Poll: Fiction in August ☀
Hello my lovelies,
to capitalise on the buzz Christopher Nolan's Odyssey is making, I brainstormed some sexy prompts related to the actual Homeric Odyssey to counter the utterly sexless interpretation on screen. If you know the Odyssey like the back of your hand, jump to the poll here, for everyone else there are some explanations below:
Polyphemos: a one-eyed giant called a cyclops who is a son of Poseidon. Odysseus and his crew got trapped in his home when taking his food and he ate some of the men every night until they executed a violent and crafty escape. The prompt imagines a more peaceful resolution. Imagine Supergiant's design for Polyphemus in their game Hades II if you like.
Sirens: in Greek mythology, the Sirens are not merfolk but have the head or upper body of a woman and the lower body of a bird. They sit in a meadow on their island, men's corpses heaped up all round them. Their song, the Odyssey reports, is so sweet that no man can pass without being enchanted. Odysseus had his crew seal their ears with wax and tie himself to the mast of their ship to make it past their island.
Penelope: Odysseus' faithful wife who remained in their home while Odysseus was gone fighting in the Trojan War for 10 years and then spent another 10 years on his voyage. She raised their son Telemachos and was pushed to choose a new husband when Odysseus didn't return home after the Trojan War. She cunningly bought time by claiming she would choose a suitor when she had finished weaving a shroud for her elderly father-in-law but always undid her day's work at night. In Homer's Odyssey, some of her slaves eventually go to bed with the suitors but what if they went to bed with Penelope instead?
Circe: Daughter of Helios and Perse, a goddess and powerful sorceress. She turns Odysseus' crew into swine with her magic and only with the aid of Hermes can Odysseus avoid the same fate. She takes him to bed and he becomes her lover for a year before moving on from her island. They seem to have been on friendly terms by the end because Circe warned Odysseus of the perils ahead and even sent them favourable wind for their voyage home.
Circe and Penelope have appeared together in my lesfic Aiaian Summer. Read it here if you like!
As always, I'll write the prompt that gets the most votes. If it's a tie, my artists and I get to choose 😊
Patrons of the Demigod tier get a sexy illustration along with the story instead of the plain text story for everyone else.
Read the full prompt list and make your own requests by commenting below or in our Discourse forum.
