#korybas

Ploutos got blinded as a young God by Zeus so he’d spread wealth indiscriminately, so he got a lil blindfold. His antennae are of wasps/hornets. Cause they suck. Demeter be a bee so her kids be insects somehow (with exceptions)

The twin that hammered his way to success, Philomelos, has irises because of Iasion. Because Ploutos didn’t share his wealth with his brother, he had to forge his own path and got rewarded by his mother with the constellations Booted and Ursa Major. I think it’d be cool if Ploutos was born with his immortality while Philomelos was a demi-god mortal that earned his Godhood just like he earned his success in making the wagon/cart and plough. Adds to their contrasts. He has the features of a water buffalo because of ploughing (and donkeys and mules are Hephaestus thing—) and also his hair is not wheat due to this

Korybas is the only one to gain the genes to grow a beard lol. His children are dancers, so why wouldn’t he? (Not much about this guy tho so I’m working with it) By that alone, his antennae are based on vespula wasps cause they dance (and I didn’t want to give him bumble bees). He also has orchids in his hair because his name is the genus of the orchid family. He is also the only other one to not have wheat hair, like Philomelos, though that’s just because of genetics

Eubouleos is definitely the awkward child here cause I didn’t know what to do with him other than I wanted him to be a “mini-Demeter” in appearance (though Ploutos would be the correct person for the role, not with the genetics here lol). I might change his hair again idk, he’s supposed to have the healthiest and richest hair out of all of them. He’s also got water buffalo features due to him being identified with Ploutos and Philomelos and his name involving ploughing. Though she’s not drawn, his daughter Karme would look the most like Iasion for sure. He’s the most likely to change (he might get beard privileges lmao)

Khrysothemis is the Goddess of a harvest festival and won the first musical contest at Delphi, so she’s got musical talent. So I made her a bit stoic but she’s easy to talk to. She probably got her hardworking spirit from Philomelos and is someone who takes things more seriously out of her family. She likely became more harden as stone when she lost all her daughters. She shares the same antennae as Korybas due to her musical interest and festival

And finally Akakallis (still debating to make her and Khrysothemis twins or not) whose name means daffodil, so she has those. She’s just a lively little bee and has the antennae to prove it. When drawing her, she reminded me of the baby Persephone I draw (she has no tales other than being a lover of Apollo, because her specific myths are under a different parentage like Eubouleos) So maybe she acted similar to Persephone when growing up. She’s just a bundle of joy and radiant energy, the heart of her family.

The last mention is hair color. Basically they have dark hair because of Demeter’s dead roots. Like Ploutos hair mimics this the most as to where the dead roots would be, but all of their hair (excluding Demeter’s) is fully healthy otherwise. Philomelos has inverse colors to Ploutos while Korybas and Khrysothemis have darker hair. Eubouleos hair is the brightest and healthiest, but Akakallis is close behind though her hair is slightly red tinted

Ploutus: Ah one of the twins. Having multiple kids is hard to have equally divided attention between them, even when you love them all so much. And Ploutus got a lot of attention as they grew up, mainly from Demeter. He is the born-immortal god out of the twins, and with associations with agriculture, he gets Demeter's attention in that department. He works with her. And Iasion gets his affections by default as his father. With Ploutus also being the God of wealth, not sharing it with Philomelos, and then having to be blinded by Zeus in order to distribute wealth indiscriminately, shows his spoiled nature. Because he was spoil, look at his parents (the twins had it best out of all of them until Khrysothemis and Akakalli are born). Seeing as Zeus was the one to intervene and not Demeter, it makes me think either she was blinded by the love of her child to see his problems, or her advice never got through to him. Maybe both. Ploutus definitely had an ego, one Demeter couldn't tamper down due to it growing too large and for the love she has for him to be difficult for her to navigate interacting with him. For Iasion, he probably could tell he had an ego, but couldn't do much. His son is a full God, what do you do against that as a mortal man? I don't think he didn't attempt to, but most of his involvement probably shifted to trying to get Demeter to reason with him, as I do think Ploutus likely favored Demeter over him for a variety of reasons.

Philomelos: The other twin (and the one I interpret as a mortal God who gains his immortality with his creation of the cart and plough). He spent his time mainly with Iasion. While Demeter and Ploutus had that connection in immortality, these two demi-gods had the bond of being mortals together. Philomelos is jealous of Ploutus in every sense of the word, from him being born immortal and having his mother's attention due to his agricultural relations. Demeter does love Philomelos and show him affection, but it's that difference between him and Ploutus that causes Philomelos to feel like there is favoritism. He also sees the worst of Ploutus ego and arrogance and probably thought his parents were ignoring the problem, or at least thought Demeter was. Philomelos wanted Demeter's approval more than anything, as he had Iasion's, and thought he'd never compare to his twin. However, unlike his twin, he had humility, that'd be something Iasion would said. His father would also say he's able to truly appreciate what he has, both with being mortal, and not being a God of wealth. He'd teach Philomelos how to work the fields, to take in the beautiful world, to feel how his heartbeat lets him experience life, even if it's temporary. He works and works, putting his all into what he does. I like to interpret that Philomelos creates the cart and plough before Ploutus gets blinded. This is because he finally gets the attention he originally yearned for from Demeter, but his mother tells him he always has and always will. She tells him he has her love and support, and something more, passion and self-worth. Because along the way, he gained value in himself and pushed forward not for her approval, but his own, and she awards him with the constellations. This makes Ploutus the jealous for the first time in his life towards his brother, and so he doubles down his antics. This is enough for Zeus to intervene and blind him.

Korybas: The first middle child, but once upon a time the youngest lol. Korybas had a good childhood with lots of affection from his parents. Then Iasion dies lmao due to old age and with Demeter pregnant with Euboulos. Korybas is very young, like three, when this happens, so he grows up with not a lot of memories of Iasion, until they kind of fizzle out. Left under the care of solely Demeter and his older siblings, he grows up pretty well actually. When Demeter has her sad days, usually his siblings would step in for her to help. He'd learn about Iasion through them and have wandering thoughts of what his father would think of him and how life would be different if he was still alive. Of course, this is how he is for the majority of his life, but another part of him is also a tad jealous of Euboulos. Having been born in the height of Demeter's grief, she leaves Euboulos in the care of Trokhilos and Eleusis. Seeing Euboulos have a father figure in his life made him a bit jealous, but it never festered into something hateful, moreso growing up to accept it though still envious. When he became older, he gained a father figure in Dardanus (as in the myths, Dardanus, Demeter, and Korybas went to Asia to spread the sacred rites of the Mother of Gods). He probably heard tales he's never heard from his mother and siblings from Dardanus this way. When Iasion is revived, it would be awkward for Korybas. Yes, he'd love him, but after so long of living without him, and finding a paternal figure in Dardanus, it would be a strange road to navigate. Though his easy going behavior would make the situation better, but not can be said the same for Euboulos.

Euboulos: The other middle child who got three (then four) parents. I'd say he grew up pretty normally, but he always had a distance issue. He was the only immortal in his mortal family of Trokhilos, Eleusis, and Triptolemus (though all of them are demi-gods, I see the three of them as divine mortals who had Demeter's favor. So maybe they had longevity, but not immortality.) and likely did not interact with his other siblings much. Though I'm sure Demeter would arrange dinners between them all. Regardless, he didn't feel like he fit in in either families, despite loving and having both. He grew up hearing stories of his father Iasion, but due to having a father figure in Trokhilos, he didn't necessarily miss him or think about him like Korybas did. When Iasion is revived, he is the most distant out of all of his kids. With him already struggling to fully fit into his families, having Iasion back kind of made it worse. He didn't know how to interact with his father for the longest time, until he ran into Korybas. I image the two have a very long talk about how they feel about their father that would lead the two to try and connect with him more. It seems to go well seeing as Euboulos has a daughter he names Karme (the male counterpart of Karmanor). (On a side note, I did read a bit about Karme's daughter Britomartis, a virgin Goddess and huntress. Okay moving on-)

Khrysothemis: The first daughter. I like to think she's a wreck on the inside hahaha- showered in affection. and I mean SHOWERED in it! As the first child Demeter and Iasion had upon his revival, and their first daughter, spoiled she was yes. She always had a strong will, wanting to contribute to her family. She gets her serious behavior from Philomelos' being such a hard worker. Korybas' easy going nature also annoyed her a bit when growing up, taking up a more serious outlook on things (though it mainly derives from how seriously she took the news of Iasion's death, even though everyone else was pretty much past it by then). She loves her father, and learning how he had once died and been revived, she wanted to work really hard for him, so she put a lot of effort into her singing. She became a stoic beauty, having gotten the attention of Aphrodite likely after winning the first musical contest at Delphoi. She wants to stand out in the eyes of her parents, more than anything.

Akakallis: The second daughter (still debating to make them twins or not ack- though if not, I think I would have her be the same age as Euboulos' daughter Karme). She was also showered in affection, the most affection even, from her parents and all of her siblings. Though with how Khrysothemis was with her growing up, she might as well have had two moms, resulting in the two being very close. Akakallis' smile would always brighten the room, a radiant child that grew up with the least problems out of all her siblings. She greeted everyday like a new start, it meshing well with Korybas' mellow personality. She liked seeing all of her family work in the fields, and she loved falling asleep to her sister's singing. Her approach to life came from her father Iasion, and learning of his death and revival inspired her. She lives her life to the fullest, spending time with her family whenever able.

Okay so I still haven’t figured out what the heck I’m doing with Persephone in this whole thing. I am settling that she’s the oldest, but as for her abduction I’m less sure on.

Because while Eubouleos’ interesting involvement with Persephone’s abduction is under him but for a different parentage, I still find it way too interesting to not have him be affected in some way by it. Though what I think I’ll do is merge them together a bit.

So Eubouleos is still born of Demeter and Iasion, but grew a connected to Trokhilos and Eleusis (his other parentage); maybe even grew up with their son Triptolemos, creating a brotherly bond with him. That way he’s involved in the Eleusinian Mysteries and has a reason to be in Eleusinian when Persephone is abducted.

My reason for why he gets kind of adopted by Trokhilos and Eleusis is tied to Iasion’s death (of age). I stated I like to think Iasion and Demeter didn’t have Korybas until he healed from his injury (still set to be 5-7 years later rn) and that he dies when Demeter is pregnant with Eubouleos and before they could get married. This is because I wanted one of their kids to experience growing up without him, but then I shifted that to Korybas. Now I’m doing kinda both

After Korybas is either 1-3 years old, Iasion dies with Demeter pregnant. Filled with grief, she entrusts Eubouleos to Trokhilos and Eleusis to raise while she brings up Korybas. They have a shared bond over Iasion not being present, but there is some underlying feelings from Korybas of how Eubouleos still had a father figure.

This brings us back to Persephone and while she is actually the oldest, I am gonna move around when she’s abducted (I think this’ll be fine, future me—) because Eubouleos is born and grown before Persephone’s abduction (when his parentage is Trokhilos and Eleusis). So while she’s the oldest, her abduction isn’t until a while later (like 18-20 years after Harmonia and Cadmus’ wedding). That way all of the prior stuff makes sense. I hope—

Okay I literally came back to this draft because I forgot my original intentions was about Persephone and Akakallis— ANYWAY, I know Demeter, after some time, moves on from the abduction and even defends Persephone and Hades marriage. When Akakallis is born, she looks the most similar to Persephone when she was a baby.

With a true sense of peace, she names her Akakallis because daffodils represent new beginnings and hope. As well as another sign of Demeter’s support and love for Persephone