John Constantine (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
talentforlying) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2019-08-09 11:28 am
talentforlying) wrote in fandomhigh2019-08-09 11:28 am
Gods & Monsters: Divine Trickery, Friday, Second Period.
"Most people, if you say 'Odysseus,' don't know who the fuck you're going on about," John began as the class settled, pacing the room. "Some will connect him with the Odyssey, or the Trojan Horse, but not many, because the classics aren't taught as much anymore."
"What most people don't realize is that he was the grandson of famous thief Autolycus, and the great-grandson of the Olympian god Hermes. Both tricksters in their own rights, though Odysseus took it to extremes. Hell, thin-blooded as he was, he might still be running around, pulling his nonsense. You never know with godspawn."
"Odysseus first really starts popping up in the great narrative of Greek history when he manages to keep everyone from killing each other when Helen -- yes, that Helen -- gets married. There was such a fight over her sister, that he contrives a peace that all must support whomever she marries, to put an end to stabbing and bride-stealing and wars. So, when Helen is abducted -- or runs away, depending on who you talk to -- Menelaus calls upon the other suitors to honour their oaths and help him to retrieve her, an attempt that leads to the Trojan War. Because men are shite if they care about nonsense like honour. Don't date blokes like that."
"Odysseus, despite being the one who came up with the bloody idea, tries to avoid it by feigning lunacy, as an oracle had prophesied a long-delayed return home for him if he went. He hooks a donkey and an ox to his plow starts sowing his fields with salt. Palamedes, at the behest of Menelaus' brother Agamemnon, seeks to disprove Odysseus' madness and places Telemachus, Odysseus' infant son, in front of the plow. Odysseus veers the plow away from his son, thus exposing his fakery. Odysseus holds a grudge against Palamedes during the entire war for dragging him away from his home, and can't say I blame him."
"Now that he's recuited, Odysseus and other envoys of Agamemnon travel to Scyros to recruit Achilles because of a prophecy that Troy could not be taken without him. We're not going to talk about that one, because it's a bunch of gender-binary fucking nonsense, but basically Odysseus tricks Achilles into revealing himself, because fuck this, if he has to go, so does everyone else."
"Bloke just wanted to stay home with his wife and kid, and he was going to do everything he could to end this war and get back as soon as possible. But when you're the great-grand of a god, that ain't gonna happen. Once the Story has hold of you, you're stuck, you mad bastard, and few tricks can get you free."
"What most people don't realize is that he was the grandson of famous thief Autolycus, and the great-grandson of the Olympian god Hermes. Both tricksters in their own rights, though Odysseus took it to extremes. Hell, thin-blooded as he was, he might still be running around, pulling his nonsense. You never know with godspawn."
"Odysseus first really starts popping up in the great narrative of Greek history when he manages to keep everyone from killing each other when Helen -- yes, that Helen -- gets married. There was such a fight over her sister, that he contrives a peace that all must support whomever she marries, to put an end to stabbing and bride-stealing and wars. So, when Helen is abducted -- or runs away, depending on who you talk to -- Menelaus calls upon the other suitors to honour their oaths and help him to retrieve her, an attempt that leads to the Trojan War. Because men are shite if they care about nonsense like honour. Don't date blokes like that."
"Odysseus, despite being the one who came up with the bloody idea, tries to avoid it by feigning lunacy, as an oracle had prophesied a long-delayed return home for him if he went. He hooks a donkey and an ox to his plow starts sowing his fields with salt. Palamedes, at the behest of Menelaus' brother Agamemnon, seeks to disprove Odysseus' madness and places Telemachus, Odysseus' infant son, in front of the plow. Odysseus veers the plow away from his son, thus exposing his fakery. Odysseus holds a grudge against Palamedes during the entire war for dragging him away from his home, and can't say I blame him."
"Now that he's recuited, Odysseus and other envoys of Agamemnon travel to Scyros to recruit Achilles because of a prophecy that Troy could not be taken without him. We're not going to talk about that one, because it's a bunch of gender-binary fucking nonsense, but basically Odysseus tricks Achilles into revealing himself, because fuck this, if he has to go, so does everyone else."
"Bloke just wanted to stay home with his wife and kid, and he was going to do everything he could to end this war and get back as soon as possible. But when you're the great-grand of a god, that ain't gonna happen. Once the Story has hold of you, you're stuck, you mad bastard, and few tricks can get you free."
Talk to John