#telecirce

Telemachus: Shhh. Do you hear that?

Circe: ...hear what?

Telemachus: I hear an angel

Circe: I don't hear anything

Telemachus: There it is again!

The Telegony is called an unnecessary sequel to The Odyssey for good reasons.

The Odyssey ends with Odysseus returning home, reuniting with his family, and restoring order. It feels complete as it's one of the rare times a Greek hero gets something close to a happy ending.

But then The Telegony reveals that Odysseus had a son with Circe, Telegonus, who arrives and unknowingly kills him. After that, Circe turns Telemachus and Penelope immortal, marries Telemachus, and Telegonus marries Penelope.

I don't blame anyone for seeing it as bad fanfic that undoes the perfect ending Homer gave us.

But isn't that perfect when looking at Odysseus's story? It's one filled with actions that never stayed buries.

He blinded Polyphemus, so Poseidon spent years punishing him for it.

He survived Troy, but lost ten years in war and another ten years trying to get home.

The Phaeacians help him, and their ship is turned to stone for it.

Hell, just his whole crew dying for a mix of his and their stupidity.

His life is defined by consequences coming back to bite him, and Telegonus fits that pattern.

He isn't some random addition. He's the result of Odysseus's time with Circe, and that detour in his journey that felt like a pause didn't stay behind when he left.

It followed him, and it killed him.

And the most important thing to remember is how little of The Telegony we actually have.

What survives is a summary: Odysseus travels again, marries again, fights another war, returns home, dies, and then everyone gets paired off.

There’s no dialogue or insight that goes beyond these events.

How's his marriage with Penelope? Does she know the full story about Circe? How does she react to Ody's death and the identity of his killer?

How does Telemachus feel when meeting a half-brother who killed their father? Was Telegonus regretful when he found out the truth?

Were the marriages immediate or did they happen much later? Were they arranged, or did the pairs fall in love? What's Circe's role in all of this?

We just don't know.

Without any context, we're judging a skeleton and assuming the missing flesh was ugly.

Greek epics, just epics in general, rely heavily on characterization, speeches, emotional reactions—practically everything we don't have.

And in the end, the man of twists and turns wasn't brought down by a god or monster, but by someone from his past he never saw coming.

But then there's Tiresias' prophecy, that he would die gently of old age, far from the sea.

It can still happen. Odysseus could have still lived a full life, and perhaps he even reconciled with Telegonus to ensure no more family blood to be spilled.

Dibujo TeleCirce que había hecho en un art Trade

It's not a ship that I love too much, but I think they're cute in the drawings they make

⿻ Telemachus x Circe Moodboard ⿻

♯ F2U with or without credits! Reblogs and likes appreciated

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« Art Credits: Floreasolis on Twitter »

Antinous said he would force himself onto Penelope. While he does get killed before it can happen, there's still a high chance it would have happened if Odysseus hadn't intervened. And yeah, I get why people don't like it

But CIRCE TRIED TO COERSE ODYSSEUS INTO SLEEPING WITH HER. I'm just saying, if "hold her down while we share her spoils," and "hold her down while her gate is open" is (and SHOULD count as) a depiction of planned assault, then "this is the price we pay for love," and "want to save your men from the fire? Show me that you're willing to burn" should ALSO count

Like the Viola in hold them down representing Penelope's screams, Odysseus' "I'm just a man" and "forgive me" obviously show that Odysseus didn't want that.

It doesn't matter if he escaped. Attempted assault/sexual coercion is still rape.

I'm a Sharpwolf shipper, and the occasional Telecirce enjoyer. But I'm tired of people pretending Sharpwolf and Telecirce aren't INCREDIBLY similar in the sense that the person they're shipping Telemachus with tried/planned to assault one of his parents.

This is probably gonna be my last Sharpwolf rant of the year (unless people really like it)

Idk man, I'm just tired

I genuinely don't know why one gets hated, while the other is loved. Like, usually when people are like "I hate Eurylochus!!" or "Penelope is baddass girl boss who's stronger than Ody!!" I can see where they come from. But aside from like a really small part of the Telegony (something I doubt most Telecirce shippers have even read), I can't imagine why