Esther!

Silus Treatment, featuring my Courier 6 Arabella Venegas

Miles Johnston (b. 1993), “Agony”

oil on canvas. 2017–18

Gotta watch out for them Toreadors

I finished that self-indulgent doodle from last night (18+)

Xenia was a compact between travelers and hosts. It wasn't the fucking Golden Rule, it was a specific-ass policy about how you treat someone who is a guest in your home, or how you act when you are a guest in someone else's home. Its purpose was to promote peaceful travel between Greek city-states, but someone showing up at your door armed to the teeth and intent on murdering you, raping your wives and daughters, and plundering your wealth would not be entitled to the same rights as a peaceful traveler. That's an enemy soldier, and to be treated as such.

An invader trying to break down your gates isn’t a guest; they’re not entitled to xenia. Neither the “guests” — the Greeks — or the “hosts” — the Trojans — were expected not to harm one another. They had in fact been killing each other for a decade by the time Odysseus thought up the trick with the Horse. Entering the gates of Troy through a tricky trap would not have elicited feelings of shame among the Greeks, and certainly wouldn’t have invited a divine curse from the gods.

Odysseus invites a divine curse, yes, but not at war — it's while he's coming home from it. It's when he shouts his name at Polyphemus in a moment of stunning hubris, because it's not enough for him to win the day with tricks and lies; Odysseus feels the constant need to brag about it. That was the act of arrogance that got him in trouble, and Nolan cut it.

Also, Athena (or what Odysseus thinks is her but is really his guilt-fueled hallucination of a priestess) haunting Odysseus to shame him for it? Wildly out of character. The Trojan Horse trick is how you know Odysseus is Athena's favorite mortal — because he's being strategic and clever and tricky and deceitful and winning the war she's been championing in the process. Athena and Hera were the biggest members of team "BURN TROY TO THE GROUND FUCK THIS CITY" throughout the Iliad — multiple times Athena pops onto the battlefield to either interfere directly or manipulate a mortal into keeping the battles bloody and the Greeks winning.

Like, it's made more offensive to me because Nolan is trying to pretend he's applying an ancient value and moral in this situation. But xenia, Zeus's Law, whatever you call it, is not the same thing as Golden Rule (or the Geneva Conventions), and cannot be treated like it is.