So I couldn't wait to talk about this because the more I drew it the more headcanons came to my head.
So I had seen the crown or tiara that she wears on her head in a slightly different way when I had been with the school to Polipezzoli in Milan and it was together with other coral jewels that were very cute and were inlaid with little flowers.
(The One i draw Is not as pretty as this One but this where the reference forme the collection of Poldi Pezzoli of Milan, it's obvious that this arent micenean jewelry, but they were too pretty, so for Just now where gonna close and Eye on historical accuracy )
Now the first time I saw the crown I thought that its shape reminded me of shells and I imagined that it would have been nice if Teti had given a similar one to Deidamia (THIS DEIDAMIA IS NOT THE ONE FROM THE "SONG OF ACHILLES" BUT HER MYTHOLOGICAL COUNTERPART, THE ONE WHO DIDN'T DO THOSE BAD THINGS) for her wedding, because Teti seems to me to be the type who would have spoiled her daughter-in-law and that at the time of her wedding with Achilles, Deidamia was not much more than a girl who likes beautiful things that sparkle and therefore was completely in love with Teti's jewels, even trying them on Achilles, and wearing them whenever she could because they were the most precious thing she owned. Now, slaves like Briseis are concider war brides (since some soldiers like Ajax married their slaves), and since Achilles already has a wife, and recognizes in Deidamia the example of how a wife should be because she is the only one he associates with that title (in my understanding I have always imagined Achilles a bit childish whose brain works by free associations), he tries to give Briseis those attributes that were proper to Deidamia such as the diadem and the coral jewels and the heavy makeup of a Mycenaean woman, so that even in the smell of face powder she could remind of Deidamia (plus I focused on the red cheeks because they are the attribute of Briseis in the Iliad), but at the same time they would be very heavy and excessive on her.
Now the whole concept behind this design was to make a Briseis that was literally a representation of Achilles' honor from here come the various jewels as if the girl became a showcase for the prizes won in the various raids, and as if she was treated well as a reflection of Achilles' power.
Briseis' hair is cut short for two reasons: first, for practical it was easier to keep tidy and clean (and the girl doesn't have a lot of time for her self) ; and second, because without heavy makeup, Briseis' face should be the most anonymous face possible in which everyone can recognize different people (which is why her haircut is inspired by that of Iphigenia in a 70s film), male or female, because Briseis, not having an identity of her own, reflects a different person depending on who looks at her.
This is interesting because Briseis is not a name but a patronymic that means "the daughter of Briseus" and her real name is never said even though we know that before becoming a slave she was the wife of the king of Lyrnessus, a city allied to Troy, but in the Iliad she no longer owns anything, not even her name which is replaced by the reference to a man, completely depriving her of identity.
(another version of Briseis without make-up)
But besides that I like to think that Briseis had a slightly better education than the other slaves, due to the fact that it is implied that her father Briseus and his brothers were men of high standing or at least part of the priestly class so she helped as a sort of translator and somehow made a good name for herself among the servants and that she brought the other servants gossip about the commanders that she heard when she had to accompany Achilles around, to help lift their spirits and make the days lighter, especially for the new arrivals and sometimes.
I also like to think that since they both lived in a city near Troy and both their fathers were part of the same priestly class, Briseis and Chryseis had known each other since they were children because once a year they accompanied their fathers to Troy for the festivities in honor of Apollo and that they spent the festivities together and talked about everything that had happened to them, in the year that they had not seen each other, they danced together and Briseis who was the shorter of the two stole sweets from the banquets for both of them. When Briseis gets married she no longer follows her father to the celebrations, while Chryseis has become an acolyte at her father's temple and the two have not met again until Chryseis was also taken by the Achaeans.
