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Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus by Nikolai Ge
(1855). Source: Wikipedia |
The first story I chose to research for my storybook was "
How Patroclus Fought and Died" from
The Iliad. In this story, Jeanie Lang illustrates Patroclus's final battles in the Battle of Troy. Patroclus dons the armor of Achilles and leads the men into battle. Three times he charged and killed men, but the fourth time, he was struck down by Apollo, who deemed him too arrogant.
Many scholars have debated the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus. In
The Best of the Achaeans, Gregory Nagy says Patroclus is defined as "πολὺ φίλτατος ἑταῖρος" to Achilles, which can be translated as a very good friend/soldier, or as a loving companion.
In my storybook, which will be classical Greek myths retold by a muse (or multiple muses), I'd like to explore the "behind-the-scenes" things in myths — the rumors, the speculations. This could be a really good one to write about, or at least model in my storybook.
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The Reunion of Cupid and Psyche by Saint-Ours Jean Pierre.
Source: Wikipedia |
The second myth I studied was that of
Psyche and Cupid. Those who were supposed to worship Aphrodite instead worshiped Psyche because she was so beautiful, so Aphrodite instructed her son, Cupid, to shoot her with an arrow and make her fall in love with something terrible. Instead he scratched himself and fell in love with her.
The whole story is full of miscommunications and misperceptions, and I think emulating that type of cat-mouse chase plot would be funny in my storybook.
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Pasiphae Nursing the Minotaur, c.
4 B.C. Source: theoi.com |
Finally, I read about
Pasiphae, who married King Minos of Crete. But she was cursed by falling in love with her husband's finest bull, and gave birth to the minotaur. In all honesty, I chose to read this story just because I've been to Crete and learned of Pasiphae (I may or may not have bought a statue of her for my dad). But I think the general idea of curses is an interesting one to explore.
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