Bella

GOING CRAZY RN

Reading the book is not enough. I need to eat it.

reblog if you’re gay, shy or a fucking idiot

All of the above actually

I just saw this awesome post about including mobility aids in fantasy writing, and I do not want to create a tangent but I *do* want to share some things I learned about disability in ancient Greece when I was researching that paper I wrote on the Philoctetes, so I am making my own post.

Philoctetes is a mythical figure who was one of the Greek heroes going to the Trojan war. Before they got there, he suffered a wound in the foot which would not heal. The other Greek leaders were unwilling to have the noise of his screams and the stench of the infected wound in their camp, so they abandoned him on a deserted island with only his famous weapon, the Bow of Heracles. He survived there for ten years. Now the war is almost over, Troy has almost fallen, but the Greeks have heard a prophecy: they cannot win until they have the Bow of Heracles. So wily Odysseus and young Neoptolemus (the son of the recently dead Achilles) go to the island where Philoctetes is still living, still dealing with his injury. Philoctetes is eager to escape the island, but can he trust the community that abandoned him ten years ago? Can they ever make right what they did to him?

Now that’s the type of story that someone might very well point to who was arguing that disabled people have to be neglected and excluded in a “historically accurate” story. And it’s definitely not an example of casual inclusion. But what that person would be missing is that Philoctetes’ abandonment and isolation in this play was intended to be shocking to its Athenian audience. The audience is invited to identify with Philoctetes and to be horrified at how he does not receive the support from his community that real-world people with similar disabilities did receive, as we can tell from both textual and archaeological evidence.

Martha L. Rose’s book The Staff of Oedipus: Transforming Disability in Ancient Greece emphasizes this. Look, here’s what I wrote in my paper, why should I rewrite it:

So for writers: the ancient Greeks didn’t invent the wheelchair–but they had the wheel technology (I suspect the issue may have been with roads and pavements instead), so your Greek-inspired fantasy world totally can (which was the point of that earlier post). Or maybe your protagonist goes on their adventures with a faithful donkey sidekick that helps them get around. Maybe they are respected for their skill in a craft, making their home and workshop a lively meeting-place for customers. If you’re writing fantasy, you could be inspired by one of the myths of Hephaestus, in which he creates metal automatons–basically, magic robots–that not only support him as he walks, they also act as assistants in his workshop!

Anyway, the point of this post is basically just that I agree with the other post about including mobility aids in fantasy and I had some relevant knowledge in the back of my head. And also that you should read the Philoctetes. Look, here’s a recent free modern English verse translation: https://johnstoniatexts.x10host.com/sophocles/philocteteshtml.html

Oh, and if you would like to see my term paper or the relevant section from The Staff of Oedipus, message me, I will share them.

what i need people to understand about my dark angel derangement is that yes, its only two seasons but its two 21 episode seasons. also its set in 2019-2020 and everyone is walking around in low rise bc theyre ahead of the trends. the setting is a post apocalyptic society where travel has become highly restricted and class division is dialled to the extreme. the main cast features genetically modified individuals who experienced trauma and brainwashing from a young age. the rest of the main cast is a wheelchair/bionic leg brace using tech genius and a proud black lesbian. the main character is a mixed race woman who is strong but allowed to have struggles, both romantic and in relation to her plot about being a freakin superhero while also having ptsd. everyone is morally grey because government agencies and corporations are the antagonists. oh, and the soundtrack is killer. some elements seem cringey, but it is at all times a fun, interesting, captivating tv show that works perfectly in the medium.

sapnap deserves 1000 kisses

the song of achilles

clavid:

On the downside I’m too poor to afford one.

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debit or credit

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