#achille

Innapologetic patrochille, and maybe (forgive me) Polyamourous Achille, who love both briseis and patrocle !!!! sorry not sorry. Maybe even trouple ??

Diomede.

Diomede and Ody friendship/partenership as Athena's warrior

Helen hating Paris and Aphrodite and longing for his hubby back

menelausXhelen

Menelaus and ody longing for theirs wifes drunk.

Patrocle being a true, good, warrior. Not some kind of precious poor bottom

I wouldn't spit on a complex representation of the achean brothers !

Regarde moi. Regarde moi quand je lis.

Quand je danse, quand je doute.

Fais de moi ton unique,

possède moi comme l'hiver possède la neige.

Désire moi. Désire moi à chaque saison,

sans une once de raison.

Fais de moi ton Patrocle,

donne un sens à mon existence.

Je te suivrai même en enfer.

Mais tu as déjà ta Déidamie.

this isn't just about anastasio- i'm also thinking about vitige from flavio ( renata pokupić in early opera company flavio is okay because she has a light voice and i genuinely couldn't tell she was a mezzo at first ), faramondo from his eponymous opera, achille/pirra from deidamia, etc. and this doesn't necessarily mean that those actors can't pull off those roles really well ( sonia prina, for instance, was fantastic in glyndebourne rinaldo ) but it still irks me.

it's on the same level as having a countertenor in that role ( unless said countertenor is samuel mariño, or just... any sopranist ). like, it may seem right to a lot of people, what with alto and mezzo-soprano being the "conventional" voice types for characters like these, but really it's... not. i feel like with some of these guys, them having the highest voice type is absolutely integral to their character. achille/pirra is one such example- the various layers of gender confusion, the contrast with the male alto who's more conventionally masculine ( ulisse ). having him played by a performer with a lower voice, regardless of their gender, nullifies all that.

( and this is my highly subjective personal opinion, but i feel like deidamia's merits, including the whole thing with achille/pirra, PARTICULARLY the whole thing with achille/pirra, aren't acknowledged enough. come on. give my girls a break. )