Week 7 Story: She Always Hoped

This story has moved, and can now be read at my portfolio site!

Image: Uraschimataro and Otohime. Source.

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang), Part B

In Part B, my attention was caught by one fairy tale in particular, Uraschimataro and the Turtle.

This story was so tragic, and it made me think of how much I would miss my own family if something like this happened to me. I think it's so strange that the lesson of this the tale is that Uraschimataro loved his parents so much that he gave up life in the underwater palace with the princess. If he truly loved them that much, then why did he stay in the palace in the first place? I get that time passed strangely there, but he also seemed very unconcerned about getting home until he suddenly got caught up in his feelings.

A more interesting take, however, could be that the beautiful princess was actually evil. That could be fun to write from her perspective, or as I mentioned in my previous reading notes, to write in third-person but skewing towards her as the main character. She could be a siren of sorts. A mermaid would work as well, but I don't love the idea, it's a little Disney princess-y. Alternately, I could leave her good, and just write her as incredibly lonely. The sea creatures are nice, but she wants a human to love. I lean towards zooming out from Uraschimataro and exploring her character as a woman that is trapped under the sea, unable to leave her palace but able to bring others to join her. I rather like the idea of a series of vignettes detailing the visitors she has and the ways in which they come and go, and what she remembers of them. Some she tricks, others come willingly, and the sea creatures help as much as they can. Gender doesn't particularly matter, nor any other factor, so long as they keep her company. That's not an issue though, because they all fall in love with her.

Yeah, this is definitely what I'm doing this week.

Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales as retold by Andrew Lang. Source.

Image: Underwater Palace. Source.

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales, Part A

This week I decided to read some Japanese Fairy Tales. We'll see what comes to pass in Part B, but in Part A there is a specific story in which I want to change the plot.

I absolutely hated the story of the Envious Neighbor, because I hate that the dog dies. It made me so sad, and the dog absolutely didn't deserve it. Normally, I'm a fan of tragedy in storytelling because it can raise the stakes to kill off a likeable character, but the dog's death didn't really do anything but make me hate the neighbor, and nothing he did after that seemed as bad. Killing the dog seemed like he won, in a way, because as a dog owner I can confidently say that no amount of money can replace a pet like that.



So, this week, providing I don't find something I want to do more in Part B, I'm going to mess with the plot. The dog definitely isn't going to die, but one of the people might, probably the husband, since he gets more focus in the story. The dog will still find the treasure, but the husband will insist upon staying with the dog when the neighbor asks to borrow it, and so the neighbor will kill the husband to try and steal the dog. Or try to kill the dog when it finds bones and the husband leaps in front of him. From there the plot will stay mostly the same, with the dog knowing what to do all the time, but I might get a little more descriptive with the death of the neighbor. I may be a tad vindictive on behalf of the dog in the original story.

I change plot enough with my stories that I don't think it really challenges me, so I'm also going to work on dialogue, which I do find difficult. I should have plenty of opportunities with this story. I'm going to write in third person, because it feels like I do a lot of first person already, and I'm not terribly partial to second person. However, I am going to see if I can manage to skew towards the neighbor's perspective in my narration without making him too empathetic.

Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales as retold by Andrew Lang. Source.

Image: My girlfriend and I's dog, Elliot, taken by me.

Tech Tip: Soundcloud

I was doing some work on my portfolio site and decided to ask a friend to record a reading of my story about the archangel Samael. I'm embedding the result below, and it can also be found with the story here.

Week 6 Story: Wise, Clever, and Brave

Her journey back to the tree seemed longer each time, though she knew it to be an illusion. She had not once made it past a large stone some distance from the cemetery. If only she could get the damned creature to behave! Sighing, the Queen shouldered the corpse yet again. "Here," said the vetala. "I'll give you another story to help pass the time.”

“Do you have to?”

“…Yes.”

“Fine.”

And so, as the Queen pressed on for what might have been the tenth time or the fiftieth – she really couldn’t tell – her godforsaken burden again turned its rotting lips to her ear.

“There was once a girl named Aquarius, who, upon reaching marriageable age, declared her interest to lie in women, and particularly in a girl from a neighboring village, Libra. Aquarius’s parents sent a message to the other village, enquiring about the potential match. The messenger returned the next day bearing sorrowful news: Libra had been kidnapped by a giant. Stricken, Aquarius called for the village matriarchs, who were named Wise, Clever, and Brave after their prominent characteristics. She promised that if only Libra were saved, and consented to the marriage, her rescuer could have her dowry. The three women eagerly agreed to the deal, each thinking she could find the girl singlehandedly and take the dowry for herself. Immediately Wise, having listened to her grandmother tell tales of the forest around the fire as a child, remembered a story that gave the location of the giant’s lair. As she was telling Aquarius that her love was close-by, Clever and Brave listened, and followed the woman into the forest. Walking single-file, they spoke of what they would do with the money. Wise cared for knowledge, and wanted to start a village library to hold the stories of their ancestors. Clever cared for science and practicality, and wished to start an engineering class. Brave desired that the people of the village have more care towards their defense, and wanted to build a wall to keep out giants and the like. As the last was explaining this, Clever grabbed her by her robe, pulling her back. ‘Do you see that?’ she asked, gesturing to a raised lump of dirt. She lightly scraped it off with her foot to reveal metal. ‘Had you stepped there, it would have levered those spikes up into your face.’ The women looked further down the path to see small points sticking up, half-covered in leaves. The continued from there, watching closely for any more traps from the giant. Finally, they arrived at a cave. Clever and Wise began to sit and plan, but Brave ran straight in before they could stop her. A short time (and several howls of pain) later, she emerged, carrying Libra. The matriarchs then returned, first to Libra’s parents, and then to their own village.

Some days later, word came that Libra was, in fact, interested. Accordingly, Aquarius went to the matriarchs, and they each explained the part they played in the rescue. Wise went first, arguing that the girl could never have been found without her knowledge. Brave immediately countered that she could have simply combed the forest until the girl was found. Clever then pointed out that she was the only one to spot the trap that would have killed them all. 

Now tell me,” the goblin rasped, “who should have the dowry? Remember, if you know the answer and say nothing, you shall most certainly fall dead in this very spot.”

This time, the Queen did not hesitate. “It should be split between the three of them,” she replied. “They can start a school, with a library and engineering, with a little wall around it.”

The moment she said this, the body escaped from her shoulder and ran back to the tree. The Queen sighed again. This was starting to get old.

Author's Note: The external story here is originally about a king who has to bring the corpse inhabited by a goblin back to a monk. Every time he takes the corpse down from the tree where it hangs, the vetala (goblin) inside tells him a riddle, and he will die if he knows the answer but doesn't say it. However, every time he answers, the goblin escapes from his shoulder and goes back to the tree. As for the internal story, originally the eligible girl says she will marry either a wise, clever, or brave man. At different points, her father, brother, and mother meet men fitting these respective descriptions and say they can marry her. When they show up for the wedding, the girl has been kidnapped. The wise man figures out where she is, the clever man makes a chariot to get there, and the brave man defeats the giant. The question is who should get the girl? The King's answer is the brave man, since the other two only helped him get to the giant, who he defeated alone.

In my version, the king is a queen, and the eligible girl in the internal story already has a girl she wants to marry. I may have very loosely based the two on my girlfriend (a Libra) and myself (and Aquarius). I changed the men wanting rights to the girl to village matriarchs, wanting money for pet projects that would help the village. I also changed the chariot-building to trap-finding, because I wanted something that would work with them already in the forest and having a conversation. At the end, I had the answer be that the money should be split evenly, because I don't think any of their contributions should be ignored. Also, my image is Lexa from The 100, who I'm visualizing here as the Queen.

Image: Lexa/Queen. Source.

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins translated by Arthur Ryder. Source.

Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins, Part B

I have to say, I thought the difference in the other riddles and the goblin's "great riddle" was kind of huge. All the riddles but the last were, excepting perhaps the situation with the transposed heads, value judgements where I think at least American/European society would be put off by the idea that there's an objectively correct answer. Or a riddle where a woman is "given" to a man in the first place. 

Anyway, the last riddle was different from the previous, as it involved more of an objective fact, I think. My stab at it is that the child of the daughter and father would be the mother’s grandchild by blood, sibling-in-law by marriage. Meanwhile, the child of the mother and son would be the daughter’s (half) sibling by blood, grandchild by marriage. Either by blood or by marriage, the children will be great-uncle/aunt and grand-nephew/niece. Who fills what role depends on whether you’re looking at it from a perspective of relation by blood or marriage, but either way, one will be each of those. The goblin doesn’t ask who would be what, just what the relationship between the children would be, so my answer should be satisfactory.

Since I took the time to type all that out, I’m really tempted to skip the lesbian stuff and rewrite the story where the king actually answers the riddle and the vetala is so shocked that he just goes with him after that. I’m still invested in the lesbian idea, though. It just doesn’t really work with the last story. Or maybe I’ll do my lesbian idea, and link to this post in my author’s note, since it contains my proposed solution. That would let me feel validated in my (hopefully correct) answer, and I’d still get to write about my people.

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins translated by Arthur Ryder. Source.

Image: Vetala. Source.

Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins, Part A

This week I decided to read Twenty-Two Goblins, which is about the vetalas of Hindu folklore. For these stories specifically, I'm leaning towards a more journalistic note format so I can stream-of-consciousness work through my story choices.

I noticed these stories feature a lot of decisions about which man should get a woman. From a cultural perspective it makes sense, but as a feminist I'm bothered by it. I was toying with the idea of gender-swapping both the external and internal story, but I also think it would be fun to just make it all lesbians. I feel like I'll get some comments on that from some disgruntled straight people, but it's my story and I'll make everyone gay if I want to. If you can't do it on your own little blog, then where can you do it? We're starving for representation anyway.

So, if I do this, it's just a matter of what specific riddle story I choose, and what I do with the king and the vetala. I definitely want the king to be a woman, because men are making enough decisions about women as it is, and I'm kind of picturing Laverne Cox as the strong, wise, badass woman who knows the answers to all the riddles and determinedly goes back for the vetala over and over again. Honestly, I might leave the story with all of the original names except for Laverne Cox as Laverne Cox,  haha. Maybe. As for which riddle story to do, I'm currently thinking about the one where the girl says she'll marry a brave, wise, or clever man, and change it either to brave, wise, and clever women. It could be fun to add femme/butch dynamics in there as well, or perhaps a different conflict. I think that the stories featuring lesbian representation out there often have a main conflict or subplot that revolves around the gayness of the character and coming out or something like that, and while those stories can be important, I also would love to write something where the character is explicitly lesbian and it's important, but not a centrally defining fact of her identity or a main source of conflict.

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins translated by Arthur Ryder. Source.

Image: Vetala. Source.

Week 5 Story: Dear Amten

This story has moved! It can now be found on my portfolio site. Happy reading!

Image: Ancient Egyptian Treasure Room by Junti Dutta. Source.

Reading Notes: Egypt, Part B

I ended up really liking what I did with my last post, so I'm going to do something similar here. There were actually only three stories in part B of the unit, but two of them were broken up into several sections due to length. For the purpose of my notes, I'm going to address the longer stories in their entirety rather than in bits and pieces.

1. The Two Brothers

This story was a wild ride. At any given point I didn't know where it was going to go nor was I certain why it had gone in any of the directions it had. I really was not a fan of the whole "evil women" theme it had going on, so that could be something I'd want to change in rewriting. Also, I was very curious about how the woman the king sent was able to take Bata's wife when no one else could. Was it just that Bata wouldn't kill a woman? Was his wife secretly a lesbian? It's never explained, and thus is very open to exploration on my end.

2. The Book of Thoth

I really enjoyed this story. It was pretty straightforward and predictable, but managed to not lose my interest. Unlike the women in The Two Brothers, Ahura knows what's up and tries to save her husband and family from the terrible events she sees coming as a result of her husband stealing the book. I have an idea for this one, which would be to tell the story from the point of view of Thoth, maybe taking a first-person style similar to what I did with Samael, but with a more Thoth-like personality.

3. The Tale of King Rhampsinitus

The title of this tale is rather misleading, given that the protagonist of the story is a thief, not King Rhampsinitus. The story itself, however, was very entertaining. There are lots of ways I could dig further into the plot in my own rewriting, like narrating as the king or telling the story from the limited perspective of a guard, perhaps through conversation with one of his peers.

Bibliography: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie. Source.

Image: Thoth. Source.

Reading Notes: Ancient Egyptian Myths, Part A

This week, I decided to read Egyptian Myths. I haven't experimented much with my reading notes, so I thought I'd play around this week and try writing my thoughts about a few specific stories that I have stronger opinions about.

1. Creation

I found the first story about creation a little bit confusing, and wasn't quite sure of the distinction between Ra and Nu. This may have more to do with the writing style than anything. I did think that the way Nut arches over Seb could make for a sad forbidden love story, but I don't think I'm interested enough to rewrite this one. Overall, my takeaway from this story is that I want to strive for clarity in my writing.

2. The Secret Name of Ra

The most interesting aspect of this story to me was that Isis, while her method of getting Ra's secret name was nefarious, wasn't actually wanting the power that came from it for malicious reasons. I suppose one could argue that the desire for power is in itself bad, but it's not like she uses the power for evil. I was really surprised that she didn't kill Ra, and instead saved his life after poisoning him with the snake. I think I would enjoy rewriting this story in a way that gave Isis a motive beyond power for power's sake, maybe casting her as more of a true villain.

7. The Journey of Isis

Some of this story was pretty boring to me - the tree stuff and the holy pillar, for example. I also didn't understand at all why Isis was making the royal baby immortal, or why the royal baby featured in the story to the degree that it did. I could strike off on that tangent and write a background story on said royal baby, but I also thought it would be a fun continuation on the theme of my previous story (See Samael) to focus on Osiris getting chopped into pieces. I do wonder how Isis felt when she noticed his member was missing.

Currently, I'm thinking my best option is number two, probably written as more of a character study from Isis's perspective. There are more stories yet to be read, however, so this may change.

Bibliography: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie. Source.

Image: Isis. Source.

Comment Wall

Hey guys, here's the link to my portfolio site. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Bedtime Stories With...

Image: screencap from above link

Week 4 Story: Storytime With Samael

This story has moved! It can now be viewed on my portfolio site.

Samael

Reading Notes: Noah, Part B

I have to say, the back half of the Noah unit is a wild ride. The general story of the flood was familiar to me, but what strikes me the most about the Jewish legends about it is how much detail they include. Their version of the Old Testament seems much livelier (and darker) than that of the Christian Bible. The storytelling style, however, is still pretty simplistic. I'm interested in experimenting with the style here, because I think it could really add some texture to the story.

Several of the stories in this group were intriguing. I wasn't a fan of how the animals were described as behaving in the ark, given that I don't think animals are morally culpable for their behavior, and the equation of blackness with evil (both with the raven/dove comparison and Ham's descendants) made me incredibly uncomfortable. Noah's drinking problem was a far cry from the description of his birth, and I thought it made him more human, so I don't really want to mess with that. What really shocked, horrified, and absolutely fascinated me, however, was Adam and Eve's babysitting attempt. I did a little research, because I was curious about who Samael was. Apparently, he is an archangel, but also a demon? Some Jewish lore says that he was the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve, and that he was married to Lilith, who was Adam's wife before Eve. Given this information, it could be interesting to write from his perspective, but at the same time the prospect kind of creeps me out. I think I might try it though, as it would also let me flesh out some details about the son (is he an angel? demon? neither?) and give the story something more than Adam and Eve being terrible people. Plus, I’d like to write in first person, since I haven’t done that yet in this class.

Bibliography: Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg. Source.

Image: Jacob Wrestles With the Angel Samael by Gustave Doré. Source.

Reading Notes: Noah, Part A

This week I decided to go Biblical and read stories about Noah. I've always found the flood narrative interesting as it pops up in a lot of cultures around the world, but I'd never seen or read anything about Noah outside of the Bible. The Jewish stories were really interesting to me, particularly the description of the birth of Noah. The way I had always understood the story of Noah, he was, as with many biblical figures, a normal guy that listened to God and had faith. The Jewish description of him is much different. Rather than starting out as an average dude, Noah was born special, circumcised, white-haired, and exuding such radiance that he terrified his father.

The story of Noah's birth presents the idea that his very existence was enough to counter many effects of Adam's sin, including great famine, smaller floods, and contrary animals. This concept situates Noah as both a precursor to and parallel of Jesus. His destiny is almost an inversion of Christ, in that while (in the Christian tradition) Jesus died on the cross so that the world might live, Noah lives so that the rest of the world will die. Given that the Jewish tradition doesn't hold Jesus to be the actual son of God, this contrast is actually less meaningful in that respect, but I think it could be interesting to combine a Jewish and Christian perspective in some way to connect Noah and Jesus more directly, maybe by adding a prophecy or something like that.

I'm also interested in possibly exploring a different perspective in this story, that of Noah's father, Lamech. I can't imagine how freaked he would have been, to be excited and ready for his child to come into the world, only for the kid to pop out glowing and bright and already singing the praises of God. Lamech is also more directly involved in the action of this specific story than Noah is, and I want to dig into what his thoughts are about Noah and what he's destined to do. Personally, I'd have mixed feelings, part proud and part, "Why can't my kid be normal, dangit?"

Bibliography: The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909): Book 1, Chapter 4 Noah .Source.

Image: Noah. Source.

Feedback Strategies

I was super behind last week and didn't get around to doing a post about my thoughts on feedback, so for this post one of my articles will be from last week's options.

For last week's article, I chose 5 Tips For Taking Feedback Like A Champ.

I found this article to be both helpful and relatable. I'm not very good at being uncomfortable, and I hate disappointing people. This goes all the way back to when I was four years old at a pre-pre-k program that was more than a daycare, but less than a school. I got in trouble for throwing rocks down the slide and felt so horrible about it that I tried to fake illness for the next two weeks because I couldn't bear to face my teachers after letting them down. I'm no longer quite so dramatic about it, but I still have trouble taking criticism sometimes. This article provides a good reminder that being uncomfortable isn't bad, but instead means you're growing, and that it would suck to not receive any critical feedback because that would mean you couldn't get any better. I also definitely struggle with taking criticism more personally than I should. Exposure has helped me a lot in that regard. Since I started working at my current job (OU IT), I've been evaluated at the end of every semester, and having that one-on-one with my boss where we talk about how I could do better has helped me not only to get used to both taking feedback as a useful road map for how I can improve, but to also be more self-critical.

For this week, I chose Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback.

Okay, so I really love this concept. I can get defensive and bogged down in wishing I could change the past when something I did wrong is criticized. It makes a lot more sense to me to focus on moving forward rather than dwelling on what's already happened. The future is malleable and full of possibilities, and when I think about it I feel capable, whereas when I think about the past I feel helpless. Not to mention, I always feel awkward telling people about a problem I had with something they did that they can't go back and change. The main times I'm in a position to give feedback are at work and in my relationship. At work, anonymous peer feedback is part of our evaluations, and I try to find positive things to mix in with any criticism I have. With my girlfriend, it can be more difficult, because usually when we're criticizing each other, we're hurt, so it's harder to let go of the past. I can see the feedfoward approach being enormously useful, however, because it provides concrete methods and goals rather than just a "this behavior bothers me, you should stop." It provides something new to reach for, rather than just something to avoid.

Feedforward. Source.

Topic Research: Food in Chinese Fairy Tales

After talking more in depth with my roommate, we've established that while he knows a couple Filipino recipes, he isn't super confident about amounts of stuff in recipes, and Filipino food is so diverse that there are very few defining characteristics. I'm wanting to go with something a little more cohesive, so this week I looked into finding foods mentioned in Chinese fairy tales to see what I could potentially make. To find stories, I looked at the Chinese Fairy Tale unit on the UnTextbook.

Duck Eggs

This story, The Cave of the Beasts, involves daughters eating duck eggs that their father didn't want them to have. So, obviously, I would include a recipe for duck eggs. In the story they're boiled, which is done the same way you boil chicken eggs and doesn't require much recipe, so I would probably add them to a stir fry dish so I'd have something more substantial than, "Find some duck eggs. Boil them," to use as a recipe.

Asian Pears

The titular Miserly Farmer in this story grows pears, so for a matching recipe, I'd make a dish involving Asian pears. Some quick preliminary research turned up these recipes, all of which sound intriguing. Steamed pears and honey seems simple, but delicious. Or if I were feeling like making something a little more involved, I could make short ribs with the Asian pear barbecue marinade.

Bread and Wine

I'll be honest. This story, The Maiden Who Was Stolen Away, mentions a mysterious man bringing a girl bread and wine, but the food is not really central to the plot. But, it would give me a chance to drink wine for classwork purposes (it'll be legal, I turn 21 tomorrow) and I found a neat recipe for
steamed buns that would serve as the bread from the story. I'll try to find actual Chinese wine or rice wine, but if I can't get my hands on any, I'll try to find a worthy substitute.

Fresh Duck Eggs. Source.
Steamed Vegetable Buns. Source.

Week 3 Story: The Slaying of Tullius

After supper, the Greybeards you reside with begin to retire to their quarters, but you see their guest turn into the main chamber. Rising from the table, you follow him into the larger room where you both take seats by the fire.  As you stare into the flames, you start to picture the story as you had left it the previous night. Where was it that you had stopped? Oh, right. You were chasing Tullius, around the city and through the mountain caves. He’d been a quick bastard.

“So,” you ask the young man sitting across from you, “are you ready to hear more?”

“Yes, Dovahkiin. Please, tell me about how you killed Tullius.”

He was eager, if nothing else, though you still weren’t sure why he’d trekked all the way up High Hrothgar. But you’d seen him the night he arrived, looking into the fire as if it held answers, until he saw you. Not only that, he’d recognized you. And so you now sat for a time every night, passing on your story in truer form than any current book offered.

“As you’ll recall, Tullius had fled my approach, fearing to face me like a man. I gave chase, but Kynareth aided him, and his stamina never wavered until he reached the city gates. Then I must believe it was Talos who kept him from entering. Moments before he had been a man running for his life, and suddenly, he chose to fight. He offered me a deal, Tullius did. He who had slain my beloved Argus and taken my armor from his body asked me to let his own corpse find peace with his family, and he would do the same for mine. As if he had afforded Argus the same respect, forcing my men to fight tooth and nail just to bring his body back to camp. Rage overtook me.

 I used the Thu’um and marked him for death with the voice of a dragon. The fool still charged me. Tullius was a good swordsman, truly, but I don’t think he realized how much my shout had weakened him. It was almost easy to slide my axe into the joint of his armor. It was not as cathartic as I had hoped. And so, my anger unabated and having promised him nothing in regards to his carcass, I hitched the dying man to the back of my horse by his feet and dragged his body back to camp.”
The traveler ventures a rare interruption. “And what about his wife? What happened to Andromache and his child?”

You grimace. That was just the nasty business of war. “Had Tullius not fought, perhaps they would have kept him longer. She was devastated, so I heard from old Titus Mede. I do not regret killing him, if that’s what you mean to ask.”

“Do you regret anything that you did during the war?”

“Not what you expect, perhaps. I was fighting for our homeland, taken from us by the Imperial menace. Ulfric, rightful king though he might have been, had no right to my lover when I had given him nothing but loyalty and honor. Tullius was representative of the enemy. His death was necessary, regardless of my personal stake. But I should not have let Argus enter the battle. I should have sent someone else, anyone else, or simply turned and gone home. I must live with my choices though, as we all do, even in death.”

You are growing weary of speaking, though you have no material form. Rising from your chair, you turn to face the guest, who has already opened his mouth again.

“But what about—”

“Enough. I am done for tonight. There is more to the story, but it will wait, as will you.”

He grumbles, but stands as well. Somehow, you feel him watching you as you exit the room. Who is this man, you wonder, to climb a mountain only to spend time with silent monks and listen to an old ghost tell stories? It doesn’t matter, really. The story, through him, will pass on.

Perhaps you will, too.


Author's Note: The part of the Iliad that I chose to rewrite was the last part of Hector's death. Essentially, Achilles corners him at the gates of Troy. Athena, helping Achilles, pretended to be Hector's brother so he would stay and fight. Hector asks then (and again after Achilles strikes) that his body be returned to his family. Achilles in response throws his spear, which Hector dodges. Hector charges Achilles, and then Achilles kills him, ties him to his chariot, and drags his body to camp. Meanwhile, Andromache drops her weaving when she hears a cry from the walls, and goes to see what happened. I changed the story by setting it in a video game world, Skyrim, with names changed to fitting Skyrim characters, and telling it from the perspective of the ghost of Achilles, who I have made the player character in the game. I did this because I wanted to explore Achilles' perspective more through characters I was familiar with, and add another layer of narrative by having the story be told orally, as it would have been long ago. Also in the grand scheme, Helen is represented by the the land of Skyrim rather than by a person. In Skyrim's conflict between the Imperials and the Stormcloaks, they are the closest equivalent, and I think the parallel actually works quite nicely.

If anyone not familiar with Skyrim wants to know more, here are some helpful links! But beware of spoilers, if you're ever considering playing.

Background on the Civil War

Ulfric Stormcloak

General Tullius

Marked for Death (the Shout that the Dovahkiin/Achilles uses)

Bibliography: The Slaying of Hector (End) from Homer's Iliad retold by Alfred J. Church (1907). Source.

Image: Imperial vs. Stormcloak. Source.