faerienites (via faerienites)

There are no colors in the underworld;

Not the green of his eyes

Not the yellow of his hair,

Only Hades and his fair wife

Looking at you as if they know that the other part of your heart is walking, living and breathing above you.

They said his cries could be heard at the bottom of the sea when he knew of your death by Hector’s hand

and you placed your hands on your heart, so that it would not hear it.

You wonder what grief can do to the dead.

You wanted to end a war, or maybe to be reflected in his light,

To know, just for a second, what was so great about glory,

If it was worth leaving love behind.

You never knew of glory, but you know the price of it;

A spear in your chest and a love that is endless, even in the darkness of the underworld,

Because you love him.

You love him and you wish him every luck the Gods can grant him, you wish he went back home to have a long life and all the love in the world, you wish the war has ended and no blood stained the battlefield after yours.

But in the end, you would endure a thousand spears more to have him with you, in this dark and quiet world,

he would be light enough.

You wish him glory and to be remembered, for his name to be sang until it becomes a litany on the lips of every man.

But when you look at the doors of the underworld, at those strong and eternal pillars, you sing

“Please, come to me.”

-

You wonder if being a hero is just a pedestal on the golden throne of grief.

You see the battlefields again and he is everywhere, wounded, dying, and you are not beside him.

His name haunts your heart, it’s a scream in all the places of your body he used to touch with such devotion and softness

Patroclus, Patroclus, Patroclus

You see him falling, wounded, and you know in every shattered part of your soul that it is your fault, the fault of your blinding rage, of your godlike pride.

You let him go to his death in the name of your glory, you traded a lovely reality for a vain dream.

Patroclus, the one you loved above all, now ashes in the wind, the weight of his absence is tearing your chest open because

You love him, you loved him, you will always love him because his love was sweet as figs, the best part of you, the only thing you cherished,

The one thing you left behind.

You want to go back, to change the past, to bury your stubbornness and pride, to never be so blinded by such trivial things, to hold him close and never let him go.

But you can’t.

Godlike Achilles, you can’t change the past, and when the fatal blow comes your way, you do not move-

You spread your arms toward it and whisper softly

“Take me to my love. Take me home.”

Honestly the best part of the Iliad is when Achilles is about to go avenge Patroclus and tells his horses essentially “I hope you do well in battle and don’t let me down like you totally let Patroclus down” and then his horse, Roan Beauty, responds by basically saying “don’t forget you’re going to die”.  

Achilles: *nearly kisses Patroclus* *near constantly flirts with him* *lets him see him train* Patroclus: *kisses Achilles* Achilles, running away: I did not think this far

Achilles (via xvaniex)

The Iliad Drinking Game

Take a shot every time:

Zeus gets salty

Nestor complains about being old

Patroclus acts like Achilles’ bitch

Homer shoves in a strange metaphor

Someone is injured “by the nipple”

Greeks call Paris a sissy

A God intervenes unnecessarily

Achilles does something impulsive

Someone ignores perfectly good advice

Dudes exchange armour

Achilles kills someone and throws them in the river

In Ancient Greek we don’t say “I love you” we say “εἰ δὲ θανόντων περ καταλήθοντ’ εἰν Ἀΐδαο αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ καὶ κεῖθι φίλου μεμνήσομ' ἑταίρου.” which translates into “And though the dead forget the dead in the house of Hades, even there I shall still remember my beloved companion.” and I think that is beautiful.