreciates this…

Honestly, this part of the story I find to be very depressing and I found myself emotional as I drew it. Homer gives us these little windows into the lives of the Trojans who are being killed. The question is why? Are we supposed to feel bad for them? To see their deaths as useless and pointless? Or maybe it’s supposed to make us feel like their deaths are valid. Phereclus has a really horribly painful death – – but he IS the one who made the ships for Paris, so this war is, in some respects, his fault. Pedaeus is an illegitimate son. And yet… Phaestus was just a local Trojan ally. Odios probably was as well. Scamandrios has dedicated himself to Artemis, which means he would have been a young, virgin dude who really had no business being at war. Hypsenor was the son of a priest. Did any of these guys really deserve to die? I think Homer is saying, “Absolutely not.” Which. Is not surprising. The Iliad is usually thought of as a Greek work, because it has come down to us from Greeks. However, Homer is said to be from Lydia. Lydia is in Asia Minor. He was from the same area as Trojans. The Iliad is often way more pro-Trojan than pro-Achaean/Argive/Greek. The Greeks are vicious and bloodthirsty and angry and cruel. The Trojans are merely trying to defend their city.

I think this is especially clear when we consider the final panel. The Argives toil in war, but the Trojans that they have just killed? They are traders and merchants, craftsmen and artisans, farmers and shepherds. They are innocent.

To Read The Wounding of Diomedes Click HERE.

Book 5, Part 1.1: Diomedes Descends

~ TheNaomiRuth ~ 3 Comments

To Start From the Beginning Click HERE.
To Read Book 4 Recap Click HERE.
To Read the Previous Post Click HERE.

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I find it interesting that Athena chooses Diomedes to grant special strength to, considering how she is the patron of Odysseus all throughout the Odyssey, one might think that Odysseus gets to be the hero. HOWEVER, Odysseus is less war hero and more tactician, when Diomedes, well, I believe Diomedes is able to more easily connect with the spiritual world. I think he’s the only Argive who would be able to receive the gift Athena gives him – – but this is all conjecture.

ALSO, Phegeus’ brother Idaeus should never have left his brother’s body behind. The fact that Hephaistos is willing to save this coward does NOT leave him in a good light. BUT, I really like that Hephaistos is shown as being compassionate and that we have a glimpse of him grieving. I drew Idaeus to look a bit like Hephaistos in order to show the almost familial connection he has with the god-smith.

ALSO, this is not the first time Diomedes steals horses and it won’t be the last. He is ALWAYS stealing horses. Always. I’m not entirely sure why this is important, but eventually I’ll figure it out and share the information with you.

ALSO, I enjoy Panic and Terror.

As a side note: I’m probably going to shift to posting on Mondays and Wednesdays (with the Occasional Friday), since I’m going to start posting Random Writing Prompts over at the NaomiRuth Facebook page.

To Read The Death of Trojans Click HERE.

Happy New Year! and a Quick Update

~ TheNaomiRuth ~ 1 Comment

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Happy New Year, lovelies! I know it’s been awhile 0_0 Don’t worry! I am working on a backlog. I’ve drawn up all of book 4 and I’m in the process of editing the photos, which is being more difficult than I would like it to be. HOWEVER, being that I’m working in retail land I’ll have very few hours the end of this month and we should be back on track either the last week of January or the first week of February. I do apologize for the gap in time *sobs inconsolably*

Have a good month and start to your New Year! Agamemnon and et al will be returning soon!

To Read Book 2 Recap Click HERE.
To Read Book 3 Recap Click HERE.
To Start Book 4, Meanwhile in Olympos Click HERE.

A “Scary” Story

~ TheNaomiRuth ~ 1 Comment

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Here is a random “scary” story in honour of Halloween/Samhain/Day of the Dead (etc) that happened this week. I find in interesting that this ancient Greek folktale is so similar to one of the Grimm German ones.

Amphimacus was (supposedly) from southwest Anatolia (Turkey). I don’t know whether he would have heard of Athens or not, but in this version he has not.

That is all for now! Have a good rest of your week, my lovelies. May it not be too stressful.

To Read Aphrodite Intervenes Click HERE.