no matter how much I love Astyanax lives AU and Epic Musical in principle (Yes, I think this is a really good modern version of Odyssey)...
But damn it, the fact that Odysseus is going to raise Astyanax is a damn terrible concept
I would damn well throw myself into the sea if I found out that I was raised all his life in house by a murderer of my family and a genocider of my homeland...
RETURN THE BABY TO HIS FAMILY!
i think the bravest thing Epic the musical did was have Odysseus kill Astyanax, and people writing fix it fics where he saves him really robs him of his moral greyness.
the whole concept absolves Odysseus at Andromache's expense. in these AUs she is never more an incubator or a surrogate. it's as though she only brought him into the world and cared for him until his true father, Odysseus, came along. they might mention Astyanax looking for her, but he never finds her, never goes back to her. she is enslaved and suffering offscreen, believing he is dead while he moves on with his shiny new family. out of sight, out of mind.
honestly, a lot of the vibes around "Odysseus adopts Astyanax" AUs make me think of real life cases of children who are essentially trafficked into adoption. there was a case years ago where a woman who was deported from America had her child taken and adopted by an American couple, who changed his name and refused to let her have any contact. she was a perfectly capable mother, but the courts ruled that because she had crossed the border illegally and because the family that adopted him were wealthy, he was better off with them. nobody considered what it might do to him to grow up and learn he had another name and a loving mother who fought to get him back but was banned from even seeing him. that his childhood was legally sanctioned kidnapping.
i acknowledge that this is also personal for me, because i've also had a family member temporarily have their baby taken from them when they did nothing wrong, so i saw first hand how painful it is and the lasting mental health impact on the mother, even now years later when they're reunited and the kid is doing great.
honestly, the best case scenario is that Astyanax grows up loved by Odysseus, Penelope and Telemachus, only to one day learn that all this time, his true mother believed he was dead and suffered as a slave only a few day's travel away.
but more likely, he would have complicated relationships with Odysseus, Penelope and Telemachus, (to Odysseus he will always be a reminder of his guilt, and i can see Telemachus being jealous because Astyanax got to grow up with Odysseus present, when he didn't. and who knows how Penelope might feel about Odysseus springing this child on her?), never quite fitting in to the Greek culture of Ithaca, othered by his Trojan features, but having no connection to Trojan culture either. i highly doubt Odysseus would make any effort to bridge that gap, he would expect Astyanax to assimilate.
i've posted before about a fic idea i have where Odysseus takes Astyanax, but it follows the worst case scenario instead, and indeed culminates in him throwing himself into the sea because he can't see any way to a happy ending.
and the thing is, there are Trojan family members he can be with instead. Odysseus can still spare him, but give him to somebody else. i have him be raised by Oenone on Mount Ida. i also like the idea of him going with Aeneas, growing up alongside his cousin Ascanius and being reunited with Andromache when Aeneas gets lost and winds up in Epirus. or you could have him be given to any number of Trojan women, it's not as if he had a shortage of aunts. hell, even give him to Hecuba on Odysseus' ship, at least that's his grandma. or have him be raised by a random Trojan shepherd, like Paris was. @ibrithir-was-here has a great AU where he is spared and given back to Andromache, which is the happiest option by far.
and don't even get me started on that one "Odysseus adopts Cassandra" post. that is a grown woman! you're just infantilising her because she has a mental illness coded curse! he genocided her people and enslaved her mum, she would not call them her new family! she would fucking kill Odysseus in his sleep!
